Limited Capability UE with DL-PRS and SRS Collision Handling Configuration

Abstract

A limited-capability user equipment (RedCap UE) can decode configuration information received from a gNodeB (gNB) to configure the RedCap UE for UL sounding reference signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping. The RedCap UE can determine whether to drop the UL SRS transmission based on a priority rule if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission, including a switching time for switching to or from an active bandwidth portion. If it is determined that the UL SRS transmission is to be dropped, the RedCap UE can drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide and transmit any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission. The RedCap UE can be a half-duplex (HD) frequency division duplex (FDD) RedCap UE and can perform transmit frequency hopping over a bandwidth greater than the RedCap UE's maximum bandwidth.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001]

[0001] Priority This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 481,689, filed January 26, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002]

[0002] Technical field Some embodiments relate to fifth generation (5G) networks, including 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and 5G New Radio (NR) (5G-NR) networks. Some embodiments relate to sixth generation (6G) networks. [Background technology]

[0003] Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated, integrated communications platforms. The use of 3GPP 5G NR systems is increasing with the proliferation of various types of devices communicating with various network devices. The penetration of mobile devices (user equipment or UE) in modern society continues to drive demand for a wide variety of networked devices in many heterogeneous environments. 5G NR radio systems are the future and are expected to enable even higher speeds, connectivity, and availability, increasing throughput, coverage, and robustness while reducing latency and operational and capital expenditures. 5G NR networks will continue to evolve, based on 3GPP LTE-Advanced, with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives with seamless wireless connectivity solutions that deliver high-speed, rich content and services. As current cellular network frequencies become saturated, higher frequencies such as millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies may be beneficial due to their higher bandwidth.

[0004]

[0004] One issue with 5G-NR networks is signal collisions for reduced capacity (RedCap) UEs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0005] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1A illustrates a network architecture in accordance with some embodiments. [Figure 1B]

[0006] FIG. 1B illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture according to some embodiments. [Figure 1C]

[0006] Figure 1C illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture according to some embodiments. [Figure 2A]

[0007] FIG. 2A illustrates a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) having higher priority within a PRS processing window outside a measurement gap, according to some embodiments. [Figure 2B]

[0008] FIG. 2B illustrates a DL PRS having higher priority than a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) within a PRS processing window outside the measurement gap, according to some embodiments. [Figure 2C]

[0009] FIG. 2C illustrates collision handling for a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning with a guard interval and a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) with priority index 1, according to some embodiments. [Figure 3]

[0010] FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of a wireless communication device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0006]

[0011] The following description and drawings describe particular embodiments sufficiently to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other variations. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for portions and features of other embodiments. The claimed embodiments encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

[0007]

[0012] Some embodiments disclosed herein are directed to a limited capability user equipment (RedCap UE). In these embodiments, the RedCap UE is capable of decoding configuration information received from a gNodeB (gNB) to configure the RedCap UE for UL sounding reference signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping. The RedCap UE is capable of determining whether to drop the UL SRS transmission based on a priority rule if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide (i.e., overlap) with an uplink channel transmission, including a switching time for switching to or from an active bandwidth portion. If it is determined that the UL SRS transmission is to be dropped, the RedCap UE may drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission and transmit any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission. The RedCap UE may be a half-duplex (HD) frequency division duplex (FDD) RedCap UE and is capable of performing transmit frequency hopping over a bandwidth greater than the maximum bandwidth of the RedCap UE. These and other embodiments are described below.

[0008]

[0013] 1A illustrates a network architecture according to some embodiments. Network 140A is shown to include user equipment (UE) 101 and UE 102. UE 101 and UE 102 are shown as smartphones (e.g., handheld, touchscreen, mobile computing devices capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks) but may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a wireless handset, a drone, or other computing device that includes a wired and / or wireless communication interface. UE 101 and UE 102 may be collectively referred to herein as UE 101, which may be used to perform one or more of the techniques disclosed herein.

[0009]

[0014] Any wireless links described herein (e.g., as used in network 140A or any other illustrated network) may operate according to any example wireless communication technology and / or standard.

[0010]

[0015] LTE and LTE-Advanced are standards for high-speed data wireless communications for UEs, such as mobile phones. In LTE-Advanced and various wireless systems, carrier aggregation is a technique whereby multiple carrier signals operating on different frequencies may be used to carry communications for a single UE, thus increasing the bandwidth available to a single device. In some embodiments, carrier aggregation may be used where one or more component carriers operate on unlicensed frequencies.

[0011]

[0016] The embodiments described herein may be used in the context of any spectrum management scheme, including, for example, dedicated licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, and (licensed) shared spectrum (such as Licensed Shared Access (LSA) in 2.3-2.4 GHz, 3.4-3.6 GHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz, and beyond, and Spectrum Access System (SAS) in 3.55-3.7 GHz and beyond).

[0012]

[0017] The embodiments described herein can also be applied to different single carrier or OFDM flavors (CP-OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC-OFDM, Filter Bank Based Multi-Carrier (FBMC), OFDMA, etc.), particularly 3GPP® New Radio (NR), by allocating OFDM carrier data bit vectors to corresponding symbol resources.

[0013]

[0018] In some embodiments, either of the UEs 101 and 102 may comprise an Internet-of-Things (IoT) UE or a Cellular IoT (CIoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. In some aspects, any of the UEs 101 and 102 may comprise a Narrowband (NB) IoT UE (e.g., an Enhanced NB-IoT (eNB-IoT) UE and a Further Enhanced (FeNB-IoT) UE). The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), proximity-based services (ProSe), or device-to-device (D2D) communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M or MTC data exchanges may be machine-initiated data exchanges. IoT networks involve interconnecting IoT UEs, which may contain uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. IoT UEs may run background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate IoT network connectivity.

[0014]

[0019] In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 and 102 may include enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs or further enhanced MTC (FeMTC) UEs.

[0015]

[0020] UE 101 and UE 102 may be configured to connect, e.g., be communicatively coupled, to a Radio Access Network (RAN) 110. RAN 110 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UE 101 and UE 102 utilize connections 103 and 104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in more detail below); in this example, connections 103 and 104 are illustrated as air interfaces for enabling communication coupling and may conform to cellular communication protocols such as the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, the code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, the Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, the PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, the 3GPP (registered trademark) Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, the 5th generation (5G) protocol, or the New Radio (NR) protocol.

[0016]

[0021] In one aspect, the UE 101 and the UE 102 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface, which includes one or more logical channels, including, but not limited to, a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

[0017]

[0022] The UE 102 is shown configured to access an access point (AP) 106 via a connection 107. The connection 107 may include a local wireless connection, such as any IEEE 802.11 protocol-compliant connection, where the AP 106 may include a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) router. In this example, the AP 106 is shown connected to the Internet without connecting to a wireless system core network (described in more detail below).

[0018]

[0023] The RAN 110 may include one or more access nodes that enable connections 103 and 104. These access nodes (ANs) may be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next-generation NodeBs (gNBs), RAN nodes, etc., and may include terrestrial stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). In some aspects, the RAN nodes 111 and 112 may be transmission / reception points (TRPs). For example, if the RAN nodes 111 and 112 are NodeBs (e.g., eNBs or gNBs), one or more TRPs may function within the communication cell of the NodeB. The RAN 110 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN nodes, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to a macrocell), e.g., low power (LP) RAN nodes.

[0019]

[0024] Both RAN nodes 111 and 112 may terminate air interface protocols and may be the first point of contact for UE 101 and UE 102. In some embodiments, any of RAN nodes 111 and 112 may perform various logical functions for RAN 110, including, but not limited to, radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and radio network controller (RNC) functions such as mobility management. In one example, any of RAN nodes 111 and / or 112 may be a new generation Node-B (gNB), an evolved Node-B (eNB), or another type of RAN node.

[0020]

[0025] The RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 120 via an S1 interface 113. In an embodiment, the CN 120 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN (e.g., as shown with reference to FIGS. 1B-1C ). In this aspect, the S1 interface 113 is split into two parts: an S1-U interface 114 that carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and a serving gateway (S-GW) 122, and an S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 115 that is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 111 and 112 and the MME 121.

[0021]

[0026] In this aspect, the CN 120 includes an MME 121, an S-GW 122, a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 123, and a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 124. The MME 121 may be functionally similar to the control plane of a legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN). The MME 121 may manage mobility aspects of access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 124 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support network entity processing of communication sessions. The CN 120 may include one or more HSSs 124, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, device capabilities, network organization, etc. For example, the HSS 124 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependency, etc.

[0022]

[0027] The S-GW 122 may terminate the S1 interface 113 towards the RAN 110 and route data packets between the RAN 110 and the CN 120. Additionally, the S-GW 122 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities of the S-GW 122 may include lawful interception, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0023]

[0028] The P-GW 123 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN. The P-GW 123 may route data packets between the core network 120 and external networks, such as networks containing application servers 184 (alternatively referred to as application functions (AFs)), via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 125. The P-GW 123 may also communicate data to other external networks 131A, which may include the Internet, IP multimedia subsystem (IPS) networks, and other networks. Generally, the application servers 184 may be elements that provide applications using IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this aspect, the P-GW 123 is shown communicatively coupled to the application servers 184 via the IP interface 125. The application server 184 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 101 and 102 via the CN 120.

[0024]

[0029] The P-GW 123 may also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) 126 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 120. In a non-roaming scenario, in some embodiments, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with the UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local traffic splitting, there may be two PCRFs associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). The PCRF 126 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 184 via the P-GW 123.

[0025]

[0030] In some embodiments, communication network 140A may be an IoT network or a 5G network, including a 5G New Radio Network that uses communications in licensed (5G NR) and unlicensed (5G NR-U) spectrum. One current implementation of IoT is narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT).

[0026]

[0031] The NG system architecture may include a RAN 110 and a 5G network core (5GC) 120. In these embodiments, the RAN 110 may include multiple nodes, such as a gNB and an NG-eNB. The CN 120 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)) may include an access and mobility function (AMF) and / or a user plane function (UPF). The AMF and UPF may be communicatively coupled to the gNB and the NG-eNB via an NG interface. More specifically, in some aspects, the gNB and the NG-eNB may be connected to the AMF by an NG-C interface and to the UPF by an NG-U interface. The gNB and the NG-eNB may be coupled to each other via an Xn interface.

[0027]

[0032] In some embodiments, the NG system architecture may use reference points between various nodes, such as those provided by 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 23.501 (e.g., V15.4.0, 2018-12). In some embodiments, each of the gNB and NG-eNB may be implemented as a base station, a mobile edge server, a small cell, a home eNB, etc. In some embodiments, in a 5G architecture, the gNB may be a master node (MN) and the NG-eNB may be a secondary node (SN).

[0028]

[0033] 1B illustrates a non-roaming 5G system architecture in accordance with some embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1B, a 5G system architecture 140B in a reference point representation is illustrated. More specifically, a UE 102 may communicate with a RAN 110 as well as one or more other 5G Core (5GC) network entities. The 5G system architecture 140B includes multiple network functions (NFs), such as an access and mobility management function (AMF) 132, a session management function (SMF) 136, a policy control function (PCF) 148, an application function (AF) 150, a user plane function (UPF) 134, a network slice selection function (NSSF) 142, an authentication server function (AUSF) 144, and a unified data management (UDM) / home subscriber server (HSS) 146.

[0029] The UPF 134 may provide connectivity to a data network (DN) 152, which may include, for example, operator services, Internet access, or third-party services. The AMF 132 may be used to manage access control and mobility and may include a network slice selection function. The SMF 136 may be configured to set up and manage various sessions according to network policies. The UPF 134 may be deployed in one or more configurations according to the desired service type. The PCF 148 may be configured to provide a policy framework with network slicing, mobility management, and roaming (similar to a PCRF in a 4G communication system). The UDM may be configured to store subscriber profiles and data (similar to an HSS in a 4G communication system).

[0030]

[0034] In some embodiments, the 5G system architecture 140B includes multiple IP Multimedia Core Network subsystem entities, such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) 168B and call session control functions (CSCFs). More specifically, the IMS 168B includes a CSCF that can function as a Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) 162B, a Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) 164B, an Emergency CSCF (E-CSCF) (not shown in FIG. 1B), or an Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) 166B. The P-CSCF 162B can be configured to be the first point of contact for the UE 102 within the IM Subsystem (IMS) 168B. The S-CSCF 164B can be configured to handle session state in the network, and the E-CSCF can be configured to handle certain aspects of the emergency session, such as routing the emergency request to the correct emergency center or PSAP. The I-CSCF 166B may be configured to serve as a contact point within the network of the network operator for all IMS connections destined for subscribers of that network operator or roaming subscribers currently located within the network operator's service area. In some embodiments, the I-CSCF 166B may be connected to another IP multimedia network 170E, e.g., an IMS operated by a different network operator.

[0031]

[0035] In some embodiments, UDM / HSS 146 may be coupled to an application server 160E, which may include a telephony application server (TAS) or another application server (AS). AS 160B may be coupled to IMS 168B via S-CSCF 164B or I-CSCF 166B.

[0032]

[0036] The reference point representation indicates that there may be interactions between the corresponding NF services. For example, Figure 1B shows the following reference points: N1 (between UE 102 and AMF 132), N2 (between RAN 110 and AMF 132), N3 (between RAN 110 and UPF 134), N4 (between SMF 136 and UPF 134), N5 (between PCF 148 and AF 150, not shown), N6 (between UPF 134 and DN 152), N7 (between SMF 136 and PCF 148, not shown), N8 (between UDM 146 and AMF 132, not shown), N9 (between two UPF 134s, not shown), N10 (between UDM 146 and SMF 136, not shown), N11 (between AFM 132 and SMF 136, not shown), N12 (between AUSF 144 and AMF 132, not shown), N13 (between AUSF 144 and UDM 146), N14 (between two AMF 132, not shown), N15 (between the PCF 148 and the AMF 132 in the case of a non-roaming scenario, or between the PCF 148 and the visited network and the AMF 132 in the case of a roaming scenario, not shown), N16 (between two SMFs, not shown), and N22 (between AMF 132 and NSSF 142, not shown) is shown. Other reference point representations not shown in FIG. 1B may also be used.

[0033]

[0037] 1C illustrates a 5G system architecture 140C and a service-based representation. In addition to the network entities shown in FIG. 1B, the system architecture 140C may also include a network exposure function (NEF) 154 and a network repository function (NRF) 156. In some embodiments, the 5G system architecture may be service-based, and interactions between network functions may be represented by corresponding point-to-point reference points Ni or as service-based interfaces.

[0034]

[0038] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 1C, a service-based representation may be used to represent network functions in the control plane that allow other authorized network functions to access those services. In this regard, the 5G system architecture 140C supports the following service-based interfaces: NAMF 158H (Service-based interface indicated by AMF 132), Nsmf 158I (Service-based Interface as indicated by SMF 136), NNEF 158B (Service-based interface indicated by NEF 154), NPCF 158D (Service-based Interface, denoted by PCF 148), Nudm 158E (service-based interface represented by UDM 146), Naf 158F (service-based interface indicated by AF 150), Nnrf 158C (Service-based Interface indicated by NRF 156), NNSSF 158A (Service-Based Interfaces as specified by NSSF 142), This may include Nausf 158G (a service-based interface represented by AUSF 144). Other service-based interfaces not shown in Figure 1C (e.g., Nudr, N5g-eir, and Nudsf) may also be used.

[0035]

[0039] In some embodiments, any of the UEs or base stations described with respect to FIGS. 1A-1C may be configured to perform the functions described herein.

[0036]

[0040] Mobile communications have evolved significantly from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated, unified communications platforms. The next generation of wireless communications systems, 5G, or New Radio (NR), will enable access to information and sharing of data anytime, anywhere by a variety of users and applications. NR is intended to be an integrated network / system that aims to meet significantly different and sometimes competing performance dimensions and services. These diverse multi-dimensional requirements are driven by various services and applications. In general, NR will evolve based on 3GPP® LTE-Advanced with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives with better, simpler, and seamless wireless connectivity solutions. NR will enable everything to be connected wirelessly, delivering high-speed, rich content and services.

[0037]

[0041] Limited / reduced capability UEs (RedCap UEs) have been introduced for 5G NR and have different requirements than standard or full capability NR UEs to operate in a 5G NR system, as described below.

[0038]

[0042] Maximum Device Bandwidth: Baseline NR UEs are required to support 100 MHz in Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and 200 MHz in FR2 for transmission and reception. For RedCap, these requirements are reduced to 20 MHz and 100 MHz, respectively. However, such bandwidth reduction still allows all physical channels and signals designated for initial acquisition to be easily reusable for RedCap UEs, thus minimizing the impact on network and device deployment when RedCap is introduced to support new use cases.

[0039]

[0043] Minimum number of device receive branches: The number of receive branches is related to the number of receive antennas. Therefore, reducing the number of receive branches results in a reduction in the number of receive antennas and cost savings. The requirement for the minimum number of receive branches depends on the frequency band. Some frequency bands (most FR1 frequency division duplex (FDD) bands, a few FR1 time division duplex (TDD) bands, and all FR2 bands) require a baseline NR UE to be equipped with two receive branches, while other frequency bands, most in the FR1 TDD bands, require the device to be equipped with four receive branches.

[0040]

[0044] For bands where a baseline NR UE is required to have a minimum of two receive branches, a RedCap UE is only required to have one receive branch. For bands where a baseline NR UE is required to have a minimum of four receive branches, it has yet to be determined whether a RedCap UE will be required to have one or two receive branches.

[0041]

[0045] Maximum number of downlink MIMO layers: The maximum number of downlink MIMO layers for a RedCap UE is equal to the number of receive branches it supports. This is a reduced requirement compared to the baseline device.

[0042]

[0046] Maximum Downlink Modulation Order: Baseline NR UEs are required to support 256 QAM on the downlink in FR1. For RedCap UEs, support for downlink 256 QAM is optional. For FR1 uplink, and for both downlink and uplink in FR2, RedCap UEs are required to support 64 QAM, the same as the baseline device requirements.

[0043]

[0047] Duplex Operation: With regard to duplex operation, the only relaxation is for operation in the FDD bands. Baseline NR UEs are required to support full duplex (FD) operation in the FDD bands, i.e., transmitting and receiving simultaneously on different frequencies. Typical full-duplex devices incorporate duplex filters to isolate interference between the device's transmit and receive paths. In practice, the same device may need to support multiple FDD bands; therefore, multiple duplex filters may be required to support FDD-FDD operation.

[0044]

[0048] For RedCap UEs, support for FD-FDD is optional, i.e., receiving on downlink frequencies while transmitting on uplink frequencies, or vice versa, is not required. Such duplex operation is called half-duplex FDD (HD-FDD). HD-FDD eliminates the need for duplex filters. Instead, a switch can be used to select which transmitter or receiver connects to the antenna. Cost savings are achieved because a switch is cheaper than multiple duplexers.

[0045]

[0049] Additionally, RedCap UEs are scheduled to operate on a single band at a time and will not support carrier aggregation or dual connectivity.

[0046]

[0050] The 5G NR system supports highly accurate positioning in the vertical and horizontal dimensions, relying on timing-based, angle-based, power-based, or hybrid techniques to estimate a user's location in the network. In particular, the following RAT-dependent positioning techniques have been introduced, which can meet the positioning requirements for various use cases, such as indoor, outdoor, and industrial Internet of Things (IoT).

[0047] Downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) Uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) Downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) Uplink angle of arrival (UL AoA) Multi-cell round trip time (multi-RTT) NR enhanced cell ID (E-CID)

[0051] With wider bandwidth for positioning signals and beamforming capabilities in mmWave frequency bands, higher positioning accuracy can be achieved by RAT-dependent positioning techniques. Note that in Rel-16, Downlink Positioning Reference Signals (DL PRS) and Uplink Sounding Reference Signals (UL SRS) for positioning were introduced as enablers to achieve target performance characteristics.

[0048]

[0052] Rel-17 is expected to define a class of limited capability (RedCap) NR user equipment (UE) that can be implemented using the currently specified 5G NR framework, with necessary adaptations and extensions to limit device complexity and power consumption while minimizing any adverse impact on network resource utilization, system spectral efficiency, and operational efficiency. In particular, RedCap UE will support a maximum UE BW of 20 MHz in frequency range 1 (FR1) bands and 100 MHz in FR2 bands. Furthermore, for frequency division duplexing (FDD) bands, a further complexity reduction feature is support for half-duplex FDD (HD-FDD), which allows duplexers to be replaced with switches, helping to reduce cost as well as insertion loss due to the duplexer.

[0049]

[0053] Additionally, various priorities are defined for DL ​​positioning reference signals (DL PRS) within the PRS processing window outside the measurement gap. In particular, depending on the configured priority, a DL PRS may have higher or lower priority than other DL channels or signals within the PRS processing window. Figure 2A shows an example of a DL PRS having a higher priority within a PRS processing window 204 outside the measurement gap. In this example, if the UE determines that DL PRS 202 has a higher priority than PDSCH 203, PDSCH 203 is not scheduled for reception by the UE within the PRS processing window.

[0050]

[0054] Note that HD-FDD RedCap UEs cannot simultaneously receive and transmit on DL and UL carriers. In the case of UL Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) for positioning, it may be necessary to address scenarios involving time overlap between DL PRS / SRS for positioning and other DL / UL signals or channels. In this case, mechanisms may need to be defined to handle collisions between DL PRS channels / signals and UL channels / signals within the PRS processing window outside the measurement gap for RedCap HD-FDD UEs.

[0051]

[0055] Systems and methods for handling collisions between DL PRS and SRS for positioning for RedCap UEs are disclosed herein. Some of these embodiments address handling collisions between DL PRS signals / channels and UL signals / channels for RedCap HD-FDD UEs. Some of these embodiments address handling collisions between SRS and other signals / channels for RedCap UEs. These embodiments are described in more detail below.

[0052]

[0056] Collision handling between DL PRS and UL signals / channels for RedCap HD-FDD UE

[0057] As mentioned above, Rel-17 defines various priorities for DL ​​positioning reference signals (DL PRS) outside the measurement gap and within the PRS processing window. In particular, depending on the configured priority, a DL PRS may have higher or lower priority than other DL channels or signals within the PRS processing window.

[0053]

[0058] Furthermore, HD-FDD RedCap UEs cannot simultaneously receive and transmit on DL and UL carriers. In the case of UL Sounding Reference Signals (SRS) for positioning, it may be necessary to address scenarios involving time overlap between DL PRS / SRS for positioning and other DL / UL signals or channels. In this case, specific mechanisms may need to be defined to handle collisions between DL PRS channels / signals and UL channels / signals within the PRS processing window outside the measurement gap for RedCap HD-FDD UEs.

[0054]

[0059] An embodiment of collision handling between DL PRS and UL signals / channels for RedCap HD-FDD UE is provided as follows.

[0055]

[0060] In one embodiment, for a RedCap HD-FDD UE, if a DL PRS overlaps with an UL signal and channel outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, the UE determines the priority of the DL PRS according to parameters that can be configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0056]

[0061] In one option, the same parameter "priority" for handling collisions between DL PRS and other DL channels and signals can be reused to handle collisions between DL PRS and UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window. In a further example, new states of the "priority" parameter for indicating the relative priority of DL PRS reception and transmission of UL channels or signals may be defined by extending the bit width of the "priority" parameter. Alternatively, the existing three defined states of the "priority" parameter may be reused to indicate the relative priority between DL PRS reception and transmission of UL channels or signals.

[0057]

[0062] In another option, parameters separate from handling collisions between the DL PRS and other DL channels and signals can be configured for handling collisions between the DL PRS and UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window.

[0058]

[0063] In another embodiment, depending on the priority configuration for the DL PRS, the following conditions may be defined for the priority of the DL PRS when it overlaps with UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window: · State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels; State 2: The DL PRS has a lower priority than the PRACH, the MsgA PUSCH, the PUCCH with priority index 1, and the PUSCH with priority index 1, and a higher priority than other UL signals and channels; · State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels.

[0059]

[0064] In another option, the following conditions may be defined as the priority of a DL PRS when it overlaps with UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window: State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels; State 2: The DL PRS has a lower priority than the PRACH, the MsgA PUSCH, the PUCCH carrying dynamic HARQ-ACK with priority index 1, and the dynamically scheduled PUSCH with priority index 1, and a higher priority than other UL signals and channels; State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels.

[0060]

[0065] Another option is that DL PRS may be of lower priority than PRACH and MsgA PUSCH. Furthermore, the following conditions may be defined for the priority of DL PRS when it overlaps with other UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window: State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels except PRACH and MsgA PUSCH; State 2: DL PRS has lower priority than PUCCH with priority index 1 and PUSCH with priority index 1, and higher priority than other UL signals and channels except PRACH and MsgA PUSCH; State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels.

[0061]

[0066] Another option may be that it is up to the UE implementation to handle cases where the DL PRS overlaps with the PRACH and MsgA PUSCH. Furthermore, the following conditions may be defined for the priority of the DL PRS when it overlaps with other UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window:

[0062] State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels except PRACH and MsgA PUSCH; State 2: The DL PRS has lower priority than the PUCCH with priority index 1 and the PUSCH with priority index 1, and higher priority than other UL signals and channels except for the PRACH and MsgA PUSCH.

[0063] State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels except for the PRACH and MsgA PUSCH.

[0064]

[0067] In another option, the following conditions may be defined for the priority of a DL PRS when it overlaps with UL channels and signals other than PRACH and MsgA PUSCH for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window:

[0065] State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels except PRACH and MsgA PUSCH; State 2: The DL PRS has lower priority than the PUCCH with priority index 1 and the PUSCH with priority index 1, and higher priority than other UL signals and channels except for the PRACH and MsgA PUSCH.

[0066] State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels except for the PRACH and MsgA PUSCH.

[0067]

[0068] For PRACH and MsgA PUSCH, different treatments may be defined for the different states above. In one example, for states 1 and 2, it may be up to the UE implementation to handle the case of DL PRS overlapping with PRACH and MsgA PUSCH. For state 3, DL PRS is lower priority than all UL signals and channels.

[0068]

[0069] In one example, the priority between DL PRS and UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs can be defined by updating the existing specification for non-RedCap UEs as follows:

[0069]

[0070] For limited capability half-duplex UEs in paired spectrum, with respect to receiving DL PRS within the DL PRS processing window outside the measurement gap, the priority between DL PRS and SSB is defined in 3GPP TS38.133, and excluding SSB, the UE determines the DL PRS priority to have the following values ​​as indicated by the higher layer parameter "priority" according to the UE capabilities or as implied by the UE capabilities:

[0070] 'st1' (DL PRS has higher priority than all DL and UL signals and channels); or 'st2' (the DL PRS has lower priority than the PDCCH and PDSCH scheduled by DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 with the priority indicator field in the corresponding DCI format set to 1, or lower priority than the PUCCH with priority index 1 and the PUSCH with priority index 1, but higher priority than other DL and UL signals and channels); or 'st3' (DL PRS is lower priority than all DL or UL signals and channels).

[0071]

[0071] In another embodiment, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to be of higher priority than UL signals and channels inside the PRS processing window, then those UL signals and channels are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE.

[0072] 2B shows an example of a DL PRS outside the measurement gap that has higher priority than the PUSCH within the PRS processing window. In this example, the UE is configured with "st1," where the DL PRS 202 has higher priority than all UL signals and channels within the configured PRS processing window 204. In this case, the PUSCH 205 is dropped and not transmitted by the UE.

[0073]

[0073] In another embodiment, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to be of higher priority than UL signals and channels within the PRS processing window, then those UL signals and channels from the affected serving cell are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE in symbols overlapping with the DL PRS, where affected serving cell refers to the serving cell for which DL-PPW-PreConfig is configured for bands in frequency range 1, and refers to the serving cell in the same band as the DL PRS for bands in frequency range 2.

[0074]

[0074] In another embodiment, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to be of higher priority than UL signals and channels within the PRS processing window, then those UL signals and channels are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE in symbols overlapping with the DL PRS.

[0075]

[0075] In another embodiment, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to be of higher priority than PUSCH and PUCCH within the PRS processing window, then PUSCH and PUCCH are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE.

[0076]

[0076] Furthermore, if a DL PRS is determined to be of higher priority than an SRS within the PRS processing window, the SRS is not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE in symbols that overlap with the DL PRS.

[0077]

[0077] In another embodiment, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has an activated PRS processing window depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS within the PRS processing window before the first symbol of the PRS processing window and not later than N2 symbols of the subcarrier spacing μ of the DL PRS or N2 symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing (whichever is the smaller subcarrier spacing) between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE may be scheduled to transmit the other UL signals and channels and not be scheduled to receive the DL PRS within the PRS processing window.

[0078]

[0078] In another embodiment, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has an activated PRS processing window depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS in a symbol configured with the DL PRS before the DL PRS symbol and not later than N2 symbols of the DL PRS subcarrier spacing μ or N2 symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE may be scheduled to transmit the other UL signals and channels and not be scheduled to receive the DL PRS in the affected symbols.

[0079] In another embodiment, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has an activated PRS processing window according to the UE capability and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS within the PRS processing window before the first symbol of the PRS processing window and more than N symbols of the DL PRS subcarrier spacing μ or N symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE is not required to transmit the other UL signals and channels and can receive the DL PRS and consider the DL PRS to be of higher priority within the PRS processing window, where N is defined according to UE processing capability 1 as in 3GPP TS 38.214.

[0080] In another embodiment, a RedCap HD-FDD UE has a PRS processing window activated according to UE capability and configuration, and if the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS in a symbol configured with the DL PRS at a time before the DL PRS symbol and more than N symbols of the DL PRS subcarrier spacing μ or N symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE is not required to transmit the other UL signals and channels and can receive the DL PRS symbol and consider the DL PRS to be of higher priority in that symbol, where N is defined according to UE processing capability 1 as in 3GPP TS 38.214.

[0081]

[0081] In another embodiment, for a DL PRS with frequency hopping for a RedCap UE, a switching time or guard time between two DL PRS transmissions or receptions, the UE may apply the same priority rules as defined in Clause 11.1 and Clause 17 in TS38.213 and Clause 5.1.6.5 in TS38.214 during the switching time or guard time as if a DL PRS was configured.

[0082]

[0082] In another embodiment, a RedCap UE in RRC_INACTIVE mode is scheduled to prioritize reception of any other DL signals and DL channels over reception of a DL PRS, including any switching or guard times for a DL PRS with frequency hopping.

[0083]

[0083] Collision handling between SRS and other signals / channels for RedCap UE

[0084] An embodiment of the processing between SRS and other signals / channels for RedCap UE is provided as follows.

[0084]

[0085] In one embodiment, for SRS for positioning with Tx frequency hopping for RedCap UE, a switching period or guard time between two SRS transmissions or associated SRS transmissions, the UE applies the same priority rules as defined in Clause 11.1 and Clause 17 in TS38.213 and Clause 6.2.1 in TS38.214 as if the SRS or associated SRS transmissions were configured during the switching time or guard time.

[0085]

[0086] In one example, for a RedCap UE, for PUCCH and SRS on the same carrier, the UE may not transmit SRS for positioning if a semi-persistent or periodic SRS including a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion is configured to overlap with a symbol with a PUCCH carrying only a CSI report, or only an L1-RSRP report, or only an L1-SINR report.

[0086]

[0087] In another example, a RedCap UE may not transmit SRS when semi-persistent or periodic SRS is configured or aperiodic SRS is triggered to be transmitted, and the transmission includes a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion and overlaps with symbols carrying a PUCCH carrying a HARQ-ACK, a link recovery request, and / or an SR.

[0087]

[0088] In another example, for a RedCap UE, PUCCH may not be transmitted if a non-periodic SRS is triggered to be transmitted and its transmission includes a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion and overlaps with a symbol with a PUCCH carrying only semi-persistent / periodic CSI reports or semi-persistent / periodic L1-RSRP reports or only L1-SINR reports.

[0088]

[0089] In another example, for a RedCap UE, if a PUSCH transmission with priority index 1 or a PUCCH transmission with priority index 1 overlaps in time with an SRS transmission that includes a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion in the serving cell, the UE may not transmit the SRS in the overlapping symbols. In some aspects, the switching period may be defined before and / or after the associated SRS transmission involving frequency hopping. FIG. 2C illustrates an example of collision handling for an SRS for positioning with a guard period and a PUCCH with priority index 1. In this example, guard periods 210 are defined before and after the SRS transmission 206. Furthermore, the SRS transmission 206, including the guard period 210, overlaps with a PUCCH 208 with priority index 1. Based on the aforementioned rules, the SRS transmission 206 may be canceled.

[0089]

[0090] In some embodiments, for SRS for positioning with Tx frequency hopping for RedCap UEs, a switching period or guard time between two SRS transmissions, or an associated SRS transmission, the UE applies the same priority rules as defined in Clause 11.1 and Clause 17 in TS38.213 and Clause 6.2.1 in TS38.214 during the switching time or guard period as if the SRS were configured or for the associated SRS transmission.

[0090]

[0091] In these embodiments, the UL SRS may provide channel state information to the gNB for use by the gNB in ​​estimating uplink channel quality, e.g., for frequency-dependent scheduling and link adaptation. In these embodiments, the DL PRS may be used by the UE to measure time difference of arrival (TDOA) and report the TDOA to the network for trilateration-based positioning calculations. In some embodiments, UL SRS measurements at the gNB may provide information about which beam experiences the best uplink quality, which may be used by the gNB to determine which downlink beam provides the highest quality for transmitting the DL PRS to the UE for the most accurate positioning measurements, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. High-quality beam alignment is important for both positioning accuracy and reliable data transmission.

[0091]

[0092] Some embodiments are directed to a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE) apparatus comprising processing circuitry and memory, in which the RedCap UE is capable of decoding configuration information received from a gNodeB (gNB) to configure the RedCap UE for UL Sounding Reference Signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping.

[0092] In these embodiments, the RedCap UE may determine whether to drop the UL SRS based on priority rules if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide (i.e., overlap) with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of the active bandwidth portion.

[0093] In these embodiments, if it is determined that a UL SRS transmission is to be dropped, the RedCap UE may drop only one or more symbols of the UL SRS that would collide with an uplink channel transmission, including colliding with a switching time for switching into or out of the active bandwidth portion, and may transmit any symbols of the UL SRS that do not collide with an uplink channel transmission.

[0094] In these embodiments, if an SRS symbol including a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion collides with an uplink channel transmission (i.e., a PUSCH or PUCCH) including a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion, and the RedCap UE determines that the SRS should be dropped, the colliding SRS symbol is dropped, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0095] In some embodiments, the RedCap UE may be a half-duplex (HD) frequency division duplex (FDD) RedCap UE. In these embodiments, when the RedCap UE is configured for UL SRS transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping, the processing circuitry may configure the RedCap UE to perform frequency hopping over a bandwidth greater than the maximum bandwidth of the RedCap UE. For example, for a RedCap UE with a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz, the RedCap UE may perform frequency hopping by transmitting SRS over multiple 20 MHz bandwidths to fit a 100 MHz bandwidth.

[0096] In some embodiments, if any one or more symbols of a UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission including a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion, and the uplink channel transmission includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a priority index of 1 or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a priority index of 1, the RedCap UE may drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission including the switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion, and may transmit any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission. In these embodiments, the PUCCH with priority index 1 and the PUSCH with priority index 1 have a higher priority than the UL SRS for positioning. An example of collision handling for a positioning SRS with a guard period and a PUCCH with priority index 1 is shown in FIG. 2C.

[0097] In some embodiments, if the UL SRS transmission includes an aperiodic SRS transmission, and if any one or more symbols of the aperiodic SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switch time for switching into or out of the active bandwidth portion, the RedCap UE may drop the entire uplink channel transmission, which may include: Carrying semi-persistent or periodic channel state information (CSI) reports; Carrying one or more semi-persistent or periodic Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP) reports; or This is the case when it includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) that carries one or more Layer 1 Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (L1-SINR) reports.

[0098]

[0096] In some embodiments, if the UL SRS is a semi-persistent or periodic SRS transmission or an aperiodic SRS transmission that is triggered to be transmitted, and if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion, the RedCap UE may drop only one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching to or from the active bandwidth portion if the UL channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) that carries hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ-ACK) information, a link recovery request, or a scheduling request (SR).

[0099] In some embodiments, the RedCap UE may decode the configuration information to determine a priority parameter for measuring a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) within a configured PRS processing window other than a measurement gap. In this embodiment, the priority parameter may indicate a priority of the DL PRS relative to an uplink (UL) signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window. In these embodiments, if any UL signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window is determined to overlap with the DL PRS, and the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than the priority of the overlapping UL signal or channel (determined to overlap with the DL PRS), the processing circuitry configures the RedCap UE to: receive the DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window; and refrain from transmitting the overlapping UL signal or channel within the configured PRS processing window. These embodiments address collision handling between the DL PRS and the UL signal or channel for HD-FDD RedCap UEs.

[0100] In some embodiments, the RedCap UE may be configured to decode a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE) to activate a configured PRS processing window. In this embodiment, if any of the UL signals or channels to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window is determined to overlap with a DL PRS, and the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS is not higher in priority than the overlapping UL signal or channel, the processing circuitry configures the RedCap UE to: transmit the overlapping UL signal or channel within the configured PRS processing window; and refrain from receiving the DL PRS.

[0101]

[0099] In some embodiments, if the UL signal or channel includes a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) scheduled to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within a configured PRS processing window, and if it is determined that any symbol of the UL channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE overlaps with a DL PRS, and the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than the UL channel, the processing circuitry configures the RedCap UE to: receive the DL PRS outside of a measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window; and refrain from transmitting overlapping symbols of the UL channel.

[0102] In some embodiments, a RedCap UE may refrain from transmitting all symbols of the UL channel, including symbols that do not overlap with the DL PRS, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. An example of a DL PRS having a higher priority than the PUSCH within a PRS processing window outside the measurement gap is shown in FIG. 2B.

[0103] In some embodiments, the RedCap UE may be configured to decode Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling that includes an indication of priority corresponding to the priority parameter. In these embodiments, the RRC signaling includes: A first indication of the priority of the DL PRS relative to the UL SRS transmission; a second indication of the priority of the DL PRS relative to one or more other uplink channels or signals; and It may include a third indication of the priority of the DL PRS for one or more DL channels.

[0104] In some of these embodiments, the RRC signaling may include an RRC information element (IE). In some embodiments, the priority parameter may be a priority order, a priority index, a priority state, or other priority indicator used to convey relative priority. In some embodiments, the priority parameter for handling collisions between DL PRSs and DL channels may be reused to handle collisions between DL PRSs and UL signals / channels, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0105] In some embodiments, a RedCap UE is capable of decoding configuration information received from a gNB for a configured PRS processing window. In these embodiments, the configuration information may be received in a DL-PPW-PreConfig of the serving cell. In these embodiments, the configuration information for the configured PRS processing window may include a PRS periodicity and a PRS occasion length. In these embodiments, if a DL PRS is received within the configured PRS processing window, the RedCap UE is capable of processing the DL PRS received within the configured PRS processing window for position determination. In these embodiments, the PRS processing window may refer to a time period during which the RedCap UE processes received PRS signals to determine its position. The network signals the PRS periodicity and PRS occasion length as part of the PRS configuration. The start time of the PRS window may be specified relative to the SS / PBCH block transmission period.

[0106] In some embodiments, when the RedCap UE is configured to use measurement gaps for measuring the DL PRS and is not configured to measure the DL PRS within a configured PRS processing window period, the processing circuitry is configured to receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) within a configured measurement gap period. In these embodiments, the RedCap UE can measure the PRS within the measurement gap period as well as outside the measurement gap.

[0107]

[0104] In some embodiments, the RedCap UE may be configured to support a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz in Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz in Frequency Range 2 (FR2).

[0108] Some embodiments are directed to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions for execution by a processing circuit of a limited capability user equipment (RedCap UE). In these embodiments, the processing circuit is capable of decoding configuration information received from a gNodeB (gNB) to configure the RedCap UE for UL Sounding Reference Signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping. In these embodiments, the processing circuit is capable of determining whether to drop the UL SRS transmission based on priority rules if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide (i.e., overlap) with an uplink channel transmission, including a switching time for switching to or from an active bandwidth portion. In these embodiments, if it is determined that the UL SRS transmission is to be dropped, the processing circuit drops only the one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission and transmits any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission.

[0109] Some embodiments are directed to a gNodeB (gNB) apparatus configured to operate in a fifth generation new radio (5G NR) network. In some embodiments, configuration information may be encoded for transmission to a limited capability user equipment (RedCap UE) to configure the RedCap UE for UL sounding reference signal (UL SRS) transmissions for positioning with transmit frequency hopping. In these embodiments, the gNB may determine whether to drop a UL SRS transmission based on priority rules if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide (i.e., overlap) with an uplink channel transmission, including a switch time for switching to or from an active bandwidth portion. In these embodiments, if the UL SRS transmission is determined to be dropped by the RedCap UE, the processing circuitry is configured to decode only symbols of the UL SRS transmission from the RedCap UE that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission. In these embodiments, the gNB is not scheduled to receive one or more symbols of the UL SRS that would collide with the uplink channel transmission because they have been dropped by the RedCap UE.

[0110] In some embodiments, the gNB may encode the configuration information to include a priority parameter for measurements of a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) within a configured PRS processing window other than a measurement gap. In these embodiments, the priority parameter may indicate a priority of the DL PRS relative to an uplink (UL) signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window. In these embodiments, if any UL signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window is determined to overlap with the DL PRS, and the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than the priority of the overlapping UL signal or channel (determined to overlap with the DL PRS), the gNB does not schedule to receive the overlapping UL signal or channel from the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window.

[0111] 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of a wireless communication device 300 according to some embodiments. The wireless communication device 300 may be suitable for use as a UE or gNB configured for operation in a 5G NR or 6G network.

[0112] The wireless communication device 300 may include communication circuitry 302 and a transceiver 310 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication devices using one or more antennas 301. The communication circuitry 302 may include circuitry capable of operating physical layer (PHY) communications and / or medium access control (MAC) communications for controlling access to a wireless medium, and / or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. The wireless communication device 300 may also include processing circuitry 306 and memory 308 configured to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuitry 302 and the processing circuitry 306 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in the figures, diagrams, and flows described above.

[0113] According to some embodiments, the communications circuitry 302 may be configured to contend for the wireless medium and construct frames or packets for communication over the wireless medium. The communications circuitry 302 may be configured to transmit and receive signals. The communications circuitry 302 may also include circuitry for modulation / demodulation, upconversion / downconversion, filtering, amplification, etc. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 306 of the wireless communication device 300 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 301 may be coupled to the communications circuitry 302 configured to transmit and receive signals. The memory 308 stores information for configuring the processing circuitry 306 to perform operations for constructing and transmitting message frames and may also store information for performing various operations described herein. The memory 308 may include any type of memory, including non-transitory memory, for storing information in a form readable by a device (e.g., a computer). For example, memory 308 may include computer-readable storage devices, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media.

[0114]

[0111] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 300 may be part of a portable wireless communication device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capabilities, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computing device, or other device capable of receiving and / or transmitting information wirelessly.

[0115] In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 300 may include one or more antennas 301. The antenna 301 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, a dipole antenna, a monopole antenna, a patch antenna, a loop antenna, a microstrip antenna, or any other type of antenna suitable for transmitting RF signals. In some embodiments, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used instead of two or more antennas. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated due to spatial diversity and different channel characteristics that may occur between the antenna of the transmitting device and each of the antennas.

[0116] In some embodiments, wireless communication device 300 may include one or more of a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen, including a touch screen.

[0117] Although wireless communication device 300 is shown as having several distinct functional elements, two or more of the functional elements may be combined and implemented by a combination of software components and / or other hardware elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs). For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), and various combinations of hardware and logic circuits to perform at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of wireless communication device 300 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0118] Example: Example 1: In a wireless communication system and method for a fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) system: A state parameter for downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) priority for a limited capability (RedCap) half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) UE is configured by the gNodeB; If a DL PRS overlaps with uplink signals and channels outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window, the DL PRS priority is determined by the UE.

[0119]

[0117] Example 2: In the method of Example 1, the same parameter "priority" for handling collisions between DL PRS and other DL channels and signals can be reused to handle collisions between DL PRS and UL channels and signals for RedCap HD-FDD UEs outside the measurement gap and within the configured PRS processing window.

[0120] Example 3: In the method of Example 1, the following conditions are set: · State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels; State 2: The DL PRS has a lower priority than the PRACH, the MsgA PUSCH, the PUCCH with priority index 1, and the PUSCH with priority index 1, and a higher priority than other UL signals and channels; · State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels.

[0121] Example 4: In the method of Example 1, the following conditions are set: State 1: DL PRS has higher priority than all UL signals and channels; State 2: The DL PRS has a lower priority than the PRACH, the MsgA PUSCH, the PUCCH carrying dynamic HARQ-ACK with priority index 1, and the dynamically scheduled PUSCH with priority index 1, and a higher priority than other UL signals and channels; State 3: The DL PRS has lower priority than all UL signals and channels.

[0122]

[0120] Example 5: In the method of Example 1, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to have a higher priority than UL signals and channels inside the PRS processing window, those UL signals and channels are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE.

[0123]

[0121] Example 6: In the method of Example 1, if, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to be of higher priority than UL signals and channels within the PRS processing window, those UL signals and channels are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE in symbols overlapping with the DL PRS.

[0124]

[0122] Example 7: In the method of Example 1, if, depending on the UE capabilities and configuration, a RedCap HD-FDD UE is scheduled to measure a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window, and if the DL PRS is determined to have a higher priority than PUSCH and PUCCH within the PRS processing window, then the PUSCH and PUCCH are not scheduled to be transmitted by the UE.

[0125]

[0123] Example 8: In the method of Example 1, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has an activated PRS processing window according to the UE capabilities and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS within the PRS processing window before the first symbol of the PRS processing window and not later than N2 symbols of the subcarrier spacing μ of the DL PRS or N2 symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE may be scheduled to transmit the other UL signals and channels and not be scheduled to receive the DL PRS within the PRS processing window.

[0126]

[0124] Example 9: In the method of Example 1, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has an activated PRS processing window according to the UE capabilities and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS in a symbol configured with the DL PRS at a time before the DL PRS symbol and not later than N2 symbols of the DL PRS subcarrier spacing μ or N2 symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE may be scheduled to transmit the other UL signals and channels and not be scheduled to receive the DL PRS in the affected symbols.

[0127] Example 10: In the method of Example 1, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has an activated PRS processing window according to UE capability and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS within the PRS processing window before the first symbol of the PRS processing window and more than N symbols of the DL PRS subcarrier spacing μ or N symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE is not required to transmit the other UL signals and channels and can receive the DL PRS and consider the DL PRS to be of higher priority within the PRS processing window, where N is defined according to UE processing capability 1 as in 3GPP TS 38.214.

[0128] Example 11: In the method of Example 1, if a RedCap HD-FDD UE has a PRS processing window activated according to UE capability and configuration, and the UE determines the presence of other UL signals and channels of higher priority than the DL PRS in a symbol configured with the DL PRS at a time before the DL PRS symbol and more than N symbols of the DL PRS subcarrier spacing μ or N symbols of the minimum subcarrier spacing between the DL PRS and the UL signals and channels, the UE is not required to transmit the other UL signals and channels and can receive the DL PRS symbol and consider the DL PRS to be of higher priority in that symbol, where N is defined according to UE processing capability 1 as in 3GPP TS38.214.

[0129]

[0127] Example 12: In the method of Example 1, for a DL PRS with frequency hopping for a RedCap UE, with regard to the switching time or guard time between two DL PRS transmissions or receptions, the UE can apply the same priority rules as defined in Clause 11.1 and Clause 17 in TS38.213 and Clause 5.1.6.5 in TS38.214 during the switching time or guard period as if a DL PRS was configured.

[0130]

[0128] Example 13: In the method of Example 1, a RedCap UE in RRC_INACTIVE mode is scheduled to prioritize reception of any other DL signals and DL channels over reception of a DL PRS, including any switching or guard times for a DL PRS with frequency hopping.

[0131]

[0129] Example 14: In the method of Example 1, for SRS for positioning with Tx frequency hopping for a RedCap UE, a switching period or guard time between two SRS transmissions, or an associated SRS transmission, the UE applies the same priority rules as defined in Clause 11.1 and Clause 17 in TS38.213 and Clause 6.2.1 in TS38.214 as if the SRS were configured or for the associated SRS transmission during the switching time or guard period.

[0132]

[0130] Example 15: In the method of Example 1, the switching period may be defined before and / or after the associated SRS transmission with frequency hopping.

[0133] The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b), which requires the abstract to allow the reader to grasp the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

[0134]

[0132] <<< Note >>> [Appendix 1] 1. A limited capabilities user equipment (RedCap UE) device, comprising: a processing circuit and a memory, the processing circuit comprising: decoding configuration information received from a gNodeB (gNB) to configure the RedCap UE for UL Sounding Reference Signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping; determining whether to drop the UL SRS transmission based on priority rules if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and if it is determined that the UL SRS transmission is to be dropped, the processing circuitry dropping one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission including the switching time and transmitting any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission; The apparatus is configured to:

[0135] [Appendix 2] 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the RedCap UE is a half-duplex (HD) frequency division duplex (FDD) RedCap UE; the processing circuitry is configured to perform transmit frequency hopping over a bandwidth greater than a maximum bandwidth of the RedCap UE when the RedCap UE is configured for UL SRS transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping.

[0136] [Appendix 3] 10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching to or from an active bandwidth portion, and the uplink channel transmission includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) having a priority index of 1 or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) having a priority index of 1, the processing circuitry is configured to: drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission that includes the switching time, and transmit any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission.

[0137] [Appendix 4] 10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein if the UL SRS transmissions include aperiodic SRS transmissions, and if any one or more symbols of the aperiodic SRS transmissions would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switch time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion, the processing circuitry determines whether the uplink channel: Carrying semi-persistent or periodic channel state information (CSI) reports; Carrying one or more semi-persistent or periodic Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP) reports; or 1. The apparatus, comprising: an uplink control channel (PUCCH) configured to: drop the uplink channel transmission if the uplink channel transmission comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carrying one or more Layer 1 signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (L1-SINR) reports;

[0138] [Appendix 5] 10. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein if the UL SRS transmission is a semi-persistent or periodic SRS transmission or a triggered aperiodic SRS transmission, and if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission including a switch time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion, the processing circuitry is configured to drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with an uplink channel transmission including a switch time if the UL channel includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) carrying Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ-ACK) information, a Link Recovery Request, or a Scheduling Request (SR).

[0139] [Appendix 6] 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode the configuration information to determine a priority parameter for measurements of a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) within a configured PRS processing window other than a measurement gap, the priority parameter indicating a priority of the DL PRS relative to an uplink (UL) signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window; If either the UL signal or a channel to be transmitted within the configured PRS processing window overlaps with the DL PRS, and If the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than a priority of an overlapping UL signal or channel, the processing circuitry causes the RedCap UE to: receiving the DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window; and refraining from transmitting the overlapping UL signal or channel within the configured PRS processing window; The apparatus is configured to:

[0140] [Appendix 7] 10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to decode a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE) to activate the configured PRS processing window; determining that either the UL signal or a channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window overlaps with the DL PRS; If the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS is not higher in priority than an overlapping UL signal or channel, the processing circuitry causes the RedCap UE to: Transmitting the overlapping UL signals or channels within the configured PRS processing window; and refrain from receiving said DL PRS; The apparatus is configured to:

[0141] [Appendix 8] 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein if the UL signal or channel includes a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window, and if it is determined that any symbol of the UL channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE overlaps with the DL PRS, and the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than the UL channel, the processing circuitry causes the RedCap UE to: receiving a DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window; and refraining from transmitting overlapping symbols of said UL channel; The apparatus is configured to:

[0142] [Appendix 9] 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to decode radio resource control (RRC) signaling including an indication of priority corresponding to the priority parameter; The RRC signaling a first indication of the priority of the DL PRS relative to the UL SRS transmission; a second indication of the priority of the DL PRS relative to one or more other uplink channels or signals; and The apparatus includes a third indication of a priority of the DL PRS for one or more DL channels.

[0143] [Appendix 10] 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to decode configuration information received from the gNB for the configured PRS processing window, the configuration information being received in a DL-PPW-PreConfig of a serving cell, the configuration information for the configured PRS processing window including a PRS periodicity and a PRS occasion length; If the DL PRS is received within a configured PRS processing window, the processing circuitry is configured to process the DL PRS received within the configured PRS processing window for position determination.

[0144] [Appendix 11] 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein when the RedCap UE is configured to use measurement gaps for measuring the DL PRS and is not configured to measure the DL PRS within a configured PRS processing window period, the processing circuitry is configured to receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) within a configured measurement gap period.

[0145] [Appendix 12] 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the RedCap UE is configured to support a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz in Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz in Frequency Range 2 (FR2).

[0146] [Appendix 13] 1. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a processing circuit of a limited capabilities user device (RedCap UE), the processing circuit comprising: decoding configuration information received from a gNodeB (gNB) to configure the RedCap UE for UL Sounding Reference Signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping; and determining whether to drop the UL SRS transmission based on priority rules if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and if it is determined that the UL SRS transmission is to be dropped, the processing circuitry is configured to perform the steps of dropping one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission including the switching time, and transmitting any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission.

[0147] [Appendix 14] 14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the RedCap UE is a half-duplex (HD) frequency division duplex (FDD) RedCap UE; a storage medium, wherein when the RedCap UE is configured for UL SRS transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping, the processing circuitry is configured to perform frequency hopping over a bandwidth greater than a maximum bandwidth of the RedCap UE.

[0148] [Appendix 15] 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switch time for switching to or from an active bandwidth portion, and the uplink channel transmission includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) with a priority index of 1 or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) with a priority index of 1, the processing circuitry is configured to: drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission that includes the switch time, and transmit any symbols of the UL SRS transmission that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission.

[0149] [Appendix 16] 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein if the UL SRS transmissions include aperiodic SRS transmissions, and if any one or more symbols of the aperiodic SRS transmissions would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switch time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion, the processing circuitry determines whether the uplink channel: Carrying semi-persistent or periodic channel state information (CSI) reports; Carrying one or more semi-persistent or periodic Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP) reports; or 1. The storage medium, comprising: a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configured to drop the uplink channel transmission if the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) carries one or more Layer 1 signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (L1-SINR) reports;

[0150] [Appendix 17] 15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein if the UL SRS transmission is a semi-persistent or periodic SRS transmission or a triggered aperiodic SRS transmission, and if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switch time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion, the processing circuitry is configured to drop one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission that would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switch time if the UL channel includes a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) that carries Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ-ACK) information, a Link Recovery Request, or a Scheduling Request (SR).

[0151] [Appendix 18] 18. The storage medium of claim 13, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: decode the configuration information to determine a priority parameter for measurements of a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) within a configured PRS processing window other than a measurement gap, the priority parameter indicating a priority of the DL PRS relative to an uplink (UL) signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window; If either the UL signal or a channel to be transmitted within the configured PRS processing window overlaps with the DL PRS, and If the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than a priority of an overlapping UL signal or channel, the processing circuitry causes the RedCap UE to: receiving the DL PRS outside the measurement gap within the configured PRS processing window; and refraining from transmitting the overlapping UL signal or channel within the configured PRS processing window; A storage medium configured to:

[0152] [Appendix 19] 1. A gNodeB (gNB) apparatus configured to operate in a fifth generation new radio (5G NR) network, the apparatus including: a processing circuit and a memory, the processing circuit comprising: encoding configuration information for transmission to a limited capability user equipment (RedCap UE) for configuring the RedCap UE with respect to UL Sounding Reference Signal (UL SRS) transmission for positioning with transmit frequency hopping; determining whether to drop the UL SRS transmission based on priority rules if any one or more symbols of the UL SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and if the UL SRS transmission is determined to be dropped by the RedCap UE, the processing circuitry decodes symbols including symbols of the UL SRS transmission from the RedCap UE that do not collide with the uplink channel transmission and that do not collide within the switching time period; The apparatus is configured to:

[0153] [Appendix 20] 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing circuitry further comprises: encoding the configuration information to include a priority parameter for measurements of a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) within a configured PRS processing window other than a measurement gap, the priority parameter indicating a priority of the DL PRS relative to an uplink (UL) signal or channel to be transmitted by the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window; If it is determined that either the UL signal or a channel to be transmitted within the configured PRS processing window overlaps with the DL PRS; and If the priority parameter indicates that the DL PRS has a higher priority than the priority of the overlapping UL signal or channel, the processing circuitry does not plan to receive the overlapping UL signal or channel from the RedCap UE within the configured PRS processing window.

Claims

1. 1. An apparatus for a limited capability user equipment (RedCap UE), comprising: a processing circuit and a memory, the processing circuit comprising: decoding a radio resource control (RRC) information element (IE) including configuration information for configuring the UE to perform transmit frequency hopping for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; performing the transmission frequency hopping within an SRS resource having a bandwidth greater than a maximum bandwidth of the UE; determining whether to drop the transmit frequency hopping SRS transmission based on a priority rule if any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and dropping one or more symbols of the SRS transmission that would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes the switching time if the transmit frequency hopping SRS transmission is determined to be dropped; The apparatus is configured to:

2. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry configures the UE to transmit symbols of the SRS transmission that do not collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes the switching time.

3. 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE is a half-duplex (HD) UE with limited capabilities that cannot perform simultaneous transmission and reception in a serving cell.

4. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the UE has a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz for frequency range 1 (FR1) and a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz for frequency range 2 (FR2).

5. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein, in the case of the UE having a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz for FR1, to perform the transmit frequency hopping within an SRS resource having a bandwidth greater than the maximum bandwidth of the UE, the processing circuitry is configured to transmit the SRS across multiple 20 MHz bandwidths to accommodate the larger bandwidth.

6. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission, including any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and if the uplink channel transmission includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having a priority index of 1 or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) having a priority index of 1, The apparatus, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to drop one or more symbols of the SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission that includes the switch time.

7. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission, including any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and When the uplink channel transmission includes a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) that does not have a priority index of 1, the processing circuitry configures the UE to transmit one or more symbols of the SRS transmission after transmission of the PUSCH.

8. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein, to perform transmission frequency hopping for SRS positioning, the processing circuitry configures the UE to transmit SRS for positioning outside an uplink bandwidth portion of an uplink bandwidth portion configuration of the UE.

9. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to decode the configuration information for prioritization of measurement reports of a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) with frequency hopping; The hopping bandwidth may be set to be greater than the maximum bandwidth of the UE.

10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein when the UE measures a DL PRS outside a measurement gap within a configured DL PRS processing window, and when it is determined based on the prioritization of the measurement reports that the DL PRS has a higher priority than downlink signals and channels within the configured DL PRS processing window, the processing circuitry configures the UE to refrain from measuring the downlink signals and channels in symbols that overlap with the DL PRS.

11. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein when the UE measures a DL PRS outside a measurement gap within a configured DL PRS processing window, and when it is determined based on the prioritization of the measurement report that the DL PRS is not of higher priority than downlink signals and channels within the configured DL PRS processing window, the processing circuitry configures the UE to measure the downlink signals and channels in symbols that overlap with the DL PRS.

12. 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by a processing circuit of a limited capabilities user device (RedCap UE), the processing circuit: decoding a radio resource control (RRC) information element (IE) including configuration information for configuring the UE to perform transmit frequency hopping for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; performing the transmission frequency hopping within an SRS resource having a bandwidth greater than a maximum bandwidth of the UE; determining whether to drop the transmit frequency hopping SRS transmission based on a priority rule if any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and dropping one or more symbols of the SRS transmission that would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes the switching time if the transmit frequency hopping SRS transmission is determined to be dropped; 1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to:

13. 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the processing circuit configures the UE to transmit symbols of the SRS transmission that do not collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes the switch time.

14. 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the UE is a half-duplex (HD) UE with limited capabilities that cannot perform simultaneous transmission and reception in a serving cell.

15. 15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the UE has a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz for Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz for Frequency Range 2 (FR2).

16. 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein, for the UE having a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz for FR1, to perform the transmit frequency hopping within an SRS resource having a bandwidth greater than the UE's maximum bandwidth, the processing circuitry is configured to transmit an SRS across multiple 20 MHz bandwidths to accommodate the larger bandwidth.

17. 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission, including any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with a switch time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and if the uplink channel transmission includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) having a priority index of 1 or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) having a priority index of 1, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to drop one or more symbols of the SRS transmission that would collide with the uplink channel transmission that includes the switch time;

18. 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission, including any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with a switch time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and 12. A method for transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission from a UE to a wireless LAN, comprising: receiving a PUSCH from the UE; transmitting one or more symbols of the SRS transmission from the UE; and transmitting the PUSCH to the wireless LAN;

19. 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein to perform transmit frequency hopping for SRS positioning, the processing circuit configures the UE to transmit SRS for positioning outside an uplink bandwidth portion of an uplink bandwidth portion configuration of the UE.

20. 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising a processing circuit and a memory, the processing circuit comprising: decoding a radio resource control (RRC) information element (IE) including configuration information for configuring the UE to perform transmit frequency hopping for sounding reference signal (SRS) positioning; performing the transmission frequency hopping within an SRS resource having a bandwidth greater than a maximum bandwidth of the UE; determining whether to drop the transmit frequency hopping SRS transmission based on a priority rule if any one or more symbols of the SRS transmission would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes a switching time for switching into or out of an active bandwidth portion; and dropping one or more symbols of the SRS transmission that would collide with an uplink channel transmission that includes the switching time if the transmit frequency hopping SRS transmission is determined to be dropped; wherein the UE is a half-duplex (HD) UE (RedCap UE) with limited capabilities that cannot perform simultaneous transmission and reception in a serving cell.

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