Use of a medium access control control element to schedule semi-persistent sounding reference signals for positioning - Patents.com

Abstract

In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives a medium access control element (MAC-CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and transmits the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, where the SP SRS for positioning has transmission parameters adopted from a spatially related reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 970,093, filed February 4, 2020, entitled "USING MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL CONTROL ELEMENTS TO SCHEDULE SEMI-PERSISTENT SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNALS FOR POSITIONING," and U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 17 / 164,316, filed February 1, 2021, entitled "USING MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL CONTROL ELEMENTS TO SCHEDULE SEMI-PERSISTENT SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNALS FOR POSITIONING," both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are expressly incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular systems and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), calls for higher data rates, a larger number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, providing one gigabit per second to a few dozen workers on an office floor, according to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance. To support large-scale sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Thus, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly increased compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, compared to the current standard, signaling efficiency should be increased and latency should be significantly reduced. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary relevant to one or more aspects disclosed herein. As such, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relevant to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relevant to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope relevant to any particular aspect. As such, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting some concepts relevant to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) comprises receiving a medium access control element (MAC-CE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning from a serving base station, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; and transmitting the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, where the SP SRS for positioning has transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning, and an identifier (ID) of the spatial relation reference signal is determined based on an identifier field for the spatial relation reference signal in the MAC-CE, where the type of the spatial relation reference signal is one of: (1) a communication SRS resource; (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB); block), (3) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) SRS resource for positioning, or (5) downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, and the identifier field includes 3 bits that indicate whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a SRS resource for communication, a SRS resource for positioning, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource.

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a base station includes transmitting a media access control control element (MAC-CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, the MAC-CE including an identifier field from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined, the type of the spatial relationship reference signal being one of: (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, and the identifier field indicates whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource. and receiving a positioning SP SRS from the UE on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the positioning SP SRS, the positioning SP SRS having transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0008] In one aspect, a UE includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor is configured to: receive a media access control control element (MAC-CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; and transmit the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, where the SP SRS for positioning indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning. and transmitting a spatial relationship reference signal having transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relationship reference signal for SRS, the identifier (ID) of the spatial relationship reference signal being determined based on an identifier field for the spatial relationship reference signal in the MAC-CE, the type of the spatial relationship reference signal being one of (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, the identifier field including 3 bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource.

[0009] In one aspect, a base station includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit a media access control element (MAC-CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, the MAC-CE includes an identifier field from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined, and the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is selected from the group consisting of (1) communication SRS resources, (2) synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, (4) positioning SRS resources, or (5) downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resources configured for the UE for transmission of the spatial relationship reference signal, the SRS resource or resources being one of the SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the positioning SP SRS, the SRS resource or resources being one of the SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the positioning SP SRS, the SP SRS having transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0010] In one aspect, the UE includes means for receiving a media access control element (MAC-CE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning from a serving base station, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; and means for transmitting the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, where the SP SRS for positioning has transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning, and an identifier (ID) of the spatial relation reference signal is determined based on an identifier field for the spatial relation reference signal in the MAC-CE, and the type of the spatial relation reference signal is selected from the group consisting of (1) communication SRS resources, (2) synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, (4) positioning SRS resources, or (5) downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resources, and the identifier field includes 3 bits that indicate whether the type of spatial related reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource.

[0011] In an aspect, a base station comprises means for transmitting a media access control control element (MAC-CE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning to a user equipment (UE), wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, the MAC-CE including an identifier field from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined, the type of the spatial relationship reference signal being one of: (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, and the identifier field indicates whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource. and means for receiving a positioning SP SRS from the UE on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the positioning SP SRS, the positioning SP SRS having transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relationship reference signal.

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes at least one instruction to instruct a user equipment (UE) to receive a media access control element (MAC-CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and at least one instruction to instruct the UE to transmit the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, where the SP SRS for positioning indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning. and instructions for receiving a spatial relationship reference signal for a spatial relationship reference signal (SRS) from a wireless LAN base station (LAN) based on an identifier field for the spatial relationship reference signal in the MAC-CE, the type of the spatial relationship reference signal being one of: (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, the identifier field including three bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource.

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes at least one instruction to instruct a base station to transmit a media access control element (MAC-CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, the MAC-CE including an identifier field from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined, and the type of spatial relationship reference signal is one of: (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL UE on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the positioning SP SRS, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0014] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for the purpose of illustrating the aspects and not for the purpose of limiting the aspects. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support communications as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support communication as taught herein. [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 4A] FIG. 1 illustrates a user plane protocol stack according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] FIG. 2 illustrates a control plane protocol stack according to an aspect of the disclosure. [Figure 5A] FIG. 2 illustrates an example frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5B] FIG. 2 illustrates an example channel within a frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5C] FIG. 2 illustrates an example frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5D] FIG. 2 illustrates an example channel within a frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6A] FIG. 2 illustrates how a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration is defined for each Bandwidth Part (BWP). [Figure 6B] A diagram illustrating how SRS resource sets and / or SRS resources are configured within an SRS configuration. [Figure 7] A diagram showing various fields of a semi-persistent (SP) SRS activation / deactivation media access control element (MAC-CE). [Figure 8] 1 is a table that defines five quasi-colocation (QCL) source reference signal cases and the number of bits required for each case. [Figure 9] 9 is a table defining the five cases in FIG. 8 and the number of bits required to identify the QCL source reference signal for each case. [Figure 10] A diagram illustrating various fields of an SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE for positioning according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 illustrates various spatial relationship information fields according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 illustrates various spatial relationship information fields according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 illustrates various spatial relationship information fields according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 14] FIG. 1 illustrates various spatial relationship information fields according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15] FIG. 1 illustrates various spatial relationship information fields according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 16] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 17] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and associated drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0018] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0019] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0020] Further, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0021] The terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" as used herein are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at some times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via the RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks, such as the Internet, and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are possible for a UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet, such as via a wired access network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, etc.).

[0022] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with a UE depending on the network in which the UE is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may send signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) channel or a forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0023] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit reception point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs that are co-located, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs that are not co-located, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, so as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0024] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when it transmits signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when it receives and measures signals from the UE).

[0025] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same RF signal transmitted over different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0026] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs, where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0027] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through the backhaul links 122 and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170). In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast services (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and distribution of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0028] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage to a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with the base stations (e.g., over some frequency resources, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term "cell" may refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0029] The geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may overlap partially (e.g., in handover regions) and some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell (SC) base station 102' may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups called Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0030] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or a downlink (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0031] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine if a channel is available.

[0032] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and may use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may extend coverage to and / or increase capacity of an access network. NR in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0033] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 in communication with the UE 182 and may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) and / or sub-mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Sub-mmW may extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz, with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / sub-mmW radio frequency bands have high path losses and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path losses and short distances. It will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or sub-mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be appreciated that the above illustrations are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0034] Transmit beamforming is a technique for converging an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, the network node broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectional). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster and stronger RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device. To change the directionality of an RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0035] A transmit beam may be quasi-collocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antennas are physically co-located or not. In NR, there are four types of quasi-collocated (QCL) relationships. In particular, a QCL relationship of a given type means that some parameters for a target reference RF signal on a target beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0036] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in some direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is larger than the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the largest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of RF signals received from that direction.

[0037] The receive beams may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that parameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal may be derived from information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a PTRS, etc.) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0038] It should be noted that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, then it is a receive beam to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, then it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, then it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0039] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges, namely, FR1 (450 MHz to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "SCell". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell on which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may (but is not always) be a carrier among licensed frequencies. The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier among unlicensed frequencies. Since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier may only include necessary signaling information and signals, e.g., signaling information and signals that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which several base stations are communicating, terms such as "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0040] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (i.e., a "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two aggregated 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would lead to a theoretical data rate increase of twice (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0041] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via an mmW communications link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0042] In the example of FIG. 1, one or more Earth-orbiting satellite positioning system (SPS) space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites) may be used as independent sources of location information for any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity). The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated SPS receivers specifically designed to receive SPS signals 124 to derive geolocation information from the SVs 112. An SPS typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based at least in part on signals (e.g., SPS signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a repeating pseudorandom noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located in ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104.

[0043] Use of the SPS signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or local navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-Function Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation, or the GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Thus, as used herein, an SPS may include any combination of one or more global and / or local navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and the SPS signals 124 may include SPS, SPS-like signals, and / or other signals associated with such one or more SPS.

[0044] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0045] 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be viewed functionally as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.) that work cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the New RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may be in communication with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UEs 204 that may connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC 210 and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be outside the core network.

[0046] 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. For example, the 5GC 260 may be viewed functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via a control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and a user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223, with or without gNB direct connectivity to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface.

[0047] The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In case of authentication based on a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that the SCM uses to derive access network specific keys. The functions of the AMF 264 also include location service management for regulated services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the New RAN 220 and the LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0048] The functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), routing and forwarding of packets, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support forwarding of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 272.

[0049] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and part of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0050] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that may connect to the LMF 270 via the core network 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, while the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the New RAN 220, and the UE 204 via the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages rather than voice or data) and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) via the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0051] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the illustrated components to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0052] The UE 302 and base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350 that provides means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively, in accordance with a designated RAT. In particular, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0053] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, at least in some cases, include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with the designated RAT. In particular, the WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding the signals 328 and 368, respectively.

[0054] The transceiver circuitry including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may in some implementations comprise an integrated device (e.g., embodied as transmitter and receiver circuits in a single communication device), in some implementations comprise separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices, or in other implementations may be embodied in other ways. In one aspect, the transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas, such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), that enable each device to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas, such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), that enable each device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitters and receivers may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that each device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not both at the same time. The wireless communications device of the UE 302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0055] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, at least in some cases, include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide a means for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Navigation Satellite System of India (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and actions from other systems as appropriate, and perform the necessary calculations to determine the position of the UE 302 and base station 304 using the obtained measurements, via any suitable SPS algorithms.

[0056] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390, respectively, that provides a means for communicating (e.g., a means for transmitting, a means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signal communication. This communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0057] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302 includes processor circuitry implementing a processing system 332, e.g., for providing functionality related to wireless positioning as disclosed herein and for providing other processing functionality. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384, e.g., for providing functionality related to wireless positioning as disclosed herein and for providing other processing functionality. The network entity 306 includes a processing system 394, e.g., for providing functionality related to wireless positioning as disclosed herein and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include one or more processors, such as, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0058] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, the memory components 340, 386, and 396 may provide a means for storing, a means for retrieving, a means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., may be part of a modem processing system, may be integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that when executed by the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, which may be part of the WWAN transceiver 310, the memory component 340, the processing system 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of a positioning component 388, which may be part of the WWAN transceiver 350, a memory component 386, a processing system 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations for a positioning component 398, which may be part of the network interface 390, the memory component 396, the processing system 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0059] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the processing system 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the WWAN transceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver 320, and / or the SPS receiver 330. By way of example, the sensors 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Moreover, the sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0060] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing indications to a user (e.g., audio and / or visual indications) and / or receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device, such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0061] Referring to the processing system 384 in more detail, on the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide RRC layer functions related to broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0062] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0063] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its respective antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions related to various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points that were most likely transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to a processing system 332 that performs Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0064] In the uplink, the processing system 332 performs demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0065] Similar to the functionality described with respect to downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functionality related to system information (e.g., MIBs, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0066] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0067] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described for the receiver functions at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a processing system 384.

[0068] In the uplink, the processing system 384 performs demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0069] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are illustrated in Figures 3A-3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein, however, it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may have different functionality in different designs.

[0070] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. The components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, activities, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, activities, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0071] FIG. 4A illustrates a user plane protocol stack according to an aspect of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, a UE 404 and a base station 402 (which may correspond to any of the UEs and base stations described herein, respectively) implement, from the highest layer to the lowest layer, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer 410, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer 415, a radio link control (RLC) layer 420, a media access control (MAC) layer 425, and a physical (PHY) layer 430. A particular instance of a protocol layer is referred to as a protocol "entity." Thus, the terms "protocol layer" and "protocol entity" may be used interchangeably.

[0072] As illustrated by the double-arrowed lines in Figure 4A, each layer of the protocol stack implemented by the UE 404 communicates with the same layer in the base station 402, and vice versa. The two corresponding protocol layers / entities in the UE 404 and base station 402 are referred to as "peers," "peer entities," etc. Collectively, the SDAP layer 410, PDCP layer 415, RLC layer 420, and MAC layer 425 are referred to as "Layer 2" or "L2." The PHY layer 430 is referred to as "Layer 1" or "L1."

[0073] 4B illustrates a control plane protocol stack according to an aspect of the disclosure. In addition to the PDCP layer 415, the RLC layer 420, the MAC layer 425, and the PHY layer 430, the UE 404 and the base station 402 also implement a radio resource control (RRC) layer 445. Additionally, the UE 404 and the AMF 406 implement a non-access stratum (NAS) layer 440.

[0074] The RLC layer 420 supports three transmission modes for packets: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). In TM mode, there is no RLC header, no segmentation / reassembly, and no feedback (i.e., no acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK)). In addition, there is buffering only at the transmitter. In UM mode, there is an RLC header, buffering at both the transmitter and receiver, and segmentation / reassembly, but no feedback (i.e., data transmission does not require any acknowledgement (e.g., ACK / NACK) from the receiver). In AM mode, there is an RLC header, buffering at both the transmitter and receiver, segmentation / reassembly, and feedback (i.e., data transmission requires acknowledgement (e.g., ACK / NACK) from the receiver). Each of these modes can be used for both transmitting and receiving data. In TM and UM modes, separate RLC entities are used for transmission and reception, whereas in AM mode, a single RLC entity performs both transmission and reception. Note that each logical channel uses a specific RLC mode; i.e., the RLC configuration is per logical channel, with no dependency on numerology and / or transmission time interval (TTI) duration (i.e., duration of transmission on the radio link). In particular, the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), Paging Control Channel (PCCH), and Common Control Channel (CCCH) use only TM mode, the Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) use only AM mode, and the Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) use UM or AM mode. Whether the DTCH uses UM or AM is determined by RRC messaging.

[0075] The main services and functions of the RLC layer 420 depend on the transmission mode and include transfer of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), sequence numbering independent of that in the PDCP layer 415, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), segmentation and resegmentation, reassembly of service data units (SDUs), RLC SDU discard, and RLC re-establishment. The ARQ function provides error correction in AM mode and has the following properties: ARQ retransmission of RLC PDUs or RLC PDU segments based on RLC status reports, polling for RLC status reports when required by RLC, and RLC receiver triggering of RLC status reports after detection of lost RLC PDUs or RLC PDU segments.

[0076] The main services and functions of the PDCP layer 415 for the user plane include sequence numbering, header compression and decompression (in case of robust header compression (ROHC)), forwarding of user data, reordering and duplicate detection (if in-order delivery to layers above the PDCP layer 415 is required), PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers), retransmission of PDCP SDUs, ciphering and deciphering, PDCP SDU discard, PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM, and PDCP PDU duplication. The main services and functions of the PDCP layer 415 for the control plane include ciphering, deciphering, and integrity protection, forwarding of control plane data, and duplication of PDCP PDUs.

[0077] The SDAP layer 410 is an access stratum (AS) layer whose main services and functions include mapping between Quality of Service (QoS) flows and data radio bearers, and marking QoS flow identifiers in both downlink and uplink packets. A single protocol entity of the SDAP is configured for each individual PDU session.

[0078] The main services and functions of the RRC layer 445 include broadcast of system information related to the AS and the NAS, paging initiated by the 5GC (e.g., NGC 210 or 260) or the RAN (e.g., New RAN 220), establishment, maintenance and release of the RRC connection between the UE and the RAN, security functions including key management, establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs), mobility functions (including handover, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection, context transfer at handover), QoS management functions, UE measurement reporting and control of reporting, and NAS message forwarding from the UE to the NAS / from the NAS to the UE.

[0079] The NAS layer 440 is the highest layer of the control plane between the UE 404 and the AMF 406 in the radio interface. The main function of the protocols that are part of the NAS layer 440 is to support the mobility of the UE 404 and to support session management procedures to establish and maintain Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity between the UE 404 and the Packet Data Network (PDN). The NAS layer 440 performs Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer management, authentication, EPS Connection Management (ECM)-IDLE mobility handling, paging origination in ECM-IDLE, and security control.

[0080] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 5A is a diagram 500 illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5B is a diagram 530 illustrating an example of channels within a downlink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5C is a diagram 550 illustrating an example of an uplink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5D is a diagram 570 illustrating an example of channels within an uplink frame structure according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0081] LTE and in some instances NR utilize OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (i.e., 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0082] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or more may be available. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, i.e., 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with an FFT size of 4K is 50. For a 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, i.e., 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 100. For a 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, i.e., 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 200. For a 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, i.e., 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 400. For a 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, i.e., 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with an FFT size of 4K is 800.

[0083] In the example of Figures 5A-5D, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figures 5A-5D, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis) with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0084] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, with each time slot including one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of Figures 5A-5D, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain to obtain a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain to obtain a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0085] Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). The DL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 5A shows example locations of REs carrying PRS (labeled "R").

[0086] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of a PRS is called a "PRS resource." A set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" consecutive symbols (e.g., one or more) within a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0087] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a particular comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. In particular, for comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, for Com 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, the following comb sizes are supported for DL ​​PRS: Com 2, Com 4, Com 6, and Com 12. FIG. 5A shows an example PRS resource configuration for Com 6 (spanning 6 symbols). That is, the location of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicates the PRS resource configuration of Com 6.

[0088] Currently, DL PRS resources may span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot with an overall frequency domain staggered pattern. DL PRS resources may be configured within any higher layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol of a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL PRS resource. Below are the frequency offsets per symbol for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 across 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2symbolscom2:{0, 1}, 4symbolscom2:{0, 1, 0, 1}, 6symbolscom2:{0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}, 12symbolscom2:{0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}, 4symbolscom4:{0, 2, 1, 3}, 12symbolscom4:{0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}, 6symbolscom6:{0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}, 12symbolscom6:{0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}, and 12symbolscom12:{0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4, 10, 2, 8, 5, 11}.

[0089] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity across slots, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (e.g., "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor"). The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may be μ=0, 1, 2, 3 and may have a length selected from 2^μ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0090] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not have any implications as to whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0091] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more contiguous slots) during which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be called a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply an "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0092] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply called "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs with the same values ​​for some parameters. In particular, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all numerologies supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same Point A, the same value of downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number"), which is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of 4 PRBs with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers are specified, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0093] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat like that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but differs in that component carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (i.e., macrocell base stations and small cell base stations) to transmit data channels, and frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRSs. When a UE sends its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session, the UE may indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support. For example, the UE may indicate whether the UE can support one positioning frequency layer or four positioning frequency layers.

[0094] DL PRS resource IDs are defined locally within DL PRS resource sets, and DL PRS resource set IDs are defined locally within TRPs. To uniquely identify DL PRS resources across TRPs, an ID is defined that can be associated with multiple DL PRS resource sets associated with a single TRP. This ID can be used together with DL PRS resource set IDs and DL PRS resource IDs to uniquely identify a single DL PRS resource. This ID is referred to herein as "DL-PRS-TRP-ResourceSetId". Each TRP should be associated with only one "DL-PRS-TRP-ResourceSetId". For example, the "DL-PRS-TRP-ResourceSetId" can be a cell ID (e.g., PCI, VCI) or TRP ID, or another identifier different from the cell ID or TRP ID used for positioning purposes to participate in the unique identification of PRS resources.

[0095] FIG. 5B shows an example of various channels in a downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth, i.e., the system bandwidth, is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. In general, up to four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, which means that the UE can only receive or transmit via one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of an SSB, but each BWP may or may not include an SSB.

[0096] Referring to FIG. 5B, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine a physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DL-RS mentioned above. A physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying an MIB may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also called SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). A physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

[0097] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) in one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each of which contains one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle containing one or more REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (core set (CORESET)) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single core set and transmitted with its own DMRS. This allows UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0098] In the example of Figure 5B, there is one core set per BWP, and the core set spans three symbols in the time domain (although it may be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region (i.e., a core set) in the frequency domain. Thus, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in Figure 5B are illustrated as being smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that the illustrated core sets are contiguous in the frequency domain, but need not be. In addition, the core sets may span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0099] The DCI in the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocations (persistent and non-persistent), called uplink grants and downlink grants, respectively, and a description of the downlink data to be transmitted to the UE. More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for the downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) and the uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for downlink scheduling, for uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH may be transported by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0100] As shown in FIG. 5C, some of the REs (labeled "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at a receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE, etc.). The UE may additionally transmit an SRS, e.g., in the last symbol of a slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS in one of the combs. In the example of FIG. 5C, the illustrated SRS is comb 2 spanning one symbol. The SRS may be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for each UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station, and describes the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0101] Currently, an SRS resource may span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot with comb sizes Com 2, Com 4, or Com 8. The following are the frequency offsets per symbol for the currently supported SRS comb patterns: 1 symbol Com 2: {0}, 2 symbols Com 2: {0, 1}, 4 symbols Com 2: {0, 1, 0, 1}, 4 symbols Com 4: {0, 2, 1, 3}, 8 symbols Com 4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}, 12 symbols Com 4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}, 4 symbols Com 8: {0, 4, 2, 6}, 8 symbols Com 8: {0, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7}, and 12 symbols Com 8: {0, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7, 0, 4, 2, 6}.

[0102] A set of resource elements used for transmission of an SRS is called an "SRS resource" and may be identified by a parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of an SRS signal and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0103] Generally, a UE transmits an SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or a neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS can also be used as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink positioning procedures such as UL-TDOA, multi-RTT, DL-AoA, etc.

[0104] Several extensions beyond the previous definition of SRS are proposed for positioning SRS (also called "UL-PRS"), such as a new staggered pattern in SRS resources (except for single symbol / comb2), a new comb type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, more SRS resource sets per component carrier, and more SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" will be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Still further, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource may span across multiple component carriers. Also, the SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, there may be a single antenna port, and there may be new lengths for the SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Also, there may be open loop power control rather than closed loop power control, and Com8 (i.e., SRS transmitted on every 8th subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources over the same transmit beam for uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). All of these are features added to the current SRS framework, configured (and potentially triggered or activated via MAC Control Element (CE) or DCI) through RRC higher layer signaling.

[0105] FIG. 5D illustrates an example of various channels in an uplink slot of a frame according to an aspect of the disclosure. A random access channel (RACH), also referred to as a physical random access channel (PRACH), may be in one or more slots in a frame based on a PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs in a slot. The PRACH allows a UE to perform initial system access and acquire uplink synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be placed on the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power headroom reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0106] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" as used herein may also refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS as defined in LTE and NR. In addition, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise specified by the context. If necessary to further distinguish between types of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS" or "DL PRS", and uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS for positioning, PTRS) may be referred to as "UL-PRS" or "UL PRS". Additionally, for signals that may be transmitted in both the uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), "UL" or "DL" may be prepended to the signal to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be distinguished from "DL-DMRS."

[0107] Further referring to the positioning SRS, the positioning SRS may support semi-persistent (SP) configuration with MAC control element (MAC-CE) activation and / or deactivation. In contrast, aperiodic positioning SRS is triggered by a DCI.

[0108] For a positioning SRS, if the "SpatialRelationInfo" or "PathLossReference" parameters for the SRS indicate DL-PRS, the following parameters of the DL-PRS are provided in the positioning SRS configuration: (1) an identifier (ID) that may be associated with multiple DL PRS resource sets associated with a single TRP, (2) "DL-PRS-ResourceSetId", and (3) "DL-PRS-ResourceId". If the "SpatialRelationInfo" parameter indicates an SRS resource, the following parameters for the positioning SRS may be provided: (1) "SRS-ResourceId", (2) uplink BWP ID, and (3) serving cell ID.

[0109] The maximum number of supported positioning SRS resource sets depends on the UE capability and may be up to 16 SRS resource sets per BWP. Currently, the value for UE capability is selected from the set of {1, 16}, which means that the UE can support either 1 SRS resource set per BWP or 16 SRS resource sets per BWP.

[0110] As mentioned above, the configuration of the aperiodic positioning SRS may be done via RRC as specified in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.331, which is published and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As shown in FIG. 6A, the SRS configuration is specified per BWP. In particular, the illustrated "BWP-UplinkDedicated" information element (IE) 600 includes a "srs-Config" parameter that points to a particular "srs-Config" IE. Inside the "srs-Config" IE, the SRS resource set and / or SRS resource are configured as shown in FIG. 6B. In particular, the "srs-Config" IE 650 includes a "srs-ResourceID" parameter and a "spatialRelationInfo" parameter (pointing to an "SRS-SpatialRelationInfo" IE).

[0111] As mentioned above, the network may activate and deactivate the configured SP SRS resource set of the serving cell by sending a SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE. When the MAC entity (e.g., MAC layer 425) receives the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE on the serving cell, it indicates information about the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE to the lower layers. The configured SP SRS resource set is initially deactivated at configuration and after handover.

[0112] The SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE is identified by a MAC subheader with a logical channel identifier (LCID). The LCID identifies the logical channel instance of the corresponding MAC SDU or the type of the corresponding MAC-CE, or padding, for the downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) and uplink shared channel (UL-SCH), respectively. There is one LCID field per MAC subheader.

[0113] Figure 7 illustrates various fields of an SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE 700. As shown in Figure 7, an SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE, such as MAC-CE 700, comprises an array of 8-bit octets. Thus, each row shown in Figure 7 represents 8 bits, with the bit location indicated by the vertical hash marks at the top of the MAC-CE 700. The MAC-CE 700 is "N" octets in length.

[0114] The "A / D" field ("A" for "Activate" and "D" for "Deactivate") in the first octet (labeled "Oct 1") indicates whether the indicated SP SRS resource set should be activated or deactivated. The field may be set to "1" to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation. The purpose of this field is simply to activate or deactivate the SP SRS resource set.

[0115] The "SRS Resource Set's Cell ID" field in the first octet indicates the identity of the serving cell that contains the SP SRS resource set to be activated / deactivated. If the "C" field in the second octet (labeled "Oct 2") of the MAC-CE 700 is set to "0", this field also indicates the "Resource ID i " field. The purpose of this field is to identify the component carrier of the SP SRS. This field / value is generally needed since the SRS resource set ID is unique within the context of the BWP of a component carrier, i.e., within the list of {cell ID, BWP ID, resource set ID} tuples. As shown in Figure 7, the length of this field is 5 bits.

[0116] The "SRS Resource Set's BWP ID" field in the first octet indicates the uplink BWP as a code point of the DCI BWP indicator field (specified in 3GPP TS38.212, published and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) that contains the SP SRS resource set to be activated / deactivated. If the "C" field in the second octet is set to "0", this field also indicates the "Resource ID i" field. The purpose of this field is to identify the component carrier of the SP SRS. This field / value is generally needed since the SRS resource set ID is unique within the context of the BWP of a component carrier, i.e., within the list of {cell ID, BWP ID, resource set ID} tuples. As shown in Figure 7, the length of this field is 2 bits.

[0117] The "C" field in the second octet indicates whether the octets containing the "Resource Serving Cell ID" and "Resource BWP ID" fields are present: if this field is set to "1", the octets containing the "Resource Serving Cell ID" and "Resource BWP ID" fields are present, otherwise they are not present.

[0118] The "SUL" field in the second octet indicates whether the MAC-CE 700 applies to a normal uplink (NUL) or supplemental uplink (SUL) carrier configuration. This field may be set to "1" to indicate that it applies to a SUL carrier configuration, or set to "0" to indicate that it applies to a NUL carrier configuration. That is, this field is an indicator that there is an SRS being activated or deactivated in the SUL carrier.

[0119] The "SP SRS Resource Set ID" field in the second octet indicates the SP SRS resource set ID identified by "SRS-ResourceSetId" that is to be activated or deactivated. As shown in Figure 7, the length of this field is 4 bits.

[0120] "F" in the third octet i The "SP SRS resource set ID" field indicates the type of resource to be used as a spatial relationship for the SRS resource in the SP SRS resource set indicated by the "SP SRS resource set ID" field. 0 refers to the first SRS resource in the resource set, and F 1 refers to the second SRS resource, and so on. The field may be set to '1' to indicate that a non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource index is used, or '0' to indicate that either an SSB index or an SRS resource index is used. As shown in FIG. 7, the length of the field is 1 bit. This field is present when the MAC-CE 700 is used for activation, i.e., when the A / D field is set to '1'.

[0121] The "Resource ID" in the third octet i The Resource ID field contains the identifier of the resource used for spatial relationship determination for SRS resource i. 0 refers to the first SRS resource in the resource set, and the Resource ID 1 F points to the second SRS resource, and so on. i If F is set to '0' and the first bit of this field is set to '1', the remainder of this field contains the value of "SSB-Index" as specified in 3GPP TS38.331. i If is set to '0' and the first bit of this field is set to '0', the rest of this field contains the value of "SRS-ResourceId" specified in 3GPP TS38.331. As shown in Figure 7, the length of the field is 7 bits. This field is present if the MAC-CE 700 is used for activation, i.e., the A / D field is set to '1'.

[0122] "Resource Serving Cell ID i The " field indicates the identity of the serving cell on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for SRS resource i is located. That is, this field indicates the component carrier ID of the SRS or CSI-RS used for spatial relationship. As shown in Figure 7, the length of the field is 5 bits.

[0123] "Resource BWP ID i The " field indicates the uplink BWP as the codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field (specified in 3GPP TS38.212) on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for SRS resource i is located. That is, this field indicates the BWP ID of the SRS used for spatial relationship. As shown in FIG. 7, the length of this field is 2 bits.

[0124] The "R" fields in various octets of the MAC-CE 700 indicate reserved bits. These bits are not currently used and are therefore set to "0."

[0125] The MAC-CE 700 is currently used to activate and deactivate the communication SP SRS. This disclosure provides techniques to reuse the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE (e.g., the MAC-CE 700) for the positioning SP SRS, rather than activating and deactivating the communication SP SRS. In one aspect, the network may activate and deactivate the configured positioning SP SRS resource set of the serving cell by sending the positioning SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE. The configured positioning SP SRS resource set may be deactivated initially at configuration or after handover.

[0126] A communication SRS is an SRS resource used for uplink or downlink data transfer / communication purposes. For example, in 5G NR, these are resources related to uplink codebook-based, uplink non-codebook-based, antenna switching or downlink CSI acquisition, or the use of uplink beam management. In contrast, a positioning SRS is a collection of SRS resources configured for the purpose that the receiver of those SRS resources can perform positioning measurements (e.g., received time of arrival (RTOA), UL-AoA, UL-RSRP). These resources are configured in higher layers using separate information element fields.

[0127] As mentioned above, the "SpatialRelationInfo" parameter may be configured for each SRS resource. i If = 0, for the i-th SRS resource, the spatial relationship is Resource ID i In the field, the SSB ID is provided. i If =1, for the i-th SRS resource, the spatial relationship is Resource ID i In the field, the CSI-RS ID is provided. These are the second and third cases in table 800 of FIG. 8 below. In case of SSB, the "DL-PRS-TRP-ResourceSetId" parameter may need to be added as a separate field to select the related TRP. In this disclosure, for the positioning SRS, the spatial relationship may also come from the positioning SRS resource or the DL PRS resource. These are the fourth and fifth cases in table 800 of FIG. 8. If the positioning SRS resource is used, there needs to be a way to select either the communication SRS or the positioning SRS. If the DL PRS resource is used, the PRS resource ID, the PRS resource set ID, and the "DL-PRS-TRP-ResourceSetId" will need to be added.

[0128] Furthermore, the SP SRS Resource Set ID field in the SP SRS Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE needs to point to the new RRC information element defined for the positioning SRS resource set. As mentioned above, the SP SRS Resource Set ID field has a length of 4 bits. Since there can be up to 16 SRS resource sets per BWP, 4 bits are sufficient for this new purpose. The reserved bit (in the "R" field) can be used for the purpose of switching this interpretation to "ON". That is, if the R bit is "1", it indicates that the SP SRS Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE indicates the spatial relationship source for the positioning SP SRS resource set.

[0129] There are five different cases for the QCL source reference signal (i.e., five types of spatial relationship reference signal) per positioning SP SRS resource / resource set. FIG. 8 is a table 800 that defines the five cases and the number of bits required per case. As shown in FIG. 8, in the first case ("Case 1"), the QCL source per positioning SP SRS resource is a communication SRS resource (e.g., an SRS resource for uplink channel quality estimation). Since there can be up to 64 (2^6) communication SRS resources per BWP and the BWP ID is provided separately, this case requires 6 bits to signal the communication SRS resource.

[0130] In the second case ("Case 2"), the QCL source reference signal for each positioning SP SRS resource is an SSB identified by an SSB ID and PCI for the SSB. Since there can be up to 64 SSB ID resources per component carrier (CC), 6 bits are required to signal the SSB ID. Since the PCI is a 10-bit value, 10 bits are required for the PCI.

[0131] In a third case ("Case 3"), the QCL source reference signal for each SP SRS resource for positioning is a CSI-RS resource identified by a CSI-RS resource ID. Since there can be up to 192 CSI-RS resources, this case requires 8 bits to signal the CSI-RS resource ID (2^7<192<2^8).

[0132] In a fourth case ("Case 4"), the QCL source reference signal for each positioning SP SRS resource may be another positioning SRS resource or a communication SRS resource identified by an SRS resource ID. Since there may be up to 64 positioning SRS resources per BWP and the BWP ID is provided separately, this case requires 6 bits to signal the positioning SRS resource.

[0133] In a fifth case ("Case 5"), the QCL source per positioning SP SRS resource is the DL PRS resource of a given DL PRS resource set for a given TRP. Six bits are required for the DL PRS resource ID. Since there can be up to two DL PRS resource sets per frequency layer (FL) per TRP, three bits are required for the DL PRS resource set ID. Since there can be up to 256 (2^8) TRPs across all frequency layers per UE, eight bits are required for the TRP ID (sometimes called PRS ID, distinct from PRS resource ID and PCI).

[0134] FIG. 9 is a table 900 that defines the five cases in FIG. 8 and the number of bits required to identify the QCL source reference signal for each case. The number of bits for the first, third, and fourth cases are the same as in table 800 of FIG. 8. However, for the second case, both 6 bits of the SSB ID and 10 bits of the PCI for the SSB are required to uniquely identify the SSB, resulting in a 16-bit field. For the fifth case, 6 bits for the DL PRS Resource ID, 3 bits for the DL PRS Resource Set ID, and 8 bits for the TRP ID are required to uniquely identify the DL PRS resource, resulting in a 17-bit field.

[0135] Various modifications may be made to reuse the current SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE to signal the QCL source for the SP SRS for positioning. First, a reserved bit (in the R field) may be used to indicate that the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE indicates the QCL source reference signal for the SP SRS resource set for positioning. Second, the F i and Resource ID i The field can be reinterpreted to signal the QCL source instance in table 900 of FIG. 9 with up to 128 bits (F i 1 bit for field + Resource ID i This results in 7 bits for the field times 16, the number of SRS resources in the SRS resource set, i.e., (1+7)*16=128).

[0136] This disclosure provides techniques for indicating or identifying the QCL source reference signal for a configured SP SRS resource / resource set for positioning. As a first option, for each SP SRS resource or resource set for positioning, the QCL instance number (from the first column of table 900 in FIG. 9) is configured in the RRC layer and is not changed with the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE. In that case, F iand Resource ID i The 8 bits of the field can be interpreted as follows: For the second case (SSB as QCL source, requiring 16 bits), a table containing 256 entries can be configured at the RRC layer, with each entry containing a 16-bit string identifying a particular SSB ID+PCI for an SSB. SP SRS Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE Combined F i and Resource ID i The 8 bits of the field can then carry an index into the table, or a hash value (2^8=256). Similarly, for the fifth case (DL PRS resource as QCL source, requiring 17 bits), a table containing 256 entries can be configured at the RRC layer, with each entry containing a 17-bit string that identifies a specific DL PRS resource ID of a specific PRS resource set of a specific TRP. i and Resource ID i The 8 bits of the field can then carry an index into that table, or a hash value. For the first, third, and fourth cases, the combined F i and Resource ID i The 8 bits of the field can be used to directly identify the corresponding reference signal.

[0137] As a second option, F i and Resource ID i If the first bit of the field is "0", then either the first case or the fourth case may be indicated, and if the second bit is "0", then the first case may be indicated, otherwise, if the second bit is "1", then the fourth case may be indicated. As will be appreciated, the above bit configuration is only an example, and other bit configurations may be used to distinguish between the first case and the fourth case. i and Resource ID iThe remaining 6 bits of the field can be used to identify the reference signal (communication SRS or positioning SRS) to be used as the QCL source for the positioning SP SRS resource or resource set. i and Resource ID i If the first bit of the field is "1", one of the second, third, or fifth cases is indicated. In this case, a table may be configured at the RRC layer for each of these case numbers, each containing 128 (2^7=128) entries. Then, for each positioning SP SRS resource or resource set, which of the case numbers (second, third, or fifth) should be used may be configured at the RRC layer (e.g., RRC layer 445), and the combined F i and Resource ID i The remaining 7 bits of the field may be used to select one of the entries in the corresponding RRC configured table, and therefore the QCL source reference signal.

[0138] As a third option, a table of 256 entries for 256 possible QCL source reference signals may be configured at the RRC layer. Each of the 256 entries (rows) includes a first field for a QCL case number (1-5) and a second field identifying the QCL source reference signal (e.g., SSB, PCI, SRS for communication, etc.). The 256 entries may be divided equally (or as equally as possible) between the five QCL cases, or some cases may be more preferred than others and therefore have more entries than others. A single 256-entry table means that all positioning SP SRS resources, all positioning SP SRS resource sets, all BWPs, or all component carriers associated with the same base station will use the same table, thereby reducing overhead. However, it also means that the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE can directly select the QCL case. There are four sub-options:

[0139] As a first sub-option, a table with 256 entries may be configured in the RRC layer for each positioning SP SRS resource. Each entry (row) would include a case number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) plus a field to select / identify a particular reference signal (e.g., SSB, PCI, positioning SRS, etc.) as the QCL source for the positioning SP SRS resource. Then, the F of the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE i and Resource ID i The 8 bits in the field may be used to select a particular row from the table for each positioning SP SRS resource and therefore the QCL source reference signal.

[0140] As a second sub-option, a table with 256 entries may be configured in the RRC layer for each positioning SP SRS resource set. Each entry in the table would include a case number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) plus a field to select / identify a particular reference signal (e.g., SSB, PCI, positioning SRS, etc.) as the QCL source for the positioning SP SRS resource set. The combined F of the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE would then be i and Resource ID i The 8 bits in the field may be used to select a particular row from the table per positioning SP SRS resource set, and therefore the QCL source reference signal.

[0141] As a third sub-option, a table with 256 entries may be configured in the RRC layer for each BWP used by the UE (or base station). Each entry would include a case number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) plus a field to select / identify a particular reference signal (e.g., SSB, PCI, positioning SRS, etc.) as the QCL source for the positioning SP SRS resource / resource set configured in that BWP. The combined F of the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE would then be i and Resource ID i The 8 bits in the field can be used to select a particular row from the table for each BWP, and therefore the QCL source reference signal.

[0142] As a fourth sub-option, a table with 256 entries may be configured in the RRC layer for each component carrier used by the UE (or base station). Each entry in the table would include a case number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) plus a field to select / identify a particular reference signal (e.g., SSB, PCI, positioning SRS, etc.) as the QCL source for the positioning SRS resource / resource set configured in that component carrier. The combined F of the SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE would then be i and Resource ID i The 8 bits in the field may be used to select a particular row from the table per component carrier, and therefore the QCL source reference signal.

[0143] As a fourth option, if the positioning SP SRS resource or resource set is to use SSB or DL ​​PRS as the QCL source reference signal (second and fifth cases in table 900 of FIG. 9), the positioning SP SRS resource / resource set may be configured with the QCL source reference signal at the RRC layer. For these cases, there is no option for SP SRS activation / deactivation update via MAC-CE. In contrast, for the first, third, and fourth cases, F i and Resource ID i If the first bit of the field is "0", the first or fourth case is indicated, and if the second bit is "0", the first case is indicated, otherwise, if the second bit is "1", the fourth case is indicated. As will be appreciated, the above bit configuration is only an example, and other bit configurations may be used to distinguish between the first and fourth cases. i and Resource ID i The remaining 6 bits of the field can then be used to identify the QCL source reference signal (SRS for positioning or SRS for communication). i and Resource ID i If the first bit of the field is "1", it means that the third case is indicated. Note that in this case, either only the first 128 resources can be indicated by the remaining 7 bits, or another RRC table or another bit would need to be provided to map the 7 bits up to the full 256 resources.

[0144] As a fifth option, the SP SRS Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Positioning may be used to select the QCL case (1-5) and the QCL source reference signal. The SP SRS Activation / Deactivation MAC-CE for Positioning may be identified by a MAC subheader with an LCID. It may have a variable size depending on the fields included.

[0145] FIG. 10 illustrates fields of a SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE 1000 for positioning according to an aspect of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, a SP SRS activation / deactivation MAC-CE for positioning, such as MAC-CE 1000, comprises an array of 8-bit octets. Thus, each row illustrated in FIG. 10 represents 8 bits, with the bit location indicated by the vertical hash marks at the top of MAC-CE 1000. MAC-CE 1000 is 'N' octets in length.

[0146] The "A / D" field in the first octet (labeled "Oct 1") indicates whether the indicated SP SRS resource set for positioning should be activated or deactivated. The field is set to "1" to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation.

[0147] The "SRS-for-positioning Resource Set's Cell ID" field in the first octet indicates the identity of the serving cell that contains the SP SRS resource set for positioning that is to be activated / deactivated. If the "C" field is set to "0", this field also indicates the "Spatial Relation Info i " field indicates the identity of the serving cell including all resources indicated by the " field. As shown in Figure 10, the length of the field is 5 bits.

[0148] The "SRS-for-positioning Resource Set's BWP ID" field in the first octet indicates the uplink BWP as a codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field (specified in 3GPP TS38.212) that contains the SP SRS resource set for positioning that is to be activated / deactivated. If the "C" field is set to "0", this field also indicates the Spatial Relation Info iIt indicates the identification information of the BWP that contains all the resources indicated by the field. As shown in Figure 10, the length of the field is 2 bits.

[0149] The "C" field in the second octet is the Spatial Relation Info i Indicates whether the octet containing the "Resource Serving Cell ID" field and the "Resource BWP ID" field is present in the field. If this field is set to "1", the octet containing the Resource Serving Cell ID field and the Resource BWP ID field is present in each Spatial Relation Info i They are in the field, otherwise they are not present.

[0150] The "SUL" field in the second octet indicates whether the MAC-CE 1000 applies to a NUL or SUL carrier configuration. This field is set to "1" to indicate that it applies to a SUL carrier configuration, and to "0" to indicate that it applies to a NUL carrier configuration.

[0151] The "SP SRS-for-positioning Resource Set ID" field in the second octet indicates the SP SRS resource set ID for positioning identified by "SRS-for-positioning-ResourceSetId" specified in 3GPP TS38.331 that is to be activated or deactivated. As shown in Figure 10, the length of the field is 4 bits.

[0152] MAC-CE 1000 contains two "R" (Reserved) bits that are set to "0." Note that because this is a new MAC-CE command, there is no need to distinguish it from other MAC-CE commands that use reserved bits.

[0153] The "Spatial Relation Info" field in the remaining octets of MAC-CE1000 i The " Spatial Relation info " field contains the identifier of the resource used for spatial relationship determination for positioning SRS resource i together with the serving cell identity and the uplink BWP as the codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field (specified in 3GPP TS38.212) on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for positioning SRS resource i is located. 0 refers to the first SRS resource for positioning in the resource set and returns the Spatial Relation info 1 refers to the second positioning SRS resource, and so on. This field is i It has a variable size, n octets, where i is F i and C. i Octets 1 to n of the field i -1 is present only when the MAC-CE 1000 is used for activation, i.e., when the A / D field is set to "1". Spatial Relation Info i The field (also called the "spatial relationship information field") has the following fields as shown in FIGS.

[0154] "F i The " SP SRS-for-positioning Resource Set ID" field indicates the type of resource to be used as the spatial relation for the positioning SRS resource in the SP SRS resource set for positioning indicated by the SP SRS-for-positioning Resource Set ID field. This field is used in the Spatial Relation Info i 10. Figures 11-15 show different values ​​of F i Spatial Relation Info for i Indicates the field.

[0155] 3-bit F i In the case where the field value is "100" (Figure 11), the Spatial Relation Info i Field 1100 contains an identifier of the DL PRS resource. If C=1, Spatial Relation Info i Length n of field 1100 i is 4 octets, otherwise it is 3 octets. The "DL-PRS-ID" field in the third octet contains the "DL-PRS-ID" parameter specified in 3GPP TS37.355 (published and incorporated by reference in its entirety). The "DL PRS Resource Set ID" field in the first octet contains the "DL-PRS-ResourceSetID" parameter specified in 3GPP TS37.355. The "DL PRS Resource ID" field in the second octet contains the "DL-PRS-ResourceID" parameter specified in 3GPP TS37.355. The "Resource Serving Cell ID" field in the fourth octet indicates the identity of the serving cell on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for positioning SRS resources is located. The "Resource BWP ID" field in the fourth octet indicates the uplink BWP as the codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field specified in 3GPP TS38.212 on which the resources used for spatial relationship determination to the positioning SRS resources are located.

[0156] 3-bit F i In the case of the example where the field value is "011" (Figure 12), the Spatial Relation Info i Field 1200 contains an identifier of the SRS resource for positioning. i Length n of field 1200 iis two octets. The "SRS-for-positioning Resource ID" field in the first octet contains the 5 least significant bits (LSBs) of the SRS-for-positioning resource ID specified in 3GPP TS38.331. The "M" field in the second octet contains the most significant bit (MSB) of the SRS-for-positioning resource ID. The "Resource Serving Cell ID" field in the second octet indicates the identity of the serving cell on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for the SRS-for-positioning resource is located. The Resource BWP ID indicates the uplink BWP as a codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field specified in 3GPP TS38.212 on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for the SRS-for-positioning resource is located.

[0157] 3-bit F i In the case of the example where the field value is "010" (Figure 13), the Spatial Relation Info i Field 1300 contains the identifier of the NZP CSI-RS resource. If C=1, Spatial Relation Info i Length n of field 1300 i is 3 octets, otherwise it is 2 octets. The "NZP CSI-RS Resource ID" field in the second octet contains the "NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId" specified in 3GPP TS38.331. The "Resource Serving Cell ID" field in the third octet indicates the identity of the serving cell on which the resources used for spatial relationship determination for positioning SRS resources are located. The Resource BWP ID field indicates the uplink BWP as a codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field specified in 3GPP TS38.212 on which the resources used for spatial relationship determination for positioning SRS resources are located.

[0158] 3-bit F i In the case of the example (Figure 14) where the value of the field is 001, the Spatial Relation Info i Field 1400 contains the identifier of the SSB. If C=1, Spatial Relation Info i Length n of field 1400 i is 4 octets, otherwise it is 3 octets. The "SSB Index" field in the second octet contains the "SSB-Index" parameter specified in 3GPP TS38.331. The "Physical Cell ID" field in the third octet contains the 8 LSBs of the "PhysCellId" parameter for the SSB, specified in 3GPP TS38.331. The "Physical Cell ID" field in the second octet contains the two MSBs of the "PhysCellId" parameter. The "Resource Serving Cell ID" field in the fourth octet indicates the identity of the serving cell on which the resources used for spatial relationship determination for positioning SRS resources are located. The "Resource BWP ID" field in the fourth octet indicates the uplink BWP as the codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field specified in 3GPP TS38.212 on which the resources used for spatial relationship determination to the positioning SRS resources are located.

[0159] 3-bit F i In the case of the example (Figure 15) where the value of the field is 000, the Spatial Relation Info i Field 1500 contains the identifier of the SRS resource (for communication). i Length n of field 1500 iis two octets. The "SRS Resource ID" field in the first octet contains the 5 LSBs of the SRS resource ID specified in 3GPP TS38.331. The "M" field in the second octet contains the MSB of the SRS resource ID. The "Resource Serving Cell ID" field in the second octet indicates the identity of the serving cell on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for the positioning SRS resource is located. The "Resource BWP ID" field in the second octet indicates the uplink BWP as a codepoint of the DCI BWP indicator field, specified in 3GPP TS38.212, on which the resource used for spatial relationship determination for the positioning SRS resource is located.

[0160] In some cases, Spatial Relation Info i The field (i.e., the spatial relationship information field) is sometimes called the "identifier field." i The combination of the Spatial Relation Info field and the resource ID fields (i.e., "DL PRS Resource ID", "SRS-for-positioning Resource ID", "NZP CSI-RS Resource ID", "SSB Index", and "SRS Resource ID") are considered to be useful (although not the only necessary) in identifying the spatial relation reference signal. i Because it is the top-level field, it is sometimes called the "identifier field."

[0161] Upon identifying a QCL source reference signal based on the SP SRS activated / deactivated MAC-CE (e.g., as identified either in the MAC-CE or in an entry in an RRC configured table pointed to by the MAC-CE), the UE may transmit the SP SRS on the configured SRS resource / resource set using the QCL parameters (e.g., Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread) of the QCL source reference signal.

[0162] 16 illustrates an example method 1600 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1600 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0163] At 1610, the UE receives a MAC-CE from a serving base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) indicating activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or an LCID in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning. In an aspect, operation 1610 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0164] At 1620, the UE transmits the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning, and an ID of the spatial relation reference signal is set in an identifier field (e.g., Spatial Relation Info field) for the spatial relation reference signal in the MAC-CE. i At least F in the field iand a resource ID (i.e., “DL PRS Resource ID”, “SRS-for-positioning Resource ID”, “NZP CSI-RS Resource ID”, “SSB Index”, “SRS Resource ID”) field), the type of spatial relationship reference signal is one of (1) SRS resource for communication, (2) SSB, (3) CSI-RS resource, (4) SRS resource for positioning, or (5) DL PRS resource, and the identifier field includes 3 bits (e.g., F) indicating whether the type of spatial relationship reference signal is SRS resource for communication, SRS resource for positioning, SSB, CSI-RS resource, or DL ​​PRS resource. i In one aspect, operation 1620 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing the operation.

[0165] 17 illustrates an example method 1700 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1700 may be performed by a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein).

[0166] At 1710, the base station transmits a MAC-CE to the UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) indicating activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or an LCID in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC-CE includes an identifier field (e.g., Spatial Relation Info field) from which an ID of a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined. i At least F in the field iand a resource ID (i.e., “DL PRS Resource ID”, “SRS-for-positioning Resource ID”, “NZP CSI-RS Resource ID”, “SSB Index”, “SRS Resource ID”) field), where the type of spatial relationship reference signal is one of (1) SRS resource for communication, (2) SSB, (3) CSI-RS resource, (4) SRS resource for positioning, or (5) DL PRS resource, and the identifier field includes 3 bits (e.g., F) indicating whether the type of spatial relationship reference signal is SRS resource for communication, SRS resource for positioning, SSB, CSI-RS resource, or DL ​​PRS resource. i In one aspect, operation 1710 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing the operation.

[0167] At 1720, the base station receives the SP SRS for positioning from the UE on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the SP SRS for positioning, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal. In an aspect, operation 1720 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory 386, and / or the positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0168] As will be appreciated, technical advantages of using the same MAC-CE (first through fourth options described herein) or a similar MAC-CE (fifth option described herein) as the legacy MAC-CE SP-SRS activation / deactivation commands include less complex implementations, reuse of existing UE / gNB deployments, reduced new deployment and testing costs, faster time to market for new features, and faster time to standardization efforts.

[0169] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in the examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are expressly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of each disclosed exemplary clause. Thus, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description hereby, and each clause can stand alone as a separate example. Each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, and the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be appreciated that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or combinations of any features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. Unless a specific combination is not intended (e.g., conflicting aspects such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor) is expressly expressed or can be easily inferred, the various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations. It is further contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included within any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on an independent clause.

[0170] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0171] Clause 1. A method of wireless communications performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a media access control element (MAC CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; determining an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning based on the MAC CE; and transmitting the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the SP SRS for positioning, where the SP SRS for positioning has transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0172] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is one of: (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource.

[0173] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein communication SRS resources are identified by a 6-bit SRS resource ID, SSBs are identified by a 16-bit SSB ID and a Physical Cell Identity (PCI) of the SSB, CSI-RS resources are identified by an 8-bit CSI-RS resource ID, positioning SRS resources are identified by a 6-bit SRS resource ID, and DL PRS resources are identified by a 17-bit DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and Transmit Receiving Point (TRP) ID.

[0174] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC CE includes an 8-bit field from which an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal can be determined.

[0175] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, further comprising receiving an indication of a type of the spatial relationship reference signal from a serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0176] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein based on the type of spatial relationship reference signal, the 8-bit field includes an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for communication, an index value into a table of combinations of SSB ID and PCI, a CSI-RS resource ID, an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for positioning, or an index value into a table of combinations of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID.

[0177] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, further comprising receiving a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling based on a type of spatial relationship reference signal, and / or receiving a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling.

[0178] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 4 to 7, wherein the 8-bit field includes 2 bits to indicate whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource or a positioning SRS resource, and 6 bits for an SRS resource ID of the communication SRS resource or an SRS resource ID of the positioning SRS resource.

[0179] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the 8-bit field includes one bit indicating whether the type of spatial related reference signal is SSB, CSI-RS resource, or DL ​​PRS resource, and a 7-bit index value into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a 7-bit index value into a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a 7-bit index value into a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations.

[0180] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, further comprising receiving a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling, receiving a table of CSI-RS resource IDs from the serving base station via RRC signaling, and / or receiving a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling.

[0181] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 9 to 10, further comprising receiving from a serving base station via RRC signaling an indication of whether the 7-bit index value points into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations.

[0182] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 4 to 11, further comprising receiving a table from a serving base station via RRC signaling, each entry of the table including a type of spatial relationship reference signal and an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0183] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the table is for SRS resources, SRS resource sets, bandwidth portions (BWPs), or component carriers for the SP SRS for positioning.

[0184] Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 12 to 13, wherein the 8-bit field contains an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0185] Clause 15. The method of any one of clauses 4 to 14, wherein the 8-bit field includes 2 bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource or a positioning SRS resource, and 6 bits for an SRS resource ID of the communication SRS resource or an SRS resource ID of the positioning SRS resource.

[0186] Clause 16. The method of clause 4, wherein the 8-bit field includes 1 bit to indicate that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a CSI-RS resource, and 7 bits for a CSI-RS resource ID.

[0187] Clause 17. The method of clause 4, further comprising receiving a configuration of a type of spatially related reference signal as an SSB or DL ​​PRS resource from a serving base station via RRC signaling.

[0188] Clause 18. An 8-bit field has a length of 1 bit. i A resource ID with a field and a length of 7 bits i 18. The method of any one of clauses 4 to 17, in combination with a field.

[0189] Clause 19. The LCID indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC CE includes at least one 3-bit FRS that identifies the type of spatial relationship reference signal. i 19. The method of any one of clauses 3 to 18, comprising a spatial relationship information field, and at least one spatial relationship information field including an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0190] Clause 20. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 19, wherein the spatially related reference signal is a quasi-collocated (QCL) source reference signal.

[0191] Clause 21. A method of wireless communications performed by a base station, comprising: transmitting a media access control control element (MAC CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, where a reserved bit in the MAC CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and receiving from the UE the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the SP SRS for positioning, where the SP SRS for positioning has transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal determined from the MAC CE.

[0192] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein the type of spatial relationship reference signal is one of: (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource.

[0193] Clause 23. The method of clause 22, wherein communication SRS resources are identified by a 6-bit SRS resource identifier (ID), SSBs are identified by a 16-bit SSB ID and a physical cell identity (PCI) of the SSB, CSI-RS resources are identified by an 8-bit CSI-RS resource ID, positioning SRS resources are identified by a 6-bit SRS resource identifier, and DL PRS resources are identified by a 17-bit DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and transmit receiving point (TRP) ID.

[0194] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC CE includes an 8-bit field from which an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal can be determined.

[0195] Clause 25. The method of clause 24, further comprising transmitting an indication of a type of the spatial relationship reference signal to the UE via radio resource control (RRC) signaling.

[0196] Clause 26. The method of clause 25, wherein based on the type of spatial relationship reference signal, the 8-bit field includes an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for communication, an index value into a table of combinations of SSB ID and PCI, a CSI-RS resource ID, an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for positioning, or an index value into a table of combinations of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID.

[0197] Clause 27. The method of clause 26, further comprising: transmitting a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations to the UE via RRC signaling based on a type of spatial relationship reference signal; and / or transmitting a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0198] Clause 28. The method of any one of clauses 24 to 27, wherein the 8-bit field includes 2 bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource or a positioning SRS resource, and 6 bits for an SRS resource ID of the communication SRS resource or an SRS resource ID of the positioning SRS resource.

[0199] Clause 29. The method of clause 28, wherein the 8-bit field includes one bit indicating whether the type of spatial related reference signal is SSB, CSI-RS resource, or DL ​​PRS resource, and a 7-bit index value into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a 7-bit index value into a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a 7-bit index value into a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations.

[0200] Clause 30. The method of clause 29, further comprising: transmitting a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations to the UE via RRC signaling; transmitting a table of CSI-RS resource IDs to the UE via RRC signaling; and / or transmitting a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0201] Clause 31. The method of clause 29 or 30, further comprising transmitting to the UE via RRC signaling an indication of whether the 7-bit index value points into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations.

[0202] Clause 32. The method of any one of clauses 24 to 31, further comprising transmitting a table via RRC signaling to the UE, each entry of the table including a type of spatial relationship reference signal and an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0203] Clause 33. The method of clause 32, wherein the table is for SRS resources, SRS resource sets, bandwidth portions (BWPs), or component carriers for the SP SRS for positioning.

[0204] Clause 34. The method of any one of clauses 32 to 33, wherein the 8-bit field contains an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0205] Clause 35. The method of any one of clauses 24 to 34, wherein the 8-bit field includes 2 bits to indicate whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource or a positioning SRS resource, and 6 bits for an SRS resource ID of the communication SRS resource or an SRS resource ID of the positioning SRS resource.

[0206] Clause 36. The method of clause 24, wherein the 8-bit field includes 1 bit to indicate that the type of the spatial related reference signal is a CSI-RS resource and 7 bits for a CSI-RS resource ID.

[0207] Clause 37. The method of clause 24, further comprising transmitting a configuration of a type of spatially related reference signal as an SSB or DL ​​PRS resource to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0208] Clause 38. An 8-bit field has a length of 1 bit. i A resource ID with a field and a length of 7 bits i 38. The method of any one of clauses 24 to 37, in combination with a field.

[0209] Clause 39. The LCID indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC CE includes at least one 3-bit F that identifies the type of spatial relationship reference signal. i 39. The method of any one of clauses 23 to 38, comprising a spatial relationship information field, and at least one spatial relationship information field including an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0210] Clause 40. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 39, wherein the spatially related reference signal is a quasi-collocated (QCL) source reference signal.

[0211] Clause 41. An apparatus comprising a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 40.

[0212] Clause 42. Apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 40.

[0213] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 40.

[0214] Additional implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0215] Clause 1. A method of wireless communications performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a media access control element (MAC-CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; and transmitting the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, wherein the SP SRS for positioning has transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning, and an identifier (ID) of the spatial relation reference signal is set to an identifier field (e.g., Spatial Relation Info Field) for the spatial relation reference signal in the MAC-CE. i At least F in the field iand transmitting a resource ID (i.e., a “DL PRS Resource ID”, “SRS-for-positioning Resource ID”, “NZP CSI-RS Resource ID”, “SSB Index”, “SRS Resource ID”) field) determined based on the resource ID, wherein the type of spatial relationship reference signal is one of (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, and the identifier field includes 3 bits (e.g., F) indicating whether the type of spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource. i Fields), including methods.

[0216] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the SRS resource for communication is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource ID.

[0217] Clause 3. The method according to clause 1 or 2, wherein the SSB is identified by the SSB's 16-bit SSB ID and a Physical Cell Identity (PCI).

[0218] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the CSI-RS resource is identified by an 8-bit CSI-RS resource ID.

[0219] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the positioning SRS resource is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource ID.

[0220] Clause 6. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the DL PRS resource is identified by a 17-bit DL PRS resource ID, a DL PRS resource set ID, and a transmission receiving point (TRP) ID.

[0221] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein based on the type of spatial relationship reference signal, the identifier field comprises an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for communication, an index value into a table of combinations of SSB ID and PCI, a CSI-RS resource ID, an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for positioning, or an index value into a table of combinations of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID.

[0222] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, further comprising receiving a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations from a serving base station via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling based on a type of spatial relationship reference signal, and / or receiving a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations from a serving base station via RRC signaling.

[0223] Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the identifier field includes one or more bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource or a positioning SRS resource.

[0224] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the identifier field includes 6 bits for an SRS resource ID of a communication SRS resource or an SRS resource ID of a positioning SRS resource.

[0225] Clause 11. The method of clause 1, wherein the identifier field includes at least one bit indicating whether the type of the spatially related reference signal is an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, a DL PRS resource, or an SRS resource.

[0226] Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein the identifier field comprises a 7-bit index value into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a 7-bit index value into a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a 7-bit index value into a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations.

[0227] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, further comprising receiving a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling, receiving a table of CSI-RS resource IDs from the serving base station via RRC signaling, and / or receiving a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling.

[0228] Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 13, further comprising receiving a table from a serving base station via RRC signaling, each entry of the table including a type of spatial relationship reference signal and an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0229] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the table is for SRS resources, SRS resource sets, bandwidth portions (BWPs), or component carriers for the SP SRS for positioning.

[0230] Clause 16. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the identifier field comprises an 8-bit field containing the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0231] Clause 17. The method of clause 1, further comprising receiving a configuration of a type of spatially related reference signal as an SSB or DL ​​PRS resource from a serving base station via RRC signaling.

[0232] Clause 18. An 8-bit field has a length of 1 bit. i A resource ID with a field and a length of 7 bits i 18. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 17, in combination with a field.

[0233] Clause 19. The LCID indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC-CE includes at least one 3-bit FRS that identifies the type of spatial relationship reference signal. i 19. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 18, comprising a spatial relationship information field, and at least one spatial relationship information field including an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0234] Clause 20. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 19, wherein the spatially related reference signal is a quasi-collocated (QCL) source reference signal.

[0235] Clause 21. A method of wireless communication performed by a base station, comprising transmitting a Media Access Control (MAC-CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning, wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC-CE transmits an identifier field (e.g., Spatial Relation Info Field) from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined. i At least F in the field iand a resource ID (i.e., “DL PRS Resource ID”, “SRS-for-positioning Resource ID”, “NZP CSI-RS Resource ID”, “SSB Index”, “SRS Resource ID”) field), where the type of spatial relationship reference signal is one of (1) a communication SRS resource, (2) a synchronization signal block (SSB), (3) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (4) a positioning SRS resource, or (5) a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource, and the identifier field includes 3 bits (e.g., F) indicating whether the type of spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource, a positioning SRS resource, an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, or a DL PRS resource. i field), and receiving from the UE a SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the SP SRS for positioning, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relationship reference signal.

[0236] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein the SRS resource for communication is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource identifier (ID).

[0237] Clause 23. The method according to clause 21 or 22, wherein the SSB is identified by a 16-bit SSB ID and a physical cell identity (PCI) of the SSB.

[0238] Clause 24. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 23, wherein the CSI-RS resource is identified by an 8-bit CSI-RS resource ID.

[0239] Clause 25. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 24, wherein the positioning SRS resource is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource identifier.

[0240] Clause 26. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 25, wherein the DL PRS resource is identified by a 17-bit DL PRS resource ID, a DL PRS resource set ID, and a transmission receiving point (TRP) ID.

[0241] Clause 27. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 26, wherein based on the type of spatial relationship reference signal, the identifier field comprises an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for communication, an index value into a table of combinations of SSB ID and PCI, a CSI-RS resource ID, an SRS resource ID of SRS resources for positioning, or an index value into a table of combinations of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID.

[0242] Clause 28. The method of clause 27, further comprising: transmitting a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations to the UE via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling based on a type of spatial relationship reference signal; and / or transmitting a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0243] Clause 29. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 28, wherein the identifier field includes one or more bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource or a positioning SRS resource.

[0244] Clause 30. The method of clause 29, wherein the identifier field includes 6 bits for an SRS resource ID of a communication SRS resource or an SRS resource ID of a positioning SRS resource.

[0245] Clause 31. The method of clause 21, wherein the identifier field includes at least one bit indicating whether the type of the spatially related reference signal is an SSB, a CSI-RS resource, a DL PRS resource, or an SRS resource.

[0246] Clause 32. The method of clause 31, wherein the identifier field comprises a 7-bit index value into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a 7-bit index value into a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a 7-bit index value into a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations.

[0247] Clause 33. The method of clause 32, further comprising: transmitting a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations to the UE via RRC signaling; transmitting a table of CSI-RS resource IDs to the UE via RRC signaling; and / or transmitting a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0248] Clause 34. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 33, further comprising transmitting a table via RRC signaling to the UE, each entry of the table including a type of spatial relationship reference signal and an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0249] Clause 35. The method of clause 34, wherein the table is for SRS resources, SRS resource sets, bandwidth portions (BWPs), or component carriers for the SP SRS for positioning.

[0250] Clause 36. A method according to any one of clauses 21 to 35, wherein the identifier field comprises an 8-bit field containing the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0251] Clause 37. The method of clause 21, further comprising transmitting a configuration of a type of spatially related reference signal as an SSB or DL ​​PRS resource to the UE via RRC signaling.

[0252] Clause 38. An 8-bit field has a length of 1 bit.i A resource ID with a field and a length of 7 bits i 38. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 37, in combination with a field.

[0253] Clause 39. The LCID indicates activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, and the MAC-CE includes at least one 3-bit F that identifies the type of spatial relationship reference signal. i 39. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 38, comprising a spatial relationship information field, and at least one spatial relationship information field including an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal.

[0254] Clause 40. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 39, wherein the spatially related reference signal is a quasi-collocated (QCL) source reference signal.

[0255] Clause 41. An apparatus comprising a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 40.

[0256] Clause 42. Apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 40.

[0257] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions, the computer executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any one of clauses 1 to 40.

[0258] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0259] Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0260] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0261] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0262] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of media. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0263] Although the above disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0264] 100 Wireless communication system 102 Base station 102' Small Cell (SC) Base Station 104 User Equipment (UE) 110 Geographic Coverage Areas 110' Geographic Coverage Area 112 Space Vehicle (SV) 120 Communication Links 122 backhaul links 124 Satellite Positioning System (SPS) signals 134 backhaul links 150 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Points (AP) 152 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Station (STA) 154 Communication Links 164 User Equipment (UE) 170 Core Network 172 Location Server 180 mmW base station 182 User Equipment (UE) 184 Millimeter Wave (mmW) Communication Links 190 User Equipment (UE) 192, 194 Device-to-Device (D2D) Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Links 200 Wireless Network Structure 204 User Equipment (UE) 210 5G Core (5GC) 212 User Plane Functions 213 User Plane Interface (NG-U) 214 Control Plane Functions 215 Control Plane Interface (NG-C) 220 New RAN 222 New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) 223 Backhaul Connection 224 Next generation eNB (ng-eNB) 230 Location Server 250 Wireless Network Structure 260 5G Core (5GC) 262 User Plane Function (UPF) 263 User Plane Interface 264 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 265 Control Plane Interface 266 Session Management Facility (SMF) 270 Location Management Function (LMF) 272 Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 302 User Equipment (UE) 304 base station 306 Network Entities 310 Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) Transceiver 312 Receiver 314 Transmitter 316 Antenna 318 Signal 320 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Transceiver 322 Receiver 324 Transmitter 326 Antenna 328 signal 330 Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Receiver 332 Processing System 334 Data Bus 336 Antenna 338 Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Signals 340 Memory Components 342 Positioning components 344 Sensors 346 User Interface 350 Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) Transceiver 352 Receiver 354 Transmitter 356 Antenna 358 Signal 360 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Transceiver 362 Receiver 364 Transmitter 366 Antenna 368 signals 370 Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Receiver 376 Antenna 378 Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Signals 380 Network Interface 382 Data Bus 384 Processing System 386 Memory Components 388 Positioning Components 390 Network Interface 392 Data Bus 394 Processing System 396 Memory Components 398 Positioning Components 402 Base Station 404 User Equipment (UE) 406 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 410 Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) Layer 415 Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Layer 420 Radio Link Control (RLC) Layer 425 Media Access Control (MAC) Layer 430 Physical (PHY) Layer 440 Non-Access Layer (NAS) Layer 445 Radio Resource Control (RRC) Layer

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a Medium Access Control Element (MAC-CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a Semi-Persistent (SP) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning (SP SRS for positioning), wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; transmitting the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning; the MAC-CE includes at least one 3-bit field having a value indicating a particular one of five possible types of the spatial relationship reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed for the transmission of the positioning SP SRS, the five possible types including a first possible type, a second possible type, a third possible type, a fourth possible type, and a fifth possible type; the first possible type of spatial relationship reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed is an SRS resource for communication; the second possible type of spatially related reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed is a synchronization signal block (SSB); The third possible type of the spatially related reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed is a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource; the fourth possible type of spatial relationship reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed is a positioning SRS resource; The fifth possible type of the spatially related reference signal for which the transmission parameters are employed is a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource; The MAC-CE further includes at least one spatial relationship information field indicating an identifier (ID) of the spatial relationship reference signal whose transmission parameters are adopted for the transmission of the positioning SP SRS. method.

2. In the at least one spatial relationship information field included in the MAC-CE, The communication SRS resource is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource ID; or The SSB is identified by its 16-bit SSB ID and Physical Cell Identity (PCI); or The CSI-RS resource is identified by an 8-bit CSI-RS resource ID, or the positioning SRS resource is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource ID, or The DL PRS resource is identified by a 17-bit DL PRS resource ID, a DL PRS resource set ID, and a transmission-reception point (TRP) ID. The method of claim 1.

3. The at least one spatial relationship information field indicating an identity of the spatial relationship reference signal based on the type of the spatial relationship reference signal, The SRS resource ID of the communication SRS resource, or An index value into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, or The CSI-RS resource ID, or the SRS resource ID of the positioning SRS resource; or An index value into a table of DL PRS Resource ID, DL PRS Resource Set ID, and TRP ID combinations. Including, Based on the type of the spatial relationship reference signal, the method further comprises: receiving the table of SSB ID and PCI combinations from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; and / or receiving the table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling; Further equipped The method of claim 1.

4. The at least one spatial relationship information field indicating an identifier (ID) of the spatial relationship reference signal, comprising one or more bits indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is the communication SRS resource or the positioning SRS resource; The at least one spatial relationship information field indicating the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal includes 6 bits for the SRS resource ID of the communication SRS resource or the SRS resource ID of the positioning SRS resource. The method of claim 1.

5. The at least one spatial relationship information field indicating an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal, comprising at least one bit indicating whether the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is the SSB, the CSI-RS resource, the DL PRS resource, or an SRS resource; The at least one spatial relationship information field indicating the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal includes a 7-bit index value into a table of SSB ID and PCI combinations, a 7-bit index value into a table of CSI-RS resource IDs, or a 7-bit index value into a table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations; The method comprises: receiving the table of SSB ID and PCI combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling; and / or receiving the table of CSI-RS resource IDs from the serving base station via RRC signaling; and / or receiving the table of DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and TRP ID combinations from the serving base station via RRC signaling; Further equipped The method of claim 1.

6. receiving a table from the serving base station via RRC signaling, each entry of the table including the type of the spatial relationship reference signal and the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal; The table is for an SRS resource, an SRS resource set, a bandwidth portion (BWP), or a component carrier for the SP SRS for positioning. The method of claim 1.

7. The at least one spatial relationship information field indicating an ID of the spatial relationship reference signal comprises an 8-bit field containing the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal, the 8-bit field being a combination of an F i field having a length of 1 bit and a resource ID i field having a length of 7 bits. The method of claim 1.

8. receiving a configuration of the type of the spatially related reference signal as the SSB or DL ​​PRS resource from the serving base station via RRC signaling; The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

9. the LCID indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; The MAC-CE includes at least one 3-bit F that identifies the type of the spatial relationship reference signal. i a spatial relationship information field including the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal; and The method of claim 1.

10. The spatially related reference signal is a quasi-collocated (QCL) source reference signal. The method of claim 1.

11. 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a base station, comprising: transmitting a media access control element (MAC-CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning (SP SRS for positioning), wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, the MAC-CE including at least one spatial relationship information field from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined, and a type of the spatial relationship reference signal is selected from the group consisting of 1) communication SRS resource, 2) synchronization signal block (SSB), 3) channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, 4) positioning SRS resource, or 5) downlink positioning reference signal (DL) resource. a PRS (Performance Reference Signal) resource, the MAC-CE including at least one 3-bit field indicating a particular one of five possible types of the spatial related reference signal; receiving a SP SRS for positioning from the UE on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the SP SRS for positioning, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal; Equipped with a first value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource; a second value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB); a third value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial related reference signal is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource; a fourth value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a positioning SRS resource; A fifth value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicates that the type of the spatial related reference signal is a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource. method.

12. The at least one spatial relationship information field included in the MAC-CE, The communication SRS resource is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource identifier (ID); or The SSB is identified by its 16-bit SSB ID and physical cell identity (PCI); or the CSI-RS resource is identified by an 8-bit CSI-RS resource ID; or The positioning SRS resource is identified by a 5-bit SRS resource identifier, or the DL PRS resource is identified by a 17-bit DL PRS resource ID, DL PRS resource set ID, and transmission-reception point (TRP) ID. The method of claim 11.

13. the LCID indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; The MAC-CE includes at least one 3-bit F that identifies the type of the spatial relationship reference signal. i a spatial relationship information field including the ID of the spatial relationship reference signal; and The method of claim 11. The method according to

14. A user equipment (UE), Memory, At least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor comprising: receiving a media access control element (MAC-CE) from a serving base station indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning (SP SRS for positioning), wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning; transmit the SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from a spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning, an identifier (ID) of the spatial relation reference signal being determined based on an identifier field for the spatial relation reference signal in the MAC-CE; the MAC-CE includes at least one 3-bit field indicating a particular one of five possible types of the spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning for which transmission parameters are adopted for the spatial relation reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning; a first value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed is a communication SRS resource; a second value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal for which transmission parameters are employed is a synchronization signal block (SSB); a third value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial related reference signal for which the transmission parameters are employed is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource; a fourth value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal for which the transmission parameters are adopted is a positioning SRS resource; a fifth value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial related reference signal for which the transmission parameters are adopted is a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource; The MAC-CE further includes at least one spatial relationship information field indicating an identifier (ID) of the spatial relationship reference signal whose transmission parameters are adopted for the transmission of the positioning SP SRS. User Equipment (UE).

15. A base station, Memory, At least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and to the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor comprising: transmitting a media access control control element (MAC-CE) to a user equipment (UE) indicating activation or deactivation of a semi-persistent (SP) sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning (SP SRS for positioning), wherein a reserved bit in the MAC-CE or a logical channel identifier (LCID) in a MAC subheader of the MAC-CE indicates the activation or deactivation of the SP SRS for positioning, the MAC-CE including an identifier field from which an identifier (ID) of a spatial relationship reference signal for the SP SRS for positioning can be determined, the type of the spatial relationship reference signal being one of 1) communication SRS resources, 2) synchronization signal block (SSB), 3) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources, 4) positioning SRS resources, or 5) downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resources, and the MAC-CE including at least one 3-bit field indicating a particular one of five possible types of the spatial relationship reference signal; receiving from the UE a SP SRS for positioning on one or more SRS resources configured for the UE for transmission of the SP SRS for positioning, the SP SRS for positioning having transmission parameters adopted from the spatial relationship reference signal; a first value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a communication SRS resource; a second value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a synchronization signal block (SSB); a third value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial related reference signal is a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) resource; a fourth value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicating that the type of the spatial relationship reference signal is a positioning SRS resource; A fifth value of the at least one 3-bit field included in the MAC-CE indicates that the type of the spatial related reference signal is a downlink positioning reference signal (DL PRS) resource. Base station.

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