Group delay margin for devices using reference signal frequency hopping.

Abstract

In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) may determine an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth of multiple transmitted reference signals (RSs) used in a frequency hopping positioning session. The UE may determine a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs. The UE may determine a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth. The UE may determine a second group delay margin as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth. The UE may transmit or measure the multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

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

[0003]

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

[0004]

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

[0005] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes transmitting a plurality of reference signals during a positioning session. determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; determining a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned for transmitting or receiving the RS over the aggregate bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth; and transmitting or measuring the multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0006]

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; sending to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the multiple RSs transmitted over the different frequency ranges; and sending to the location server a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned for transmitting or receiving the RS over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0007] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) 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 determines an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to an aggregate bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges during a positioning session, determines a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs, and determines a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; and determine a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth; and transmit or measure the plurality of RSs via the at least one transceiver based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0008]

[0008] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) 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 receives, via the at least one transceiver, a configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges, determines a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS, and receives, via the at least one transceiver, a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the preconfigured group delay margin corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. the UE is configured to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of a first group delay margin to the location server, the indication being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of RSs, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted over different frequency ranges; and to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a second group delay margin to the location server, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0009]

[0009] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: means for determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth of multiple reference signals (RSs) transmitted based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges during a positioning session; means for determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs; means for determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of a set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as the group delay margin of the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; means for determining a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on the sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, as the group delay margin of the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth; and means for transmitting or measuring multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin of the positioning session.

[0010]

[0010] In one aspect, a positioning system includes: a user equipment (UE) receiving a configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges; a means for determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; a means for sending to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of a set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth of the multiple RSs transmitted over the different frequency ranges; and a means for sending to the location server a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on the sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with the bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RS over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0011] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to determine an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges during a positioning session, determine a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs, and determine a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. , determining a first group delay margin as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth, and determining a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on the sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with the bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth, and transmitting or measuring multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0012]

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to receive a configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges, determine a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS, send to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of a set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth of the multiple RSs transmitted over the different frequency ranges, and send to the location server a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RS over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0013]

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

[0014]

[0014] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects, not limitation thereof. [Figure 1]

[0015] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0016] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2C]1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0017] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, or a network entity and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, or a network entity and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, or a network entity and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 4]

[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5]

[0019] 1 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) call flow between a UE and a location server for performing a positioning operation. [Figure 6-7]

[0020] FIG. 6 illustrates an example round-trip-time (RTT) procedure for determining a location of a UE, according to an aspect of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 7 illustrates an example timing diagram of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station and a UE, according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 8]

[0022] 10A-10C illustrate example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station and a UE according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 9]

[0023] 1 illustrates timing errors (eg, group delays) associated with two transmission-reception points (TRPs) receiving the same reference signal, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 10]

[0024] 1 illustrates a table that may be used to illustrate the contribution of timing errors to positioning measurement accuracy, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 11]

[0025] 10 illustrates a table illustrating potential group delay calibration margins for UE receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement accuracy with respect to RS bandwidth, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 12]

[0026] 1 illustrates an evaluation of phase offset for a two-hop scenario, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 13]

[0027] 1 illustrates an evaluation of phase offset for an 8-hop scenario, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 14]

[0028] 1 illustrates frequency hopping scenarios that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0029] 10 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]

[0030] 10 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 17]

[0031] 10 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 18]

[0032] 10 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 19]

[0033] 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication that may be performed by a UE, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 20]

[0034] 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication that may be performed by a UE, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015]

[0035] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, which are directed to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0016]

[0036] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0017]

[0037] Those skilled in the art will understand that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, desired design, corresponding technology, etc.

[0018]

[0038] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. In addition, the sequence(s) of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied entirely in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions, which, when executed, cause or instruct the associated processor(s) of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described actions.

[0019]

[0039] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station,” as used herein, are not intended to be specific to or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer location device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or stationary (e.g., at a given time) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE can be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0020]

[0040] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs with which it communicates with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. Base stations may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, base stations may provide only edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, base stations may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link over which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) channel or a forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0021]

[0041] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmission / reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the base station's cell (or several cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Instead, non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and neighboring base stations whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0022]

[0042] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., if it transmits signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., if it receives and measures signals from the UE).

[0023]

[0043] An "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted over different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0024]

[0044] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0025]

[0045] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5G core, 5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server(s) 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server(s) 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 through the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as through an application server (not shown), through a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), or through another network. For signaling purposes, communication between the UE 104 and the location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170), or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intervening nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagrams for clarity.

[0026]

[0046] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and alert message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0027]

[0047] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resources referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish between cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and its supporting base station, depending on the context. Additionally, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0028]

[0048] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover regions), and some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may serve closed groups known as closed subscriber groups (CSGs).

[0029]

[0049] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also called reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be of one or multiple carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., the downlink may be allocated more or fewer carriers than the uplink).

[0030]

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (WLAN) 150 communicating with wireless local area network (WLAN) stations (STAs) 152 over a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0031]

[0051] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may extend coverage to and / or increase the capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0032]

[0052] The wireless communication system 100 may further include an mmW base station 180 that may operate at millimeter wave (mmW) and / or sub-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has wavelengths from 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Radio waves within this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Sub-mmW may range down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band ranges from 3 GHz to 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / sub-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0033]

[0053] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts that signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and emits a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster and more powerful RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (also called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitter are supplied to the individual antennas in the proper phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas combine to cancel and suppress radiation in undesired directions while simultaneously enhancing radiation in desired directions.

[0034]

[0054] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that some parameters for a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of 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 average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0035]

[0055] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a particular direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of RF signals received from that direction.

[0036]

[0056] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially related. A spatial relationship means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0037]

[0057] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if a base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0038]

[0058] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified with frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although a portion of FR1 is above 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and papers. Similar nomenclature issues may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the “millimeter wave” band.

[0039]

[0059] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as a frequency range designated FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands included within FR3 may inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2 to the mid-band frequencies. Higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency ranges designated FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands is included within the EHF band.

[0040]

[0060] With the above aspects in mind, it should be understood that unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6 GHz," as used herein, may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, it should be understood that terms such as "mmWave," as used herein, may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within the ranges of FR2, FR4, FR4-a, or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0041]

[0061] In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and is the cell on which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE-specific control channels and may (but is not always) be a carrier among licensed frequencies. The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier among unlicensed frequencies. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier shall contain only the necessary signaling information and signals; for example, there may be no UE-specific signaling information and signals in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network may change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This may be done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which several base stations are communicating, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0042]

[0062] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or data reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz carriers aggregated in a multi-carrier system would theoretically provide a 2x data rate increase (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0043]

[0063] Wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communications link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE 164.

[0044]

[0064] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with the base station 102 via a communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., the UE 164, the UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). Wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that enables direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication having to go through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) medium sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, a group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to all other SL-UEs in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are performed between SL-UEs without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0045]

[0065] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a target wireless communications medium, which may be shared with other vehicular and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications between other RATs. The “medium” may consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communications resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the target medium may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. While different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communications systems (e.g., by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Exemplary systems of this type include CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and various variations thereof.

[0046]

[0066] 1 illustrates only two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), it should be noted that any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Additionally, while only UE 182 has been described as being beamforming capable, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be beamforming capable. If SL-UEs are beamforming capable, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward a base station (e.g., base station 102, 180, small cell 102′, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0047]

[0067] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine the receiver's location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located within the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signals 124 from the SV 112 to derive geolocation information.

[0048]

[0068] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation system(s) that provide integrity information, error correction, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided Geo-Augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0049]

[0069] In one aspect, the SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, the SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5G network. This element then provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In this way, the UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from the SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from the terrestrial base station 102.

[0050]

[0070] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0051]

[0071] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally considered as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, data network access, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0052]

[0072] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE(s) 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that may connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0053]

[0073] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) may be viewed functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. AMF264 functionality also includes security context management (SCM).The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulated services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interworking with an evolved packet system (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0054]

[0074] The functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the SLP 272.

[0055]

[0075] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, some control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0056]

[0076] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each represent a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that may connect to the LMF 270 via a core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, while the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 via the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) via the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0057]

[0077] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party servers 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0058]

[0078] A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and in particular the UPF 262 and AMF 264, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224, respectively, in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between the gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 may communicate with one or more UE204 via a wireless interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0059]

[0079] The functionality of the gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as forwarding user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, except for those functions exclusively assigned to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or multiple cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0060]

[0080] The deployment of a communication system, such as a 5G NR system, can be configured in multiple ways with various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, network entity, mobility element of a network, RAN node, core network node, network element, or network equipment, such as a base station or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, can be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, access point (AP), transmit / receive point (TRP), or cell) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0061]

[0081] A centralized base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (e.g., one or more centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU or alternatively geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0062]

[0082] The operation of a base station type or network design may take into account the aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as the network configuration supported by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units in different physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functionality of at least one unit, which may allow flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station, or a disaggregated RAN architecture, may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0063]

[0083] 2C illustrates an exemplary disaggregated base station architecture 250 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (e.g., a near-real time (RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a non-real time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both). The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DU 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RU 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RU 287 may communicate with each UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 may be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0064]

[0084] Each of the units, i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and quasi-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255, may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the unit's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, a unit may include a wired interface configured to receive signals from or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. In addition, the units may include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive, transmit, or transmit signals via a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0065]

[0085] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more upper layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be executed using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit-User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit-Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 may be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP units, when implemented in an O-RAN configuration, may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. The CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as needed, for network control and signaling.

[0066]

[0086] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit including one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more upper physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.), at least in part according to a functional division such as that defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285 or with control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0067]

[0087] Lower layer functions may be performed by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, the RUs 287 controlled by the DUs 285 may correspond to logical nodes hosting RF processing functions, lower PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transforms (FFTs), inverse FFTs (iFFTs), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional division, such as a lower layer functional division. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU(s) 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DUs 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU(s) 285 and CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0068]

[0088] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to support deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (e.g., an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (e.g., an open cloud (O-cloud) 269) via a cloud computing platform interface (e.g., an O2 interface) to perform network element lifecycle management (e.g., instantiate virtualized network elements). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the CU 280, the DU 285, the RU 287, and the quasi-RT RIC 259. In some implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate with hardware aspects of a 4G RAN, such as the open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 can also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255.

[0069]

[0089] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the quasi-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or in communication with the quasi-RT RIC 259 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The quasi-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources by data collection and action via interfaces (e.g., via an E2 interface) that connect one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB to the quasi-RT RIC 259.

[0070]

[0090] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server to generate AI / ML models that are deployed to the quasi-RT RIC 259. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC 259 and may be received from non-network data sources or from network functions in the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the quasi-RT RIC 259 may be configured to adjust RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may employ AI / ML models to monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and take corrective action through the SMO framework 255 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or through the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., A1 policies).

[0071]

[0091] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated within a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including a location server 230 and an LMF 270, or alternatively, may be independent of the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., within an ASIC, within a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the illustrated components to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0072]

[0092] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), respectively, in accordance with a designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358, respectively, and include one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0073]

[0093] The UE 302 and base station 304 also each, at least in some cases, include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) over a target wireless communication medium. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.) in accordance with a designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0074]

[0094] UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide a means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Navigation Satellite System of India (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and action from other systems as appropriate and, in at least some cases, perform calculations to determine the locations of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using the obtained measurements according to any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0075]

[0095] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, that provide a means for communicating (e.g., a means for transmitting, a means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, a base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, a network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0076]

[0096] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired link or a wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying the transmitter and receiver circuitry within a single device), in some implementations may comprise separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other implementations may be embodied in other ways. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that enables the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming," as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array that enables the respective device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver circuitry may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not both at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0077]

[0097] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390, in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a “transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers generally involve signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involve signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0078]

[0098] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functionality related to wireless communications and to provide other processing functionality. Accordingly, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may provide processing means, such as determining means, calculating means, receiving means, transmitting means, and directing means. In one aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, 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.

[0079]

[0099] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, the memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide storage means, retrieval means, maintenance means, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning 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 stand-alone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of a positioning component 388, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C shows possible locations of a positioning component 398, which may be part of, for example, one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0080]

[0100] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide a means of sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0081]

[0101] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing instructions to a user (e.g., audio and / or visual instructions) and / or receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0082]

[0102] Referring more particularly to the one or more processors 384, on the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with forwarding of upper layer PDUs, error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0083]

[0103] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the individual spatial streams for transmission.

[0084]

[0104] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto RF carriers and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency-domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0085]

[0105] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0086]

[0106] Similar to the functionality described in connection with downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with forwarding upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0087]

[0107] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with the individual spatial streams for transmission.

[0088]

[0108] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0089]

[0109] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0090]

[0110] For convenience, the UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A-3C are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, device use, or other considerations. For example, in FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, etc. 3B, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular only), or may omit satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein but should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0091]

[0111] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are embodied within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated within the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0092]

[0112] The components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Additionally, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the 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, it should be understood that such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0093]

[0113] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., the NG RAN 220 and / or the 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0094]

[0114] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating example frame structures according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0095]

[0115] LTE, and sometimes NR, utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (i.e., 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0096]

[0116] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or greater may be available. At each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, a slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 50 with an FFT size of 4K. For a 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, a slot duration of 0.5 ms, a symbol duration of 33.3 μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 100 for a 4K FFT size. For a 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, a slot duration of 0.25 ms, a symbol duration of 16.7 μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 200 for a 4K FFT size. For a 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, a slot duration of 0.125 ms, a symbol duration of 8.33 μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 400 for a 4K FFT size. For a 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, slot duration is 0.0625 ms, symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with an FFT size of 4K is 800.

[0097]

[0117] In the example of Figure 4, a 15 kHz numerology is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figure 4, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0098]

[0118] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, and each time slot includes one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIG. 4, in the case of a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. In the case of an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0099]

[0119] Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). The reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communications. Figure 4 shows example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R").

[0100]

[0120] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmitting a PRS is referred to as a "PRS resource." A set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" consecutive symbol(s) within a slot (e.g., one or more) in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0101]

[0121] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a particular comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size "N," a PRS is transmitted on every N subcarriers of a symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, an RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, and 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb 2, comb 4, comb 6, and comb 12 are supported for DL-PRS. Figure 4 shows an example PRS resource configuration for comb 4 (spanning four symbols). That is, the location of the shaded RE (labeled "R") indicates the comb 4 PRS resource configuration.

[0102]

[0122] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot with a staggered pattern across the frequency domain. DL-PRS resources can be configured within any higher layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbols of a slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there can be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). Below are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 across 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols: 2-symbol comb2: {0,1}, 4-symbol comb2: {0,1,0,1}, 6-symbol comb2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}, 12-symbol comb2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}, (in the example of Figure 4) 4-symbol comb4: {0,2,1,3}, 12-symbol comb4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, 6-symbol comb6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}, 12-symbol comb6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}, and 12-symbol comb12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0103]

[0123] 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 a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by a TRP ID). In addition, PRS resources within a PRS resource set have the same periodicity across slots, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (e.g., "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor"). Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity is 2^μ * The repetition factor may have a length selected from {4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots, and μ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0104]

[0124] A PRS resource ID in 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 multiple beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not have any implications regarding whether the TRP and beam on which a PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0105]

[0125] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more contiguous slots) during which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion," "PRS positioning instance," "positioning occasion," "positioning instance," "positioning repetition," or simply an "occasion," "instance," or "repetition."

[0106]

[0126] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply referred to as a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs that have the same values ​​for certain parameters. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all numerologies supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported for PRS), the same Point A, the same value of downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" ("ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio-frequency channel number"), which is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers are defined, and up to two PRS resource sets per TRP can be configured per frequency layer.

[0107]

[0127] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to that of a component carrier and bandwidth parts (BWPs), but differs in that a component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or a macrocell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit a data channel, while a frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRSs. 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.

[0108]

[0128] 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, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, and UL-PRS as defined in LTE and NR. Furthermore, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If necessary to further distinguish between types of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS," uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS for positioning, PTRS) may be referred to as "UL-PRS," and sidelink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "SL-PRS." Additionally, for signals that may be transmitted in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink (e.g., DMRS), "DL," "UL," or "SL" may be prepended to the signal to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" is different from "DL-DMRS."

[0109]

[0129] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, a UE measures the differences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from a pair of base stations, called reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the assistance data. The UE then measures RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, a positioning entity (e.g., the UE in the case of UE-based positioning, or a location server in the case of UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the location of the UE.

[0110]

[0130] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0111]

[0131] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals that are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server), which knows the locations and relative timing of the participating base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTA of the reference base station and that of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location using TDOA.

[0112]

[0132] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0113]

[0133] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined from the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). In the case of multi-RTT positioning, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to allow the location of the first entity to be determined based on the distance to the second entity and the known locations of the second entities (e.g., using multilateration). The RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve location accuracy.

[0114]

[0134] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and identities, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known location of the base station(s).

[0115]

[0135] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or base station's cell / TRP) from which to measure the reference signal, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots containing the PRS, the periodicity of the consecutive slots containing the PRS, a muting sequence, a frequency hopping sequence, a reference signal identifier, a reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may be obtained directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes itself without using the assistance data.

[0116]

[0136] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and an uncertainty, or search window, associated with the expected RSTD before and after the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range for the expected RSTD may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurements are in FR1, the value range for the expected RSTD uncertainty may be + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range for the expected RSTD uncertainty may be + / - 8 μs.

[0117]

[0137] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or urban and include a street address, postal address, or some other linguistic description of the location. A location estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or defined absolutely (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that the location is expected to be within with some specified or default level of confidence).

[0118]

[0138] 5 illustrates an example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) procedure 500 between a UE 504 and a location server (shown as a Location Management Function (LMF) 570) for performing a positioning operation. As shown in FIG. 5, positioning of the UE 504 is supported via an exchange of LPP messages between the UE 504 and the LMF 570. The LPP messages may be exchanged between the UE 504 and the LMF 570 via the UE's serving base station (shown as a serving gNB 502) and a core network (not shown). The LPP procedure 500 may be used to position the UE 504 to support various location-related services, such as navigation for the UE 504 (or for a user of the UE 504), for routing, for providing an accurate location to a public safety answering point (PSAP) in connection with an emergency call from the UE 504 to the PSAP, or for some other reason. The LPP procedure 500 may also be referred to as a positioning session, and there may be multiple positioning sessions for different types of positioning methods (e.g., Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Extended Cell Identity (E-CID), etc.).

[0119]

[0139] Initially, the UE 504 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities (e.g., an LPP Capability Request message) from the LMF 570 at stage 510. At stage 520, the UE 504 provides the LMF 570 with its positioning capabilities for the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Capability Provision message to the LMF 570 indicating the positioning methods and characteristics of those positioning methods supported by the UE 504 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Capability Provision message may, in some aspects, indicate the types of positioning that the UE 504 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) and may indicate the UE 504's ability to support those types of positioning.

[0120]

[0140] Upon receiving the LPP Provide Capabilities message in step 520, the LMF 570 determines to use a particular type of positioning method (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based on the indicated type(s) of positioning that the UE 504 supports, and determines a set of one or more Transmission / Reception Points (TRPs) from which the UE 504 will measure downlink positioning reference signals or to which the UE 504 will transmit uplink positioning reference signals. In step 530, the LMF 570 sends an LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the UE 504 identifying the set of TRPs.

[0121]

[0141] In some implementations, the Provide LPP Assistance Data message in stage 530 may be sent by the LMF 570 to the UE 504 in response to an LPP Request Assistance Data message (not shown in FIG. 5) sent by the UE 504 to the LMF 570. The Request LPP Assistance Data message may include an identifier of the serving TRP of the UE 504 and a request for positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration of neighboring TRPs.

[0122]

[0142] At stage 540, the LMF 570 sends a request for location information to the UE 504. The request may be an LPP Location Information Request message. This message typically includes information elements that define the location information type, the desired accuracy of the location estimate, and the response time (i.e., the desired latency). Note that a low latency requirement allows for a longer response time, while a high latency requirement requires a shorter response time. However, a long response time is referred to as a high latency, and a short response time is referred to as a low latency.

[0123]

[0143] It should be noted that in some implementations, for example, if the UE 504 sends a request for assistance data to the LMF 570 (e.g., in an LPP Request Assistance Data message not shown in FIG. 5) after receiving a request for location information in stage 540, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message sent in stage 530 may be sent after the LPP Request Location Information message in 540.

[0124]

[0144] In step 550, the UE 504 utilizes the assistance information received in step 530 and any additional data received in step 540 (e.g., desired location accuracy or maximum response time) to perform positioning operations (e.g., measuring DL-PRS, transmitting UL-PRS, etc.) for the selected positioning method.

[0125]

[0145] In step 560, the UE 504 may send an LPP Provide Location Information message to the LMF 570 conveying the results of any measurements taken in step 550 (e.g., Time of Arrival (ToA), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Receive-Transmit (Rx-Tx), etc.) before or when any maximum response time (e.g., the maximum response time provided by the LMF 570 in step 540) expires. The Provide LPP Location Information message in step 560 may also include the time(s) at which the positioning measurements were taken and the identity of the TRP(s) from which the positioning measurements were taken. Note that the time between the request for location information in 540 and the response in 560 is the "response time," which indicates the latency of the positioning session.

[0126]

[0146] The LMF 570 calculates an estimated location of the UE 504 using an appropriate positioning technique (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based at least in part on the measurements received in the LPP location information provision message in stage 560.

[0127]

[0147] In NR, there may not be precise timing synchronization across the network. Instead, it may be sufficient to have coarse time synchronization across base stations (e.g., within the cyclic prefix (CP) duration of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol). RTT-based methods generally require only coarse timing synchronization and are therefore the preferred positioning method in NR.

[0128]

[0148] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 600 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 6, a UE 604 (any of the UEs described herein) is attempting to calculate an estimate of its location or to assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in calculating an estimate of its location. The UE 604 may transmit and receive wireless signals to and from multiple network nodes 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3 (collectively, network nodes 602) (labeled “nodes”). The network nodes 602 may include one or more base stations (e.g., any of the base stations described herein), one or more reconfigurable intelligent displays (RISs), one or more positioning beacons, one or more UEs (e.g., connected via a sidelink), etc.

[0129]

[0149] In a network-centric RTT positioning procedure, a serving base station (e.g., one of the network nodes 602) instructs the UE 604 to measure RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) from two or more neighboring network nodes 602 (and typically the serving base station, since at least three network nodes 602 are required for a two-dimensional location estimation). The involved network nodes 602 transmit the RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by the network node 602 to transmit system information if the network node 602 is a base station) allocated by the network (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272). The UE 604 records the arrival time (also called receive time, reception time, time of reception, or time of arrival) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE 604's current downlink timing (e.g., as derived by the UE 604 from downlink signals received from its serving base station) and transmits a common or individual RTT response signal (e.g., SRS) to the involved network node 602 on resources allocated by its serving base station. The UE 604 reports a UE receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement to a positioning entity if it is not the positioning entity. The UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement indicates the time difference between the arrival time of each RTT measurement signal at the UE 604 and the transmit time(s) of the RTT response signal(s). Each participating network node 602 also reports to the positioning entity a network node Rx-Tx time difference measurement (also called a base station (BS) or gNB) Rx-Tx time difference measurement) indicating the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the reception time of the RTT response signal.

[0130]

[0150] The UE-centric RTT positioning procedure is similar to the network-based procedure, except that the UE 604 transmits uplink RTT measurement signal(s) (e.g., on resources allocated by the serving base station). The uplink RTT measurement signal(s) are measured by multiple network nodes 602 in the UE 604's neighborhood. Each participating network node 602 responds with a downlink RTT response signal and reports a network node Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the positioning entity. The network node Rx-Tx time difference measurement indicates the time difference between the arrival time of the RTT measurement signal at the network node 602 and the transmission time of the RTT response signal. If the UE 604 is not the positioning entity, it reports a UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement for each network node 602, indicating the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the reception time of the RTT response signal.

[0131]

[0151] To determine the location (x,y) of the UE 604, the positioning entity needs to know the locations of the network nodes 602, which may be expressed in a reference coordinate system as (x_k,y_y), where in the example of Figure 6, k = 1, 2, 3. If the UE 604 is the positioning entity, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) with knowledge of the network geometry may provide the UE 604 with the locations of the involved network nodes 602.

[0132]

[0152] The positioning entity determines each distance 610 (d_k, k=1, 2, 3) between the UE 604 and each network node 602 based on the UE Rx-Tx and network node Rx-Tx time difference measurements and the speed of light, as further described below with reference to Figure 7. Specifically, in the example of Figure 6, the distance 610-1 between the UE 604 and network node 602-1 is d_1, the distance 610-2 between the UE 604 and network node 602-2 is d_2, and the distance 610-3 between the UE 604 and network node 602-3 is d_3. Once each distance 610 is determined, the positioning entity can solve for the location (x, y) of the UE 604 by using various known geometric techniques, such as trilateration. From FIG. 6, it can be seen that the location of UE 604 is ideally at the common intersection of three semicircles, each defined by a radius dk and a center (x_k, y_k), where k=1, 2, 3.

[0133]

[0153] 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a network node 702 (labeled "Node") and a UE 704, according to an aspect of the disclosure. The UE 704 may be any of the UEs described herein. The network node 702 may be a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein), a RIS, a positioning beacon, another UE (e.g., connected via a sidelink), etc.

[0134]

[0154] In the example of FIG. 7, a network node 702 (labeled "BS") sends an RTT measurement signal 710 (e.g., a PRS) to a UE 704 at time T_1. The RTT measurement signal 710 has some propagation delay T_Prop as it travels from the network node 702 to the UE 704. At time T_2 (the time of receipt of the RTT measurement signal 710 at the UE 704), the UE 704 measures the RTT measurement signal 710. After some UE processing time, the UE 704 transmits an RTT response signal 720 (e.g., an SRS) at time T_3. After a propagation delay T_Prop, the network node 702 measures the RTT response signal 720 from the UE 704 at time T_4 (the time of receipt of the RTT response signal 720 at the network node 702).

[0135]

[0155] The UE 704 reports the difference between time T_3 and time T_2 (i.e., the UE's 704 Rx-Tx time difference measurement, denoted as UE_Rx-Tx 712) to the positioning entity. Similarly, the network node 702 reports the difference between time T_4 and time T_1 (i.e., the network node's 702 Rx-Tx time difference measurement, denoted as Node_Rx-Tx 722) to the positioning entity. Using these measurements and the known speed of light, the positioning entity determines the distance to the UE 704 as d=½ * c * (Node_Rx-Tx-UE_Rx-Tx)=1 / 2 * c * (T_4-T_1)-1 / 2 * c * It can be calculated as (T_3-T_2), where c is the speed of light.

[0136]

[0156] Based on the known location of the network node 702 and the distance between the UE 704 and the network node 702 (and at least two other network nodes 702), the positioning entity can calculate the location of the UE 704. As shown in Figure 6, the location of the UE 704 is at the common intersection of three semicircles, each defined by a radius of the distance between the UE 704 and a respective network node 702.

[0137]

[0157] In one aspect, the positioning entity may calculate the location of the UE 604 / 704 using a two-dimensional coordinate system. However, the aspects disclosed herein are not so limited and may be equally applicable to determining location using a three-dimensional coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while FIG. 6 shows one UE 604 and three network nodes 602 and FIG. 7 shows one UE 704 and one network node 702, it will be appreciated that there may be more UEs 604 / 704 and more network nodes 602 / 702.

[0138]

[0158] 8 is a diagram 800 illustrating example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a network node 802 and a UE 804 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Diagram 800 is similar to diagram 700, except that it includes processing delays that may occur at both the network node 802 (labeled "Node") and the UE 804 when transmitting and receiving RTT measurement signals and RTT response signals. The network node 802 may be a base station (e.g., any of the base stations), a RIS (e.g., RIS 410), another UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein), or other network node capable of performing an RTT positioning procedure. As a specific example, the network node 802 and the UE 804 may correspond to the base station 702 and the UE 704 of FIG. 7.

[0139]

[0159] Referring now to possible processing delays, at the network node 802, there is a transmission delay 814 between time T_1 when the baseband (labeled "BB") of the network node 802 generates the RTT measurement signal 810 (e.g., PRS) and time T_2 when the antenna(s) (labeled "Ant") of the network node 802 transmit the RTT measurement signal 810. At the UE 804, there is a reception delay 816 between time T_3 when the antenna(s) (labeled "Ant") of the UE 604 receives the RTT measurement signal 810 and time T_4 when the baseband (labeled "BB") of the UE 804 processes the RTT measurement signal 810.

[0140]

[0160] Similarly, for an RTT response signal 820 (e.g., SRS), there is a transmission delay 826 between time T_5 when the baseband of the UE 804 generates the RTT response signal 820 and time T_6 when the antenna(s) of the UE 804 transmit the RTT response signal 820. At the network node 802, there is a reception delay 824 between time T_7 when the antenna(s) of the network node 802 receive the RTT response signal 820 and time T_8 when the baseband of the network node 802 processes the RTT response signal 820.

[0141]

[0161] The difference between times T_2 and T_1 (i.e., transmit delay 814) and the difference between times T_8 and T_7 (i.e., receive delay 824) are referred to as the “group delay” of the network node 802. The difference between times T_4 and T_3 (i.e., receive delay 816) and the difference between times T_6 and T_5 (i.e., transmit delay 826) are referred to as the “group delay” of the UE 804. Group delay includes hardware group delay, group delay due to software / firmware, or both. More specifically, although software and / or firmware may contribute to group delay, group delay is primarily due to internal hardware delay between the baseband and antenna(s) of the network node 802 and the UE 804.

[0142]

[0162] 8 , due to receive delay 816 and transmit delay 826, the Rx-Tx time difference measurement 812 of the UE 804 does not represent the difference between the actual receive time at time T_3 and the actual transmit time at time T_6. Similarly, due to transmit delay 814 and receive delay 824, the Rx-Tx time difference measurement 822 of the network node 802 does not represent the difference between the actual transmit time at time T_2 and the actual receive time at time T_7. Thus, as shown, group delays such as receive delays 816 and 824 and transmit delays 814 and 826 can contribute to timing and / or calibration errors that can affect RTT measurements and other measurements such as TDOA, RSTD, etc. Consequently, this, in turn, can affect positioning performance. For example, in some designs, an error of 10 ns results in a 3-meter error in the final location estimate.

[0143]

[0163] In some cases, the UE 804 may calibrate and compensate for its group delay so that the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement 812 reflects the actual receive and transmit times from its antenna(s). Alternatively, the UE 804 may report its group delay to a positioning entity (if it is not the UE 804), which may then subtract the group delay from the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement 812 when determining the final distance between the network node 802 and the UE 804. Similarly, the network node 802 may be able to compensate for its group delay in the network node Rx-Tx time difference measurement 822 or simply report the group delay to the positioning entity.

[0144]

[0164] Transmit / receive timing error has been defined in the NR standards for UEs. Such timing error has been defined as either the uncalibrated Tx / Rx group delay between baseband and the Tx / Rx antennas (e.g., receive delay 816 and transmit delay 826), or, if the UE implements such calibration, as the residual error in the Tx / Rx group delay between baseband and the Tx / Rx antennas after calibration.

[0145]

[0165] Timing error groups (TEGs) can help mitigate the effects of Tx / Rx timing errors using differential processing. An Rx TEG is a grouping of time-of-arrival measurements obtained from one or more RS resources such that the difference between the Rx timing errors for any two measurements belonging to the same Rx TEG is within a certain margin. FIG. 9 illustrates timing errors (e.g., group delays) associated with two TRPs, labeled TRP1 and TRP2, receiving the same reference signal, according to aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, TRP1 receives the reference signal at time TOA1 (ideal time) with an associated measured TOA1, which has a timing error labeled Timing Error 1, corresponding to the timing error associated with TRP1. Similarly, TRP2 receives the reference signal at time TOA2 (ideal time) with an associated measured TOA2, which has a timing error labeled Timing Error 1, corresponding to the timing error associated with TRP1. TRP1 and TRP2 |Timing error 1 - Timing error 2| ≤ Timing margin If so, it is in the same Rx TEG, where the timing margin is determined based on a preconfigured timing margin requirement (eg, a standardized timing margin).

[0146]

[0166] There are other TEGs that can be used to mitigate the effects of Tx / Rx timing errors using differential processing. An RxTx TEG is a grouping of RxTx measurements taken from one or more RS resources such that the difference between the RxTx timing errors for any two measurements belonging to the same RxTx TEG is within a certain margin. A Tx TEG is a grouping of RS resource transmissions such that the difference between the Tx timing errors for any two transmissions belonging to the same Tx TEG is within a certain margin.

[0147]

[0167] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the association of measurements / transmissions with TEGs is based on the UE / TRP implementation. Reporting of the TEG by the UE is optional even if the UE supports this feature. In one aspect, the UE Rx TEG and UE Rx-Tx TEG association can be reported for UE-assisted DL-TDOA and RTT positioning. In one aspect, the association to the Rx / Rx-Tx TEG IDs may be valid within one measurement report and apply only to measurements tagged with the corresponding TEG ID. In one aspect, the UE Tx TEG association can be reported for UL-TDOA and RTT positioning. In one aspect, the association to the Tx TEG IDs may be valid within a period reported to the LMF (or gNB) using a timestamp.

[0148]

[0168] 10 shows a table that can be used to illustrate the contribution of timing error to positioning measurement accuracy, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example, the contribution of timing error to measurement accuracy is shown in the context of RSTD positioning in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) for FR1. RSTD accuracy can be expressed as: RSTD accuracy = simulated accuracy + group delay margin + frequency drift margin During the ceremony, The simulated accuracy is selected from the conditions shown in Table 1002, The group delay margin is selected based on the conditions shown in Table 1004, The frequency drift margin is selected based on the conditions shown in Table 1006.

[0149]

[0169] Tables 1002, 1004, and 1006 represent timing in terms of the standardized timing unit Tc (currently standardized at Tc=0.509 ns). Based on a PRS with a bandwidth of 100 MHz, and assuming a time separation of 160 ms or less, we get: RSTD accuracy=10 Tc+12 Tc+32 Tc=54 Tc=27.486ns

[0150]

[0170] The timing error margin can be determined from candidate values ​​defined in the NR specifications. The candidate values ​​are selected to cover different measurement configurations (e.g., RS bandwidth (BW)) and to accommodate different implementations. For Tx and Rx TEGs, the candidates for NR Release 17 are 0Tc, 2Tc, 4Tc, 6Tc, 8Tc, 12Tc, 16Tc, 20Tc, 24Tc, 32Tc, 40Tc, 48Tc, 56Tc, 64Tc, 72Tc, and 80Tc, while the RxTx TEG has not yet been defined. For each type of TEG, the UE / TRP selects one of the values ​​based on its implementation. In a measurement report, all Rx TEGs have the same timing error margin, and all RxTx TEGs have the same timing error margin. All Tx TEGs defined in the same period have the same timing error margin. The timing error margin(s) are included in the measurement report or Tx TEG report. The timing error margin may be different for different measurements or for Tx TEG report instances.

[0151]

[0171] 11 illustrates a table showing candidate group delay calibration margins for UE Rx-Tx measurement accuracy with respect to RS bandwidth, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, table 1102 illustrates candidate group delay calibration margins for FR1, and table 1104 illustrates candidate group delay calibration margins for FR2. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that the aforementioned candidate values ​​constitute non-limiting examples. Additional and / or different candidate values / bandwidths may be adopted and standardized for the pre-configured group delay calibration margins.

[0152]

[0172] Certain aspects of the present disclosure recognize that a UE may not have the capability to measure or transmit an RS across a wide bandwidth. However, some UEs, such as reduced-capability (RedCap) devices, are expected to be able to tune to different frequencies within a band and tune to different sections of the RS bandwidth at different time occasions (e.g., slots). In this way, the UE may capture a larger aggregate bandwidth of the RS to provide a more accurate positioning estimate. To this end, a positioning session employing such a device may be based on “frequency hopping.” For example, a signal (e.g., a PRS) may be transmitted across the entire bandwidth (e.g., 272 PRBs for the PRS) at each time occasion (e.g., slot). The UE may then measure different portions of the PRS resources (e.g., different symbols) in different subsets of the 272 PRBs over a span of multiple slots. Contiguous subsets of PRBs in the frequency domain are referred to as a “hop,” and the UE “stitches” together measurements of the PRS resources in each subset of PRBs (i.e., each hop) to determine a final measurement of the PRS resources.

[0153]

[0173] If the UE supports frequency hopping, the measurement period (e.g., for RSTD measurements) can be updated to account for the longer time required to measure the nominal bandwidth. Additionally, the expected / required positioning accuracy may need to be updated to account for accuracy loss due to realistic stitching and UE capabilities. Also, overlapping hopping may be required to allow estimation of phase offset due to switching.

[0154]

[0174] Although symbols transmitted within the same slot are assumed to be coherent (i.e., have phase coherence), measurements of different sections of the bandwidth may not be coherent with each other due to the UE retuning its radio to receive different hops. FIG. 12 illustrates evaluation of phase offset for a two-hop scenario in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Diagram 1200 illustrates two 24-PRB PRS hops in the frequency domain. Each PRS hop may span one or two symbols of the same slot in the time domain. Because the UE retunes its radio to measure different hops, there is some phase offset between the two PRS hops.

[0155]

[0175] Graph 1250 shows the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the error metric across all initializations for an outdoor UE using a 30 kHz SCS and without random sample consensus (RANSAC) outlier rejection. In the scenario shown in graph 1250, for each additional hop, a random sample is drawn from a uniform distribution of θ = 2π · [-α,α], where θ is the phase and α is a range for the purposes of graphing, such as [-0.5,0.5]. A phase offset is applied to the logged channel frequency response (CFR) of the hop. The two CFRs are concatenated in the same IFFT, and then the ToA is estimated. As shown, a phase uncertainty of up to approximately 8 degrees does not significantly affect positioning performance.

[0156]

[0176] FIG. 13 illustrates evaluation of phase offset for an eight-hop scenario according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Diagram 1300 illustrates eight 24-PRB PRS hops in the frequency domain. Each PRS hop may span one or two symbols in the time domain. Because the UE retunes its radio to measure different hops, there is some phase offset between the eight PRS hops. Graph 1350 illustrates the CDF of error metric across all initializations across UEs using a 30 kHz SCS.

[0157]

[0177] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a UE may perform frequency hopping during transmission of a UL-RS (e.g., an SRS). In such a case, the UE may tune to different bandwidths to transmit the RS at different time occasions during a positioning session. The UL-RS may be transmitted using frequency hopping characteristics similar to those shown in diagram 1200 of FIG. 12 and diagram 1300 of FIG. 13.

[0158]

[0178] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a UE may also receive a frequency-hopped RS (e.g., a sidelink (SL) RS) from another UE. In such a case, the RS is transmitted by the SL UE over different bandwidths at different times and is likewise measured by the UE over different bandwidths and different times. The SL-RS may be received using frequency-hopping characteristics similar to those shown in diagram 1200 of FIG. 12 and diagram 1300 of FIG. 13.

[0159]

[0179] Certain aspects of the present disclosure recognize that there are challenges in determining the group delay margin to be used for a positioning session involving frequency hopping. Such challenges arise because a UE has limited bandwidth capability and, in certain scenarios, may need to retune to multiple frequency bandwidths to transmit or measure all of the RSs across frequency hops. However, there may also be cases where the UE may have sufficient bandwidth capability such that retuning the UE is not required to transmit or receive the RSs via frequency hops.

[0160]

[0180] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, a group delay margin for a UE participating in a positioning session involving frequency hopping may be based on whether the UE needs to be retuned to transmit or measure all of the RSs across frequency hops during the positioning session. In one aspect, an operation may be performed to determine an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth of multiple RSs transmitted based on frequency hopping of a reference signal (RS) to different frequency ranges during the positioning session. In one aspect, a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs may be determined. A first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins (e.g., standardized values ​​of group delay margins) is used as the group delay margin based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth. In such a case, the first group delay margin may be based on a preconfigured group delay margin (e.g., a standardized group delay margin corresponding to a bandwidth range that includes the tuning bandwidth) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. If the aggregate bandwidth is greater than the tuning bandwidth, a second group delay margin is used as the group delay margin. In one aspect, the second group delay margin may be based on a sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth. Once the group delay margin is determined, the multiple RSs may be transmitted or received during the positioning session based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

[0161]

[0181] FIG. 14 illustrates a frequency hopping scenario 1400 that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session according to aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, an RS frequency hops across two different frequency spans, X1 and X2, of equal bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz each), at times t1 and t2, respectively. The UE has a tuning bandwidth, Xc (e.g., bandwidth capability), sufficient to cover the aggregate bandwidth (e.g., 40 MHz) of the RSs (X1 + X2) without the need for retuning. Therefore, the group delay margin may be determined based on the group delay margin corresponding to bandwidth Xi in a preconfigured (e.g., standardized) set of group delay margins. Referring to the preconfigured set of group delay margins set forth in Table 1104 of FIG. 11, a tuning bandwidth of 40 MHz is larger than the 20 MHz bandwidth associated with a group delay margin of 76 Tc, but smaller than the 50 MHz associated with a group delay margin of 32 Tc. Therefore, the group delay margin used for the positioning session should be 76 Tc.

[0162]

[0182] 15 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario 1500 that can be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session according to aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, RSs are frequency hopped across three different frequency spans X1, X2, and X3, covering three equally sized bandwidths (e.g., 20 MHz each), at times t1, t2, and t3, respectively. The UE supports only tuning bandwidth Xc (e.g., 20 MHz), which is insufficient to cover the aggregate bandwidth (e.g., 60 MHz) of the RSs (X1+X2+X3) without the need for retuning. Thus, the UE 1) tunes to frequency span X1 with bandwidth Xc at time t1 to transmit or receive a first RS 1502, 2) tunes to frequency span X2 with bandwidth Xc at time t2 to transmit or receive a second RS 1504, and 3) tunes to frequency span X3 with bandwidth Xc at time t3 to transmit or receive a third RS 1506. Because the UE is tuned multiple times (first tuning at t1 followed by subsequent retuning at t2 and t3), the group delay margin does not directly correspond to the tuning bandwidth Xc as it did in the frequency hopping scenario 1400 of Figure 14. Rather, because separate Rx chains (for received RSs) or separate Tx chains (for RS transmissions) are used by the UE, the group delay margin error is independent between each measurement of each RS 1502, 1504, and 1506.

[0163]

[0183] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the group delay margin for frequency hopping scenario 1500 may be determined as the sum of group delay margins GD1+GD2+GD3, where GD1 corresponds to the group delay margin for measuring the bandwidth of frequency span Xi. In this example, the bandwidth used to measure each frequency span Xi is 20 MHz. Referring to the preconfigured set of group delay margins set forth in Table 1104 of FIG. 11, a tuning bandwidth of 20 MHz is associated with a group delay margin of 76 Tc. Therefore, the group delay margin used for the positioning session should be GD1+GD2+GD3=228 Tc. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that GD1, GD2, and GD3 may have different values ​​and different bandwidths are associated with transmitting and receiving RSs of different frequency hops.

[0164]

[0184] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the aforementioned determination of the group delay margin may be simplified. If a UE performs N hops, the group delay margin is N * max(GDi), where GDi is the preconfigured group delay margin for the bandwidth transmitted or measured at the ith hop.

[0165]

[0185] 16 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario 1600 that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In this example, RSs are frequency hopped across four different frequency spans X1, X2, X3, and X4, covering four equally sized bandwidths (e.g., 50 MHz each), at times t1, t2, t3, and t4, respectively. The UE supports only tuning bandwidth Xc (e.g., 100 MHz), which is insufficient to cover the aggregate bandwidth (e.g., 200 MHz) of RSs (X1 + X2 + X3 + X4) without the need for retuning. Thus, the UE is initially tuned to frequency spans X1 and X2, having a bandwidth of Xc, at time t1 to transmit or receive a first RS 1602 and a second RS 1604. Next, the UE is tuned to frequency spans X3 and X4, having a bandwidth of Xc, at time t3 to transmit or receive a third RS 1606 and a fourth RS 1608. Because the UE is tuned multiple times (a first tune at t1 followed by a subsequent re-tune at t3), the group delay margin does not directly correspond to the tuning bandwidth Xc, as it did in frequency hopping scenario 1400 of Figure 14. Rather, because separate Rx chains (for received RSs) or separate Tx chains (for RS transmission) are used by the UE, the group delay margin error is independent between each measurement of each of the first set of RSs (RSs 1602 and 1604) and the second set of RSs (RSs 1606 and 1608).

[0166]

[0186] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the group delay margin for the frequency hopping scenario 1600 may be determined as the sum of the group delay margins for each tuning of the UE with bandwidth Xc for measuring the RS across all aggregate bandwidths of the RSs in the frequency hopping positioning session. In this example, the bandwidth used by the UE to transmit or measure the frequency span (e.g., 100 MHz) covered by X1 and X2 is Xc (100 MHz). Similarly, the bandwidth used by the UE to transmit or measure the frequency span (e.g., 100 MHz) covered by X3 and X4 is also Xc (e.g., 100 MHz). Referring to the preconfigured set of group delay margins set forth in Table 1104 of FIG. 11, a tuning bandwidth of 100 MHz is associated with a group delay margin of 24 Tc. Because the UE was tuned twice with a bandwidth of Xc = 100 MHz, the group delay margin used for the positioning session should be 48 Tc (e.g., 2 × 24 Tc).

[0167]

[0187] FIG. 17 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario 1700 that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session according to aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, RSs 1702, 1704, and 1706 frequency hop across three different frequency spans X1, X2, and X3 of equal bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz each) at times t1, t2, and t3, respectively. However, in this scenario, X1's span overlaps with frequency span X2, which in turn overlaps with frequency span X3. Thus, the aggregate bandwidth of the RSs is not simply the sum of the frequency spans X1+X2+X3. Rather, the aggregate bandwidth should consider the bandwidths of the overlapping frequency ranges labeled Xol1,2 and Xol2,3. Thus, the aggregate bandwidth may be determined as the sum of the frequency spans X1+X2+X3 minus the total bandwidth of the overlapping frequency ranges Xol1,2 and Xol2,3. For example, assuming the total bandwidth of the overlapping frequency ranges Xol1,2 and Xol2,3 is 10 MHz, the aggregate bandwidth is 50 MHz ((20 MHz + 20 MHz + 20 MHz) - 10 MHz).

[0168]

[0188] In this example, the UE has a tuning bandwidth Xc (e.g., bandwidth capability) of 50 MHz, which is sufficient to cover the aggregate bandwidth (e.g., 50 MHz) without the need for retuning. Therefore, the group delay margin may be determined based on the group delay margin corresponding to the bandwidth Xc in a preconfigured (e.g., standardized) set of group delay margins. With reference to the preconfigured set of group delay margins set forth in Table 1104 of FIG. 11, the tuning bandwidth of 50 MHz is associated with a group delay margin of 32Tc, which is the group delay margin used for the positioning session.

[0169]

[0189] FIG. 18 illustrates another frequency hopping scenario 1800 that may be analyzed to determine a group delay margin for use in a corresponding positioning session according to aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, an RS frequency hops across three different frequency spans X1, X2, and X3 of equal bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz each) at times t1, t2, and t3, respectively. However, in this scenario, X1's span overlaps with frequency span X2, which in turn overlaps with frequency span X3. Thus, the aggregate bandwidth of the RS is not simply the sum of the frequency spans X1+X2+X3. Rather, the aggregate bandwidth should consider the bandwidths of the overlapping frequency ranges labeled Xol1,2 and Xol2,3. Thus, the aggregate bandwidth may be determined as the sum of the frequency spans X1+X2+X3 minus the total bandwidth of the overlapping frequency ranges Xol1,2 and Xol2,3. For example, assuming the total bandwidth of the overlapping frequency ranges Xol1,2 and Xol2,3 is 10 MHz, the aggregate bandwidth is 50 MHz ((20 MHz + 20 MHz + 20 MHz) - 10 MHz).

[0170]

[0190] The UE in this example supports only tuning bandwidth Xc (e.g., 20 MHz), which is insufficient to cover the aggregate bandwidth (50 MHz) of the RSs without the need for retuning. Thus, the UE 1) tunes to frequency span X1 having bandwidth Xc at time t1 to transmit or receive the first RS 1802, 2) tunes to frequency span X2 having bandwidth Xc at time t2 to transmit or receive the second RS 1804, and 3) tunes to frequency span X3 having bandwidth Xc at time t3 to transmit or receive the third RS 1806. Because the UE is tuned multiple times (first tuning at t1 followed by a subsequent retuning at t3), the group delay margin does not directly correspond to tuning bandwidth Xc as it did in the frequency hopping scenario 1700 of FIG. 17. Rather, separate Rx chains (for received RS) or separate Tx chains (for RS transmission) are used by the UE so that the group delay margin error is independent between each RS transmission or measurement.

[0171]

[0191] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the group delay margin for the frequency hopping scenario 1800 may be determined as the sum of group delay margins GD1+GD2+GD3, where GD1 corresponds to the group delay margin for measuring the bandwidth of frequency span Xi. In this example, the bandwidth used to measure each frequency span Xi is Xc (e.g., 20 MHz). Referring to the preconfigured set of group delay margins set forth in Table 1104 of FIG. 11, a tuning bandwidth of 20 MHz is associated with a group delay margin of 76Tc. Therefore, the group delay margin used for the positioning session should be GD1+GD2+GD3=228Tc. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be recognized that GD1, GD2, and GD3 may have different values, and different bandwidths are associated with transmitting and receiving RSs of different frequency hops. Again, this determination may be simplified in certain scenarios. If a UE performs N hops, the group delay margin is N *max(GDi), where GDi is the preconfigured group delay margin for the bandwidth (eg, Tc) transmitted or measured at the ith hop.

[0172]

[0192] The set of predetermined group delay margins for a frequency-hopping positioning session may be simplified in various ways. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the set of predetermined group delay margins includes only group delay margins specified for a UE that performs equal bandwidth measurements at each frequency hop (e.g., 20 + 20 MHz). According to this aspect, no group delay margin requirement is specified unless each frequency hop has the same BW. For example, a group delay margin requirement may be specified for 20 MHz but not for a 20 + 40 MHz frequency hop. Additionally or alternatively, the set of predetermined group delay margins may be specified for the peak bandwidth (e.g., maximum tuning bandwidth Xc) that the UE supports. For example, if the UE supports a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz, there will be a group delay margin specified for the 20 + 20 MHz scenario, but no group delay margin specified for the 5 + 5 MHz scenario. In this regard, if the UE's maximum bandwidth is 20 MHz, a group delay margin is specified for each 20 MHz frequency hop, but not for smaller bandwidths. Thus, if the UE is ultimately configured to perform a 5 MHz frequency hop, there will not be a separate group delay margin specified for the 5 MHz frequency hop.

[0173]

[0193] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, a UE may have the capability to measure its own group delay margin (e.g., determine an actual group delay margin). This capability may be signaled by the UE to a network node and used to report a measured group delay that is smaller than a group delay determined from a preconfigured set of group delays. In one aspect, the UE may report a reduced group delay margin based on the actual group delay margin at the UE being smaller than the determined group delay margin.

[0174]

[0194] As mentioned above, the group delay determination described above is applicable to both DL-RS and UL-RS frequency hopping scenarios. Regarding UE Rx-Tx, if the UE performs SRS frequency hopping, the group delay margin for the hopped measurements can be derived by using a legacy group delay margin table and using "SRS BW" as the hopped "aggregate SRS BW" based on the same concept associated with PRS aggregation described herein. In another aspect, the group delay margin for the hopped measurements can be derived by using a legacy group delay margin table and using N times the group delay margin corresponding to "SRS BW" = "SRS BW of each hop" or "SRS BW" = "minimum SRS BW across all hops" as the group delay margin.

[0175]

[0195] 19 illustrates an example method 1900 of wireless communication that may be performed by a UE according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In operation 1902, the UE determines an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of multiple reference signals (RSs) transmitted during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges. In one aspect, operation 1902 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0176]

[0196] In operation 1904, the UE determines the UE's tuning bandwidth for transmitting or receiving the RS. In one aspect, operation 1904 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0177]

[0197] In operation 1906, the UE determines a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin from the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth. In an aspect, operation 1906 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0178]

[0198] In operation 1908, the UE determines a second group delay margin based on the sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with the bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuned bandwidth, as the group delay margin for the positioning session. In an aspect, operation 1908 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0179]

[0199] In operation 1910, the UE transmits or measures multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session. In one aspect, operation 1910 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0180]

[0200] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1900 is that it may be used to determine the group delay margin of a UE used in a frequency hopping positioning session, which is particularly suitable for UEs with limited bandwidth capabilities.

[0181]

[0201] 20 illustrates an example method 2000 of wireless communication that may be performed by a UE according to aspects of the present disclosure. In operation 2002, the UE receives configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RSs) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges. In one aspect, operation 2002 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0182]

[0202] In operation 2004, the UE determines the UE's tuning bandwidth for transmitting or receiving the RS. In one aspect, operation 2004 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0183]

[0203] In operation 2006, the UE transmits to the location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the multiple RSs transmitted over different frequency ranges. In one aspect, operation 2006 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0184]

[0204] In operation 2008, the UE transmits to the location server a second group delay margin based on the sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with the bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuned bandwidth. In one aspect, operation 2008 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0185]

[0205] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 2000 is that it enables a UE to determine and report a group delay margin used by the UE in a frequency hopping positioning session, and is particularly suitable for UEs with limited bandwidth capabilities.

[0186]

[0206] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are expressly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all features of each disclosed exemplary clause. Accordingly, the following clauses should be considered incorporated into the description, and each clause may stand alone as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses within that clause, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be understood that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the aspect(s) of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or combinations of any features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include specific combinations (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor) unless these combinations are expressly expressed or can be readily inferred to be unintended. It is further contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0187]

[0207] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0188]

[0208] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of RSs transmitted based on frequency hopping of multiple reference signals (RSs) to different frequency ranges during a positioning session; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs; determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; determining a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth; and transmitting or measuring multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0189]

[0209] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding RS bandwidth range BW(i).

[0190]

[0210] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0191]

[0211] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 2 to 3, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to the maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0192]

[0212] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein a set of preconfigured group delay margins is specified for a peak bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0193]

[0213] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins includes one or more preconfigured group delay margins, each of the one or more preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to a preconfigured bandwidth range, and the preconfigured bandwidth range corresponds to the bandwidth of the RS at each frequency hop.

[0194]

[0214] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the UE is configured to be tuned to receive the RS multiple times during a positioning session.

[0195]

[0215] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0196]

[0216] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0197]

[0217] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1-9, wherein one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0198]

[0218] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0199]

[0219] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, further comprising reporting, by the UE, the group delay margin to a location server.

[0200]

[0220] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, further comprising reporting, by the UE, a reduced group delay margin based on the actual group delay margin at the UE being smaller than the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

[0201]

[0221] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, further comprising reporting, by the UE, an indication that the second group delay margin exceeds a maximum group delay margin tolerance for the positioning session.

[0202]

[0222] Clause 15. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration for transmitting or receiving a plurality of reference signals (RSs) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs; sending to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted over the different frequency ranges; and sending to the location server a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned for transmitting or receiving the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0203]

[0223] Clause 16. The method of clause 15, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding bandwidth range BW(i).

[0204]

[0224] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0205]

[0225] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 16 to 17, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0206]

[0226] Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 15 to 18, wherein the plurality of reference signals are uplink sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

[0207]

[0227] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 15 to 18, wherein the plurality of reference signals are downlink positioning reference signals (PRS) measured at the UE.

[0208]

[0228] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 15 to 20, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to the number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0209]

[0229] Clause 22. The method of any of clauses 15 to 21, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of a different frequency range, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0210]

[0230] Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 15 to 22, wherein one or more of the frequency hops of the RS results in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0211]

[0231] Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 15 to 23, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0212]

[0232] Clause 25. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor determines an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to an aggregate bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges during a positioning session, determines a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs, and determines a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; and a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth. The UE is configured to transmit or measure a plurality of RSs via at least one transceiver based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0213]

[0233] Clause 26. The UE of clause 25, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding RS bandwidth range BW(i).

[0214]

[0234] Clause 27. The UE of clause 26, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0215]

[0235] Clause 28. A UE according to any of clauses 26 to 27, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to the maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0216]

[0236] Clause 29. The UE of any of clauses 25 to 28, wherein a set of preconfigured group delay margins is specified for a peak bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0217]

[0237] Clause 30. A UE according to any of clauses 25 to 29, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins includes one or more preconfigured group delay margins, each of the one or more preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to a preconfigured bandwidth range, the preconfigured bandwidth range corresponding to the bandwidth of the RS at each frequency hop.

[0218]

[0238] Clause 31. A UE according to any of clauses 25 to 30, wherein the UE is configured to be tuned to receive the RS multiple times during a positioning session.

[0219]

[0239] Clause 32. The UE of any of clauses 25 to 31, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to the number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0220]

[0240] Clause 33. The UE of any of clauses 25 to 32, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of a different frequency range, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0221]

[0241] Clause 34. A UE as described in any of clauses 25 to 33, wherein one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0222]

[0242] Clause 35. A UE as described in any of clauses 25 to 34, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0223]

[0243] Clause 36. The UE of any of clauses 25 to 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to report the group delay margin to the location server via the at least one transceiver.

[0224]

[0244] Clause 37. A UE described in any of clauses 25 to 36, wherein at least one processor is further configured to report, via at least one transceiver, a reduced group delay margin based on the actual group delay margin at the UE being smaller than the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

[0225]

[0245] Clause 38. A UE as described in any of clauses 25 to 37, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to report, via the at least one transceiver, an indication that the second group delay margin exceeds a maximum group delay margin tolerance for the positioning session.

[0226]

[0246] Clause 39. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor receives, via the at least one transceiver, a configuration for transmitting or receiving a plurality of reference signals (RSs) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; determines a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs; and determines, via the at least one transceiver, a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the preconfigured group delay margin corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. and transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of a first group delay margin to the location server, the indication being based on a set of preconfigured group delay margins associated with a bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted over different frequency ranges.

[0227]

[0247] Clause 40. The UE of clause 39, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding bandwidth range BW(i).

[0228]

[0248] Clause 41. The UE of clause 40, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0229]

[0249] Clause 42. A UE according to any of clauses 40 to 41, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0230]

[0250] Clause 43. The UE according to any one of clauses 39 to 42, wherein the plurality of reference signals are uplink sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

[0231]

[0251] Clause 44. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 42, wherein the plurality of reference signals are downlink positioning reference signals (PRS) measured at the UE.

[0232]

[0252] Clause 45. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 44, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to the number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0233]

[0253] Clause 46. The UE of any of clauses 39 to 45, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0234]

[0254] Clause 47. A UE as described in any of clauses 39 to 46, wherein one or more of the frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0235]

[0255] Clause 48. A UE as described in any of clauses 39 to 47, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0236]

[0256] Clause 49. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of multiple reference signals (RSs) transmitted based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges during a positioning session; means for determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs; means for determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; means for determining a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth; and means for transmitting or measuring multiple RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0237]

[0257] Clause 50. The UE of clause 49, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding RS bandwidth range BW(i).

[0238]

[0258] Clause 51. The UE of clause 50, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0239]

[0259] Clause 52. A UE according to any of clauses 50 to 51, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to the maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0240]

[0260] Clause 53. The UE of any of clauses 49 to 52, wherein a set of preconfigured group delay margins is specified for a peak bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0241]

[0261] Clause 54. A UE according to any of clauses 49 to 53, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins includes one or more preconfigured group delay margins, each of the one or more preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to a preconfigured bandwidth range, the preconfigured bandwidth range corresponding to the bandwidth of the RS at each frequency hop.

[0242]

[0262] Clause 55. A UE according to any of clauses 49 to 54, wherein the UE is configured to be tuned to receive the RS multiple times during a positioning session.

[0243]

[0263] Clause 56. The UE of any of clauses 49 to 55, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to the number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0244]

[0264] Clause 57. The UE of any of clauses 49 to 56, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0245]

[0265] Clause 58. A UE as described in any of clauses 49 to 57, wherein one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0246]

[0266] Clause 59. A UE as described in any of clauses 49 to 58, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0247]

[0267] Clause 60. The UE of any of clauses 49 to 59, further comprising means for reporting the group delay margin to the location server.

[0248]

[0268] Clause 61. A UE as described in any of clauses 49 to 60, further comprising means for reporting a reduced group delay margin based on the actual group delay margin at the UE being smaller than the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

[0249]

[0269] Clause 62. The UE of any of clauses 49 to 61, further comprising means for reporting an indication that the second group delay margin exceeds a maximum group delay margin tolerance for the positioning session.

[0250]

[0270] Clause 63. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a configuration for transmitting or receiving a plurality of reference signals (RSs) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; means for determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs; means for sending to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted over the different frequency ranges; and means for sending to the location server a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned for transmitting or receiving the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0251]

[0271] Clause 64. The UE of clause 63, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding bandwidth range BW(i).

[0252]

[0272] Clause 65. The UE of clause 64, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0253]

[0273] Clause 66. A UE according to any of clauses 64 to 65, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0254]

[0274] Clause 67. The UE of any of clauses 63 to 66, wherein the plurality of reference signals are uplink sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

[0255]

[0275] Clause 68. The UE of any of clauses 63 to 66, wherein the plurality of reference signals are downlink positioning reference signals (PRS) measured at the UE.

[0256]

[0276] Clause 69. The UE of any of clauses 63 to 68, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to the number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0257]

[0277] Clause 70. The UE of any of clauses 63 to 69, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of a different frequency range, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0258]

[0278] Clause 71. A UE as described in any of clauses 63 to 70, wherein one or more of the frequency hops of the RS results in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0259]

[0279] Clause 72. A UE as described in any of clauses 63 to 71, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0260]

[0280] Clause 73. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by a user equipment (UE), causing the UE to determine an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges during a positioning session, and determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs, the first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth. a first group delay margin based on a tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth, a second group delay margin based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, and a third group delay margin based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth; and a plurality of RSs are transmitted or measured based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

[0261]

[0281] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 73, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding RS bandwidth range BW(i).

[0262]

[0282] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 74, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0263]

[0283] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 74-75, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0264]

[0284] Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73-76, wherein a set of pre-configured group delay margins is specified for a peak bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0265]

[0285] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of Clauses 73 to 77, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins includes one or more preconfigured group delay margins, each of the one or more preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to a preconfigured bandwidth range, and the preconfigured bandwidth range corresponds to the bandwidth of the RS at each frequency hop.

[0266]

[0286] Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73-78, wherein the UE is configured to be tuned to receive the RS multiple times during a positioning session.

[0267]

[0287] Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73-79, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0268]

[0288] Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 to 80, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of a different frequency range, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0269]

[0289] Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73-81, wherein one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0270]

[0290] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73-82, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0271]

[0291] Clause 84. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of clauses 73 to 83, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to report a group delay margin to a location server.

[0272]

[0292] Clause 85. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of clauses 73 to 84, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to report a reduced group delay margin based on the actual group delay margin at the UE being less than the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

[0273]

[0293] Clause 86. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of clauses 73 to 85, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to report an indication that the second group delay margin exceeds the maximum group delay margin tolerance for the positioning session.

[0274]

[0294] Clause 87. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to receive configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RSs) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges, determine a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RSs, send to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the multiple RSs transmitted over the different frequency ranges, and send to the location server a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned for transmitting or receiving RSs over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth.

[0275]

[0295] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 87, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding bandwidth range BW(i).

[0276]

[0296] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 88, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

[0277]

[0297] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 88-89, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times the group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

[0278]

[0298] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87 to 90, wherein the plurality of reference signals are uplink sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

[0279]

[0299] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87-90, wherein the plurality of reference signals are downlink positioning reference signals (PRS) measured at the UE.

[0280]

[0300] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87-92, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times a preconfigured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

[0281]

[0301] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87-93, wherein each RS transmission, when transmitted over each frequency range of a different frequency range, has a common bandwidth, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is the number of RS transmissions in the positioning session.

[0282]

[0302] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87-94, wherein one or more of the frequency hops of the RS results in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on a sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

[0283]

[0303] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87-95, wherein each RS transmission has a common bandwidth, one or more frequency hops of the RS result in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions, and the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to the total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is the number of RS frequency hops in the positioning session.

[0284]

[0304] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0285]

[0305] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be realized as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0286]

[0306] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0287]

[0307] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0288]

[0308] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of media. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0289]

[0309] While the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; determining a second group delay margin as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being larger than the tuning bandwidth, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth; transmitting or measuring the plurality of RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin for the positioning session.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding RS bandwidth range BW(i).

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

4. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times a group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins is specified for a peak bandwidth supported by the UE.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins includes one or more preconfigured group delay margins, each of the one or more preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to a preconfigured bandwidth range, the preconfigured bandwidth range corresponding to a bandwidth of the RS at each frequency hop.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is configured to be tuned to receive the RS multiple times during the positioning session.

8. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times the pre-configured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

9. each RS transmission, when transmitted across a respective frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth; The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is a number of RS transmissions for the positioning session.

10. one or more frequency hops of the RS resulting in bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across the different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

11. Each RS transmission has a common bandwidth; one or more frequency hops of the RS resulting in bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is a number of RS frequency hops for the positioning session.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting, by the UE, the group delay margin to a location server.

13. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising reporting, by the UE, a reduced group delay margin based on an actual group delay margin at the UE being less than the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting, by the UE, an indication that the second group delay margin exceeds a maximum group delay margin tolerance for the positioning session.

15. 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration for transmitting or receiving a plurality of reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; sending an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of pre-configured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a pre-configured group delay margin of the set of pre-configured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, to a location server based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted across the different frequency ranges; and transmitting a second group delay margin to the location server based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuning bandwidth, the second group delay margin being based on the sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RS over the aggregate bandwidth.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding bandwidth range BW(i).

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

18. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times a group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

19. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of reference signals are uplink sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

20. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plurality of reference signals are downlink positioning reference signals (PRS) measured at the UE.

21. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times the pre-configured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

22. each RS transmission, when transmitted across a respective frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth; The method of claim 15 , wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is a number of RS transmissions for the positioning session.

23. one or more of the frequency hops of the RSs results in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across the different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

24. Each RS transmission has a common bandwidth; one or more frequency hops of the RS resulting in bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is a number of RS frequency hops for the positioning session.

25. A user equipment (UE), Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor: determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; determine a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; determine a second group delay margin as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being larger than the tuning bandwidth, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth; The UE is configured to transmit or measure the plurality of RSs via the at least one transceiver based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin of the positioning session.

26. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding RS bandwidth range BW(i).

27. 27. The UE of claim 26, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

28. 27. The UE of claim 26, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times a group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

29. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins is specified for a peak bandwidth supported by the UE.

30. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the set of preconfigured group delay margins includes one or more preconfigured group delay margins, each of the one or more preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to a preconfigured bandwidth range, the preconfigured bandwidth range corresponding to a bandwidth of the RS at each frequency hop.

31. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the UE is configured to be tuned to receive the RS multiple times during the positioning session.

32. 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times the pre-configured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

33. each RS transmission, when transmitted across a respective frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth; 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is a number of RS transmissions for the positioning session.

34. one or more frequency hops of the RS resulting in bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across the different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

35. Each RS transmission has a common bandwidth; one or more frequency hops of the RS resulting in bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is a number of RS frequency hops for the positioning session.

36. the at least one processor:

26. The UE of claim 25, further configured to report the group delay margin to a location server via the at least one transceiver.

37. the at least one processor:

26. The UE of claim 25, further configured to report, via the at least one transceiver, a reduced group delay margin based on an actual group delay margin at the UE being smaller than the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin.

38. the at least one processor:

26. The UE of claim 25, further configured to report, via the at least one transceiver, an indication that the second group delay margin exceeds a maximum group delay margin tolerance for the positioning session.

39. A user equipment (UE), Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, configuration for transmitting or receiving a plurality of reference signals (RSs) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to a location server an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of pre-configured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a pre-configured group delay margin of the set of pre-configured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted across the different frequency ranges; The UE is configured to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a second group delay margin to the location server, the second group delay margin being based on the sum of preconfigured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RS across the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being larger than the tuned bandwidth.

40. 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein each group delay margin GD(i) of the set of preconfigured group delay margins is associated with a corresponding bandwidth range BW(i).

41. 41. The UE of claim 40, wherein the first group delay margin is a preconfigured group delay margin associated with a bandwidth range corresponding to the tuning bandwidth.

42. 41. The UE of claim 40, wherein the second group delay margin is determined as N times a group delay margin GD(max) associated with a bandwidth range BW(max) corresponding to a maximum bandwidth to which the UE is tuned to receive the RS during the positioning session.

43. 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein the plurality of reference signals are uplink sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE.

44. 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein the plurality of reference signals are downlink positioning reference signals (PRS) measured at the UE.

45. 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein the second group delay margin is based on N times the pre-configured group delay margin associated with the tuning bandwidth, where N corresponds to a number of frequency hops of the RS during the positioning session.

46. each RS transmission, when transmitted across a respective frequency range of the different frequency ranges, has a common bandwidth; 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth, where M is a number of RS transmissions for the positioning session.

47. one or more of the frequency hops of the RSs results in a bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on the sum of the bandwidths of the RS transmissions across the different frequency ranges, reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions.

48. Each RS transmission has a common bandwidth; one or more frequency hops of the RS resulting in bandwidth overlap between two or more RS transmissions; 40. The UE of claim 39, wherein the aggregate bandwidth is based on M times the common bandwidth reduced by an amount of bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth overlap between the two or more RS transmissions, where M is a number of RS frequency hops for the positioning session.

49. A user equipment (UE), means for determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; means for determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; means for determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; means for determining a second group delay margin as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being larger than the tuning bandwidth, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth; means for transmitting or measuring the plurality of RSs based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin of the positioning session.

50. A user equipment (UE), means for receiving configuration for transmitting or receiving multiple reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges; means for determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; means for transmitting, to a location server, an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of pre-configured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a pre-configured group delay margin of the set of pre-configured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted across the different frequency ranges; and means for transmitting a second group delay margin to the location server based on the aggregate bandwidth being larger than the tuned bandwidth, the second group delay margin being based on the sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RS over the aggregate bandwidth.

51. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determining an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of a plurality of reference signals (RSs) transmitted during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RSs to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; determining a first group delay margin from a set of preconfigured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a preconfigured group delay margin of the set of preconfigured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, as a group delay margin for the positioning session based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to the aggregate bandwidth; determine a second group delay margin as the group delay margin for the positioning session based on the aggregate bandwidth being larger than the tuning bandwidth, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RSs over the aggregate bandwidth; A non-transitory computer-readable medium that causes the plurality of RSs to transmit or measure based on the first group delay margin or the second group delay margin of the positioning session.

52. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receiving configuration for transmitting or receiving a plurality of reference signals (RS) during a positioning session based on frequency hopping of the RS to different frequency ranges; determining a tuning bandwidth of the UE for transmitting or receiving the RS; transmitting, to a location server, an indication of a first group delay margin from a set of pre-configured group delay margins, the first group delay margin being based on a pre-configured group delay margin of the set of pre-configured group delay margins corresponding to the tuning bandwidth, based on the tuning bandwidth being less than or equal to an aggregate bandwidth corresponding to a total bandwidth of the plurality of RSs transmitted across the different frequency ranges; A non-transitory computer-readable medium that causes the location server to transmit a second group delay margin, the second group delay margin being based on a sum of pre-configured group delay margins associated with bandwidths to which the UE is tuned to transmit or receive the RS over the aggregate bandwidth, based on the aggregate bandwidth being greater than the tuned bandwidth.

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