In-slot positioning signal muting

Abstract

A method for selectively transmitting a positioning signal from a TRP includes unmuting and transmitting a first in-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, and muting transmission by the TRP of a second in-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements to sound for transmitting at least a portion of the positioning signal, and the muting configuration indicating whether the in-slot positioning signal resource segment should be muted.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth generation (5G) service, and the like. Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variant of TDMA, and the like.

[0002]

[0002] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard requires, among other improvements, higher data rates, a larger number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard by the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to a few dozen workers on one office floor. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Thus, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications must be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency must be enhanced and latency must be significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0003]

[0003] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in the wireless network such as base stations and access points. Standardization of 5G wireless networks is expected to include support for various positioning methods, which may utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) and / or Cell-specific Reference Signals (CRSs) for location determination. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In one embodiment, a method for selectively transmitting a positioning signal from a transmission / reception point (TRP) includes transmitting, unmuted, a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule from the TRP in accordance with a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to sound to transmit at least a portion of the positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, the muting configuration indicating whether to mute each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments. and muting transmission by the TRP of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments, wherein the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments includes a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot.

[0005]

[0005] Implementations of such methods may include one or more of the following features: The transmission schedule includes a first integer quantity G of intra-slot groups for a first slot, where G>2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer quantity M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G. Each of the intra-slot groups consists of an identical portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded.

[0006]

[0006] Alternatively, implementations of such methods may include one or more of the following features: the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G≧2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M>G. The second integer amount M is equal to a number of symbols configured for the resource of the positioning signal in the first slot.

[0007]

[0007] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second portion of the intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols includes a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols indicates sounding less than all subcarriers of the transmission schedule, and the method further includes determining, as a condition for muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment, that a user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window in which the user equipment can resolve an aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols. The method includes determining a muting configuration such that all indications for transmitting corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the unmuted slots are consecutive. The method includes muting transmission of a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a second slot of the transmission schedule, or unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule, or a combination thereof, where, in accordance with the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot.The unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the muting of the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot are performed in response to determining that the first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups, each group indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols. The unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the muting of the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot are performed in response to determining that MAC-CE-based (Media Access Control - Control Element based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or that DCI-based (Downlink Control Information based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or a combination thereof. The method includes determining a muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of the transmission schedule.

[0008]

[0008] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: The muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, and the method includes obtaining the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. Determining the logical combination comprises determining the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a logical operator, or the intra-slot muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration, or the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration. The muting configuration is a first muting configuration, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponds to a first positioning signal resource, and the TRP is a first TRP, and the method includes unmuting and transmitting a third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment from the second TRP according to a second muting configuration different from the first muting configuration, the third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponding to a second positioning signal resource different from the first positioning signal resource.

[0009] In one embodiment, a TRP (transmit / receive point) includes a transmitter, a memory, and a TRP communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory, for unmuting and transmitting via the transmitter a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule including a plurality of consecutive symbols for transmitting at least a portion of the positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule. and a muting configuration indicating which one or more resource elements should be sounded in each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments, and muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule according to the muting configuration, wherein the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments includes a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot.

[0010]

[0010] Such implementations of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: The transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for a first slot, where G≧2, where each intra-slot group indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G. Each of the intra-slot groups consists of the same portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded.

[0011]

[0011] Alternatively, such an implementation of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G≧2, where each intra-slot group indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M>G. The second integer amount M is equal to the number of symbols configured for the resource of the positioning signal in the first slot.

[0012]

[0012] Also or alternatively, such an implementation of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second part of the intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols includes a first part and a second part, the first part of the intra-slot group of symbols indicates sounding less than all subcarriers of the transmission schedule, and the processor is configured to mute transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in response to determining that the user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window that can resolve the aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first part of the intra-slot group of symbols. The processor is configured to determine a muting configuration such that all instructions to transmit the corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the unmuted slots are consecutive. The processor is configured to mute transmission of the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a second slot of the transmission schedule, or unmute and transmit the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule, or a combination thereof, where, according to the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot.The processor is configured to unmute and transmit via the transmitter a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to determining that the first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups, each group indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and to mute transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot. The processor is configured to unmute and transmit via the transmitter a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to determining that a MAC-CE-based (medium access control-control element-based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or a DCI-based (downlink control information-based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or a combination thereof, and to mute transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot. The processor is configured to determine a muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of the transmission schedule.

[0013]

[0013] Also or alternatively, such an implementation of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, and the processor is configured to obtain the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. To determine the logical combination, the processor is configured to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a logical operator, or to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration, or to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration.

[0014]

[0014] In one embodiment, the TRP includes means for unmuting and transmitting a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with a muting configuration, and means for muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements to sound in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of the positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, and the muting configuration indicating whether each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted, wherein the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments include a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot.

[0015]

[0015] Such implementations of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: The transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for a first slot, where G≧2, where each intra-slot group indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G. Each of the intra-slot groups consists of the same portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded.

[0016]

[0016] Alternatively, such an implementation of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G≧2, where each intra-slot group indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M>G. The second integer amount M is equal to the number of symbols configured for the resource of the positioning signal in the first slot.

[0017]

[0017] Also or alternatively, such an implementation of the TRP may include one or more of the following features: the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second portion of the intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols includes a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols indicates sounding less than all subcarriers of the transmission schedule, and the means for muting the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment includes means for muting the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in response to determining that the user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window that can resolve the aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols. The TRP includes means for determining a muting configuration such that all instructions for transmitting corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the unmuted slots are consecutive. The TRP includes means for muting transmission of a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a second slot of the transmission schedule, or means for unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule, or a combination thereof, where in accordance with the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot.The means for unmuting and transmitting a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the means for muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot include means for unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to determining that the first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups each indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols. The means for unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the means for muting the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot include means for unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to a determination that MAC-CE based (medium access control-control element based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or means for unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to a determination that DCI based (downlink control information based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or a combination thereof. The TRP includes means for determining a muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of the transmission schedule.

[0018]

[0018] Also or alternatively, implementations of such a TRP may include one or more of the following features: the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, and the TRP includes means for obtaining the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. The means for determining the logical combination includes means for determining the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a logical operator, or means for determining the intra-slot muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration, or means for determining the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration.

[0019]

[0019] An exemplary non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions that cause a processor of the TRP to unmute and transmit a first in-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule in accordance with a muting configuration, and to mute transmission of a second in-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements to sound in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of a positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, and the muting configuration indicating whether each of the plurality of in-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted, wherein the plurality of in-slot positioning signal resource segments include a first in-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and a second in-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of in-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot.

[0020]

[0020] Implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for a first slot, where G>2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G. Each of the intra-slot groups consists of the same portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded.

[0021]

[0021] Alternatively, such a storage medium implementation may include one or more of the following features: the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G≧2, where each intra-slot group indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M>G. The second integer amount M is equal to the number of symbols configured for the resource of the positioning signal in the first slot.

[0022]

[0022] Also, or alternatively, such a storage medium implementation may include one or more of the following features: the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second portion of the intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols includes a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols indicates sounding less than all subcarriers of the transmission schedule, and the instructions include instructions for the processor to mute transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in response to determining that the user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window that can resolve the aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols. The instructions include instructions for the processor to determine a muting configuration such that all instructions for transmitting the corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the unmuted slots are consecutive. The instructions include instructions to cause the processor to mute transmission of a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a second slot of the transmission schedule, or to unmute and transmit a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule, or a combination thereof, where, in accordance with the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot.The instructions include instructions for causing the processor to unmute and transmit a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and mute transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to determining that a first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups, each indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols. The instructions include instructions for causing the processor to unmute and transmit the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and mute transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot in response to determining that MAC-CE based (medium access control-control element based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or in response to determining that DCI based (downlink control information based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or in response to a combination thereof. The instructions include instructions for causing a processor to determine a muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of a transmission schedule.

[0023]

[0023] Also, or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, and to obtain the muting configuration, the instructions include instructions for causing the processor to determine a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. To determine the logical combination, the instructions include instructions for causing the processor to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a logical operator, or to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration, or to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1]

[0024] A simplified diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system. [Diagram 2]

[0025] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3]

[0026] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary transmit / receive point shown in FIG. 1; [Figure 4]

[0027] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary server shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5]

[0028] A simplified timing diagram for a resource set. [Figure 6A]

[0029] A simplified diagram of the two-symbol transmission schedule for Comb 2. [Figure 6B]

[0030] A simplified diagram of a four-symbol transmission schedule for Comb 4. [Figure 6C]

[0031] A simplified diagram of the 6-symbol transmission schedule for Comb 6. [Figure 6D]

[0032] A simplified diagram of the 12-symbol transmission schedule for comb 12. [Figure 6E]

[0033] A simplified diagram of the 12-symbol transmission schedule for Comb 2. [Figure 6F]

[0034] A simplified diagram of the 12-symbol transmission schedule for Comb 4. [Figure 7]

[0035] 2 is a timing diagram of muted and unmuted positioning signals conveyed between components of a wireless communications system such as that shown in FIG. 1 . [Figure 8]

[0036] 2 is a timing diagram of an inter-instance transmission and muting arrangement for positioning signals conveyed between components of a wireless communication system such as that shown in FIG. 1 . [Figure 9]

[0037] 2 is a timing diagram of an intra-instance transmission and muting arrangement for positioning signals conveyed between components of a wireless communication system such as that shown in FIG. 1 . [Figure 10]

[0038] 2 is a timing diagram of an in-slot transmission and muting arrangement for positioning signals conveyed between components of a wireless communication system such as that shown in FIG. 1 . [Figure 11]

[0039] 2 is another timing diagram of an in-slot transmission and muting arrangement for positioning signals conveyed between components of a wireless communication system such as that shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 12]

[0040] Graph of channel energy response for a four-symbol transmission schedule for Comb 4 with three muted symbols. [Figure 13]

[0041] 2A-2C are timing diagrams of intra-slot transmission and muting configurations for positioning signals conveyed between components of a wireless communication system such as that shown in FIG. 1, illustrating various muting configurations for various slots. [Figure 14]

[0042] FIG. 13 illustrates the use of bitmaps for inter-instance, intra-instance, and intra-slot muting to determine alternative intra-slot muting configurations. [Figure 15]

[0043] 4 is a signal and processing flow diagram for in-slot muting of positioning signals. [Figure 16]

[0044] FIG. 13 illustrates the use of bitmaps for inter-instance and intra-instance muting, and the selective use of intra-slot muting. [Figure 17]

[0045] 4 is a block flow diagram of a method for transmitting a positioning signal. [Figure 18]

[0046] 18 is a block flow diagram of optional steps preceding the method shown in FIG. 17. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025]

[0047] Techniques are described herein for providing intra-slot muting of one or more positioning signals. For example, an apparatus such as a server can provide a muting configuration to a transmit / receive point (TRP) to indicate one or more segments of a slot of a transmission schedule that should be muted. The muting configuration can be generated or selected, for example, by a server, to satisfy one or more criteria, such as making unmuted segments of a slot contiguous in time. The TRP can perform intra-slot muting based on one or more conditions being met, such as low-latency positioning signal triggering being in use or the user equipment being able to resolve aliased time-domain peaks in view of the muting indicated by the muting configuration together with the transmission schedule of symbols for carrying positioning signals. However, other configurations can be used.

[0026]

[0048] Items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned: Collisions of positioning signals may be reduced. Transmission and reception of positioning signals may be coordinated to meet one or more performance criteria. Other capabilities may be provided, and every implementation according to this disclosure need not provide any, much less all, of the capabilities discussed.

[0027]

[0049] 1, an example wireless communication system 110 includes user equipment (UE) 112, UE 113, UE 114, base transceiver stations (BTS) 120, 121, 122, 123, a network 130, a core network 140, and an external client 150. The core network 140 (e.g., a 5G core network (5GC)) may include backend devices including, among others, an access and mobility management function (AMF) 141, a session management function (SMF) 142, a server 143, and a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 144. The AMF 141, the SMF 142, the server 143, and the GMLC 144 are communicatively coupled to each other. The server 143 may be, for example, a location management function (LMF) that supports positioning of the UEs 112-114 (e.g., using techniques such as Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), OTDOA (Observed Time Difference of Arrival, e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA and / or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, RTK (Real Time Kinematics), PPP (Precise Point Positioning), DGNSS (Differential GNSS), E-CID (Enhanced Cell ID), AoA (Angle of Arrival), AoD (Angle of Departure), etc.).

[0028]

[0050] The LMF may also be referred to as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), Commercial LMF (CLMF), or Value Added LMF (VLMF). The server 143 (e.g., the LMF) and / or one or more other devices of the system 110 (e.g., one or more of the UEs 112-114) may be configured to determine the location of the UEs 112-114. The server 143 may communicate directly with the BTS 121 (e.g., a gNB) and / or one or more other BTSs, or may be integrated with the BTS 121 and / or one or more other BTSs. The SMF 142 may act as a first point of contact for a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. The server 143 (e.g., an LMF) may be co-located with or integrated with a gNB or TRP (transmission / reception point), or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0029]

[0051] The AMF 141 may act as a control node, handling signaling between the UEs 112-114 and the core network 140 and providing QoS (Quality of Service), flow and session management. The AMF 141 may support mobility of the UEs 112-114, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling for connections to the UEs 112-114.

[0030]

[0052] The system 110 is capable of wireless communication in that the components of the system 110 can communicate with each other (at least sometimes using wireless connections) directly or indirectly, e.g., via the BTSs 120-123 and / or the network 130 (and / or one or more other devices, not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). In indirect communication, the communication may be altered during transmission from one entity to another, e.g., to change header information of the data packets, change the format, etc. The illustrated UEs 112-114 are smartphones, tablet computers, and vehicle-based devices, but these are merely examples, as the UEs 112-114 are not required to be in any of these configurations and other configurations of UEs may be used. The illustrated UEs 112, 113 are mobile wireless communication devices (although they may communicate wirelessly and via wired connections), including mobile phones (including smartphones) and tablet computers. The illustrated UE 114 is a vehicle-based mobile wireless communication device (although the UE 114 may communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection). Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses or headsets, etc.). Still other UEs, whether currently existing or developed in the future, may be used. Additionally, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 110 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UEs 112-114, the BTSs 120-123, the network 130, the core network 140, and / or the external clients 150. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc.The core network 140 may communicate with external clients 150 (e.g., computer systems), for example to enable the external clients 150 to request and / or receive (e.g., via the GMLC 144) location information regarding the UEs 112-114.

[0031]

[0053] The UEs 112-114 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, WiFi® communications, multiple frequencies of WiFi® communications, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), V2X (e.g., V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). The V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Band Communications)). The system 110 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter may transmit modulated signals simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) signal, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be transmitted on a different carrier and may carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc.

[0032]

[0054] The BTSs 120-123 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 112-114 in the system 110 via one or more antennas. The BTSs may also be referred to as base stations, access points, gNode B (gNB), access node (AN), Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), etc. For example, each of the BTSs 120, 121 may be a gNB or a transmission point gNB, the BTS 122 may be a macrocell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), and the BTS 123 may be an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate using a short-range technology such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Bluetooth-low energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.). One or more of the BTSs 120-123 may be configured to communicate with the UEs 112-114 via multiple carriers. Each of the BTSs 120, 121 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic region, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be partitioned into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antenna.

[0033]

[0055] Each of the BTSs 120-123 comprises one or more transmit / receive points (TRPs). For example, each sector in a cell of the BTS may comprise a TRP, but the multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., may share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 110 may include only a macro TRP, or the system 110 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro TRPs, pico TRPs, and / or femto TRPs. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals subscribing to the service. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals having an association with the femto cell (e.g., terminals for home users).

[0034]

[0056] The UEs 112-114 may be referred to as terminals, access terminals (ATs), mobile stations, mobile devices, subscriber units, etc. The UEs 112-114 may include various devices enumerated above and / or other devices. The UEs 112-114 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of the groups of UEs 112-114 utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP, such as one or more of the BTSs 120-123. Other UEs in such groups may be outside such geographic coverage areas or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from a base station. A group of UEs 112-114 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system where each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP of the BTSs 120-123 may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0035]

[0057] 2, UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 112-114 and comprises a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215, a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, memory 211, sensors 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and positioning device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (e.g., which may be configured for optimal communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., one or more of camera 218, positioning device 219, and / or sensor 213) may be omitted from UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may comprise multiple processors, including a general purpose / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may comprise a processor, e.g., for radar, ultrasonic, and / or lidar, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, one SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identity Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 for connectivity.The memory 211 is a non-transitive storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but may be configured, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 210 to perform a function. This description may refer only to the processor 210 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. This description may refer to the processor 210 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing the function. This description may refer to the UE 200 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more suitable components of the UE 200 performing the function. The processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in place of the memory 211. The functionality of the processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0036]

[0058] The configuration of UE 200 shown in FIG. 2 is an example of the present invention, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other exemplary configurations include one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of sensors 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0037]

[0059] The UE 200 may comprise a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0038]

[0060] The UE 200 may include sensors 213, which may include one or more of various types of sensors, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may comprise, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscopes). The sensors 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometers) for determining an orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north) that may be used for any of a variety of purposes, for example, to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensors may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensors 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals whose indications may be stored in memory 211 and processed by the DSP 231 and / or processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0039]

[0061] The sensor 100 may be used in relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, etc. The information detected by the sensor 100 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and / or sensor-assisted position determination. The sensor 100 may be useful to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or moving, and / or to report some useful information regarding the mobility of the UE 200 to the server 143. For example, based on the information acquired / measured by the sensor, the UE 200 may notify / report to the server 143 that the UE 200 has detected motion or that the UE 200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based position determination, or sensor-assisted position determination enabled by the sensor 100). In another example, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices with respect to the UE 200, etc., for relative positioning information.

[0040]

[0062] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements of the direction of motion and / or the speed of motion of the UE 200 that may be used in relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200, respectively. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion and the displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and displacement may be integrated to track the position of the UE 200. For example, a reference position of the UE 200 may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a moment in time, and measurements from the accelerometers and gyroscopes obtained after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current value of the UE 200 based on the motion (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference position.

[0041]

[0063] The magnetometer can determine the strength of the magnetic field in different directions, which may be used to determine an orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer may be a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in two orthogonal dimensions. Alternatively, the magnetometer may be a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the strength of the magnetic field in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide a means for sensing the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0042]

[0064] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. New Radio may use mmWave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies.The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, e.g., with the network 130, e.g., to transmit communications to and receive communications from the UE 200. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, e.g., the transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, e.g., by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

[0043]

[0065] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibrating device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include two or more of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to allow a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store instructions of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general purpose processor 230 in response to an action from the user. Similarly, an application hosted on the UE 200 may store instructions of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present an output signal to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, including, for example, a speaker, a microphone, digital-to-analog circuitry, analog-to-digital circuitry, amplifiers, and / or gain control circuits (including two or more of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally, or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure, for example, on a keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0044]

[0066] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signals 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signals 260 into wired signals, e.g., electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the SPS signals 260 to estimate the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general-purpose processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized with the SPS receiver 217 to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals and / or to calculate an estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals obtained from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general purpose processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special purpose processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a position location engine for use in processing the measurements to estimate the position of the UE 200.

[0045]

[0067] The UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or video images. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by the general-purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Also, or alternatively, a video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing the captured images. The video processor 233 may decode / restore stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown), for example, of the user interface 216.

[0046]

[0068] The positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200, the movement of the UE 200, and / or the relative location of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may be in communication with and / or include some or all of the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may operate in conjunction with the processor 210 and memory 211 as appropriate to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may only refer to the PD 219 being configured to perform in accordance with a positioning method or performing in accordance with a positioning method. Also, or alternatively, the PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some of the signals 248) for trilateration, to assist in the acquisition and use of SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., as part of the UE's location beacon)) to determine the location of the UE 200, or may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, etc.) that may sense and provide an indication of the orientation and / or movement of the UE 200, and the processor 210 (e.g., processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use the indication to determine the movement (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of the uncertainty and / or error of the determined location and / or movement.

[0047]

[0069] 3, an example of a TRP 300 of a BTS 120-123 comprises a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the depicted devices (e.g., wireless interfaces) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including the general purpose / application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and / or sensor processor depicted in FIG. 2). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform functions when compiled and executed. This description may refer only to the processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. This description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 that perform the function. This description may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the TRP 300 (and therefore one of the BTSs 120-123) that perform the function.The processor 310 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in place of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

[0048]

[0070] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, with one or more other UEs, and / or with one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, and the like.The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured, for example, for wired communication with the network 130, for example, to transmit communications to and receive communications from the server 143. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical and / or electrical communication.

[0049]

[0071] 3 is an example of the present invention, including the claims, and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses the TRP 300 being configured to perform or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the server 143 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the server 143 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0050]

[0072] 4, server 400, an example of server 143, comprises a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interface) may be omitted from server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (including, for example, a general purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 stores software 412, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 410 to perform a function. The description may refer only to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of the processors included in the processor 410 performing the function. The description may refer to the server 400 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more suitable components of the server 400 performing the function. The processor 410 may include a memory with instructions stored therein in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411.The functionality of the processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0051]

[0073] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, with one or more other UEs, and / or with one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, e.g., with the network 130, e.g., to transmit communications to and receive communications from the TRP 300.The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0052]

[0074] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example of the present invention, including the claims, and is not a limitation of the present invention, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also, or alternatively, the description herein discusses the server 400 being configured to perform or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0053]

[0075] Positioning Techniques

[0076] One or more of a number of different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity such as one of the UEs 112-114. For example, known location determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also referred to as TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Enhanced Cell Identity (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between two entities. This distance, as well as the known location of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities, may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also referred to as multi-cell RTT), multiple distances from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and another may be used to determine a relative distance from the other entity, which may be used in combination with the known location of the other entity to determine the location of the one entity. The angle of arrival and / or the angle of departure may be used to help determine the location of the entity. For example, the angle of arrival or the angle of departure of a signal may be used in combination with the distance between the devices (determined using the signals, e.g., the travel time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or the angle of departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or the angle of departure may be a zenith angle relative to directly above the one entity (i.e., relative to a direction radially outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the serving cell's identity, timing advance (i.e., the difference between receive and transmit times at the UE), estimated timing and power of detected neighboring cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of signals at the UE from the base station, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the time of arrival at a receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known location of the sources and known offsets in the transmit times from the sources, are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0054]

[0077] In positioning techniques using PRS (positioning reference signal) signals (e.g., TDOA and RTT), PRS signals transmitted by multiple TRPs are measured and the arrival time of the signal, the known transmission time, and the known location of the TRPs are used to determine the distance from the UE to the TRP. For example, a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in TDOA techniques to determine the location of the UE. PRS signals are usually transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, so that a PRS signal from a more distant TRP may be buried in a PRS signal from a closer TRP, and so that a signal from a more distant TRP may not be detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal, e.g., to 0, and thus not transmitting the PRS signal). In this way, a weaker PRS signal (at the UE) may be more easily detected by the UE without the weaker PRS signal interfering with a stronger PRS signal.

[0055]

[0078] Positioning reference signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS), which may be called SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning. PRS may comprise a PRS resource or PRS resource set of a frequency layer. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs with common parameters constituted by higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resource in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resource in the frequency layer. Also, the DL PRS Point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), and the DL PRS resources belong to the same DL PRS resource set with the same Point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belong to the same frequency tier with the same Point A. The frequency tiers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same value of the comb size.

[0056]

[0079] The TRP may be configured to transmit DL PRS per schedule, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP may transmit DL PRS intermittently, for example, periodically at a fixed interval from the first transmission. The TRP may be configured to transmit one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP, where the resources have the same period, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across a slot. Each of the PRS resource sets comprises multiple PRS resources, and each PRS resource comprises multiple resource elements (REs) that may be in multiple resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot. An RB is a collection of REs across an amount of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and an amount of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 12 for 5G RBs). Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource may occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol in the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols in the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource with respect to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted RE may repeat across slots, with each transmission being called a repetition, so that there may be multiple repetitions within a PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (but a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams).

[0057]

[0080] The PRS resources may also be defined by quasi-co-location and start PRB parameters. The quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi-co-location information of DL PRS resources with other reference signals. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) blocks from a serving or non-serving cell. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with SS / PBCH blocks from a serving or non-serving cell. The start PRB parameter defines the start PRB index of the DL PRS resources with respect to reference point A. The start PRB index may have a granularity of one PRB and a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0058]

[0081] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Each time that all repetitions of all PRS resources of a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is called an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource, and a specified number of PRS resources in a PRS resource set, such that an instance is complete when a specified number of repetitions have been transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be called an "occasion." A DL PRS configuration, including a DL PRS transmission schedule, may be provided to a UE to assist (or even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0059]

[0082] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in that the RTT uses positioning signals transmitted by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in the RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP may transmit DL-PRS signals that are received by the UE, and the UE may transmit SRS (sounding reference signal) signals that are received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be called SRS or SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning may be used, and the UE transmits a single UL-SRS for positioning that is received by multiple TRPs, rather than transmitting a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT typically looks for UEs currently camped on that TRP (served UEs, the TRP is the serving TRP) and also looks for UEs camped on neighboring TRPs (neighboring UEs). The neighboring TRPs may be TRPs of a single BTS (e.g., gNB), or may be TRPs of one BTS and TRPs of separate BTSs. In RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS and UL-SRS signals for positioning signals in the PRS / SRS for positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thus the distance between the UE and the TRP) may be close in time to each other, so that errors due to UE movement and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS for positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE within about 10 ms of each other, respectively. It has been found that when the SRS for positioning is transmitted by the UE and the PRS and SRS for positioning are carried close in time to each other, radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (e.g., causing excessive noise, etc.) may occur, especially when multiple UEs attempt to position simultaneously, and / or computation congestion may occur in the TRP attempting to measure multiple UEs simultaneously.

[0060]

[0083] RTT positioning may be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the UE 200 determines the RTT and the corresponding distance to each of the TRP 300 and the location of the UE 200 based on the distance to the TRP 300 and the known location of the TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures the positioning signal and provides the measurement information to the TRP 300, which determines the RTT and the distance. The TRP 300 provides the distance to a location server, e.g., server 400, which determines the location of the UE 200, e.g., based on the distance to the different TRP 300. The RTT and / or distance may be determined by the TRP 300 receiving the signal from the UE 200, by this TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices, e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or server 400, or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 receiving the signal from the UE 200.

[0061]

[0084] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only, UL-only, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0062]

[0085] PRS Muting Configurations

[0086] The TRP 300 may be configured to transmit a downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) per schedule, for example, by instructions received from the server 400 and / or by the software 312. According to the schedule, the TRP 300 may transmit the DL-PRS signal intermittently, for example, periodically at a fixed interval from the first transmission. The TRP 300 may be configured to transmit one or more PRS resource sets. Each of the resource sets comprises multiple resources, each resource being a beam transmitted by the TRP 300, and each resource is configured with a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and a number of consecutive symbols that the resource may occupy. Each PRS resource is associated with one antenna port or beam, transmits the DL-PRS signal, and may repeat the transmission over a slot, each transmission being called a repetition, so that there may be multiple repetitions in the resource. Each PRS resource set is associated with a period. Each time that all repetitions of all PRS resources of a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is called an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each resource and a specified number of resources in the resource set, such that an instance is complete when the specified number of repetitions have been transmitted for each of the specified number of resources. An instance may also be referred to as an "occasion." Referring also to FIG. 5, an exemplary instance of a PRS resource set 500 and a portion of another instance are shown. The PRS resource set 500 includes four resources R1, R2, R3, R4 (each comb 2 or comb 4) with four repetitions, a time gap, and a resource set slot offset 502. There are four repetitions of each resource in each instance, e.g., four repetitions 511, 512, 513, 514 for the fourth resource R4.

[0063]

[0087] A positioning signal muting configuration, such as a PRS muting configuration (also called a PRS muting pattern), is a time schedule of when to mute and when not to mute a transmission schedule. A transmission schedule is a schedule of time and subcarriers of when and which resource elements are sounded (modulated with signals) to carry a signal, such as a positioning signal. Also referring to Figures 6A-6F, examples of transmission schedules of resources for various combinations of comb types and symbol amounts are shown. Figure 6A shows a transmission schedule 602 for 2-symbol resources of comb 2 with a symbol offset 603 of 3 symbols in a slot containing 14 symbols, each with 12 subcarriers. In the illustrated transmission schedule, columns represent different symbols, rows represent different subcarriers, and dark boxes represent sounded resource elements (symbol-subcarrier combinations) for a TRP. Resource elements that are not sounded may be sounded by one or more other TRPs. Figure 6B shows a transmission schedule 604 for 4-symbol resources of comb 4. Figure 6C shows a transmission schedule 606 for the 6 symbol resources of comb 6. Figure 6D shows a transmission schedule 612 for the 12 symbol resources of comb 12. Figure 6E shows a transmission schedule 614 for the 12 symbol resources of comb 2. Figure 6F shows a transmission schedule 616 for the 12 symbol resources of comb 4.

[0064]

[0088] The terms bitmap and muting configuration are used interchangeably herein because a PRS muting configuration may be represented by a bitmap (i.e., a bit string) that indicates when a PRS should be muted and when a PRS should not be muted. For example, a bit value of "1" may indicate that transmission of the corresponding PRS signal should not be muted and a bit value of "0" may indicate that transmission of the corresponding PRS signal should be muted. The muting configuration may be inter-instance, where each bit in the bitmap indicates whether all PRS repetitions of all PRS resources in a corresponding configurable number of instances should be muted, or intra-instance, where each bit in the bitmap indicates whether the corresponding PRS repetitions of all PRS resources in an instance should be muted, or intra-slot, where each bit in the bitmap indicates whether the corresponding symbol or set of symbols of one or more repetitions of one or more PRS resources should be muted. Thus, in an inter-instance muting example where the bitmap is 1010, transmissions of the 0th and 2nd instances are not muted and transmissions of the 1st and 3rd instances are muted. If the bitmap is the same 1010 but with intra-instance muting, the transmission of the 0th and 2nd repeat in each instance is not muted, and the transmission of the 1st and 3rd repeat in each instance is muted. If the bitmap is the same 1010 but with intra-slot muting, the transmission of the 0th and 2nd symbol (or symbol group) in each slot is not muted, and the transmission of the 1st and 3rd symbol (or symbol group) in each slot is muted. As described further below, different slots may have different intra-slot muting configurations.

[0065]

[0089] 7, to help reduce interference between PRS signals from neighboring TRPs, different muting configurations may be applied to different, e.g., neighboring TRPs 300. In this example, a PRS muting bitmap of 1010 is applied to TRP1 and TRP2, and a PRS muting bitmap of 0101 is applied to TRP3 and TRP4. Thus, in this example, PRS transmissions 711, 713 from TRP1 are not muted, and PRS transmissions 712, 714 are muted. Similarly, PRS transmissions 721, 723 from TRP2 are not muted, and PRS transmissions 722, 724 are muted. Additionally, PRS transmissions 731, 733, 741, 743 from TRP3, TRP4, respectively, are muted, and PRS transmissions 732, 734, 742, 744 are not muted. Each PRS transmission may be a particular iteration (eg, the first transmission in a batch of four iterations) (in the case of inter-instance muting) or iteration (in the case of intra-instance muting) of a resource within an instance.

[0066]

[0090] Inter-instance muting configuration

[0091] Numerous muting configurations may be used in combination with various scenarios of repetition amount, symbols per repetition, comb type, and TRP per repetition. Also referring to FIG. 8, an example of inter-instance PRS muting configuration for a scenario with comb 2 transmission, two symbols per repetition, two repetitions per instance, and a 2-bit muting bitmap is shown, but the details of comb 2 are not shown. The amount of instances, e.g., consecutive instances, may be configurable, and in this example is one instance to help simplify the example. Comb K indicates that in each symbol, scheduled transmissions should be transmitted on every Kth subcarrier for each TRP, and each TRP uses a different subcarrier in each symbol. Thus, different TRPs are frequency division multiplexed to transmit PRS signals using different subcarriers, so that PRS signals from different TRPs transmitted simultaneously are orthogonal in frequency to help prevent collisions between PRS signals. Additionally, the TRPs may switch subcarriers for different symbols within a repetition to help fill holes in the frequency domain to help eliminate aliases in the time domain, which is called staggering. For example, a repetition 810 with PRS signals transmitted from TRP1 and TRP2 includes symbols 812 and 814. In symbol 812, TRP1 may transmit its PRS signal using odd-numbered subcarriers, and TRP2 may transmit its PRS signal using even-numbered subcarriers. In symbol 814, TRP1 may transmit its PRS signal using even-numbered subcarriers, and TRP2 may transmit its PRS signal using odd-numbered subcarriers. In this example, two repetitions per instance are transmitted in consecutive slots (slot 0 and slot 1), although this is not required.

[0067]

[0092] The muting configuration shown in FIG. 8 comprises a 2-bit muting bitmap for each pair of TRPs. In this example, a value of "1" in the bitmap corresponds to transmitting a PRS signal without muting, and a value of "0" in the bitmap corresponds to muting the PRS signal. Muted PRS signals are shown in FIG. 8 as dotted lines, and non-muted PRS signals are shown as solid lines. In this example, the pair TRP1 and TRP2 has a bitmap muting configuration of "10", and the pair TRP3 and TRP4 has a bitmap muting configuration of "01". Although only one instance corresponding to each bit in each bitmap is shown, more than one instance may correspond to a bit in the bitmap, and the amount of instances corresponding to the bits is configurable. Thus, a bit in the bitmap may correspond to a configurable number of (consecutive) instances of the DL-PRS resource set in the periodic transmission of the DL-PRS resource set. In the illustrated inter-instance muting, all DL-PRS resources within a DL-PRS resource set instance are muted for the DL-PRS resource set instance indicated as muted by the bitmap.

[0068]

[0093] In the illustrated bitmap, the TRPs, i.e., TRP1 and TRP2, transmit PRS signals in both iterations (iterations 810 and 816) without muting during the first instance and with the PRS signals muted during the second instance, and the TRPs, i.e., TRP3 and TRP4, transmit PRS signals in both iterations (iterations 818, 820) with the PRS signals muted during the first instance and with the PRS signals muted during the second instance. The start of the first instance and the start of the second instance are separated in time by a period 822, the value of which depends on parameters such as the amount of iterations and the number of resources per instance. The value of the period 822 may be, for example, about 160 ms. The UE 200 measures the PRS signals during the first instance and the second instance to receive PRS signals from all four TRPs, i.e., TRP1, TRP2, TRP3, TRP4. UE 200 may use measurements of iterations 810, 816 and at least iteration 818 (over a time window 824 equal to period 822 plus the time of iteration 818) to acquire PRS signals from all four TRPs, i.e., TRP1, TRP2, TRP3, and TRP4.

[0069]

[0094] Intra-instance muting configuration

[0095] 9, an example of an intra-instance PRS muting configuration for a scenario with comb 2 transmission, two symbols per repetition, two repetitions per instance, and a 2-bit muting bitmap is shown, but without the details of comb 2. Similar to the inter-instance example shown in FIG. 8, there are four TRPs transmitting respective comb 2 PRS signals that are two symbols in length for each repetition. Each TRP is given a 2-bit bitmap muting configuration, with each bit corresponding to a respective repetition in a respective instance. In this scenario, the PRS signals from TRP1 and TRP2 are not muted during a first repetition 912 during the first instance, and are muted during a second repetition 914 during the first instance. Conversely, the PRS signals from TRP3 and TRP4 are muted during a first repetition 916 during the first instance, and are not muted during a second repetition 918 during the first instance. A similar schedule is followed for the second instance as for the first instance. In this scenario, the UE 200 may measure PRS signals from all four of the TRPs during a time window 920 spanning the first instance.

[0070]

[0096] The scenarios shown in Figures 8 and 9 are examples only, and many other scenarios may be used. For example, other size bitmaps may be used, e.g., 4 bits, 8 bits, 16 bits, 32 bits, etc. Thus, in an intra-instance scenario similar to Figure 9 but with a 4-bit bitmap, each bit may correspond to each of the four repetitions in the instance. In an intra-instance PRS muting scenario, multiple muting configurations of repetitions within an instance may be used for different TRPs or sets of TRPs. As another example, five or more TRPs may be transmitting PRS signals.

[0071]

[0097] Intra-slot muting configuration

[0098] 10, an example of intra-slot PRS muting for a scenario with comb 2 transmission, 6 symbols per repetition, 2 repetitions per instance, and a 3-bit muting bitmap is shown. FIG. 10 shows a transmission schedule 1000 for two slots that is a portion of a larger transmission schedule for transmitting signals including positioning signals. Here, the transmission schedule shows four portions of positioning signals from two TRPs (TRP1 and TRP2) to be carried by symbols 3-8 of each of a first slot 1001 and a second slot 1002. A muting configuration 1020 is represented by respective bitmap portions 1021, 1022 for slots 1001, 1002. Each bit of the bitmap representing the muting configuration 1020 corresponds to a respective segment of a respective slot 1001, 1002. In this example, each segment is equal in size and corresponds to an intra-slot group of symbols, each group indicating sounding all resource elements of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols. The different intra-slot groups may be the same (i.e., intra-slot repetition with the same pattern of sounded resource elements) or different (i.e., have different resource element patterns across the symbols used even if they all sound the same subcarriers). In this example, the amount of intra-slot groups G is equal to N / K, where N is the length of the PRS resource in number of symbols in the slot (here, six symbols), K is the comb type (i.e., the number of combs), and the amount of slot segments M is equal to G (M=G). Thus, as shown, in this example, with a PRS resource length (i.e., the length of the resource in symbols) of six symbols and two comb types, there are three intra-slot groups of two symbols each (G=3) and three bits per bitmap portion (M=3), one bit for each intra-slot group, i.e., each segment corresponds to a bit in the bitmap that also corresponds to one intra-slot group.

[0072]

[0099] The muting configuration 1020 is an example both in the mapping of bits to symbols and in the pattern of bits shown, other examples may be used. For example, referring to FIG. 11, for a transmission schedule 1120 identical to the transmission schedule 1000, the muting configuration 1130 has each slot segment corresponding to a bit in the bitmap portion 1131, 1132 representing the muting configuration 1130. Each slot segment corresponds to a single symbol in the respective slot 1101, 1102 (instead of an intra-slot group of symbols as in the muting configuration 1020). In this example, the amount M of slot segments is greater than the amount G of intra-slot groups (M>G) and is equal to the length N of the PRS in number of symbols in the slot. Thus, the bitmap portions 1131, 1132 in this example each have N bits, where N is the length of the PRS in number of symbols in the slot.

[0073]

[0100] One or more constraints may be imposed on using a single symbol muting granularity. For example, a single symbol slot segment granularity of transmit muting may be enabled only if the remaining symbols of the PRS resource (i.e., the set of symbols in the slot for carrying the PRS signal) result in aliased peaks in the time domain that can be resolved by the expected RSTD (Reference Signal Time Difference) uncertainty window. That is, it may be a requirement that a UE receiving a PRS signal have a search window that is below a threshold amount of time such that the aliased peaks of the PRS signal can be resolved (i.e., contain only one aliased peak). In general, this may be the case if the search window used by the UE is less than T *1000 / (14K)nsec, where T is the slot size in microseconds and K is the comb type (number of combs). Referring to Figure 12, an example channel energy response (CER) 1200 corresponds to a four-symbol transmission schedule for comb 4, with three of the four symbols muted. The CER 1200 has four peaks 1211, 1212, 1213, 1214, with peak 1213 being the true peak and peak 1211 being the strongest (highest power) peak.

[0074]

[0101] As another example, the muting configuration may vary across different slots and / or resources. Thus, referring to FIG. 13, an intra-slot muting configuration (sometimes referred to as an intra-resource muting configuration) may have different muting configurations for different slots and / or resources. The transmission schedule 1300 has 2 symbols of comb 2 per intra-slot group, but with 4 symbols per repetition and 8 repetitions per instance. As shown, the muting configuration 1320 is represented by bitmap portions 1311, 1312, 1318 for the illustrated slots, i.e., the first slot 1301, the second slot 1302, and the eighth slot 1308, respectively. The bitmap portion 1311 is different from the bitmap portions 1312, 1318, while the bitmap portions 1312, 1318 are the same. In this example, with 4 bits per repetition and 8 repetitions per instance, the bitmap has 32 bits. The intra-slot muting may be different for different resources. For example, even during the same slot, one muting configuration may be applied to one or more resources and another muting configuration may be applied to one or more other resources. For example, a muting configuration 1320 may be applied to resources from TRP1 and TRP2, or may be applied to resources from TRP1 and another muting configuration 1330 may be applied to resources from TRP2. The configurations shown in FIG. 13 are only examples, and other muting configurations having different muting configurations for different slots may be used.

[0075]

[0102] The bitmap for intra-slot muting configurations may include more bits than the bitmaps for other muting configuration types (e.g., inter-instance muting and intra-instance muting described with respect to Figures 8 and 9, respectively). For example, for intra-slot muting with each segment corresponding to an intra-slot group of symbols (i.e., indicating sounding all of the subcarriers), B bits are used, where B = N / K, where N is the length of the PRS in number of symbols in the slot, and K is the comb type (i.e., the number of combs). For intra-slot muting with each segment corresponding to a symbol, N bits are used for each slot muting configuration, where N is the length of the PRS in number of symbols in the slot.

[0076]

[0103] PRS Muting Configuration Determination

[0104] The server 400 may be configured to determine (e.g., generate and / or select) the PRS muting configuration. The TRP 300 may be configured to determine the PRS muting configuration alone or together with the server 400, but the description herein may refer only to the server determining the PRS muting configuration. The server 400 may be configured to determine the PRS muting configuration in various ways. For example, the server 400 may be configured to select one or more predefined bitmap schedules, for example, stored in the memory 411. As another example, the server 400 may be configured to randomly generate values ​​for the muting configuration. As another example, the server 400 may be configured to generate the muting configuration to meet one or more criteria, such as sufficient symbols to resolve aliased peaks or consecutive unmuted symbols. The server 400 may be configured to generate the PRS muting configuration by concatenating multiple bitmaps. For example, the server 400 may be configured to add a bitmap to another bitmap to extend the PRS muting configuration. The server 400 may be configured to select a predefined starting bitmap that is balanced between muting and non-muting instructions. Thus, as an example, the server 400 may be configured to start with a 4-bit bitmap with two muting and two non-muting instructions, then add another bitmap, such as a randomly generated 16-bit bitmap that meets specified criteria, and then add one or more other bitmaps as appropriate.

[0077]

[0105] The server 400 may be configured to perform logical or mathematical operations on one or more bitmaps to generate another bitmap for a muting configuration. For example, the server 400 may be configured to perform logical or mathematical operations on the first bitmap portion 1021, 1022 or the bitmap portion 1131, 1132 to result in a muting configuration different from the muting configuration 1020 or the muting configuration 1130. The server 400 may perform different logical or mathematical operations on the different bitmap portions 1021, 1022 or the different bitmap portions 1131, 1132. As another example, the server 400 may be configured to perform logical operations on a combination of bitmaps. For example, referring to FIG. 14, three bitmaps 1401, 1402, 1403 are shown, corresponding to inter-instance muting (referred to as option 1), an example of which is shown in FIG. 8, intra-instance muting (referred to as option 2), an example of which is shown in FIG. 9, and intra-slot muting (referred to as option 3), an example of which is shown in FIG. 10, FIG. 11, FIG. 13, and FIG. 14. The server 400 may be configured to compute a logical and / or mathematical combination of option 1, option 2, and / or option 3 to generate a combined bitmap 1404 corresponding to an intra-slot muting configuration. For example, the server 400 may be configured to compute a logical AND, logical OR, logical XOR, etc., of two or more of the bitmaps 1401, 1402, 1403. The server 400 may be configured to compute multiple logical combinations (e.g., an OR of bitmaps 1402 and 1403 and an XOR of the result with bitmap 1403). 14, the server 400 computes the logical OR of all three bitmaps 1401, 1402, 1403 to obtain a combined bitmap 1404. Other non-exhaustive examples include the logical AND of option 1 and option 3, the logical AND of option 2 and option 3, or the logical AND of option 1, option 2, and option 3 (i.e., option 1 AND option 2 AND option 3).

[0078]

[0106] The bitmap generated by the server 400 for a muting configuration may be repeated by the appropriate TRP. The server 400 may be configured to provide a completed bitmap to each TRP 300. The server 400 may be configured to keep adding to the bitmap indefinitely, but will typically stop the bitmap at some finite length and provide this completed bitmap to the TRP 300. However, the server 400 may be configured to modify the bitmap over time, for example, by sending a new bitmap or an instruction to the TRP 300 to change the existing bitmap.

[0079]

[0107] The server 400 may be configured to consider one or more of various criteria (e.g., key performance indicators) for the transmission and / or reception of positioning signals that a PRS muting configuration should satisfy. For example, the server 400 may be configured to analyze any selected or generated bitmap to determine whether all unmuted symbols in a slot are contiguous, and to discard or otherwise ignore (and not use) any bitmap in which all unmuted symbols in a slot are not contiguous. This may aid the operation of the TRP 300 by avoiding the need for the TRP 300 to rapidly transition back and forth between muting and unmuting. As another example, the server 400 may be configured to not use a muting configuration in which the UE would not have a search window small enough to be able to resolve aliases in the time domain due to partially staggered positioning signal resources. Partially staggered positioning signal resources are not fully staggered in that not all of the subcarriers are sounded by the resource. As another example, the server 400 may not use a muting configuration that does not have at least one positioning signal resource (eg, a PRS resource) that is fully staggered (ie, sounds all subcarriers of a slot).

[0080]

[0108] As another example, the server 400 may be configured to attempt to maintain a balance between muting and not muting the PRS signal (e.g., a balance of 1s and 0s in a bitmap) to help ensure measurement of the PRS signal without excessive delay (e.g., due to waiting for the next transmission). The server 400 may be configured to provide one or more criteria for the muting configuration (e.g., a randomly generated pattern), such as to have a certain amount of bits have a certain value (e.g., 8 bits of a 16-bit bitmap must be 1s, or 5 bits of an 8-bit bitmap must be 0s), or a threshold amount of bits have a certain value (e.g., at least 3 bits of an 8-bit bitmap must be 1s), or to have a ratio of bits of one value to bits of another value, etc.

[0081]

[0109] The server 400 may be configured to take into account a desire to train the receive antenna pattern and / or a desire to aid in signal integration in generating the PRS muting configuration. The server 400 may have a criterion that the bitmap has a certain number of bits of the same value, for example, indicating unmuted PRS signals, which may facilitate or enable training of one or more receive schedules and / or aid in integration of PRS signals, for example weakly received PRS signals. For example, the criterion may be that the muting configuration has a certain threshold amount of indications of unmuted positioning signals to enable receive antenna pattern training. As another example, the criterion may be that the muting configuration has a certain threshold amount of indications of unmuted positioning signals to enable a threshold level of signal integration (e.g., a threshold level of total power). As another example, the criterion may be a maximum distance (e.g., a maximum number of slots) between on-bits (indications of not muting). The UE 200 may be configured to observe the unmuted signal over multiple slots with the same antenna pattern and aggregate the received signals to aid in, for example, reception of PRS signals with poor SNR (signal-to-noise ratio). The UE 200 may be configured to observe the unmuted signal over different slots with different antenna patterns to determine which antenna pattern produced the strongest received signal. This information may be used to train one or more antenna patterns, for example, to improve reception of the PRS signals.

[0082]

[0110] The server 400 is configured to obtain information related to one or more criteria of the muting configuration, as appropriate. For example, the server 400 may be configured to obtain the related information by receiving measurement result information (e.g., raw and / or processed measurement results) from one or more UEs 200, one or more TRPs 300, and / or from making measurements. As another example, the server 400 may be configured to obtain the related information by being programmed with or otherwise storing information related to one or more criteria (e.g., whether the TRP 300 is a high mobility or low mobility area (i.e., whether the mobility of UEs in the coverage area of ​​the TRP 300 is expected to be high or low)). The server 400 may be configured to generate related information, such as RSTD uncertainty (search window), that the server 400 provides to and uses for the UE 200 to determine whether the RSTD uncertainty is small enough to allow the UE 200 to resolve aliased peaks due to intra-slot muting. The server 400 may be configured to use the obtained information to determine one or more of the criteria for the muting configuration.

[0083]

[0111] The server 400 may be configured to implement on-demand intra-slot muting, for example, based on the type of positioning signal triggering. For example, the server 400 may be configured to cause the TRP 300 to perform intra-slot muting (e.g., to send only intra-slot muting configuration to the TRP 300) only if MAC-CE-based (medium access control-control element-based) DL PRS (downlink PRS) triggering is used and / or DCI-based (downlink control information-based) DL PRS triggering is used. The server 400 may be configured to determine that the MAC-CE-based DL PRS and / or the DCI-based DL PRS are triggered (e.g., triggered by the serving TRP) and respond by enabling intra-slot positioning signal (e.g., PRS) muting, for example, by sending an intra-slot muting configuration to the TRP 300, or by sending an instruction (e.g., in a MAC-CE or DCI communication) to the TRP 300 to use an intra-slot muting configuration (e.g., previously sent to the TRP 300 or generated by the TRP 300). Since intra-slot muting can employ rapid muting changes (from muting to non-muting and vice versa) and is therefore a low latency technique, and MAC-CE and DCI-based DL PRS are also low latency techniques, such on-demand triggering of intra-slot muting may help ensure high quality performance.

[0084]

[0112] 15, a signaling and processing flow diagram 1500 illustrates communication between the UE 200, the server 400, and the two TRP-300-1, 300-2, and processing by the server 400 to implement an intra-slot muting configuration. The signaling and processing flow 1500 includes the messages and steps shown, which are by way of example only and not by way of limitation. The flow 1500 may be altered, for example, by having messages and / or steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by having one or more messages and / or steps split into multiple messages and / or steps.

[0085]

[0113] The TRPs 300-1, 300-2 may provide one or more messages 1511, 1512 to the server 400 that may affect the determination (e.g., generation or selection) of one or more intra-slot muting configurations and / or whether intra-slot muting should be implemented. For example, one or more of the messages 1511, 1512 may indicate whether a MAC-CE-based DL PRS and / or a DCI-based DL PRS is in use. As another example, one or more of the messages 1511, 1512 may indicate a search window of the UE 200 for receiving a PRS. As another example, one or more of the messages 1511, 1512 may indicate one or more intra-slot muting configurations stored by the TRPs 300-1, 300-2 and / or PRS transmission parameters such as comb type and length (in slots) of the PRS used by the TRPs 300-1, 300-2. As another example, one or more of the messages 1511, 1512 may include information that the server 400 may use to determine an intra-slot muting configuration. For example, one or more of the messages 1511, 1512 may include configuration information of the positioning signal resources (e.g., comb type, number of consecutive symbols in each slot, number of repetitions, etc.).

[0086]

[0114] The UE 200 may provide in message 1514 one or more intra-slot muting configurations and / or information that the server may use in determining whether to implement intra-slot muting. For example, the UE 200 may provide information regarding a search window that the UE 200 may use to receive positioning signals. The UE 200 may also, or alternatively, indicate whether the UE has requested MAC-CE-based and / or DCI-based DL PRS.

[0087]

[0115] In stage 1516, the server 400 determines an intra-slot muting configuration, e.g., a bitmap having suitable characteristics. The server 400 may determine the muting configuration described above, e.g., by selecting a stored schedule or by generating a schedule. The server 400 may generate the schedule using one or more techniques described herein and / or one or more other techniques for generating an intra-slot muting configuration (e.g., a bitmap corresponding to a schedule). The server 400 may use only muting configurations that meet one or more criteria, such as those described above, for example, to contiguous unmuted segments in a slot. The one or more criteria may include one or more criteria for indicating performance, facilitating antenna pattern training, balancing muting and unmuting, having one or more designated slot segments with specified bitmap values, helping to ensure orthogonality (e.g., reducing the probability of collision with another signal below a threshold probability), and / or facilitating positioning in a highly mobile environment, etc. The one or more criteria may include that at least three intra-slot groups (i.e., fully staggered sets of symbols) must exist before the server 400 determines the intra-slot muting configuration (or at least provides the intra-slot muting configuration to the TRP 300). For example, referring to FIG. 16, if only the fourth resource R4 of the resource set 500 shown in FIG. 5 has at least three intra-slot groups, here groups 1611, 1612, 1613, then intra-slot muting (option 3 muting) may be applied only to the fourth resource R4. In FIG. 16, only the first iteration of the fourth resource R4 is expanded for simplicity, but intra-slot muting may also be applied to other iterations.The fourth resource R4 may apply only intra-slot muting indicated by bitmap 1603, or may have intra-slot muting in combination with inter-instance (option 1) muting (indicated by bitmap 1601) and / or intra-instance (option 2) muting applied (indicated by bitmap 1602). For example, a logical combination of bitmap 1603 with bitmap 1601 and / or bitmap 1602 may result in an intra-slot muting configuration that may be applied. Inter-instance and / or intra-instance muting may be applied to the other resources R1, R2, R3. One or more criteria may be used to affect how the bitmap is generated (e.g., specify to the random number generator (e.g., implemented by processor 410) that only values ​​of 1 or 0 should be generated and a specified amount of 1's of the total amount of bits). Also, or alternatively, server 400 may generate the bitmap and then determine whether one or more criteria are satisfied by the bitmap. The server 400 may discard bitmaps that do not meet one or more criteria, or may modify the bitmaps so that the modified bitmaps meet one or more criteria.

[0088]

[0116] The server 400 may provide the appropriate PRS muting configuration to each of the TRPs 300-1, 300-2 in messages 1518, 1520, respectively. The server 400 may send a bitmap for each PRS muting configuration in the message to the TRPs 300-1, 300-2. Each of the TRPs 300-1, 300-2 uses the respective PRS muting configuration to determine when to transmit a PRS signal (transmit an unmuted PRS signal) and when not to transmit a PRS signal (mute the transmission of the PRS signal). The TRPs 300-1, 300-2 may, for example, repeat the respective muting configuration until instructed otherwise by the server 400. TRPs 300-1, 300-2 may determine the PRS muting configuration by reading messages 1518, 1520, or TRPs 300-1, 300-2 may determine their respective PRS muting configurations, for example, as described with respect to stage 1516, or one of TRPs 300-1, 300-2 may determine the PRS muting configuration, for example, as described with respect to stage 1516.

[0089]

[0117] The UE 200 may request location services from the server 400 in message 1522. The message 1522 may be sent directly to the server 400 as shown, or indirectly to the server 400 via one or more of the TRPs 300-1, 300-2 (and / or via one or more other TRPs). Although the request 1522 is shown to occur after stage 1516 and after the muting configuration has been sent to the TRPs 300-1, 300-1, the UE 200 may send the request 1522 at any time.

[0090]

[0118] The server 400 may respond to the location service request 1522 from the UE 200 by sending an appropriate muting configuration to the UE 200 in a message 1524. The server 400 may send the muting configurations for the TRPs 300-1, 300-2 in the vicinity of the UE 200 (e.g., the serving TRP and neighboring TRPs, or TRPs within a certain radius from the location estimate of the UE 200, etc.). The UE 200 may use the muting configuration to save energy, for example, by avoiding wasting power searching for signals during a time window during which the signals are not transmitted and / or by narrowing the search time window to a time window indicated in the PRS muting configuration during which the corresponding PRS signal is unmuted and transmitted. The message 1524 may include the search window to be used by the UE 200 to acquire and receive the positioning signal. The server 400 may send the message 1524 directly to the UE 200 as shown, or indirectly via one or more of the TRPs 300-1, 300-2, and / or via one or more other TRPs 300.

[0091]

[0119] With reference to FIG. 17 and with further reference to FIGS. 1-15, a method 1700 of transmitting a positioning signal includes the steps shown. However, the process 1700 is by way of example only and not by way of limitation. The method 1700 may be altered, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or a single step split into multiple steps. For example, one or more steps may occur before the step shown in FIG. 17 and / or one or more steps may occur after it. For example, step 1714, described below, may be removed from the method 1700, and one or more steps may be added as shown in FIG. 18 and described below. As another example, the step of receiving the muting configuration at the TRP (e.g., from a server) may be performed prior to step 1710 using the processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311, in combination with the transceiver 315 (e.g., wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346, or wired receiver 354) that comprises means for receiving the muting configuration. Still other examples are possible, including other functions described below and / or functions other than those described below. The method 1700 is implemented by the TRP 300, which may be a gNB. For example, the method 1700 may be implemented by a gNB that is co-located with the LMF or integrated with the LMF. However, the method 1700 may be implemented by the server 400, e.g., the server 400 may cause the TRP 300 to perform the illustrated steps (and / or other steps). Still other implementations are possible.

[0092]

[0120] In step 1710, the method 1700 includes unmuting and transmitting from the TRP a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of the transmission schedule according to a muting configuration. For example, the TRP 300 may unmuting and transmitting a segment including symbols 5 and 6 of the first slot 1001 shown in FIG. 10, and a bitmap value of 1 in the muting configuration 1020 corresponding to these symbols indicates not muting the transmission of these symbols. Thus, the "first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment" is a label and this segment does not need to be the first symbol for transmitting a positioning signal in a slot according to the transmission schedule. Similarly, the "first slot" is a label and does not need to be the first slot of the transmission schedule. The server 400 may cause the TRP 300 to transmit the first segment, for example, by sending the transmission schedule and the muting configuration to the TRP 300, and the TRP 300 may use the transmission schedule to transmit a positioning signal and mute the intra-slot segment as indicated by the muting configuration. Having the TRP unmute and transmit the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment may comprise transmitting a transmission schedule and a muting configuration to the TRP for execution. Unmute and transmit the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment may comprise executing the transmission schedule in view of the muting configuration by the TRP using the transmission configuration and the muting configuration stored and / or generated by the TRP. The processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (e.g., software 312) and in combination with the transceiver 315 (e.g., wireless receiver 344), may comprise means for unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment.Also, or alternatively, the processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412), possibly in combination with the transceiver 415 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or the wired transmitter 452), may comprise means for causing the TRP to unmute and transmit a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment.

[0093]

[0121] The TRP may transmit a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment having various possible sizes. For example, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment may be equal in size to an intra-slot group of the first slot, where each intra-slot group is fully staggered, indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols in the intra-slot group. Each of the intra-slot groups may comprise the same portion of the transmission schedule, and each intra-slot group has the same pattern of resource elements sounded over the symbols of the intra-slot group. As another example, the first segment may be smaller in size than the intra-slot group of the first slot, where each intra-slot group is fully staggered. For example, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment may be a single symbol, but the intra-slot group is at least two symbols in length. In this case, the number of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments may be equal to the number of positioning signal symbols in the first slot (i.e., the number of symbols in the first slot specified by the transmission schedule for carrying the positioning signal).

[0094]

[0122] At stage 1712, the method 1700 includes muting the transmission by the TRP of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment of the first slot of the transmission schedule according to the muting configuration. For example, the TRP 300 may mute the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment according to the transmission schedule and the muting configuration (e.g., provided by the server 400). The TRP may, for example, mute the transmission of symbols 3 and 4 of the first slot 1001 shown in FIG. 10, and a bitmap value of 0 in the muting configuration 1020 corresponding to these symbols indicates muting the transmission of these symbols. The first and second intra-slot positioning signal resource segments of the first slot each comprise one or more subcarriers in one or more symbols of the slot and are separate portions of the slot. The second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponds to an intra-slot group in this example. However, segments of other sizes may be used. For example, each segment shown in FIG. 11 corresponds to one symbol, which is smaller than the intra-slot group shown in FIG. 11, each of which is two symbols long. Thus, for example, the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment may correspond to symbol number 3 of the first slot 1101 shown in FIG. 11, which is part of the intra-slot group consisting of slots 3 and 4 of the first slot 1101. Thus, the intra-slot group consisting of slots 3 and 4 becomes unstaggered with the transmission of slot 3 muted. Having the TRP mute the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment may comprise sending a transmission configuration and a muting configuration to the TRP for execution. Muting the transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource element may comprise executing a transmission schedule in view of the muting configuration by the TRP, using the transmission configuration and the muting configuration stored and / or generated by the TRP. The processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (e.g., software 312), may comprise means for muting the transmission of the second segment.Also, or alternatively, the processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412) and in combination with the transceiver 415 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or the wired transmitter 452), may comprise means for causing the TRP to mute transmission of the second segment.

[0095]

[0123] Method 1700 may include one or more other features. For example, method 1700 may include stage 1714 of muting transmission of a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment of a second slot of the transmission schedule, or unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment of the second slot, or both, where the first and second segments of the first and second slots are at the same relative slot position, respectively. For example, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment of slots 1301, 1302 may each correspond to symbol 0 of slots 1301, 1302, respectively, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment of slots 1301, 1302 may each correspond to symbol 1 of slots 1301, 1302, respectively. The processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (e.g., software 312), possibly in combination with the transceiver 315 (e.g., wireless transmitter 342 and antenna 346), may comprise means for muting a transmission of a first intra-slot positioning signal of a second slot, or unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment, or a combination thereof. The processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412), possibly in combination with the transceiver 415 (e.g., wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or wired transmitter 452), may comprise means for causing the TRP to mute a transmission of a first intra-slot positioning signal of a second slot, or unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment, or a combination thereof. As another example, the method 1700 may include stage 1716 of unmuting and transmitting the third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment from another TRP according to another muting configuration. Thus, different resources may have different muting configurations (e.g., muting configurations 1320, 1330) applied and thus the segment may be transmitted unmuted according to the different muting configurations and / or may have transmissions muted differently according to the different muting configurations.The processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311, may comprise means for unmuting and transmitting a third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in accordance with another muting configuration in combination with a transceiver 315 (e.g., wireless transmitter 342 and antenna 346, and / or wired transmitter 352) of another TRP. The processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412), may comprise means for causing another TRP to unmute and transmit a third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in accordance with another muting configuration in combination with a transceiver 415 (e.g., wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or wired transmitter 452).

[0096]

[0124] One or more other steps may be included as part of, before, and / or after method 1700. For example, with reference to FIG. 18, several optional steps of method 1800 are shown that may be performed before step 1710 of method 1700. Each of the steps of method 1800 shown is optional. One or more other steps may be included in method 1800. While the description of method 1800 focuses on server 400 being configured to perform and performing functions, TRP 300 may be configured to perform and perform some or all of the functions.

[0097]

[0125] At stage 1808, the method 1800 includes obtaining information for obtaining a muting configuration. For example, the server 400 or the TRP 300 may obtain configuration information for transmitting one or more positioning signal (e.g., PRS) resources by one or more TRPs 300. For example, the server 400 may obtain the configuration information from one or more of the TRPs 300-1, 300-2 via one or more of the messages 1511, 1512. The configuration information may include, for example, comb type, resource length, number of repetitions, etc. Also or alternatively, the server 400 may be configured to read the configuration information (e.g., muting configuration) from the memory 411 and / or generate the configuration information (which may include the muting configuration) and transmit it to the TRPs 300-1, 300-2, for example in messages 1518, 1520. The TRP 300 may receive the configuration information and use the configuration information (e.g., derive a muting configuration from the configuration information or read a muting configuration from the configuration information) as appropriate. The processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412) and / or the transceiver 415, may comprise means for obtaining information for obtaining a muting configuration. Also or alternatively, the processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (e.g., software 312) and / or the transceiver 315, may comprise means for obtaining information for obtaining a muting configuration.

[0098]

[0126] At stage 1810, the method 1800 may include obtaining a muting configuration based on positioning signal resource configuration information, such as, for example, comb type, resource length, number of repetitions, and / or based on a combination of muting configurations. For example, the server 400 or the TRP 300 may determine a segment size for a bitmap representing a muting configuration based on the comb type and resource length. For example, the server 400 may be configured to obtain a muting configuration using one or more of a variety of techniques. For example, the server 400 may be configured to derive a muting pattern based on, for example, such parameters, and / or may be configured to select a stored muting pattern based on, for example, such parameters, and / or may be configured to obtain a muting configuration using one or more other techniques. The muting configuration may be different for different slots and / or for different positioning signal resources. The server 400 may set a segment size to be equal to, for example, the number of symbols in a slot for transmitting a positioning signal divided by the number of combs. The server 400 may determine a muting configuration based on a combination of muting configurations. For example, the server 400 may logically combine (e.g., with a logical AND) an intra-slot muting configuration with one or more other muting configurations. For example, the server 400 may be configured to determine option 1 AND option 3, or option 2 AND option 3, or option 1 AND option 2 AND option 3. Thus, for example, the resulting muting configuration indicates unmute and transmit only if all AND-computed muting configurations indicate unmute and transmit. The processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412), may comprise a means for determining a muting configuration. Also or alternatively, the processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (e.g., software 312), may comprise a means for determining a muting configuration.

[0099]

[0127] At stage 1812, method 1800 may include obtaining a muting configuration such that all instructions for transmitting corresponding segments in unmuted slots are consecutive. For example, processor 410 may not use (e.g., discard, ignore, not select) any potential muting configuration (e.g., generated by processor 410 or stored by memory 411 and selected by processor 410) having multiple instructions for unmuting and transmitting corresponding slot segments if the instructions (e.g., to ignore 1011 muting configuration but allow 0111 muting configuration) are not consecutive. Processor 410, possibly in combination with memory 411 (e.g., software 412), may comprise a means for determining a muting configuration. Also or alternatively, processor 310, possibly in combination with memory 311 (e.g., software 312), may comprise a means for determining a muting configuration.

[0100]

[0128] At stage 1814, the method 1800 may include determining whether at least three intra-slot groups are included in the transmission schedule. For example, the server 400 may determine whether the length of the resource divided by the number of symbols in the intra-slot group is at least three. The server 400 may not implement intra-slot muting if there are not at least three intra-slot groups per slot (e.g., the server 400 may not determine such an intra-slot muting configuration, or may not transmit at least such an intra-slot muting configuration to the TRP 300, or may not transmit an instruction to the TRP 300 for the TRP 300 to use such an intra-slot muting configuration generated or stored by the TRP 300). If there are not at least three intra-slot groups, the method 1800 may end at stage 1816 without proceeding to the method 1700. The processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., the software 412), may comprise means for determining that the muting configuration includes at least three intra-slot groups. Also, or alternatively, the processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (eg, software 312), may comprise means for determining that the muting configuration includes at least three intra-slot groups.

[0101]

[0129] At stage 1818, the method 1800 may include determining whether low latency positioning signal triggering is in use. For example, the server 400 may be configured to determine whether MAC-CE based DL PRS triggering is in use (e.g., requested) and / or to determine whether DCI based DL PRS triggering is in use. If low latency positioning signal triggering is not in use, the method 1800 may end at stage 1816 without proceeding to the method 1700. The processor 410, possibly in combination with the memory 411 (e.g., software 412), may comprise means for determining whether low latency positioning signal triggering is in use. Also or alternatively, the processor 310, possibly in combination with the memory 311 (e.g., software 312), may comprise means for determining whether low latency positioning signal triggering is in use.

[0102]

[0130] At stage 1820, method 1800 may include determining whether the UE can resolve the aliased peak. For example, server 400 may determine whether the UE has a search window (e.g., RSTD uncertainty less than a tolerable threshold) that is small enough to resolve the aliased peak when the muting configuration causes partial staggering (less than all subcarriers are sounded) to carry the positioning signal. Server 400 may, for example, obtain information about the search window from UE 200 or transmit the search window to UE 200, thus storing the search window. Server 400 may proceed to method 1700 in response to determining (only if server 400 determines) that UE 200 has a search window that is small enough to resolve the aliased peak, or may end at stage 1816 if not.

[0103]

[0131] Other considerations

[0132] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination of these. Features implementing the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations. For example, one or more functions discussed above as residing in server 400 (e.g., for determining and implementing a PRS muting configuration), or one or more portions thereof, may be performed outside server 400, such as by TRP 300. A statement that a feature may implement a function includes that the feature may be configured to implement the function (e.g., a statement that server 400 may perform function X includes that server 400 may be configured to perform function X).

[0104]

[0133] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0105]

[0134] As used herein, the term RS (Reference Signal) may refer to one or more reference signals and may apply to any form of the term RS, e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS, etc., as appropriate.

[0106]

[0135] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, a statement that a function or action is "based on" an item or state means that the function or action is based on the stated item or state, and may be based on one or more items and / or states in addition to the stated item or state.

[0107]

[0136] Also, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items ending with "at least one of" or "one or more of" indicates a disjunctive list, such as, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C" means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B means that the item may be configured to perform a function with respect to A, or may be configured to perform a function with respect to B, or may be configured to perform a function with respect to A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (which may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (which may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (which may be configured to select whether to measure A and B, or both). Similarly, a description of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes a means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or a means for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting whether to measure A and B, or both). As another example, a description that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform at least one of performing a function X or performing a function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and function Y.For example, the phrase "a processor configured to at least one of measure X or measure Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select whether to measure X and Y, or both).

[0108]

[0137] Considerable variations may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used and / or particular elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets) executed by a processor, or both. Additionally, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be utilized. Unless otherwise noted, functional or other components shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as connected or in communication with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, the components may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication therebetween.

[0109]

[0138] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves, and many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0110]

[0139] A wireless communication system is a communication system in which communications are carried wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or sound waves propagating through space rather than by wired or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but is configured such that at least some communications are transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the function of the device is solely or even primarily for communication, or that the device is a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0111]

[0140] In the description, specific details are given to obtain a thorough understanding of the example configurations (including implementations). However, the configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques are shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description only provides an example configuration and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0112]

[0141] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. With a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to a processor for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., signals, etc.). In many implementations, the processor-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0113]

[0142] Although several example configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, and other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, some operations may be performed before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Thus, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0114]

[0143] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or exceeds) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. The invention as described in the claims of the original application is set forth below. [C1] A method for selectively transmitting positioning signals from a TRP (Transmission / Reception Point), comprising: unmuting and transmitting from the TRP a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements should be sounded in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of the positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, and the muting configuration indicating whether each of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted. muting transmission by the TRP of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule according to the muting configuration; Equipped with Wherein, the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments include the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot. method. [C2] The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G≧2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G. [C3] The method of C2, wherein each of the intra-slot groups consists of the same portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded. [C4] The method of claim 1, wherein the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G is greater than or equal to 2, and where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M>G. [C5] The method of C4, wherein the second integer quantity M is equal to a number of symbols configured for resources of the positioning signal in the first slot. [C6] 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second portion of an intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols including a first portion and the second portion, the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols indicating sounding less than all of the transmission schedule subcarriers, the method further comprising determining, as a condition for muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment, that a user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window that can resolve an aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols. [C7] The method of C1, further comprising: determining the muting configuration such that all instructions to transmit corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in unmuted slots are consecutive. [C8] muting transmission of a positioning signal resource segment in a first slot in a second slot of the transmission schedule; or unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule; or Combinations of these Further equipped with wherein, according to the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot. The method according to C1. [C9] The method of claim 1, wherein unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot are performed in response to determining that the first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups, each group indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols. [C10] The method of claim 1, wherein unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot are performed in response to determining that MAC-CE based (medium access control-control element based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or that DCI based (downlink control information based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or a combination thereof. [C11] The method of C1, further comprising determining the muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of the transmission schedule. [C12] The method of claim 1, wherein the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, the method further comprising: obtaining the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. [C13] Determining the logical combination comprises: the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a logical operator, or the intra-slot muting configuration and the intra-instance muting configuration, or the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration The method of claim 12, comprising determining [C14] The muting configuration is a first muting configuration, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponds to a first positioning signal resource, and the TRP is a first TRP, and the method includes: unmuting and transmitting a third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment from a second TRP according to a second muting configuration different from the first muting configuration, the third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponding to a second positioning signal resource different from the first positioning signal resource; The method of C1, further comprising: [C15] A transmitter; Memory, communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory; unmuting and transmitting via the transmitter a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements to sound in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of a positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, and the muting configuration indicating whether each of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted. muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with the muting configuration; a processor configured to: A TRP (Transmission / Reception Point) comprising: Wherein, the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments include the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot. TRP. [C16] The TRP of C15, wherein the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G is greater than or equal to 2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G. [C17] The TRP of C16, wherein each of the intra-slot groups consists of the same portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded. [C18] The TRP of C15, wherein the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G is greater than or equal to 2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M is greater than or equal to G. [C19] The TRP according to C18, wherein the second integer quantity M is equal to a number of symbols configured for the resource of the positioning signal in the first slot. [C20] The TRP of C15, wherein the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second portion of an intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols including a first portion and the second portion, the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols indicating sounding less than all of the subcarriers of the transmission schedule, and the processor is configured to mute transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in response to determining that a user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window that can resolve an aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols. [C21] The TRP of C15, wherein the processor is configured to determine the muting configuration such that all instructions to transmit corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in unmuted slots are consecutive. [C22] The processor, muting transmission of a positioning signal resource segment in a first slot in a second slot of the transmission schedule; or transmitting, via the transmitter, a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule in an unmuted manner; or Combinations of these

[0023] 20. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: wherein, according to the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot. TRP as described in C15. [C23] The TRP of C15, wherein the processor is configured to, in response to determining that the first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups, each group indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, unmute and transmit via the transmitter the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and mute transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot. [C24] The processor, in response to a determination that MAC-CE based (medium access control-control element based) positioning signal triggering is in use; or in response to a determination that DCI-based (Downlink Control Information-based) positioning signal triggering is in use; or In response to these combinations, The TRP of C15, configured to unmute and transmit, via the transmitter, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, and to mute transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot. [C25] The TRP of C15, wherein the processor is configured to determine the muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of the transmission schedule. [C26] The TRP of C15, wherein the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, and the processor is configured to obtain the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. [C27] To determine the logical combination, the processor configured to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a logical operator; or configured to determine the intra-slot muting configuration and the intra-instance muting configuration; or configured to determine the intra-slot muting configuration AND the inter-instance muting configuration AND the intra-instance muting configuration. TRP as described in C26. [C28] means for unmuting and transmitting a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements to sound in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of a positioning signal in a slot of the transmission schedule, the muting configuration indicating whether each of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted; means for muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with the muting configuration; A TRP (Transmission / Reception Point) comprising: Wherein, the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments include the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot. TRP. [C29] The TRP of C28, further comprising means for determining the muting configuration such that all instructions to transmit corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in unmuted slots are consecutive. [C30] The TRP of C28, wherein the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, and the TRP further comprises means for obtaining the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration. [C31] The TRP (transmit / receive point) processor unmuting and transmitting a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements to sound in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of a positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, the muting configuration indicating whether each of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted. muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with the muting configuration; 1. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions for causing a Wherein, the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments include the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium.

Claims

1. 1. A method for selectively transmitting positioning signals from a transmission / reception point (TRP), comprising: unmuting and transmitting a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule from the TRP according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements should be sounded in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to transmit at least a portion of the positioning signal in the slot of the transmission schedule, and the muting configuration indicating whether each of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted; muting transmission by the TRP of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule according to the muting configuration; determining the muting configuration such that all instructions to transmit corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in unmuted slots are consecutive; wherein the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments includes the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot. method.

2. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmission schedule includes a first integer amount G of intra-slot groups for the first slot, where G≧2, where each of the intra-slot groups indicates sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols, and where the muting configuration includes a second integer amount M of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in the first slot, where M=G or M>G.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein M=G and each of the intra-slot groups consists of the same portion of the transmission schedule having the same pattern of resource elements to be sounded.

4. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein M>G, and the second integer quantity M is equal to a number of symbols configured for the positioning signal resource in the first slot.

5. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is a second portion of an intra-slot group of symbols, the intra-slot group of symbols including a first portion and the second portion, the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols indicating sounding less than all of the transmission schedule subcarriers, the method further comprising: determining, as a condition for muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment, that a user equipment receiving the positioning signal is configured with a search window that can resolve an aliased channel energy response peak corresponding to the first portion of the intra-slot group of symbols.

6. muting transmission of a positioning signal resource segment in a first slot during a second slot of the transmission schedule; or unmuting and transmitting a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot of the transmission schedule; or Combinations of these Further equipped with wherein, according to the transmission schedule, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same first time that the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot, and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the second slot is scheduled for the second slot at a same second time that the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot is scheduled for the first slot. The method of claim 1.

7. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot are performed in response to determining that the first slot of the transmission schedule includes at least three intra-slot groups, each indicating sounding all subcarriers of the transmission schedule over a respective set of symbols.

8. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein unmuting and transmitting the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and muting transmission of the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot are performed in response to determining that MAC-CE based (medium access control-control element based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or that DCI based (downlink control information based) positioning signal triggering is in use, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the muting configuration based on a comb type and a resource length of the transmission schedule.

10. the muting configuration is an intra-slot muting configuration, the method further comprising: obtaining the muting configuration by determining a logical combination of the intra-slot muting configuration and at least one of an inter-instance muting configuration or an intra-instance muting configuration; Optionally, determining the logical combination comprises: the intra-slot muting configuration and the inter-instance muting configuration, where AND is a muting operator, or the intra-slot muting configuration and the intra-instance muting configuration, or the intra-slot muting configuration and the inter-instance muting configuration and the intra-instance muting configuration The method of claim 1 , comprising determining:

11. The muting configuration is a first muting configuration, the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponds to a first positioning signal resource, and the TRP is a first TRP, and the method includes: unmuting and transmitting a third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment from a second TRP according to a second muting configuration different from the first muting configuration, the third intra-slot positioning signal resource segment corresponding to a second positioning signal resource different from the first positioning signal resource; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

12. A transmitter; Memory, communicatively coupled to the transmitter and the memory; unmuting and transmitting via the transmitter a first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in a first slot of a transmission schedule according to a muting configuration, the transmission schedule indicating which one or more resource elements in each of a plurality of consecutive symbols to sound for transmitting at least a portion of a positioning signal in a slot of the transmission schedule, the muting configuration indicating whether each of a plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments should be muted. muting transmission of a second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot of the transmission schedule in accordance with the muting configuration; determining the muting configuration such that all instructions to transmit corresponding intra-slot positioning signal resource segments in unmuted slots are consecutive; a processor configured to: A transmission / reception point (TRP) comprising: wherein the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments includes the first intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot and the second intra-slot positioning signal resource segment in the first slot, each of the plurality of intra-slot positioning signal resource segments including at least one symbol and being a separate portion of a respective slot. TRP.

13. The TRP of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to execute a method according to any one of claims 2 to 11.

14. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions for causing a processor of a transmit / receive point (TRP) to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

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