Method and apparatus for the discovery and authorization of client wireless transceiver units (WTRUs) for sidelink positioning.

Abstract

This disclosure generally relates to procedures, methods, architectures, apparatus, systems, devices, and computer program products for the discovery and authorization of client wireless transmit / receive units (WTRUs) for sidelink positioning in wireless networks, and / or for that purpose.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Cross-references to related applications This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 457,661, filed on April 6, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] Background technology The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to procedures, methods, architectures, devices, systems, devices, and computer program products for discovery and authentication of a client wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) for sidelink (SL) positioning in a wireless network and / or for that purpose.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] In exemplary embodiments, a WTRU may be the target of a Sidelink (SL) positioning request from an SL Positioning Client WTRU. The (e.g., Target) WTRU may receive a request (e.g., a solicitation request message) from an SL Reference WTRU containing SL Positioning WTRU information. In one example, the WTRU may send a message (e.g., an authorization check) to an SL Positioning Server WTRU or Location Management Function (LMF) asking it to determine whether the SL Positioning WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information about the WTRU (e.g., Target WTRU). For example, the WTRU may receive a response from the SL Positioning Server WTRU or LMF indicating whether the SL Positioning Client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information about the WTRU (e.g., Target WTRU). The WTRU may then decide (e.g., based on the received response) whether the SL Positioning Client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information about the Target WTRU. For example, if an SL Positioning WTRU client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information for a WTRU (e.g., a target WTRU), the WTRU may send a response to a request (e.g., a solicitation request) that includes information associated with the SL Positioning WTRU and / or the WTRU (e.g., a target WTRU). For example, if an SL Positioning Client WTRU is not authorized to receive positioning information for a WTRU (e.g., a target WTRU), the WTRU may send a rejection response to a solicitation request.

[0004] In exemplary embodiments, the method may include the first WTRU sending information to the second WTRU associated with one or more reference WTRUs located near the first WTRU. The method may also include receiving an SL positioning request from the second WTRU. For example, in some embodiments, an SL positioning request may indicate one or more of the following: (1) information associated with the second WTRU, (2) information associated with the first WTRU, and / or (3) information associated with one or more reference WTRUs. The method may also include determining whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with the first WTRU. Provided the second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the method may include performing an SL positioning operation on at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs and / or sending an SL positioning response indicating positioning information to the second WTRU. Under the condition that the second WTRU is not authorized to receive positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the method may include sending a rejection response to the second WTRU.

[0005] A more detailed understanding may be obtained from the following detailed description, which is provided by examples associated with the drawings attached herein. The figures in the above drawings are illustrative, as are the detailed description. In a strict sense, the figures and detailed description are not to be considered limiting, and other equivalent effective examples are possible and likely to be found. Furthermore, similar reference numerals ("References") in the drawings ("Figures") indicate similar elements. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] [Figure 1A] This is a system diagram of an exemplary communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. [Figure 1B]This is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary WTRU (Wireless Transmitter / Receiver Unit) that may be used in the communication system illustrated in Figure 1A of the embodiment. [Figure 1C] This is a system diagram illustrating exemplary RAN (Radio Access Network) and exemplary CN (Core Network) that may be used in the communication system exemplified in Figure 1A of the embodiment. [Figure 1D] This is a system diagram illustrating further exemplary RANs and further exemplary CNs that may be used within the communication system illustrated in Figure 1A of the embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram of the reference model for 5G / NextGen networks. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing a reference model for 5G / NextGen networks for location services. [Figure 4] This diagram shows the positioning CP / UP architecture in NR. [Figure 5] This is a signal flow diagram illustrating the signal flow for SL positioning by a client WTRU with Target WTRU discovery according to several exemplary embodiments. [Figure 6] This is a signal flow diagram illustrating the signal flow for SL positioning by a client WTRU with authorization of the SL positioning client during discovery, according to several exemplary embodiments. [Figure 7] This is a signal flow diagram illustrating the signal flow for SL positioning with authorization of the SL positioning client WTRU during a PC5 setup according to several exemplary embodiments. [Figure 8] This is a signal flow diagram illustrating the signal flow for distance measurement with authorization of an SL positioning client WTRU according to several exemplary embodiments. [Figure 9]This flowchart illustrates exemplary processes for SL positioning according to several exemplary embodiments. [Figure 10] This flowchart illustrates exemplary processes for SL positioning according to several exemplary embodiments. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0007] In the detailed descriptions that follow, a great many specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments and / or examples disclosed herein. However, it will be understood that the embodiments and examples described above may be practiced without some or all of the specific details described herein. In other cases, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits are not described in detail so as not to obscure the following descriptions. Furthermore, embodiments and examples not specifically described herein may be practiced in place of, or in combination with, the embodiments and other examples that are explicitly, implicitly, and / or essentially described herein, disclosed, or otherwise provided (collectively, “provided”).

[0008] Figure 1A illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple-access system that provides content such as voice, data, video, messaging, and broadcast to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access the above content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may employ one or more channel access methods such as CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access), OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access), SC-FDMA (Single Carrier FDMA), ZT UW DTS-s OFDM (zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM), UW-OFDM (unique word OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, and FBMC (filter bank multicarrier).

[0009] As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system 100 may include WTRUs (Wireless Transmitter / Receiver Units) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106 / 115, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, but the disclosed embodiments will be understood to anticipate several WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a wireless environment. For example, WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may all be referred to as “station” and / or “STA,” and may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals, including UEs (User Equipment), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspots or Mi-Fi devices, IoT (Internet of Things) devices, watches or other wearables, HMDs (Head-Mounted Displays), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in the context of industrial and / or automated processing chains), consumer electronics devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks. Any of WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may be interchangeable with UE.

[0010] Furthermore, the communication system 100 may also include base stations 114a and / or base stations 114b. Each of the base stations 114a and 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as CN106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. As an example, base stations 114a and 114b may be a BTS (Radio Base Station Equipment), Node-B, eNode B, Home Node B, Home eNode B, gNB, NR Node B, Site Controller, AP (Access Point), Wireless Router, etc. While base stations 114a and 114b are each depicted as single elements, it will be understood that base stations 114a and 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0011] Base station 114a may also be part of RAN 104 / 113, which may include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as BSC (Base Station Control Unit), RNC (Radio Network Control Unit), and relay nodes. Base station 114a and / or base station 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be called a cell (not shown). The frequencies mentioned may be permitted spectrum, unpermitted spectrum, or a combination of permitted and unpermitted spectrum. A cell may provide wireless service coverage to a particular geographical area that may be relatively fixed or may change in the future. Furthermore, a cell may be divided into sectors. For example, a cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In the embodiment, the base station 114a may employ MIMO (multiple-input multiple output) technology and utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0012] Base stations 114a and 114b may communicate with one or more WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d via an air interface 116, which may be any suitable wireless communication link (e.g., RF (radio frequency), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, IR (infrared), UV (ultraviolet), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable RAT (radio access technology).

[0013] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may employ one or more channel access schemes such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, etc. For example, base stations 114a and WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c in RAN 104 / 113 may implement radio technologies such as UTRA (UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Terrestrial Radio Access) which may establish an air interface 116 using WCDMA (wideband CDMA), for example. WCDMA may include communication protocols such as HSPA (High-Speed ​​Packet Access) and / or HSPA+ (Evolved HSPA), for example. HSPA may include HSDPA (High-Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access) and / or HSUPA (High-Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access).

[0014] In the embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c may implement radio technologies such as E-UTRA (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) to establish an air interface 116 using, for example, LTE (Long Term Evolution) and / or LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) and / or LTE-A Pro (LTE-Advanced Pro).

[0015] In the embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c may implement radio technologies such as NR radio access, which may establish an air interface 116 using NR (New Radio).

[0016] In an embodiment, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement both LTE radio access and NR radio access using, for example, the principle of DC (dual connectivity). Therefore, the air interface utilized by the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may be characterized by transmissions sent to / from multiple types of radio access technologies and / or multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNBs and gNBs).

[0017] In other embodiments, the base station 114a and the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement wireless technologies such as, for example, IEEE 802.11 (i.e., WiFi (Wireless Fidelity)), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, IS-2000 (Interim Standard 2000), IS-95 (Interim Standard 95), IS-856 (Interim Standard 856), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution), GERAN (GSM EDGE), and the like.

[0018] In Figure 1A, base station 114b may be, for example, a wireless router, home Node B, home eNode B, or access point, and may utilize any RAT suitable for facilitating wireless connectivity in localized areas such as businesses, homes, vehicles, campuses, industrial facilities, aerial walkways (e.g., for drone use), and roadways. In one embodiment, base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d may implement wireless technology such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a WLAN (wireless local area network). In another embodiment, base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d may implement wireless technology such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a WPAN (wireless personal area network). In yet another embodiment, base stations 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d may utilize cellular-based RATs (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.) to establish picocells or femtocells. As shown in Figure 1A, base station 114b may have a direct connection to the internet 110. Therefore, base station 114b may not be required to access the internet 110 via CNs 106 / 115.

[0019] RAN 104 / 113 may be in communication with CN 106 / 115 and can be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or VoIP (voice over internet protocol) services to one or more of WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d. The data may have various QoS (quality of service) requirements such as, for example, different throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, mobility requirements, etc. CN 106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, internet connectivity, video distribution, etc., and / or perform high-level security functions such as, for example, user authentication. Although not shown in Figure 1A, it will be understood that RAN 104 / 113 and / or CN 106 / 115 may be in direct or indirect communication with other RANs that employ the same RAT or a different RAT as RAN 104 / 113. For example, in addition to being connected to RAN 104 / 113 which may utilize the radio technology of NR, CN 106 / 115 may also be in communication with another RAN (not shown) that employs the radio technology of GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi.

[0020] Furthermore, CN106 / 115 may also serve as a gateway for WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d to access PSTN108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. PSTN108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing POTS (plain old telephone service). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices using common communication protocols such as TCP (transmission control protocol), UDP (user datagram protocol), and / or IP in the TCP / IP (Internet Protocol) suite. Network 112 may include wired and / or wireless communication networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs that may employ the same RAT as RAN104 / 113, or a different RAT.

[0021] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d in the communication system 100 may include multimode capabilities (for example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may include multiple transceivers to communicate with separate wireless networks via separate wireless links). For example, WTRU 102c, shown in Figure 1A, may be configured to communicate with base station 114a, which may employ cellular-based radio technology, and base station 114b, which may employ IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0022] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary WTRU 102. As shown in Figure 1B, the WTRU 102 may include, among others, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, a non-removable memory 130, a removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a GPS (Global Positioning System) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any sub-combination of the elements described above, without inconsistency with the embodiment.

[0023] The processor 118 could be a general-purpose processor, a dedicated processor, a conventional processor, a DSP (digital signal processor), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) circuit, any other type of IC (integrated circuit), or a state machine. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functions that enable the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to a transceiver 120, which may be coupled to a transmit / receive element 122. Figure 1B depicts the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, while it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0024] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit or receive signals to or from a base station (e.g., base station 114a) via the air interface 116. For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In an embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive, for example, IR signals, UV signals, or visible light signals. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF and optical signals. It will be understood that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of wireless signals.

[0025] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is depicted as a single element in Figure 1B, the WTRU 102 may contain any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may employ MIMO technology. Therefore, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) to transmit and receive wireless signals via the air interface 116.

[0026] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate a signal that is to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122, and to demodulate a signal that is received by the transmit / receive element 122. As mentioned above, the WTRU 102 may have multimode capabilities. Therefore, for example, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate by multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0027] The processor 118 of the WTRU102 may be connected to and receive user input data via a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., an LCD (liquid crystal display) display unit or an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display unit). Furthermore, the processor 118 may output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information and store data in any suitable type of memory, such as a non-removable memory 130 and / or removable memory 132. The non-removable memory 130 may include RAM (random-access memory), ROM (read-only memory), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a SIM (subscriber identity module) card, a Memory Stick, an SD (secure digital) memory card, and similar. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information and store data in memory, for example, a server or home computer (not shown), which is not physically located in the WTRU 102.

[0028] The processor 118 may receive power from a power supply 134 and may be configured to distribute and / or control power to other components in the WTRU 102. The power supply 134 can be any device suitable for supplying power to the WTRU 102. For example, the power supply 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., NiCd (nickel-cadmium), NiZn (nickel-zinc), NiMH (nickel-metal hydride), Li-ion (lithium-ion), etc.), a solar cell, a fuel cell, etc.

[0029] Furthermore, the processor 118 may be coupled to a GPS chipset 136 which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) about the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to or instead of the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may determine its location based on receiving location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) via the air interface 116 and / or based on the timing of signals received from two or more neighboring base stations. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information through any appropriate location-determination method, without being inconsistent with the embodiments.

[0030] Furthermore, the processor 118 may be coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software modules and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, e-compass, satellite transceiver, digital camera (for photos and / or video), USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, vibration device, television transceiver, hands-free headset, Bluetooth® module, FM (freqUEncy modulated) radio unit, digital music player, media player, video game player module, internet browser, VR / AR (virtual reality and / or augmented reality) device, activity tracker, and the like. The peripheral device 138 may include one or more sensors, which may be one or more of the following: a gyroscope, accelerometer, Hall effect sensor, magnetometer, compass sensor, proximity sensor, temperature sensor, time sensor, geolocation sensor, altimeter, light sensor, touch sensor, magnetometer, barometer, gesture sensor, biometric sensor, and / or humidity sensor.

[0031] WTRU102 may include full-duplex radio where some or all of the transmission and reception of signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe with respect to both uplink (e.g., for transmission) and downlink (e.g., for reception) may be in parallel and / or simultaneous. Full-duplex radio may include interference management units 139 to reduce and / or substantially eliminate self-interference by either hardware (e.g., chokes) or signal processing by processors (e.g., separate processors (not shown) or by processor 118). In embodiments, WTRU102 may include half-duplex radio where some or all of the transmission and reception of signals (e.g., associated with a particular subframe with respect to either uplink (e.g., for transmission) or downlink (e.g., for reception) may be in parallel and / or simultaneously.

[0032] Figure 1C is a system diagram illustrating RAN104 and CN106 according to an embodiment. As described above, RAN104 may employ E-UTRA's wireless technology to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. Furthermore, RAN104 may also be in communication with CN106.

[0033] RAN104 may include eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c, but it will be understood that RAN104 may include any number of eNode-B without being inconsistent with the embodiment. Each of eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may include one or more transceivers to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. In one embodiment, eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. For example, eNode-B160a may use multiple antennas to transmit and / or receive wireless signals to WTRU102a.

[0034] Each of the eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle decisions regarding radio resource management, handover decisions, and user scheduling on the uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL). As shown in Figure 1C, the eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may communicate with each other via the X2 interface.

[0035] The CN106 shown in Figure 1C may include an MME (mobility management entity) 162, an SGW (serving gateway) 164, and a PDN (packet data network) gateway (or PGW) 166. While each of the above elements is depicted as part of CN106, it should be understood that any of the elements described may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0036] MME162 may be connected to each of the eNode-B162a, 162b, and 162c in RAN104 via the S1 interface and may act as a control node. For example, MME162 may be responsible for authenticating users of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, activating / deactivating bearers, selecting a specific serving gateway during the initial attachment of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, and similar matters. MME162 may provide control plane functionality for switching between RAN104 and other RANs (not shown) employing other radio technologies such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0037] SGW164 may be connected to each of the eNode B160a, 160b, and 160c in RAN104 via the S1 interface. Generally, SGW164 may route and forward user data packets to WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. SGW164 may also perform other functions, such as fixing the user plane during eNode B handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available to WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, and managing and storing the context of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0038] SGW164 may be connected to PGW166, which may provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet-switched network, such as the Internet 110, in order to facilitate communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0039] CN106 may facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN106 may provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a circuit-switched network, such as PSTN108, to facilitate communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and conventional terrestrial communication line communication devices. For example, CN106 may include, or communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) server) that acts as an interface between CN106 and PSTN108. Furthermore, CN106 may provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0040] Although the WTRU is described as a wireless terminal in Figures 1A to 1D, in a typical embodiment, the terminal may use a wired communication interface with a communication network (for example, temporarily or permanently).

[0041] In a typical embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0042] In the BSS (Basic Service Set) mode of infrastructure, a WLAN may have an AP (Access Point) for the BSS and one or more STAs (Stations) associated with the AP. The AP may have access to or interfaces to a DS (Distribution System), or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic entering and leaving the BSS. Traffic originating outside the BSS and destined for the STA may arrive through the AP and be delivered to the STA. Traffic originating from the STA and destined for destinations outside the BSS may be sent to the AP and delivered to their respective destinations. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent through the AP, for example, when the originating STA sends traffic to the AP, and the AP delivers the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent between the originating and destination STAs (for example, directly between them) via a DLS (direct link setup). In a typical embodiment, the DLS may be 802.11e DLS or 802.11z TDLS (tunneled DLS). A WLAN using IBSS (Independent BSS) mode may not have APs, and STAs within or using IBSS (e.g., all STAs) may communicate directly with each other. The IBSS mode of communication is sometimes referred to herein as the "ad-hoc" mode of communication.

[0043] When using the 802.11ac infrastructure mode of operation or a similar mode of operation, an AP may transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a fixed width (e.g., a 20 MHz bandwidth) or a width dynamically set by signaling. The primary channel may be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by the STA to establish a connection with the AP. In one typical embodiment, CSMA / CA (Carrier Sensing Multiple Access / Collision Avoidance) may be implemented in the 802.11 system, for example. With respect to CSMA / CA, an STA, including the AP (e.g., any STA), may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, that particular STA may back off. A single STA (e.g., just one station) may transmit at any given time in a given BSS.

[0044] HT (High Throughput) STAs may use a 40MHz wide channel for communication by combining a 20MHz primary channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20MHz channels, for example, to form a 40MHz wide channel.

[0045] A VHT (Very High Throughput) STA may support channels with widths of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz. 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz channels may be constructed by combining contiguous 20 MHz channels. A 160 MHz channel may be constructed by combining eight contiguous 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-contiguous 80 MHz channels, which may be in an 80+80 configuration. In the 80+80 configuration, data may proceed to a segment parser that splits the data into two streams after channel encoding. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing may be performed separately on each stream. The streams may be mapped onto two 80 MHz channels, and data may be transmitted by the transmitting STA. In the receiving STA receiver, the operation for the 80+80 configuration described above may be inverted, and the combined data may be sent to MAC (Media Access Control).

[0046] A sub-1GHz mode of operation is supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. The operating bandwidth and carrier of the channel are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5MHz, 10MHz, and 20MHz bandwidths in the TVWS (TV White Space) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1MHz, 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, and 16MHz bandwidths using the non-TVWS spectrum. In a typical embodiment, 802.11ah may support Meter Type Control / Machine-Type Communication, for example, MTC devices in macro coverage areas. MTC devices may have limited performance, such as support for certain and / or limited bandwidths (e.g., support only). MTC devices may contain batteries with battery life exceeding a threshold (for example, to maintain a very long battery life). A WLAN system that may support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, may include a channel that can be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs in the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by the STA that supports the smallest bandwidth operating mode among all STAs operating in the BSS. In the case of 802.11ah, even if the AP and other STAs in the BSS support operating modes of 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, 16MHz, and / or other channel bandwidths, the primary channel may be 1MHz wide for an STA (e.g., an MTC type device) that supports (e.g., only supports) the 1MHz mode. Carrier sensing and / or NAV (Network Allocation Vector) settings may depend on the state of the primary channel. If the primary channel is busy, for example, due to an STA (which only supports a 1MHz operating mode) transmitting to the AP, then the entire available frequency band may be considered busy, even if a large portion of the frequency band remains idle and available.

[0047] In the United States, the available frequency band that can be used by 802.11ah is from 902 MHz to 928 MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is from 917.5 MHz to 923.5 MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is from 916.5 MHz to 927.5 MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is from 6 MHz to 26 MHz, depending on the country code.

[0048] Figure 1D is a system diagram illustrating RAN113 and CN115 according to an embodiment. As described above, RAN113 may employ NR radio technology to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. Furthermore, RAN113 may also be in communication with CN115.

[0049] RAN113 may include gNB180a, 180b, and 180c, but it will be understood that RAN113 may include any number of gNBs without being inconsistent with the embodiment. Each of the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may include one or more transceivers to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c via the air interface 116. In one embodiment, the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, the gNB180a and 180b may utilize beamforming to transmit and / or receive signals to the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c. Thus, for example, the gNB180a may use multiple antennas to transmit and / or receive wireless signals to the WTRU102a. In embodiments, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may implement carrier aggregation techniques. For example, gNB180a may transmit multiple component carriers to WTRU102a (not shown). The subset of component carriers described above may lie on the unallowed spectrum while the remaining component carriers may lie on the allowed spectrum. In embodiments, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may implement Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) techniques. For example, WTRU102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB180a and gNB180b (and / or gNB180c).

[0050] WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using transmissions associated with scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol spacing and / or OFDM subcarrier spacing may vary for separate transmissions, separate cells, and / or separate portions of the spectrum of wireless transmissions. WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using subframes or TTI (Transmission Time Interval) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., including varying numbers of OFDM symbols and / or persistent absolute times of varying lengths).

[0051] gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may be configured to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c in standalone and / or non-standalone configurations. In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c without accessing other RANs (e.g., eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c). In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may use one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c as a mobility anchor point. In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using signals in unauthorized bandwidths. In non-standalone configurations, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with / connect to gNB180a, 180b, and 180c while simultaneously communicating with / connecting to another RAN, such as eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c. For example, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may implement DC principles to communicate substantially simultaneously with one or more gNB180a, 180b, and 180c and one or more eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c. In non-standalone configurations, eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may act as mobility anchors for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, while gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may provide additional coverage and / or throughput to service WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0052] Each of the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, support for network slicing, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to UPF (User Plane Function) 184a and 184b, and routing of control plane information to AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) 182a and 182b. As shown in Figure 1D, the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may communicate with each other via the Xn interface.

[0053] The CN115 shown in Figure 1D may include at least one AMF182a, 182b, at least one UPF184a, 184b, at least one SMF (Session Management Function)183a, 183b, and possibly a DN (Data Network)185a, 185b. While each of the above elements is depicted as part of the CN115, it will be understood that any of the elements described may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0054] AMF182a and 182b may be connected to one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c in RAN113 via the N2 interface and may act as control nodes. For example, AMF182a and 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling sessions of separate PDUs with distinct requirements), selecting specific SMF183a and 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, and mobility management. Network slicing may be used by AMF182a and 182b to customize CN support for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c based on the type of services used by WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. For example, separate network slices may be established for separate use cases, such as services that rely on URLLC (ultra-high reliability, low latency) access, services that rely on eMBB (enhanced massive mobile broadband) access, or services related to MTC (machine-type communication) access. AMF a82a, 182b may provide control plane functions for switching between RAN113 and other RANs (not shown) employing other radio technologies such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro and / or non-3GPP access technologies such as WiFi.

[0055] SMF183a and 183b may be connected to AMF182a and 182b in CN115 via the N11 interface. Furthermore, SMF183a and 183b may be connected to UPF184a and 184b in CN115 via the N4 interface. SMF183a and 183b may select and control UPF184a and 184b and configure the routing of traffic passing through them. SMF183a and 183b may also perform other functions, such as managing and assigning IP addresses to UEs, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing downlink data notifications. PDU session types can be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0056] UPF184a and 184b may be connected to one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c in RAN113 via the N3 interface, and may provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet-switched network, such as the Internet 110, to facilitate communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices. UPF184 and 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting sessions for multi-homed PDUs, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, and providing mobility anchoring.

[0057] CN115 may facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN115 may include, or communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) server) that acts as an interface between CN115 and PSTN108. In addition, CN115 may provide WTRU102a,102b,102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, WTRU102a,102b,102c may be connected to local DN185a,185b via UPF184a,184b through an N3 interface to UPF184a,184b and an N6 interface between UPF184a,184b and DN (Data Network) 185a,185b.

[0058] In terms of Figures 1A-1D and the descriptions corresponding to Figures 1A-1D, any WTRU102a-d, base stations 114a-b, eNode-B160a-c, MME162, SGW164, PGW166, gNB180a-c, AMF182a-b, UPF184a-b, SMF183a-b, DN185a-b, and / or any other device(s) described herein may, in relation to one or more of them, perform one or more or all of the functions described herein by one or more emulation devices (not shown). An emulation device may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more or all of the functions described herein. For example, an emulation device may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0059] Emulation devices may be designed to implement one or more tests of other devices in a lab environment and / or an operator's network environment. For example, one or more emulation devices may perform one, more, or all functions while being implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network, either entirely or partially, to test other devices in a communication network. One or more emulation devices may perform one, more, or all functions while being temporarily implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. Emulation devices may be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or testing may be performed using over-the-air (OTA) wireless communication.

[0060] One or more emulation devices may perform one or more functions, including all of the above, while not implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, an emulation device may be used in a testing scenario in a testing laboratory and / or a wired and / or wireless communication network that is not deployed (e.g., for testing) to implement testing of one or more components. One or more emulation devices may be test equipment. Direct RF coupling and / or wireless communication via RF circuitry (which may include, for example, one or more antennas) may be used by emulation devices to transmit and / or receive data.

[0061] Figure 2 is a reference model of a potential architecture for a 5G or NextGen network.

[0062] In this context, RAN refers to a radio access network based on 5G radio access technology (RAT) or Evolved E-UTRA that connects to the NextGen core network.

[0063] AMF (Access Control and Mobility Management Function) includes the following functionalities: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, etc.

[0064] The Session Management Function (SMF) includes the following functionalities: session management (including session establishment, modification, and release), WTRU IP address assignment, and selection and control of user plane (UP) functions.

[0065] UPF (User Plane Function) includes the following functionalities: packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, traffic usage reporting, and more.

[0066] 5G Location Services (LCS) provides the functionality to provide location information for WTRUs.

[0067] WTRU positioning can be supported by a RAT-dependent positioning method, for example, which relies on 3GPP RAT measurements acquired by the target WTRU and / or measurements acquired by the access network of the 3GPP RAT signal transmitted by the target WTRU. WTRU positioning can also be supported by a RAT-independent positioning method, which can rely on non-RAT measurements and / or other information acquired by the WTRU.

[0068] Referring to the block diagram (Figure 3) of the reference model for a 5G / NextGen network for location services, location information for one or more target WTRUs may be requested and reported by an LCS client, or by an application function (AF) inside or outside the 3GPP operator network, or by a control plane network function (NF) within the 3GPP system.

[0069] For location requests from LCS clients or AFs, enable privacy verification for the target WTRU and verify whether obtaining WTRU location information is permitted.

[0070] 5G supports several different types of location requests, including: (1) Mobile Terminate Location Request: An LCS client or AF sends a location request to the 5G network regarding the location of a target WTRU; (2) Mobile Initiated Location Request (MO-LR): The WTRU sends a request for location-related information about the WTRU to the 5G network; (3) Immediate Location Request: An LCS client or AF sends or initiates a location request for the target WTRU(s) and expects to receive a response containing location information for the target WTRU(s) in a short time (may be used for MT-LR or MO-LR); and (4) Deferred Location Request: An LCS client or AF sends a location request for the target WTRU(s) to the 5G network and expects to receive a response when a specified event occurs for the target WTRU at some point in the future (may be used for MT-LR).

[0071] (R)AN here stands for NG-RAN, trusted non-3GPP access, or untrusted non-3GPP access. The access network is involved in processing various positioning procedures, including positioning target WTRUs, providing location-related information not associated with a specific target WTRU, and transferring positioning messages between the AMF or (Location Management Function) LMF and the target WTRU.

[0072] AF and NF may access LCS services from a GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location Center) within the same 3GPP operator network.

[0073] LCS clients may access LCS services from GMLC, while external AFs may access them from Network Exposure Functions (NEFs).

[0074] The GMLC (Gateway Mobile Location Center) processes requests from external LCS clients and AFs, and if the AF is an external AF, it forwards the location request to the appropriate NF via the NEF.

[0075] The LRF (Location Retrieval Function) is responsible for retrieving or verifying location information and may be located in the same location as the GMLC (Global Location Cell) or separately.

[0076] The Location Management Function (LMF) manages the overall coordination and scheduling of resources required for the locations of WTRUs registering with or accessing the 5G core network (CN). It may calculate or verify the final location relationship information and the accuracy achieved.

[0077] Positioning protocols and RAN-based positioning signals are defined by 3GPP starting with LTE Release 9 to enable emergency and location-based services.

[0078] In Rel-17, the 3GPP NR positioning protocol is supported by a control plane (CP) positioning architecture on a Uu interface (NG-RAN node). The NR positioning architecture is also supported by a SUPL (Secure User Plane Location) server, also known as an SLP (SUPL Location platform) or location information server. Interworking between CP and UP positioning solutions is defined in TS 38.305, and furthermore, SUPL can be used as a tunnel for CP positioning protocols (e.g., LPP) [4]. What has been described is illustrated in Figure 4, which illustrates the NR positioning CP / UP architecture.

[0079] 3GPP has various defined protocols to enable several positioning technologies and methods (GNSS (Global Positioning Satellite System), sensors, positioning signals, etc.). The main protocol, LPP (LTE Positioning protocol), is terminated between the WTRU and the LMF (Location Management Function). LPP is a Point-to-Point LCS and NAS (Non-Access Stratum) messaging protocol defined in TS 37.355. LPP has been agreed to be reused in NR from Rel-15 onwards and will continue to be used for the foreseeable future.

[0080] RRC (Radio Resource Control) is another protocol used to provide the transmission of LPP messages and other positioning procedures over the NR-Uu interface terminated between the gNB and WTRU.

[0081] On the network side, NGAP (NG Application Protocol) is terminated between AMF and NG-RAN nodes (i.e., gNB / TRP) and used as the transport for LPP and NRPPa messages via the NG-C (Next Generation Core Network) interface.

[0082] Finally, NRPPa (NR Positioning Protocol A) carries information between the NG-RAN node and the LMF.

[0083] Positioning can be performed in the following modes: Standalone mode, WTRU-Based mode, and WTRU-Assisted mode.

[0084] In standalone positioning, the WTRU handles all aspects of positioning, scanning accessible positioning sources, measuring and processing positioning signals / sources. Finally, the WTRU calculates its own position in two or three dimensions. In standalone positioning, the Uu interface includes WTRU capability exchange and WTRU position reporting.

[0085] In WTRU-based positioning (WTRU-B), the network provides acquisition support data, and the WTRU scans, measures, and processes positioning signals / sources that it can access (based on the support information from the network). Finally, the WTRU may calculate its own position in two or three dimensions and report that position to the network.

[0086] In WTRU-assisted positioning (WTRU-A), the network provides positioning assistance, and the WTRU scans for accessible positioning sources and measures the positioning signal / source (based on the assistance information from the network). Finally, the WTRU returns the measurement to the network, which calculates the device's location (in the location server / LMF).

[0087] Table 1 below shows the supporting technologies for the WTRU positioning method (as defined in TS38.305).

[0088] [Table 1]

[0089] LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages related to WTRU-assisted positioning requests include the following steps: - Request capability, LMF requests to WTRU - Capacity provision, WTRU's response to LMF - Request for assistance data, the WTRU requests assistance data / information from the LMF - Provision of assistance data, assistance data information / configuration from the LMF to the WTRU (furthermore, broadcasting of assistance data (AD) is supported via the Positioning System Information Block (posSIB) and transmitted in SI messages[3][4]). - Location request, LMF request for location / measurement to WTRU - Providing location data, from WTRU to LMF, location and measurement data. - Cancel the LPP session. - Errors, errors associated with positioning procedures SL positioning (or SL-based positioning service) is defined as the positioning of a WTRU using the PC5 to obtain absolute position, relative position, or ranging information. ranging refers to determining the distance between two or more WTRUs and / or the orientation of one WTRU (i.e., Target WTRU) and another WTRU (i.e., Reference WTRU) via the PC5 interface.

[0090] For the purpose of SL positioning, the following terms are defined and used as follows:

[0091] A Target WTRU is a WTRU whose distance, direction, and / or position are measured with support from one or more SL Reference WTRUs, using sidelinks in ranging-based service and sidelink positioning.

[0092] A Located WTRU is an SL Reference WTRU whose location is known or can be determined using Uu-based positioning. A Located WTRU can have its location determined using Sidelink Positioning.

[0093] An SL Reference WTRU is a WTRU that uses Sidelink to support the positioning of a target WTRU by transmitting and / or receiving reference signals for positioning and providing positioning-related information.

[0094] The SL Positioning Client WTRU is a third-party WTRU, distinct from the SL Reference WTRU, and is the Target WTRU that initiates Rangeing / Sidelink positioning service requests on behalf of the application residing on it.

[0095] Ranging / Sidelink Positioning can be performed either through network-assisted operation or WTRU-only operation.

[0096] In network-assisted operations, the 5GC NF is involved in processing service requests and calculating results.

[0097] In a WTRU-only operation, the WTRU handles service request processing and result calculation.

[0098] When network-assisted operation is used, the LMF defined in the 5G Location Service is used to support triggering SL positioning, coordinating SL positioning operations, and delivering results to clients. Ranging / Sidelink Positioning service requests can be initiated by WTRUs (i.e., SL positioning client WTRU, Target WTRU, SL Reference WTRU), 5GC NFs, LCS clients, or AFs.

[0099] In the case of WTRU-only operation, the WTRUs interact with each other via PC5 as needed to perform SL positioning actions. The SL positioning server WTRU is defined to coordinate SL positioning actions and calculate positioning results.

[0100] The SL Positioning Server WTRU is a WTRU that provides method determination, assistant data distribution, and / or position calculation functions for sidelink positioning and lunging-based services.

[0101] Network-assisted SL positioning is used to estimate the location of a WTRU with the help of a network by using the location of one or more Localized WTRUs and the distance and / or direction between the WTRU and the localized WTRU(s).

[0102] The Network Assist SL Positioning feature has two cases: one in which the WTRU can establish a NAS signal connection, and another in which the WTRU cannot establish a NAS signal connection.

[0103] Once the WTRU is able to establish a NAS connection, it enters the Connection Management (CM)-Connected state by executing a WTRU trigger service request to 5GC-MO-LR or a network trigger service request to 5GC-NI (Network Induced)-LR or 5GC-MT-LR. Since the Target WTRU is able to establish a NAS signaling connection with the AMF, it can reuse the functions specified in the 5G Location Service, such as 5GC-MO-LR, 5GC-MT-LR, and 5GC-NI-LR.

[0104] Either the Target WTRU or LMF determines whether to apply network-assisted SL positioning.

[0105] The Target WTRU discovers the Localized WTRU for network-assisted SL positioning.

[0106] The Target WTRU and / or Localized WTRU(s) perform ranging / SL positioning. The Target WTRU includes the WTRU identity of the Localized WTRU to the LMF, along with lunging measurement data or estimated results. The LMF may interact with the GMLC to obtain the location of the Localized WTRU.

[0107] The LMF estimates the location of the Target WTRU using the location of the Localized WTRU(s), along with the reported ranging / SL positioning measurement data or estimation results from the Target WTRU and optionally from the Localized WTRU(s).

[0108] If the Target WTRU is outside the coverage for 5GC-MO-LR or pending 5GC-MT-LR (such as a deferred 5GC-MT-LR), and therefore it is not possible to establish a NAS connection with AMF, the following principle applies:

[0109] The Target WTRU performs discovery and selection of the Localized WTRU.

[0110] The Target WTRU may transmit its distance measurement values / results to the Localized WTRU.

[0111] The Located WTRU(s) may report distance measurement / SL positioning measurement results to the LMF. This may include distance measurement values / results received from the Target WTRU. The endpoints of the LPP message are the LMF and the Located WTRU(s).

[0112] The LMF may use the received information to calculate the location of the Target WTRU and provide the resulting location to the Target WTRU via the Localized WTRU, or to the LCS client or application server via 5GNF.

[0113] A WTRU (for example, a so-called SL positioning client WTRU) may request SL positioning via PC5 or over the network.

[0114] When an SL Positioning Client WTRU requests SL Positioning services via a PC5 connection, it is possible to discover one of the Reference WTRU and Target WTRU, and a Lunging / SL Positioning service request may be called on the discovered Reference WTRU / Target WTRU to obtain the lunging and SL positioning results between the Reference WTRU and Target WTRU. The request described above includes user information for the SL Positioning Client WTRU, Reference WTRU, and Target WTRU.

[0115] Regarding the exposure of a WTRU to the SL positioning service, there are at least three operational considerations when an SL positioning client WTRU invokes the SL positioning service on a discovered reference WTRU by sending a lunging / SL positioning service request. Firstly, a method and apparatus are desired for the SL positioning client WTRU to obtain information about the SL reference WTRU located near the target WTRU.

[0116] In particular, when an SL Positioning Client WTRU invokes a lunging / SL positioning service request, it should include user information for the SL Positioning Client WTRU, Reference WTRU, and / or Target WTRU. However, based on the placement and positioning of each WTRU, an SL Positioning Client WTRU may directly discover only the Target WTRU or the SL Reference WTRU. In this case, the SL Positioning Client WTRU cannot directly obtain information about WTRUs that are not discoverable, nor can it determine whether an SL Reference WTRU exists that is available for SL positioning operations with the Target WTRU.

[0117] The question here is how an SL positioning client WTRU can obtain information about an SL reference WTRU located near the target WTRU.

[0118] Secondly, a method and apparatus for enabling an SL positioning client WTRU to perform SL positioning of a target WTRU is desired.

[0119] In particular, the location information of the target WTRU is personal and confidential information. The 5GC LCS service allows the LCS client to verify whether it is authorized to retrieve the target WTRU's location information by referencing the UDM (Unified Data Management) subscription data. This enables the SL positioning client WTRU to verify whether it has the authority to retrieve the target WTRU's location information on the network.

[0120] Furthermore, the target WTRU needs to be able to check the user information of the SL positioning client WTRU in order to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU is authorized.

[0121] The question here is how an SL positioning client WTRU can authorize the SL positioning of a target WTRU.

[0122] Thirdly, with respect to ranging operations, the method and apparatus are desired for an SL positioning client WTRU to ensure that ranging services are available when one WTRU is discoverable by a client WTRU.

[0123] In particular, an SL positioning client WTRU may request a ranging service between two WTRUs (WTRU1 and WTRU2). If the client WTRU can directly discover both WTRU1 and WTRU2, it can determine whether a ranging service is available between WTRU1 and WTRU2. However, if the client WTRU can directly discover only one WTRU (i.e., WTRU1 or WTRU2), it cannot be certain that there is another WTRU near the discovered WTRU in order to provide a ranging service.

[0124] The question here is how a client WTRU can determine whether the expected ranging service is available, even when only one WTRU is discoverable.

[0125] The exemplary embodiments described in this document may assume that the WTRU supports PC5 signaling. This PC5 signaling may be supported by the WTRU's ProSe layer.

[0126] In some embodiments, the WTRU may have ranging and sidelink positioning capabilities. Here, sidelink positioning means positioning via the PC5 interface, and ranging means determining the distance between two or more WTRUs, and / or the relative direction and / or position between one WTRU and another.

[0127] Embodiments may include a procedure for SL positioning by a client WTRU through the discovery of a target WTRU. During the discovery procedure, if the SL positioning client WTRU discovers a Target WTRU, the Target WTRU may notify the SL positioning client WTRU of nearby SL reference WTRUs so that the SL positioning client WTRU may invoke an SL positioning service request.

[0128] Based on the request and any client WTRU information it may contain, the Target WTRU may initiate a procedure to verify the authorization of the SL positioning client WTRU.

[0129] Figure 5 is a signal flow diagram showing the signal flow for SL positioning by client WTRUs via Target WTRU discovery.

[0130] In Step 1, the SL positioning client WTRU501 triggers the discovery of the SL positioning service target WTRU503 and sends a Solicitation request message containing the SL positioning service indication and target WTRU information.

[0131] In step 2, when target WTRU503 receives a solicitation request message from client WTRU, it may attempt to discover a nearby SL reference WTRU(s) for the SL positioning service by sending a solicitation request message.

[0132] In step 3, the SL reference WTRU(505)

[0133] In step 4, when target WTRU503 responds to client WTRU501, it may include information about the discovered SL reference WTRU(s). If multiple SL reference WTRUs responded in step 3, the target WTRU may include information about multiple SL reference WTRUs. Alternatively, based on some condition such as link quality, only one or more SL reference WTRUs may be selected to report to client WTRU501.

[0134] Alternatively, if the target WTRU 503 already has information that an SL reference WTRU is nearby (at least, if there are already a sufficient number of reference WTRUs discovered by the target WTRU), it may include this information in the response message to the client WTRU without performing steps 2 and 3.

[0135] In step 5, after the discovery procedure is successful, client WTRU501 may set up a PC5 connection with target WTRU503.

[0136] Alternatively or additionally, during or after PC5 connection setup, target WTRU503 may provide information about the SL reference WTRU(s) to client WTRU501, for example, by embedding it in a PC5 connection setup signal message or by using a separate signal message.

[0137] In step 6, client WTRU501 may invoke an SL positioning service request that includes target WTRU information and SL reference WTRU(s) information received from target WTRU503.

[0138] In step 7, after receiving the SL positioning service request, the target WTRU 503 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC 507 to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information for the target WTRU 503. The target WTRU 503 may include a list of SL reference WTRUs in its service request for authorization to the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC 507.

[0139] Alternatively, Target WTRU503 may consist of a list of authorized client WTRU information, in which case step 7 may be omitted.

[0140] If the SL positioning client WTRU501 is authorized to receive positioning information from Target WTRU503, in step 8, Target WTRU503 and SL reference WTRU(-)505 may perform the SL positioning operation requested by SL positioning client WTRU501. On the other hand, if authorization fails (e.g., in step 7), Target WTRU503 may instead reject the SL positioning request received in step 6 (e.g., as shown in step 8a). If the target WTRU responds with a rejection, it may include the reason for the rejection, such as a reject code indicating authorization failure.

[0141] In Step 8, if more SL reference WTRUs (or more) need to be discovered during the SL positioning operation, the target WTRU may undergo an additional round of discovery and reporting (i.e., from Step 2 to Step 3).

[0142] In step 8, service request information, including information about the SL reference WTRU, may be reported to the SL positioning server WTRU or LMF for the purpose of coordinating the SL positioning operation.

[0143] Furthermore, or alternatively, the SL positioning service request may also be delivered to the SL reference WTRU(505) in step 6 by client WTRU(501) or target WTRU(503), and if necessary, target WTRU(503) and SL reference WTRU(505) may establish a PC5 connection with each other.

[0144] Alternatively, after receiving the solicitation request message in step 1, Target WTRU503 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC507 to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information from Target WTRU503. If authorization for client WTRU501 fails, Target WTRU503 may instead reject the solicitation message received in step 1. If Target WTRU503 rejects the solicitation message, it may include the reason for the rejection, such as a rejection code indicating authorization failure, in its response.

[0145] Alternatively, prior to step 2, Target WTRU503 may receive or configure a list of candidate SL Reference WTRUs (from or by the SL Positioning Server WTRU or LMF507a). Target WTRU503 may select one or more SL Reference WTRUs that belong to the list of candidate SL Reference WTRUs for the SL positioning operation and include information about those selected WTRUs in the response message in step 4.

[0146] The embodiment may include an SL positioning procedure during discovery, which involves authorization of the SL positioning client WTRU. In this embodiment, the SL positioning client may attempt to discover a target WTRU or an SL reference WTRU(or more) located near the target WTRU for the SL positioning service. The SL positioning client WTRU may indicate in a solicitation message that an SL reference WTRU needs to be discovered near the target WTRU so that the appropriate SL reference WTRU can participate in the discovery procedure.

[0147] Upon receiving a solicitation request message from a client WTRU, the SL reference WTRU may attempt to discover the target WTRU. In the discovery procedure between the SL reference WTRU and the target WTRU, the SL reference WTRU may indicate that it is for the SL positioning service of the SL positioning client WTRU by including information about the SL positioning client WTRU.

[0148] The Target WTRU may evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU has been authorized for the Target WTRU's positioning information. After successful authorization, the Target WTRU may respond to the SL reference WTRU.

[0149] After successfully completing the discovery procedure for the SL reference WTRU(s) near the target WTRU, the client WTRU may establish a PC5 connection with the SL reference WTRU and invoke an SL positioning service request to the discovered SL reference WTRU.

[0150] After receiving an SL positioning service request, the SL reference WTRU checks whether the client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information for the target WTRU, and if so, performs the SL positioning operation with the target WTRU.

[0151] Figure 6 is a signal flow diagram showing the signal flow of SL positioning by client WTRU with authorization of the SL positioning client during discovery according to this embodiment.

[0152] In Step 1, the SL positioning client WTRU601 triggers the discovery of the SL positioning service's Target WTRU603 and sends a Solicitation request message containing an indication of the SL positioning service and information about Target WTRU605 (e.g., user information of Target WTRU). The client WTRU601 may include an indication that an SL reference WTRU603 located near Target WTRU605 may respond.

[0153] When SL reference WTRU603 receives a solicitation request message from client WTRU601 that includes an indication that an SL reference WTRU near the target WTRU may respond, it checks whether it is near target WTRU605. If there is no available information related to the proximity of target WTRU605, step 2 may attempt to discover target WTRU605 by sending a solicitation request message that includes information about the target WTRU.

[0154] The SL reference WTRU603 may contain information from the SL positioning client WTRU601 received in step 1.

[0155] In step 3, when target WTRU605 receives a solicitation request message for its own discovery, it checks whether the solicitation request message contains information about SL positioning client WTRU601. If it does, it checks whether the identified SL positioning client WTRU is authorized to request positioning information for the target WTRU by communicating with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC network 607.

[0156] Alternatively, Target WTRU607 may consist of a list of client WTRU information authorized to receive positioning information for Target WTRU, in which case step 3 may be omitted.

[0157] In step 4, Target WTRU607 may respond to a solicitation request message from the SL reference WTRU (assuming the SL positioning client WTRU decides to be authorized to receive positioning information from Target WTRU). If authorization for the client WTRU fails in step 3, Target WTRU605 may reject the solicitation message or ignore the solicitation request message received in step 1 (not shown). If Target WTRU503 rejects the solicitation message, it may send a Response message in step 4 that includes the rejection (not shown), which may include a rejection code indicating the reason for the rejection (e.g., authorization failure).

[0158] Steps 2, 3, and 4 may be omitted if the SL reference WTRU605 detects that the Target WTRU605 is nearby and is able to communicate with the target WTRU.

[0159] Alternatively, even if SL Reference WTRU603 recognizes that Target WTRU605 is nearby, SL Reference WTRU603 may send a solicitation request message containing information about SL Positioning Client WTRU601 for authorization of SL Positioning Client WTRU601.

[0160] In step 5, SL reference WTRU603 responds to client WTRU601's solicitation request message. Assume that all responding SL reference WTRU(s) are located near target WTRU607.

[0161] If SL Reference WTRU603 receives a Response message with a rejection in step 4, SL Reference WTRU603 may instead send a Respond message with a rejection to SL positioning client WTRU601 in step 5, or it may ignore the solicitation request message received in step 1 (not shown). If SL Reference WTRU603 responds with a rejection in step 5, it may include a rejection code indicating the reason for the rejection (e.g., authorization failure).

[0162] Note that if the SL Reference WTRU603 sends a rejection response message in step 5, this procedure will fail, and steps 6 through 10 may be omitted.

[0163] Alternatively, the SL reference WTRU603 may indicate in the response message that it is in proximity to the target WTRU605 (Step 5).

[0164] In step 6, the client WTRU601 may select the appropriate SL reference WTRU603 and set up a PC5 connection with the selected SL reference WTRU603.

[0165] Alternatively, after receiving a Response message in step 5, or after step 6, the SL positioning client WTRU601 may request the SL Reference WTRU603 to report whether the target WTRU605 has been discovered by the SL Reference WTRU603. If requested by the SL positioning client WTRU601, the SL Reference WTRU603 may perform the discovery procedure (e.g., steps 2 and 3) and report the result of whether the target WTRU605 has been discovered to the SL positioning client WTRU601.

[0166] In an alternative scenario, during or after the PC5 connection setup in step 6, the SL Reference WTRU603 may perform a discovery procedure (e.g., steps 2 and 3) and report whether the target WTRU605 is near the SL positioning client WTRU601.

[0167] In yet another option, if client WTRU601 recognizes that SL Reference WTRU603 is not close to target WTRU605, client WTRU601 may repeat the steps from step 1 until it discovers target WTRU605 or an SL Reference WTRU603 that is close to target WTRU605.

[0168] In step 7, client WTRU601 may send an SL positioning service request to the selected SL reference WTRU603. The SL positioning service request may include SL positioning client WTRU information, target WTRU information, and / or SL reference WTRU(s) information for the SL positioning service.

[0169] In step 8, when an SL positioning service request is received, the SL reference WTRU603 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GCLMF607 to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU601 is authorized to receive positioning information for the target WTRU605.

[0170] Step 8 may be performed before or after Step 9. If authorization is successful, in step 9, the SL reference WTRU603 and target WTRU605 will set up a PC5 connection for the SL positioning service.

[0171] On the other hand, if authorization fails in step 8, the SL Reference WTRU603 instead sends a reject response message (not shown) to the SL positioning client WTRU601 (or simply does not respond to the solicitation request message received in step 1), and the remaining steps are skipped. If the SL Reference WTRU603 responds with a reject, it may include a reject code indicating the reason for the rejection (e.g., authorization failure).

[0172] Assuming the authorization was successful, in step 10, the Target WTRU605 and SL reference WTRU(or more)603 perform the SL positioning operation requested by the SL positioning client WTRU601.

[0173] In step 10, the target WTRU605 and / or SL reference WTRU(-)603 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or LMF607 to coordinate the SL positioning operation.

[0174] If multiple SL reference WTRUs are included in the SL positioning service request in step 7, this fact is reported to the SL positioning server WTRU or LMF607 for coordination of the SL positioning operation.

[0175] Furthermore, or alternatively, if multiple SL reference WTRUs are included in the SL positioning service request in step 7, the request may be delivered to each SL reference WTRU included in the request by client WTRU 601 or SL reference WTRU 603 selected in step 6, and the target WTRU and SL reference WTRU(s) may establish a PC5 connection as needed.

[0176] Furthermore, or alternatively, if multiple SL reference WTRUs are included in the service request in step 7, SL reference WTRU 603 may forward the SL positioning service request to target WTRU 605, and the target WTRU and SL reference WTRU(s) may establish a PC5 connection.

[0177] The embodiment may include an SL positioning procedure during PC5 setup that involves authorization of an SL positioning client WTRU. The SL positioning client may attempt to discover a target WTRU or an SL reference WTRU(or more) near the target WTRU for the SL positioning service. The SL positioning client WTRU may indicate in a solicitation message that an SL reference WTRU needs to be discovered near the target WTRU so that a suitable SL reference WTRU can participate in the discovery procedure.

[0178] When the SL reference WTRU receives a solicitation request message from a client WTRU, it may attempt to discover the target WTRU.

[0179] After successfully discovering one or more SL reference WTRUs near the target WTRU, the client WTRU may establish a PC5 connection with the SL reference WTRUs and invoke an SL positioning service request to the discovered SL reference WTRUs.

[0180] The SL reference WTRU may configure a PC5 connection for the SL positioning service at the request of the client WTRU, and during the PC5 connection configuration procedure, the SL reference WTRU may notify the target WTRU of the client WTRU's information.

[0181] The Target WTRU may verify whether the client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information from the Target WTRU and may configure a PC5 connection with the SL reference WTRU for the SL positioning service.

[0182] Figure 7 is a signal flow diagram showing the signal flow for SL positioning with authorization of the SL positioning client WTRU during PC5 setup in several embodiments.

[0183] Step 1 triggers the SL positioning client WTRU701 to discover the target WTRU of the SL positioning service. Client WTRU701 sends a Solicitation request message containing an indication of the SL positioning service and information about the target WTRU. Client WTRU701 may include an indication that an SL reference WTRU adjacent to the target WTRU may respond.

[0184] In step 2, when SL reference WTRU703 receives a solicitation request message from client WTRU701 that includes an indication that an SL reference WTRU near target WTRU705 may respond, it checks whether it is near target WTRU705. If there is no available information regarding the proximity of the target WTRU, it may attempt to discover the target WTRU by sending a solicitation request message containing information about the target WTRU.

[0185] In step 3, Target WTRU705 may respond to a solicitation request message from the SL reference WTRU.

[0186] Steps 2 and 3 may be omitted if the SL reference WTRU703 notices that the target WTRU705 is nearby and that it is possible to communicate with the target WTRU.

[0187] In step 4, SL reference WTRU703 responds to a solicitation request message from client WTRU701. Assume that all responding SL reference WTRU(s) are located near target WTRU705. Alternatively, the SL reference WTRU703 may indicate in the response message that it is in proximity to the target WTRU705.

[0188] In step 5, the client WTRU701 may select the appropriate SL reference WTRU and set up a PC5 connection with the selected SL reference WTRU703.

[0189] Alternatively, after receiving the Response message in step 4, or after step 5, the SL positioning client WTRU701 may request the SL Reference WTRU703 to report whether the target WTRU705 has been discovered by the SL Reference WTRU703. If requested by the SL positioning client WTRU701, the SL Reference WTRU703 may perform the discovery procedure with the Target WTRU705 (e.g., steps 2 and 3) and report the result of whether the Target WTRU705 has been discovered to the SL positioning client WTRU701.

[0190] In an alternative, during or after the PC5 connection setup in step 5, the SL Reference WTRU703 may perform a discovery procedure (e.g., steps 2 and 3) with the Target WTRU705 and report the result of whether the Target WTRU705 was discovered to the SL positioning client WTRU701.

[0191] In yet another option, if client WTRU701 recognizes that SL Reference WTRU703 is not near target WTRU705, client WTRU701 may repeat the steps from step 1 until it discovers target WTRU705 or an SL Reference WTRU703 that is close to target WTRU705.

[0192] In step 6, client WTRU701 may send an SL positioning service request to the selected SL reference WTRU703. The SL positioning service request includes SL positioning client WTRU information, target WTRU information, and SL reference WTRU(s) information for the SL positioning service.

[0193] In step 7, after the SL positioning service request is received, the SL reference WTRU703 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC707 to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information for the target WTRU.

[0194] If authorization of client WTRU701 fails in step 7, SL Reference WTRU703 may reject the SL positioning request (not shown) as previously described in relation to Figures 5 and 6 (see, for example, alternative step 8a in Figure 5), and the remaining steps may be omitted.

[0195] On the other hand, if authorization of client WTRU701 is successful, in step 8, the SL reference WTRU703 and target WTRU705 set up a PC5 connection for the SL positioning service. While setting up the PC5 connection, the SL reference WTRU703 may notify target WTRU705 of the information of SL positioning client WTRU701 so that target WTRU705 recognizes that client WTRU701 is a consumer of target WTRU705's positioning information.

[0196] In step 9, Target WTRU705 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC 707 to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU701 is authorized to receive positioning information from Target WTRU705.

[0197] Alternatively, Target WTRU705 may consist of a list of client WTRU information that is authorized to receive positioning information from Target WTRU705.

[0198] If authorization for client WTRU701 fails in step 9, target WTRU705 rejects the PC5 connection configuration request from the SL Reference WTRU in step 10, and the remaining steps are skipped. Alternatively, the PC5 connection configuration request can simply be ignored (the remaining steps shown in Figure 7 are skipped).

[0199] On the other hand, if the authorization of the SL positioning client WTRU701 is successful in step 9, then in step 10, the Target WTRU705 and SL reference WTRU703 will perform the SL positioning operations requested by the SL positioning client WTRU701.

[0200] Assuming authorization is successful, in step 10, the Target WTRU705 and / or SL reference WTRU(-)703 may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or LMF707 to coordinate the SL positioning operation.

[0201] If the SL positioning service request in step 7 includes multiple SL references (WTRU703), this is reported to the SL positioning server (WTRU) or LMF707, and the SL positioning operation is adjusted accordingly.

[0202] Furthermore, or alternatively, if multiple SL reference WTRU703s are included in the SL positioning service request in step 6, the request may be delivered to each SL reference WTRU included in the request by the client WTRU or the SL reference WTRU selected in step 5, and the Target WTRU and the SL reference WTRU(s) may establish a PC5 connection with each other as needed.

[0203] Furthermore, or alternatively, if multiple SL reference WTRUs are included in the service request in step 7, the SL reference WTRUs may forward the SL positioning service request to the Target WTRU, and the Target WTRU and the SL reference WTRU(s) may establish a PC5 connection with each other.

[0204] The embodiment may be directed towards a ranging procedure involving the authorization of an SL positioning client WTRU. Figure 8 is a signal flow diagram showing the signal flow for ranging with the authorization of an SL positioning client WTRU according to the embodiment.

[0205] In Step 1, the SL positioning client WTRU801 is triggered to discover WTRUs (in this case, WTRU1 803 and WTRU2 805) for distance measurement between the two WTRUs. Client WTRU801 sends a Solicitation request message containing the SL positioning service indication and information on WTRU1 and WTRU2. The solicitation request may include an indication of proximity confirmation request between the two WTRUs.

[0206] In step 2, WTRU1 803 and / or WTRU2 805 may respond to the client WTRU upon receiving a solicitation request message from client WTRU801. If the solicitation request includes a request to verify proximity between the two WTRUs, the WTRU that receives the request (WTRU1, for example) may verify whether the other WTRU805 is nearby, for example, by performing a discovery procedure.

[0207] Alternatively, even if the solicitation request message does not include a request to confirm proximity between two WTRUs, the WTRU may attempt to discover other WTRUs included in the solicitation request message.

[0208] In step 3, the WTRU (in this case, WTRU1 803) that received the solicitation request from client WTRU801 sends a Response message. WTRU803 may include an indication in its response whether there are other WTRUs nearby.

[0209] In step 4, after successfully completing the discovery procedure, client WTRU801 may set up a PC5 connection with the responding WTRU (in this case, WTRU1 803). On the other hand, if client WTRU801 received an indication in step 3 that the other WTRU805 is not nearby, or that WTRU803 is not nearby, client WTRU801 may repeat the discovery procedure until it receives an indication that both WTRUs are nearby.

[0210] In step 5, client WTRU801 may invoke an SL positioning service request for distance measurement, which includes user information for WTRU1 803, user information for WTRU2 805, and information for client WTRU801 (e.g., user information).

[0211] In step 6, when an SL positioning service request is received, the WTRU (here, WTRU1 803) may communicate with the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC 807 to evaluate whether the SL positioning client WTRU801 is authorized to receive WTRU803's ranging and / or positioning information. The WTRU1 803 may include user information of another WTRU (here, WTRU2 805) in the service request for authorization to the SL positioning server WTRU or 5GC 807.

[0212] Alternatively, the WTRU (in this case, WTRU1 803) may consist of a list of client WTRU information authorized to receive ranging and / or positioning information from WTRU803.

[0213] If authorization of the client UE fails in step 6, WTRU1 rejects the SL positioning request from client WTRU801 (for example in step 8), and the remaining steps in Figure 8 (including step 7) are not executed. The SL positioning response message in step 8 may include a rejection code indicating that authorization failed, and may also include an indication of the reason.

[0214] If the authorization of the SL positioning client WTRU is successful, in step 7, before performing the distance measurement operation, the WTRU (in this case, WTRU1 803) may perform the discovery of another WTRU (in this case, WTRU2 805) and the PC5 connection setup procedure with the other WTRU (in this case, WTRU2 805).

[0215] In step 8, if another WTRU (in this case, WTRU2 805) is not discovered, or if WTRU (in this case, WTRU1 803) is unable to set up a PC5 connection with the other WTRU (in this case, WTRU2 805), WTRU803 may report this to client WTRU801 by sending an SL positioning response message with a rejection. The SL positioning rejection may include a rejection code, such as indicating that the other WTRU is unreachable.

[0216] On the other hand, if a PC5 connection with another WTRU805 is successfully established in step 7, steps 9 and 10 are performed instead of step 8. In particular, in step 9, after the PC5 connection setup between the two WTRUs (WTRU1 803 and WTRU2 805) is successful, a distance measurement operation may be performed between the two WTRUs.

[0217] In step 10, after the distance measurement operation, the WTRU (in this case, WTRU1 801) may report the distance measurement results to client WTRU801.

[0218] In step 9, service request information, including information on WTRU1 and WTRU2, is reported to the SL positioning server WTRU or LMF807, the SL positioning operation is adjusted, and the distance measurement operation between the two WTRUs is adjusted by the SL positioning server WTRU or LMF807.

[0219] Furthermore, or alternatively, the SL positioning service request received in step 5 may also be delivered by WTRU (WTRU1 803) to the other WTRU (WTRU2).

[0220] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating one exemplary process 900 for SL positioning by an authorized client WTRU, viewed from the perspective of a target WTRU, according to several embodiments.

[0221] Note that prior to process 900 shown in Figure 9, the SL positioning client WTRU may have issued a solicitation request to the SL Reference WTRU containing information on the SL positioning service indication and Target WTRU (as shown in step 1 of Figure 6), and in response, the SL Reference WTRU sends a solicitation request to the Target WTRU.

[0222] Therefore, in step 901, the Target WTRU receives a solicitation request message from the SL Reference WTRU. The message described above contains SL Positioning WTRU information.

[0223] In step 903, the Target WTRU sends an Authorization Check to the network's SL Positioning Server WTRU or its LMF, asking it to determine whether the SL Positioning WTRU is authorized by the network to receive positioning information about the Target WTRU.

[0224] In step 905, the Target WTRU receives a response from the SL Positioning Server WTRU or LMF.

[0225] In step 907, the Target WTRU analyzes the response from the SL Positioning Server WTRU or LMF to determine whether the SL Positioning Client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information from the Target WTRU.

[0226] If authorization is successful in step 907, the flow proceeds to step 911, where the Target WTRU sends a response to the solicitation request containing the SL Positioning WTRU and Target WTRU information.

[0227] On the other hand, if authorization fails in step 907, the flow proceeds to step 913 instead, where the Target WTRU sends a rejection response to the solicitation request and, optionally, a rejection code indicating the reason for the rejection.

[0228] In this embodiment, the Target WTRU sends an Authorization Check to the SL Positioning Server WTRU or LMF in response to receiving a Solicitation Request, before sending a response to the Solicitation Request.

[0229] In this embodiment, if the Target WTRU determines that the SL Positioning Client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information from the Target WTRU, it sends a response message to the SL Reference WTRU for the solicitation request message.

[0230] In the embodiment, if the Target WTRU determines that the SL Positioning WTRU is authorized to receive its positioning information, it may immediately receive a PC5 connection setup request from the SL Reference WTRU and establish a PC5 connection with the SL Reference WTRU.

[0231] In this embodiment, once the PC5 connection is established, the Target WTRU executes the SL positioning operations requested by the SL positioning client WTRU using the SL Reference WTRU.

[0232] In another embodiment, the Target WTRU sends a response to the solicitation request before sending an Authorization Check to the SL Positioning Server WTRU or LMF.

[0233] In this embodiment, after sending a Response message to the SL Reference WTRU, the Target WTRU receives a PC5 connection configuration request from the SL Reference WTRU, and after receiving the PC5 connection configuration request, the Target WTRU sends an Authorization Request message.

[0234] In this embodiment, if the SL positioning client WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information from the Target WTRU, the Target WTRU establishes a PC5 connection with the SLReference WTRU and performs the SL positioning operation requested by the SL positioning client WTRU from the SL Reference WTRU.

[0235] Figure 10 shows an exemplary flowchart of Method 1000 that may be carried out in a first wireless transceiver unit (WTRU). For example, in some embodiments, the Method may include one or more steps performed by or associated with an SL Reference WTRU, a target WTRU, WTRU1 and / or WTRU2, as discussed elsewhere in this Spec, for example, as described in Figures 5-8, or as illustrated with respect to Figures 5-8. For example, the first WTRU carrying out Method 1000 may be a target WTRU or may include a target WTRU. It should also be understood that one or more steps of the Method may be optional, omitted, and / or performed in a different order.

[0236] In embodiments, as shown in the example of Figure 10, method 1000 may include, in 1002, receiving information associated with SL positioning from a second WTRU (e.g., an SL positioning client WTRU). For example, the information associated with SL positioning may include one or more of the following: an indication of an SL positioning service and information associated with the first WTRU. However, it should be noted that in certain embodiments, the receiving of information associated with SL positioning as shown in 1002 may be omitted.

[0237] In embodiments, method 1000 may include, in 1004, sending to the second WTRU information associated with one or more reference WTRUs located near the first WTRU. In embodiments, method 1000 may include, in 1006, receiving an SL positioning request from the second WTRU. For example, in some embodiments, an SL positioning request may represent one or more of the following: (1) information associated with the second WTRU, (2) information associated with the first WTRU, and / or (3) information associated with one or more reference WTRUs.

[0238] In some embodiments, method 1000 may include determining in 1008 whether a second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with a first WTRU. If the second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with a first WTRU, method 1000 may include in 1010 performing an SL positioning operation on at least one of one or more reference WTRUs, and / or in 1012 sending an SL positioning response indicating positioning information to the second WTRU. If the second WTRU is not authorized to receive positioning information associated with a first WTRU, method 1000 may include sending a reject response to the second WTRU in 1014. In some embodiments, the reject response may include a reject code indicating that the SL positioning request was rejected due to authorization failure.

[0239] In embodiments, determining in 1008 whether a second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with a first WTRU may include one or more of the following: sending a request to a network element to determine whether a second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with a first WTRU, and / or receiving a response or indication indicating whether the second WTRU is authorized. For example, the network element may be either an SL positioning server and / or a 5GC node, or be included in either.

[0240] In embodiments, determining in 1008 whether a second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with a first WTRU may include sending a message to at least one other WTRU (e.g., a third WTRU) to determine whether a second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information (for example, as shown in step 8 of Figure 7 or steps 901 and 903 of Figure 9 above). For example, the message may include at least information associated with the second WTRU.

[0241] In some exemplary embodiments, method 1000 may include establishing a PC5 connection with a second WTRU and receiving an SL positioning request via the PC5 connection.

[0242] In some exemplary embodiments, method 1000 may include one or more of the following: sending an SL positioning request to at least one of one or more reference WTRUs, and / or establishing a PC5 connection with at least one of one or more reference WTRUs. In embodiments, a message sent to determine whether a second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information may be sent to at least one of one or more reference WTRUs via the PC5 connection.

[0243] The flowcharts shown in Figures 9 and 10 are provided as examples, and it should be noted that they may be modified according to a particular embodiment. For example, one or more of the steps illustrated in Figures 9 and 10 may be omitted, combined, and / or performed in a different order.

[0244] While features and elements are provided above in specific combinations, those skilled in the art will understand that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with other features and elements. This disclosure should not be limited to the specific embodiments described herein, but is intended as an example of various aspects. Many modifications and variations can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. No element, operation, or instruction used in the description of this application should be construed as definitive or essential to the invention unless expressly provided as above. Functionally equivalent methods and apparatus within the scope of this disclosure, in addition to those enumerated herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. The above modifications and variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. This disclosure should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims and the full scope of the equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to any particular method or system.

[0245] For simplicity, the embodiments described above relate to the terminology and structure of infrared-capable devices, namely infrared emitters and receivers. However, the embodiments described are not limited to the systems described herein and may apply to other systems using electromagnetic waves or other forms of non-electromagnetic waves, such as acoustic waves.

[0246] Furthermore, it should be understood that the terms used herein are used solely for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the terms “video” or “image” may mean any of a snapshot, a single image, and / or multiple images displayed on a time basis. As another example, when referred herein, the terms “user equipment” and the abbreviation “UE,” the terms “remote” and / or the terms “head-mounted display” or the abbreviation “HMD” may mean or include (i) a wireless transmit and / or receive unit (WTRU), (ii) any of a number of embodiments of a WTRU, (iii) a device having wireless and / or wired capabilities (e.g., a connected device) comprised of some or all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, (iii) a device having wireless and / or wired capabilities comprised of lesser all of the structure and functionality of a WTRU, or (iv) the same. Details of exemplary WTRUs, which may represent any WTRU described herein, are provided with respect to Figures 1A–1D. As another example, the various embodiments disclosed herein, both above and below, are described as utilizing a head-mounted display. Those skilled in the art will recognize that devices other than head-mounted displays may be used, and that some or all of the embodiments of this disclosure and the various embodiments disclosed may be modified accordingly without excessive experimentation. Examples of other devices mentioned above may include drones or other devices configured to stream information for providing an adapted reality experience.

[0247] In addition, the methods provided herein may be implemented in computer programs, software, or firmware embedded on a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable mediums include electrical signals (transmitted via wired or wireless connections) and computer-readable recording media. Examples of computer-readable recording media include, but are not limited to, ROM (described), RAM (random access memory), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media such as CD-ROM discs and DVDs (digital versatile disks). Processors associated with software may be used to implement radio frequency transceivers for use in UEs, WTRUs, terminals, base stations, RNCs, MMEs, EPCs, AMFs, or any host computer.

[0248] Modifications of the methods, apparatus, and systems provided above are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In terms of the wide variety of embodiments to which it may be applied, it should be understood that the exemplary embodiments are merely examples and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the following claims. For example, embodiments provided herein include handheld devices that include, or may be utilized with, any suitable voltage source, such as batteries and the like that provide any suitable voltage.

[0249] Furthermore, in the embodiments provided above, other devices including processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and processors are highlighted. These devices may include at least one central processing unit ("CPU") and memory. In accordance with the practice of those skilled in computer programming, references to the operation and symbolic representation of arithmetic or instructions may be made by various CPUs and memory. Such operations and arithmetic or instructions may be referred to as "executed," "computer-executed," or "CPU-executed."

[0250] Those skilled in the art will understand that operations and symbolically represented arithmetic or instructions involve the manipulation of electrical signals by the CPU. The electrical system reconfigures or otherwise alters the operation of the CPU, and similarly the processing of other signals, by representing data bits that can cause the resulting transformation or reduction of electrical signals and the preservation of data bits in memory locations in the memory system. The memory locations where data bits are preserved are physical locations having specific electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties that correspond to or represent the data bits. It should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to the platforms or CPUs described above, and that other platforms and CPUs may support the methods provided.

[0251] Furthermore, data bits may also be maintained on computer-readable media, including CPU-readable magnetic disks, optical disks, and any other volatile (e.g., RAM (Random Access Memory)) or non-volatile (e.g., ROM (Read-Only Memory)) mass storage systems. Computer-readable media may include cooperating or interconnected computer-readable media that reside exclusively in a processing system or are distributed among multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local or remote to the processing system. It should be understood that embodiments are not limited to the memory described above, and that other platforms and memories may support the methods provided.

[0252] In exemplary embodiments, any of the operations, processes, etc., described herein may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. These computer-readable instructions may be executed by a processor in a mobile unit, network element, and / or any other computing device.

[0253] There is little distinction remaining between hardware and software implementations of system aspects. The use of hardware or software is generally a design choice representing a cost-efficiency trade-off (in that, while not always, the choice between hardware and software can be important in certain situations). There may be various means (e.g., hardware, software, and / or firmware) by which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies described herein may be achieved, and the preferred means may vary depending on the context in which the processes and / or systems and / or other technologies are deployed. For example, if the implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the implementer may choose primarily hardware and / or firmware means. If flexibility is paramount, the implementer may choose primarily software implementation. Alternatively, the implementer may choose a combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware.

[0254] The detailed description above has described various embodiments of the device and / or process through the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples. To the extent that the block diagrams, flowcharts, and / or examples include one or more functions and / or operations, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that each function and / or operation in the above block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples may be implemented individually and / or collectively by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or substantially any combination thereof. In embodiments, some parts of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), and / or other integrated formats. However, a person skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented equally, in whole or in part, in an integrated circuit, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or any substantial combination thereof, and that designing circuits and / or writing software and / or firmware code is entirely within the art of a person skilled in the art based on this disclosure. In addition, a person skilled in the art will understand that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein may be distributed as various forms of program products, and that the exemplary embodiments of the subject matter described herein apply regardless of the particular type of signaling medium actually used to carry out the distribution.Examples of signaling media include, but are not limited to, recordable media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CDs, DVDs, digital tapes, and computer memory, as well as transmission media such as digital and / or analog communication media (e.g., fiber optic cables, waveguides, wired communication links, etc.).

[0255] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common in the art to describe devices and / or processes in the manner described herein and subsequently integrate such described devices and / or processes into a data processing system using engineering techniques. That is, at least some of the devices and / or processes described herein may be integrated into a data processing system after a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system may generally include one or more of the following: a system unit housing, a video display device, memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, a processor such as a microprocessor and a digital signal processor, computing entities such as an operating system, drivers, a graphical user interface, and application programs, one or more interaction devices such as a touchpad or screen, and / or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and / or velocity, control motors for moving and / or adjusting components and / or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented using any suitable commercially available components that are commonly found, for example, in data computing / communication systems and / or network computing / communication systems.

[0256] The subject matter described herein sometimes illustrates different components that are contained within or connected to other different components. It should be understood that the structures described above are merely examples, and that many other structures achieving the same functionality may actually be implemented. In a conceptual sense, any sequence of components achieving the same functionality may be effectively “related” in such a way that the desired functionality may be achieved. Thus, any two components combined in this specification to achieve a particular functionality may be understood as being “related” to each other in such a way that the desired functionality is achieved regardless of the structure or intermediate components. Similarly, any two such related components may also be considered “operably connected” or “operably coupled” to each other in order to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components having the ability to be related in such way may also be considered “operably coupleable” to each other in order to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably coupleable include, but are not limited to, physically matable and / or physically interacting components, and / or wirelessly interactable and / or wirelessly interacting components, and / or logically interacting and / or logically coupleable components.

[0257] With regard to the substantially any use of plural and / or singular terms herein, those skilled in the art can convert from plural to singular and / or singular to plural as appropriate to the context and / or application. Various singular / plural permutations can be explicitly stated herein for clarity.

[0258] In general, terms used herein, in particular in the appended claims (e.g., the body of the appended claims), are generally "open" terms (e.g., the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but not limited to", the term "have" should be interpreted as "at least have", the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but not limited to", etc.) and / or "permissible" terms (e.g., the terms "is" and / or "are" should be interpreted as "may" and / or "might", the term "refer(s)" should be interpreted as "may refer" and / or "might refer", the term "receive(s)" can be interpreted as "receive (may)" and / or "might receive (may)", the term "support(s)" should be interpreted as "may support (may)" and / or "might It can be interpreted as "support (maybe)". Also, the term "interface(plural)" can be interpreted as "may interface" and / or "may interface", and the term "transmit(plural)" can be interpreted as "may interface" and / or "may interface".The terms "and / or "might interface", "may transmit" and / or "might transmit", "send(s)" may be interpreted as "may send" and / or "might send", "doesn't refer" (and / or similar) (and / or equivalent) (may not refer) and / or "might not refer", "doesn't receive" (and / or similar) (may not receive) and / or "might not receive", "does not support" (and / or similar) (may not support) and / or "might not support", "does not interface" (and / or similar) (may not interface) (and / or similar) (may not interface) and / or "might not interface", "doesn't transmit" (and / or similar) (may not transmit) and / or "might not transmit", "does not The term “send” (and / or similar) can be interpreted as “may not send” and / or “might not send,” etc. It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that if a particular number of items described in the submitted claims are intended, the above intent is explicitly stated in the claims, and if not stated, the above intent is not given. For example, if only one item is intended, “single” or similar words may be used. For help in understanding, the following appended claims and / or descriptions herein may include the use of the prefatory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” when submitting claims.However, the use of the above phrases should not be interpreted as meaning that the submission of a claim description by the indefinite article "a" or "an" means that any particular claim containing the above submitted claim description is limited to embodiments containing only one of the above descriptions, even when the same claim includes the prefatory phrase "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article such as "a" or "an" (for example, "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted as meaning "at least one" or "one or more"). The same remains true for the use of the definite article used to submit a claim description. In addition, even when a particular number of claims to be submitted is explicitly stated, a person skilled in the art will recognize that the above description should be interpreted as meaning at least the number stated (for example, the simple statement "two descriptions" without other modifiers means at least two descriptions, or two or more descriptions). Furthermore, in examples where a convention similar to "at least one of A, B, and C" is used, the above configuration is generally intended in the sense that a person skilled in the art will understand the convention (for example, "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having only A, only B, only C, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and / or A, B, and C together). It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that any disjunctive word and / or phrase in the specification, claims, or drawings that gives two or more alternative terms should be understood to assume the possibility of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both of the terms.For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B". Furthermore, the term "any of" used herein, following descriptions of multiple items and / or classifications of multiple items, is intended to include, individually or in conjunction with other items and / or classifications of other items, "any of," "any combination," "any multiple," and / or "any combination of multiple." Moreover, as used herein, the term "set" is intended to include any number of items, including zero. In addition, as used herein, the term "number" is intended to include any number, including zero. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "many" is intended to be synonymous with "plural."

[0259] Furthermore, if any feature or aspect of this disclosure is described in relation to a Markush group, a person skilled in the art will recognize that this disclosure also describes any individual element of an element of a Markush group or any subgroup of an element of a subgroup.

[0260] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, all scopes disclosed herein also include any and all possible subranges and combinations thereof, for any and all purposes, for example, with respect to providing written explanations. Any scope described may be readily accepted as well described and as being able to be broken down at least equally into half, one-third, one-quarter, one-fifth, one-tenth, etc. As a non-limiting example, each scope described herein may readily be broken down into a lower third, a middle third, an upper third, etc. As will be further understood by those skilled in the art, all words such as “up to,” “at least,” “greater than,” and “less than” include the number described and refer to a scope that can subsequently be broken down into subranges as described above. Finally, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, a scope includes each individual element. Thus, for example, a group having 1 to 3 cells refers to a group having 1, 2, or 3 cells. Similarly, a group containing 1 to 5 cells refers to a group containing 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 cells, and so on.

[0261] Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the claims should not be read as being limited to the order or elements provided. In addition, the use of the term “means” in any claim is intended to exercise the means-plus-function claim form of 35 United States Code § 112(6), and no claim without the term “means” is intended to do so. Examples of suitable processors include general-purpose processors, dedicated processors, conventional processors, DSPs (digital signal processors), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors with a DSP core, controllers, microcontrollers, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), ASSPs (Application Specific Standard Products), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) circuits, any other type of IC (integrated circuit), and / or state machines.

[0262] WTRU can be used in combination with hardware and / or software, including software-defined radio (SDR), and modules implemented in other components such as cameras, video camera modules, video phones, speakerphones, vibration devices, speakers, microphones, TV transceivers, hands-free headsets, keyboards, Bluetooth® modules, FM® radio units, NFC® modules, LCD® display units, OLED® organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display units, digital music players, media players, video game player modules, internet browsers, and / or WLAN® wireless local area network (WLAN) or UWB® ultra wide band (UWB) modules.

[0263] Although various embodiments have been described with respect to a communication system, it is assumed that the system may be implemented in software for a microprocessor / general-purpose computer (not shown). In some embodiments, one or more functions of the various components may be implemented in software that controls the general-purpose computer.

[0264] In addition, while the present invention is illustrated and described herein in relation to specific embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown. Rather, various modifications can be made in detail within the scope and area of ​​the equivalents of the claims and without departing from the present invention.

[0265] References [1]TS 23.501 v18.1.0: System architecture for the 5G System (5GS) [2]TS 23.502 v18.1.0: Procedures for the 5G System (5GS) [3]TS 23.273 v18.1.0: 5G system(5GS) Location Services (LCS); Stage 2 [4]TS 38.305 v17.4.0: NG Radio Access Network (NG-RAN); Stage 2 functional specification of User Equipment (UE) positioning in NG-RAN [5]TS 37.355 v17.4.0: LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) [6]TS 23.304 v18.1.0: Proximity based Services(ProSe) in the 5G System(5GS) [7]TS 23.586 v0.2.0: Architectural Enhancements to support Ranging based services and Sidelink Positioning [8]TR 23.700-86 v18.0.0: Study on Architecture Enhancement to support Ranging based services and sidelink positioning

Claims

1. A first wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), A circuit including a processor, memory, transmitter, and receiver, From the second WTRU, we received information associated with sidelink (SL) positioning. The second WTRU receives information associated with one or more reference WTRUs near the first WTRU. The second WTRU receives an SL positioning request, and the SL positioning request indicates any of the following: (1) information associated with the second WTRU, (2) information associated with the first WTRU, and (3) the information associated with one or more reference WTRUs. Determine whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with the first WTRU. Under the condition that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, Perform SL positioning operation using at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs. Send an SL positioning response indicating the positioning information to the second WTRU. Circuit configured in this way A WTRU characterized by having the following features.

2. The WTRU according to claim 1, wherein, under the condition that the second WTRU is not authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the circuit is configured to send a reject response to the second WTRU.

3. The WTRU according to claim 2, characterized in that the reject response includes a reject code indicating that the SL positioning request was rejected due to authorization failure.

4. In order to determine that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the first WTRU, A request is sent to the network element to determine whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU. The second WTRU receives a response indicating whether it is authorized. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is configured in such a way.

5. The WTRU according to claim 4, characterized in that the network element includes either an SL positioning server or a 5GC node.

6. In order to determine that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the first WTRU, A message is sent to the third WTRU to determine whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the message including at least the information associated with the second WTRU. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is configured in such a way.

7. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the information associated with SL positioning includes either an indication of an SL positioning service or information associated with the first WTRU.

8. The aforementioned circuit is A PC5 connection is established with the second WTRU. The SL positioning request is received via the PC5 connection. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it is configured as follows.

9. The aforementioned circuit is Send an SL positioning request to at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it is configured as follows.

10. The aforementioned circuit is A PC5 connection is established with at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it is configured in such a way.

11. The WTRU according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the first WTRU includes a target WTRU, and the second WTRU includes an SL positioning client WTRU.

12. A method implemented by a first wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), Receiving information related to sidelink (SL) positioning from the second WTRU, Sending information to the second WTRU associated with one or more reference WTRUs near the first WTRU, Receiving an SL positioning request from the second WTRU, wherein the SL positioning request indicates any of (1) information associated with the second WTRU, (2) information associated with the first WTRU, and (3) the information associated with one or more reference WTRUs. The second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with the first WTRU, Under the condition that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, Performing an SL positioning operation using at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs, Sending an SL positioning response indicating the positioning information to the second WTRU A method characterized by comprising:

13. The method according to 23, wherein, under the condition that the second WTRU is not authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, the method comprises sending a rejection response to the second WTRU.

14. The method according to 13, characterized in that the reject response includes a reject code indicating that the SL positioning request was rejected due to authorization failure.

15. The determination that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU means that Sending a request to the network element to determine whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, The second WTRU receives a response indicating whether it is authorized and The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized by including the following:

16. The method according to 15, characterized in that the network element includes either an SL positioning server or a 5GC node.

17. The determination that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, and the method, Sending a message to the third WTRU determining whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, wherein the message includes at least the information associated with the second WTRU. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized by including the following:

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, characterized in that the information associated with SL positioning includes either an indication of an SL positioning service or information associated with the first WTRU.

19. To establish a PC5 connection with the second WTRU, The SL positioning request is received via the PC5 connection. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, characterized by comprising:

20. Sending an SL positioning request to at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, characterized by comprising:

21. Establish a PC5 connection with at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, characterized by comprising:

22. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 21, characterized in that the first WTRU includes a target WTRU, and the second WTRU includes an SL positioning client WTRU.

23. A first wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), A means of receiving information associated with sidelink (SL) positioning from the second WTRU, Means for sending information associated with one or more reference WTRUs near the first WTRU to the second WTRU, Means for receiving an SL positioning request from the second WTRU, wherein the SL positioning request indicates any of (1) information associated with the second WTRU, (2) information associated with the first WTRU, and (3) the information associated with one or more reference WTRUs. Means for determining whether the second WTRU is authorized to receive positioning information associated with the first WTRU, Under the condition that the second WTRU is authorized to receive the positioning information associated with the first WTRU, Means for performing SL positioning operation using at least one of the one or more reference WTRUs, means for sending an SL positioning response indicating the positioning information to the second WTRU, A first WTRU characterized by comprising the following:

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