Enhanced positioning

Abstract

A method, device, apparatus, and computer-readable storage medium for enhanced positioning are provided.SOLUTION: The first device receives, from a second device providing a serving cell for the first device, a configuration of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs over a group of bandwidth parts. The first device receives, from the second device, an indication of a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states. Then, the first device sequentially transmits the plurality of SRSs on at least part of the group of bandwidth parts based on the target trigger state. In this way, SRS transmission across multiple SRS resources or SRS resource sets in multiple BWPs can be triggered in a frequency hopping manner via a single DCI, signaling overhead and delay can be reduced, and positioning efficiency can be improved.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications, and more particularly to methods, devices, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for enhanced positioning. [Background technology]

[0002] Communication networks use reference signals, such as positioning reference signals (PRSs) and sounding reference signals (SRSs), for positioning-related measurements. The downlink (DL) PRS bandwidth and uplink (UL) SRS bandwidth are essential factors for positioning accuracy. In narrowband systems, positioning performance may be degraded due to low sampling rates. This issue can be mitigated by implementing PRS / SRS frequency hopping and stitching. In this case, the UE or gNB measures the corresponding PRS or SRS each time with a narrow bandwidth, enabling coherent processing across multiple PRS / SRS frequency hops. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Generally, the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning enhancement solution.

[0004] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a first device is provided, the first device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: receive, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of Sounding Reference Signals (SRSs) on a group of bandwidth parts; receive, from the second device, an indication of a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and sequentially transmit the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth parts based on the target trigger state.

[0005] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a second device is provided, the second device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: transmit a configuration of multiple SRS trigger states associated with multiple SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device; transmit an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to the multiple SRS trigger states to a third device; transmit an indication of the target trigger state to the first device in response to receiving a request to trigger a target trigger state of the multiple SRS trigger states from the third device; and sequentially receive, from the first device, the multiple SRSs on at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0006] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a third device is provided, the third device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the third device to at least: receive, from a second device providing a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; transmit, to the second device, a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first device to sequentially transmit the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions; and receive, from the second device, a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0007] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a fourth device is provided, the fourth device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the fourth device to at least: receive, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; receive information regarding a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and sequentially receive, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs on at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0008] In a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, including: receiving, at a first device, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; receiving, from the second device, an indication of a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and sequentially transmitting the plurality of SRSs on at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0009] In a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, including: transmitting, at a second device, to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device, a configuration of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions, transmitting an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger states to a third device, transmitting an indication of the target trigger state to the first device in response to receiving a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states from the third device, and sequentially receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs on at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0010] A seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides a method, including: receiving, at a third device, from a second device providing a serving cell for a first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; transmitting a request to the second device to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first device to sequentially transmit the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions; and receiving, from the second device, a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0011] In an eighth aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided, the method including: receiving, at a fourth device, from a second device that provides a serving cell for a first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions, receiving information regarding a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states, and sequentially receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs on at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0012] In a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, a first apparatus is provided, comprising: means for receiving, from a second apparatus providing a serving cell for the first apparatus, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for receiving, from the second apparatus, an indication of a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and means for sequentially transmitting the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0013] In a tenth aspect of the present disclosure, a second device is provided, comprising: means for transmitting a configuration of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device; means for transmitting an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger states to a third device; means for transmitting an indication of a target trigger state to the first device in response to receiving a request for triggering a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states from the third device; and means for sequentially receiving the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions from the first device based on the target trigger state.

[0014] In an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure, a third apparatus is provided, comprising: means for receiving, from a second apparatus providing a serving cell to a first apparatus, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first apparatus to sequentially transmit the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0015] In a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure, a fourth apparatus is provided, the fourth apparatus comprising: receiving, from a second apparatus providing a serving cell to a first apparatus, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; receiving information regarding a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and sequentially receiving, from the first apparatus, the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0016] In a thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing an apparatus to perform a method according to at least any of the fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth aspects.

[0017] It should be understood that this Summary section is not intended to identify key or important features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent through the following description.

[0018] Several exemplary embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication environment in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary UL SRS frequency hopping for positioning. [Figure 3] 1 is a signaling chart of SRS frequency hopping in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of example SRS frequency hopping and stitching according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a first device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a first device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a third device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart of a method implemented in a fourth device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for practicing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer-readable medium according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numbers represent the same or similar elements.

[0021] The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are set forth for illustrative purposes only, and are intended to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

[0022] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0023] References in this disclosure to "one embodiment," "one embodiment," "one exemplary embodiment," etc., indicate that the described embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not all embodiments need include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one exemplary embodiment, it is believed to be within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0024] As used herein, terms such as "first" and "second" may be used to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish the function of the various elements. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0025] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," and / or "including," as used herein, indicate the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components, etc., but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0026] As used herein, "at least one of: " and "at least one of " and similar phrases where a list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or" mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all of the elements.

[0027] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (e.g., analog and / or digital circuit implementations only) (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (where applicable): (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuitry and software / firmware; (ii) Any portion of a software-enabled hardware processor (including a digital signal processor), software, and memory that work together to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions. (c) Hardware circuitry and / or processors, e.g., microprocessors or portions of microprocessors, that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but which may not be present if software is not necessary for operation.

[0028] This definition of circuit applies to all uses of the term in this application, including any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuit also covers implementations of a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) only, or of a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuit also covers, for example, baseband or processor integrated circuits for mobile devices, or similar integrated circuits in servers, cellular network devices, or other computing or network devices, where applicable to certain claim elements.

[0029] As used herein, the term "communications network" refers to a network conforming to any suitable communications standard, such as, for example, a fifth-generation (5G) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), or Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT). Furthermore, communications between terminal devices and network devices within a communications network may be performed according to any suitable generation of communications protocol, including, but not limited to, first-generation (1G), second-generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third-generation (3G), fourth-generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communications protocols, and / or any other protocols now known or developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communications systems. Given the rapid development of communications, there will naturally be future types of communications technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be embodied, which should not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned systems.

[0030] As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses and receives services from the network. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a base station (BS) or access point (AP), e.g., a Node B (NodeB or NB), evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), next generation Node B (NR NB), remote radio unit (RRU), radio header (RH), remote radio head (RRH), integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, relay, low power node, e.g., femto, pico, etc. A network device may be defined as part of a gNB, e.g., in the case of CU / DU split, in which case the network device is defined as either a gNB-CU or gNB-DU.

[0031] The term "terminal device" refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example and not limitation, a terminal device may also be called a communication device, user equipment (UE), subscriber station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile station (MS), or access terminal (AT). Terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smartphones, voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback equipment, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. A terminal device may also correspond to the Mobile Termination (MT) portion of an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device," "communications device," "terminal," "user equipment," and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

[0032] While the functions described herein may be performed in fixed and / or wireless network nodes in various exemplary embodiments, in other exemplary embodiments, the functions may be implemented in a user equipment device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile IoT device, or a fixed IoT device). The user equipment device may be equipped with corresponding capabilities, as described in connection with the fixed and / or wireless network nodes, as appropriate. The user equipment device may be user equipment and / or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed in the user equipment. Examples of such functions include a bootstrap server function and / or a home subscriber server, which may be implemented in the user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to operate the user equipment device in terms of these functions / nodes.

[0033] Example Environment 1 illustrates an exemplary communication environment 100 in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The communication environment 100 may be a communication system that supports bandwidth fractional adaptation. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication environment 100 includes a first device 110, a second device 120, a third device 130, and a fourth device 140.

[0034] The first device 110 may be a terminal device (e.g., UE) including, but not limited to, a normal UE, a reduced capability (RedCap) UE, etc. Hereinafter, the first device 110 may also be referred to as a terminal device 110 or a UE 110. The first device 110, the second device 120, and the fourth device 140 may communicate with each other.

[0035] The second device 120 and the fourth device 140 are network devices, such as gNBs, transmit receive points (TRPs), etc., that provide radio coverage cells 102 and 104, respectively. In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the first device 110 is located in the cell 102 and is served by the second device 120. The cell 104 is a neighbor cell to the first device 110. Thus, the second device 120 and the fourth device 140 may also be referred to as the serving gNB 120 and the non-serving gNB 140, respectively. Furthermore, the cells 102 and 104 may also be referred to as the serving cell 102 and the neighbor cell 104, respectively.

[0036] The third device 130 may be a location management device, such as a network element for a location management function (LMF), hereinafter also referred to as LMF 130. The third device 130 may position the first device 110 based on positioning measurements reported from the second device 120 and the fourth device 140, as will be described in more detail below.

[0037] In some demonstrative embodiments, a link from the first device 110 to the second device 120 or the fourth device 140 is referred to as an uplink (UL). Additionally, a link from the second device 120 or the fourth device 140 to the first device 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL).

[0038] The first device 110 may transmit an SRS for positioning purposes in addition to an SRS for multiple input multiple output (MIMO). To improve positioning performance and accuracy, the SRS transmission may be performed in a frequency hopping manner, also known as SRS frequency hopping. For this purpose, the second device 120 may configure multiple SRS resources or SRS resource sets with appropriate time gaps for radio switching. These SRS resources or SRS resource sets may be arranged in different bandwidth parts (BWPs). A single SRS frequency hop may be an RB occupied by the SRS resources configured in a specific BWP. In SRS frequency hopping for positioning, multiple SRS resources arranged in multiple BWPs are transmitted over consecutive resource blocks (RBs), i.e., multiple SRS frequency hops are transmitted without frequency separation. The gNB receives these multiple SRS frequency hops and performs coherent processing to extract a single positioning measurement. A BWP is a subset of the total bandwidth, and the size and parameters of the BWP can be flexibly configured. In some cases, BWP is a set bandwidth and subcarrier spacing.

[0039] First device 110 then transmits the narrowband SRS over multiple SRS hops.

[0040] In response, the second device 120 receives the narrowband SRS on the configured SRS resource or SRS resource set. The second device 120 may perform stitching for the SRS frequency hops and measure the SRS. Positioning measurements of the SRS may then be reported to the third device 130 for positioning of the first device 110. Similarly, the fourth device 140 may receive the SRS from the first device 110. The fourth device 140 may also perform stitching for the SRS frequency hops and measure the SRS. Positioning measurements of the SRS may then be reported to the third device 130.

[0041] The third device 130 may estimate the location of the first device 110 based on positioning measurements reported by the second device 120 and the fourth device 140. In some exemplary embodiments, the positioning measurements may include angle measurements such as Angle of Arrival (AoA), or timing measurements such as Time of Arrival (ToA), Relative Time of Arrival (RToA), Carrier Phase (CP), or any other measurements suitable for positioning.

[0042] 1 are shown for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting. Communications network 100 may include any suitable number of devices configured to implement exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. While not shown, it will be understood that one or more additional devices and connections may be deployed in communications network 100.

[0043] For illustrative purposes, the following describes some exemplary embodiments in which the first device 110 operates as a terminal device (e.g., a RedCap UE) and the second device 120 and the fourth device 140 operate as network devices. However, in some exemplary embodiments, operations described with reference to a terminal device may be implemented in a network device or other device, and operations described with reference to a network device may be implemented in a terminal device or other device.

[0044] Communications in communication environment 100 may be conducted according to any suitable communications protocol, including, but not limited to, cellular communications protocols such as first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), sixth generation (6G), wireless local network communications protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, and / or any other protocols now known or developed in the future. Furthermore, communications may utilize any suitable wireless communications technology, including, but not limited to, code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division duplex (FDD), time division duplex (TDD), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and / or any other technology now known or developed in the future.

[0045] In 5G NR, reduced capability (RedCap) UEs support positioning functionality. To support UL SRS frequency hopping and stitching, RedCap UEs can be configured with multiple SRS resources with appropriate time gaps for radio frequency switching. The RedCap UE transmits narrowband SRS across multiple SRS hops. Upon receiving all or some of them, the gNB performs stitching for the SRS frequency hops.

[0046] It should be noted that SRS frequency hopping for positioning differs from SRS frequency hopping for conventional MIMO in terms of SRS resource configuration: specifically, conventional SRS frequency hopping is performed within an SRS resource configuration, while SRS frequency hopping for positioning is performed based on multiple SRS resources in different BWPs.

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of exemplary UL SRS frequency hopping for positioning. Respective SRS resources 202-206 on different BWPs 1-3 are configured for SRS frequency hopping for positioning. As shown in FIG. 2, at least one SRS frequency hop consists of different SRS resources across different BWPs. Operating SRS frequency hopping across four SRS frequency hops using aperiodic SRS requires four downlink control information (DCI) indications for BWP switching, including a DCI for switching back to the original BWP 1. Additionally, triggering four AP SRSs requires four more DCI indications. This results in inefficient physical layer procedures for supporting SRS frequency hopping.

[0048] To solve the above problems as well as other potential problems, the present disclosure provides an SRS frequency hopping solution, in which continuous SRS for positioning is transmitted across multiple SRS resources or SRS resource sets in different BWPs via a single DCI. Furthermore, aperiodic SRS can be triggered by flexible SRS resource configuration, which may correspond to an SRS resource level or SRS resource set.

[0049] Principle of Operation and Exemplary Signaling for Communication According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a positioning solution is provided, in which a first device receives, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, a configuration of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions, the first device receives, from the second device, an indication of a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states, and the first device then sequentially transmits the plurality of SRSs on at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0050] In this way, SRS frequency hopping operations for positioning are triggered via a single DCI. Furthermore, the serving gNB provides the BWP information used for SRS frequency hopping to the LMF and other non-serving gNBs. As a result, the LMF can request the serving gNB to trigger a specific SRS trigger state. Other gNBs can receive SRS transmissions in non-serving cells and report positioning measurements to the LMF.

[0051] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0052] Reference is now made to Figure 3, which illustrates a signaling chart for SRS frequency hopping in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, a process 300 involves a first device 110, a second device 120, a third device 130, and a fourth device 140. For ease of explanation, reference is made to Figure 1 to describe the signaling flow 300.

[0053] Prior to process 300, the first device 110 may report its capability to perform SRS frequency hopping and stitching operations to its serving gNB, i.e., the second device 120. For example, the first device 110 may report its device capabilities to indicate whether it is a normal UE or a RedCap UE. In some exemplary embodiments, the second device 120 may determine whether to enable SRS frequency hopping and stitching over a single DCI based on the device capabilities. However, it should be understood that the proposed SRS frequency hopping and stitching can be performed by UEs with various capabilities. Thus, reporting of device capabilities may not be required for the implementation of process 300.

[0054] The first device 110 is configured with multiple SRS resources specific to an UL BWP. That is, at least one of the multiple SRS resources is configured within a specific UL BWP. FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example SRS frequency hopping and stitching 400 in accordance with some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, SRS resources 402-406 are configured for SRS frequency hopping and stitching, where SRS resource 402 is specific to BWP1, SRS resource 404 is specific to BWP2, and SRS resource 406 is specific to BWP3. It should be understood that in the context of the present disclosure, a BWP configured for SRS transmission refers to an UL BWP, and therefore, hereinafter, a UL BWP may simply be referred to as a BWP.

[0055] In process 300, the second device 120 transmits 305 a configuration of multiple SRS trigger conditions to the first device 110. In some exemplary embodiments, the SRS trigger conditions may include an aperiodic SRS trigger condition. The multiple SRS trigger conditions are associated with multiple SRSs on the group of BWP1-BWP3. The configuration of the SRS trigger conditions may be included in, for example, a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0056] SRS frequency hopping can be triggered at the SRS resource set level, the SRS resource level, or a combination thereof. For example, in the SRS resource configuration shown in Figure 4, there may be three SRS resource sets in the group BWP1 to BWP3, namely, the first SRS resource set, the second SRS resource set, and the third SRS resource set.

[0057] The serving gNB also provides information used for SRS frequency hopping to the LMF and non-serving gNBs. To this end, the second device 120 transmits an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions to the third device 130 (310). Additionally or alternatively, the second device 120 may transmit the SRS frequency hopping configuration to the fourth device 140 (315). For example, the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include at least one of a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, a set of indication values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, etc. In some exemplary embodiments, the indication value corresponding to the aperiodic SRS trigger condition may be a DCI code point.

[0058] The third device 130 sends 320 a request to the second device 120 to trigger a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states. Thus, the LMF may request the serving gNB to trigger a particular trigger state.

[0059] Then, in response to the request, the second device 120 transmits (325) an indication of the target trigger condition to the first device 110. This indication may be included in, for example, a DCI. In this manner, the serving gNB may trigger a particular SRS trigger condition.

[0060] In one embodiment, at least one aperiodic SRS trigger state may include a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding BWP, which is one of the group of BWP1 to BWP3. An exemplary format of the SRS trigger state may be a sequence of (UL BWP #ID, SRS resource set #ID) or a sequence of (UL BWP #ID, SRS resource set #ID, SRS resource #ID), depending on the trigger level.

[0061] From the UE's perspective, there is only one active BWP for the UE, so certain trigger conditions indicate that multiple BWPs are activated and released sequentially rather than simultaneously. In response, the UE performs a BWP switch and transmits SRS on at least one BWP.

[0062] By way of example, multiple SRS trigger conditions may be as follows: SRS trigger condition #1: (UL BWP#1, SRS resource set #1 of UL BWP#1), (UL BWP#2, SRS resource set #2 of UL BWP#2), (UL BWP#3, SRS resource set #3 of UL BWP#3) SRS trigger condition #2: (UL BWP#1, SRS resource set #1, SRS resource #1 in UL BWP#1), (UL BWP#2, SRS resource set #2, SRS resource #2 in UL BWP#2), (UL BWP#3, SRS resource set #3 in UL BWP#3)

[0063] It should be understood that even if the index of an SRS resource set is substantially the same across multiple BWPs, it may not necessarily refer to substantially the same SRS resource set.

[0064] In this example, when SRS trigger condition #1 is triggered, the first device 110 performs aperiodic SRS frequency hopping based on the sequence indicated by SRS trigger condition #1. Specifically, the first device 110 may understand that the starting BWP of SRS frequency hopping is UL BWP #1, e.g., BWP1 shown in FIG. 4. Thus, the first device 110 first activates BWP #1 and transmits SRS on the first SRS resource set indexed by SRS resource set #1 and located within BWP #1. Next, the first device 110 performs a BWP switch from BWP #1 to BWP #2 (e.g., indexed by UL BWP #2) during time gap n1. As a result, BWP #1 is released and BWP #2 is activated. Upon activating BWP #2, the first device 110 transmits SRS on the second SRS resource set indexed by SRS resource set #2 and located within BWP #2. Next, the first device performs a BWP switch from BWP2 to BWP3 (e.g., indexed by UL BWP#3) during time gap n2. As a result, BWP2 is released and BWP3 is activated. Upon activating BWP3, the first device 110 transmits an SRS on a third SRS resource set indexed by SRS resource set#3 and located within BWP3. After transmitting the SRS, the first device 110 performs a BWP switch back to the starting BWP1. In another example, the first device 110 may not perform a BWP switch and remain on BWP3.

[0065] When SRS trigger state #2 is triggered, the first device 110 performs aperiodic SRS frequency hopping based on the sequence indicated by SRS trigger state #2. Unlike SRS trigger state #1, SRS trigger state #2 supports SRS frequency hopping at the SRS resource level. Accordingly, the first device 110 may sequentially activate BWP1 to BWP3 and transmit an SRS on the corresponding SRS resource of at least one BWP.

[0066] An example setting of the aperiodic SRS trigger state by RRC signaling is shown in Table 1 below. In this example, the higher layer parameter "srs-Request-for-hopping" is used to indicate aperiodic SRS frequency hopping. When "srs-Request-for-hopping" is set to a first value, i.e., "enabled," the first device 110 may recognize that the DCI includes an indication of the target trigger state, as described below.

[0067] Furthermore, as shown in Table 1, the RRC may include several higher layer parameters. · "Max_Number_number_of_triggering_state" indicates the maximum number of aperiodic SRS triggering states. · "Max_Number_of_state_element" indicates the maximum elements that contain aperiodic SRS trigger states. "TriggerState_index" indicates the index of the aperiodic SRS trigger state. The slot / symbol offset between BWPs indicates the time gap between BWP switching. The transmit beam information, e.g., TRP ID and / or PRS resource information, physical cell ID and / or SS / PBCH block information, is spatial relationship information that is configured for at least one SRS resource level, and in some embodiments, the serving gNB may configure substantially the same spatial relationship information for all or some of the SRS resources used for aperiodic SRS frequency hopping, since they may target substantially the same TRP.

[0068] [Table 1]

[0069] As described above, the second device 120 may trigger a specific SRS trigger state by DCI signaling. For example, the code point of the DCI may indicate an index of the SRS trigger state corresponding to the RRC "TriggerState_index." In this manner, a single DCI can be used to trigger multiple SRS resources or SRS resource sets in different BWPs. The second device 120 may also provide the DCI code point of the aperiodic SRS trigger state to the third device 130 in step 310 or as an additional step.

[0070] As an example, the SRS Request field in the DCI may be used to indicate a target trigger state. Depending on the configuration, the SRS Request field may contain one or two bits. If the upper layer parameter "srs-Request-for-hopping" is set to "enabled," the first device 110 interprets the "SRS Request field" in the DCI as indicating a target trigger state, i.e., the triggering of multiple SRS resource sets across multiple BWPs. For example, code points "01" and "10" in the SRS Request field may be used to trigger "SRS Trigger State #1" and "SRS Trigger State #2," respectively.

[0071] The above implementation allows a gNB to flexibly trigger aperiodic SRS frequency hopping by configuring various trigger conditions associated with different SRS resources or SRS resource sets and indicating any of them in a single DCI, which may require modifications to existing DCI signaling in some cases.

[0072] In another embodiment, the configuration of the multiple aperiodic SRS trigger states may include a group of BWP1 to BWP3. An exemplary configuration of the aperiodic SRS trigger states by RRC signaling is shown in Table 2 below.

[0073] [Table 2]

[0074] In this example, the RRC may include multiple higher layer parameters, as shown in Table 2. · "UL-BWP-list" indicates the list of UL BWPs used for SRS transmission with aperiodic SRS frequency hopping, which are later triggered by DCI. · "enable_SRS_hopping_across_BWP" indicates whether aperiodic SRS frequency hopping is enabled, and if this field is set to the fourth value "enabled", aperiodic SRS frequency hopping is enabled. "BWP-switching-offset-for-the-BWP" indicates the slot offset or time gap for switching between BWPs included in the list indicated by "UL-BWP-list".

[0075] The upper layer parameters "resourceType" and "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" are used to configure the aperiodic SRS resource set. For example, the serving gNB may set "resourceType" to "aperiodic" and "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" to an integer or a sequence of integers.

[0076] In some demonstrative embodiments, if substantially the same trigger condition "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" is indicated by the DCI, the aperiodic SRS resource sets configured in the UL BWPs included in the field "UL-BWP-list" may be triggered by substantially the same single DCI. For example, by configuring the SRS trigger condition, the first device 110 is configured with a list of UL BWPs {UL BWP#1, UL BWP#2, UL BWP#3}. If the upper layer parameter "enable_SRS_hopping_across_BWP" is set to "enabled," this means that a legacy DCI that triggers a specific "trigger condition" of the aperiodic SRS resource via "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" applies to the configured aperiodic SRS resource sets in the BWPs indicated in "UL-BWP-list." Otherwise, if "enable_SRS_hopping_across_BWP" is set to "disabled" or "not enabled," or if "enable_SRS_hopping_across_BWP" is not set, the first device 110 may follow a conventional aperiodic SRS transmission procedure triggered by multiple separate DCIs. Thus, this implementation allows reusing existing format DCI signaling to trigger SRS transmission for frequency hopping positioning.

[0077] Additionally or alternatively, in some other embodiments, the second device 120 may indicate whether to enable aperiodic SRS frequency hopping via DCI signaling, in which case an additional bit may be required in the DCI to indicate whether the SRS transmission is performed based on "aperiodic SRS frequency hopping" or "traditional aperiodic SRS."

[0078] For this operation, the second device 120 configures the upper layer parameter "SRS-PosResourceSet-r16" by setting "ResourceType" to "aperiodic" for the SRS resource set. Furthermore, the second device 120 configures substantially the same value (e.g., an integer) of "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" to trigger the aperiodic SRS resource sets configured as substantially the same value of "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" via a single DCI. For example, SRS resource set #1 and SRS resource set #2 are configured within UL BWP #1 and UL BWP #2, respectively, and both SRS resource sets are configured as "aperiodic." Furthermore, "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" is configured to a second value, such as the integer "3," for both SRS resource set #1 and SRS resource set #2. If the DCI indicated from the second device 120 includes an SRS request field set to a third value corresponding to the second value, for example, the third value may be DCI code point "11," the first device 110 may understand that multiple SRSs are transmitted on SRS resource set #1 located in BWP1 and SRS resource set #2 located in BWP2. There may be a time gap for BWP switching between BWP1 and BWP2.

[0079] After receiving the indication of the target trigger condition, the first device 110 sequentially transmits (330) a plurality of SRSs in at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger condition.

[0080] In response, the second device 120 may measure a plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger condition (335). The second device 120 may then transmit a first report of the positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs (340). Additionally, the second device 120 may further transmit information regarding the target trigger condition to the third device 130 and, optionally, to the fourth device 140.

[0081] Alternatively, in some other embodiments, the third device 130 may further provide the information to the fourth device 140 after receiving information about the target trigger condition from the second device 120.

[0082] The fourth device 140 may also sequentially receive the multiple SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions (345). Because the fourth device 140 is provided with information regarding the aperiodic SRS frequency hopping, e.g., the aperiodic SRS trigger state, the DCI code point, etc., the fourth device 140 recognizes the target trigger state. In response, the fourth device 149 may measure the multiple SRSs based on the target trigger state (350). The fourth device 140 may then transmit a second report of positioning measurements of the multiple SRSs (355).

[0083] Positioning measurements may include, but are not limited to, angle measurements such as AoA, timing measurements such as ToA, RToA, CP, or any other measurements suitable for positioning.

[0084] In response, the third device 130 may determine the location of the first device 110 based at least in part on the first report of the positioning measurements of the multiple SRSs (360). Additionally or alternatively, in some exemplary embodiments, the third device 130 may determine the location of the first device 110 based on the positioning measurements reported by the second device 120, the positioning measurements reported by the fourth device 140, and information regarding the target trigger condition.

[0085] It should be understood that some of the steps of process 300 may be optional or omitted, and the order of the steps is shown for illustrative purposes. For example, step 310 may be performed in parallel with step 315. Step 330 may be performed in parallel with step 345, etc. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this respect.

[0086] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, SRS frequency hopping and stitching are enabled via a single DCI. The gNB can configure aperiodic SRS trigger options or trigger conditions via higher layer signaling, such as RRC. Specific trigger conditions can then be triggered via DCI. In this way, positioning accuracy and efficiency are improved and signaling overhead and delay are reduced. Such a solution provides SRS frequency hopping optimized for positioning UEs, particularly RedCap UEs.

[0087] Exemplary Methods 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method 500 implemented in a first device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the first device may include a terminal device. For ease of explanation, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first device 110 of FIG. 1.

[0088] At block 510, the first device 110 receives configurations of multiple SRS trigger states associated with multiple SRSs on a group of BWPs from a second device 120 that provides a serving cell 102 for the first device 110. For example, the configurations of multiple aperiodic SRS trigger states may be included in an RRC message.

[0089] At block 520, the first device 110 receives an indication of a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states from the second device 120. For example, the indication of the target trigger state may be included in a DCI.

[0090] At block 530, the first device 110 sequentially transmits multiple SRSs in at least some of the groups of BWPs based on the target trigger condition.

[0091] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, where at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions may include a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding BWP that is one of a group of BWPs.

[0092] For example, the settings of the multiple SRS trigger conditions can be as follows: SRS trigger condition #1: (UL BWP#1, SRS resource set #1 of UL BWP#1), (UL BWP#2, SRS resource set #2 of UL BWP#2), (UL BWP#3, SRS resource set #3 of UL BWP#3) SRS trigger condition #2: (UL BWP#1, SRS resource set #1, SRS resource #1 in UL BWP#1), (UL BWP#2, SRS resource set #2, SRS resource #2 in UL BWP#2), (UL BWP#3, SRS resource set #3 in UL BWP#3)

[0093] In some demonstrative embodiments, the target trigger state may include a sequence of pairs including at least a pair of a first SRS and a corresponding first BWP, followed by a pair of a second SRS and a corresponding second BWP. In these embodiments, transmitting the plurality of SRSs may include, upon activating the first BWP based on the target trigger state, transmitting the first SRS on a first SRS resource or a first SRS resource set within the first BWP, activating the second BWP by performing a switch from the first BWP to the second BWP while releasing the first BWP based on the sequence indicated in the target trigger state, and transmitting the second SRS on a second SRS resource or a second SRS resource set within the second BWP.

[0094] In some demonstrative embodiments, receiving the indication may include obtaining the indication based on an indication value of an SRS request field in the DCI in accordance with a determination that an SRS frequency hopping SRS request field (e.g., srs-Request-for-hopping) in the RRC message is set to a first value (e.g., “enabled”), where the indication value corresponds to the target trigger state.

[0095] For example, the SRS request field of the DCI may include one or two bits depending on the configuration. If the upper layer parameter "srs-Request-for-hopping" is set to "enabled," the first device 110 may interpret the "SRS request field" indicated in the DCI as triggering target trigger states, i.e., multiple SRS resource sets across multiple BWPs. For example, code points "01" and "10" in the SRS request field may be used to trigger the above-mentioned "SRS trigger state #1" and "SRS trigger state #2."

[0096] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration may further include at least one of: a maximum number of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; a maximum number of elements in at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; an index of at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; and a field of the SRS request for SRS frequency hopping.

[0097] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration may further include at least one of: a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent BWPs in at least one aperiodic SRS triggering condition; spatial relationship information including at least one of transmission / reception point identity, positioning reference signal resource identity, physical cell identity, and SS / PBCH block information.

[0098] In some demonstrative embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions includes a group of BWPs. In these embodiments, method 500 may further include receiving a configuration of associations between the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a plurality of SRS resource sets in the group of BWPs.

[0099] In some demonstrative embodiments, the association configuration may be included in the RRC message and indicated by a second value of an aperiodic SRS resource trigger list field (e.g., aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList), in which case receiving the indication may include determining, in accordance with a determination that the SRS request field in the DCI is set to a third value corresponding to the second value, that the plurality of SRS resource sets associated with the second value are to be sequentially activated or triggered on the group of BWPs.

[0100] For example, a first SRS resource set and a second SRS resource set are configured in a first BWP and a second BWP, respectively, and the upper layer parameter "resourceType" of both SRS resource sets is set as "aperiodic." Further, the upper layer parameter "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" is set to a second value "3" for both the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set. When "11" (e.g., the third value) in the SRS request field in the DCI is indicated by the second device 120, the first device 110 recognizes that multiple SRSs are transmitted on the first SRS resource set in the first BWP and the second SRS resource set in the second BWP using BWP switching.

[0101] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration of the multiple aperiodic SRS trigger conditions may include at least one of: a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over a group of BWPs, wherein a fourth value of the field indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of BWPs; a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent BWPs within the group of BWPs.

[0102] In some demonstrative embodiments, the DCI may further include a field that enables SRS frequency hopping across a group of BWPs (e.g., enable_SRS_hopping_across_BWP). A fourth value of the field that enables SRS frequency hopping across a group of BWPs (e.g., "enabled") may indicate that SRS frequency hopping is enabled over a group of BWPs.

[0103] In some demonstrative embodiments, method 500 may further include determining that SRS frequency hopping is enabled across the group of BWPs according to a determination that the field enabling SRS hopping across the group of BWPs is set to a fourth value.

[0104] In some demonstrative embodiments, the multiple SRSs may be transmitted to at least one of the second device 120 or the fourth device 140 serving the neighboring cell 104 .

[0105] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may comprise a terminal device (e.g., a UE), the second device 120 may comprise a network device (e.g., a serving gNB, a TRP, etc.), the third device 130 may be an LMF, and the fourth device 140 may be another network device (e.g., a non-serving gNB, a TRP, etc.).

[0106] 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented in a second device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the second device may include a network device that provides a serving cell for the UE. For ease of explanation, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the second device 120 of FIG. 1.

[0107] At 610, the second device 120 transmits a configuration of multiple SRS trigger states associated with the multiple SRSs on the group of BWPs to the first device 110 in the serving cell 102 provided by the second device 120. For example, the configuration of multiple aperiodic SRS trigger states may be included in an RRC message.

[0108] At 620, the second device 120 transmits to the third device 130 an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger conditions.

[0109] At 630, the second device 120 receives a request from the third device 130 to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states.

[0110] In response to receiving the request from the third device 130, at 640, the second device 120 transmits an indication of the target trigger condition to the first device 110. For example, the indication of the target trigger condition may be included in a DCI.

[0111] At 650, the second device 120 sequentially receives, from the first device 110, a plurality of SRSs in at least a portion of the group of BWPs based on the target trigger condition.

[0112] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, at least one of which may include a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding BWP that is one of a group of BWPs.

[0113] For example, the settings of the multiple SRS trigger conditions can be as follows: SRS trigger condition #1: (UL BWP#1, SRS resource set #1 of UL BWP#1), (UL BWP#2, SRS resource set #2 of UL BWP#2), (UL BWP#3, SRS resource set #3 of UL BWP#3) SRS trigger condition #2: (UL BWP#1, SRS resource set #1, SRS resource #1 in UL BWP#1), (UL BWP#2, SRS resource set #2, SRS resource #2 in UL BWP#2), (UL BWP#3, SRS resource set #3 in UL BWP#3)

[0114] Additionally or alternatively, in the above embodiment, the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of indication values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

[0115] In some demonstrative embodiments, the target trigger state may include a sequence of pairs including at least a first SRS and corresponding first BWP pair followed by a second SRS and corresponding second BWP pair, in which receiving the plurality of SRSs may include receiving the first SRS on a first SRS resource or a first SRS resource set in the first BWP and, after receiving the first SRS, receiving the second SRS on a second SRS resource or a second SRS resource set in the second BWP.

[0116] In some demonstrative embodiments, the method 600 may further include sending an RRC message to the first device 110 including an SRS request field for SRS frequency hopping (e.g., srs-Request-for-hopping) set to a first value (e.g., “enabled”) indicating that SRS frequency hopping across the group of BWPs is enabled.

[0117] For example, the SRS request field of the DCI may include one or two bits depending on the configuration. If the upper layer parameter "srs-Request-for-hopping" is set to "enabled," the first device 110 may interpret the "SRS request field" indicated in the DCI as triggering target trigger states, i.e., multiple SRS resource sets across multiple BWPs. For example, code points "01" and "10" in the SRS request field may be used to trigger the above-mentioned "SRS trigger state #1" and "SRS trigger state #2."

[0118] In some demonstrative embodiments, transmitting the indication may include transmitting the indication including an SRS request field set to the indication value pursuant to a determination that the request includes the indication value of the target trigger state.

[0119] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions may further include at least one of: a maximum number of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; a maximum number of elements in at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; an index of at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; and a field of the SRS request for SRS frequency hopping.

[0120] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions further includes at least one of: a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent BWPs in at least one aperiodic SRS trigger condition; spatial relationship information including at least one of transmission / reception point identification information, positioning reference signal resource identification information, physical cell identification information, and SS / PBCH block information.

[0121] In some demonstrative embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions may include a group of BWPs, in which case, method 600 may further include transmitting to first device 110 a configuration of associations between the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and the plurality of SRS resource sets in the group of BWPs.

[0122] In some exemplary embodiments, the association configuration may be included in the RRC message and indicated by a second value of the aperiodic SRS resource trigger list field (e.g., aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList). An indication of the target trigger state may be included in the DCI. In these embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within a group of BWPs.

[0123] For example, a first SRS resource set and a second SRS resource set are configured in a first BWP and a second BWP, respectively, and the upper layer parameter "resourceType" of both SRS resource sets is set as "aperiodic." Further, the upper layer parameter "aperiodicSRS-ResourceTriggerList" is set to a second value "3" for both the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set. When "11" (e.g., the third value) in the SRS request field in the DCI is indicated by the second device 120, the first device 110 recognizes that multiple SRSs are transmitted on the first SRS resource set in the first BWP and the second SRS resource set in the second BWP using BWP switching.

[0124] In some demonstrative embodiments, sending the indication may include determining that the target trigger state includes triggering of multiple SRS resource sets in the group of BWPs in accordance with a determination that the request includes a third value, and sending a DCI to the first device 110 including an SRS request field set to the third value.

[0125] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions includes at least one of: a field enabling SRS frequency hopping across a group of BWPs, wherein a fourth value of the field indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping across the group of BWPs; and a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent BWPs within the group of BWPs.

[0126] In some demonstrative embodiments, the DCI may further include a field that enables SRS frequency hopping across a group of BWPs (e.g., enable_SRS_hopping_across_BWP). A fourth value of the field that enables SRS frequency hopping across a group of BWPs (e.g., "enabled") may indicate that SRS frequency hopping is enabled over a group of BWPs.

[0127] In some demonstrative embodiments, the method 600 may further include transmitting the first report of the plurality of SRS measurements and information regarding the target trigger condition to the third device 130.

[0128] In some demonstrative embodiments, the method 600 may further include transmitting the SRS frequency hopping configuration to a fourth device 140 that serves the neighboring cell 104 .

[0129] In some demonstrative embodiments, method 600 may further include transmitting information regarding the target trigger condition to fourth device 140 to measure a plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger condition.

[0130] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may comprise a terminal device (e.g., a UE), the second device 120 may comprise a network device (e.g., a serving gNB, a TRP, etc.), the third device 130 may be an LMF, and the fourth device 140 may be another network device (e.g., a non-serving gNB, a TRP, etc.).

[0131] 7 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 700 implemented in a third device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the third device may include an LMF. For ease of explanation, the method 700 will be described from the perspective of the third device 130 of FIG. 1.

[0132] In block 710, the third device 130 receives, from the second device 120 that provides the serving cell 102 to the first device 110, SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to multiple SRS trigger conditions associated with multiple SRSs on the group of BWPs.

[0133] At block 720, the third device 130 transmits a request to the second device 120 to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states. The target trigger state may cause the first device 110 to sequentially transmit the plurality of SRSs in at least a portion of the group of BWPs.

[0134] At block 730, the third device 130 receives from the second device 120 a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0135] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

[0136] In some demonstrative embodiments, sending the request may include sending a request to second device 120 that includes an indication of the target trigger condition.

[0137] In some demonstrative embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within a group of BWPs.

[0138] In some demonstrative embodiments, transmitting the request may include transmitting a request to the second device 120 that includes a third value indicating a target trigger state that includes triggering of multiple SRS resource sets in the group of the BWP.

[0139] In some exemplary embodiments, the method 700 may further include receiving, from the second device 120, information regarding the target trigger condition.

[0140] In some demonstrative embodiments, method 700 may further include transmitting information regarding the target trigger condition to fourth device 140 to measure a plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger condition. Fourth device 140 serves neighboring cell 104.

[0141] In some demonstrative embodiments, the method 700 may further include receiving a second report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs from a fourth device 140 serving the neighboring cell 104 .

[0142] In some demonstrative embodiments, method 700 may further include determining a location of first device 110 based at least in part on the first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0143] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may comprise a terminal device (e.g., a UE), the second device 120 may comprise a network device (e.g., a serving gNB, a TRP, etc.), the third device 130 may be an LMF, and the fourth device 140 may be another network device (e.g., a non-serving gNB, a TRP, etc.).

[0144] 8 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 800 implemented in a fourth device according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the fourth device may include a network device that provides a non-serving cell to the UE. For ease of explanation, the method 800 will be described from the perspective of the fourth device 140 of FIG. 1.

[0145] In block 810, the fourth device 140 receives, from the second device 120 that provides the serving cell 102 to the first device 110, SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to multiple SRS trigger conditions associated with multiple SRSs on the group of BWPs.

[0146] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

[0147] In some demonstrative embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration may include a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within a group of BWPs.

[0148] At block 820, the fourth device 140 receives information regarding a target trigger condition of the plurality of SRS trigger conditions.

[0149] At block 830, the fourth device 140 sequentially receives, from the first device 110, a plurality of SRSs in at least a portion of the group of BWPs based on the target trigger condition.

[0150] In some demonstrative embodiments, method 800 may further include transmitting a second report of the positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs to third device 130.

[0151] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first device 110 may comprise a terminal device (e.g., a UE), the second device 120 may comprise a network device (e.g., a serving gNB, a TRP, etc.), the third device 130 may be an LMF, and the fourth device 140 may be another network device (e.g., a non-serving gNB, a TRP, etc.).

[0152] Exemplary Apparatus, Device, and Medium In some demonstrative embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 500 (e.g., the first device 110 of FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing each operation of the method 500. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The first apparatus may be embodied as or included in the first device 110 of FIG. 1 .

[0153] In some exemplary embodiments, a first device comprises means for receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell to the first device, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of sounding reference signals (SRS) on a group of bandwidth portions; means for receiving, from the second device, an indication of a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and means for sequentially transmitting the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0154] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions includes a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding bandwidth portion that is one of a group of bandwidth portions.

[0155] In some exemplary embodiments, the target trigger state includes a sequence of pairs including at least a pair of a first SRS and a corresponding first bandwidth portion followed by a pair of a second SRS and a corresponding second bandwidth portion. The means for transmitting the plurality of SRSs comprises: means for transmitting the first SRS on a first SRS resource or a first SRS resource set within the first bandwidth portion upon activating the first bandwidth portion based on the target trigger state; means for activating the second bandwidth portion by performing a switch from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion while releasing the first bandwidth portion based on a sequence indicated in the target trigger state; and means for transmitting the second SRS on a second SRS resource or a second SRS resource set within the second bandwidth portion.

[0156] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration of the multiple aperiodic SRS trigger conditions is included in a radio resource control RRC message and the indication of the target trigger condition is included in downlink control information DCI.

[0157] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for receiving the indication comprises means for obtaining, in accordance with a determination that the SRS request for SRS frequency hopping field in the RRC message is set to a first value, an indication based on an indication value of the SRS request field in the DCI, where the indication value corresponds to the target trigger state.

[0158] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration further includes at least one of: a maximum number of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; a maximum number of elements in at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; an index of at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; and a field of the SRS request for SRS frequency hopping.

[0159] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration further includes at least one of: a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions in at least one aperiodic SRS trigger state; spatial relationship information including at least one of transmission / reception point identification information, positioning reference signal resource identification information, physical cell identification information, synchronization signal, and PBCH block information.

[0160] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions includes a group of bandwidth portions. The first apparatus further comprises means for receiving a configuration of associations between the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a plurality of SRS resource sets within the group of bandwidth portions.

[0161] In some exemplary embodiments, the association setup is included in the RRC message and indicated by a second value of the aperiodic SRS resource trigger list field, and the indication of the target trigger state is included in the DCI.

[0162] In some demonstrative embodiments, the means for receiving the indication comprises means for determining, according to a determination that the SRS request field in the DCI is set to a third value corresponding to the second value, that a plurality of SRS resource sets associated with the second value are to be sequentially activated or triggered on a group of bandwidth portions.

[0163] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states includes at least one of: a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over a group of bandwidth portions, wherein a fourth value of the field indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions; and a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions within the group of bandwidth portions.

[0164] In some exemplary embodiments, the DCI further includes a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions, and a fourth value of the field enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions.

[0165] In some demonstrative embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises means for determining, in accordance with a determination that the field enabling SRS hopping across the group of bandwidth portions is set to a fourth value, that SRS frequency hopping is enabled across the group of bandwidth portions.

[0166] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRSs is transmitted to at least one of a second device or a fourth device serving a neighboring cell.

[0167] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

[0168] In some demonstrative embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 600 (e.g., the second device 120 of FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing each operation of the method 600. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The second apparatus may be embodied as or included in the second device 120 of FIG. 1 .

[0169] In some demonstrative embodiments, the second device comprises means for transmitting to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device a configuration of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for transmitting to a third device a configuration of SRS frequency hopping corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger states; means for transmitting to the first device an indication of a target trigger state in response to receiving from the third device a request to trigger a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; and means for sequentially receiving from the first device a plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0170] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions includes a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding bandwidth portion that is one of a group of bandwidth portions.

[0171] In some exemplary embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

[0172] In some exemplary embodiments, the target trigger state includes a sequence of pairs including at least a pair of a first SRS and a corresponding first bandwidth portion followed by a pair of a second SRS and a corresponding second bandwidth portion, and the means for receiving the plurality of SRSs comprises means for receiving the first SRS on a first SRS resource or a first SRS resource set within the first bandwidth portion, and means for receiving the second SRS on a second SRS resource or a second SRS resource set within the second bandwidth portion after receiving the first SRS.

[0173] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration of the multiple aperiodic SRS trigger states is included in an RRC message and the indication of the target trigger state is included in a DCI.

[0174] In some exemplary embodiments, the second device further comprises means for transmitting an RRC message to the first device including a field of the SRS request set to a first value indicating that SRS frequency hopping across the group of bandwidth portions is enabled.

[0175] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for transmitting the indication comprises means for transmitting the indication including an SRS request field set to the indication value in accordance with a determination that the request includes the indication value of the target trigger state.

[0176] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions further includes at least one of: a maximum number of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; a maximum number of elements in at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; an index of at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; and a field of the SRS request for SRS frequency hopping.

[0177] In some exemplary embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states further includes at least one of: a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions in at least one aperiodic SRS trigger state; spatial relationship information including at least one of transmission and reception point identification information, positioning reference signal resource identification information, physical cell identification information, synchronization signal, and PBCH block information.

[0178] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions includes a group of bandwidth portions. The second apparatus further comprises means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a configuration of associations between the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and the plurality of SRS resource sets in the group of bandwidth portions.

[0179] In some exemplary embodiments, the association setup is included in the RRC message and indicated by a second value of the aperiodic SRS resource trigger list field, and the indication of the target trigger state is included in the DCI.

[0180] In some exemplary embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration includes a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within a group of bandwidth portions.

[0181] In some demonstrative embodiments, the means for transmitting the indication includes means for determining, in accordance with a determination that the request includes a third value, that the target trigger state includes triggering of a plurality of SRS resource sets in the group of bandwidth portions, and means for transmitting a DCI to the first device including the SRS request field set to the third value.

[0182] In some demonstrative embodiments, the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states includes at least one of: a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over a group of bandwidth portions, wherein a fourth value of the field indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions; and a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions within the group of bandwidth portions.

[0183] In some exemplary embodiments, the DCI further includes a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions, and a fourth value of the field enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions.

[0184] In some exemplary embodiments, the second device further comprises means for transmitting the first report of the plurality of SRS measurements and information regarding the target trigger condition to a third device.

[0185] In some exemplary embodiments, the second device further comprises means for transmitting the SRS frequency hopping configuration to a fourth device serving a neighboring cell.

[0186] In some exemplary embodiments, the second device further comprises means for transmitting information regarding the target trigger condition to a fourth device to measure a plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger condition.

[0187] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device, and the third device comprises a location management device.

[0188] In some demonstrative embodiments, a third apparatus capable of performing any of the methods 700 (e.g., the third device 130 of FIG. 1 ) may comprise means for performing each operation of the method 700. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The second apparatus may be embodied as or included in the third device 130 of FIG. 1 .

[0189] In some exemplary embodiments, the third device comprises means for receiving, from a second device providing a serving cell for the first device, SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for transmitting to the second device a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first device to sequentially transmit the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions; and means for receiving from the second device a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0190] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the SRS frequency hopping configuration includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

[0191] In some exemplary embodiments, the means for transmitting the request comprises means for transmitting the request to the second device, the request including the indication of the target trigger condition.

[0192] In some exemplary embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration includes a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within a group of bandwidth portions.

[0193] In some demonstrative embodiments, the means for transmitting the request comprises means for transmitting to the second device a request including a third value indicating a target trigger state including triggering of a plurality of SRS resource sets in the group of bandwidth portions.

[0194] In some exemplary embodiments, the third device further comprises means for receiving information regarding the target trigger condition from the second device.

[0195] In some exemplary embodiments, the third apparatus further comprises means for transmitting information regarding the target trigger condition to a fourth apparatus for measuring a plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger condition, the fourth apparatus providing the neighboring cells.

[0196] In some exemplary embodiments, the third device further comprises means for receiving a second report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs from a fourth device serving the neighboring cell.

[0197] In some exemplary embodiments, the third device further comprises means for determining a location of the first device based at least in part on the first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs.

[0198] In some exemplary embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device, and the third device comprises a location management device.

[0199] In some demonstrative embodiments, a fourth apparatus (e.g., fourth device 140 of FIG. 1 ) capable of performing any of methods 800 may comprise means for performing each operation of method 800. The means may be embodied in any suitable form. For example, the means may be embodied in a circuit or a software module. The fourth apparatus may be embodied as or included in fourth device 140 of FIG. 1 .

[0200] In some demonstrative embodiments, the fourth device comprises means for receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell to the first device, SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions, means for receiving information regarding a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states, and means for sequentially receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs on at least a portion of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state.

[0201] In some exemplary embodiments, the plurality of SRS trigger conditions includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions, and the SRS frequency hopping configuration includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

[0202] In some exemplary embodiments, the SRS frequency hopping configuration includes a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within a group of bandwidth portions.

[0203] In some exemplary embodiments, the fourth device further comprises means for transmitting a second report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs to the third device.

[0204] In some exemplary embodiments, the first apparatus comprises a terminal device, the second apparatus comprises a first network device, and the fourth apparatus comprises a second network device.

[0205] 9 is a simplified block diagram of a device 900 suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 900 may be provided to implement an electronic device such as first device 110, second device 120, third device 130, or fourth device 140 shown in FIG. 1. As shown, device 900 includes one or more processors 910, one or more memories 920 coupled to processors 910, and one or more communication modules 940 coupled to processors 910.

[0206] The communications module 940 is for two-way communication. The communications module 940 has one or more communications interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communications interfaces may represent any interface necessary for communication with other network elements. In some demonstrative embodiments, the communications module 940 may include at least one antenna.

[0207] The processor 910 may be of any type suitable for a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 900 may have multiple processors, such as application-specific integrated circuit chips, time-slaved to a clock that synchronizes the main processor.

[0208] The memory 920 may include one or more nonvolatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of nonvolatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 924, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact disks (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), optical disks, laser disks, and other magnetic and / or optical storage. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 922 and other volatile memory that does not persist during power-off periods.

[0209] The computer program 930 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 910. The instructions of the program 930 may include instructions for performing the operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 930 may be stored in a memory, such as the ROM 924. The processor 910 may perform any appropriate actions and processes by loading the program 930 into the RAM 922.

[0210] An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented by a program 930, such that the device 900 may execute any of the processes of the present disclosure described with reference to Figures 3 to 8. An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

[0211] In some exemplary embodiments, the program 930 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium, which may be contained within the device 900 (e.g., in memory 920) or other storage device accessible by the device 900. The device 900 may load the program 930 from the computer-readable medium into RAM 922 and execute it. In some exemplary embodiments, the computer-readable medium may include any type of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. The term "non-transitory," as used herein, is not a limitation on the permanence of the data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM), but rather a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible as opposed to a signal).

[0212] 10 shows an example of a computer readable medium 1000, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD, or other optical storage disc. The computer readable medium 1000 has a program 930 stored thereon.

[0213] In general, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software that may be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using other graphical representations, it should be understood that the blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in, by way of non-limiting example, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller, or other computing device, or some combination thereof.

[0214] Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those contained in program modules, that execute on a target physical or virtual processor in a device to perform any of the methods described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or divided among program modules as desired in various embodiments. The machine-executable instructions of a program module may be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0215] Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, so that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be performed. The program code may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0216] In the context of the present disclosure, computer program code or associated data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable a device, apparatus, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer-readable media, etc.

[0217] The computer-readable medium may be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection using one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

[0218] Furthermore, while operations are shown in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown, sequentially, or that all of the illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desired results. In certain situations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, while the above description includes several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless expressly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless expressly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

[0219] Although the present disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims, is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

[0220] Partial Glossary TRP sending and receiving point

[0221] LMF location management function

[0222] IIoT Industrial IoT

[0223] UE User Equipment

[0224] 5G (5th Generation)

[0225] LTE Long Term Evolution

[0226] LTE-A LTE Advanced

[0227] WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

[0228] HSPA High Speed ​​Packet Access

[0229] NB-IoT Narrowband IoT

[0230] NR new radio

[0231] BS base station

[0232] AP Access point

[0233] eNodeB Evolved NodeB

[0234] gNB / NR NB Next generation NodeB

[0235] RRU Remote Radio Unit

[0236] RH Radio Header

[0237] RRH Remote Radio Head

[0238] SS subscriber station

[0239] MS mobile station

[0240] AT Access Terminal

[0241] VoIP Voice over IP

[0242] PDA Personal Digital Assistant

[0243] LEE Laptop Embedded Device

[0244] LME laptop-equipped devices

[0245] USB Universal Serial Bus

[0246] CPE Customer Premises Equipment

[0247] HMD Head Mounted Display

[0248] MT Mobile Termination

[0249] IAB Integrated Access and Backhaul

[0250] DL Downlink

[0251] UL Uplink

[0252] Tx transmission

[0253] Rx reception

[0254] PRS Positioning Reference Signal

[0255] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0256] ID Identification information / identifier

[0257] IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

[0258] CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

[0259] FDMA Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0260] TDMA Time Division Multiple Access

[0261] FDD Frequency Division Duplex

[0262] TDD time division duplex

[0263] MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

[0264] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0265] DFT-s-OFDM Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM

[0266] IoT Internet of Things

[0267] eMTC Enhanced Machine Type Communication

[0268] NR RedCap NR function reduction

[0269] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

[0270] RSRP reference signal received power

[0271] RSRQ Reference Signal Reception Quality

[0272] TD Time Difference

[0273] RTT Round Trip Time

[0274] IE Information Elements

[0275] BWP Bandwidth Portion

[0276] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0277] RRC Radio Resource Control

[0278] PPW PRS Processing Window

[0279] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0280] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

Claims

1. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device to receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) on a group of bandwidth portions; receiving an indication of a target trigger state from the second device; and sequentially transmitting the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger condition; A first device that executes the

2. 2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of SRS trigger states includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states, and at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states includes a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding bandwidth portion that is one of the group of bandwidth portions.

3. the target trigger state includes a sequence of pairs including at least a pair of a first SRS and a corresponding first bandwidth portion followed by a pair of a second SRS and a corresponding second bandwidth portion; Transmitting the plurality of SRSs includes: transmitting the first SRS on a first SRS resource or a first SRS resource set within the first bandwidth portion upon activating the first bandwidth portion based on the target trigger condition; activating the second bandwidth portion by performing a switch from the first bandwidth portion to the second bandwidth portion while releasing the first bandwidth portion based on the sequence indicated in the target trigger state; transmitting the second SRS on a second SRS resource or a second SRS resource set within the second bandwidth portion; The first device of claim 2 , comprising:

4. 3. The first device of claim 2, wherein the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states is included in a radio resource control (RRC) message and the indication of the target trigger state is included in downlink control information (DCI).

5. Receiving the instruction includes: and obtaining the indication based on an indication value of an SRS request field in the DCI in accordance with a determination that an SRS frequency hopping SRS request field in the RRC message is set to a first value, the indication value corresponding to the target trigger state. The first device of claim 4 , comprising:

6. The setting is: a maximum number of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; a maximum number of elements in at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; an index of at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; SRS frequency hopping SRS request field; The first device of claim 2 further comprising at least one of:

7. The setting is: a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions in at least one aperiodic SRS trigger state; spatial relationship information including at least one of a transmitting / receiving point identification information, a positioning reference signal resource identification information, a physical cell identification information, a synchronization signal, and a PBCH block information; The first device of claim 2 further comprising at least one of:

8. the plurality of SRS trigger states include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states, and the set of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states includes the group of bandwidth portions; The first device receiving a configuration of associations between the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states and a plurality of SRS resource sets within the group of bandwidth portions; The first device of claim 1 further configured to perform:

9. 10. The first device of claim 8, wherein the establishment of the association is included in an RRC message and indicated by a second value of an aperiodic SRS resource trigger list field, and the indication of the target trigger state is included in a DCI.

10. Receiving the instruction includes: and determining, according to a determination that an SRS request field in the DCI is set to a third value corresponding to the second value, that the plurality of SRS resource sets associated with the second value are to be activated or triggered sequentially on the group of bandwidth portions. The first device of claim 9 , comprising:

11. The setting of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states comprises: a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions, wherein a fourth value of the field indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions; a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions within said group of bandwidth portions; The first device of claim 9 , comprising at least one of:

12. 10. The first device of claim 9, wherein the DCI further includes a field that enables SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions, and wherein a fourth value of the field that enables SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions.

13. The first device determining that the SRS frequency hopping is enabled across the group of bandwidth portions in accordance with a determination that the field enabling SRS hopping across the group of bandwidth portions is set to the fourth value; 13. The first device of claim 11 or claim 12, further adapted to perform:

14. The first device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the plurality of SRSs are transmitted to at least one of the second device or a fourth device serving an adjacent cell.

15. The first device of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

16. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device to transmitting, to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device, a plurality of SRS trigger state configurations associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; transmitting SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger conditions to a third device; In response to receiving a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states from the third device, transmitting an indication of the target trigger state to the first device; receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state; A second device that runs the

17. 17. The second device of claim 16, wherein the plurality of SRS trigger states includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states, and at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states includes a sequence of pairs of an SRS and a corresponding bandwidth portion that is one of the group of bandwidth portions.

18. 18. The second device of claim 17, wherein the configuration of SRS frequency hopping includes the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions.

19. the target trigger state includes a sequence of pairs including at least a pair of a first SRS and a corresponding first bandwidth portion followed by a pair of a second SRS and a corresponding second bandwidth portion; Receiving the plurality of SRSs includes: receiving the first SRS on a first SRS resource or a first SRS resource set within the first bandwidth portion; receiving the second SRS on a second SRS resource or a second SRS resource set within the second bandwidth portion after receiving the first SRS; 20. The second device of claim 17, comprising:

20. 18. The second device of claim 17, wherein the configuration of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states is included in an RRC message and the indication of the target trigger state is included in a DCI.

21. The second device sending an RRC message to the first device including an SRS Request for SRS Frequency Hopping field set to a first value indicating that SRS frequency hopping across the group of bandwidth portions is enabled; 21. The second device of claim 20, further adapted to perform:

22. transmitting the instruction transmitting the indication including an SRS request field set to the indication in accordance with a determination that the request includes an indication of the target trigger condition.

22. The second device of claim 21, comprising:

23. The setting of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states comprises: a maximum number of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; a maximum number of elements in at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; an index of at least one of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger conditions; SRS frequency hopping SRS request field; The second device of claim 17 further comprising at least one of:

24. The setting of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states comprises: a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions in at least one aperiodic SRS trigger state; spatial relationship information including at least one of a transmitting / receiving point identification information, a positioning reference signal resource identification information, a physical cell identification information, a synchronization signal, and a PBCH block information; The second device of claim 17 further comprising at least one of:

25. the plurality of SRS trigger states include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states, and the set of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states includes the group of bandwidth portions; The second device transmitting to the first device a configuration of associations between the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states and a plurality of SRS resource sets within a group of bandwidth portions; The second device of claim 16 further configured to perform:

26. 26. The second device of claim 25, wherein the establishment of the association is included in an RRC message and indicated by a second value of an aperiodic SRS resource trigger list field, and the indication of the target trigger state is included in a DCI.

27. 27. The second device of claim 26, wherein the configuration of SRS frequency hopping includes a third value of the DCI indicating triggering of the plurality of SRS resource sets within the group of bandwidth portions.

28. transmitting the instruction determining, in accordance with a determination that the request includes the third value, that the target trigger state includes the triggering of the plurality of SRS resource sets in the group of bandwidth portions; transmitting the DCI to the first device, the DCI including an SRS request field set to the third value; 28. The second device of claim 27, comprising:

29. The setting of the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states comprises: a field enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions, wherein a fourth value of the field indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions; a time offset for switching between at least two adjacent bandwidth portions within said group of bandwidth portions; 28. The second device of claim 27, comprising at least one of:

30. 28. The second device of claim 27, wherein the DCI further includes a field that enables SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions, and wherein a fourth value of the field that enables SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions indicates enabling SRS frequency hopping over the group of bandwidth portions.

31. The second device transmitting a first report of the plurality of SRS measurements and information regarding the target trigger condition to the third device; The second device of claim 16 further configured to perform:

32. The second device transmitting the configuration of SRS frequency hopping to a fourth device serving a neighboring cell; The second device of claim 16 further configured to perform:

33. The second device transmitting information about the target trigger condition to the fourth device to measure the plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger condition; 33. The second device of claim 32, further adapted to perform:

34. The second device of any one of claims 16 to 33, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device, and the third device comprises a location management device.

35. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the third device to receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; transmitting a request to the second device to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first device to sequentially transmit a plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions; receiving a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs from the second device; A third device that runs the

36. 36. The third device of claim 35, wherein the plurality of SRS trigger states includes a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states, and the configuration of SRS frequency hopping includes the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states.

37. Sending the request comprises: sending the request to the second device, the request including an indication of the target trigger condition; 37. The third device of claim 36, comprising:

38. 36. The third device of claim 35, wherein the configuration of SRS frequency hopping includes a third value of a DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within the group of bandwidth portions.

39. Sending the request comprises: transmitting the request to the second device, the request including the third value indicating the target trigger state including the trigger of the plurality of SRS resource sets within the group of bandwidth portions; 39. The third device of claim 38, comprising:

40. The third device is receiving information from the second device regarding the target trigger condition; 40. The third device of claim 39, further adapted to perform:

41. The third device is transmitting the information regarding the target trigger state to a fourth device to measure the plurality of SRSs based on the target trigger state, the fourth device providing a neighboring cell.

41. The third device of claim 40, further adapted to perform:

42. The third device is receiving a second report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs from a fourth device serving a neighboring cell; 40. The third device of claim 39, further adapted to perform:

43. The third device is determining a location of the first device based at least in part on the first report of the plurality of SRS positioning measurements; 36. The third device of claim 35, further adapted to perform:

44. The third device of any one of claims 35 to 43, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device, and the third device comprises a location management device.

45. at least one processor; at least one memory for storing instructions; wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the fourth device to receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; receiving information regarding a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state; A fourth device that executes the above.

46. 46. ​​The fourth device of claim 45, wherein the plurality of SRS trigger states include a plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states, and the configuration of SRS frequency hopping includes the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states and a set of designation values ​​corresponding to the plurality of aperiodic SRS trigger states.

47. 46. ​​The fourth device of claim 45, wherein the configuration of SRS frequency hopping includes a third value of a DCI indicating triggering of multiple SRS resource sets within the group of bandwidth portions.

48. The fourth device is transmitting a second report of the positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs to a third device; 46. ​​The fourth device of claim 45, further adapted to perform:

49. 46. ​​The fourth device of claim 45, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a first network device, and the fourth device comprises a second network device.

50. receiving, at a first device, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) on a group of bandwidth portions; receiving an indication of a target trigger state from the second device; and sequentially transmitting the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger condition; A method comprising:

51. transmitting, at a second device, to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device, a plurality of SRS trigger state configurations associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; transmitting SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger conditions to a third device; In response to receiving a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states from the third device, transmitting an indication of the target trigger state to the first device; receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state; A method comprising:

52. receiving, at a third device, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; transmitting a request to the second device to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first device to sequentially transmit a plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions; receiving a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs from the second device; A method comprising:

53. receiving, at a fourth device, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; receiving information regarding a target trigger state among the plurality of SRS trigger states; receiving, from the first device, the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger state; A method comprising:

54. 1. A first device, comprising: means for receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell to the first device, configurations of a plurality of SRS trigger states associated with a plurality of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) on a group of bandwidth portions; means for receiving, from the second device, an indication of a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states; means for sequentially transmitting the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions based on the target trigger condition; A first device comprising:

55. a second device, means for transmitting, to a first device in a serving cell provided by the second device, a plurality of SRS trigger state configurations associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for transmitting SRS frequency hopping configurations corresponding to the plurality of SRS trigger conditions to a third device; means for transmitting an indication of a target trigger state to the first device in response to receiving a request to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states from the third device; means for sequentially receiving the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions from the first device based on the target trigger state; A second device comprising:

56. means for receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for transmitting a request to the second device to trigger a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states, the target trigger state causing the first device to sequentially transmit a plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions; means for receiving a first report of positioning measurements of the plurality of SRSs from the second device; a third device comprising:

57. means for receiving, from a second device that provides a serving cell for the first device, an SRS frequency hopping configuration corresponding to a plurality of SRS trigger conditions associated with a plurality of SRSs on a group of bandwidth portions; means for receiving information regarding a target trigger state of the plurality of SRS trigger states; means for sequentially receiving the plurality of SRSs in at least some of the group of bandwidth portions from the first device based on the target trigger state; A fourth device comprising:

58. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 50, the method of claim 51, the method of claim 52, or the method of claim 53.

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