Carrier Phase Measurement Aided Position Estimation

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communications are disclosed. In one aspect, a wireless node may measure times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node. The wireless node may measure carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node. The wireless node may perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmit one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] 1. Field of Disclosure Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Technology Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Many different types of wireless communication systems are currently 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 communications (GSM), etc.

[0003] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data rates, more connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technological enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technology, and dense deployments for 5G, will enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects disclosed herein. As such, the following summary is not intended to be an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements of all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope of any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present certain concepts of one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In one aspect, a method of operating a wireless node includes measuring times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, measuring carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, and performing a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0006] In one aspect, a method of operating a network entity includes receiving one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE); and performing a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0007] In one aspect, a wireless node includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, measure carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, and perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmit one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0008] In one aspect, a network entity comprises a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE), and perform a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0009] In one aspect, a wireless node includes means for measuring times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node; means for measuring carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node; and means for performing a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0010] In one aspect, a network entity includes means for receiving one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating arrival times or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE); and means for performing a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the arrival times or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0011] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless node, are configured to cause the wireless node to measure times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, measure carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, and perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmit one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to receive one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE), and perform a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0013] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0014] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only to illustrate, not limit, the aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2C] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, or a network entity and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, or a network entity and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, or a network entity and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) call flow between a UE and a location server for performing a positioning operation. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR), according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7A] 10 illustrates a relationship between the measured carrier phase of a reference signal carrier and the distance from a reference signal transmitter to a reference signal receiver, in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 7B]FIG. 10 illustrates a relationship between a first measured carrier phase of a first carrier of a reference signal, a second measured carrier phase of a second carrier of the reference signal, and a distance from a transmitter of the reference signal to a receiver of the reference signal, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating various operations of an exemplary carrier phase measurement-aided position estimation procedure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating various operations of another exemplary carrier phase measurement-aided position estimation procedure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating various operations of another exemplary carrier phase measurement-aided position estimation procedure, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11A] 1 is a timing diagram illustrating performing measurements according to a first mode and a second mode during different time windows, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 11B] 11B is a timing diagram illustrating power consumption levels corresponding to the first and second modes implemented in the example of FIG. 11A according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] 1 illustrates an example method of operating a wireless node to perform a location estimation procedure for a user equipment (UE), according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] 1 illustrates an example method of operating a network entity to perform a location estimation procedure for a user equipment (UE), according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0017] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0018] Those skilled in the art will understand that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, desired design, corresponding technology, etc.

[0019] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. In addition, the sequence(s) of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied entirely in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions, which, when executed, cause or instruct the associated processor(s) of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described actions.

[0020] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station,” as used herein, are not intended to be specific to or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer location device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at a given time) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE can be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0021] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs with which it communicates with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide only edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link over which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication links through which a base station may transmit signals to a UE are called downlink (DL) channels or forward link channels (e.g., paging channels, control channels, broadcast channels, forward traffic channels, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0022] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmission / reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the base station's cell (or several cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in 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, non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and neighboring base stations whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0023] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., if it transmits signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., if it receives and measures signals from the UE).

[0024] An "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that propagate information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted via 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 it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0025] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may 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 may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0026] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5G core, 5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server(s) 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server(s) 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 through the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as through an application server (not shown), through another network, such as through a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between the UE 104 and the location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170), or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intervening nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagrams for clarity.

[0027] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding 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 balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and alert message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0028] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resources referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish between cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and its supporting base station, depending on the context. In addition, because a 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" can also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0029] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover regions), and some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including both small cell and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may serve closed groups known as closed subscriber groups (CSGs).

[0030] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also called reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be of one or multiple carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., the downlink may be allocated more or fewer carriers than the uplink).

[0031] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (WLAN) 150 communicating with wireless local area network (WLAN) stations (STAs) 152 over a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 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 a channel is available.

[0032] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may utilize LTE or NR technology and employ the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may extend coverage to and / or increase the capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0033] The wireless communication system 100 may further include an mmW base station 180 that may operate at millimeter wave (mmW) and / or sub-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has wavelengths from 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Radio waves within this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Sub-mmW may fall down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band ranges from 3 GHz to 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / sub-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0034] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative 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 (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality 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 broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (also called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams 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 with the appropriate phase relationship so that radio waves from the separate antennas are combined to cancel and suppress radiation in undesired directions while increasing radiation in desired directions.

[0035] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocation (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 QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is 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 QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0036] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a particular direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive 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 RF signals received from that direction.

[0037] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially related. Spatial relationship means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0038] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if a base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0039] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified with frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although a portion of FR1 is above 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and papers. Similar nomenclature issues may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the “millimeter wave” band.

[0040] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as a frequency range designated FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands included within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, thus effectively extending the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. Higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency ranges designated FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands is included within the EHF band.

[0041] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless specifically stated otherwise, terms such as "sub-6 GHz," as used herein, may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that terms such as "mmWave," as used herein, may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within the ranges of FR2, FR4, FR4-a, or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0042] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and is the cell on which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE-specific control channels and may (but is not always) be a carrier among licensed frequencies. The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier among unlicensed frequencies. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier shall contain only the necessary signaling information and signals; e.g., there shall be no UE-specific signaling information and signals in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This may be done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which several base stations are communicating, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0043] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or data reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz carriers combined in a multi-carrier system would theoretically provide a 2x data rate increase (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0044] Wireless communications system 100 may further include UE 164, which may communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communications link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE 164.

[0045] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) can communicate with the base station 102 via a communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., the UE 164, the UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). Wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that enables direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication having to go through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) medium sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may in some cases be unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, a group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to all other SL-UEs in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are performed between SL-UEs without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0046] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a target wireless communications medium, which may be shared with other vehicular and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications between other RATs. The “medium” may consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communications resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the target medium may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. While different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communications systems (e.g., by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Exemplary systems of this type include CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and various variations thereof.

[0047] 1 illustrates only two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), it should be noted that any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Additionally, while only UE 182 has been described as being beamforming capable, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be beamforming capable. If SL-UEs are beamforming capable, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward a base station (e.g., base station 102, 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0048] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine the receiver's location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code with a set number of chips. While typically located within the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signals 124 from the SV 112 to obtain geolocation information.

[0049] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation system(s) that provide integrity information, error correction, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided Geo-Augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0050] In one aspect, the SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, the SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5G network. This element then provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In this way, the UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from the SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from the terrestrial base station 102.

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0052] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network configuration 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally considered as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, data network access, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In additional configurations, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have 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 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0053] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE(s) 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple 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 location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0054] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be viewed functionally 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, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. AMF264 functionality also includes security context management (SCM).The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulated services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interworking with an evolved packet system (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0055] The functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), 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) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), 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 location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the SLP 272.

[0056] 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 to route traffic to the 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.

[0057] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260, to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple 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 may connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, while the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-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 (e.g., third-party servers 274) via the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0058] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party servers 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0059] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and in particular the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNB(s) 222 (and / or ng-eNB(s) 224) of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0060] The functionality of the gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as forwarding user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or multiple cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0061] 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 equipment, such as a network node, network entity, network mobility element, RAN node, core network node, network element, or base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, can be implemented in an aggregated or separated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit / receive point (TRP), or cell) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0062] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (e.g., one or more centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU or alternatively geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may 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).

[0063] The operation of a base station type or network design may take into account the aggregation characteristics of base station functions. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized 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)). Disaggregation may include distributing functions across two or more units in different physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functions of at least one unit, which may allow flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station, or a disaggregated RAN architecture, may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0064] 2C illustrates an exemplary disaggregated base station architecture 250 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (e.g., a near-real time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a non-real time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both). The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DU 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RU 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RU 287 may communicate with each UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 may be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0065] Each of the units, i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and quasi-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255, may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the unit's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, a unit may include a wired interface configured to receive signals from or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Furthermore, the units may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive, transmit, or transmit signals via a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0066] In some aspects, the CU 280 can host one or more upper layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be executed using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may 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, the CU 280 may be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP units may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface, such as an E1 interface, when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as needed, for network control and signaling.

[0067] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit including one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 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 for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.), at least in part according to a functional division such as that defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285 or with control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0068] Lower layer functions may be performed by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, the RUs 287 controlled by the DUs 285 may correspond to logical nodes hosting RF processing functions, lower PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transforms (FFTs), inverse FFTs (iFFTs), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional division, such as a lower layer functional division. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU(s) 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DUs 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU(s) 285 and CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0069] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to support deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-cloud) 269) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the CU 280, the DU 285, the RU 287, and the quasi-RT RIC 259. In some implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate with hardware aspects of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255.

[0070] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic 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 updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the quasi-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or in communication with the quasi-RT RIC 259 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The quasi-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources by data collection and action via interfaces (e.g., via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB to the quasi-RT RIC 259.

[0071] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate the AI / ML models deployed to the quasi-RT RIC 259. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC 259 or may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function in the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the quasi-RT RIC 259 may be configured to adjust RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may employ AI / ML models to monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and implement corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or through the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., A1 policies).

[0072] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated within a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including a location server 230 and an LMF 270, or alternatively, may be independent of the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., within an ASIC, within a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the illustrated components to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0073] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), respectively, in accordance with a designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358, respectively, and include one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0074] The UE 302 and base station 304 also each, at least in some cases, include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) over the wireless communication medium. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.) in accordance with a designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0075] UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and action from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine the locations of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using the obtained measurements according to any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0076] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, that provide a means for communicating (e.g., a means for transmitting, a means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, a base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, a network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0077] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired link or a wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying the transmitter and receiver circuitry within a single device), in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other implementations may be embodied in other ways. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that enables the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that enables the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver circuitry may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not both at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0078] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a “transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers generally involve signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involve signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0079] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, e.g., to provide functionality related to wireless communications and to provide other processing functions. Accordingly, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may comprise processing means, such as determining means, calculating means, receiving means, transmitting means, and directing means. In one aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, e.g., one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0080] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, the memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide storage means, retrieval means, maintenance means, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include carrier phase measurement components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The carrier phase measurement components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, carrier phase measurement components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, carrier phase measurement components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A illustrates possible locations of carrier phase measurement component 342, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of a carrier phase measurement component 388, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations for a carrier phase measurement component 398, which may be part of, for example, one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0081] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide a means of sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0082] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing instructions (e.g., audio and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0083] Referring more particularly to the one or more processors 384, on the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with forwarding upper layer PDUs, error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0084] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the individual spatial streams for transmission.

[0085] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto RF carriers and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency-domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functions.

[0086] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0087] Similar to the functionality described in connection with downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIBs, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with forwarding upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0088] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with the individual spatial streams for transmission.

[0089] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0090] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0091] For convenience, the UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the illustrated components may have different functions in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A-3C are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, device use, or other considerations. For example, in FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, etc. 3B, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capability), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular only), or may omit satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein but should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0092] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are embodied within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated within the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0093] The components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be performed by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be performed by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Additionally, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be performed by processor and memory component(s) of network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, functions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, it should be understood that such operations, functions, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, carrier phase measurement components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0094] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., the NG RAN 220 and / or the 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0095] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating example frame structures according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0096] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (i.e., 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0097] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or greater may be available. At each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, i.e., 10 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 50 with an FFT size of 4K. For a 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, i.e., 20 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.5 ms, a symbol duration of 33.3 μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 100 for a 4K FFT size. For a 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, i.e., 40 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.25 ms, a symbol duration of 16.7 μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 200 for a 4K FFT size. For a 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, i.e., 80 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.125 ms, a symbol duration of 8.33 μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 400 for a 4K FFT size. For a 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, i.e., 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with an FFT size of 4K is 800.

[0098] In the example of Figure 4, a 15 kHz numerology is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figure 4, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0099] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, and each time slot includes one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIG. 4, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0100] Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). The reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communications. Figure 4 shows example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R").

[0101] 5 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) procedure 500 between a UE 504 and a location server (depicted as a Location Management Function (LMF) 570) for performing a positioning operation. As shown in FIG. 5, positioning of the UE 504 is supported via an exchange of LPP messages between the UE 504 and the LMF 570. The LPP messages may be exchanged between the UE 504 and the LMF 570 via the UE's serving base station (depicted as a serving gNB 502) and a core network (not shown). The LPP procedure 500 may be used to position the UE 504 to support various location-related services, such as navigation for the UE 504 (or for a user of the UE 504), for routing, for providing an accurate location to a public safety answering point (PSAP) in connection with an emergency call from the UE 504 to the PSAP, or for some other reason. The LPP procedure 500 may also be referred to as a positioning session, and there may be multiple positioning sessions for different types of positioning methods (e.g., Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Extended Cell Identity (E-CID), etc.).

[0102] Initially, the UE 504 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities (e.g., an LPP Capability Request message) from the LMF 570 at stage 510. At stage 520, the UE 504 provides the LMF 570 with its positioning capabilities for the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Capability Provision message to the LMF 570 indicating the positioning methods and characteristics of these positioning methods supported by the UE 504 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Capability Provision message may, in some aspects, indicate the types of positioning that the UE 504 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) and may indicate the UE 504's ability to support those types of positioning.

[0103] Upon receiving the LPP Provide Capabilities message in step 520, the LMF 570 determines to use a particular type of positioning method (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based on the indicated types of positioning that the UE 504 supports, and determines a set of one or more Transmission / Reception Points (TRPs) from which the UE 504 should measure downlink positioning reference signals or to which the UE 504 should transmit uplink positioning reference signals. In step 530, the LMF 570 sends an LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the UE 504 identifying the set of TRPs.

[0104] In some implementations, the Provide LPP Assistance Data message in stage 530 may be sent by the LMF 570 to the UE 504 in response to an LPP Request Assistance Data message (not shown in FIG. 5) sent by the UE 504 to the LMF 570. The Request LPP Assistance Data message may include an identifier of the serving TRP of the UE 504 and a request for positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration of neighboring TRPs.

[0105] At stage 540, the LMF 570 sends a request for location information to the UE 504. The request may be an LPP Request Location Information message. This message typically includes information elements that specify the location information type, the desired accuracy of the location estimate, and the response time (i.e., the desired latency). Note that a low latency requirement allows for a longer response time, while a high latency requirement requires a shorter response time. However, a long response time is referred to as a high latency, and a short response time is referred to as a low latency.

[0106] It should be noted that in some implementations, for example, if the UE 504 sends a request for assistance data to the LMF 570 (e.g., in an LPP Request Assistance Data message not shown in FIG. 5) after receiving a request for location information in stage 540, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message sent in stage 530 may be sent after the LPP Request Location Information message in 540.

[0107] In step 550, the UE 504 utilizes the assistance information received in step 530 and any additional data received in step 540 (e.g., desired location accuracy or maximum response time) to perform positioning operations (e.g., measuring DL-PRS, transmitting UL-PRS, etc.) for the selected positioning method.

[0108] At stage 560, the UE 504 may send an LPP Provide Location Information message to the LMF 570 conveying the results of any measurements obtained at stage 550 (e.g., Time of Arrival (ToA), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Receive-Transmit (Rx-Tx), etc.) before or upon expiration of any maximum response time (e.g., the maximum response time provided by the LMF 570 at stage 540). The LPP Provide Location Information message at stage 560 may also include the time(s) at which the positioning measurements were obtained and the identity of the TRP from which the positioning measurements were obtained. Note that the time between the request for location information at 540 and the response at 560 is the "response time" and indicates the latency of the positioning session.

[0109] The LMF 570 calculates an estimated location of the UE 504 using an appropriate positioning technique (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based at least in part on the measurements received in the LPP location information provision message in stage 560.

[0110] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OT-DOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDoA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. FIG. 6 illustrates examples of various positioning methods according to aspects of the present disclosure. In an OTDOA or DL-TDoA positioning procedure illustrated by scenario 610, a UE measures the differences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from pairs of base stations, referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the assistance data. The UE then measures RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, a positioning entity (e.g., the UE in the case of UE-based positioning or a location server in the case of UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the location of the UE.

[0111] For DL-AoD positioning, as illustrated by scenario 620, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location(s) of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known locations of the transmitting base station(s).

[0112] Uplink-based positioning methods include 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 an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals that are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timing of the participating base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTA of the reference base station and that of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location using TDOA.

[0113] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0114] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined from the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). In the case of multi-RTT positioning illustrated by scenario 630, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) conducts RTT positioning procedures with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to allow the location of the first entity to be determined based on the distance to the second entities and the known locations of the second entities (e.g., using multilateration). As illustrated by scenario 640, RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve location accuracy.

[0115] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identities, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known location of the base station(s).

[0116] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or base station's cell / TRP) from which to measure the reference signal, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots containing the PRS, the periodicity of the consecutive slots containing the PRS, a muting sequence, a frequency hopping sequence, a reference signal identifier, a reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may be obtained directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes itself without using assistance data.

[0117] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and an uncertainty, or search window, associated with the expected RSTD before and after the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range for the expected RSTD may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurements are in FR1, the value range for the expected RSTD uncertainty may be + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range for the expected RSTD uncertainty may be + / - 8 μs.

[0118] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or urban and include a street address, postal address, or some other linguistic description of the location. A location estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or defined absolutely (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that the location is expected to be within with some specified or default level of confidence).

[0119] 7A is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a measured carrier phase φ of a reference signal carrier 712 and a distance ρ from a reference signal transmitter 720 to a reference signal receiver 730, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some aspects, the distance ρ between the reference signal transmitter 720 (e.g., a gNB) and receiver 730 (e.g., a UE) may be expressed in terms of N full wavelengths λ of the carrier 712 and the remaining fractional wavelength of the carrier 712. The remaining fractional wavelength may be determined based on the measured carrier phase φ. Thus, the distance ρ may have the following formula:

[0120]

number

[0121]

number

[0122] 7B illustrates a relationship between a first measured carrier phase φ of a first carrier 714 of a reference signal, a second measured carrier phase φ of a second carrier 716 of a reference signal, and a distance ρ from a transmitter 720 of the reference signal to a receiver 730 of the reference signal, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the distance ρ between the transmitter 720 and the receiver 730 may be expressed in terms of N full wavelengths λ of the first carrier 714 and a first remaining fractional wavelength of the first carrier 714, or in terms of N full wavelengths λ of the second carrier 716 and a second remaining fractional wavelength of the second carrier 716. Thus, when the received waveform of the reference signal is comprised of multiple carriers, e.g., the first carrier 714 and the second carrier 716, multiple carrier phase observations can be made. For example, mathematically, the received phase of the ith carrier may have the following equation:

[0123]

number

[0124]

number

[0125] According to some communication standards, such as LTE or NR, the PRS is an OFDM-based signal and therefore has a waveform consisting of multiple subcarriers. In some aspects according to LTE or NR, the reference signal (e.g., the PRS) may be received in the form of resource elements (REs) in the frequency domain. In some aspects, many location estimation procedures are based on determining a channel impulse response, which requires an IFFT operation to be performed to convert the received REs in the frequency domain to the time domain. In some other aspects, using carrier phase measurements and a wide-laning (or extra-wide-laning) approach, the UE location estimation procedure may be performed in the frequency domain without the requirement for an IFFT operation.

[0126] In some aspects, wide-laning or extra-wide-laning corresponds to an approach also used in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology. Wide-laning or extra-wide-laning corresponds to a combination of two or more received wavelengths at a receiver, such that wider wavelengths can be mathematically obtained and carrier phase measurements can be performed based on the wider wavelengths. With multiple subcarriers available in OFDM-based communication systems, several combinations of subcarrier frequencies can be made to obtain many wide lanes (e.g., many wider wavelengths). In some aspects, carrier phase measurements for these wider wavelengths can be performed to resolve integer period ambiguities and thus determine accurate distances accordingly.

[0127] In some aspects, carrier phase measurements may be highly sensitive to noise, such as noise caused by the receiver and / or the channel. In some aspects, carrier phase measurements may be highly sensitive to whether the signal path has a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenario. In some aspects, carrier phase measurements may be highly sensitive to multipath scenarios. Thus, in many implementations, there are many practical challenges to using carrier phase measurements as a standalone technique for location estimation procedures in all scenarios.

[0128] On the other hand, frequency-domain estimation of carrier phase can be a very simple task and can require very little processing resources. Rather than using only carrier measurements as a standalone positioning technique, when signal path conditions permit, such as having a good line-of-sight condition or a good likelihood of having an LOS scenario, carrier phase measurements can be used to assist other timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures that use timing and / or angle measurements, such as TDOA, angle of departure (AOD), time of arrival (TOA), multi-cell RTT, or a combination thereof. Thus, the positioning accuracy of timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures can be improved with the help of carrier phase measurements.

[0129] Thus, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, instead of being used as a standalone positioning estimation method, carrier phase measurements may be used to assist timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures without additional performance capability requirements.

[0130] 8 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating various operations of an exemplary carrier phase measurement-aided location estimation procedure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Figure 8 illustrates exemplary interactions between a UE 802 (e.g., any UE described in this disclosure), a TRP or base station 804 (e.g., any TRP or base station described in this disclosure that is serving the UE 802), one or more TRPs or base stations 806 (e.g., any TRP or base station described in this disclosure that is not serving the UE 802), and a location server 808 (e.g., a location server 230, an LMF 270, or an SLP 272 described in this disclosure).

[0131] At 812, the location server 808 may transmit a message including assistance data to the UE 802 to perform the UE position estimation procedure. In some aspects, the assistance data includes information indicating TRPs, PRS resource sets, and / or PRS resource elements that the UE 802 may need to perform the position estimation procedure. In some aspects, the assistance data also specifies which timing-based positioning method and / or which angle-based positioning method should be used in the UE position estimation procedure.

[0132] In some aspects, the assistance data may further include an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to the position estimation procedure (e.g., to the position estimation procedure itself for UE-based positioning, or to one or more measurement reports for UE-assisted positioning). In some aspects, the indication may further indicate whether application of the carrier phase is mandatory, optional, and / or conditional for the UE 802. In some aspects, whether the carrier phase should be applied to the position estimation procedure or to one or more measurement reports may be conditional on at least the likelihood of a reference signal transmission (or previous transmission within a certain duration) for the position estimation procedure having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold, a reference signal (or previous transmission within a duration) having a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) greater than a threshold, or a schedule provided by the server 808.

[0133] In some aspects, whether the carrier phase should be applied to a position estimation procedure (e.g., to the position estimation procedure itself for UE-based positioning, or to one or more measurement reports for UE-assisted positioning) may be defined according to a communication standard, and additional signaling may be simplified or omitted.

[0134] In some aspects, the server 808 may be an LMF and may be responsible for determining when to enable carrier phase measurements on PRS resources. In some aspects, the LMF may have the ability to enable or disable PRS carrier phase measurements during a positioning session.

[0135] In some aspects, the timing-based positioning method may include DL-TDoA positioning, RTT positioning, or multi-RTT positioning. In some aspects, the angle-based positioning method may include DL-AoD. In some aspects, the one or more measurement reports may include DL-TDoA signal measurement information, multi-RTT signal measurement information, or DL-AoD signal measurement information.

[0136] At 816a, the TRP or base station 804 transmits one or more downlink reference signals to the UE 802. At 816b, the neighboring TRP or base station 806 also transmits one or more downlink reference signals to the UE 802. In some aspects, the downlink reference signals may be PRSs.

[0137] At 822, the UE 802 performs one or more timing or angle measurements on reference signals to perform a positioning estimation procedure as specified in the assistance data. In some aspects, the timing measurements may include measuring times of arrival of one or more reference signals and / or determining a time difference based on the times of arrival of the one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the angle measurements may include measuring beam signal strengths of the one or more reference signals so that a directional relationship between the UE, the TRP, and the base station may be determined based on a beam having the strongest beam signal strength. Next, at 826a, when the positioning estimation procedure is a UE-based positioning procedure, the UE 802 performs a timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedure to determine the location of the UE based on the method specified by the assistance data (e.g., DL-TDoA, DL-AoD, RTT, or a combination thereof) and based on the timing measurements (e.g., measured times of arrival or time differences) and / or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strengths).

[0138] At 832, when carrier phase is to be applied to the positioning estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports, the UE 802 performs one or more carrier phase measurements to measure at least the carrier phase of a reference signal. Then, at 836a, when the positioning estimation procedure is a UE-based positioning procedure, the UE performs carrier phase aiding refinement to refine the UE's location determined at 826a based on the carrier phase measured at 832.

[0139] Alternatively, when the positioning estimation procedure is a UE-assisted positioning procedure, at 840, the UE may transmit one or more measurement reports to the server 808 based on the timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) and / or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strengths) and based on the measured carrier phase. In some aspects, the one or more measurement reports may further include an indication indicating the likelihood of transmission of each of the reference signals having an LOS or NLOS scenario. The server 808 can determine a confidence level for each carrier phase measurement based at least on the LOS / NLOS indication.

[0140] At 826b, the server performs a timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedure to determine the location of the UE based on the method specified by the assistance data (e.g., DL-TDoA, DL-AoD, RTT, or a combination thereof) and based on timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strength). Then, at 836b, the UE performs carrier phase aiding refinement to refine the UE's location determined at 826a based on the carrier phase. In some aspects, during carrier phase aiding refinement 836a or 836b, ambiguity in integer periods of the carrier of the reference signal may be resolved based on the distance corresponding to the location determined at 826a or 826b.

[0141] In some aspects, carrier phase measurement may work extremely well when the transmission of the reference signal has a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, such as an indoor LOS use case. However, carrier phase measurement may not work as well or as conveniently in non-linear or multipath scenarios. Therefore, in some aspects, to perform carrier phase measurement under non-linear and multipath scenarios, the UE 802 may perform summation processing on a channel energy response (CER) in the time domain. Thus, the UE 802 may be implemented with increased processing power requirements, similar to those required when carrier phase is used as a standalone positioning method.

[0142] On the other hand, most timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures may already include a process of descrambling PRS resource elements in the frequency domain. In some aspects, descrambling PRS resource elements may be used to measure carrier phase and / or integer period ambiguity of a carrier. Thus, in some aspects according to the present disclosure, to support carrier phase measurement, the UE 802 may calculate carrier phase measurements only in the frequency domain. Thus, in some aspects, no processing capability extensions need to be implemented on the UE to support carrier phase measurement and / or carrier phase measurement-aided positioning estimation procedures.

[0143] 9 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating various operations of another exemplary carrier phase measurement-aided position estimation procedure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Figure 9 illustrates exemplary interactions between a UE 902 (e.g., any UE described in this disclosure), a TRP or base station 904 (e.g., any TRP or base station described in this disclosure that is serving the UE 902), one or more TRPs or base stations 906 (e.g., any TRP or base station described in this disclosure that is not serving the UE 902), and a location server 908 (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, or SLP 272 described in this disclosure).

[0144] At 912, the location server 908 sends configuration information to the UE 902 for performing a position estimation procedure for the UE. In some aspects, the configuration information includes information indicating TRP and / or SRS resource elements that the UE 902 may need to perform the position estimation procedure. At 916a, the TRP or base station 904 receives from the UE 902 a set of one or more reference signals transmitted in accordance with the configuration information. At 916b, a neighboring TRP or base station 906 receives from the UE 902 the same or another set of one or more reference signals transmitted in accordance with the configuration information. In some aspects, the reference signals may be SRS.

[0145] In some aspects, the server 908 may instruct the TRP or base station 904 and / or neighboring TRP or base station 906 that the carrier phase should be applied (e.g., measured and reported in one or more measurement reports to the server 908) to the location estimation procedure, either unconditionally or conditionally. In some aspects, the server 908, the TRP or base station 904, and / or the neighboring TRP or base station 906 are configured to unconditionally or conditionally apply the carrier phase to the location estimation procedure as defined in accordance with a communication standard. In some aspects, whether the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure may be conditioned on at least the likelihood of transmitting a reference signal for the location estimation procedure having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold, a reference signal having a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) greater than a threshold, or a schedule provided by the server 908.

[0146] At 922a, the TRP or base station 904 performs one or more timing or angle measurements on reference signals to perform a positioning estimation procedure. In some aspects, the timing measurements may include measuring times of arrival of one or more reference signals and / or determining a time difference based on the times of arrival of the one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the angle measurements may include measuring beam signal strengths of the one or more reference signals so that a directional relationship between the UE, the TRP, and the base station can be determined based on a beam having the strongest beam signal strength. At 932a, when carrier phase is applied to the positioning estimation procedure, the TRP or base station 904 performs one or more carrier phase measurements to measure at least the carrier phase of the reference signals.

[0147] Next, at 942a, the TRP or base station 904 can send one or more measurement reports to the server 908 based on the timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) and / or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strength) and based on the measured carrier phase.

[0148] Also, at 922b, the neighboring TRP or base station 906 performs one or more timing or angle measurements on the reference signal to perform a positioning estimation procedure. At 932b, when carrier phase is applied to the positioning estimation procedure, the neighboring TRP or base station 906 performs one or more carrier phase measurements to measure at least the carrier phase of the reference signal. Then, at 942b, the neighboring TRP or base station 906 can send one or more measurement reports to the server 908 based on the timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) and / or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strength), and based on the measured carrier phase.

[0149] In some aspects, the one or more measurement reports transmitted at 942a and / or 942b may further include an indication indicating the likelihood of each transmission of the reference signal having a LOS or NLOS scenario. The server 908 can determine a confidence level for each carrier phase measurement based at least on the LOS / NLOS indication.

[0150] At 950, the server 908 performs a timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedure to determine the location of the UE 902 based on the UL-TDoA, UL-AoA, RTT, or a combination thereof, as well as based on timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strength). At 960, the server 908 performs carrier phase aiding refinement to refine the location of the UE determined at 950 based on the carrier phase measured at 932a and / or 932b. In some aspects, during carrier phase aiding refinement 960, ambiguity of an integer period of the carrier of the reference signal may be resolved based on a distance corresponding to the location determined at 950.

[0151] 10 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating various operations of another exemplary carrier phase measurement-aided position estimation procedure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Figure 10 illustrates exemplary interactions between a UE 1002 (e.g., any UE described in this disclosure), a TRP or base station 1004 (e.g., any TRP or base station described in this disclosure that is serving the UE 1002), one or more TRPs or base stations 1006 (e.g., any TRP or base station described in this disclosure that is not serving the UE 1002), and a location server 1008 (e.g., a location server 230, an LMF 270, or an SLP 272 described in this disclosure).

[0152] At 1012, the location server 1008 may transmit a message including assistance data to the UE 1002 to perform the UE position estimation procedure. In some aspects, the assistance data includes information indicating TRPs, PRS resource sets, and / or PRS resource elements that the UE 1002 may need to perform the position estimation procedure. In some aspects, the assistance data also specifies which timing-based positioning method and / or which angle-based positioning method should be used in the UE position estimation procedure.

[0153] In some aspects, the assistance data may further include an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to a position estimation procedure (e.g., to the position estimation procedure itself for UE-based positioning or to one or more measurement reports for UE-assisted positioning). In some aspects, whether the carrier phase should be applied to a position estimation procedure (e.g., to the position estimation procedure itself for UE-based positioning or to one or more measurement reports for UE-assisted positioning) may be predetermined as defined in accordance with a communication standard.

[0154] In some aspects, the timing-based positioning method may include DL-TDoA positioning, RTT positioning, or multi-RTT positioning. In some aspects, the angle-based positioning method may include DL-AoD. In some aspects, the one or more measurement reports may include DL-TDoA signal measurement information, multi-RTT signal measurement information, or DL-AoD signal measurement information.

[0155] Furthermore, in some aspects, the assistance data may indicate that measurements of the reference signals are performed according to two different modes, including a first mode in which one or more timing or angle measurements are performed on a first one or more reference signals and a second mode in which carrier phase measurements are performed on a second one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the first mode may include performing carrier phase measurements on the first one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the second mode may be free from performing or reporting any timing or angle measurements on the second one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the first and second modes may be performed during alternating different time windows. In some aspects, 1022, 1026a, 1032, 1036a, and 1040 in FIG. 10 may correspond to a first mode of operation, and 1062, 1066a, and 1070 may correspond to a second mode of operation. In some aspects, the time window for performing the first mode may correspond to a position acquisition period, and the time window for performing the second mode may correspond to a position tracking period.

[0156] At 1016a, the TRP or base station 1004 transmits one or more downlink reference signals to the UE 1002. At 1016b, the neighboring TRP or base station 1006 also transmits one or more downlink reference signals to the UE 1002. In some aspects, the downlink reference signals may be PRSs. The reference signals at 1016a and 1016b may correspond to first one or more reference signals for the first mode.

[0157] At 1022, the UE 1002 performs one or more timing or angle measurements on first one or more reference signals to perform a positioning estimation procedure as specified in the assistance data. In some aspects, the timing measurements may include measuring times of arrival of the one or more reference signals and / or determining a time difference based on the times of arrival of the one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the angle measurements may include measuring beam signal strengths of the one or more reference signals so that a directional relationship between the UE, the TRP, and the base station may be determined based on a beam having the strongest beam signal strength. Next, at 1026a, when the positioning estimation procedure is a UE-based positioning procedure, the UE 1002 performs a timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedure to determine the location of the UE based on the method specified by the assistance data (e.g., DL-TDoA, DL-AoD, RTT, or a combination thereof) and based on the timing measurements (e.g., measured times of arrival or time differences) or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strengths).

[0158] At 1032, when carrier phase is to be applied to the positioning estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports for the first mode, the UE 1002 performs one or more carrier phase measurements to measure at least the carrier phase of a reference signal. Then, at 1036a, when the positioning estimation procedure is a UE-based positioning procedure, the UE performs carrier phase aiding refinement to refine the UE location determined at 1026a based on the carrier phase measured at 1032.

[0159] In some aspects, when the positioning estimation procedure according to the first mode is a UE-assisted positioning procedure, at 1040, the UE 1002 may transmit a first one or more measurement reports to the server 1008 based on timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) and / or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strengths) and / or based on measured carrier phases. In some aspects, the first one or more measurement reports may further include an indication indicating the likelihood of transmission of each of the reference signals having an LOS or NLOS scenario. The server 1008 may determine a confidence level of each carrier phase measurement based at least on the LOS / NLOS indication.

[0160] At 1026b, when the positioning estimation procedure according to the first mode is a UE-assisted positioning procedure, the server 1008 may determine a location of the UE based on a method specified by the assistance data (e.g., DL-TDoA, DL-AoD, RTT, or a combination thereof) as well as based on timing measurements (e.g., measured time of arrival or time difference) or angle measurements (e.g., measured beam signal strength). At 1036b, the server 1008 may perform carrier phase aiding refinement to refine the location of the UE determined at 1026b based on the carrier phase. In some aspects, during carrier phase aiding refinement 1036a or 1036b, ambiguity of an integer period of the carrier of the reference signal may be resolved based on a distance corresponding to the location determined at 1026a or 1026b.

[0161] At 1052a, the TRP or base station 1004 transmits one or more downlink reference signals to the UE 1002. At 1052b, the neighboring TRP or base station 1006 also transmits one or more downlink reference signals to the UE 1002. In some aspects, the downlink reference signals may be PRSs. The reference signals at 1052 and 1052b may correspond to second one or more reference signals for the second mode.

[0162] At 1062, the UE 1002 performs one or more carrier phase measurements to measure at least the carrier phase of the reference signal. Then, at 1066a, when the position estimation procedure is a UE-based positioning procedure, the UE performs carrier phase aiding refinement to refine the UE's location determined at 1026a or 1036a based on the carrier phase measured at 1062.

[0163] In some aspects, when the positioning estimation procedure in the second mode is a UE-assisted positioning procedure, at 1070, the UE may transmit second one or more measurement reports to the server 1008 based on the measured carrier phase. In some aspects, the second one or more measurement reports do not indicate the arrival times and beam signal strengths of the second one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the second one or more measurement reports may further include an indication indicating the likelihood of transmission of each of the reference signals having an LOS or NLOS scenario. The server 1008 can determine a confidence level for each carrier phase measurement based at least on the LOS / NLOS indication.

[0164] At 1066b, when the positioning estimation procedure according to the first mode is a UE-assisted positioning procedure, the server 1008 may perform carrier phase aided refinement to refine the location of the UE determined at 1026b or 1036b based on the carrier phase. In some aspects, during carrier phase aided refinement 1066a or 1066b, ambiguity of an integer period of the carrier of the reference signal may be resolved based on a distance corresponding to the location determined at 1026a, 1026b, 1036a, or 1036b.

[0165] Thus, during a first time window in which the first mode is implemented, the UE 1002 may measure all PRS resources based on the configuration provided in the assistance data. After measurements in the first mode, the UE 1002 may recognize whether the transmission of a reference signal during the first time window has an LOS scenario or a multipath scenario. In some aspects, assuming the UE 1002 is given a good number of PRS resources during the first window for the first mode, the UE 1002 may identify and / or use PRS resources that are more likely to have an LOS scenario. Thus, the UE 1002 may have a good estimate of positioning fix.

[0166] Furthermore, in some aspects, during a second time window in which the second mode is executed after the first time window, instead of performing all PRS measurements, the UE 1002 may measure only PRS resources that have a good LOS scenario according to the results from the first time window. In some aspects, the UE 1002 may perform carrier phase measurements in the frequency domain and omit corresponding timing and angle measurements. Thus, in some aspects, the UE 1002 may save power consumption during the second time window by not operating an IFFT and / or Earliest Arrival Path (EAP, or sometimes referred to as First Arrival Path, FAP) processing engine or circuitry.

[0167] In some aspects, the time window for executing the first mode or the second mode may be determined by the server 1008 or may be based on the UE implementation.

[0168] In some aspects, the time window for performing the second mode may be based on the SNR of the reference signal. For example, the UE may monitor the SNR of the received PRS. If the SNR is greater than a predetermined threshold, the UE may start reporting only carrier phase measurements (i.e., the second mode) in a subsequent reporting session. The SNR threshold may trigger transmission of continuous carrier phase-only measurement reports, and the UE may continue measuring and reporting only carrier phase (i.e., the second mode) within a window defined by a duration T after the trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met. In some aspects, the duration T may be given in seconds. In some aspects, the duration T may be controlled by the server 1008 or implemented by the UE 1002.

[0169] In some aspects, the time window for performing the second mode may be based on an LOS factor of the reference signal. For example, the UE may monitor an LOS factor of the received PRS, where the LOS factor may indicate the likelihood of a PRS transmission having an LOS scenario. In some aspects, the LOS factor may range from 0.0 to 1.0, with 1.0 representing a very high probability that the transmission has an LOS scenario and 0.0 representing a very low probability that the transmission has an LOS scenario. If the LOS factor is greater than a predetermined threshold (e.g., greater than 0.9), the UE may begin reporting only carrier phase measurements (i.e., the second mode) in a subsequent reporting session. The LOS factor threshold may trigger transmission of consecutive carrier phase-only measurement reports, and the UE may continue measuring and reporting only carrier phase (i.e., the second mode) within a window defined by a duration T after the trigger condition for transmission of consecutive measurement reports is met. In some aspects, the duration T may be given in seconds. In some aspects, the duration T may be controlled by the server 1008 or implemented by the UE 1002.

[0170] In some aspects, the time window for executing the second mode can be based on a schedule provided by the server 1008. For example, the LMF may indicate a TRP, a PRS resource set, and / or a set of PRS resource elements for which the UE should report only CP measurements (i.e., second mode).

[0171] In some aspects, measuring and reporting only the carrier phase corresponds to a measurement or report that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the corresponding measured reference signal, and may further include other configuration or system information.

[0172] 11A is a timing diagram illustrating performing measurements according to a first mode and a second mode during different time windows according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the first mode corresponds to performing one or more timing or angle measurements on a first one or more reference signals, and optionally performing one or more carrier phase measurements on the first one or more reference signals. The second mode corresponds to performing one or more carrier phase measurements on a second one or more reference signals without performing timing and angle measurements on the second one or more reference signals.

[0173] 11A, a server (such as the LMF or server 1008 of FIG. 10) may configure a UE (such as the UE 1002 of FIG. 10) to perform measurements according to a first mode during time window T1 and time window T3, and to perform measurements according to a second mode during time window T2 and time window T4. In some aspects, the duration of time window T2 and time window T4 may not exceed a predetermined duration T, as described with reference to FIG.

[0174] 11B is a timing diagram illustrating power consumption levels corresponding to the first and second modes performed in the example of FIG. 11A in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some aspects, a UE may need to operate an IFFT or EAP processing engine or circuitry to perform timing and / or angle measurements according to the first mode, but may not need to operate an IFFT or EAP processing engine or circuitry to perform carrier phase measurements according to the second mode. Thus, a power consumption level P2 during time window T2 and a power consumption level P4 during time window T4 may be lower than a power consumption level P1 during time window T1 and a power consumption level P3 during time window T3. In some aspects, mixing measurements according to the first and second modes may reduce the total power consumption of the UE.

[0175] Furthermore, according to some communication standards, the results of the timing and / or angle measurements of the reference signal may be mandatory or required in each measurement report. In some aspects according to examples of the present disclosure, communication standards may be modified or new communication standards may be created by omitting the requirement to include the results of the timing and / or angle measurements of the reference signal in each measurement report.

[0176] For example, according to the 3GPP NR standard, Release 16, a DL-TDOA measurement report includes the measured RSTD of a reference signal (e.g., nr-RSTD-r16 in NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement-r16), a DL-AoD measurement report includes the measured RSRP of a reference signal (e.g., nr-DL-PRS-RSRP-ResultRSTD-r16 in NR-DL-AoD-MeasElement-r16), and a multi-RTT measurement report includes the measured Rx-Tx time difference between the transmitted and received reference signal (e.g., nr-UE-RxTxTimeDiff-r16 in NR-Multi-RTT-MeasElement-r16).

[0177] In some aspects, when carrier phase measurements can be used to assist timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures, it can be very useful from a power saving perspective to omit the results of timing or angle measurements (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, and / or Rx-Tx time difference) in the measurement report and instead report the results of carrier phase measurements. For example, during transmission of a reference signal with very good SNR conditions or very good LOS conditions, the carrier phase measurements alone may be good enough to update the UE's position estimate with sufficient accuracy.

[0178] Thus, if a carrier phase report is present or if the UE optionally reports carrier phase measurements along with the results of timing and / or angle measurements, the communication standard may omit reporting the results of the timing and / or angle measurements. For example, the nr-RSTD-r16 information element may be made optional in NR DL-TDOA reporting, the nr-DL-PRS-RSRP-ResultRSTD-r16 information element may be made optional in NR DL-AoD reporting, or the nr-UE-RxTxTimeDiff-r16 information element may be made optional in NR multi-RTT reporting.

[0179] FIG. 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of operating a wireless node to perform a location estimation procedure for a user equipment (UE), according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0180] In some aspects, method 1200 may correspond to a positioning estimation procedure that may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). In some aspects, method 1200 may correspond to operations performed by UEs 802, 902, and / or 1002. In an aspect, method 1200 may be implemented by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or carrier measurement component 342 and may be considered a means for performing one or more of the following operations of method 1200:

[0181] In some aspects, method 1200 may correspond to a positioning estimation procedure that may be performed by a TRP or base station (e.g., any of the TRPs or base stations described herein). In some aspects, method 1200 may correspond to operations performed by a TRP or base station 804, 904, and / or 1004. In an aspect, method 1200 may be implemented by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or carrier measurement component 388 and may be considered a means for performing one or more of the following operations of method 1200:

[0182] At 1210, the wireless node measures the time of arrival (i.e., in the case of timing measurements) or beam signal strength (i.e., in the case of angle measurements) of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node. In some aspects, when the wireless node is a UE, the first one or more reference signals may be PRS from one or more base stations. In some aspects, when the wireless node is a base station, the first one or more reference signals may be SRS from the UE.

[0183] At 1220, the wireless node measures the carrier phase (i.e., in the case of carrier phase measurement) of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node. In some aspects, when the wireless node is a UE, the second one or more reference signals may be PRS from one or more base stations. In some aspects, when the wireless node is a base station, the second one or more reference signals may be SRS from the UE.

[0184] At 1230, the wireless node performs a location estimation procedure for the UE or transmits one or more measurement reports based on the arrival times or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0185] In some aspects, performing a location estimation procedure for the UE is based on DL-TDoA positioning, DL-AoD positioning, or RTT positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least a time of arrival or a beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the measurement report includes information regarding performing DL-TDoA positioning, DL-AoD positioning, RTT positioning, or a combination thereof, based at least on a time of arrival or a beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0186] In some aspects, the second reference signal(s) are the same as the first reference signal(s), in which case method 1200 may correspond to a UE-based or UE-assisted positioning estimation procedure as described with reference to FIG.

[0187] In some aspects, the wireless node may receive a message (e.g., assistance data) from a server, the message may include an indication of whether a carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports. In some aspects, performing a UE location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports may be based on the carrier phase based on an indication included in the message indicating whether the carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in the measurement report.

[0188] In some aspects, the wireless node may obtain an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario. In some aspects, performing a location estimation procedure for the UE or transmitting one or more measurement reports may be based on a carrier phase based on the indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold (e.g., greater than 0.9).

[0189] In some aspects, the second reference signal(s) are received at the wireless node after the first reference signal(s). In such cases, method 1200 may correspond to a UE-based or UE-assisted positioning estimation procedure, as described with reference to FIG.

[0190] In some aspects, a measurement report of the one or more measurement reports may be based on a carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals, while performing a location estimation procedure for the UE or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports may be based on a time of arrival or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals. In some aspects, a measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0191] In some aspects, the wireless node may obtain an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario. In some aspects, the measurement report based on the second one or more reference signals may not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals based on the indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold (e.g., 0.9).

[0192] In some aspects, the wireless node may obtain an SNR of the first one or more reference signals, hi some aspects, a measurement report based on the second one or more reference signals may not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold.

[0193] In some aspects, the wireless node may receive a message from the server, the message may indicate a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports. In some aspects, the measurement reports based on the second one or more reference signals may not indicate times of arrival and beam signal strengths of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule.

[0194] In some aspects, a wireless node may obtain a duration T for transmission of continuous measurement reports that do not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal, and the wireless node may configure itself to send the continuous measurement report during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met (e.g., based on an SNR threshold or based on an LOS condition). In some aspects, a measurement report based on a second one or more reference signals may not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on such report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0195] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1200 is that carrier phase measurements are used to assist a UE's timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures, increasing the UE's positioning accuracy with negligible demands on additional processing power. Furthermore, when the wireless node is a UE, by mixing timing-based and / or angle-based measurements with carrier phase measurements, the overall power consumption of the UE may be reduced.

[0196] 13 illustrates an example method 1300 of operating a network entity to perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In some aspects, method 1300 may be performed by a network entity (e.g., any of the network entities described herein, an LMF, an SLP, or a server). In some aspects, method 1300 may correspond to operations performed by server 808, 908, and / or 1008. In an aspect, method 1300 may be implemented by one or more network transceivers 398, one or more processors 394, a memory 398, and / or a carrier phase measurement component 398, and may be considered a means for performing one or more of the following operations of method 1300:

[0197] At 1310, the network entity receives one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating arrival times or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node. The first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are transmitted or received by a UE. In some aspects, when the wireless node is a UE, the first and second one or more reference signals may be PRSs from one or more base stations. In some aspects, when the wireless node is a base station, the first and second one or more reference signals may be SRSs from the UE.

[0198] At 1320, the network entity performs a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the arrival times or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0199] In some aspects, performing a location estimation procedure for the UE is based on DL-TDoA positioning, DL-AoD positioning, or RTT positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least a time of arrival or a beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals. In some aspects, the measurement report includes information regarding performing DL-TDoA positioning, DL-AoD positioning, or RTT positioning, or a combination thereof, based at least on a time of arrival or a beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0200] In some aspects, the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals, in which case method 1300 may correspond to the network-based positioning estimation procedure described with reference to FIG.

[0201] In some aspects, the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals. In such cases, method 1300 may correspond to the network-based positioning estimation procedure described with reference to FIG.

[0202] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1300 is that carrier phase measurements are used to assist a UE's timing-based and / or angle-based positioning estimation procedures, increasing the UE's positioning accuracy with negligible demands on additional processing power. Furthermore, when the wireless node is a UE, by mixing timing-based and / or angle-based measurements with carrier phase measurements, the overall power consumption of the UE may be reduced.

[0203] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are expressly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all features of each disclosed exemplary clause. Accordingly, the following clauses should be considered incorporated into the description, and each clause may stand alone as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses within that clause, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be understood that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the aspect(s) of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or any combination of features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include specific combinations (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor) unless these combinations are expressly expressed or can be readily inferred to be unintended. It is further contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0204] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0205] Clause 1. A method of operating a wireless node, comprising: measuring times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node; measuring carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node; and performing a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0206] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein performing a UE location estimation procedure is based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals.

[0207] Clause 3. The method of clause 1 or 2, wherein the one or more measurement reports include information about performing Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0208] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0209] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, further comprising receiving a message from a server, the message including an indication of whether carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports, and performing the UE location estimation procedure or sending one or more measurement reports based on the carrier phase, based on the indication included in the message indicating that carrier phase should be applied to the UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0210] Clause 6. The method of clause 4 or 5, further comprising obtaining an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, and performing a UE location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports based on the indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold, based on carrier phase.

[0211] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals.

[0212] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein one measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals, and performing a UE location estimation procedure or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0213] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, further comprising measuring another carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, wherein performing the UE location estimation procedure or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is further based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals.

[0214] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, further comprising obtaining an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, and performing a location estimation procedure for the UE, or one or more measurement reports based on the indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold, based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals.

[0215] Clause 11. The method of clause 8, wherein the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0216] Clause 12. The method of clause 8, wherein a power consumption level for preparing a measurement report at the wireless node that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals is less than a power consumption level for preparing another measurement report among the one or more measurement reports that indicates the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0217] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 11 or 12, further comprising: obtaining an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of a first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario; and not indicating a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a LOS scenario greater than a threshold, wherein the measurement report among the one or more measurement reports indicates a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0218] Clause 14. The method of clause 11 or 12, further comprising obtaining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first one or more reference signals, wherein the measurement report(s) among the one or more measurement reports do not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold.

[0219] Clause 15. The method of clause 11 or 12, further comprising receiving a message from a server, the message indicating a schedule for transmitting time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, wherein the measurement reports among the one or more measurement reports do not indicate the time-of-arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule.

[0220] Clause 16. The method of clause 11 or 12, further comprising: obtaining a duration for transmitting continuous measurement reports that do not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal; and configuring the wireless node to transmit continuous measurement reports during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for transmitting the continuous measurement reports is met, wherein a measurement report among the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0221] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, further comprising receiving a message from the server, the message indicating the duration.

[0222] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 1 to 17, wherein the wireless node is a UE and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from one or more base stations.

[0223] Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 1 to 18, wherein the wireless node is a base station and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from a UE.

[0224] Clause 20. A method of operating a network entity, comprising: receiving one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE); and performing a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0225] Clause 21. The method of clause 20, wherein performing a UE position estimation procedure includes determining a first location of the UE based on downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or round trip time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, using at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals, and determining a second location of the UE based on the first location and carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals.

[0226] Clause 22. The method of clause 20 or 21, wherein the second reference signal or signals are the same as the first reference signal or signals.

[0227] Clause 23. The method of clause 20 or 21, wherein second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the one or more measurement reports include a first measurement report indicating the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals, and a second measurement report indicating the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

[0228] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, further comprising: sending a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a duration that enables the wireless node to configure the wireless node to transmit a continuous measurement report that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal during a time window that is within a duration after a trigger condition for transmitting the continuous measurement report is met; and a second measurement report that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the second measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0229] Clause 25. The method of clause 23 or 24, further comprising: sending a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a schedule for transmitting time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, and the second measurement report not indicating the time-of-arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the schedule.

[0230] Clause 26. The method of any of clauses 20 to 25, further comprising transmitting a message to the wireless node, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0231] Clause 27. A wireless node comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: measure times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node; measure carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node; and perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmit one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0232] Clause 28. A wireless node as described in Clause 27, wherein the UE's location estimation procedure is based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0233] Clause 29. A wireless node as described in Clause 27 or 28, wherein the one or more measurement reports include information regarding performing Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0234] Clause 30. A wireless node according to any of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0235] Clause 31. The wireless node of clause 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a message from the server via the at least one transceiver, the message including an indication of whether carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports, and wherein the UE location estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports are based on the carrier phase based on an indication included in the message indicating whether carrier phase should be applied to the UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0236] Clause 32. The wireless node of clause 30 or 31, further configured: at least one processor obtains an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario; and the UE's location estimation procedure, or one or more measurement reports, is based on the carrier phase based on the indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold.

[0237] Clause 33. The wireless node of clause 27, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals.

[0238] Clause 34. A wireless node as described in Clause 33, wherein one measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals, and another measurement report of the UE's location estimation procedure or the one or more measurement reports is based on the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0239] Clause 35. The wireless node of Clause 34, wherein at least one processor is configured to measure another carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, and wherein a UE location estimation procedure or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is further based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals.

[0240] Clause 36. The wireless node of clause 35, further configured: at least one processor obtains an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario; and a UE location estimation procedure, or other measurement report of the one or more measurement reports, based on the indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold, based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals.

[0241] Clause 37. A wireless node as described in clause 34, wherein the measurement report(s) of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0242] Clause 38. A wireless node as described in Clause 34, wherein a power consumption level for preparing a measurement report at the wireless node that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals is less than a power consumption level for preparing another measurement report among the one or more measurement reports that indicates the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0243] Clause 39. A wireless node as described in Clause 37 or 38, further configured by at least one processor to: obtain an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of a first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario; and not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the indication that a measurement report among the one or more measurement reports indicates a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold.

[0244] Clause 40. The wireless node of clause 37 or 38, wherein at least one processor is further configured to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first one or more reference signals, and wherein a measurement report among the one or more measurement reports does not indicate an arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold.

[0245] Clause 41. A wireless node as described in Clause 37 or 38, further comprising: at least one processor receiving a message from a server via at least one transceiver, the message indicating a schedule for transmitting time-of-arrival and beam signal strength free measurement reports; and wherein the measurement reports among the one or more measurement reports do not indicate the time-of-arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule.

[0246] Clause 42. A wireless node as described in Clause 37 or 38, further configured such that at least one processor obtains a duration for transmitting successive measurement reports that do not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal, and configures the wireless node to transmit the successive measurement report during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for transmitting the successive measurement report is met, and wherein a measurement report among the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0247] Clause 43. The wireless node of clause 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, a message from the server indicating the duration.

[0248] Clause 44. A wireless node according to any of clauses 27 to 43, wherein the wireless node is a UE and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from one or more base stations.

[0249] Clause 45. The wireless node of any of clauses 27 to 44, wherein the wireless node is a base station and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from a UE.

[0250] Clause 46. A network entity comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE), and to perform a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0251] Clause 47. The network entity of Clause 46, including at least one processor configured to perform a location estimation procedure for the UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine a first location of the UE based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, using at least a time of arrival or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals; and determine a second location of the UE based on the first location and carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals.

[0252] Clause 48. The network entity of clause 46 or 47, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0253] Clause 49. A network entity as described in Clause 46 or 47, wherein second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the one or more measurement reports include a first measurement report indicating the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals, and a second measurement report indicating the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

[0254] Clause 50. The network entity of clause 49, further configured such that at least one processor transmits, via at least one transceiver, a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a duration that enables the wireless node to configure the wireless node to transmit a continuous measurement report that does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal during a time window that is within a duration after a trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met, and a second measurement report that does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the second measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0255] Clause 51. The network entity of clause 49 or 50, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: transmit, via at least one transceiver, a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, and the second measurement report does not indicate the time-of-arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the schedule.

[0256] Clause 52. The network entity of any of clauses 46 to 51, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a message to the wireless node, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0257] Clause 53. A wireless node, comprising: means for measuring at the wireless node a time of arrival or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals; means for measuring at the wireless node a carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals; and means for performing a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports based on the time of arrival or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

[0258] Clause 54. A wireless node as described in Clause 53, wherein the UE's location estimation procedure is based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0259] Clause 55. A wireless node as described in clause 53 or 54, wherein the one or more measurement reports include information regarding performing Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the time of arrival or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0260] Clause 56. A wireless node according to any of clauses 53 to 55, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0261] Clause 57. The wireless node of clause 56, further comprising: means for receiving a message from a server, the message including an indication of whether carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports, and wherein the UE location estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports are based on the carrier phase based on an indication included in the message indicating whether carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0262] Clause 58. The wireless node of clause 56 or 57, further comprising: means for obtaining an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of a first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, based on a carrier phase, based on a UE location estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a LOS scenario greater than a threshold.

[0263] Clause 59. The wireless node of clause 53, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals.

[0264] Clause 60. A wireless node as described in Clause 59, wherein one measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on a carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals, and another measurement report of the UE's location estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports is based on a time of arrival or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0265] Clause 61. The wireless node of clause 60, further comprising means for measuring another carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, wherein a UE location estimation procedure or another measurement report among the one or more measurement reports is further based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals.

[0266] Clause 62. The wireless node of clause 61, further comprising means for obtaining an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of a first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, based on a carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals, where the indication is based on a UE location estimation procedure or other measurement report of the one or more measurement reports indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a LOS scenario greater than a threshold.

[0267] Clause 63. The wireless node of clause 60, wherein the measurement report(s) of the one or more measurement reports do not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0268] Clause 64. A wireless node as described in Clause 60, wherein a power consumption level for preparing a measurement report at the wireless node that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals is less than a power consumption level for preparing another measurement report among the one or more measurement reports that indicates the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0269] Clause 65. A wireless node as described in either clause 63 or 64, further comprising means for obtaining an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of a first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, and means for not indicating a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on an indication in one or more measurement reports indicating a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold.

[0270] Clause 66. A wireless node as described in Clause 63 or 64, further comprising means for obtaining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a first one or more reference signals, wherein a measurement report among the one or more measurement reports does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold.

[0271] Clause 67. A wireless node as described in Clause 63 or 64, further comprising means for receiving a message from a server, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, and wherein the measurement reports among the one or more measurement reports do not indicate the time-of-arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule.

[0272] Clause 68. The wireless node of clause 63 or 64, further comprising: means for obtaining a duration for transmitting successive measurement reports that do not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal; and means for configuring the wireless node to transmit successive measurement reports during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for transmitting the successive measurement reports is met, wherein a measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0273] Clause 69. The wireless node of clause 68, further comprising means for receiving a message from a server, the message indicating a duration.

[0274] Clause 70. A wireless node according to any of clauses 53 to 69, wherein the wireless node is a UE and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from one or more base stations.

[0275] Clause 71. The wireless node of any of clauses 53 to 70, wherein the wireless node is a base station and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from a UE.

[0276] Clause 72. A network entity, comprising: means for receiving one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE); and means for performing a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0277] Clause 73. The network entity described in Clause 72, wherein the means for performing a position estimation procedure for the UE includes: means for determining a first location of the UE based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, using at least the time of arrival or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals; and means for determining a second location of the UE based on the first location and carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals.

[0278] Clause 74. The network entity of clause 72 or 73, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0279] Clause 75. A network entity as described in Clause 72 or 73, wherein second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the one or more measurement reports include a first measurement report indicating the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals, and a second measurement report indicating the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

[0280] Clause 76. The network entity of clause 75 further comprising means for transmitting a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a duration that enables the wireless node to configure the wireless node to transmit a continuous measurement report that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal during a time window that is within a duration after a trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met, and means for a second measurement report that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the second measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0281] Clause 77. The network entity described in Clause 75 or 76, further comprising means for transmitting a message to the wireless node, wherein the message indicates a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, and wherein the second measurement report does not indicate the time-of-arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the schedule.

[0282] Clause 78. A network entity as described in any of clauses 72 to 77, further comprising means for transmitting a message to the wireless node, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0283] Clause 79. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a wireless node, are configured to cause the wireless node to measure times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, measure carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, and perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmit one or more measurement reports based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0284] Clause 80. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 79, wherein the UE's position estimation procedure is based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0285] Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 79 or 80, wherein the one or more measurement reports include information regarding performing Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the time of arrival or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0286] Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 79 to 81, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0287] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 82, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to receive a message from a server, the message including an indication of whether carrier phase should be applied to a UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports, and the UE location estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports are based on the carrier phase based on the indication included in the message indicating that carrier phase should be applied to the UE location estimation procedure or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0288] Clause 84. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 82 or 83, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to obtain an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, and wherein the UE's location estimation procedure, or transmitting one or more measurement reports, is based on carrier phase based on the indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario greater than a threshold.

[0289] Clause 85. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 79, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals.

[0290] Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 85, wherein one measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on a carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals, and another measurement report of the UE's location estimation procedure or one or more measurement reports is based on a time of arrival or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0291] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 86, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to measure another carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals at the wireless node, and wherein a location estimation procedure of the UE or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is further based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals.

[0292] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 87, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to obtain an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, and based on the carrier phase of the first one or more reference signals, a UE location estimation procedure or other measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on the indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a LOS scenario that is greater than a threshold.

[0293] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 86, wherein the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0294] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 86, wherein a power consumption level for preparing a measurement report at the wireless node that does not indicate the arrival time and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals is less than a power consumption level for preparing another of the one or more measurement reports that indicates the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

[0295] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89 or 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to obtain an indication indicating a likelihood of transmission of a first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, and not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the indication that the measurement report among the one or more measurement reports indicates a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having an LOS scenario that is greater than a threshold.

[0296] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89 or 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to obtain a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first one or more reference signals, and wherein the measurement report(s) among the one or more measurement reports do not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold.

[0297] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89 or 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to receive a message from a server, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, and wherein the measurement reports of the one or more measurement reports do not indicate the time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule.

[0298] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89 or 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to obtain a duration for transmitting successive measurement reports that do not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal, configure the wireless node to transmit the successive measurement reports during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for transmitting the successive measurement reports is met, and configure the wireless node to transmit the successive measurement reports during a time window that is within the duration, based on the measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window, the measurement report among the one or more measurement reports not indicating a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

[0299] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 94, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the wireless node, cause the wireless node to receive a message from the server, the message indicating a duration.

[0300] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 79 to 95, wherein the wireless node is a UE and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from one or more base stations.

[0301] Clause 97. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 79 to 96, wherein the wireless node is a base station and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from a UE.

[0302] Clause 98. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to receive one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE), and perform a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the times of arrival or beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

[0303] Clause 99. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 98, comprising computer-executable instructions for causing a network entity to perform a UE location estimation procedure, the computer-executable instructions causing the network entity to determine a first location of the UE based on a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, a Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or a Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, using at least a time of arrival or a beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals, and determining a second location of the UE based on the first location and carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals.

[0304] Clause 100. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 98 or 99, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

[0305] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 98 or 99, wherein a second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the one or more measurement reports include a first measurement report indicating the arrival time or beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals, and a second measurement report indicating the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

[0306] Clause 102. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 101, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to transmit a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a duration that enables the wireless node to configure the wireless node to transmit a continuous measurement report that does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal during a time window that is within a duration after a trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met, and a second measurement report that does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the second measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

[0307] Clause 103. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 101 or 102, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to transmit a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports, and the second measurement report indicating no time-of-arrival and no beam signal strength of a second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the schedule.

[0308] Clause 104. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 98 to 103, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to send a message to the wireless node, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to a location estimation procedure for the UE or included in one or more measurement reports.

[0309] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0310] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. 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 performed as software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may realize the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0311] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0312] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0313] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0314] While the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method of operating a wireless node, comprising: measuring a time of arrival or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals at the wireless node; measuring a carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node; performing a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmitting one or more measurement reports based on the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals; A method comprising:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the performing the location estimation procedure of the UE is based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more measurement reports include information about performing a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, a Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or a Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

5. receiving a message from a server, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure of the UE or included in the one or more measurement reports; 5. The method of claim 4, wherein performing the location estimation procedure of the UE or transmitting the one or more measurement reports is based on the carrier phase based on the indication included in the message indicating that the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure of the UE or included in the one or more measurement reports.

6. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals.

7. a measurement report of the one or more measurement reports based on the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals; 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the performing of the location estimation procedure of the UE or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on the arrival time or the beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

9. obtaining an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario; obtaining, based on the indication that the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the time of arrival and the beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the indication that indicates the likelihood of the transmission of the first one or more reference signals having the LOS scenario greater than a threshold; obtaining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first one or more reference signals; obtaining, among the one or more measurement reports, the measurement report(s) not indicative of the time of arrival and the beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold; receiving a message from a server, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival and beam signal strength free measurement reports; receiving, among the one or more measurement reports, the measurement report(s) not indicating the arrival times and the beam signal strengths of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule; or obtaining a duration for transmission of a continuous measurement report that does not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal, and configuring the wireless node to transmit the continuous measurement report during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for the transmission of the continuous measurement report is met; the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the arrival time and the beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window; and The method of claim 8 further comprising:

10. the wireless node is the UE and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from one or more base stations; or 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless node is a base station, and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from the UE.

11. 1. A method of operating a network entity, comprising: receiving one or more measurement reports, the one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE); performing a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals; A method comprising:

12. performing the location estimation procedure of the UE, determining a first location of the UE based on a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, a Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or a Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, using at least the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals; and determining a second location of the UE based on the first location and the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

13. the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals; or 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the one or more measurement reports include a first measurement report indicating the arrival time or the beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals and a second measurement report indicating the carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals.

14. the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the method further comprises: transmitting a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a duration that enables the wireless node to configure the wireless node to transmit the continuous measurement report that does not indicate a corresponding measured reference signal arrival time and beam signal strength during a time window that is within a duration after a trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met; transmitting the second measurement report, wherein the second measurement report does not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the second measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window; or transmitting a message to the wireless node, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival-free and beam signal strength-free measurement reports; transmitting the second measurement report, the second measurement report not indicating arrival times and beam signal strengths of the second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the schedule; The method of claim 13 further comprising:

15. 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting a message to the wireless node, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure of the UE or included in the one or more measurement reports.

16. 1. A wireless node, comprising: Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor: measuring a time of arrival or beam signal strength of a first one or more reference signals at the wireless node; measuring a carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals at the wireless node; A wireless node configured to perform a user equipment (UE) location estimation procedure or transmit one or more measurement reports based on the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phases of the second one or more reference signals.

17. 17. The wireless node of claim 16, wherein the location estimation procedure of the UE is based on Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals.

18. 17. The wireless node of claim 16, wherein the one or more measurement reports include information regarding performing a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, a Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or a Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, based on at least the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals.

19. 17. The wireless node of claim 16, wherein the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals.

20. the at least one processor: and further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, a message from a server, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure of the UE or included in the one or more measurement reports; 20. The wireless node of claim 19, wherein the location estimation procedure of the UE or the one or more measurement reports is based on the carrier phase based on the indication included in the message indicating that the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure of the UE or included in the one or more measurement reports.

21. 17. The wireless node of claim 16, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals.

22. a measurement report of the one or more measurement reports based on the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals; 22. The wireless node of claim 21, wherein the location estimation procedure of the UE or another measurement report of the one or more measurement reports is based on the arrival time or the beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals.

23. 23. The wireless node of claim 22, wherein the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate a time of arrival and beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node.

24. the at least one processor: obtaining an indication indicative of a likelihood of transmission of the first one or more reference signals having a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario; obtaining, based on the indication that the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports does not indicate the time of arrival and the beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the indication that indicates the likelihood of the transmission of the first one or more reference signals having the LOS scenario greater than a threshold; obtaining a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the first one or more reference signals; obtaining, among the one or more measurement reports, the measurement report(s) not indicative of the time of arrival and the beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the SNR of the first one or more reference signals being greater than a threshold; receiving a message from a server via the at least one transceiver, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival and beam signal strength free measurement reports; receiving, among the one or more measurement reports, the measurement report(s) not indicating the arrival times and the beam signal strengths of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the schedule; or obtaining a duration for transmission of a continuous measurement report that does not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of a corresponding measured reference signal, and configuring the wireless node to transmit the continuous measurement report during a time window that is within the duration after a trigger condition for the transmission of the continuous measurement report is met; 24. The wireless node of claim 23, further configured to: not indicate the arrival times and the beam signal strengths of the second one or more reference signals at the wireless node based on the measurement report of the one or more measurement reports being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window.

25. the wireless node is the UE and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from one or more base stations; or 17. The wireless node of claim 16, wherein the wireless node is a base station, and the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals are from the UE.

26. A network entity comprising: Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, one or more measurement reports indicating times of arrival or beam signal strengths of first one or more reference signals at a wireless node and carrier phases of second one or more reference signals at the wireless node, the first one or more reference signals and the second one or more reference signals being transmitted or received by a user equipment (UE); and performing a location estimation procedure for the UE based on the arrival time or the beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals and based on the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

27. The at least one processor is configured to perform the location estimation procedure for the UE, the at least one processor comprising: determining a first location of the UE based on a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning, a Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning, or a Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning, or a combination thereof, using at least the arrival times or the beam signal strengths of the first one or more reference signals; and determining a second location of the UE based on the first location and the carrier phase of the second one or more reference signals.

28. the second one or more reference signals are the same as the first one or more reference signals; or 27. The network entity of claim 26, wherein the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the one or more measurement reports include a first measurement report indicating the arrival time or the beam signal strength of the first one or more reference signals and a second measurement report indicating the carrier phase of a second one or more reference signals.

29. the second one or more reference signals are received at the wireless node after the first one or more reference signals, and the at least one processor: transmitting a message to the wireless node via the at least one transceiver, the message indicating a duration that enables the wireless node to configure the wireless node to transmit the continuous measurement report that does not indicate a corresponding measured reference signal arrival time and beam signal strength during a time window that is within a duration after a trigger condition for transmission of the continuous measurement report is met; receiving the second measurement report, wherein the second measurement report does not indicate a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the UE based on the second measurement report being scheduled to be transmitted during the time window; or transmitting a message to the wireless node via the at least one transceiver, the message indicating a schedule for transmission of time-of-arrival and beam signal strength free measurement reports; 29. The network entity of claim 28, further configured to: transmit the second measurement report based on the schedule, the second measurement report indicating a time of arrival and a beam signal strength of the second one or more reference signals at the UE.

30. the at least one processor:

27. The network entity of claim 26, further configured to: transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a message to the wireless node, the message including an indication of whether the carrier phase should be applied to the location estimation procedure of the UE or included in the one or more measurement reports.

Images