Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) beam sweep of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning based on angle of departure (AOD).

Abstract

This invention provides a method, UE, and configurable intelligent surface (RIS) that improve signaling efficiency and significantly reduce latency. [Solution] The method includes a Location Management Function (LMF) transmitting first configuration information to the RIS that identifies a resource for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and transmitting second configuration information to the User Equipment (UE) that identifies a resource for SRS positioning. Each of the first and second configuration pieces indicates the expected time for the UE to receive a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time for the UE to receive a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

Description

Background Art

[0001] 1. Field of Disclosure

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication.

[0002] 2. Description of Related Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation (1G) analog wireless telephone services, second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-capable wireless services, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE (registered trademark)) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), etc.

[0003]

[0003] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), requires higher data transfer speeds, more connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections must be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly higher compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency must be improved and latency significantly reduced compared to the current standard. [Overview of the project]

[0004]

[0004] The following provides a simplified overview relating to one or more embodiments disclosed herein. Therefore, the following overview should not be considered a broad overview relating to all intended embodiments, nor should it be considered to identify the main or important elements relating to all intended embodiments, or to define the scope relating to any particular embodiment. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following overview is to provide, in a simplified form, some concepts relating to one or more embodiments relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein, prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0005]

[0005] In one embodiment, a wireless communication method performed by a user device (UE) includes: acquiring configuration information to identify a resource for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) at different times according to the configuration information; receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, each of which is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD); measuring each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS to generate a plurality of measurements; and performing a positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements.

[0006]

[0006] In one embodiment, a method of wireless communication performed by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) includes: obtaining configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from a user device (UE) at different times; and transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions, each of which is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information, including reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

[0007]

[0007] In one embodiment, a wireless communication method performed by a location server includes transmitting first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and transmitting second configuration information to a user device (UE) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, each of which indicates the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0008]

[0008] In one embodiment, the user equipment (UE) includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communically coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor acquires configuration information identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, transmits a plurality of SRS transmissions to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) via the at least one transceiver at different times according to the configuration information, receives a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS via the at least one transceiver, including reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD), measures each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS to generate a plurality of measurements, and is configured to perform a positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements.

[0009]

[0009] In one embodiment, the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor acquires configuration information identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and is configured to receive a plurality of SRS transmissions from a user equipment (UE) at different times via the at least one transceiver, and to transmit a plurality of SRS transmissions via the at least one transceiver, including reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS being transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information.

[0010]

[0010] In one embodiment, the location server includes memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communically coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) via the at least one transceiver, identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and to transmit second configuration information to a user device (UE) via the at least one transceiver, wherein each of the first and second configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0011]

[0011] In one embodiment, the user equipment (UE) includes means for acquiring configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; means for transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) at different times according to the configuration information; means for receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, including reflections of a plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD); means for measuring each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS to generate a plurality of measurements; and means for performing a positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements.

[0012]

[0012] In one embodiment, a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) includes means for acquiring configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; means for receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from a user device (UE) at different times; and means for transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions, each of which is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information, including reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

[0013]

[0013] In one embodiment, the location server includes means for transmitting first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and means for transmitting second configuration information to a user device (UE) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, each of which indicates the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0014]

[0014] In one embodiment, a non-temporary computer-readable medium stores a computer-executable instruction, which, when executed by a user device (UE), causes the UE to acquire configuration information identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, to cause a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) to send a plurality of SRS transmissions at different times according to the configuration information, to receive a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, including reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS being transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD), to measure each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS to generate a plurality of measurements, and to perform a positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements.

[0015]

[0015] In one embodiment, a non-temporary computer-readable medium stores a computer-executable instruction, which, when executed by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), causes the RIS to acquire configuration information identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, to receive a plurality of SRS transmissions from a user device (UE) at different times, and to transmit a plurality of SRS transmissions, each of which is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information.

[0016]

[0016] In one embodiment, a non-temporary computer-readable medium stores a computer-executable instruction, which, when executed by a location server, causes the location server to transmit first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and causes a user device (UE) to transmit second configuration information identifying resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, each of which indicates the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0017]

[0017] Other purposes and advantages relating to the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0018]

[0018] The accompanying drawings are provided to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only for illustrative purposes of aspects, not to limit them. [Figure 1]

[0019] A diagram showing an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0020] A diagram showing an exemplary wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] A diagram showing an exemplary wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0021] A simplified block diagram of some exemplary aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support the communications taught herein. [Figure 3B] A simplified block diagram of some exemplary aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support the communications taught herein. [Figure 3C] A simplified block diagram of some exemplary aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support the communications taught herein. [Figure 4A]

[0022] A diagram showing an exemplary frame structure and channels within the frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] A diagram showing an exemplary frame structure and channels within the frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 4C] A diagram showing an exemplary frame structure and channels within the frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 4D] A diagram showing an exemplary frame structure and channels within the frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5]

[0023] A diagram showing an exemplary base station communicating with an exemplary UE according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6]

[0024] A diagram showing a conventional method of performing DL-AoD measurement using RSRP measurement values. [Figure 7]

[0025] This is a plot of the expected RSRP value as a function of azimuth angle, normalized to remove the effect of distance. [Figure 8]

[0026] This diagram illustrates a conventional system for multi-round-trip time (multi-RTT) positioning. [Figure 9]

[0027] This diagram shows a system for multi-RTT positioning using a single gNB. [Figure 10]

[0028] This figure illustrates System 1000 for multi-RTT positioning using an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) and multiple reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS). [Figure 11]

[0029] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process associated with RIS beam sweep of an SRS for angle-of-death (AoD) based positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 12]

[0030] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process associated with RIS beam sweep of an SRS for angle-of-death (AoD) based positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 13A]

[0031] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process associated with RIS beam sweep of an SRS for angle-of-death (AoD) based positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 13B] This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process associated with RIS beam sweep of an SRS for angle-of-death (AoD) based positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 14]

[0032] This figure illustrates an exemplary network that performs UE-based positioning using a single RIS according to some aspects of this disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0033] This is a signaling and event diagram in RIS beam sweep of SRS for UE-based AoD positioning according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]This is a signaling and event diagram in RIS beam sweep of SRS for UE-based AoD positioning according to some aspects of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0019]

[0034] The aspects of this disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, which cover various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of this disclosure are not described in detail or are omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0020]

[0035] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “to serve as an example, case, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” should not necessarily be construed as being preferable or advantageous to any other aspect. Similarly, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the described features, advantages, or modes of operation.

[0021]

[0036] Those skilled in the art will understand that the information and signals described below can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, desired design, corresponding technique, etc.

[0022]

[0037] Furthermore, many embodiments will be described, for example, with respect to sequences of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit: ASIC), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. In addition, the sequence of actions described herein, when executed, may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-temporary computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that cause or instruct the relevant processors of the device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various embodiments of this disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, any corresponding form of such embodiment may be described herein, for example, as “logic configured to perform” the actions described.

[0023]

[0038] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer location device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE may be mobile or stationary (e.g., at some point in time) and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the terms “UE” may be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT,” “Client Device,” “Wireless Device,” “Subscriber Device,” “Subscriber Terminal,” “Subscriber Station,” “User Terminal” or “UT,” “Mobile Device,” “Mobile Terminal,” “Mobile Station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, UEs can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for UEs, such as via wired access networks and wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11 specification).

[0024]

[0039] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs that communicate with the UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may be alternatively called an access point (AP), network node, node B (NodeB), advanced node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), or New Radio (NR) node B (also known as gNB or gNodeB). Base stations may be primarily used to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connectivity for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may only provide edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. The communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0025]

[0040] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be colocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, that physical TRP may be the base station's antennas corresponding to the base station's cells (or several cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple colocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas of the base station (for example, in the case of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple uncolocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, an uncollocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE, and an adjacent base station from which the UE measures its reference radio frequency (RF) signal. Since a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0026]

[0041] In some implementations supporting UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., it may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit a reference signal to the UE to be measured by the UE, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be called a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or a positioning unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0027]

[0042] An "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be called a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be called a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0028]

[0043] Figure 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes called a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (indicated as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB that the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or a gNB that the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0029]

[0044] Base station 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an Advanced Packet Core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF) or a Secure User Plane Location Platform (SLP)) via the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be outside of the core network 170. UE 104 may communicate with location servers 172 directly or indirectly. For example, UE 104 may communicate with location servers 172 via the base station 102 currently serving it. Alternatively, UE 104 may communicate with location servers 172 via other routes, such as via an application server, or via other networks, such as via a Wi-Fi access point. For signaling purposes, communication between UE104 and location server 172 can be represented as a direct connection, with any intervening nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0030]

[0045] In addition to other functions, base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: transferring user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and warning message delivery. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0031]

[0046] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage to its respective geographical coverage area 110. In one embodiment, one or more cells may be supported by base stations 102 in each geographical coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (over several frequency resources, e.g., called carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others). Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may, depending on the context, refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it. In addition, since the TRP is usually the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, insofar as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographical coverage area 110.

[0032]

[0047] The geographical coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (for example, in handover areas), and some of the geographical coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by larger geographical coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (indicated as "SC" instead of "small cell") may have a geographical coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographical coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that can serve a limited group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0033]

[0048] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also called reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may utilize MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may operate through one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0034]

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 communicating with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0035]

[0050] Small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed frequency spectrum and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell base station 102' may utilize LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by WLAN AP150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed frequency spectrum may extend coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be called NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be called LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0036]

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that can operate in millimeter-wave (mmW) and / or quasi-mmW frequencies communicating with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths of 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes called millimeter waves. Quasi-mmW can extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also called centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW / quasi-mmW radio frequency band has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) via the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. Furthermore, in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it will be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the various embodiments disclosed herein.

[0037]

[0052] Transmit beamforming is a technique for concentrating RF signals in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts that signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). Using transmit beamforming, a network node can determine where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and project a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster and more powerful RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device. To change the directivity of an RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (also called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In detail, RF current from the transmitter is supplied to individual antennas with the appropriate phase relationship, and as a result, radio waves from separate antennas combine to enhance radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in undesirable directions.

[0038]

[0053] A transmit beam can be quasi-co-located, meaning that to a receiver (e.g., a UE), the transmit beam appears to have the same parameters regardless of whether the transmit antenna of the network node itself is physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that several parameters of a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and mean delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0039]

[0054] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a received beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver can amplify an RF signal received from a particular direction (e.g., increase its gain level) by increasing the gain setting of an antenna array in that direction and / or adjusting the phase setting. Therefore, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal intensity (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR)) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0040]

[0055] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. Spatial relationship means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE might use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE could then, based on the parameters of the receive beam, form a transmit beam to transmit an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station.

[0041]

[0056] It should be noted that a “downlink” beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE forms a downlink beam, then it is a receive beam for receiving a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms an uplink beam, then it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE forms an uplink beam, then it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0042]

[0057] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UE104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450–6000 MHz), FR2 (24250–52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW frequency band generally includes the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequency ranges. Therefore, the terms "mmW" and "FR2" or "FR3" or "FR4" may generally be used interchangeably.

[0043]

[0058] In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," while the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCells." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE104 / 182, and on the cell where the UE104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE-specific control channels and may (but not always) be a carrier on licensed frequencies. The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier on unlicensed frequencies. Since both the primary uplink carrier and primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals; for example, UE-specific signaling information and signals do not need to be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UE104 / 182 within a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to distribute the load over different carriers. Since a “serving cell” (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier through which several base stations communicate, terms such as “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” and “carrier frequency” can be used interchangeably.

[0044]

[0059] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 may be the anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission rate and / or data reception rate. For example, aggregated two 20MHz carriers in a multicarrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20MHz carrier.

[0045]

[0060] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164 that communicates with a macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 via an mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0046]

[0061] In the example in Figure 1, one or more Earth-orbiting satellite positioning system (SPS) space vehicles (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites) may be used as an independent source of location information for any of the illustrated UEs (shown in Figure 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity). UE 104 may include one or more dedicated SPS receivers specifically designed to receive SPS signals 124 for deriving geolocation information from SV 112. SPS typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SV 112) arranged to allow receivers (e.g., UE 104) to determine their locations on or above the Earth, at least in part, based on signals received from the transmitters (e.g., SPS signals 124). Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a set number of repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) codes. While typically located within SV112, the transmitter may occasionally be located on a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UE104.

[0047]

[0062] The use of SPS signal 124 may be associated with use involving one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, or may be otherwise enabled for such use, and may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS). For example, an SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS)-assisted geo-augmented navigation, or GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN). Therefore, the SPS used herein may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and the SPS signal 124 may include SPS, SPS-like signals, and / or other signals associated with one or more such SPS.

[0048]

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example in Figure 1, UE190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (for example, through which UE190 may indirectly obtain a cellular connection), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which UE190 may indirectly obtain a WLAN-based internet connection). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), or Bluetooth®.

[0049]

[0064] Figure 2A shows an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, 5GC210 (also called Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally considered to consist of control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), working collaboratively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB222 to 5GC210, and more specifically to user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB224 may also be connected to 5GC210 via NG-C215 to control plane functions 214 and NG-U213 to user plane functions 212. Furthermore, the ng-eNB224 may communicate directly with the gNB222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNB222s, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB224 and the gNB222. Either (or both) of the gNB222 or the ng-eNB224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0050]

[0065] Another optional embodiment may include a location server 230 that may communicate with 5GC210 to provide location assistance to UE204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spanning multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC210 and / or via the internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into the core network components, or alternatively, outside the core network (e.g., a third-party server such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0051]

[0066] Figure 2B shows another exemplary wireless network structure 250. 5GC260 (which may correspond to 5GC210 in Figure 2A) can functionally be considered as control plane functions provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and user plane functions provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, working collaboratively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC260). The functions of AMF264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UE204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access permission, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between a UE204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF264 also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE204, and receives the intermediate key established as a result of the UE204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF264 retrieves security material from the ASF. The AMF264's functionality also includes security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive the access network-specific key.The functionality of the AMF264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, transport for location service messages between the UE204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as a location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF270, EPS bearer identifier assignment for interacting with the Advanced Packet System (EPS), and UE204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0052]

[0067] The functions of UPF262 include (when applicable) acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility, acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to data networks (not shown), routing and forwarding packets, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking on the downlink), uplink traffic verification (mapping service data flows (SDFs) to QoS flows), transport-level packet marking on the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. UPF262 may also support the forwarding of location service messages on the user plane between UE204 and location servers such as SLP272.

[0053]

[0068] The functions of the SMF266 ​​include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF262 for routing traffic to appropriate destinations, control of policy enforcement and some QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF266 ​​communicates with the AMF264 is called the N11 interface.

[0054]

[0069] Another optional embodiment may include an LMF270 that may communicate with 5GC260 to provide location assistance to UE204. LMF270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spanning multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. LMF270 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE204 that can connect to LMF270 via the core network, 5GC260, and / or via the internet (not shown). The SLP272 may support similar functionality to the LMF270, but the LMF270 can communicate with the AMF264, NG-RAN220, and UE204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to transmit signaling messages rather than voice or data), while the SLP272 can communicate with the UE204 and external clients (not shown in Figure 2B) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0055]

[0070] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC260, specifically the UPF262 and AMF264, to one or more gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 in the NG-RAN220, respectively. The interface between the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 and the AMF264 is called the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 and the UPF262 is called the "N3" interface. The gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 in the NG-RAN220 can communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 called the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 can communicate with one or more UE204 via a wireless interface called the "Uu" interface.

[0056]

[0071] The functionality of gNB222 is divided between the gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228 is called the "F1" interface. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, with the exception of those functions that are exclusively allocated to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data conformance protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layer of the gNB222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. A single gNB-DU228 can support one or more cells, and a single cell can be supported by only one gNB-DU228. Therefore, the UE204 communicates with the gNB-CU226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, as well as with the gNB-DU228 via the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers.

[0057]

[0072] Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several exemplary components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into device 302 (corresponding to any of the UEs described herein and therefore may also be referred to as UE302), device 304 (corresponding to either a base station or RIS described herein and therefore may also be referred to as BS304 or RIS304), and device 306 (corresponding to or embodying any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF270, and therefore may also be referred to as network entity 306, LS306, or LMF306, or may be independent of the NG-RAN220 and / or 5GC210 / 260 infrastructure shown in Figures 2A and 2B, such as a private network). The device shown in Figure 3B, or a simplified version thereof, may be a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). It will be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementation forms (e.g., in an ASIC, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0058]

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

[0059]

[0074] UE 302 and base station 304 also each include, in at least some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means for communicating with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, and base stations via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access for Vehicular Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.) on the wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be configured in various ways, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.). In particular, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and each includes one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. For example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0060]

[0075] UE302 and base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may have any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may, as appropriate, request information and operations from other systems and perform calculations necessary to determine the positions of UE302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0061]

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

[0062]

[0077] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. Whether wired or wireless, the transceiver includes a transmitter circuit configuration (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit configuration (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying the transmitter and receiver circuit configurations in a single device), in some implementations it may comprise separate transmitter and receiver circuit configurations, or in other implementations it may be embodied in other ways. The transmitter and receiver circuit configurations of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. A wireless transmitter circuit configuration (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include, or be coupled with, multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, enabling each device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit beamforming. Similarly, a wireless receiver circuit configuration (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include, or be coupled with, multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, enabling each device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming. In one embodiment, the transmitter and receiver circuit configurations may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that each device can either receive or transmit only at a given time, but not both at the same time. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0063]

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

[0064]

[0079] UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functions related to wireless communication and to provide other processing functions. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include processing means such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, and means for directing. In one embodiment, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0065]

[0080] The UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include memory circuits that implement memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (each including a memory device, for example), to maintain information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memories 340, 386, and 396 may include storage means, retrieval means, maintenance means, etc. In some cases, the UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may each include AoD components 342, 388, and 398. The AoD components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, and when executed, the processors cause the UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other embodiments, AoD components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., as part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, AoD components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A shows possible locations for AoD component 342, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B shows possible locations of the AoD component 388, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or it may be a standalone component.Figure 3C shows possible locations of the AoD component 398, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or it may be a standalone component.

[0066]

[0081] UE302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or SPS receivers 330. For example, sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion-sensing sensor. Furthermore, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and their outputs may be combined to provide motion information. For example, sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0067]

[0082] In addition, UE302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing a display to the user (e.g., an audible display and / or a visual display) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when a user activates a sensing device such as a keypad, touchscreen, or microphone). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0068]

[0083] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 may implement functions for the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction by automatic retransmission requests (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority processing, and logical channel prioritization.

[0069]

[0084] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to a signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., two-phase shift modulation (BPSK), four-phase shift modulation (QPSK), M-phase shift modulation (M-PSK), M-phase quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols can then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then synthesized together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel that carries the time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. Channel estimates can be derived from a reference signal and / or channel state feedback transmitted by UE302. Each spatial stream can then be supplied to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 can modulate the RF carrier using each spatial stream for transmission.

[0070]

[0085] In UE302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna 316. The receiver 312 reconstructs the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to reconstruct any spatial stream directed to UE302. If multiple spatial streams are directed to UE302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal contains a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are reconstructed and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. Next, the soft decision decodes and deinterleaves the data and control signals that were initially transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0071]

[0086] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between the transport channel and logical channel, packet reassembly, decoding, header reconstruction, and control signal processing to reconstruct IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0072]

[0087] Similar to the functions described in relation to downlink transmission by base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions related to the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction by ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction by hybrid automatic retransmission requests (HARQs), priority processing, and logical channel prioritization.

[0073]

[0088] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 may be supplied to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate the RF carrier using each spatial stream for transmission.

[0074]

[0089] Uplink transmissions are processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function in UE302. Receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. Receiver 352 reconstructs the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 384.

[0075]

[0090] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between the transport channel and logical channel, packet reassembly, decoding, header reconstruction, and control signal processing to reconstruct IP packets from the UE302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 can be delivered to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0076]

[0091] For convenience, the UE302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are shown in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the illustrated components may have different functions in different designs. In detail, the various components in Figures 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations, and the various embodiments include configurations that may change due to design choices, cost, device usage, or other considerations. For example, in the example of Figure 3A, a particular implementation of the UE302 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth functionality without cellular functionality), or the short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only), or the SPS receiver 330, or the sensor 344, and so on. In another example, in the case of Figure 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular functionality), or the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular-only), or the SPS receiver 370, and so on. For the sake of brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0077]

[0092] Various components of UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be coupled to each other in a communicative manner via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one embodiment, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, if various logical entities are embodied within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality integrated within the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0078]

[0093] The components in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE302 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (for example, by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by the UE,” “by the base station,” “by the network entity,” etc. However, as should be understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components such as UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., including processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, AoD components 342, 388, and 398.

[0079]

[0094] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN220 and / or 5GC210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that communicates with UE302 via base station 304, or it may be configured independently of base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0080]

[0095] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figures 4A to 4D show exemplary frame structures and channels within a frame structure according to embodiments of this disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0081]

[0096] Figure 4A is a figure 400 showing an example of a downlink frame structure according to an aspect of this disclosure. LTE and, in some cases, NR utilize OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, commonly also called tones or bins. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, the modulation symbol is transmitted using OFDM in the frequency domain and SC-FDM in the time domain. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (i.e., 180 kHz). Therefore, the nominal FFT sizes may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, the subbands may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0082]

[0097] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4), or greater, may be available. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, i.e., 10 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 50 with an FFT size of 4K. For a 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are 2 slots per subframe, i.e., 20 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.5ms, a symbol duration of 33.3μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 100 for an FFT size of 4K. For a 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are 4 slots per subframe, i.e., 40 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.25ms, a symbol duration of 16.7μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 200 for an FFT size of 4K. For a 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are 8 slots per subframe, i.e., 80 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.125ms, a symbol duration of 8.33μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 400 for an FFT size of 4K. For a 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, i.e., 160 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.0625ms, a symbol duration of 4.17μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 800 for an FFT size of 4K.

[0083]

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

[0084]

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

[0085]

[0100] Some REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel status information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), etc. Figure 4A illustrates an example of the location of an RE carrying a PRS (labeled "R").

[0086]

[0101] A collection of resource elements (REs) used for PRS transmission is called a "PRS resource." A collection of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" consecutive symbols (such as one or more) within a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0087]

[0102] The transmission of a PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted on every N subcarriers of the PRB's symbols. For example, for comb 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every four subcarriers (such as subcarriers 0, 4, and 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes comb 2, comb 4, comb 6, and comb 12 are supported for DL-PRS. Figure 4A shows an exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb 6 (spanning six symbols). That is, the positions of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate the comb 6 PRS resource configuration.

[0088]

[0103] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot, with a staggered pattern across the entire frequency domain. DL-PRS resources can be configured within any downlink or flexible (FL) symbols configured by the upper layer of the slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there can be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 spanning 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2 Symbolcom2:{0,1}; 4 Symbolcom2:{0,1,0,1}; 6 Symbolcom2:{0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12 Symbolcom2:{0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4 Symbolcom4:{0,2,1,3}; 12 Symbolcom4:{0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6 Symbolcom6:{0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12 Symbolcom6:{0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12 Symbolcom12:{0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0089]

[0104] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, PRS resources within a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by its PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by its TRP ID). Furthermore, PRS resources within a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across slots. Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The periodicity is μ = 0, 1, 2, 3, and may have a length selected from 2^μ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots. The iteration coefficient may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0090]

[0105] A PRS resource ID within a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam and is therefore sometimes referred to as a "PRS resource," simply a "resource," or even just a "beam." It should be noted that this does not imply whether the PRS is aware of the TRP and beam transmitted on it to the UE.

[0091]

[0106] A “PRS instance” or “PRS occasion” is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive slots) in which PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be called a “PRS positioning occasion,” “PRS positioning instance,” “positioning occasion,” “positioning instance,” “positioning iteration,” or simply “occasion,” “instance,” or “iteration.”

[0092]

[0107] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply called a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs that have the same values ​​for several parameters. In detail, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all numerologies supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same Point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio-frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of 4PRB, with a minimum of 24PRB and a maximum of 272PRB. Currently, up to four frequency layers are defined, and each frequency layer may consist of up to two PRS resource sets per TRP.

[0093]

[0108] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but differs in that component carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or a macrocell base station and a smallcell base station) to transmit a data channel, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit a PRS. A UE may indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when it transmits its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support one positioning frequency layer or four positioning frequency layers.

[0094]

[0109] Figure 4B is a diagram of Figure 430 showing an example of a channel in a downlink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a sequence of PRBs selected from a sequence of common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. Generally, up to four BWPs can be specified on the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) may be active at a given time, meaning that the UE can receive or transmit through only one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be greater than or equal to the bandwidth of the SSB, but each BWP may or may not include the SSB.

[0095]

[0110] Referring to Figure 4B, the UE uses a primary synchronization signal (PSS) to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification information. The UE uses a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to determine the physical layer cell identification information group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identification information and physical layer cell identification information group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DL-RS described above. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also called SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIB), and paging messages.

[0096]

[0111] A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE containing one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle containing one or more REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called the control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted with its own DMRS. This allows for UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0097]

[0112] In the example in Figure 4B, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (which may be just one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is confined to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., a CORESET). Therefore, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in Figure 4B are shown as smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that the shown CORESET is contiguous in the frequency domain, but does not need to be. In addition, the CORESET may span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0098]

[0113] The DCIs within a PDCCH carry information about (persistent and non-persistent) uplink resource allocations, called uplink grants and downlink grants, and descriptions of downlink data to be sent to the UE, respectively. More specifically, the DCIs indicate resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured within a PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of several formats. For example, there may be different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, and uplink transmit power control (TPC). The PDCCH may be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0099]

[0114] Figure 4C is a diagram showing an example of an uplink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4C, some of the REs (labeled "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at a receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE). The UE may additionally transmit SRS, for example, in the last symbol of a slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS over one of the combs. In the example in Figure 4C, the illustrated SRS is comb 2 across one symbol. The SRS may be used by a base station to obtain channel status information (CSI) per UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0100]

[0115] Currently, SRS resources can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a comb size of comb 2, comb 4, or comb 8 slots. The following are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for currently supported SRS comb patterns: 1 symbol comb 2: {0}; 2 symbol comb 2: {0,1}; 4 symbol comb 2: {0,1,0,1}; 4 symbol comb 4: {0,2,1,3}; 8 symbol comb 4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12 symbol comb 4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4 symbol comb 8: {0,4,2,6}; 8 symbol comb 8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12 symbol comb 8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0101]

[0116] A set of resource elements used for SRS transmission is called an "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". A set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within slots in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmitting an SRS signal and is identified by the SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0102]

[0117] Generally, a UE transmits an SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or an adjacent base station) to measure channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, an SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round-trip time (RTT), and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). As used herein, the term “SRS” may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as “communication SRS” and / or the latter as “positioning SRS.”

[0103]

[0118] Several extensions beyond the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for positioning SRS (also known as "UL-PRS"), including new staggered patterns within SRS resources (except for single symbol / comb 2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, more SRS resource sets per component carrier, and more SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" will be configured based on a downlink reference signal or SSB from an adjacent TRP. Still, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside of an active BWP, and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Also, SRS may be configured in an RRC-connected state and may only be transmitted within an active BWP. Furthermore, frequency hopping may be absent, repetition coefficients may be absent, there may be a single antenna port, and there may be new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Furthermore, open-loop power control may be used instead of closed-loop power control, and Com 8 (i.e., SRS is transmitted for every 8 subcarriers within the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources through the same transmit beam for UL-AoA. All of these are features added to the current SRS framework, configured through RRC upper-layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control elements (CE) or DCI).

[0104]

[0119] Figure 4D is a diagram showing an example of channels in an uplink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. A random access channel (RACH), also called a physical random access channel (PRACH), may be located in one or more slots in the frame based on a PRACH configuration. A PRACH may contain six consecutive RB pairs within a slot. The PRACH enables the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be located on the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0105]

[0120] It should be noted that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, including but not limited to PRS as defined in LTE and NR, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. Furthermore, unless otherwise suggested by the context, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals. Where necessary to further distinguish between types of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be called “DL-PRS,” and uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., positioning SRS, PTRS) may be called “UL-PRS.” In addition, for signals that can be transmitted both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), “UL” or “DL” may be prepended to the signal to distinguish direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be distinguished from "DL-DMRS".

[0106]

[0121] Figure 5 is a diagram showing a base station (BS) 502 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein) communicating with a UE 504 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein). Referring to Figure 5, base station 502 may transmit beamformed signals to UE 504 on one or more transmit beams 502a, 502b, 502c, 502d, 502e, 502f, 502g, each having a beam identifier that can be used by UE 504 to identify each beam. If base station 502 is beamforming toward UE 504 using a single array of antennas (e.g., a single TRP / cell), base station 502 may perform a "beam sweep" by transmitting the first beam 502a, then beam 502b, and so on, until finally transmitting beam 502g. Alternatively, base station 502 may transmit beams 502a-502g in several patterns, such as beam 502a, then beam 502g, then beam 502b, then beam 502f. If base station 502 is beamforming toward UE 504 using multiple antenna arrays (e.g., multiple TRP / cells), each antenna array may perform a beam sweep of a subset of beams 502a-502g. Alternatively, each of beams 502a-502g may correspond to a single antenna or antenna array.

[0107]

[0122] Figure 5 further illustrates the paths 512c, 512d, 512e, 512f, and 512g, respectively, followed by beamformed signals transmitted on beams 502c, 502d, 502e, 502f, and 502g. Each path 512c, 512d, 512e, 512f, and 512g may correspond to a single "multipath" or to multiple "multipaths" (clusters) due to the propagation characteristics of radio frequency (RF) signals through the environment. Only paths for beams 502c-502g are shown for simplicity; note that signals transmitted on each of beams 502a-502g follow several paths. In the illustrated example, paths 512c, 512d, 512e, and 512f are straight lines, while path 512g is reflected from an obstacle 520 (e.g., a building, vehicle, terrain feature).

[0108]

[0123] UE504 may receive beamformed signals from base station 502 in one or more received beams 504a, 504b, 504c, and 504d. For simplicity, note that the beams shown in Figure 5 represent either the transmitting beam or the receiving beam, depending on whether base station 502 or UE504 is transmitting or receiving. Therefore, UE504 may also transmit beamformed signals to base station 502 in one or more of the beams 504a to 504d, and base station 502 may receive beamformed signals from UE504 in one or more of the beams 502a to 502g.

[0109]

[0124] In one embodiment, base station 502 and UE 504 may perform beam training to align their transmit and receive beams. For example, depending on environmental conditions and other factors, base station 502 and UE 504 may determine that the best transmit and receive beams are 502d and 504b, or beams 502e and 504c, respectively. The direction of the best transmit beam for base station 502 may or may not be the same as the direction of the best receive beam, and similarly, the direction of the best receive beam for UE 504 may or may not be the same as the direction of the best transmit beam. However, it should be noted that aligning the transmit and receive beams is not necessary to perform downlink angle of emission (DL-AoD) or uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA) positioning procedures.

[0110]

[0125] To perform the DL-AoD positioning procedure, base station 502 may transmit a reference signal (e.g., PRS, CRS, TRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, etc.) to UE 504 in one or more of the beams 502a-502g, each having a different transmission angle. The different transmission angles of the beams result in different received signal strengths at UE 504 (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.). Specifically, the received signal strength is lower in the transmission beams 502a-502g that are further from the line-of-sight (LOS) path 510 between base station 502 and UE 504 than in the transmission beams 502a-502g that are closer to the LOS path 510.

[0111]

[0126] In the example in Figure 5, when base station 502 transmits a reference signal to UE 504 on beams 502c, 502d, 502e, 502f, and 502g, the transmitting beam 502e is best aligned with the LOS path 510, but the transmitting beams 502c, 502d, 502f, and 502g are not. Therefore, beam 502e may have a higher received signal intensity at UE 504 than beams 502c, 502d, 502f, and 502g. Note that reference signals transmitted on some beams (e.g., beams 502c and / or 502f) may not reach UE 504, or the energy reaching UE 504 from these beams may be too low, resulting in the energy being undetectable or at least negligible.

[0112]

[0127] UE504 may report to base station 502 the received signal strength of each measured transmit beam 502c-502g, and optionally the associated measurement quality, or identification information of the transmit beam with the highest received signal strength (beam 502e in the example of Figure 5). Alternatively or additionally, if UE504 is also involved in round-trip time (RTT) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning sessions with at least one or more base stations 502, UE504 may report reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) or reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (and optionally the associated measurement quality), respectively, to serving base station 502 or other positioning entities. In either case, a positioning entity (e.g., base station 502, location server, third-party client, UE504, etc.) can estimate the angle from base station 502 to UE504 as the AoD of the transmit beam with the greatest received signal strength at UE504, in this case, the transmit beam 502e.

[0113]

[0128] In one embodiment of DL-AoD-based positioning involving only one base station 502, the base station 502 and UE 504 can perform a round-trip time (RTT) procedure to determine the distance between base station 502 and UE 504. Thus, the positioning entity can determine both the direction to UE 504 (using DL-AoD positioning) and the distance to UE 504 (using RTT positioning) in order to estimate the location of UE 504. It should be noted that the AoD of the transmit beam with the greatest received signal strength is not necessarily along the LOS path 510, as shown in Figure 5. However, this is assumed for DL-AoD-based positioning purposes.

[0114]

[0129] In another aspect of DL-AoD-based positioning, where multiple base stations 502 are involved, each base station 502 can report the determined AoD from base station 502 to UE 504 to the positioning entity. The positioning entity receives such multiple AoDs for UE 504 from the multiple base stations 502 (or other geographically separated transmission points) involved. Using this information and knowledge of the geographical locations of the base stations 502, the positioning entity can estimate the location of UE 504 as the intersection of the received AoDs. For a two-dimensional (2D) positioning solution, there should be at least two base stations 502 involved, but as is understood, the more base stations 502 involved in the positioning procedure, the more accurate the estimated location of UE 504 becomes. In the case of UE-assisted positioning, a serving base station reports RSRP measurements to the positioning entity (e.g., a location server). The AoD is neither determined nor reported by each base station.

[0115]

[0130] To perform the UL-AoA positioning procedure, UE504 transmits an uplink reference signal (e.g., UL-PRS, SRS, DMRS, etc.) to base station 502 using one or more of the uplink transmit beams 504a-504d. Base station 502 receives the uplink reference signal using one or more of the uplink receive beams 502a-502g. Base station 502 determines the angle of the best receive beam 502a-502g used to receive one or more reference signals from UE504 as the AoA from UE504 to base station 502. Specifically, each of the receive beams 502a-502g results in a different received signal intensity (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) of one or more reference signals at base station 502. Furthermore, the channel impulse response of one or more reference signals is smaller for the receiving beams 502a-502g that are further from the actual LOS path between base station 502 and UE 504 than for the receiving beams 502a-502g that are closer to the LOS path. Similarly, the received signal intensity is smaller for the receiving beams 502a-502g that are further from the LOS path than for the receiving beams 502a-502g that are closer to the LOS path. Therefore, base station 502 identifies the receiving beams 502a-502g that yield the maximum received signal intensity, and optionally the strongest channel impulse response, and estimates the angle from itself to UE 504 as the AoA of that receiving beam 502a-502g. Similar to DL-AoD-based positioning, it should be noted that the AoA of the received beams 502a-502g that yield the maximum received signal strength (and the strongest channel impulse response, if measured) is not necessarily aligned with the LOS path 510. However, for UL-AoA-based positioning purposes, this can be assumed in FR2. In the case of FR1, AoA estimation can be performed using digital beam scanning. For example, UE504 may estimate the AoA as the AoA with the fastest path having power greater than several thresholds.

[0116]

[0131] While the UE504 is presented as beamforming-capable, it should be noted that this is not essential for DL-AoD and UL-AoA positioning procedures. Rather, the UE504 may receive and transmit using an omnidirectional antenna.

[0117]

[0132] If UE504 is estimating its position (i.e., UE is a positioning entity), it needs to obtain the geographical location of base station 502. UE504 may obtain the location from, for example, base station 502 itself or from a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF270, SLP272). Using the distance to base station 502 (based on RTT or timing advance), the angle between base station 502 and UE504 (based on UL-AoA of the best received beams 502a-502g), and knowledge of the known geographical location of base station 502, UE504 can estimate its position.

[0118]

[0133] Alternatively, if a positioning entity such as base station 502 or a location server is estimating the location of UE 504, base station 502 reports the maximum received signal intensity (and optionally, the strongest channel impulse response) of the reference signal received from UE 504, or the AoA of the received beams 502a-502g that yield all received signal intensity and channel impulse responses for all received beams 502a-502g (this enables the positioning entity to determine the best received beam 502a-502g). In addition, base station 502 may report the Rx-Tx time difference to UE 504. The positioning entity can then estimate the location of UE 504 based on the distance of UE 504 to base station 502, the AoA of the identified received beams 502a-502g, and the known geographical location of base station 502.

[0119]

[0134] Figure 6 shows a conventional method 600 for performing DL-AoD measurements using RSRP measurements. In Figure 6, TRP 602 transmits a set of PRS signals, each at a different azimuth angle. The radiation pattern of each beam is represented graphically by numbered ellipses, where the ellipse numbered 1 represents PRS1, the ellipse numbered 2 represents PRS2, and so on. UE604, having a line-of-sight (LOS) path 606 to TRP602, performs RSRP measurements for each PRS signal and reports these measurements to TRP602, which can then forward these measurements to a positioning entity such as a position management function (LMF) 608. The perceived RSRP of each PRS from the viewpoint of UE604 will depend on the relative angle of the PRS beam to the angle of the LOS path 606, which is labeled φ1 in Figure 6. This is schematically represented in Figure 6 as the intersection of the LOS path 606 and the radiation pattern with the beam, and the distance of the intersection from the TRP corresponds to the perceived power of the beam. In the example shown in Figure 6, since the angle of the LOS path 606 is closest to the transmit angle of PRS3, the RSRP of PRS3 measured by UE604 is relatively large compared to the RSRP of PRS2, which is larger than the RSRP of PRS4, and the RSRP of PRS4 is larger than the RSRP of PRS1. UE604 reports these RSRP measurements to TRP602.

[0120]

[0135] As can be seen in Figure 6, the set of RSRP measurements, i.e., the measured RSRP of the PRS beams transmitted by TRP602 and measured by the UE, differs depending on the azimuth angle φ of the UE. For example, in the case of a UE with an azimuth angle φ2 in Figure 6, the RSRP value of PRS4 is the highest, followed by the RSRP values ​​of PRS3, PRS5, and PRS2. The expected RSRP value of each PRS as a function of azimuth can be modeled as a set of expected power curves, as shown in Figure 7.

[0121]

[0136] Figure 7 is a plot of expected RSRP values ​​as a function of azimuth, normalized to remove the effect of distance. In the exemplary plots shown in Figure 7, plots (a), (b), and (c) show the expected RSRP values ​​of PRS2, PRS3, and PRS4 as functions of azimuth, respectively, and plot (d) is a combination of plots (a) to (c). Thus, for each azimuth, there exists a known ratio of the values ​​of PRS2, PRS3, and PRS4. The same concept applies to PRS beams not shown in Figure 6. TRP602 transmits PRS resources measured by UE604. UE604 then reports up to eight RSRPs to TRP602, one for each PRS resource.

[0122]

[0137] In conventional UE-assisted positioning, TRP 602 reports the measured RSRP value to LMF 608, for example, via the LPP protocol. LMF608 estimates the AoD, i.e., LMF608 determines the azimuth of UE604 by comparing the RSRP measurement with the expected RSRP value of each PRS, and can use the AoD to calculate the position of UE604. In conventional UE-based positioning, UE604 estimates the AoD and calculates its own position using supporting data, including the geographical locations of TRP602 and other TRPs, as well as PRS beam information (e.g., beam azimuth and elevation). In either case, the expected RSRP value needs to be modeled. In one embodiment, this is done by: For each potential φk∈[φ1,...,φM] where the UE may be located, the expected Rx power P(i,k) is calculated for each transmitted beam l∈[1,...Nbeams,]. Next, we derive the normalized vector P(k,) for each k∈[1,...M].

[0123]

number

[0124] This yields a set of normalized expected RSRP values ​​for each PRS beam, i.e., a set of relative RSRP values ​​for the PRS beam at a given azimuth angle, and many of these sets have an azimuth angle that is taken into consideration. For UE-assisted AoD positioning, the LMF 608 receives the normalized RSRP vector.

[0125]

number

[0126] As shown,

[0127]

number

[0128] Closer to

[0129]

number

[0130] Bringing about

[0131]

number

[0132] To find this, in the case of UE-based AoD positioning, the UE604 is provided with a set of relative RSRP values ​​for the PRS beam at each of the modeled sets of azimuth angles.

[0133]

[0138] Figure 8 illustrates a conventional multi-round-trip time (multi-RTT) positioning system 800. The position of the UE can be determined by trilateration or polylateration using the known positions of gNB1, gNB2, and gNB3, as well as the round-trip time (RTT) from each gNB, e.g., RTT1, RTT2, and RTT3 in Figure 8. This method can achieve a positional accuracy of within 3m for a well-synchronized network, but requires multiple gNBs.

[0134]

[0139] Figure 9 shows a system 900 for TDoA positioning using a single gNB. In Figure 9, a serving gNB (SgNB) or other type of serving base station controls a pair of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), e.g., RIS1 and RIS2, which ultimately provide transmissions toward the UE. The SgNB transmits a set of positioning reference signals, e.g., PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3, to the target UE. PRS1 is directed to RIS1, which transmits the reflected signal PRS1' toward the UE. PRS2 is directed to RIS2, which transmits the reflected signal PRS2' toward the UE. PRS3 is directed directly toward the UE. In the example shown in Figure 9, PRS3 arrives first at the UE at time ToA(SgNB). PRS1 arrives at RIS1 at time Tprop(SgNB→PRS1), and PRS1' arrives at the UE at time ToA(RIS1). PRS2 arrives at RIS2 at time Tprop(SgNB→PRS2), and PRS2' arrives at UE at time ToA(RIS2). UE measures the arrival times (ToA) of PRS1', PRS2', and PRS3.

[0135]

[0140] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE simply reports the RSTD for PRS1', PRS2', and PRS3. From this information, along with the known locations of SgNB, RIS1, and RIS2, a location server or other node can determine the distance of the UE to SgNB, RIS1, and RIS2. In this way, the UE's position can be determined using a single-cell multilateration method useful for lower-level UEs. Since the UE does not need to transmit SRS, positioning can be performed based solely on the received DL-PRS, which is a low-power solution compared to conventional RTT.

[0136]

[0141] In UE-based positioning, the UE needs to know the transmission times of PRS1', PRS2', and PRS3. Supporting data provides the UE with the base station and RIS locations, and the UE knows the transmission times of PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 from the PRS configuration. If the transmission times of PRS1' and PRS2' are not directly known, the UE can derive this information from the supporting data from the base station, which the UE can obtain, by knowing the transmission time of PRS1 and the hardware delay in RIS1 between receiving PRS1 and transmitting PRS1'. Similarly, the UE can derive the transmission time of PRS2' based on the transmission time of PRS2 and the hardware delay in RIS2 between receiving PRS2 and transmitting PRS2'.

[0137]

[0142] Figure 10 illustrates a system 1000 for multi-RTT positioning using UL-SRS signals and multiple RISs, e.g., RIS1, RIS2, and RIS3. The upper part of Figure 10 shows the geographical locations of entities involved in the exemplary scenario, and the lower part of Figure 10 shows exemplary timing of signal transmission and reflection in this exemplary scenario. In the example shown at the bottom of Figure 10, at time T1, the UE transmits UL-SRS signal 1002 to the RIS, and the RIS receives the UL-SRS signal at time T2. At time T3, the RIS reflects UL-SRS signal 1004 to the UE. The UE is guided (e.g., by network-assisted data) to receive the reflected UL-SRS signal 1004 at time T4. The RX beam for the UE to receive the reflected UL-SRS signal 1004 may be the same as the TX beam used by the UE to transmit UL-SRS signal 1002.

[0138]

[0143] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE can report a time delay (T4-T1) to the location server or other network nodes. From this information, as well as the hardware delay (T3-T2) at the RIS between the reception of the UL-SRS signal 1002 and the transmission of the reflected UL-SS signal 1004, the location server can determine the distance from the UE to the RIS.

[0139]

[0144] In UE-based positioning, when the UE receives and verifies the reflected UL-SRS signal 1004, the UE determines the RTT for RIS. RTT =(T4-T1)-(T3-T2)≈2 * Tprop (UE<->RIS) The calculation can be performed as follows: in this case, the UE determines the value of (T4-T1) and receives the value of (T3-T2) as support data provided, for example, by the base station controlling its RIS. The UE can then estimate the distance from the RIS based on the RTT to the RIS. After determining the RTT of a sufficient number of reflected UL-SRS signals, the UE can derive its position based on trilateration or polylateration from multiple RISs. The UE does not need to measure the DL-PRS signal and can avoid transmitting SRS at high power towards the gNB by transmitting at lower power towards a closer RIS, reducing power consumption in both cases.

[0140]

[0145] However, this technology still requires that the UE can transmit UL-SRS to multiple RISs and receive reflections of those UL-SRS from multiple RISs. This can be problematic when lower-tier (e.g., low-capacitance) UEs, such as "NR light" UEs, may not be able to transmit or receive to or from distant RISs. This difficulty can be somewhat mitigated if the RIS is close to the UE, but in that case, the UE must repeat the process for multiple RISs, which consumes more power. A further drawback of this technology is that it requires at least two RISs, which is often not the case.

[0141]

[0146] To address these technical challenges, a technique for UE-based positioning using a single RIS is presented. The method and system disclosed herein determines the position of the UE relative to the RIS by using range and AoD methods, rather than using trilateration / polylateration methods that require measuring distances from multiple reference points.

[0142]

[0147] Figure 11 is a flowchart of an example process 1100 associated with RIS beam sweeping of an SRS for AoD-based positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figure 11 may be executed by a UE (e.g., UE103, UE1404, etc.). In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figure 11 may be executed by another device, or by a group of devices separate from the user equipment (UE) or including the user equipment (UE). In addition to or instead of this, one or more process blocks in Figure 11 may be executed by one or more components of the UE 302, such as the processor 332, memory 340, WWAN transceiver 310, short-range wireless transceiver 320, SPS receiver 330, user interface 346, and / or AoD component 342, any or all of which can be considered means for performing this operation.

[0143]

[0148] As shown in Figure 11, process 1100 may include obtaining configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning (block 1110). Means for performing the operation of block 1110 may include the WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may receive configuration information via receiver 312. In some embodiments, obtaining configuration information includes receiving configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, obtaining configuration information includes receiving configuration information from a network entity. In some embodiments, receiving configuration information from a network entity includes receiving configuration information from a location server. In some embodiments, the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time to send an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time to receive a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time to receive a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

[0144]

[0149] As further shown in Figure 11, process 1100 may include sending multiple SRS transmissions at different times according to configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) (block 1120). Means for performing the operation of block 1120 may include the WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may send multiple SRS transmissions at different times via transmitter 314.

[0145]

[0150] As further shown in Figure 11, process 1100 may include receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, which include reflections of a plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS, in which case each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) (block 1130). Means for performing the operation of block 1130 may include the WWAN transceiver 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may receive the plurality of SRS transmissions via the receiver 312. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is received at a known time or at a known delay after the corresponding SRS transmission has been transmitted to the RIS, according to configuration information. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS includes information relating each of them to the corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS. For example, the SRS transmitted by the UE and the reflected SRS received from the RIS may have the same SRS ID, the same beam ID, the same known sequence, etc., or a combination thereof.

[0146]

[0151] As further shown in Figure 11, process 1100 may include measuring each of several SRS transmissions from the RIS to generate several measurements (block 1140). Means for performing the operation of block 1140 may include the WWAN transceiver 310 of UE302. For example, UE302 may measure each of several SRS transmissions from the RIS using receiver 312. In some embodiments, UE302 measures a set of RSRP values ​​for each SRS transmission from the RIS.

[0147]

[0152] As further shown in Figure 11, process 1100 may include performing a positioning operation based on a plurality of measurements (block 1150). Means for performing the operation of block 1150 may include the processor 332 and WWAN transceiver 310 of the UE 302. For example, in some embodiments, performing a positioning operation based on a plurality of measurements includes transmitting a plurality of measurements to a location server, for example via a transmitter 314, and then receiving a position estimate based on the plurality of measurements from the location server, for example via a receiver 312. In other embodiments, performing a positioning operation based on a plurality of measurements includes determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurements. In some embodiments, this includes receiving support data via the receiver 312. The support data may include information considered by the processor 332 while determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS, such as the geographic location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth or beamwidth, elevation or beamwidth, uncertainty in boresight direction, uncertainty in beamwidth, uncertainty in transmission time, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the process 1100 includes estimating the location of the UE based on the AoD and the distance from the UE to the RIS.

[0148]

[0153] Process 1100 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations, as described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere in this specification. Figure 11 shows an exemplary block of Process 1100, but in some implementations, Process 1100 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently configured blocks in addition to those shown in Figure 11. In addition to or instead of this, two or more blocks of Process 1100 may be executed in parallel.

[0149]

[0154] Figure 12 is a flowchart of an example of process 1200 associated with RIS beam sweeping of an SRS for AoD-based positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figure 12 may be performed by a RIS (e.g., RIS 1406). In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figure 12 may be performed by a separate device or group of devices separate from or including the Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS). In addition to or instead of this, one or more process blocks in Figure 12 may be performed by one or more components of the RIS 304, such as a processor 384, memory 386, WWAN transceiver 350, short-range wireless transceiver 360, SPS receiver 370, network transceiver 380, and / or AoD component 388, any or all of which can be considered means for performing this operation.

[0150]

[0155] As shown in Figure 12, process 1200 may include obtaining configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning (block 1210). Means for performing the operation of block 1210 may include the WWAN transceiver 350 and network transceiver 380 of device 304. For example, the RIS may receive configuration information from a location server via the WWAN transceiver 350 or the network transceiver 380. In some embodiments, obtaining configuration information includes, for example, receiving configuration information from a base station controlling the RIS via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In some embodiments, obtaining configuration information includes receiving configuration information from a network entity which may be a location server, LMF, or other network node. In some embodiments, the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the expected time to receive SRS transmissions from the UE, the uncertainty of the expected time to receive SRS transmissions from the UE, the expected time to send reflections of SRS transmissions from the UE to the UE, the AoD to send reflections of each SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0151]

[0156] As further shown in Figure 12, process 1200 may include receiving multiple SRS transmissions from a user equipment (UE) at different times (block 1220). Means for performing the operation of block 1220 may include the WWAN transceiver 350 of device 304. For example, the RIS may receive multiple SRS transmissions via receiver 352.

[0152]

[0157] As further shown in Figure 12, process 1200 may include transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions, each of which includes reflections of a plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE, and each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to configuration information (block 1230). Means for performing the operation of block 1230 may include the WWAN transceiver 350 of device 306. For example, the RIS may transmit the plurality of reflected SRS transmissions via transmitter 354. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions, which includes reflections of a plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE, includes information relating each of them to the corresponding SRS transmission of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE. In some embodiments, the SRS received from the UE and the reflected SRS transmitted by the RIS may have the same SRS ID, the same beam ID, the same known sequence, etc., or a combination thereof.

[0153]

[0158] Process 1200 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations, as described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere in this specification. Figure 12 shows an exemplary block of Process 1200, but in some implementations, Process 1200 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently configured blocks in addition to those shown in Figure 12. In addition to or instead of this, two or more blocks of Process 1200 may be executed in parallel.

[0154]

[0159] Figures 13A and 13B are flowcharts showing a portion of a typical process 1300 associated with RIS beam sweeping of an SRS for AoD-based positioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figures 13A and 13B may be executed by a location server (e.g., location server 172, LMF 1402, etc.) or a base station (e.g., BS102, BS304, etc.). In some implementations, one or more process blocks in Figures 13A and 13B may be executed by a separate device or group of devices, either separate from or including the location server (LS). In addition to or instead of this, one or more process blocks in Figures 13A and 13B may be executed by one or more components of device 306, such as a processor 394, memory 396, network transceiver 390, and / or AoD component 398, any or all of which can be considered means for performing this operation.

[0155]

[0160] As shown in Figure 13A, process 1300 may include transmitting first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning (block 1310). Means for performing the operation of block 1310 may include a network transceiver 390 of device 306. As further shown in Figure 13A, process 1300 may include transmitting second configuration information to a user device (UE) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning (block 1320). Means for performing the operation of block 1320 may include a network transceiver 390 of device 306. In some embodiments, the first and second configuration information may indicate the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS should transmit a reflection of each SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0156]

[0161] As shown in Figure 13B, process 1300 may optionally include transmitting support data to the UE, including the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof (block 1330). The characteristics of the reflected SRS beam may include the azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof.

[0157]

[0162] As further shown in Figure 13B, process 1300 may optionally include receiving from the UE a plurality of reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​corresponding to a plurality of reflected SRS transmissions measured by the UE (block 1340), determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of RSRP values ​​(block 1350), estimating the location of the UE based at least in part on the AoD (block 1360), and transmitting the location estimate to the UE (block 1370). Means for performing the operations of blocks 1340, 1350, 1360, and 1370 may include the network transceiver 390, memory 396, processor 394, and / or AoD component 398 of device 306.

[0158]

[0163] Process 1300 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations, as described below and / or with respect to one or more other processes described elsewhere in this specification. Figures 13A and 13B show exemplary blocks of Process 1300, but in some implementations, Process 1300 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently configured blocks, in addition to those shown in Figures 13A and 13B. In addition to or instead of this, two or more blocks of Process 1300 may be executed in parallel.

[0159]

[0164] Figure 14 illustrates an example of a network 1400 that implements UE-based positioning using a single RIS according to several aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 14, the network 1400 includes an LMF 1402, a UE 1404, and a RIS 1406, with nodes intervening in the signaling path between the LMF 1402 and the UE 1404 omitted for clarity. The upper part of Figure 14 shows exemplary beam patterns such as SRS1', SRS2', etc., which have different transmission angles A, B, C, etc., when transmitted by the RIS 1406, according to the SRS configuration received by the RIS 1406, for example. The actual AoD of the UE 1404 is shown in Figure 14 as a dashed line 1408, and the dots located at the intersection of its vector and beam patterns C~F represent the relative RSRP values ​​measured by the UE 1404 for each of those beams, with the closer the dot is to the UE 1404, the higher the relative measured RSRP. In the example shown in Figure 12, the relative RSRP values, from highest to lowest, are SRS5', SRS4', SRS6', and SRS3'. From this particular pattern, AoD1202 of UE1404 can be derived, for example, using a method similar to that described in Figures 6 and 7. The bottom of Figure 12 shows an exemplary timing assignment of SRS resources to slots, for example, SRS3 and SRS3' occur during slot n+2, SRS4 and SRS4' occur during slot n+3, and so on. In this example, the SRS resources are time-domain multiplexed, recognizing that the RIS may not have high baseband processing capabilities. Furthermore, the RIS may not be able to comb alternating SRS signals to multiple different beams, in which case the RIS can simply reflect any frequency-domain multiplexed SRS resources to the same TX beam for reflection. In Figure 12, the SRS resources occupy separate slots, but in some embodiments, SRS resources may occupy separate symbols in the same slot, separate symbols in different slots, and other configurations. These examples are illustrative and not limiting.

[0160]

[0165] Figure 15 shows signaling and events for RIS beam sweep of SRS for UE-based AoD positioning according to some aspects of the present disclosure. In Figure 15, the process includes an LMF1402 or other location server, a UE1404, and a RIS1406, which utilizes the fact that the RIS1406 can adjust the direction in which it reflects the incoming beam.

[0161]

[0166] In the example shown in Figure 15, the LMF 1402 transmits the SRS configuration 1502 to the UE 1404 and the SRS setting 1504 to the RIS 1406. The SRS configuration, which may be transmitted via Radio Resource Control (RRC) messaging, identifies the SRS resources for positioning. Each SRS configuration may define one or more sets of SRS resources, each set of SRS resources containing one or more time-domain multiplexed (TDMed) SRS resources for positioning. In some embodiments, each SRS resource for positioning may be defined in terms of slots and / or symbols. For example, there may be one SRS resource for positioning per slot. The SRS resources for positioning may occupy some or all of the symbols in a slot. The slots containing the SRS resources for positioning may be consecutive or not, and may be every other slot, every two slots, or various patterns, for example, as necessary to conform to the UL / DL configuration of the TDD. The SRS configuration may define the opportunities for UE1404 to transmit UL-SRS to RIS1406, the opportunities for RIS1406 to reflect UL-SRS back to UE1404, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the SRS configuration of the RIS specifies the azimuth and / or elevation angles to which the reflected UL-SRS beam is transmitted. In the example shown in Figure 15, SRS configuration SRS1' is transmitted by RIS1406 at an AoD of angle "A", SRS2' is transmitted by RIS1406 at an AoD of angle "B", and so on. Thus, in some embodiments, the SRS configuration 1110 may include mapping of SRS opportunities to reflection AoDs.

[0162]

[0167] In the example shown in Figure 15, UE1404 then begins sending a series of UL-SRS signals to RIS1406. Each time RIS1406 receives a UL-SRS signal from UE1404, RIS1406 reflects the UL-SRS signal back to UE1404 at a different AoD according to the mapping provided by the SRS configuration. For example, UE1404 sends SRS1 1506 to RIS1406, which is reflected as SRS1'1508 at AoD=A, and UE1404 measures the RSRP of SRS1' (block 1510). This process is repeated for each SRS until UE1404 sends SRS8 1512 to RIS1406, which is reflected as SRS2'1514 at AoD=H, and UE1404 measures the RSRP of SRS8' (block 1516).

[0163]

[0168] In the UE-based implementation, UE1404 then uses the measured RSRP values ​​of SRS1' to SRS8' to determine the AoD of UE1404 from RIS1406 using a technique such as the one described in Figure 6 (block 1518).

[0164]

[0169] In the UE-assisted implementation, UE1404 may transmit the measured RSRP value 1520 and, optionally, a distance estimate based on the RTT or the RTT value itself between UE1404 and RIS1406 to LMF1402. LMF1402 then uses this information to calculate the range from AoD and RIS to UE, and then LMF uses this to estimate the position of UE1404 (block 1522). LMF1402 can then transmit the estimated position 1524 to UE1404.

[0165]

[0170] If RIS1406 is operating as a passive mirror and the time difference between receiving the SRS signal and reflecting it is negligible, or if the propagation delay between UE and RIS is small, for example, because UE1404 and RIS1406 are close to each other, the reflected SRS can reach UE1404 within the cyclic prefix (CP) length. In that scenario, UE1404 would need to activate its receiver to receive the reflected SRS while its transmitter is active to transmit the original SRS, which results in strong self-interference and uses more power than using the transmitter alone or the receiver alone. Another reason is that UE1404 cannot distinguish between multipath reflection and RIS reflection because it may receive SRS reflected from the environment before receiving the SRS reflected by RIS1406. One technique to control this problem is shown in Figure 16.

[0166]

[0171] Figure 16 shows signaling and event diagram 1600 for RIS beam sweep of SRS for UE-based AoD positioning according to some aspects of the present disclosure, including controlling when RIS 1406 transmits reflected signals. In this technique, there is an association between an SRS resource and a downlink slot or symbol used for reflecting SRS signals received by RIS 1406 within the SRS resource, which may be provided to UE 1404 via SRS configuration 1602 and to RIS 1406 via SRS setting 1604. In the example shown in Figure 16, all SRS signals (e.g., SRS1 1606, SRS2 1608, SRS3 1610, SRS4 1612, SRS5 1614, SRS6 1616, ...) are transmitted before RIS1406 reflects them as SRS1'1618, SRS2'1620, SRS3'1622, SRS4'1624, SRS5'1626, and SRS6'1628, but in other embodiments, each reflected SRS may be transmitted by RIS1406 before UE1404 transmits the next SRS signal, but between specified DL slots or symbols. Other implementations are also possible, such as UE1404 transmitting one or more SRS signals, RIS1406 transmitting one or more reflected SRS signals, and UE1404 transmitting one or more remaining SRS signals. These examples are illustrative and not limiting.

[0167]

[0172] In some embodiments, for each SRS resource, its RIS reflection time, e.g., the delay between the time RIS1406 receives the SRS and the time RIS1406 transmits the reflected signal, should be controlled to ensure that the UE can observe the reflected SRS resource in a particular DL slot or DL ​​symbol. Since the gNB knows the exact propagation time from the gNB to the RIS, it can configure the SRS reflection time of the RIS so that the RIS is reliably reflected in the relevant DL symbol time span. In some embodiments, the SRS reflection timing error should be within the CP to avoid inter-symbol interference.

[0168]

[0173] In some embodiments, instead of specifying a delay value, a specific DL slot or symbol may be identified as a time position within which the RIS1406 should transmit a particular SRS signal. Since the RIS uses DL slots or symbols that are normally reserved for use by the gNB for transmission to the UE, in some embodiments, the UE may signal with a special slot format, such as one or more specific DL symbols being dedicated to receiving a particular SRS resource. The gNB does not transmit DL signals with these specific DL symbols. In this technique, the SRS resource is associated, for example, with a specific DL symbol time span and not with a specific DL reference signal or data / control channel.

[0169]

[0174] In some embodiments, the UE may provide supporting data including “Expected time to receive SRS resources” and “Uncertainty about the expected time to receive SRS resources” for the reachable SRS resources configured for AoD estimation. For example, supporting data may be similar to “Expected RSTD” and “Expected RSTD uncertainty” associated with each pair of TRPs transmitting PRS. In some embodiments, “Expected time to receive SRS resources” may be derived from the SRS configuration and the RIS time difference between waveform reception and reflection. In some embodiments, “Uncertainty about the expected time to receive SRS resources” may be derived from the RIS location and cell coverage range. If supporting data is included, that supporting data may be signaled from the LMF or gNB to the UE.

[0170]

[0175] In some embodiments, the UE may not know the relative angle to the RIS before the positioning operation, so the UE may use a wide-angle beam for SRS transmission. In some embodiments, the UE may adjust the angle of the SRS transmission beam depending on how well the UE knows the position of the RIS, for example, starting with a wide beam to obtain the initial position estimate and then using a narrower beam for subsequent use, for example, to improve the SINR of the SRS relative to the RIS.

[0171]

[0176] The technique of using the RIS to beamsweep reflected SRS initially transmitted by the UE can be used in both UE-assisted positioning mode and UE-based positioning mode. In UE-assisted mode, the UE can measure the RSRP for each SRS and report them to the LMF via the LPP protocol, in which case the corresponding AoD is estimated and position calculation is performed. In UE-based mode, the UE can measure the RSRP for each SRS and calculate the UE position using additional support data. This support data can include the RIS geographic position, RIS azimuth (for calculating boresite direction), azimuth and elevation angles of the RIS reflected SRS beam, beamwidth of the RIS reflected SRS beam, and uncertainty in boresite direction / beamwidth. For example, beamwidth can be 3dB, 6dB, or 12dB and may be specified with respect to a specific spatial dimension such as azimuth or elevation. Boresite / beamwidth uncertainty can be measured on a 0.5dB, 1dB, or 3dB basis and may also be specified with respect to a specific spatial dimension.

[0172]

[0177] In the embodiments for carrying out the above invention, it will be seen that various features are grouped together in each example. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are explicitly stated within each clause. Rather, the various embodiments of this disclosure may contain fewer features than all the features of the individual exemplary clauses disclosed. Accordingly, the following clauses should be considered as incorporated into the description, and each clause may be valid on its own as a separate example. Each dependent clause may refer within itself to a particular combination with one of the other clauses, but the embodiments of that dependent clause are not limited to that particular combination. It will be understood that other exemplary clauses may also contain combinations of embodiments of dependent clauses with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or any combination of features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. Unless it is not explicitly stated or easily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (for example, a contradictory embodiment such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor), the various embodiments disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations. Furthermore, even if a clause is not directly subordinate to an independent clause, it is intended that the form of the clause may be included in any other independent clause.

[0173]

[0178] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0174]

[0179] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user device (UE), comprising: acquiring configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) at different times according to the configuration information; receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, each of which is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD); measuring each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS to generate a plurality of measurements; and performing a positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements.

[0175]

[0180] Section 2. Obtaining configuration information is the method of Section 1, which includes receiving configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0176]

[0181] Section 3. Obtaining configuration information is any of the methods described in Sections 1 and 2, including receiving configuration information from a network entity.

[0177]

[0182] Section 4. Receiving configuration information from a network entity is the method described in Section 3, including receiving configuration information from a location server.

[0178]

[0183] Item 5. Configuration information is provided in any of the methods described in Items 1 to 4, indicating the number of SRS resources, the time to send SRS transmissions to the RIS, the expected time to receive reflections of SRS transmissions from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time to receive reflections of SRS transmissions from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

[0179]

[0184] Item 6. Each of multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS is received at a known time or with a known delay, according to any of the methods in Items 1 through 5, after the corresponding SRS transmission has been sent to the RIS, in accordance with the configuration information.

[0180]

[0185] Item 7. Each of multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS includes information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among multiple SRS transmissions to the RIS, in any of the methods described in Items 1 through 6.

[0181]

[0186] Section 8. Information, including SRS ID, beam ID, known sequence, or combination thereof, as described in Section 7.

[0182]

[0187] Section 9. Performing a positioning operation based on multiple measurements is any method described in Sections 1 through 8, including transmitting multiple measurements to a location server.

[0183]

[0188] Item 10. The method of Item 9, further comprising receiving a location estimate based on multiple measurements from a location server.

[0184]

[0189] Section 11. Performing a positioning operation based on multiple measurements is any of the methods described in Sections 1 through 10, including determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on multiple measurements.

[0185]

[0190] The method of Section 11, further comprising receiving supporting data including the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof, and determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on multiple measurements, comprising determining the AoD based on multiple measurements and supporting data.

[0186]

[0191] Item 13. The characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, including azimuth or beamwidth, elevation or beamwidth, uncertainty in boresight direction, uncertainty in beamwidth, uncertainty in transmission time, or a combination thereof, as described in Item 12.

[0187]

[0192] Item 14. Any method from items 11 to 13, further comprising estimating the location of the UE based on the AoD and the distance from the UE to the RIS.

[0188]

[0193] Section 15. A method of wireless communication performed by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), comprising: obtaining configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from a user device (UE) at different times; and transmitting a plurality of SRS transmissions, each of which is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information, including reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

[0189]

[0194] Section 16. Obtaining configuration information is the method of Section 15, which includes receiving configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0190]

[0195] Section 17. Obtaining configuration information is any method described in Sections 15 through 16, including receiving configuration information from a network entity.

[0191]

[0196] Section 18. Receiving configuration information from a network entity is the method described in Section 17, including receiving configuration information from a location server.

[0192]

[0197] Item 19. Configuration information is provided in any way described in Items 15 to 18, indicating the number of SRS resources, the expected time to receive SRS transmissions from the UE, the uncertainty of the expected time to receive SRS transmissions from the UE, the expected time to send a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE to the UE, the AoD to send the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0193]

[0198] Section 20. Each of multiple SRS transmissions, including reflections of multiple SRS transmissions received from the UE, includes information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the multiple SRS transmissions received from the UE, in any of the methods described in Sections 15 to 19.

[0194]

[0199] Section 21. Information, including SRS ID, beam ID, known sequence, or combination thereof, as described in Section 20.

[0195]

[0200] Item 22. A method of wireless communication performed by a location server, comprising transmitting first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, and transmitting second configuration information to a user device (UE) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, wherein each of the first and second configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0196]

[0201] The method of Section 22, further comprising transmitting support data to the UE, including the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof.

[0197]

[0202] Item 24. The characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, including azimuth or beamwidth, elevation or beamwidth, uncertainty in boresight direction, uncertainty in beamwidth, uncertainty in transmission time, or a combination thereof, as described in Item 23.

[0198]

[0203] Any method of Section 25, further comprising: receiving from the UE multiple reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​corresponding to multiple reflected SRS transmissions measured by the UE; determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the multiple RSRP values; estimating the location of the UE based at least in part on the AoD; and transmitting the estimated location to the UE.

[0199]

[0204] Item 26. An apparatus comprising memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, wherein the memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor are configured to perform any of the methods relating to Items 1 to 25.

[0200]

[0205] Item 27. An apparatus comprising means for carrying out a method relating to any of items 1 through 25.

[0201]

[0206] Item 28. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions include at least one instruction causing a computer or processor to perform any of the methods relating to items 1 to 25.

[0202]

[0207] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, electric current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0203]

[0208] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly demonstrate this hardware-software compatibility, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been schematically described above in relation to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in various ways for specific applications, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0204]

[0209] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or run using general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), ASICs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0205]

[0210] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM®), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may reside in the user terminal as separate components.

[0206]

[0211] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via computer-readable media as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitate the transfer of computer programs from one location to another. Storage media may be any available media accessible by a computer. Such computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media accessible by a computer that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures. Any connection is also appropriately referred to as computer-readable media. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of a medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laserdisc (registered trademark) (disc), optical disc (disc), digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk (registered trademark) (disk), and Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc (disc), where a disk typically reproduces data magnetically and a disc (disc) reproduces data optically using a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included in the scope of computer-readable media.

[0207]

[0212] While the above disclosures illustrate exemplary aspects of the Disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the Disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims in the aspects of the Disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, elements of the Disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, but the plural is intended unless a limitation to the singular is expressly stated.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by user equipment (UE), To obtain configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, To send multiple SRS transmissions to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) at different times according to the configuration information, The RIS receives a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, each of which is a reflection of the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS, and thereafter, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD). To generate multiple measurements, each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS is measured, The positioning operation is performed based on the aforementioned multiple measurement values, A method that includes [a certain feature].

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from a network entity.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein receiving the configuration information from the network entity is further comprising receiving the configuration information from a location server.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time for transmitting an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is received at a known time or with a known delay after transmitting a corresponding SRS transmission to the RIS according to the configuration information.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein performing the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises transmitting the plurality of measurement values ​​to a location server.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising receiving a location estimate based on the plurality of measurements from the location server.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein performing the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurement values.

12. The system further comprises receiving support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof. The method according to claim 11, wherein determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurements comprises determining the AoD based on the plurality of measurements and the supporting data.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising estimating the position of the UE based on the AoD and the distance from the UE to the RIS.

15. A method of wireless communication performed by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), To obtain configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Receiving multiple SRS transmissions from a user device (UE) at different times, Receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions comprising reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information. A method that includes [a certain feature].

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein obtaining the configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein obtaining the configuration information comprises receiving the configuration information from a network entity.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein receiving the configuration information from the network entity comprises receiving the configuration information from a location server.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the expected time for receiving an SRS transmission from the UE, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving the SRS transmission from the UE, the expected time for transmitting a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE to the UE, the AoD for transmitting the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

20. The method according to claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions having reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

22. A method of wireless communication performed by a location server, Transmitting first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Transmitting second configuration information to the user device (UE) that identifies resources for SRS positioning, Equipped with, Each of the first and second configuration information represents the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof. method.

23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising transmitting to the UE support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof.

25. The UE receives from the UE multiple reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​corresponding to multiple reflected SRS transmissions measured by the UE, Determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of RSRP values, Estimating the position of the UE based at least partially on the AoD, The estimated position is transmitted to the UE, The method according to claim 22, further comprising the above.

26. User equipment (UE), Memory and At least one transceiver, The system comprises the memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is Obtain configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Multiple SRS transmissions are sent to the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) at different times according to the configuration information via the at least one transceiver. The transceiver receives from the RIS a plurality of SRS transmissions comprising reflections of a plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD). To generate multiple measurements, measure each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS, A positioning operation is performed based on the aforementioned multiple measurement values. UE is structured in such a way.

27. The UE according to claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling in order to obtain the configuration information.

28. The UE according to claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the configuration information from a network entity in order to obtain the configuration information.

29. The UE according to claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the configuration information from a location server in order to receive the configuration information from the network entity.

30. The UE according to claim 26, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time for transmitting an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

31. The UE according to claim 26, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is received at a known time or with a known delay after transmitting the corresponding SRS transmission to the RIS according to the configuration information.

32. The UE according to claim 26, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS.

33. The UE according to claim 32, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

34. The UE according to claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the plurality of measurements to a location server in order to perform the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements.

35. The UE according to claim 34, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a location estimate based on the plurality of measurements from the location server via the at least one transceiver.

36. The UE according to claim 26, wherein, in order to perform the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements, the at least one processor is configured to determine the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurements.

37. The aforementioned at least one processor is The transceiver is configured to receive support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof, via at least one of the transceivers. In order to determine the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurements, the at least one processor is configured to determine the AoD based on the plurality of measurements and the supporting data. The UE as described in claim 36.

38. The UE according to claim 37, wherein the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof.

39. The UE according to claim 36, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to estimate the position of the UE based on the AoD and the distance from the UE to the RIS.

40. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), Memory and At least one transceiver, The system comprises the memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is Obtain configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Multiple SRS transmissions are received from the user equipment (UE) at different times via the aforementioned at least one transceiver. A plurality of SRS transmissions are transmitted, each comprising reflections of a plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE via the at least one transceiver. It is configured in such a way, Each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information. RIS.

41. The RIS according to claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling in order to obtain the configuration information.

42. The RIS according to claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the configuration information from a network entity in order to obtain the configuration information.

43. The RIS according to claim 42, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the configuration information from a location server in order to receive the configuration information from the network entity.

44. The RIS according to claim 40, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the expected time for receiving an SRS transmission from the UE, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving the SRS transmission from the UE, the expected time for sending a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE to the UE, the AoD for sending the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

45. The RIS according to claim 40, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions having reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

46. The RIS according to claim 45, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

47. It is a location server, Memory and At least one transceiver, The system comprises the memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is Transmitting first configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) via at least one of the transceivers, The system transmits a second configuration information identifying resources for SRS positioning to the user equipment (UE) via at least one of the transceivers. It is configured in such a way, Each of the first and second configuration information represents the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof. Location server.

48. The aforementioned at least one processor further, The location server according to claim 47, configured to transmit to the UE via at least one transceiver support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof.

49. The location server according to claim 48, wherein the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof.

50. The aforementioned at least one processor further, The UE receives from the transceiver via at least one of the transceivers a plurality of reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​corresponding to a plurality of reflected SRS transmissions measured by the UE, Based on the aforementioned multiple RSRP values, the AoD of the UE from the RIS is determined, The position of the UE is estimated based at least partially on the AoD, The estimated location is transmitted to the UE via at least one of the transceivers. The location server according to claim 47, configured as follows.

51. User equipment (UE), Means for obtaining configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Means for transmitting multiple SRS transmissions to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) at different times according to the configuration information, Means for receiving a plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS being transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD), Means for measuring each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS in order to generate multiple measurement values, Means for performing a positioning operation based on the aforementioned multiple measurement values, UE, equipped with [unclear / etc.].

52. The UE according to claim 51, wherein the means for acquiring the configuration information comprises means for receiving the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

53. The UE according to claim 51, wherein the means for obtaining the configuration information comprises means for receiving the configuration information from a network entity.

54. The UE according to claim 53, wherein the means for receiving the configuration information from the network entity comprises means for receiving the configuration information from a location server.

55. The UE according to claim 51, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time for transmitting an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

56. The UE according to claim 51, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is received at a known time or with a known delay after transmitting the corresponding SRS transmission to the RIS according to the configuration information.

57. The UE according to claim 51, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS.

58. The UE according to claim 57, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

59. The UE according to claim 51, wherein the means for performing the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises means for transmitting the plurality of measurement values ​​to a location server.

60. The UE according to claim 59, further comprising means for receiving a location estimate based on the plurality of measurements from the location server.

61. The UE according to claim 51, wherein the means for performing the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises means for determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurement values.

62. The system further comprises means for receiving support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof. The means for determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises means for determining the AoD based on the plurality of measurement values ​​and the supporting data. The UE according to claim 61.

63. The characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof, according to claim 62.

64. The UE according to claim 61, further comprising means for estimating the position of the UE based on the AoD and the distance from the UE to the RIS.

65. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), Means for obtaining configuration information to identify resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Means for receiving multiple SRS transmissions from a user device (UE) at different times, and means for transmitting multiple SRS transmissions comprising reflections of the multiple SRS transmissions received from the UE, wherein each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information. RIS, equipped with

66. The RIS according to claim 65, wherein the means for acquiring the configuration information comprises means for receiving the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

67. The RIS according to claim 65, wherein the means for acquiring the configuration information comprises means for receiving the configuration information from a network entity.

68. The RIS according to claim 67, wherein the means for receiving the configuration information from the network entity comprises means for receiving the configuration information from a location server.

69. The RIS according to claim 65, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the expected time for receiving an SRS transmission from the UE, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving the SRS transmission from the UE, the expected time for transmitting a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE to the UE, the AoD for transmitting the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

70. The RIS according to claim 65, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions having reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

71. The RIS according to claim 70, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

72. It is a location server, Means for transmitting first configuration information to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, Means for transmitting second configuration information to a user device (UE) that identifies resources for SRS positioning, Equipped with, Each of the first and second configuration information represents the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof. Location server.

73. The location server according to claim 72, further comprising means for transmitting support data to the UE comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof.

74. The location server according to claim 73, wherein the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof.

75. Means for receiving from the UE a plurality of reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​corresponding to a plurality of reflected SRS transmissions measured by the UE, Means for determining the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of RSRP values, Means for estimating the position of the UE based at least partially on the AoD, and means for transmitting the estimated position to the UE, The location server according to claim 72, further comprising:

76. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein, when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a user device (UE), the UE causes the UE to acquire configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning. The reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is made to send multiple SRS transmissions at different times according to the configuration information. The RIS receives multiple SRS transmissions, each of which is a reflection of multiple SRS transmissions to the RIS, and each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD). To generate multiple measurements, measure each of the multiple SRS transmissions from the RIS, The positioning operation is performed based on the aforementioned multiple measurement values. Non-temporary computer-readable media.

77. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein the computer-executable instruction causing the UE to acquire the configuration information comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the UE to receive the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

78. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein the computer-executable instruction causing the UE to acquire the configuration information comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the UE to receive the configuration information from a network entity.

79. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 78, wherein the computer-executable instruction causing the UE to receive the configuration information from the network entity comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the UE to receive the configuration information from a location server.

80. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the time for transmitting an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, or a combination thereof.

81. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is received at a known time or with a known delay after transmitting the corresponding SRS transmission to the RIS according to the configuration information.

82. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS comprises information relating each of them to the corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions to the RIS.

83. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 82, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

84. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein the computer-executable instruction that causes the UE to perform the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises a computer-executable instruction that causes the UE to transmit the plurality of measurement values ​​to a location server.

85. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 84, wherein the computer-executable instruction further causes the UE to receive a location estimate based on the plurality of measurements from the location server.

86. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 76, wherein the computer-executable instruction causing the UE to perform the positioning operation based on the plurality of measurements comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the UE to determine the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurements.

87. The aforementioned computer executable instruction further provides the UE with: The system receives support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof. The computer-executable instruction causing the UE to determine the AoD of the UE from the RIS based on the plurality of measurement values ​​comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the UE to determine the AoD based on the plurality of measurement values ​​and the support data. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 86.

88. The characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof, as described in claim 87 for the non-temporary computer-readable medium.

89. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 86, wherein the computer-executable instruction further causes the UE to estimate the position of the UE based on the AoD and the distance from the UE to the RIS.

90. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), are stored in the RIS. To obtain configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning, The user equipment (UE) receives multiple SRS transmissions at different times. The UE transmits a plurality of SRS transmissions, each of which is a reflection of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the RIS, and in this, each of the plurality of SRS transmissions from the RIS is transmitted from the RIS at a different starting angle (AoD) according to the configuration information. Non-temporary computer-readable media.

91. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 90, wherein the computer-executable instruction causing the RIS to acquire the configuration information comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the RIS to receive the configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

92. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 90, wherein the computer-executable instruction that causes the RIS to acquire the configuration information comprises a computer-executable instruction that causes the RIS to receive the configuration information from a network entity.

93. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 92, wherein the computer-executable instruction causing the RIS to receive the configuration information from the network entity comprises a computer-executable instruction causing the RIS to receive the configuration information from a location server.

94. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 90, wherein the configuration information indicates the number of SRS resources, the expected time for receiving an SRS transmission from the UE, the uncertainty of the expected time for receiving the SRS transmission from the UE, the expected time for transmitting a reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE to the UE, the AoD for transmitting the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof.

95. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 90, wherein each of the plurality of SRS transmissions having reflections of the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE comprises information relating each of them to a corresponding SRS transmission among the plurality of SRS transmissions received from the UE.

96. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 95, wherein the information comprises an SRS ID, a beam ID, a known sequence, or a combination thereof.

97. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by the location server, the location server receives the instructions. The Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) is instructed to transmit first configuration information that identifies resources for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning. The user equipment (UE) is instructed to transmit second configuration information that identifies resources for SRS positioning. Each of the first and second configuration information represents the number of SRS resources, the time at which the UE transmits an SRS transmission to the RIS, the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the uncertainty of the expected time at which the UE receives a reflection of the SRS transmission from the RIS, the starting angle (AoD) at which the RIS transmits the reflection of the SRS transmission from the UE, or a combination thereof. Non-temporary computer-readable media.

98. The aforementioned computer executable instruction is further transmitted to the location server: A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 97, which causes the UE to transmit support data comprising the geographical location of the RIS, the orientation of the RIS, the characteristics of the reflected SRS beam, or a combination thereof.

99. The characteristics of the reflected SRS beam include azimuth angle, azimuth beamwidth, elevation angle, elevation beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, transmission time uncertainty, or a combination thereof, as described in claim 98 for a non-temporary computer-readable medium.

100. The aforementioned computer executable instruction is further transmitted to the location server: Multiple reference signal received power (RSRP) values ​​corresponding to multiple reflected SRS transmissions measured by the UE are received from the UE. Based on the aforementioned multiple RSRP values, the AoD of the UE from the RIS is determined. The AoD is made to estimate the position of the UE based at least partially on the above, The estimated position is transmitted to the UE. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 97.

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