Positioning negotiation method and apparatus, terminal equipment, and core network equipment

Abstract

This application provides a positioning negotiation method and apparatus, terminal equipment, and core network equipment, relating to the field of communications. The positioning negotiation method includes a terminal device transmitting a first message to a first core network equipment for network registration or establishment of a user plane positioning connection, the first message including one or more of a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information, the first capability being for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designation protocol including a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, and the first acknowledgment information being for specifying whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designation protocol, the second designation protocol including a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - reference to related applications) This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application with the application number 202310894606.3 filed in China on July 19, 2023, and all of its contents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] This application relates to the field of communications, and specifically to a positioning negotiation method and apparatus, terminal device, and core network device.

Background Art

[0003] In a new radio (NR) system, in addition to control - plane positioning, user - plane positioning has been introduced. For example, by transmitting a large amount or high frequency of information related to positioning in the user plane, the load on the control plane can be reduced, and the positioning experience can be improved.

[0004] However, specifically which transmission protocol to use for the transmission of user - plane positioning information has become an issue to be solved.

Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a positioning negotiation method and apparatus, a terminal device, and a core network device that can solve the problem of not being able to identify which transmission protocol to use for the transmission of user - plane positioning information.

[0006] According to a first aspect, it includes a terminal device transmitting a first message for network registration or establishing a user - plane positioning connection to a first core network device, The first message includes one or more of a first capability, a first specified protocol, and a first confirmation information. The first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designated protocol, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device, and provides a positioning negotiation method.

[0007] According to the second aspect, the first core network device transmits a second message to a terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection, The second message includes one or more of the following: a second capability, a second designation protocol, and a second cause value. The second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the first or second core network device, and the second cause value is for specifying the cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device, thereby providing a positioning negotiation method.

[0008] According to the third aspect, the second core network device transmits a third message to the first core network device, The third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection and provides a positioning negotiation method that includes a second designation protocol which includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information specified by the second core network device.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, the system includes a transmitting unit for sending a first message to a first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. The first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The positioning negotiation device is provided, wherein the first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the positioning negotiation device supports, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the positioning negotiation device wishes to use, and the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the positioning negotiation device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designated protocol, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device.

[0010] According to the fifth aspect, the system includes a transmitting unit for sending a second message to a terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. The second message includes one or more of the following: a second capability, a second designation protocol, and a second cause value. The present invention provides a positioning negotiation device in which the second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second specified protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the positioning negotiation device or a second core network device, and the second cause value indicates the cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device.

[0011] According to the sixth aspect, the system includes a transmitting unit for sending a third message to a first core network device. The third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection and includes a second designated protocol, and the positioning negotiation device provides a positioning negotiation device that includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information designated by the second core network device.

[0012] According to the seventh aspect, a terminal device is provided, which includes a processor and memory, the memory being for storing computer programs, and the processor being for executing the methods in the first aspect or each of its implementations by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

[0013] According to the eighth aspect, a core network device is provided, which is a first core network device, comprising a processor and memory, wherein the memory is for storing computer programs, and the processor is for executing the methods in the second aspect or each of its implementations by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

[0014] According to the ninth aspect, a core network device is provided, which is a second core network device, comprising a processor and memory, wherein the memory is for storing computer programs, and the processor is for executing the methods in the third aspect or each of its implementations by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

[0015] According to the tenth aspect, an apparatus is provided for implementing a method in any one of the first to third aspects described above or in each of their respective implementations.

[0016] Specifically, the device includes a processor that calls and executes a computer program from the memory to implement one of the first to third embodiments or the method in each of those embodiments in the equipment to which the device is attached.

[0017] According to the eleventh aspect, a chip is provided for implementing a method in any one of the first to third aspects described above or in each of their implementations.

[0018] Specifically, the chip includes a processor that calls and executes a computer program from the chip and memory to implement one of the first to third embodiments or the methods in each of their implementations in the device to which the chip is attached.

[0019] According to the twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program that causes a computer to execute any one of the first to third aspects described above or the method in each of their implementations.

[0020] According to the first embodiment of the proposed technology described above, the terminal device can provide the network side with information regarding a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information via a first message. This allows the terminal and the network to negotiate and determine a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0021] According to the second embodiment of the proposed technology described above, the first core network device can provide terminal devices with information regarding a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information via a second message. This allows the terminal and network sides to negotiate and determine a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0022] According to the technical solution of the above third aspect, the second core network device can provide information about the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information to the first core network device and the terminal device by means of a third message. Therefore, the terminal side and the network side can negotiate and determine the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information, and the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information can be improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023] Hereinafter, in order to more clearly explain the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings necessary for the description of the embodiments of the present application will be briefly described. However, the drawings described below only relate to some embodiments of the present application. It is needless to say that for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without any creative labor.

[0024] [Figure 1] It is a schematic diagram showing a communication system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 2] It is a schematic diagram showing the establishment of a user plane positioning connection started by a network according to the present application. [Figure 3] It is a schematic diagram showing the establishment of a user plane positioning connection started by a terminal according to the present application. [Figure 4] It is a schematic diagram showing a SUPL protocol stack according to the present application. [Figure 5] It is a flowchart showing a positioning negotiation method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6] It is a flowchart showing another positioning negotiation method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 7] It is a flowchart showing yet another positioning negotiation method according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8] They are respectively flowcharts showing positioning negotiation according to embodiments of the present application. [Figure 9]These flowcharts show the positioning negotiations according to each embodiment of the present application. [Figure 10] These flowcharts show the positioning negotiations according to each embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11] These flowcharts show the positioning negotiations according to each embodiment of the present application. [Figure 12] This is a block diagram showing a positioning negotiation device according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 13] This is a block diagram showing another positioning negotiation device according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 14] This is a block diagram showing another positioning negotiation device according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 15] This is a block diagram showing a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 16] This is a block diagram showing an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 17] This is a block diagram showing a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0025] The following describes the technical proposal in the embodiments of this application with reference to the drawings of the embodiments. Of course, the embodiments described below are only a selection of embodiments of this application and not all embodiments.

[0026] All other embodiments that a person skilled in the art could obtain without applying inventive work to the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the protection of the present application.

[0027] The terminology used in the embodiments of this application is solely for the purpose of interpreting the specific embodiments of this application and is not intended to limit this application.

[0028] The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," etc., used in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are not intended to indicate a specific order, but rather to distinguish different subjects.

[0029] Furthermore, terms such as “includes” and “possesses,” and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a procedure, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a set of steps or units, may include, but is not limited to, those steps or units that are explicitly listed, other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or that are specific to those procedures, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0030] Furthermore, as used in the specification and claims, “and / or” indicates at least one of the connected objects, for example, A and / or B and / or C indicates seven cases: including only A, including only B, including only C, including both A and B, including both B and C, including both A and C, and including A, B, and C.

[0031] It should be understood that the "instruction" referred to in the embodiments of this application may be direct instruction, indirect instruction, or simply an indication of a related relationship.

[0032] To illustrate with an example, A directing B could mean, for example, that A directly directs B so that B can be obtained by A; or it could mean, for example, that A directs C so that B can be obtained by C; or it could mean that A and B have a related relationship.

[0033] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "correspondence" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or a related relationship between the two, such as "instruction" and "instructed," or "placement" and "placed."

[0034] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) systems, New Radio (NR) systems, evolved NR systems, Unlicensed Spectrum LTE (LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum, LTE-U) systems, Unlicensed Spectrum NR (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) systems, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Internet of Things (IoT), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), 5th Generation (5G) systems, 6th Generation (6G) systems, or other advanced communication systems.

[0035] The communication system in the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the license spectrum and / or the unlicensed spectrum, where the unlicensed spectrum may be considered as the shared spectrum and the license spectrum may be considered as the non-shared spectrum.

[0036] Exemplary, the communication system 100 applied to the embodiment of the present invention may include a terminal device 110, an access network device 120, and a core network device 130, as shown in Figure 1, where the terminal device 110 can be connected to the core network device 130 via the access network device 120.

[0037] The access network device 120 provides communication coverage to a specific geographic area and can communicate with terminal devices located within that coverage area.

[0038] Specifically, for example, terminal equipment 110 may be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal, or other similar names.

[0039] In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be a terminal-side device such as a mobile phone, tablet personal computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), palmtop computer, netbook, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), mobile internet device (MID), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) equipment, robot, wearable device, flight vehicle, vehicle user equipment (VUE), shipboard equipment, pedestrian user equipment (PUE), smart home (e.g., home devices with wireless communication capabilities such as refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, or furniture), game console, personal computer (PC), ATM, or self-service machine.

[0040] Wearable devices include smartwatches, smart bands, smart earphones, smart glasses, smart jewelry (smart bracelets, smart armbands, smart rings, smart necklaces, smart anklets, smart anklebands, etc.), smart wristbands, smart clothing, and more.

[0041] Here, in-vehicle equipment may also be referred to as in-vehicle terminals, in-vehicle controllers, in-vehicle modules, in-vehicle components, in-vehicle chips, or in-vehicle units.

[0042] In some embodiments, the access network device 120 may be referred to as a radio access network (RAN) device, a radio access network function, or a radio access network unit.

[0043] Access network equipment may include base stations, wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (AS), or WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) nodes.

[0044] Here, a base station may be referred to as Node B (NB), Evolved Node B (eNB), the next generation Node B (gNB), New Radio Node B (NR Node B), access point, Relay Base Station (RBS), Serving Base Station (SBS), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, Basic Service Set (BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), home Node B (HNB), Home evolved Node B, Transmission Reception Point (TRP), or any other appropriate term in the art, and the base station is not limited to any particular technical term as long as it achieves the same technical effect. In the embodiments of this application, only base stations in an NR system are introduced as examples, but the specific types of base stations are not limited.

[0045] In some embodiments, the core network device 130 includes a core network node, core network functions, Mobility Management Entity (MME), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), Edge Application Server Discovery Function (EASDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Centralized network configuration (CNC), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Local NEF (or L-NEF), and Binding Support Function (NEF). It may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: Function (BSF), Application Function (AF), etc.

[0046] In this embodiment, only core network equipment in an NR system is described as an example, but the specific type of core network equipment is not limited.

[0047] Core network nodes, core network functions, Mobility Management Entity (MME), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), User Plane Function (UPF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), Edge Application Server Discovery Function (EASDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Centralized network configuration (CNC), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Local NEF (or L-NEF), Binding Support Function (BSF), Application Function (Application It may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: Function (AF), Sensing Function (SF), etc.

[0048] In this embodiment, only core network equipment in an NR system is described as an example, but the specific type of core network equipment is not limited.

[0049] To better understand the embodiments of this application, user plane positioning according to this application will be explained.

[0050] The NR system supports user plane positioning connection establishment using two methods: network-initiated LCS-UP initiation and terminal-initiated LCS-UP initiation.

[0051] Terminal devices (UEs) and Location Management Function (LMF) entities can transmit large amounts of positioning data over the user plane, or transmit positioning data over the user plane at a higher frequency.

[0052] It has not yet been decided which protocol stack will be used to encapsulate and transmit user plane positioning messages.

[0053] Specifically, a network-initiated user plane positioning connection establishment (Network-initiated LCS-UP initiation) can be performed as shown in Figure 2.

[0054] The network-side LMF entity decides to use user plane positioning and notifies the Access and Mobility Management (AMF) entity of the user plane positioning information. The AMF entity then interacts with the UE via Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling and, after receiving an Acknowledgement (ACK) message from the UE, sends a reply to the LMF entity.

[0055] Subsequently, the UE establishes a user plane positioning connection with the LMF entity.

[0056] As shown in Figure 2, the user plane positioning connection establishment flow initiated by the network may include at least one of the following steps:

[0057] In Step 1, the LMF entity decides whether to continue the positioning process via the user plane connection between the UE and the LMF entity, based on the UE's user plane positioning capabilities and other enabling factors. If the LMF entity already has a user plane connection context for the target UE and decides to use that user plane connection for positioning, Step 1 is skipped. The LMF entity can select user plane positioning for a specific positioning method (e.g., a motion sensor-based method) and, based on enabling and local settings, decide which positioning methods (and corresponding positioning data) require user plane transmission.

[0058] In step 2 (optional), if the LMF entity decides to use the user plane for positioning and a secure user plane connection has not been established between the UE and the LMF entity, the LMF entity sends user plane information to the AMF entity, including the LMF's user plane positioning address and security-related information, to instruct the UE to use the user plane for positioning.

[0059] In step 3 (optional), if the AMF entity receives user plane information from the LMF entity in step 2, it sends the user plane information to the UE via a downlink NAS transport (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0060] In step 4 (selective), if a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session applicable to user plane positioning has not been established, the UE establishes a PDU session for user plane positioning using a User Equipment Route Selection Policy (URSP) which includes PDU session parameters related to user plane positioning, such as a dedicated Data Network Name (DNN) and Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance Information (S-NSSAI).

[0061] The UE can indicate to the LMF entity via the AMF entity whether it has successfully utilized a user plane connection for location services, or whether it is unable to utilize a user plane connection, for example, if a proper PDU session has not been established.

[0062] In step 5 (optional), the AMF entity sends the acknowledgment received in step 4 to the LMF entity via the Namf_N1 message Notify service.

[0063] In step 6 (optional), if the LMF entity knows the Internet Protocol (IP) address information of the UE, it can notify the UE of the establishment of a security user plane connection using the known UE's IP address.

[0064] In step 7 (optional), the UE establishes a secure user plane connection with the LMF entity. When the LMF entity sends its Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to the UE, the Domain Name System (DNS) server / resolver is used to parse the LMF entity's IP address (e.g., the edge application server discovery function (EASDF) or local DNS used for address parsing of the local LMF entity).

[0065] In step 8 (optional), the LMF entity informs the AMF in a Location User Plane Notification (Nmmf_Location_UP Notify) message that a user plane connection has already been established between the UE and the LMF.

[0066] In step 9 (optional), the AMF entity stores the Location Service User Plane (LCS-UP) connection context as part of the UE context.

[0067] In step 10, if an LMF entity or UE decides to perform positioning using a user plane connection and establishes a secure user plane connection, LTE positioning protocol (LPP) messages are transmitted between the UE and the LMF entity for UE-based positioning, UE-assisted positioning, and delivery of auxiliary data, and additional service event reporting messages from the UE can also be transmitted to the LMF entity via the established user plane connection.

[0068] Specifically, the user plane positioning connection establishment initiated by the terminal (UE-initiated LCS-UPP initiation) can be performed as shown in Figure 3.

[0069] The terminal sends a user plane positioning establishment request to the AMF entity, which in turn executes an LMF entity selection flow to select one suitable LMF entity for the current user plane positioning task and establishes a connection from the UE to the LMF entity in subsequent signaling.

[0070] As shown in Figure 3, the user plane positioning connection establishment flow initiated by the terminal may include at least one of the following steps:

[0071] In step 1, once the UE decides to prepare a user plane connection for an upcoming positioning request, it may send a user plane establishment request to the AMF entity via a NAS message.

[0072] In Step 2 (Optional), if the UE is allowed to use user plane positioning based on the UE's subscription, the AMF entity selects an LMF entity that can establish a user plane session with the UE for positioning.

[0073] In step 3 (optional), the AMF entity sends a Location User Plane Config (Nmmf_Location_UP Config) request to the LMF entity to request the establishment of an LCS-UP connection.

[0074] In step 4 (optional), if the LMF entity accepts user plane positioning and a secure user plane connection has not been established between the UE and the LMF entity, the LMF entity sends user plane information, including the LMF entity's user plane positioning address and security-related information, to the AMF entity to instruct the UE to accept user plane positioning.

[0075] In step 5 (optional), if the AMF entity receives user plane information from the LMF entity in step 4, it forwards the user plane information to the UE via a downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0076] In step 6 (optional), the UE establishes a security user plane connection with the LMF entity.

[0077] In step 7 (optional), the LMF entity responds to the AMF entity that a user plane connection has already been established between the UE and the LMF entity.

[0078] In step 8 (optional), the AMF entity stores the LCS-UP connection context as part of the UE context.

[0079] In step 9 (optional), after establishing a security user plane connection, if the LMF entity decides to perform positioning using the user plane connection after receiving a positioning request from the AMF entity, or if the UE decides to perform positioning using the user plane connection, LPP messages can be transmitted between the UE and the LMF entity for UE-based positioning, UE-assisted positioning, and delivery of auxiliary data, and additional service event reporting messages from the UE can also be transmitted to the LMF entity via the established user plane connection.

[0080] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the Security User Plane Location (SUPL) relating to this application will be described.

[0081] By encapsulating the control plane positioning protocol and providing positioning services using the data network without affecting the control plane, any changes to the service provider's infrastructure were uninstalled.

[0082] This is a standard protocol developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) organization, and SUPL was introduced into the NR architecture of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0083] As shown in Figure 4, in research architectures prior to Rel-18, the UE side has a SUPL Enabled terminal (SET) module (belonging to a functional module defined in OMA SUPL), and the network side has a SUPL location center (SLC) and a SUPL positioning center (SPC) located close to the location of the LMF entities (i.e., enabling rapid information interaction with the LMF), supporting interaction interfaces with LMF entities and Location Service (LCS) clients, and the transmission and communication of user plane positioning information is realized by the User Plane Function (UPF).

[0084] Specifically, as shown in Figure 4, the UE is connected to the Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) via the Uu interface, the NG-RAN is connected to the User Plane Function (UPF) via the N3 interface, and to the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) via the N2 interface, the AMF is connected to the LMF via the NLs interface, to the Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) via the NLg interface, and to the Unified Data Management (UDM) via the N8 interface, the UDM is connected to the GMLC via the NLh interface, the LMF is directly connected to the SPC, the SPC is connected to the SLC via the Llp interface, the SLC is connected to the LCS client via the Le interface, and the UPF is connected to the SLC via the N6 interface or the Lup interface.

[0085] In Figure 4, Lup and N6 refer to the same interface channel, differing only in their perspectives. Of these, the interface from the perspective of the 3GPP architecture is referred to as N6, while the interface from the perspective of the SUPL server's internal workings is referred to as Lup.

[0086] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the problem that this application aims to solve will be explained.

[0087] At present, there are likely two types of user plane positioning transmission protocols: one is SUPL, and the other is a standard Layer 3 protocol (e.g., Location Service User Plane Protocol (LCS-UPP)).

[0088] If both user-plane positioning transmission protocols can be deployed on the terminal and network sides, how to negotiate which user-plane positioning transmission protocol (which may also be called a protocol stack) to use in the end has not yet been considered.

[0089] Specifically, negotiation becomes an issue when both the terminal and network sides have two types of user-plane positioning transmission protocols that are selective. If side A (terminal or network side) requires two types of user-plane positioning transmission protocols, and side B (network or terminal side) has two types of user-plane positioning transmission protocols that are selective, then the problem arises of how to notify side A which user-plane positioning transmission protocol to use.

[0090] In view of the above issues, this application proposes a positioning negotiation method that allows the terminal side and the network side to negotiate and determine a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0091] To facilitate understanding of the technical proposal of the embodiment of this application, the technical proposal of this application will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments.

[0092] The following related technologies can be optionally combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

[0093] The embodiments of this application include at least some of the following:

[0094] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing a positioning negotiation method 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 5, the positioning negotiation method 200 may include at least some of the following:

[0095] In S210, the terminal device sends a first message to the first core network device to register with the network or establish a user plane positioning connection. Here, the first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, and the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designated protocol, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device.

[0096] Although Figure 5 shows the steps or operations of the positioning negotiation method 200, these steps or operations are merely illustrative, and it should be understood that the embodiments of this application may perform other operations or variations of each operation shown in Figure 5.

[0097] The transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information described in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a protocol stack for transmitting user plane positioning information or a user plane protocol stack, and is not limited thereto in the embodiments of the present application.

[0098] In this embodiment, two types of transmission protocols for transmitting user-plane positioning information (i.e., the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol) are described as examples. However, of course, the embodiment of this application can be applied to more (e.g., three, four, five, ..., etc.) types of transmission protocols for transmitting user-plane positioning information, and specifics can be found in the description of the embodiment of this application. For the sake of brevity, redundant explanations are omitted here.

[0099] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by 3GPP, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

[0100] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL), but of course, the first transmission protocol may be any other user plane positioning transmission protocol not defined by 3GPP.

[0101] In some embodiments, the second transmission protocol is the Location Services-User Plane Protocol (LCS-UPP), but of course, the second transmission protocol may be any other user plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

[0102] In the embodiments of the present invention, a terminal device may initiate or trigger the user plane positioning flow, or a network device (e.g., a second core network device) may initiate or trigger the user plane positioning flow.

[0103] In some embodiments, the first core network device may be a core network device such as an AMF entity, but of course, the first core network device may be any other core network device, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0104] In some embodiments, the second core network device establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device. For example, the second core network device is an LMF entity. Of course, the second core network device may be any other core network device, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0105] In some embodiments, the second core network device may be replaced by a third-party device (e.g., a Location Service (LCS) client) or a 5G Core Network (5GC) Network function (NF) entity (e.g., a Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF)).

[0106] In some embodiments, if the first message is for network registration, the first message includes the first capability.

[0107] In one embodiment, the first message may be a registration request message.

[0108] Specifically, the terminal device sends a registration request message to the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) in order to provide registration information and perform network registration, and the terminal device provides the first capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device) in the registration request message.

[0109] Specifically, for example, if the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning, the terminal device provides the first capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device) in the registration request message.

[0110] In some embodiments, if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the first capability, the first designation protocol, and the first acknowledgment information.

[0111] In some embodiments, if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message may also be a user plane positioning request message sent from the terminal device, in which case the first message may include the first capability and / or the first designation protocol.

[0112] In this case, it can be understood that the terminal device initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0113] In some embodiments, if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message may be a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message sent from the terminal device. In this case, the first message may include the first acknowledgment information, and optionally, the first message may further include the first capability and / or the first designation protocol.

[0114] In this case, it can be understood that the network side (e.g., an LMF entity) initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0115] In some embodiments, the first capability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol, and this includes, but is not limited to, one of these.

[0116] For example, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol. The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, or The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or The terminal device supports only the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol.

[0117] For example, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol. The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, or The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or The terminal device supports only the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol.

[0118] In some embodiments, the first capability may represent that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0119] In other words, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and / or a second transmission protocol.

[0120] For example, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol.

[0121] For example, if a terminal device supports user-plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol.

[0122] For example, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0123] In some embodiments, the first designated protocol is: This includes, but is not limited to, the first transmission protocol, the second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol.

[0124] For example, if the first message includes the first capability but does not include the first designated protocol, and the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and second transmission protocols, then by default the terminal device will transmit the user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols whichever it prefers to use.

[0125] For example, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol, one implementation is to use the first transmission protocol to transmit LPP messages and the second transmission protocol to transmit Location Service Supplementary service (LCS-SS) messages.

[0126] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol is: This includes, but is not limited to, the first transmission protocol, the second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol.

[0127] For example, if the second designated protocol includes the first and second transmission protocols, one implementation is to use the first transmission protocol to transmit LPP messages and the second transmission protocol to transmit Location Service Add-on Services (LCS-SS) messages.

[0128] In some embodiments, the first message includes the first acknowledgment information, and if the first acknowledgment information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol, the first message further includes a first cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

[0129] In some embodiments, the first cause includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: not supporting the second specified protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0130] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first cause value, the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0131] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first cause value includes not supporting the second designated protocol, and the second designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol.

[0132] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first cause value includes not supporting the second specified protocol, and the second specified protocol includes the second transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol.

[0133] Specifically, for example, if the first cause value includes not supporting the first transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol.

[0134] Specifically, for example, if the first cause value includes not supporting the second transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol.

[0135] In the embodiments of the present application, the first capability (i.e., the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device) and the user plane positioning capability of the terminal device differ in that the latter refers to the capability of whether or not to support user plane positioning, while the former refers to the use of a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the terminal device supports, given that it has the capability to support user plane positioning.

[0136] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first capability, the terminal device can indicate the first capability in 5G System Mobility Management (5GMM) capability.

[0137] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the 5GMM capability information element identity (IEI) can occupy bits 3 and 4 of octet 9* in the 5GMM capability IEI, as shown in Table 1, where bit 3 of octet 9* is the LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and bit 4 of octet 9* is the SUPL support (SUPLS) field. Specifically, as shown in Table 2, a value of 0 in the LCS-UPP Support (LUS) field indicates that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, a value of 1 in the LCS-UPP Support (LUS) field indicates that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, a value of 0 in the SUPL Support (SUPLS) field indicates that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, and a value of 1 in the SUPL Support (SUPLS) field indicates that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL.

[0138] The LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and the SUPL support (SUPLS) field may occupy other bits in octet 9*, or the LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and the SUPL support (SUPLS) field may occupy other octets, and are not limited to these in the embodiments of this application.

[0139] [Table 1] [Table 2]

[0140] Here, "This bit indicates the capability to support LCS-UPP protocol" indicates that the bit represents the ability to support the LCS-UPP protocol, and "This bit indicates the capability to support SUPL functionality" indicates that the bit represents the ability to support SUPL functionality.

[0141] For example, the specific meanings of the LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and the SUPL support (SUPLS) field do not necessarily have to be as shown in Table 2. For instance, a value of 1 in the LCS-UPP support field might indicate that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, a value of 0 in the LCS-UPP support field might indicate that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, a value of 1 in the SUPL support field might indicate that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, and a value of 0 in the SUPL support field might indicate that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL.

[0142] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, and assuming that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the terminal device may indicate the first designated protocol in the IE as shown in Table 3.

[0143] As shown in Table 3, the first designated protocol can occupy bits 1 and 2 in octet 1, where bit 1 is the LCS-UPP usage field and bit 2 is the SUPL usage field. Specifically, as shown in Table 4, a value of 1 for the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 0 for the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 1 for the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL, and a value of 0 for the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL.

[0144] The LCS-UPP field and the SUPL field may occupy other bits in octet 1, or they may occupy other octets; however, the embodiments of this application are not limited to this.

[0145] [Table 3] [Table 4]

[0146] Here, "This bit indicates whether the LCS-UPP protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning" indicates whether the LCS-UPP protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning, and "This bit indicates whether the SUPL protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning" indicates whether the SUPL protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning.

[0147] In the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal device can provide the network side with information regarding the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information via a first message. This allows the terminal and the network to negotiate and determine the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0148] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation method 200 is: The terminal device further includes receiving a second message from the first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. Here, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value. The second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device, and the second cause value is for specifying the cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device.

[0149] In some embodiments, if the second message is for network registration, the second message includes the second capability.

[0150] For example, the first message is a registration request message, and the second message is a registration accept message.

[0151] Specifically, the terminal device provides the first capability to the registration request message, and the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) stores the first capability as terminal context (UE context) information.

[0152] The first core network device sends a registration acceptance message to the terminal device to notify the terminal device of the registration result and / or control plane N1 connection information, and the first core network device causes the registration acceptance message to carry the second capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network).

[0153] Specifically, for example, if the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning, the first core network device carries the second capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the network) in the registration acceptance message.

[0154] In some embodiments, if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value.

[0155] In some embodiments, if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message may be a downlink non-access stratum (NAS) transmission message, for example, the second message may be a user plane positioning request message sent from the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity).

[0156] In this case, the second message may include the second capability and / or the second designation protocol, which can be carried, for example, by a payload container information element (IE) or other IE.

[0157] In this case, it can be understood that the network (e.g., an LMF entity) initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0158] In some embodiments, if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message may be a downlink NAS transmission message, for example, the second message may be a user plane positioning response message or user plane positioning reply message sent from the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity).

[0159] In this case, the second message may include the second cause value, and optionally, the second message may further include the second capability and / or the second designation protocol, for example, the second cause value, the second capability, the second designation protocol, etc., can be carried in a payload container IE or other IE.

[0160] In this case, it can be understood that the terminal device initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0161] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first capability, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has sent the first message, and the second message includes the second capability.

[0162] For example, the first message is a registration request message, and the second message is a registration accept message.

[0163] In other words, terminal devices and first core network devices (e.g., AMF entities) interact in the network registration process, each possessing the capability of a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information.

[0164] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received after the terminal device has sent the first message and is intended to indicate that the terminal device has accepted the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device, and the second message carries the second designated protocol.

[0165] For example, the first message is a user plane positioning request message, and the second message is a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message.

[0166] Selectively, the transmission protocols included in the second designated protocol and the transmission protocols included in the first designated protocol are the same, or the transmission protocols included in the second designated protocol and the transmission protocols included in the first designated protocol are different.

[0167] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has sent the first message and is intended to reject the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device, and the second message carries the second cause value.

[0168] For example, the first message is a user plane positioning request message, and the second message is a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message.

[0169] In some embodiments, if the first message contains the first acknowledgment information, the second message is received by the terminal device before it transmits the first message, and the second message carries the second designation protocol.

[0170] For example, the second message is a user plane positioning request message, and the first message is a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message.

[0171] In some embodiments, the second capability is The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, This includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0172] For example, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol means that The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, or The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or This includes the network supporting only the transmission of user plane positioning information via a first transmission protocol.

[0173] For example, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol means that The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, or The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using any other transmission protocol, or This includes the network supporting only the transmission of user plane positioning information via a second transmission protocol.

[0174] In some embodiments, the second capability represents that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the network supports user plane positioning capability.

[0175] For example, if a network supports user plane positioning capabilities, by default the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol.

[0176] For example, if the network supports user-plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol.

[0177] For example, if the network supports user-plane positioning capabilities, by default the network will support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0178] In some embodiments, the presence of at least one second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity) in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol. The presence of at least one second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity) in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol. The presence of at least one second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity) in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both a first and a second transmission protocol indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both a first and a second transmission protocol. The absence of any second core network devices (e.g., LMF entities) in the network that support user plane positioning functionality indicates that the network does not support user plane positioning capability.

[0179] In some embodiments, the network can be compelled to support the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol, or, if there are multiple second core network devices (e.g., LMF entities) in the network, and one second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and another second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol, the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0180] In some embodiments, if the network is instructed to support user-plane positioning capabilities but does not instruct the network to support the capabilities of a transmission protocol for transmitting user-plane positioning information that the network supports, it can be understood that the network supports the transmission of user-plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0181] In some embodiments, the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) directly carries the second capability in the registration acceptance message, without considering that the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates whether or not the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0182] In some embodiments, the second cause includes at least one of the following: not supporting the first designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, not supporting the second transmission protocol, and the second core network equipment being congested.

[0183] In some embodiments, if the second message carries the second cause value, the second message further includes transmission protocol information for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network.

[0184] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol is determined by the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) or the second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity).

[0185] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second capability, the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) can indicate the second capability in a 5G System (5GS) network feature support information element (IE).

[0186] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the 5GS network feature support IEI, as shown in Table 5, allows the second capability to occupy two bits (i.e., bits 1-2) in octet 6* of the 5GS network feature support IEI, where the two bits in octet 6* are the LCS-UP protocol field. The specific meaning of the LCS-UP protocol field is as shown in Table 6: a value of 00 in the LCS-UP protocol field indicates that the network does not support user plane positioning capability (LCS user plane protocol not supported); a value of 01 indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL (SUPL protocol supported); and a value of 10 indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP (LCS-UPP protocol supported). The value of the LCS-UP protocol field being 11 can be interpreted as indicating that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP (SUPL and LCS-UPP protocol supported).

[0187] The LCS-UP protocol field may occupy other bits in octet 6*, or it may occupy other octets, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0188] [Table 5] [Table 6]

[0189] Here, "LCS user plane protocol" refers to the LCS user plane protocol, and "This bit indicates the supported protocol to transfer location messages during LCS user plane positioning" indicates that this bit indicates the protocol to which location messages are supported during LCS user plane positioning.

[0190] For example, the specific meaning of the LCS-UP protocol field does not have to be as shown in Table 6. For instance, a value of 00 for the LCS-UP protocol field might indicate that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP (SUPL and LCS-UPP protocol supported), a value of 01 might indicate that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL (SUPL protocol supported), a value of 10 might indicate that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP (LCS-UPP protocol supported), and a value of 11 might indicate that the network does not support user plane positioning capabilities (LCS user plane protocol not supported).

[0191] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second capability, the second message further includes the user plane positioning capability supported by the network.

[0192] The user plane positioning capability supported by the network can occupy one bit in octet 6* of the 5GS network feature support IEI (i.e., bit 3 in Table 7), as shown in Table 7. Here, bit 3 in octet 6* is the LCS-UP support field, and as shown in Table 8, a value of 0 for the LCS-UP support field indicates that the network does not support user plane positioning capability (User Plane protocol not supported), and a value of 1 for the LCS-UP support field indicates that the network supports user plane positioning capability (User Plane protocol supported).

[0193] The LCS-UP support field may occupy other bits in octet 6*, or it may occupy other octets, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0194] [Table 7] [Table 8]

[0195] Here, "This bit indicates the capability to support 5G location service via user plane positioning" indicates that this bit represents the ability to support 5G location services via user plane positioning.

[0196] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second designated protocol, the second message can transmit the protocol information specified in the terminal policy flow (i.e., the second designated protocol) to terminal equipment such as a terminal policy (UE policy) or a policy dedicated to user plane positioning.

[0197] One implementation would involve occupying a new bit on top of the current encoding, where a value of 1 indicates that the user plane positioning message is to be transmitted using the SUPL protocol, and a value of 0 indicates that the user plane positioning message is to be transmitted using the LCS-UPP protocol.

[0198] The reverse is also true, and this is not limited to the embodiments of this application.

[0199] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second designated protocol, assuming the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the first core network device may indicate the second designated protocol in an IE as shown in Table 9.

[0200] As shown in Table 9, the second designated protocol may occupy bits 1 and 2 in octet 1, where bit 1 is the LCS-UPP usage field and bit 2 is the SUPL usage field. Specifically, as shown in Table 10, a value of 1 for the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 0 for the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 1 for the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL, and a value of 0 for the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL.

[0201] The LCS-UPP field and the SUPL field may occupy other bits in octet 1, or they may occupy other octets; however, the embodiments of this application are not limited to this.

[0202] [Table 9] [Table 10]

[0203] Here, "This bit indicates whether the LCS-UPP protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning" indicates whether the LCS-UPP protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning, and "This bit indicates whether the SUPL protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning" indicates whether the SUPL protocol is used for LCS-UP positioning.

[0204] In the embodiment of the present invention, the first core network device can provide terminal devices with information regarding a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information via a second message. This allows the terminal and network sides to negotiate and determine a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0205] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the terminal side and the network side can negotiate and determine the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information by interacting with each other regarding information about the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0206] The above describes in detail an embodiment of the terminal equipment side of the present application with reference to Figure 5. Below, the first embodiment of the core network equipment side of the present application will be described in detail with reference to Figure 6. Since the first embodiment of the core network equipment side corresponds to the embodiment of the terminal equipment side, similar descriptions can be found in the embodiment of the terminal equipment side.

[0207] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing a positioning negotiation method 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, the positioning negotiation method 300 may include at least some of the following:

[0208] In S310, the first core network device sends a second message to the terminal device to register with the network or establish a user plane positioning connection. Here, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value. The second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device, and the second cause value is for specifying the cause for the network rejecting a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device.

[0209] Although Figure 6 shows the steps or operations of the positioning negotiation method 300, these steps or operations are merely illustrative, and it should be understood that the embodiments of this application may perform other operations or variations of each operation shown in Figure 6.

[0210] The transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information described in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a protocol stack for transmitting user plane positioning information or a user plane protocol stack, and is not limited thereto in the embodiments of the present application.

[0211] In this embodiment, two types of transmission protocols for transmitting user-plane positioning information (i.e., the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol) are described as examples. However, of course, the embodiment of this application can be applied to more (e.g., three, four, five, ..., etc.) types of transmission protocols for transmitting user-plane positioning information, and specifics can be found in the description of the embodiment of this application. For the sake of brevity, redundant explanations are omitted here.

[0212] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by 3GPP, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

[0213] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL), but of course, the first transmission protocol may be any other user plane positioning transmission protocol not defined by 3GPP.

[0214] In some embodiments, the second transmission protocol is the Location Services-User Plane Protocol (LCS-UPP), but of course, the second transmission protocol may be any other user plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

[0215] In the embodiments of the present invention, a terminal device may initiate or trigger the user plane positioning flow, or a network device (e.g., a second core network device) may initiate or trigger the user plane positioning flow.

[0216] In some embodiments, the first core network device may be a core network device such as an AMF entity, but of course, the first core network device may be any other core network device, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0217] In some embodiments, the second core network device establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device. For example, the second core network device is an LMF entity. Of course, the second core network device may be any other core network device, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0218] In some embodiments, the second core network device may be replaced by a third-party device (e.g., a Location Services (LCS) client) or a 5GC NF entity (e.g., an NWDAF).

[0219] In some embodiments, if the second message is for network registration, the second message includes the second capability.

[0220] For example, the second message may be a registration accept message.

[0221] Specifically, the terminal device provides a first capability in a registration request message to specify a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, and the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) stores the first capability as terminal context (UE context) information.

[0222] The first core network device sends a registration acceptance message to the terminal device to notify the terminal device of the registration result and / or control plane N1 connection information, and the first core network device causes the registration acceptance message to carry the second capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network).

[0223] Specifically, for example, if the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning, the first core network device carries the second capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the network) in the registration acceptance message.

[0224] In some embodiments, if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value.

[0225] In some embodiments, if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message may be a user plane positioning request message sent from the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity), in which case the second message may include the second capability and / or the second designation protocol.

[0226] In this case, it can be understood that the network (e.g., an LMF entity) initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0227] In some embodiments, if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message may be a user plane positioning response message or user plane positioning reply message sent from the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity). In this case, the second message may include the second cause value, and optionally, the second message may further include the second capability and / or the second designation protocol.

[0228] In this case, it can be understood that the terminal device initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0229] In some embodiments, the second capability is The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, This includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0230] For example, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol means that The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, or The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or This includes the network supporting only the transmission of user plane positioning information via a first transmission protocol.

[0231] For example, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol means that The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, or The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, and the network does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using any other transmission protocol, or This includes the network supporting only the transmission of user plane positioning information via a second transmission protocol.

[0232] In some embodiments, the second capability represents that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the network supports user plane positioning capability.

[0233] For example, if a network supports user plane positioning capabilities, by default the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol.

[0234] For example, if the network supports user-plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol.

[0235] For example, if the network supports user-plane positioning capabilities, by default the network will support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0236] In some embodiments, the presence of at least one second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity) in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol. The presence of at least one second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity) in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol. The presence of at least one second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity) in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both a first and a second transmission protocol indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both a first and a second transmission protocol. The absence of any second core network devices (e.g., LMF entities) in the network that support user plane positioning functionality indicates that the network does not support user plane positioning capability.

[0237] In some embodiments, the network can be compelled to support the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol, or, if there are multiple second core network devices (e.g., LMF entities) in the network, and one second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and another second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second transmission protocol, the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0238] In some embodiments, if the network is instructed to support user-plane positioning capabilities but does not instruct the network to support the capabilities of a transmission protocol for transmitting user-plane positioning information that the network supports, it can be understood that the network supports the transmission of user-plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0239] In some embodiments, the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) directly carries the second capability in the registration acceptance message, without considering that the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates whether or not the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0240] In some embodiments, the second cause includes at least one of the following: not supporting the first designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, not supporting the second transmission protocol, and the second core network equipment being congested.

[0241] In some embodiments, if the second message carries the second cause value, the second message further includes transmission protocol information for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network.

[0242] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol is: This includes, but is not limited to, the first transmission protocol, the second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol.

[0243] For example, if the second designated protocol includes the first and second transmission protocols, one implementation is to use the first transmission protocol to transmit LPP messages and the second transmission protocol to transmit Location Service Add-on Services (LCS-SS) messages.

[0244] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol is determined by the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) or the second core network device (e.g., an LMF entity).

[0245] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second capability, the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) can indicate the second capability in 5GS network feature support IE.

[0246] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the 5GS network feature support IEI, as shown in Table 5 above, allows the second capability to occupy two bits (i.e., bits 1-2) in octet 6* of the 5GS network feature support IEI, where the two bits in octet 6* are the LCS-UP protocol field. The specific meaning of the LCS-UP protocol field is as shown in Table 6 above: a value of 00 in the LCS-UP protocol field indicates that the network does not support user plane positioning capability (LCS user plane protocol not supported); a value of 01 indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL (SUPL protocol supported); and a value of 10 indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP (LCS-UPP protocol supported). The value of the LCS-UP protocol field being 11 indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP (SUPL and LCS-UPP protocol supported).

[0247] The LCS-UP protocol field may occupy other bits in octet 6*, or it may occupy other octets, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0248] For example, the specific meaning of the LCS-UP protocol field does not have to be as shown in Table 6 above. For instance, a value of 00 for the LCS-UP protocol field might indicate that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP (SUPL and LCS-UPP protocol supported), a value of 01 might indicate that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL (SUPL protocol supported), a value of 10 might indicate that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP (LCS-UPP protocol supported), and a value of 11 might indicate that the network does not support user plane positioning capabilities (LCS user plane protocol not supported).

[0249] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second capability, the second message further includes the user plane positioning capability supported by the network.

[0250] The user plane positioning capability supported by the network can occupy one bit in octet 6* of the 5GS network feature support IEI (i.e., bit 3 in Table 7 above), as shown in Table 7 above. Here, bit 3 in octet 6* is the LCS-UP support field, and the specific meaning of the LCS-UP support field is as follows, as shown in Table 8 above: a value of 0 for the LCS-UP support field indicates that the network does not support user plane positioning capability (User Plane protocol not supported), and a value of 1 for the LCS-UP support field indicates that the network supports user plane positioning capability (User Plane protocol supported).

[0251] The LCS-UP support field may occupy other bits in octet 6*, or it may occupy other octets, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0252] In some embodiments, if the second message includes the second designated protocol, the second message can transmit the protocol information specified in the terminal policy flow (i.e., the second designated protocol) to terminal equipment such as a terminal policy (UE policy) or a policy dedicated to user plane positioning.

[0253] One implementation would involve occupying a new bit on top of the current encoding, where a value of 1 indicates that the user plane positioning message is to be transmitted using the SUPL protocol, and a value of 0 indicates that the user plane positioning message is to be transmitted using the LCS-UPP protocol.

[0254] The reverse is also true, and this is not limited to the embodiments of this application.

[0255] In some embodiments, assuming that when the second specified protocol is included in the second message, the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the first core network device can indicate the second specified protocol in the IE as shown in Table 9 above.

[0256] As shown in Table 9 above, the second specified protocol can occupy bits 1 and 2 in octet 1, where bit 1 is the LCS-UPP usage field and bit 2 is the SUPL usage field. Specifically, as shown in Table 10 above, a value of 1 in the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 0 in the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 1 in the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL, and a value of 0 in the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL.

[0257] Note that the LCS-UPP usage field and the SUPL usage field may occupy other bits in octet 1, or the LCS-UPP usage field and the SUPL usage field may occupy other octets, and this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0258] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation method 300 is further including the first core network device receiving a first message for establishing network registration or user plane positioning connection from the terminal device. Here, the first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, and the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol.

[0259] In some embodiments, if the first message is for network registration, the first message includes the first capability.

[0260] For example, the first message may be a registration request message.

[0261] Specifically, the terminal device sends a registration request message to the first core network device (e.g., an AMF entity) in order to provide registration information and perform network registration, and the terminal device provides the first capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device) in the registration request message.

[0262] Specifically, for example, if the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning, the terminal device provides the first capability (i.e., a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device) in the registration request message.

[0263] In some embodiments, if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the first capability, the first designation protocol, and the first acknowledgment information.

[0264] In some embodiments, if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message may also be a user plane positioning request message sent from the terminal device, in which case the first message may include the first capability and / or the first designation protocol.

[0265] In this case, it can be understood that the terminal device initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0266] In some embodiments, if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message may be a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message sent from the terminal device. In this case, the first message may include the first acknowledgment information, and optionally, the first message may further include the first capability and / or the first designation protocol.

[0267] In this case, it can be understood that the network side (e.g., an LMF entity) initiates or triggers the user plane positioning flow.

[0268] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first capability, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has sent the first message, and the second message includes the second capability.

[0269] For example, the first message is a registration request message, and the second message is a registration accept message.

[0270] In other words, terminal devices and first core network devices (e.g., AMF entities) interact in the network registration process, each possessing the capability of a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information.

[0271] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received after the terminal device has sent the first message and is intended to indicate that the terminal device has accepted the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device, and the second message carries the second designated protocol.

[0272] For example, the first message is a user plane positioning request message, and the second message is a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message.

[0273] Selectively, the transmission protocols included in the second designated protocol and the transmission protocols included in the first designated protocol are the same, or the transmission protocols included in the second designated protocol and the transmission protocols included in the first designated protocol are different.

[0274] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has sent the first message and is intended to reject the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device, and the second message carries the second cause value.

[0275] For example, the first message is a user plane positioning request message, and the second message is a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message.

[0276] In some embodiments, when the first confirmation information is included in the first message, the second message is received by the terminal device before transmitting the first message, and the second message carries the second specified protocol.

[0277] For example, the second message is a user plane positioning request message, and the first message is a user plane positioning response message or a user plane positioning reply message.

[0278] In some embodiments, the first capability includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol.

[0279] Exemplarily, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol means that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol and does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, or the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol and does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information by other transmission protocols, or The terminal device supports only the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol.

[0280] For example, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol. The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, or The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or The terminal device supports only the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol.

[0281] In some embodiments, the first capability may represent that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0282] In other words, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and / or a second transmission protocol.

[0283] For example, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol.

[0284] For example, if a terminal device supports user-plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol.

[0285] For example, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0286] In some embodiments, the first designated protocol includes, but is not limited to, a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0287] For example, if the first message includes the first capability but does not include the first designated protocol, and the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and second transmission protocols, then by default the terminal device will transmit the user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols whichever it prefers to use.

[0288] For example, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol, one implementation is to transmit LPP messages using the first transmission protocol and location service supplementary service (LCS-SS) messages using the second transmission protocol.

[0289] In some embodiments, the first message includes the first acknowledgment information, and if the first acknowledgment information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol, the first message further includes a first cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

[0290] In some embodiments, the first cause includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0291] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first cause value, the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0292] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first cause value includes not supporting the second designated protocol, and the second designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol.

[0293] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first cause value includes not supporting the second specified protocol, and the second specified protocol includes the second transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol.

[0294] Specifically, for example, if the first cause value includes not supporting the first transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol.

[0295] Specifically, for example, if the first cause value includes not supporting the second transmission protocol, the first message further includes that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol.

[0296] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first capability, the terminal device can indicate the first capability in 5GMM capability.

[0297] Specifically, for example, assuming that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the 5GMM capability IEI can be such that the first capability occupies bits 3 and 4 of octet 9* in the 5GMM capability IEI, as shown in Table 1 above, where bit 3 of octet 9* is the LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and bit 4 of octet 9* is the SUPL support (SUPLS) field. Specifically, as shown in Table 2 above, a value of 0 in the LCS-UPP support field indicates that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, a value of 1 in the LCS-UPP support field indicates that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, a value of 0 in the SUPL support field indicates that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, and a value of 1 in the SUPL support field indicates that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL.

[0298] The LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and the SUPL support (SUPLS) field may occupy other bits in octet 9*, or the LCS-UPP support (LUS) field and the SUPL support (SUPLS) field may occupy other octets, and are not limited to these in the embodiments of this application.

[0299] For example, the specific meanings of the LCS-UPP support field and the SUPL support field do not necessarily have to be as shown in Table 2 above. For instance, a value of 1 for the LCS-UPP support field might indicate that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, a value of 0 for the LCS-UPP support field might indicate that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, a value of 1 for the SUPL support field might indicate that the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, and a value of 0 for the SUPL support field might indicate that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL.

[0300] In some embodiments, the terminal device can transmit the registration request message, in which the first capability is carried in the initial registration and periodic update flow.

[0301] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, and assuming that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP, the terminal device may indicate the first designated protocol in the IE as shown in Table 3 above.

[0302] As shown in Table 3 above, the first designated protocol may occupy bits 1 and 2 in octet 1, where bit 1 is the LCS-UPP usage field and bit 2 is the SUPL usage field. Specifically, as shown in Table 4 above, a value of 1 for the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 0 for the LCS-UPP usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using LCS-UPP, a value of 1 for the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device wishes to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL, and a value of 0 for the SUPL usage field indicates that the terminal device does not wish to transmit user plane positioning information using SUPL.

[0303] The LCS-UPP field and the SUPL field may occupy other bits in octet 1, or they may occupy other octets; however, the embodiments of this application are not limited to this.

[0304] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation method 300 is The first core network device selects a second core network device to establish a user plane positioning connection between the at least one second core network device and the terminal device, based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device, and / or The first core network device further determines the second designated protocol based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device.

[0305] In some embodiments, the first core network device may acquire and store, by means of local configuration or Network Repository Function (NRF) entity querying, the transmission protocols for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the at least one second core network device, thereby enabling the first core network device to provide network-supported protocol information to terminal devices by providing the second capability.

[0306] In some embodiments, the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the second core network device includes one of the following: the second core network device does not support user plane positioning capabilities; the second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol; the second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol; or the second core network device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both the first and second transmission protocols.

[0307] Furthermore, the transmission protocols for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by different second core network devices may be the same or different.

[0308] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, the first core network device selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol and establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0309] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, the first core network device selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol and establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0310] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and second transmission protocols, the first core network device selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols to establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0311] For example, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the first core network device preferentially selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0312] Of course, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device, or the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and second transmission protocols and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0313] For example, if the first designated protocol includes the second transmission protocol, the first core network device preferentially selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0314] Of course, if the first designated protocol includes the second transmission protocol, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device, or the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using both the first and second transmission protocols and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0315] For example, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, the first core network device can select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0316] Of course, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0317] For example, if the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and / or second transmission protocols, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0318] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the first core network device selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0319] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and the first designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the first core network device can preferentially select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0320] Of course, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device, or the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0321] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, and the first designated protocol includes the second transmission protocol, the first core network device selects one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, and establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0322] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and the first designated protocol includes the second transmission protocol, the first core network device can preferentially select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0323] Of course, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device, or the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0324] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and the first designated protocol includes the first or second transmission protocol, the first core network device can select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first or second transmission protocol, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0325] Of course, the first core network device may select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0326] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and second transmission protocols, and the first designated protocol includes the first and second transmission protocols, the first core network device can select one second core network device from the at least one second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols to establish a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device.

[0327] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol, and at least one second core network device has a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first transmission protocol, or at least one second core network device has a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both the first and second transmission protocols, then the first core network device determines that the second designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol.

[0328] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and there is no second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, nor is there a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using both the first and second transmission protocols, then the first core network device will not determine the second designated protocol, or the first core network device will determine that the second designated protocol does not exist.

[0329] Selectively, in this case, the first core network device may be instructed to reject a user plane connection establishment request initiated by a terminal device or a second core network device.

[0330] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, and at least one second core network device has a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, or at least one second core network device has a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both the first and second transmission protocols, then the first core network device determines that the second designated protocol includes the second transmission protocol.

[0331] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol, and neither the second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second transmission protocol nor the second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and second transmission protocols exists among the at least one second core network device, then the first core network device does not determine the second designated protocol, or the first core network device determines that the second designated protocol does not exist.

[0332] Selectively, in this case, the first core network device may be instructed to reject a user plane connection establishment request initiated by a terminal device or a second core network device.

[0333] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and the at least one second core network device is a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, the first core network device determines that the second designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol.

[0334] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and the at least one second core network device is a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, the first core network device determines that the second designated protocol includes the second transmission protocol.

[0335] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and at least one of the second core network devices includes a second core network device that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, the first core network device determines that the second designated protocol includes the first transmission protocol, the second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0336] For example, if the first capability includes the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first and second transmission protocols, and there are no second core network devices that support user plane positioning capability among all second core network devices, the first core network device will not determine the second designated protocol, or the first core network device will determine that the second designated protocol does not exist.

[0337] Selectively, in this case, the first core network device may be instructed to reject a user plane connection establishment request initiated by a terminal device or a second core network device.

[0338] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation method 300 is The first core network device further includes receiving a third message from a second core network device, wherein the third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection and includes the second designation protocol.

[0339] Specifically, if the second message includes the second specified protocol, the first core network device receives the third message from the second core network device before sending the second message.

[0340] In some embodiments, the third message may not include the second designated protocol, in which case the second core network device supports the transmission protocol for all user plane positioning information by default.

[0341] In some embodiments, the third message may further carry at least one of the following: an identifier for the terminal device (e.g., UE ID), security key information, or the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the second core network device.

[0342] Of course, other information may be carried in the third message, but this is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0343] In some embodiments, after the first core network device receives the third message, the positioning negotiation method 300 performs the following actions: The first core network device further includes sending a fourth message to the second core network device. Here, the fourth message includes a second confirmation message to indicate whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol.

[0344] For example, the first core network device may determine the second confirmation information based on the first confirmation information, or the information included in the second confirmation information may be the same as that in the first confirmation information.

[0345] In some embodiments, the fourth message may indicate whether or not the user plane positioning connection has been successfully established.

[0346] For example, if the second confirmation information is intended to instruct the terminal device to accept the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message may indicate that the user plane positioning connection has been successfully established.

[0347] For example, if the second confirmation information is intended to instruct the terminal device to refuse the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message may indicate that the establishment of the user plane positioning connection was unsuccessful.

[0348] In some embodiments, if the second confirmation information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message further includes a third cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol.

[0349] For example, the first core network device may determine the third cause value based on the first cause value, or the information included in the third cause value may be the same as that in the first cause value.

[0350] In some embodiments, the third cause includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0351] In some embodiments, if the fourth message includes the third cause value, the fourth message further includes the first capability.

[0352] In some embodiments, before the first core network device receives the third message, the positioning negotiation method 300 performs the following actions: The first core network device further includes sending a fifth message to the second core network device, wherein the fifth message is for obtaining location information of the terminal device and includes the first capability.

[0353] In some embodiments, the second core network device that transmits the third message is selected by the first core network device from among the at least one second core network device based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device.

[0354] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first core network device can interact with terminal devices and / or a second core network device regarding information about a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, and the terminal side and the network side can negotiate and determine a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0355] The first embodiment of the core network equipment of the present application has been described in detail with reference to Figure 6. The second embodiment of the core network equipment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to Figure 7, but since the second embodiment of the core network equipment corresponds to the first embodiment of the core network equipment, similar descriptions can be found by referring to the first embodiment of the core network equipment.

[0356] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing a positioning negotiation method 400 according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in Figure 7, the positioning negotiation method 400 may include at least some of the following:

[0357] In S410, the second core network device sends a third message to the first core network device. Here, the third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection and includes a second designated protocol which includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information specified by the second core network device.

[0358] Although Figure 7 shows the steps or operations of the positioning negotiation method 400, these steps or operations are merely illustrative, and it should be understood that the embodiments of this application may perform other operations or variations of each operation shown in Figure 7.

[0359] The transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information described in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as a protocol stack for transmitting user plane positioning information or a user plane protocol stack, and is not limited thereto in the embodiments of the present application.

[0360] In this embodiment, two types of transmission protocols for transmitting user-plane positioning information (i.e., the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol) are described as examples. However, of course, the embodiment of this application can be applied to more (e.g., three, four, five, ..., etc.) types of transmission protocols for transmitting user-plane positioning information, and specifics can be found in the description of the embodiment of this application. For the sake of brevity, redundant explanations are omitted here.

[0361] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by 3GPP, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

[0362] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL), but of course, the first transmission protocol may be any other user plane positioning transmission protocol not defined by 3GPP.

[0363] In some embodiments, the second transmission protocol is the Location Services-User Plane Protocol (LCS-UPP), but of course, the second transmission protocol may be any other user plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

[0364] In some embodiments, the first core network device may be an AMF entity, but of course, the first core network device may be any other core network device, and is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0365] In some embodiments, the second core network device establishes a user plane positioning connection with the terminal device. For example, the second core network device is an LMF entity. Of course, the second core network device may be any other core network device, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0366] In some embodiments, the second core network device may be replaced by a third-party device (e.g., a Location Services (LCS) client) or a 5GC NF entity (e.g., an NWDAF).

[0367] In some embodiments, the third message is for requesting the establishment of a user plane positioning connection.

[0368] In other words, the second core network device (e.g., LMF entity) triggers or initiates the user plane positioning flow.

[0369] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0370] For example, if the second designated protocol includes the first and second transmission protocols, one implementation is to use the first transmission protocol to transmit LPP messages and the second transmission protocol to transmit Location Service Add-on Services (LCS-SS) messages.

[0371] In some embodiments, the third message may not include the second designated protocol, in which case the second core network device supports the transmission protocol for all user plane positioning information by default.

[0372] In some embodiments, the third message may further carry at least one of the following: an identifier for the terminal device (e.g., UE ID), security key information, or the IP address of the second core network device.

[0373] Of course, other information may be carried in the third message, but this is not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0374] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation method 400 is The second core network device further includes receiving a fourth message from the first core network device. Here, the fourth message includes a second confirmation message to indicate whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol.

[0375] In some embodiments, the fourth message may indicate whether or not the user plane positioning connection has been successfully established.

[0376] For example, if the second confirmation information is intended to instruct the terminal device to accept the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message may indicate that the user plane positioning connection has been successfully established.

[0377] For example, if the second confirmation information is intended to instruct the terminal device to refuse the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message may indicate that the establishment of the user plane positioning connection was unsuccessful.

[0378] In some embodiments, if the second confirmation information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message further includes a third cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol.

[0379] In some embodiments, the third cause includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0380] In some embodiments, the fourth message further includes a first capability to specify a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0381] In some embodiments, before the second core network device transmits the third message, the positioning negotiation method 400 performs the following actions: The second core network device further includes receiving a fifth message from the first core network device, wherein the fifth message is for obtaining location information of a terminal device and includes a first capability for specifying a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0382] In some embodiments, the first capability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, This includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0383] For example, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol. The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, or The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or The terminal device supports only the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol.

[0384] For example, the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol. The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, or The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol, and the terminal device does not support the transmission of user plane positioning information using other transmission protocols, or The terminal device supports only the transmission of user plane positioning information using the second transmission protocol.

[0385] In some embodiments, the first capability may represent that the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0386] In other words, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and / or a second transmission protocol.

[0387] For example, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol.

[0388] For example, if a terminal device supports user-plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user-plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol.

[0389] For example, if a terminal device supports user plane positioning capabilities, it will, by default, support the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0390] Therefore, in the embodiments of the present invention, the second core network device can interact with terminal devices and / or the first core network device regarding information about a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, and the terminal side and the network side can negotiate and determine a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of user plane positioning information.

[0391] The technical proposal of this application will be explained below using Examples 1 to 4 as examples.

[0392] When establishing a user plane positioning connection, positioning information is transmitted over the user plane resources using one or more types of transmission protocols (which may also be called a protocol stack).

[0393] In the following embodiment, we will explain using the example that the first core network device is an AMF entity and the second core network device is an LMF entity, and that the first transmission protocol is SUPL and the second transmission protocol is LCS-UPP.

[0394] Specifically, the terminal side and the network side can interact with each other regarding the transmission protocols for transmitting user plane positioning information that they support, and the AMF entity or LMF entity ultimately decides which transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information to select.

[0395] The following embodiments primarily focus on two flows: one in which the terminal initiates user plane positioning (Embodiment 1), and another in which the network initiates user plane positioning (Embodiments 2, 3, and 4).

[0396] Here, both Examples 1 and 2 determine the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the AMF entity will ultimately use, Example 3 determines the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the LMF entity will ultimately use, and Example 4 is in which the LMF entity locally determines the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information and returns a confirmation of whether the terminal device supports it.

[0397] Example 1: When the UE sends a user plane positioning request, the AMF entity determines the transmission protocol for transmitting the user plane positioning information that it will ultimately use, and specifically, this may include some or all of steps 1-0 to 1-7 as shown in Figure 8.

[0398] In step 1-0, the AMF entity retrieves and stores one or more transmission protocols for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the LMF entity supports, either through local configuration or NRF querying. Here, the transmission protocols for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the LMF entity supports include, but are not limited to, not supporting user plane positioning capability, supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, and supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0399] In Examples 2 and 3 below, this step was omitted, but it is still possible to obtain and store one or more transmission protocols for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the LMF entity, either through local settings or NEF queries.

[0400] In step 1-1, the terminal device (UE) sends a registration request message to the AMF entity in order to register with the network by providing registration information, and if the bit information that the terminal device has the terminal device carry in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability, the terminal device provides a first capability in the registration request message, wherein the first capability includes, but is not limited to, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, and the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0401] Furthermore, the first capability and user plane positioning capability differ in that the latter refers to the capability of supporting user plane positioning, while the former refers to the transmission protocol used to support the transmission of user plane positioning information, provided that the system has the capability to support user plane positioning.

[0402] Specifically, for example, a terminal device may indicate the first capability in 5GMM capability, or it may indicate the first capability using a new IE.

[0403] Selectively, the terminal device may send the registration request message in which the first capability is carried in the initial registration and periodic update flow.

[0404] In step 1-2, the AMF entity stores the first capability as terminal context (UE context) information.

[0405] The AMF entity sends a registration acceptance message to the terminal device to notify it of the registration result and control plane N1 connection details. If the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability, the AMF entity carries in the registration acceptance message a second capability and / or network-based user plane positioning support capability.

[0406] Here, the second ability is, The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, This includes, but is not limited to, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0407] Here, the network's ability to support user plane positioning is: The network supports user plane positioning, This includes, but is not limited to, the network not supporting user plane positioning.

[0408] In one implementation, the AMF entity does not carry the second capability in the registration acceptance message, but rather the network's ability to support user plane positioning, and when a terminal device receives the registration acceptance message, it can understand that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using all transmission protocols.

[0409] Furthermore, if there is at least one LMF entity in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL. If there is at least one LMF entity in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP. If there is at least one LMF in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP. If none of the LMFs in the network support user plane positioning functionality, it can be said that the network does not support user plane positioning capability.

[0410] In one implementation, the network can be forced to support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP. Alternatively, if multiple LMF entities exist in the network, and one LMF entity supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, and another LMF entity supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0411] Selectively, the AMF entity directly carries the second capability in the registration acceptance message, without considering that the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates whether or not the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0412] In one embodiment, the AMF entity indicates the second capability described above in 5GS network feature support IE.

[0413] In steps 1-3, if a terminal device wishes to use the user plane positioning function in subsequent use, the terminal device sends a user plane positioning request message to the network side, which carries a first designated protocol including a transmission protocol for transmitting the user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use (i.e., the terminal device triggers the user plane positioning flow).

[0414] Here, the first designated protocol is: SUPL and, LCS-UPP and, SUPL or LCS-UPP (Note that if the UE does not provide the first designated protocol and instructs the network to support SUPL and LCS-UPP, the network will, by default, have the terminal device support all protocols after receiving the user plane positioning establishment request message), This includes one of SUPL and LCS-UPP (this option is used when both the terminal and network sides support SUPL and LCS-UPP, with SUPL used to transmit LPP messages and LCS-SS messages used to transmit LCS-SS messages).

[0415] Furthermore, if steps 1-1 and 1-2 are performed, the terminal device will not be able to send a user plane positioning establishment request message (i.e., step 1-3) if it realizes that the transmission protocol supported by the network is different from the transmission protocol supported by the terminal device (for example, if the terminal device supports SUPL but the network supports LCS-UPP, or if the terminal device supports LCS-UPP but the network supports SUPL).

[0416] If both the network and the terminal support SUPL and LCS-UPP, the terminal device selectively provides the first designated protocol to the network.

[0417] In Step 1-4, the AMF entity is Considering the capabilities of the LMF user plane positioning protocol stack, the operation of selecting an LMF entity, Perform at least one of the following operations: determine a second designated protocol, which includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the AMF entity.

[0418] In one embodiment, a Policy Control Function (PCF) entity directs the second designation protocol in the relevant flow of the UE policy.

[0419] In steps 1-5 and 1-6, the AMF entity and the LMF entity interact with user plane positioning information.

[0420] In steps 1-7, if the network is able to provide user plane positioning services to the terminal, the AMF entity sends a user plane positioning reply message to the terminal device, which carries the second designated protocol and IP address information.

[0421] Here, the IP address information is used to represent the address of the LMF entity.

[0422] Here, the second designated protocol is: SUPL and, LCS-UPP and, This includes either SUPL or LCS-UPP (this option is used when both support two protocol stacks, and one implementation is to use SUPL to transmit LPP messages and LCS-UPP to transmit LCS-SS messages).

[0423] Specifically, if the network is unable to provide user plane positioning services to a terminal, the AMF entity sends a user plane positioning denial message to the terminal device, which carries a second cause value.

[0424] The second cause value is intended to indicate the reason why the network rejects the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by the terminal device.

[0425] Here, the second cause value includes at least one of the following: not supporting the first specified protocol, not supporting SUPL, not supporting LCS-UPP, and LMF entities being congested.

[0426] If the user plane positioning denial message selectively carries the second cause value, the user plane positioning denial message further includes transmission protocol information for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the network.

[0427] In this embodiment, the interaction of capabilities in steps 1-1 and 1-2, and the communication of the transmission protocol (which may also be called the protocol stack) in steps 1-3 and 1-7 will be described as follows.

[0428] 1) One of the following must be performed: capability interaction or transmission protocol communication. Failure to perform either of these will prevent the completion of the transmission protocol decision.

[0429] 2) If the UE or network indicates that it supports user plane positioning capabilities, it means that it supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via at least one transmission protocol (which may include supporting SUPL, supporting LCS-UPP, or supporting both SUPL and LCS-UPP).

[0430] 3) If interaction between abilities is required, steps 1-2 are mandatory.

[0431] Terminal devices must know the transmission protocols for transmitting positioning information that they themselves support, and the network must also know the transmission protocols for transmitting positioning information that it supports.

[0432] If the terminal supports transmission protocol A and the network supports transmission protocol A in step 1-2, the terminal can only use transmission protocol A and therefore does not need to carry subsequent information (or perform subsequent steps). If the terminal device supports transmission protocol A and the network supports transmission protocol B in step 1-2, the terminal device cannot send the user plane positioning request message in step 1-3. If the terminal device supports both transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B and supports transmission protocol A in step 1-2, the terminal device can only select and use transmission protocol A and does not need to carry subsequent information. If the terminal supports both transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B and supports both transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B in step 1-2, the selection of which transmission protocol to use for transmitting positioning information is realized on its own or determined by performing the transmission protocol communication in steps 1-3 and 1-7.

[0433] 4) If communication of the transmission protocol is essential, neither the terminal nor the network will know which transmission protocols the other supports until the connection is established without capability interaction. It is possible that they support only one type or both types, and both parties will ultimately need to decide which transmission protocol to use for transmitting positioning information by performing steps 1-3 / 1-7.

[0434] Example 2: When an LMF entity sends a user plane positioning request, the AMF entity determines the transmission protocol for transmitting the user plane positioning information that it will ultimately use, and specifically, as shown in Figure 9, this may include some or all of steps 2-1 to 2-8 as follows:

[0435] In step 2-1, the terminal device (UE) sends a registration request message to an AMF entity in order to register with the network by providing registration information, and if the bit information that the terminal device has carry in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability, the terminal device provides a first capability in the registration request message to indicate a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device supports, wherein the first capability includes, but is not limited to, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, and the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0436] Furthermore, the first capability and user plane positioning capability differ in that the latter refers to the capability of supporting user plane positioning, while the former refers to the transmission protocol used to support the transmission of user plane positioning information, provided that the system has the capability to support user plane positioning.

[0437] Specifically, for example, a terminal device may indicate the first capability in 5GMM capability, or it may indicate the first capability using a new IE.

[0438] Selectively, the terminal device may send the registration request message in which the first capability is carried in the initial registration and periodic update flow.

[0439] In step 2-2, the AMF entity stores the first capability as terminal context (UE context) information.

[0440] The AMF entity sends a registration acceptance message to the terminal device to notify it of the registration result and control plane N1 connection details. If the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability, the AMF entity carries in the registration acceptance message a second capability and / or network-based user plane positioning support capability.

[0441] Here, the second ability is, The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, This includes, but is not limited to, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0442] Here, the network's ability to support user plane positioning is: The network supports user plane positioning, This includes, but is not limited to, the network not supporting user plane positioning.

[0443] In one implementation, the AMF entity does not carry the second capability in the registration acceptance message, but rather the network's ability to support user plane positioning, and when a terminal device receives the registration acceptance message, it can understand that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using all transmission protocols.

[0444] Furthermore, if there is at least one LMF entity in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL. If there is at least one LMF entity in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP. If there is at least one LMF in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP. If none of the LMFs in the network support user plane positioning functionality, it can be said that the network does not support user plane positioning capability.

[0445] In one implementation, the network can be forced to support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP. Alternatively, if multiple LMF entities exist in the network, and one LMF entity supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, and another LMF entity supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0446] Selectively, the AMF entity directly carries the second capability in the registration acceptance message, without considering that the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates whether or not the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0447] In one embodiment, the AMF entity indicates the second capability described above in the 5GS network feature support IE.

[0448] In step 2-3, the LMF entity requests the establishment of a user plane positioning connection by sending a message to the AMF entity carrying a second designated protocol, UE ID, security key information, and LMF IP address, wherein the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information specified by the LMF entity.

[0449] If the aforementioned second designated protocol is not selectively carried, the AMF entity understands that the LMF entity supports all transmission protocols.

[0450] In step 2-4, the AMF entity performs a selection of a transmission protocol, taking into account a first capability in the stored UE context, where the first capability is to specify a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0451] In some embodiments, the first capability is, The aforementioned terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, The aforementioned terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, This includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0452] Specifically, examples of the transmission protocol selection operation include: if both the terminal and the network support transmission protocol A, transmission protocol A is selected as the transmission protocol and step 2-6 is executed; if one of them supports transmission protocol A and the other supports transmission protocol B, the transmission protocol specified by the LMF entity does not overlap with the transmission protocols currently supported by the UE, and step 2-5 is executed; if one of them supports transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B and the other supports transmission protocol A, transmission protocol A is selected for the transmission of user plane positioning information and step 2-6 is executed; and if both the terminal and the network support multiple protocols, the AMF entity selects a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information based on local policy and executes steps 2-6 to 2-8.

[0453] In step 2-5, if the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the LMF entity has specified to use does not overlap with the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the UE now supports, the AMF entity sends a notification message to the LMF entity carrying a third cause value, the third cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device has refused to transmit user plane positioning information using the second specified protocol.

[0454] Selectively, the third cause value includes one of the following: not supporting the second specified protocol, not supporting SUPL, and not supporting LCS-UPP.

[0455] Selectively, the notification message in step 2-5 further includes the first capability.

[0456] In step 2-6, if the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the LMF entity has specified to use overlaps with the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the UE now supports, the AMF entity sends a user plane positioning request message to the terminal that carries the second specified protocol.

[0457] The above-mentioned user plane positioning request message can be transmitted in two ways: one method is to use the payload container IE in the downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message, and the other method is to use a new IE in the downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0458] In step 2-7, the terminal device sends a user plane positioning reply message to the network side to confirm the user plane positioning request message in step 2-6 and establish a user plane resource.

[0459] Regarding the user plane positioning reply message mentioned above, one method is to transmit it using a new IE in the uplink NAS transmission (UL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0460] In step 2-8, the AMF entity sends confirmation information to the LMF entity indicating whether or not it has successfully established a user plane positioning connection.

[0461] In this embodiment, the interaction of capabilities in Step 1 / Step 2 and the verification of the transmission protocol (which may also be called the protocol stack) in Steps 2-6 will be described as follows.

[0462] 1) One of the following must be performed: capability interaction or confirmation of the transmission protocol. Failure to perform either of these steps will prevent the determination of the transmission protocol from being completed.

[0463] 2) If the UE indicates that it will support user plane positioning capability, it will support the transmission of user plane positioning information via at least one transmission protocol (which may include supporting SUPL, supporting LCS-UPP, or supporting both SUPL and LCS-UPP), and the final decision on which to use will be communicated in steps 2-6 to 2-8.

[0464] 3) If interaction between abilities is required, then step 2-1 is required.

[0465] The network itself knows the transmission protocols for transmitting positioning information that it supports using, but at the same time, it must also know the transmission protocols for transmitting positioning information that the terminals support using.

[0466] If the network supports transmission protocol A and the terminal supports transmission protocol A in step 2-1, then only transmission protocol A can be used, and therefore no subsequent information needs to be carried to the terminal. If the network supports only transmission protocol A and the terminal supports transmission protocol B in step 2-1, then AMF will refuse to provide user plane positioning service to the terminal in step 2-5 and will not perform step 2-6. If the network supports both transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B, and the terminal supports only transmission protocol A in step 2-1, then the network can only choose to use transmission protocol A and does not need to carry any subsequent information. If the network supports both transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B, and the terminal supports both transmission protocol A and transmission protocol B in step 2-1, then the choice of which transmission protocol to use for transmitting positioning information is determined on its own and notified to the terminal in step 2-6.

[0467] 4) If communication of the transmission protocol is essential, neither the terminal nor the network will know which protocol stack the other supports until the connection is established without capability interaction. Both parties may support only one type or both types, and both parties will ultimately need to decide which transmission protocol to use for transmitting positioning information by performing steps 2-6 and 2-7.

[0468] Example 3: When an AMF entity requests location information for a UE, it notifies the LMF entity of its first ability to specify a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, and the LMF entity determines the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information to use, which may specifically include some or all of the following steps 3-1 to 3-10, as shown in Figure 10.

[0469] In step 3-1, the terminal device (UE) sends a registration request message to the AMF entity in order to register with the network by providing registration information, and if the bit information that the terminal device has carry in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability, the terminal device provides a first capability in the registration request message, wherein the first capability includes, but is not limited to, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, and the terminal device supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0470] Furthermore, the first capability and user plane positioning capability differ in that the latter refers to the capability of supporting user plane positioning, while the former refers to the transmission protocol used to support the transmission of user plane positioning information, provided that the system has the capability to support user plane positioning.

[0471] Specifically, for example, a terminal device may indicate the first capability in 5GMM capability, or it may indicate the first capability using a new IE.

[0472] Selectively, the terminal device may send the registration request message in which the first capability is carried in the initial registration and periodic update flow.

[0473] In step 3-2, the AMF entity stores the first capability as terminal context (UE context) information.

[0474] The AMF entity sends a registration acceptance message to the terminal device to notify it of the registration result and control plane N1 connection details. If the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates that the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability, the AMF entity carries in the registration acceptance message a second capability and / or network-based user plane positioning support capability.

[0475] Here, the second ability is, The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, This includes, but is not limited to, the network supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0476] Here, the network's ability to support user plane positioning is: The network supports user plane positioning, This includes, but is not limited to, the network not supporting user plane positioning.

[0477] In one implementation, the AMF entity does not carry the second capability in the registration acceptance message, but rather the network's ability to support user plane positioning, and when a terminal device receives the registration acceptance message, it can understand that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using all transmission protocols.

[0478] Furthermore, if there is at least one LMF entity in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by SUPL. If there is at least one LMF entity in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by LCS-UPP. If there is at least one LMF in the network that supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP, it can be said that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by both SUPL and LCS-UPP. If none of the LMFs in the network support user plane positioning functionality, it can be said that the network does not support user plane positioning capability.

[0479] In one implementation, the network can be forced to support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP. Alternatively, if multiple LMF entities exist in the network, and one LMF entity supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL, and another LMF entity supports the transmission of user plane positioning information via LCS-UPP, the network will support the transmission of user plane positioning information via SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0480] Selectively, the AMF entity directly carries the second capability in the registration acceptance message, without considering that the bit information that the terminal device carries in the registration request message indicates whether or not the terminal device supports user plane positioning capability.

[0481] In one embodiment, the AMF entity indicates the second capability described above in the 5GS network feature support IE.

[0482] In step 3-3, the AMF entity receives a location request message for the 5G network element, which carries information such as the UE ID.

[0483] In step 3-4, the AMF entity selects one LMF entity and sends a location request determination message to the selected LMF entity, which carries the user plane positioning capability of the terminal device and the first capability.

[0484] In step 3-5, the LMF entity replies that it has received the location request determination message in step 3-4.

[0485] In step 3-6, the LMF entity stores the information from step 3-4.

[0486] The LMF entity then performs a selection of a transmission protocol and determines a second designated protocol, which includes the transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the LMF entity, taking into account the first capability and the transmission protocols for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the LMF entity itself supports.

[0487] Selectively, the second designated protocol is: This includes, but is not limited to, SUPL, LCS-UPP, SUPL or LCS-UPP, and one of SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0488] Furthermore, if the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal and the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the LMF entity do not overlap, the LMF entity cannot initiate the establishment of a user plane positioning connection with the terminal.

[0489] In step 3-7, the LMF entity requests the establishment of a user plane positioning connection by sending a Namf_communication_N1N2 transmission (user plane positioning request message) to the AMF entity, which carries the second designated protocol.

[0490] In step 3-8, the AMF entity sends a downlink NAS transmission (i.e., a user plane positioning request message) to the terminal carrying the second designated protocol.

[0491] The above-mentioned user plane positioning request message can be transmitted in two ways: one method is to use the payload container IE in the downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message, and the other method is to use a new IE in the downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0492] In step 3-9, the terminal device sends a user plane positioning reply message to the network side to confirm the user plane positioning request message in step 3-7 and establish a user plane resource.

[0493] Regarding the user plane positioning reply message mentioned above, one method is to transmit it using a new IE in the uplink NAS transmission (UL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0494] In step 3-10, the AMF entity sends confirmation information to the LMF entity indicating whether or not it has successfully established a user plane positioning connection.

[0495] Example 4: When an LMF entity initiates a user plane positioning request, without capability interaction, the LMF entity can directly select a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information, and the UE can subsequently accept or reject in its reply, specifically including some or all of steps 4-1 to 4-5 as shown in Figure 11.

[0496] In step 4-1, the LMF entity decides to use user plane positioning and selects what transmission protocol to use for transmitting user plane positioning information.

[0497] In step 4-2, the LMF entity requests the establishment of a user plane positioning connection by sending a user plane positioning request message to the AMF entity, which carries a second designated protocol, the second designated protocol including a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information specified by the LMF entity.

[0498] Selectively, the second designated protocol is: This includes, but is not limited to, SUPL, LCS-UPP, SUPL or LCS-UPP, and one of SUPL and LCS-UPP.

[0499] In step 4-3, the AMF entity sends a user plane positioning request message to the terminal, carrying the second designated protocol.

[0500] The above-mentioned user plane positioning request message can be transmitted in two ways: one method is to use the payload container IE in the downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message, and the other method is to use a new IE in the downlink NAS transmission (DL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0501] In step 4-4, the terminal device sends a user plane positioning reply message to the network side, which includes two types of messages: an acceptance message and a rejection message. Acceptance confirms that the user plane positioning request message in step 4-3 has been received and that user plane resources have been established.

[0502] The rejection message rejects the user plane positioning request message in step 4-3 and selectively carries a first cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device rejects the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

[0503] Selectively, the first cause value includes, but is not limited to, one of the following: not supporting the second specified protocol, not supporting SUPL, and not supporting LCS-UPP.

[0504] If the first message selectively includes the first cause value, the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0505] Regarding the user plane positioning reply message mentioned above, one method is to transmit it using a new IE in the uplink NAS transmission (UL NAS TRANSPORT) message.

[0506] Furthermore, the AMF entity does not store a first capability for specifying the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, nor a second capability for specifying the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the network.

[0507] Once the LMF entity has selected a transmission protocol based on local policies, it sends step 4-3 to the terminal.

[0508] Thus, after receiving the message in step 4-3, if the terminal discovers that it does not locally support the second specified protocol, it causes the reply message to carry the first cause value.

[0509] In steps 4-5, the AMF entity replies an acceptance or rejection message to the LMF entity, and selectively, if the terminal device does not support the second designated protocol, the transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device is stored in the LMF entity or the AMF entity.

[0510] In step 4-4, if the terminal device provides a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that it supports, the LMF entity can then have subsequent user plane positioning requests carry the supported transmission protocol.

[0511] The embodiments of the method of the present application have been described in detail above with reference to Figures 5 to 11. The embodiments of the apparatus of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 12 to 14. Since the embodiments of the apparatus correspond to the embodiments of the method, similar descriptions can be found in the embodiments of the method.

[0512] Figure 12 is a block diagram showing a positioning negotiation device 500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0513] As shown in Figure 12, the positioning negotiation device 500 is Includes a transmitting unit 510 for sending a first message to a first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. Here, the first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the positioning negotiation device 500 supports, the first designated protocol including a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the positioning negotiation device 500 wishes to use, the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the positioning negotiation device 500 accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designated protocol, the second designated protocol including a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device.

[0514] In some embodiments, the first capability is, The positioning negotiation device 500 supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The positioning negotiation device 500 supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The positioning negotiation device 500 includes one of the following: supporting the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0515] In some embodiments, the first designated protocol is: It includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0516] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol is: It includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0517] In some embodiments, the first message includes the first acknowledgment information, and if the first acknowledgment information indicates that the positioning negotiation device 500 refuses to transmit user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol, the first message further includes a first cause value indicating the reason why the positioning negotiation device 500 refuses the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

[0518] In some embodiments, the first cause includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0519] In some embodiments, the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the positioning negotiation device 500.

[0520] In some embodiments, if the first message is for network registration, the first message includes the first capability, or If the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message includes one or more of the first capability, the first designation protocol, and the first acknowledgment information.

[0521] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation device 500 is The system further includes a receiving unit 520 for receiving a second message from the first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. Here, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value. The second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, and the second cause value is for specifying the cause of the network rejecting a user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by the positioning negotiation device 500.

[0522] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first capability, the second message is received by the positioning negotiation device 500 after it has transmitted the first message, and the second message includes the second capability, or If the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received by the positioning negotiation device 500 after it has transmitted the first message and is intended to indicate acceptance of the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by the positioning negotiation device 500, and the second message carries the second designated protocol; or, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received by the positioning negotiation device 500 after it has transmitted the first message and is intended to indicate rejection of the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by the positioning negotiation device 500, and the second message carries the second cause value; or, If the first message contains the first confirmation information, the second message was received by the positioning negotiation device 500 before it transmitted the first message, and the second message carries the second designation protocol.

[0523] In some embodiments, the second capability is The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, This includes one of the following: the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0524] In some embodiments, the second capability represents that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the network supports user plane positioning capability.

[0525] In some embodiments, the second cause includes at least one of the following: not supporting the first designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, not supporting the second transmission protocol, and the second core network equipment being congested.

[0526] In some embodiments, if the second message carries the second cause value, the second message further includes transmission protocol information for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network.

[0527] In some embodiments, if the second message is for network registration, the second message includes the second capability, or If the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designated protocol, and the second cause value.

[0528] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol is determined by the first core network device or the second core network device.

[0529] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by the 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by the 3GPP.

[0530] In some embodiments, the transmitting and receiving units described above may be communication interfaces or transceivers, or they may be input / output interfaces of a communication chip or system-on-a-chip.

[0531] Furthermore, the positioning negotiation device 500 according to the embodiment of the present application can correspond to the terminal equipment in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the positioning negotiation device 500 are for realizing the corresponding flow of the terminal equipment in method 200 shown in Figure 5, respectively, so redundant explanations are omitted here for the sake of simplicity.

[0532] Figure 13 is a block diagram showing a positioning negotiation device 600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0533] As shown in Figure 13, the positioning negotiation device 600 is Includes a transmitting unit 610 for sending a second message to a terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. Here, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value. The second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the positioning negotiation device 600 or a second core network device, and the second cause value indicates the cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device.

[0534] In some embodiments, the second capability is The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, This includes one of the following: the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

[0535] In some embodiments, the second capability represents that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocols, by representing that the network supports user plane positioning capability.

[0536] In some embodiments, the second cause includes at least one of the following: not supporting the first designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, not supporting the second transmission protocol, and the second core network equipment being congested. Here, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use.

[0537] In some embodiments, if the second message carries the second cause value, the second message further includes transmission protocol information for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network.

[0538] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0539] In some embodiments, the second designation protocol is determined by the positioning negotiation device 600 or the second core network device.

[0540] In some embodiments, if the second message is for network registration, the second message includes the second capability, or If the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designated protocol, and the second cause value.

[0541] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation device 600 is The system further includes a receiving unit 620 for receiving a first message from the terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. Here, the first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, and the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol.

[0542] In some embodiments, if the first message includes the first capability, the second message is transmitted by the positioning negotiation device 600 after it has received the first message, and the second message includes the second capability, or If the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is transmitted by the positioning negotiation device 600 after receiving the first message and is intended to instruct the terminal device to accept the user plane positioning connection establishment request, and the second message carries the second designated protocol; or, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is transmitted by the positioning negotiation device 600 after receiving the first message and is intended to instruct the terminal device to reject the user plane positioning connection establishment request, and the second message carries the second cause value; or, If the first message contains the first confirmation information, the second message was transmitted by the positioning negotiation device 600 before it received the first message, and the second message carries the second designation protocol.

[0543] In some embodiments, the first capability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol, or one of these.

[0544] In some embodiments, the first designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0545] In some embodiments, the first message includes the first acknowledgment information, and if the first acknowledgment information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol, the first message further includes a first cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

[0546] In some embodiments, the first cause includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0547] In some embodiments, the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0548] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation device 600 further includes a processing unit 630. The processing unit 630 is for selecting a second core network device to establish a user plane positioning connection between the at least one second core network device and the terminal device, based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device, and / or The processing unit 630 is for determining the second designated protocol based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device.

[0549] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 620 is for receiving a third message from a second core network device before the positioning negotiation device 600 transmits the second message, the third message being for establishing a user plane positioning connection and including the second designation protocol.

[0550] In some embodiments, the transmitting unit 610 is also used to transmit a fourth message to the second core network device. Here, the fourth message includes a second confirmation message to indicate whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol.

[0551] In some embodiments, if the second confirmation information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message further includes a third cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol.

[0552] In some embodiments, the third cause includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0553] In some embodiments, the fourth message further includes the first capability.

[0554] In some embodiments, the transmitting unit 610 transmits a fifth message to the second core network device before the positioning negotiation device 600 receives the third message, wherein the fifth message is for obtaining location information of the terminal device, and includes the first capability.

[0555] In some embodiments, the second core network device is selected by the positioning negotiation device 600 from the at least one second core network device based on the first capability and / or the first designation protocol and a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the at least one second core network device.

[0556] In some embodiments, if the first message is for network registration, the first message includes the first capability, or If the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message includes one or more of the first capability, the first designation protocol, and the first acknowledgment information.

[0557] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by the 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by the 3GPP.

[0558] In some embodiments, the transmitting and receiving units described above may be communication interfaces or transceivers, or they may be input / output interfaces of a communication chip or system-on-a-chip.

[0559] The processing unit described above may be one or more processors.

[0560] Furthermore, the positioning negotiation device 600 according to the embodiment of the present application can correspond to the first core network device in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the positioning negotiation device 600 are for realizing the corresponding flow of the first core network device in method 300 shown in Figure 6, respectively, so redundant explanations are omitted here for simplicity.

[0561] Figure 14 is a block diagram showing a positioning negotiation device 700 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0562] As shown in Figure 14, the positioning negotiation device 700 is Includes a transmitting unit 710 for sending a third message to a first core network device, Here, the third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection and includes a second designated protocol which includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information specified by the positioning negotiation device 700.

[0563] In some embodiments, the second designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

[0564] In some embodiments, the positioning negotiation device 700 is Includes a receiving unit 720 for receiving a fourth message from the first core network device, Here, the fourth message includes a second confirmation message to indicate whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol.

[0565] In some embodiments, if the second confirmation information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol, the fourth message further includes a third cause value indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information using the second designated protocol.

[0566] In some embodiments, the third cause includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

[0567] In some embodiments, the fourth message further includes a first capability to specify a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0568] In some embodiments, the receiving unit 720 is for receiving a fifth message from the first core network device before the positioning negotiation device 700 transmits the third message, wherein the fifth message is for obtaining location information of a terminal device and includes a first capability to instruct a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

[0569] In some embodiments, the first capability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol, or one of these.

[0570] In some embodiments, the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by the 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by the 3GPP.

[0571] In some embodiments, the transmitting and receiving units described above may be communication interfaces or transceivers, or they may be input / output interfaces of a communication chip or system-on-a-chip.

[0572] Furthermore, the positioning negotiation device 700 according to the embodiment of the present application can correspond to the second core network device in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the positioning negotiation device 700 are for realizing the corresponding flow of the second core network device in method 400 shown in Figure 7, respectively, so redundant explanations are omitted here for simplicity.

[0573] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a communication device 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0574] The communication device 800 shown in Figure 15 includes a processor 810 that can implement the method in the embodiment of the present invention by calling and executing a computer program from memory.

[0575] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 15, the communication device 800 may further include a memory 820.

[0576] Here, the processor 810 can realize the method in the embodiment of the present invention by calling and executing a computer program from the memory 820.

[0577] Here, the memory 820 may be a separate device independent of the processor 810, or it may be integrated into the processor 810.

[0578] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 15, the communication device 800 may further include a transceiver 830, and the processor 810 can control the transceiver 830 to communicate with other devices, specifically to transmit information or data to other devices or to receive information or data transmitted from other devices.

[0579] Here, the transceiver 830 may include a transmitter and a receiver.

[0580] The transceiver 830 may further include antennas, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0581] In some embodiments, the processor 810 can implement the functions of a processing unit in a terminal device, or the processor 810 can implement the functions of a processing unit in a core network device; for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation of these is omitted here.

[0582] In some embodiments, the transceiver 830 can implement the functions of a transmitting unit and a receiving unit in a terminal device, and for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation of these functions will be omitted here.

[0583] In some embodiments, the transceiver 830 can implement the functions of a transmitting unit and a receiving unit in a core network device, and for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation of these will be omitted here.

[0584] In some embodiments, the communication device 800 may specifically be the core network device in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 800 can realize the corresponding flow realized by the core network device in each method of the embodiments of the present application, and for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation is omitted here.

[0585] In some embodiments, the communication device 800 may specifically be a terminal device in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 800 can realize the corresponding flow realized by the terminal device in each method in the embodiments of the present application, and for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation is omitted here.

[0586] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0587] The apparatus 900 shown in Figure 16 includes a processor 910 that can implement the method in the embodiment of the present application by calling and executing a computer program from memory.

[0588] In some embodiments, the device 900 may further include a memory 920, as shown in Figure 16.

[0589] Here, the processor 910 can realize the method in the embodiment of the present invention by calling and executing a computer program from the memory 920.

[0590] Here, the memory 920 may be a separate device independent of the processor 910, or it may be integrated into the processor 910.

[0591] In some embodiments, the processor 910 can implement the functions of a processing unit in a terminal device, or the processor 910 can implement the functions of a processing unit in a core network device; for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation of these is omitted here.

[0592] In some embodiments, the device 900 may further include an input interface 930.

[0593] Here, the processor 910 can control the input interface 930 to communicate with other devices or chips and to specifically acquire information or data transmitted from those other devices or chips.

[0594] Selectively, the processor 910 may be located on or off the chip.

[0595] In some embodiments, the input interface 930 can implement the functionality of a receiving unit in a terminal device, or the input interface 930 can implement the functionality of a receiving unit in a core network device.

[0596] In some embodiments, the device 900 may further include an output interface 940.

[0597] Here, the processor 910 can control the output interface 940 to communicate with other devices or chips and specifically output information or data to those other devices or chips.

[0598] Selectively, the processor 910 may be located on or off the chip.

[0599] In some embodiments, the output interface 940 can implement the functionality of a transmitting unit in terminal equipment, or the output interface 940 can implement the functionality of a transmitting unit in core network equipment.

[0600] In some embodiments, the device may be applied to the core network equipment in the embodiments of the present application, and the device can implement the corresponding flows realized by the core network equipment in each method of the embodiments of the present application, and for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation is omitted here.

[0601] In some embodiments, the device may be applied to the terminal equipment in the embodiments of the present application, and the device can implement the corresponding flow realized by the terminal equipment in each method of the embodiments of the present application, and for the sake of simplicity, a redundant explanation is omitted here.

[0602] In some embodiments, the apparatus described in the embodiments of the present application may be a chip.

[0603] For example, it may be called a system-level chip, system chip, chip system, or system-on-a-chip.

[0604] Figure 17 is a block diagram showing a communication system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0605] As shown in Figure 17, the communication system 1000 includes terminal equipment 1010 and core network equipment 1020.

[0606] Here, the terminal device 1010 can be used to implement the corresponding function realized by the terminal device in the above method, and the core network device 1020 can be used to implement the corresponding function realized by the core network device (first core network device and / or second core network device) in the above method, and for the sake of simplicity, the redundant explanation is omitted here.

[0607] The processor in the embodiment of this application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability.

[0608] In the implementation process, each step in the above-described method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits or software-based instructions in the processor.

[0609] The above-mentioned processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component.

[0610] Each method, step, and logic block diagram disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or executed.

[0611] The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or it may be any ordinary processor.

[0612] The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application may be directly expressed as being completed by execution by a hardware decoder processor or by execution by a combination of hardware and software modules in a decoder processor.

[0613] The software module may reside in a storage medium that is well-established in this field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers.

[0614] The storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads the information in memory and combines it with its hardware to complete the steps of the method described above.

[0615] It should be understood that the memory in the embodiment of this application may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory.

[0616] The memories described herein are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0617] The above-mentioned memory is merely illustrative and not restrictive. For example, the memory in the embodiment of this application may be static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synch link DRAM, SLDRAM), and direct Rambus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DRRAM).

[0618] In other words, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0619] Those skilled in the art will be able to conceive that each example unit and algorithmic step described with reference to the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware.

[0620] Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the proposed technology.

[0621] While expert technicians may achieve the described functions by using different methods for their respective specific applications, such achievements should be considered not to exceed the scope of this invention.

[0622] To simplify and streamline the explanation, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the specific operating processes of the systems, apparatus, and units described above can be found by referring to the corresponding processes in the previously described method embodiments; therefore, a detailed explanation is omitted here.

[0623] It should be understood that the systems, apparatus, and methods disclosed in some embodiments provided by this application may be implemented in other ways.

[0624] For example, the embodiments of the apparatus described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of the units is merely a division of logical functions, and in actual implementation, they may be divided in a different form; for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some of their features may be omitted or not performed.

[0625] Furthermore, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communicative connection described or considered can be realized by interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communicative connection of devices or units can be realized by electrical, mechanical, or other means.

[0626] The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units.

[0627] Depending on actual demand, some or all of these units can be selected to achieve the objectives of the technical proposal of this embodiment.

[0628] Furthermore, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist individually in physical form, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit.

[0629] If the aforementioned functions are implemented in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, they may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0630] Based on this understanding, the proposed technology of the present application may be embodied as a software product, which may be an essential or prior art contribution or a part of the proposed technology, and which is stored on a storage medium and includes some instructions for causing a computer (such as a personal computer, server, or network device) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0631] The aforementioned storage media include various media capable of storing program code, such as U disks, removable hard disks, ROM (Read-Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0632] The above are merely specific embodiments of the present application, and the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that a person skilled in the art can easily conceive within the scope of the art disclosed herein should be included within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0633] Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection defined in the claims.

Claims

1. This includes the terminal device sending a first message to a first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection, The first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. A positioning negotiation method comprising: the first capability for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designated protocol including a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, the first confirmation information for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designated protocol, and the second designated protocol including a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device.

2. The first ability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

3. The first designated protocol is, The method according to claim 1, comprising a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol.

4. The second specified protocol is: The method according to claim 1, comprising a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first transmission protocol or the second transmission protocol, and one of the first transmission protocol and the second transmission protocol.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first message includes the first acknowledgment information, and if the first acknowledgment information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol, the first message further includes a first cause value for indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first cause value includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

8. If the first message is for network registration, the first message includes the first capability, or The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message includes one or more of the first capability, the first designation protocol, and the first acknowledgment information.

9. The terminal device further includes receiving a second message from the first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. The second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the second capability is for indicating a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, and the second cause value is for indicating a cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device.

10. If the first message includes the first capability, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has transmitted the first message, and the second message includes the second capability, or If the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has transmitted the first message and is intended to instruct the terminal device to accept the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by it, and the second message carries the second designated protocol; or, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is received by the terminal device after it has transmitted the first message and is intended to instruct the terminal device to reject the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by it, and the second message carries the second cause value; or, The method according to claim 9, wherein if the first message includes the first confirmation information, the second message was received by the terminal device before it transmitted the first message, and the second message carries the second designated protocol.

11. The second ability described above is, The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second capability represents that the network supports user plane positioning capability, thereby representing that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocol.

13. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the second cause includes at least one of not supporting the first designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, not supporting the second transmission protocol, and the second core network equipment being congested.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein if the second message carries the second cause value, the second message further includes transmission protocol information for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network.

15. If the second message is for network registration, the second message includes the second capability, or The method according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the second designated protocol is determined by the first core network device or the second core network device.

17. The method according to claim 2, 3, 4, 11, or 12, wherein the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project 3GPP, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

18. The method according to claim 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, or 17, wherein the first transmission protocol is a security user plane location SUPL, and the second transmission protocol is a location service-user plane protocol LCS-UPP.

19. The first core network device sends a second message to the terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection, The second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value. A positioning negotiation method wherein the second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information designated by the first or second core network device, and the second cause value is for specifying the cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device.

20. The second ability described above is, The network does not support user plane positioning capabilities, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using the first transmission protocol, The network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The method according to claim 19, comprising one of the following: the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the second capability indicates that the network supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by the first and / or second transmission protocol, by indicating that the network supports user plane positioning capability.

22. The second cause includes at least one of the following: not supporting the first designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, not supporting the second transmission protocol, and the second core network equipment being congested. The method according to claim 19, wherein the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein if the second message carries the second cause value, the second message further includes transmission protocol information for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network.

24. The method according to claim 19, wherein the second designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

25. The method according to claim 19, wherein the second designated protocol is determined by the first core network device or the second core network device.

26. If the second message is for network registration, the second message includes the second capability, or The method according to any one of claims 19 to 25, wherein if the second message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value.

27. The first core network device further includes receiving a first message from the terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. The first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 26, wherein the first capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device, the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the terminal device wishes to use, and the first confirmation information is for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol.

28. If the first message contains the first capability, the second message is transmitted by the first core network device after it has received the first message, and the second message contains the second capability, or If the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is transmitted by the first core network device after it has received the first message and is intended to instruct the device to accept the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by the terminal device, and the second message carries the second designated protocol; or, if the first message includes the first designated protocol, the second message is transmitted by the first core network device after it has received the first message and is intended to instruct the device to reject the user plane positioning connection establishment request initiated by the terminal device, and the second message carries the second cause value; or, The method according to claim 27, wherein if the first message contains the first acknowledgment information, the second message was sent by the first core network device before it received the first message, and the second message carries the second designated protocol.

29. The first ability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

30. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the first designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

31. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the first message includes the first acknowledgment information, and if the first acknowledgment information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol, the first message further includes a first cause value for indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses the request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the network.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the first cause value includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein the first message further includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

34. The first core network device selects a second core network device to establish a user plane positioning connection between the at least one second core network device and the terminal device, based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device, and / or The method according to any one of claims 27 to 33, further comprising the first core network device determining the second designated protocol based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device.

35. Before the first core network device transmits the second message, The method according to any one of claims 27 to 33, further comprising the first core network device receiving a third message from a second core network device, the third message being for establishing a user plane positioning connection and including the second designated protocol.

36. The first core network device further includes sending a fourth message to the second core network device. The method according to claim 35, wherein the fourth message includes a second confirmation information for instructing the terminal device whether to accept or reject the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein if the second confirmation information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol, the fourth message further includes a third cause value for indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein the third cause value includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein the fourth message further includes the first capability.

40. Before the first core network device receives the third message, The method according to any one of claims 35 to 39, further comprising the first core network device transmitting a fifth message to the second core network device, wherein the fifth message is for obtaining location information of the terminal device, and includes the first capability.

41. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 40, wherein the second core network device is selected from the at least one second core network device based on the first capability and / or the first designated protocol and a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by at least one second core network device.

42. If the first message is for network registration, the first message includes the first capability, or The method according to any one of claims 27 to 41, wherein if the first message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, the first message includes one or more of the first capability, the first designation protocol, and the first acknowledgment information.

43. The method according to claim 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 32, 33, 38 or 39, wherein the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project 3GPP, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

44. The method according to claim 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 32, 33, 38, 39, or 43, wherein the first transmission protocol is a security user plane location SUPL, and the second transmission protocol is a location service-user plane protocol LCS-UPP.

45. This includes the second core network device sending a third message to the first core network device, The third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection, and the positioning negotiation method includes a second designation protocol which includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information designated by the second core network device.

46. The method according to claim 45, wherein the second designated protocol includes a first transmission protocol, a second transmission protocol, the first or second transmission protocol, and one of the first and second transmission protocols.

47. The second core network device further includes receiving a fourth message from the first core network device. The method according to claim 45 or 46, wherein the fourth message includes a second confirmation information for indicating whether the terminal device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by the second designated protocol.

48. The method according to claim 47, wherein if the second confirmation information indicates that the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol, the fourth message further includes a third cause value for indicating the reason why the terminal device refuses to transmit user plane positioning information according to the second designated protocol.

49. The method according to claim 48, wherein the third cause value includes one of not supporting the second designated protocol, not supporting the first transmission protocol, and not supporting the second transmission protocol.

50. The method according to claim 49, wherein the fourth message further includes a first ability to instruct a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

51. Before the second core network device transmits the third message, The method according to any one of claims 45 to 50, further comprising the second core network device receiving a fifth message from the first core network device, the fifth message being for obtaining location information of a terminal device, and including a first ability to instruct a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the terminal device.

52. The first ability is, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a first transmission protocol, The terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information using a second transmission protocol, The method according to claim 50 or 51, wherein the terminal device supports the transmission of user plane positioning information by a first transmission protocol and a second transmission protocol.

53. The method according to claim 46, 49, 50, or 52, wherein the first transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol not developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project 3GPP, and the second transmission protocol is a user-plane positioning transmission protocol developed by 3GPP.

54. The method according to claim 46, 49, 50, 52, or 53, wherein the first transmission protocol is a security user plane location SUPL, and the second transmission protocol is a location service-user plane protocol LCS-UPP.

55. A positioning negotiation device, Includes a transmission unit for sending a first message to a first core network device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection. The first message includes one or more of the following: a first capability, a first designation protocol, and first acknowledgment information. The positioning negotiation device is characterized by a first capability for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the positioning negotiation device supports, wherein the first designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information that the positioning negotiation device wishes to use, and the first confirmation information for indicating whether the positioning negotiation device accepts or rejects the transmission of user plane positioning information by a second designated protocol, wherein the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the first or second core network device.

56. A positioning negotiation device, Includes a transmission unit for sending a second message to a terminal device for network registration or establishing a user plane positioning connection, The second message includes one or more of the second capability, the second designation protocol, and the second cause value. The second capability is for specifying a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information supported by the network, the second designated protocol includes a transmission protocol for the transmission of user plane positioning information specified by the positioning negotiation device or a second core network device, and the second cause value is for specifying the cause for the network to reject a request to establish a user plane positioning connection initiated by the terminal device, positioning negotiation device.

57. A positioning negotiation device, Includes a transmission unit for sending a third message to a first core network device, The third message is for establishing a user plane positioning connection and includes a second designated protocol which includes a transmission protocol for transmitting user plane positioning information specified by the positioning negotiation device.

58. A terminal device comprising memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 are realized.

59. A core network device which is a first core network device, comprising: memory; a processor; and a computer program stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 19 to 44 are realized.

60. A core network device which is a second core network device, comprising: memory; a processor; and a computer program stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 45 to 54 are realized.

61. A computer-readable storage medium in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, a step according to any one of claims 1 to 18, or a step according to any one of claims 19 to 44, or a step according to any one of claims 45 to 54 is realized.

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