Signaling Details for PRS Splicing for Positioning in Wireless Networks

Abstract

A wireless entity, such as a user equipment (UE) or a transmission / reception point (TRP), receives and processes an aggregated positioning reference signal (PRS) to increase the effective PRS bandwidth, thereby improving positioning accuracy, such as time-of-arrival measurements. The aggregated PRS includes one or more PRS components transmitted from the same transmitting entity. Each PRS component may be a separate PRS resource associated with, for example, a contiguous frequency-domain bandwidth, or may span, for example, multiple frequency-domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are not punctured, e.g., do not conflict with higher-priority signals, are aligned in the time domain, and are configured with a common constraint are processed together assuming that they are transmitted from the same antenna port, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 This application claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 948,641, entitled "SIGNALING DETAILS FOR PRS STITCHING FOR POSITIONING IN A WIRELESS NETWORK," filed December 16, 2019, and U.S. Nonprovisional Application No. 17 / 103,725, entitled "SIGNALING DETAILS FOR PRS STITCHING FOR POSITIONING IN A WIRELESS NETWORK," filed November 24, 2020, both of which are assigned to the assignee of this application and are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.

[0002] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to systems, methods, and devices that support positioning reference signaling. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have been widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, positioning, and broadcasting. A typical wireless communication system may utilize multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may utilize technologies such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), or Discrete Fourier Transform Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM).

[0004] In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system may include several base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for several communication devices, otherwise known as user equipment (UE). In an LTE or LTE-A network, a set of one or more base stations may define an eNodeB (eNB). In other examples (e.g., in a next-generation or 5G network), a wireless multiple-access communication system may include several distributed units (DUs) (e.g., edge units (EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs), transmit / receive points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with several central units (CUs) (e.g., central nodes (CNs), access node controllers (ANCs), etc.), and a set of one or more distributed units in communication with the central units may define an access node (e.g., new radio base station (NR BS), new radio node-B (NR NB), network node, 5G NB, gNB, etc.). A base station or a DU may communicate with a set of UEs on a downlink channel (e.g., for transmission from the base station or to the UEs) and an uplink channel (e.g., for transmission from the UEs to the base station or distributed unit).

[0005] These multiple access technologies are being adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that allows various wireless devices to communicate at city, national, regional, and even global levels. An example of an emerging telecommunications standard is new radio (NR), e.g., 5G radio access. NR is a set of improvements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by increasing spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, utilizing new spectrum, and being more integrated with other open standards using OFDMA with cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL), as well as supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Obtaining the location of a UE accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, asset tracking, finding friends or family, etc. Determining the location of a UE may require the use of resources by the network to transmit a downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) from the network TRP or to receive an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) from the UE that can be measured to obtain a location measurement of the UE. The accuracy of the location measurement is proportional to the bandwidth of the positioning signal used. Moreover, the bandwidth of positioning signals such as PRS and SRS is currently limited, limiting the accuracy of the measurement of the current location. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A user equipment (UE) receives and processes aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by a transmission / reception point (TRP) to increase the effective PRS bandwidth and thereby increase the accuracy of positioning, such as time-of-arrival measurements. The aggregated DL PRS includes one or more PRS components transmitted from the same TRP. Each PRS component may be a separate PRS resource associated with, for example, a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth, or may be multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by, for example, a single PRS resource. PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS that are not punctured, e.g., are aligned in time and do not conflict with higher priority signals, and are configured with a common constraint, are processed together by the UE, assuming that the PRS components are transmitted from the same antenna port, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth. An indication of the relative transmit power between the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS may be provided to the UE and used to process the PRS components.

[0008] In one implementation, a method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) performed by a first wireless entity in a wireless network includes receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; receiving one or more aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second entity comprising separate PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; processing together unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain; performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0009] In one implementation, a first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes an external interface having at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the at least one wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor receives, via the at least one wireless transceiver, a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, and transmits, via the at least one wireless transceiver, a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities. the second wireless entity, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; processing together unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain; performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and transmitting, via the at least one wireless transceiver, location information based on the positioning results.

[0010] In one implementation, a first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; means for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second entity comprising separate PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; means for jointly processing unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain; means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0011] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium having program code stored thereon operable to configure at least one processor in a first wireless entity to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes: program code for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; program code for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second entity comprising separate PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; program code for jointly processing unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain; program code for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and program code for transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0012] In one implementation, a method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network performed by a first wireless entity includes receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; receiving one or more aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; receiving an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity; processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS jointly based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power; performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0013] In one implementation, a first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes an external interface having at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor receives, via the external interface, configurations for positioning reference signals (PRSs) associated with one or more second wireless entities, receives, via the external interface, one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS corresponding to a corresponding one of the first and second wireless entities. the PRS resource comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; configured to receive, via an external interface, an indication of relative transmit power between the PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity; process the one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power; perform positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and transmit, via the external interface, location information based on the positioning results.

[0014] In one implementation, a first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; means for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; means for receiving an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity; means for jointly processing the one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power; means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0015] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium having program code stored thereon operable to configure at least one processor in a first wireless entity to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes program code for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; and program code for receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising one or more PRS components. the RS components comprise separate PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprise multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; program code for receiving an indication of relative transmit power between the PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from a same second wireless entity; program code for processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS jointly based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power; program code for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and program code for transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0016] In one implementation, a method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network performed by a first wireless entity includes receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, and wherein the PRS components in the aggregated PRS are separated by a symbol index not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, a slot index not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots ... configuring the aggregated PRS with constraints comprising one or more of: frames not separated by a frame, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof; processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints, and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints; performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0017] In one implementation, a first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes an external interface comprising at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor receives, via the external interface, configurations for positioning reference signals (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, and receives, via the external interface, one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth, or a single PRS resource also comprising a plurality of PRS resources. the PRS components in the aggregated PRS are configured with constraints comprising one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof; processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints, and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints;The wireless communication system is configured to perform positioning using the processed aggregated PRS or PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, and transmit, via an external interface, location information based on the positioning result.

[0018] In one implementation, a first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; and means for receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, and wherein the PRS components in the aggregated PRS are separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, more than a predetermined number of slots, more than a predetermined number of frames, and more than a predetermined number of symbol indices, more than a predetermined number of slots, more than a predetermined number of slots, more than a predetermined number of frames, more than a predetermined number of slots ... the one or more aggregated PRS components of each aggregated PRS are configured with constraints comprising one or more of: frames not separated by a subframe, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof; means for processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints; means for performing positioning using the processed one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities; and means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0019] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium having program code stored thereon operable to configure at least one processor in a first wireless entity to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes: program code for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; and program code for receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, the PRS components in the aggregated PRS being separated by a symbol index not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, a slot index not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, the PRS components of each aggregated PRS are configured with constraints comprising one or more of: frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof; program code for processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints; program code for performing positioning using the processed one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities; and program code for transmitting location information based on the positioning results.

[0020] In one implementation, a method for supporting UE positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network includes providing a capability message indicating a time length of DL PRS symbols that can be processed by the UE in a certain length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), where the aggregated DL PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from a same antenna port from a same transmission / reception point (TRP), where each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP is a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource; receiving a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in the wireless network; receiving aggregated DL PRS from a plurality of TRPs in the wireless network; performing positioning using the aggregated DL PRS from the plurality of TRPs; and transmitting location information based on the positioning result to a location server.

[0021] In one implementation, a user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of a UE in a wireless network includes at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with an entity in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the at least one wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor provides, via the at least one wireless transceiver, a capability message indicating a time length of DL PRS symbols that may be processed by the UE in a length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), the aggregated DL PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same antenna port from a same transmission / reception point (TRP), each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP being a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource, receives, via the at least one wireless transceiver, a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in the wireless network, receives aggregated DL PRS from a plurality of TRPs in the wireless network, and receives aggregated DL PRS from the plurality of TRPs. The mobile station is configured to perform positioning using the PRS and transmit, via the at least one wireless transceiver, location information based on the positioning result to a location server.

[0022] In one implementation, a user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network includes means for providing a capability message indicating a time length of DL PRS symbols that can be processed by the UE in a length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), where the aggregated DL PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from a same antenna port from a same transmission / reception point (TRP), where each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP is a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource; means for receiving a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in the wireless network; means for receiving aggregated DL PRS from a plurality of TRPs in the wireless network; means for performing positioning using the aggregated DL PRS from the plurality of TRPs; and means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results to a location server.

[0023] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium having program code stored thereon operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network includes: program code for providing a capability message indicating a time length of DL PRS symbols that may be processed by the UE in a length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), where the aggregated DL PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from a same antenna port from a same transmission / reception point (TRP), where each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP is a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource; program code for receiving a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in the wireless network; program code for receiving aggregated DL PRS from a plurality of TRPs in the wireless network; program code for performing positioning using the aggregated DL PRS from the plurality of TRPs; and program code for transmitting location information based on the positioning results to a location server. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system architecture capable of supporting aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example subframe structure with PRS. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates an example PRS configuration for a cell supported by a wireless node (TRP). [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary PRS configuration in a multi-beam system. [Figure 5A] FIG. 1 illustrates an implementation of a muting PRS transmitted by four TRPs. [Figure 5B] FIG. 13 illustrates another implementation of a muting PRS transmitted by four TRPs. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 illustrates an aggregated DL PRS generated by individual PRS resources. [Figure 7A] FIG. 1 illustrates the correlation between bandwidth and TOA error in a PRS for a line-of-sight (LOS) link. [Figure 7B] FIG. 1 illustrates the correlation between bandwidth and TOA error in a PRS for a non-line-of-sight (nLOS) link. [Figure 8A] 13A-13C illustrate examples in which PRS components in an aggregated DL PRS may be punctured to prevent them from being received by a UE. [Figure 8B] 13A-13C illustrate examples in which PRS components in an aggregated DL PRS may be punctured to prevent them from being received by a UE. [Figure 8C] 13A-13C illustrate examples in which PRS components in an aggregated DL PRS may be punctured to prevent them from being received by a UE. [Figure 9] 1 illustrates an opportunity to include multiple PRS components of an aggregated DL PRS received by a UE that are processed together to increase the effective PRS bandwidth. [Figure 10] 13A illustrates an example of an aggregated DL PRS received by a UE, including punctured PRS components, where not all PRS components are processed by the UE. [Figure 11] 1 illustrates an opportunity for including punctured PRS components of an aggregated DL PRS received by a UE, with the remaining PRS components being processed separately by the UE. [Figure 12] 13 illustrates an opportunity that includes punctured PRS components of an aggregated DL PRS received by a UE, with the remaining consecutive PRS components being processed jointly by the UE. [Figure 13]FIG. 1 illustrates an opportunity including punctured PRS components of an aggregated DL PRS received by a UE, where non-punctured positioning resource blocks (PRBs) spanning all PRS components are processed together. [Figure 14] 1 is a message flow diagram illustrating various messages transmitted between components of a communication system during a location session for performing positioning using aggregated DL PRS. [Figure 15] 4 is a message flow diagram illustrating various messages transmitted between components of a communication system during a location session for performing positioning using aggregated UL PRS. [Figure 16] 1 is a flowchart of an example method for supporting positioning of a UE. [Figure 17] 11 is a flowchart of another example method for supporting positioning of a UE. [Figure 18] 11 is a flowchart of another example method for supporting positioning of a UE. [Figure 19] 11 is a flowchart of another example method for supporting positioning of a UE. [Figure 20] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating certain example features of a UE enabled to support UE positioning using aggregated DL PRS. [Figure 21] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating certain example features of a TRP enabled to support UE positioning using aggregated UL PRS. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Elements are designated in the figures by numerical labels, with like numbered elements in the various figures representing the same or similar elements. Different instances of a common element are designated by following the numerical label of the common element with a different numerical suffix. In this case, reference to the numerical label without the suffix refers to every instance of the common element.

[0026] Aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus, a method, a processing system, and a computer-readable medium for wireless communication services using reference signals, such as a positioning reference signal (PRS) or a sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning. For example, a transmission / reception point (TRP) may transmit a downlink (DL) PRS for UE location determination. The UE may transmit an uplink (UL) PRS or a sidelink (SL) PRS to the TRP, which may be referred to as a UL or SL sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning. Although aspects of the present disclosure may be described herein with reference to a DL PRS, it should be understood that the present disclosure may apply to UL and SL PRS unless otherwise stated. A PRS is generally transmitted using multiple component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or multiple bandwidths within the same band, but each PRS is bandwidth limited. By aggregating PRSs for positioning, for example, a UE or a TRP can process multiple PRS resources together, thereby increasing the effective bandwidth of the PRS and improving positioning accuracy.

[0027] The detailed description set forth below with respect to the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and does not represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for providing a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts. Changes may be made in the function and configuration of the described elements without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than the described methods, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of aspects described herein. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass such apparatus or methods practiced using other structures, functionality, or structures and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.

[0028] The techniques described herein may be used for various wireless communication networks such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) and other networks. The terms "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g., 5G RA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). NR is an emerging wireless communications technology being developed in conjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks and radio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networks and radio technologies.For clarity, aspects may be described herein using terminology commonly associated with 3G, 4G, and 5G (including NR technologies) wireless technologies, although aspects of the disclosure may be applied in other generation-based communication systems, including future G technologies.

[0029] The terms "mobile device," "mobile station" (MS), "user equipment" (UE), and "target" are used interchangeably herein and may refer to a device, such as a cellular or other wireless communication device, a personal communication system (PCS) device, a personal navigation device (PND), a personal information manager (PIM), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop, a smartphone, a tablet, or other suitable mobile device capable of receiving wireless communication and / or navigation signals. The terms are also intended to include devices that communicate with a personal navigation device (PND), such as by a short-range wireless connection, an infrared connection, a wired connection, or other connection, regardless of whether satellite signal reception, assistance data reception, and / or position-related processing is performed on the device or on the PND.

[0030] Additionally, the terms MS, UE, "mobile device," or "target" are intended to include all devices, including wireless and wired communication devices, computers, laptops, and the like, capable of communicating with a server via the Internet, WiFi, a cellular wireless network, a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a packet cable network, or other network, and the like, regardless of whether the satellite signal reception, assistance data reception, and / or location-related processing occurs on the device, on a server, or on another device associated with the network. Any operable combination of the above is also considered to be a "mobile device."

[0031] As described herein, positioning reference signals (PRS) may be aggregated and combined at the receiver, for example, to span at least one of contiguous component carriers (CCs), bands, frequency layers, or bandwidths within the same band, or bandwidths of different bands, or combinations thereof. The use of aggregated DL PRSs substantially increases the PRS bandwidth, which improves location measurements, for example, by increasing the accuracy of time-of-arrival measurements. PRSs may be aggregated, for example, when they are transmitted from the same antenna port from a TRP and the PRSs have aligned constraints.

[0032] 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting aggregated PRS according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 includes a base station 105, a UE 115, and one or more core networks, shown as an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and a fifth generation core (5GC) 190. Although two core networks are shown, the wireless communication system may use only one core network, e.g., the 5GC 190. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a New Radio (NR) network.

[0033] The base station 105 may wirelessly communicate with the UE 115 via one or more base station antennas. The base station 105 as described herein may include or be referred to by those skilled in the art as a transceiver base station, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next generation NodeB or giga-NodeB (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB, a Home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. The wireless communication system 100 may include different types of base stations 105 (e.g., macro cell base stations or small cell base stations). The UE 115 described herein may be capable of communicating with various types of base stations 105 and network equipment, including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay base stations, etc.

[0034] A base station may also be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), access point, base transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmit / receive point (TRP), or some other suitable terminology. The base station 105 provides an access point for the UE 115 to the EPC 160 or 5GC 190.

[0035] Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which communication with various UEs 115 is supported. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for the respective geographic coverage area 110 via communication links 125, where the communication links 125 between the base stations 105 and the UEs 115 may utilize one or more carriers. The communication links 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include uplink (UL) transmissions from the UEs 115 to the base stations 105, downlink (DL) transmissions from the base stations 105 to the UEs 115, or sidelink transmissions from one UE 115 to another UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be referred to as forward link transmissions, while uplink transmissions may also be referred to as reverse link transmissions.

[0036] A geographic coverage area 110 for a base station 105 may be divided into sectors that make up a portion of the geographic coverage area 110, and each sector may be associated with a cell. For example, each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, a hot spot, or other type of cell, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, the base station 105 may be mobile and thus provide communication coverage to a moving geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may overlap, and overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies may be supported by the same base station 105 or by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include a heterogeneous LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro network or NR network, for example, in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage to various geographic coverage areas 110.

[0037] The term "cell" refers to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station 105 (e.g., over a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish adjacent cells operating over the same or different carriers. In some examples, a base station 105 may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area 110 (e.g., a sector) over which a logical entity operates.

[0038] The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be fixed or mobile. The UEs 115 may also be referred to as mobile devices, wireless devices, remote devices, handheld devices, or subscriber devices, or some other suitable terminology, and a "device" may also be referred to as a unit, station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology. The UEs 115 may also be personal electronic devices, such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (such as an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a wearable device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 may also refer to a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or an MTC device, which may be implemented in various items such as appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, vehicles, meters, etc.

[0039] Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies that allow devices to communicate with each other or with the base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communication from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay the information to a central server or application program that can utilize the information or present the information to a person interacting with the program or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or enable automated behavior by machines. Examples of applications of MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business billing.

[0040] Some UEs 115 may be configured to utilize operating modes that reduce power consumption, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmit or receive, but not transmit and receive simultaneously). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for the UE 115 include entering a power-saving "deep sleep" mode when not engaged in active communication, or operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., pursuant to narrowband communication). In some cases, the UE 115 may be designed to support critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions), and the wireless communication system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliable communications for these functions.

[0041] In some cases, the UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol or a device-to-device (D2D) protocol). One or more of a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 or may not otherwise be able to receive transmissions from the base station 105. In some cases, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits to every other UE 115 in the group. In some cases, the base station 105 facilitates scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication occurs between UEs 115 without the involvement of the base station 105.

[0042] The base stations 105 may communicate with the EPC 160 and / or the 5GC 190 as well as with each other. For example, the base stations 105 (which may be, for example, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next generation NodeBs (gNBs), or access node controllers (ANCs)) may interface with their respective core networks through backhaul links (e.g., via an S1, N2, N3, or other interface). For example, an eNB base station 105 may interface with the EPC 160 via a backhaul link 132, while a gNB base station 105 may interface with the 5GC 190 via a backhaul link 184. The base stations 105 may communicate with each other either directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via a core network or an intermediate base station) via the backhaul link 134, which may be a wired or wireless communication link (e.g., via an X2, Xn, or other interface). As shown by the backhaul link 134 to the mobile base station 105', the backhaul link 134 may be wired or wireless.

[0043] The core network 160 / 190 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The EPC 160 may include, as examples, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 168, a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be in communication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 115 and the EPC 160. In general, the MME 162 is responsible for bearer and connection management. The E-SMLC 164 may support UE position determination, for example, using 3GPP Control Plane (CP) positioning methods. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are forwarded through the Serving Gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation as well as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 is connected to the IP Services 176. The IP Services 176 may include Internet, Intranet, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS Streaming Services, and / or other IP services. The GMLC 168 may provide the UE with access to location information on behalf of an external client 169, which may be within, for example, or the IP Services 176. The H-SLP 170 may support the SUPL User Plane (UP) location method defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for the UE based on the UE's subscriber information stored in the H-SLP 170.

[0044] The 5GC 190 may include an H-SLP 191, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195, a Location Management Function (LMF) 196. The AMF 192 may be in communication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 197. The AMF 192 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 115 and the 5GC 190, which may be in communication with the LMF 196 for positioning functions, which may support position determination of the UE. In some implementations, the LMF 196 may be co-located with the base station 105 in the NG-RAN and may be referred to as a Location Management Component (LMC) or Location Server Delegate (LSS). The GMLC 193 may be used to enable an external client 199 outside or within the IP service 198 to receive location information regarding the UE. All user Internet Protocol (IP) packets may be forwarded through UPF 195. UPF 195 provides IP address allocation for the UE as well as other functions. UPF 195 is connected to IP services 198. H-SLP 191 may likewise be connected to IP services 198. IP services 198 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), PS streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0045] At least some of the network devices, such as the base stations 105, may include subcomponents, such as access network entities, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity may communicate with the UE 115 through some other access network transmission entity, which may be referred to as a radio head, a smart radio head, or a transmit / receive point (TRP). In some configurations, various functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or may be integrated into a single network device (e.g., the base station 105).

[0046] The wireless communication system 100 may operate using one or more frequency bands, typically in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. The 300 MHz to 3 GHz region is commonly known as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, because the wavelengths range in length from approximately 1 decimeter to 1 meter. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, the waves may penetrate structures sufficiently for a macrocell to serve UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves may involve smaller antennas and shorter distances (e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmissions using smaller frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portions of the spectrum below 300 MHz.

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the very high frequency (SHF) region, also known as the centimeter band, using the frequency band from 3 GHz to 30 GHz. The SHF region includes bands such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band that may be used opportunistically by devices that can tolerate interference from other users.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also known as the millimeter band. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of each device may be smaller and more closely spaced than the UHF antennas. In some cases, this may facilitate the use of antenna arrays in the UE 115 (e.g., for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations such as spatial multiplexing or directional beamforming). However, propagation of EHF transmissions may experience greater atmospheric attenuation and have shorter reach than SHF or UHF transmissions. The techniques disclosed herein may be employed across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the designated use of bands across these frequency regions may vary by country or regulatory body.

[0049] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may utilize both licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may employ LTE License Assisted Access (LTE-LAA), or LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U), or NR technology in an unlicensed band, such as the 5 GHz ISM band. When operating in the unlicensed radio frequency spectrum band, the wireless devices, such as the base station 105 and the UE 115, may employ a Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) procedure to ensure that the frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In some cases, the operation in the unlicensed spectrum may be based on a CA configuration in cooperation with a CC operating in the licensed band. The operation in the unlicensed spectrum may include downlink transmission, uplink transmission, peer-to-peer transmission, or a combination thereof. Duplexing in the unlicensed spectrum may be based on Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), Time Division Duplexing (TDD), or a combination of both.

[0050] In some cases, the antennas of the base station 105 or the UE 115 may be arranged in one or more antennas or antenna arrays that may support MIMO operations such as spatial multiplexing or may transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be collocated in an antenna assembly such as an antenna tower. In some cases, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with the base station 105 may be located in various geographic locations. The base station 105 may have an antenna array with several rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming of communications with the UE 115. Similarly, the UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that may support various MIMO or beamforming operations.

[0051] A MIMO wireless system uses a transmission scheme between a transmitting device (e.g., base station 105) and a receiving device (e.g., UE 115), both of which are equipped with multiple antennas. MIMO communications may take advantage of multipath signal propagation to increase radio frequency band utilization by transmitting or receiving different signals via different spatial paths, which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. Different signals may be transmitted by a transmitting device, for example, via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, different signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the different signals may be referred to as a separate spatial stream, and different antennas or different combinations of antennas at a given device (e.g., the device's orthogonal resources associated with a spatial dimension) may be considered as supporting different spatial layers.

[0052] Beamforming, sometimes referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used in a transmitting or receiving device (e.g., base station 105 or UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a direction between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be achieved by combining signals communicated through antenna elements of an antenna array such that signals propagating in a particular orientation relative to the antenna array are subject to constructive interference, while other signals are subject to destructive interference. Adjustment of signals communicated through antenna elements may include the transmitting or receiving device applying some phase offset, timing advance / retard, or amplitude adjustment to signals carried through each of the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustment associated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting or receiving device, or relative to some other orientation).

[0053] In one example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with the UE 115. For example, a signal may be transmitted multiple times in different directions, which may include transmitting the signal according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. A receiving device (e.g., the UE 115, which may be an example of an mmW receiving device) may attempt multiple receive beams when receiving various signals from the base station 105, such as a synchronization signal or other control signal. For example, the receiving device may attempt multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing signals received according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array, or by processing signals received according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different receive beams or receive directions.

[0054] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may be a packet-based network that operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, communication at the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer may be IP-based. In some cases, the radio link control (RLC) layer may perform packet segmentation and reassembly for communication over logical channels. The medium access control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling and multiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layer may also use hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) to perform retransmissions at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer may establish, configure, and maintain an RRC connection between the UE 115 and the base station 105 or core network 160 / 190, which supports radio bearers for user plane data. In the physical (PHY) layer, the transport channels may be mapped to physical channels.

[0055] In some cases, the UE 115 and the base station 105 may support retransmission of data to increase the likelihood of successful reception of the data. HARQ feedback is one technique that increases the likelihood that data is correctly received over the communication link 125. HARQ may include a combination of error detection (e.g., using a cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC), and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ may improve throughput at the MAC layer in poor radio conditions (e.g., signal-to-noise conditions). In some cases, a wireless device may support same-slot HARQ feedback, in which the device may provide HARQ feedback in a particular slot for data received in a previous symbol in that slot. In other cases, the device may provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent slot or according to some other time interval.

[0056] Time intervals in LTE or NR may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit, which may refer to, for example, a sampling period of Ts=1 / 30,720,000 seconds. Communication resource time intervals may be organized according to radio frames, each having a time length of 10 milliseconds (Tf=307200*Ts). The radio frames may be identified by a system frame number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame may include 10 subframes numbered 0 to 9, and each subframe may have a time length of 1 millisecond. A subframe may be further divided into two slots, each having a time length of 0.5 milliseconds, and each slot may include six or seven modulation symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of a cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may include 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe may be the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In other cases, the minimum scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g., within a burst of shortened TTI (sTTI) or within a selected component carrier that uses sTTI).

[0057] In some wireless communication systems, a slot may be further divided into multiple minislots containing one or more symbols, and in some cases a symbol of a minislot or the minislot itself may be the smallest unit of scheduling. Each symbol may vary in time length depending, for example, on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation. Some wireless communication systems may implement slot aggregation, where multiple slots or minislots may be aggregated together for communication between the UE 115 and the base station 105.

[0058] A resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., the time length of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier (e.g., a frequency range of 15 kHz). A resource block may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive OFDM symbol periods in the time domain (one slot) for each normal cyclic prefix in each Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, or a total of 84 resource elements across the frequency and time domains. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (the configuration of modulation symbols that may be applied during each symbol period). Thus, the more resource elements the UE 115 receives and the higher the modulation scheme (e.g., the more bits that can be represented by a modulation symbol according to a given modulation scheme), the higher the data rate for the UE 115 may be. In a MIMO system, wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum band resources, time resources, and spatial resources (e.g., spatial layers), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increase the data rate for communication with the UE 115.

[0059] The term "carrier" refers to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined organizational structure for supporting uplink or downlink communications over communication link 125. For example, a carrier of communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band, which may also be referred to as a frequency channel. In some examples, a carrier may consist of multiple subcarriers (e.g., waveform signals of multiple different frequencies). A carrier may be organized to include multiple physical channels, and each physical channel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling.

[0060] The organizational structure of carriers may be different for different radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, NR, etc.). For example, communications over a carrier may be organized according to TTIs or slots, each of which may include user data as well as control information or signaling to support decoding of user data. A carrier may also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals or system information, etc.) and control signaling that coordinates operations on the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling that coordinates operations on other carriers.

[0061] The physical channels may be multiplexed on the carriers according to various techniques. The physical control channels and the physical data channels may be multiplexed on the downlink carriers, for example, using a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. In some examples, the control information transmitted in the physical control channel may be distributed among different control regions in a cascaded manner (e.g., between a common control region or common search space and one or more UE-specific control regions or UE-specific search spaces).

[0062] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radio frequency spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the carrier or the “system bandwidth” of the wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of several predefined bandwidths (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz) for a carrier of a particular radio access technology. In some examples, the system bandwidth may refer to the smallest unit of bandwidth for scheduling communications between the base station 105 and the UE 115. In other examples, the base station 105 or the UE 115 may also support communications over a carrier having a narrower bandwidth than the system bandwidth. In such examples, the system bandwidth may be referred to as the “wideband” bandwidth, and the narrower bandwidth may be referred to as the “narrowband” bandwidth. In some examples of the wireless communication system 100, the wideband communication may be performed according to a carrier bandwidth of 20 MHz, and the narrowband communication may be performed according to a carrier bandwidth of 1.4 MHz.

[0063] A device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) of the wireless communication system 100 may have a hardware configuration that supports communication over a particular carrier bandwidth or may be configurable to support communication over one of a set of carrier bandwidths. For example, the base station 105 or the UE 115 may perform some communication according to the system bandwidth (e.g., wideband communication) and some communication according to a narrower bandwidth (e.g., narrowband communication). In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a base station 105 and / or a UE 115 that can support simultaneous communication over carriers associated with two or more different bandwidths.

[0064] As described herein, the wireless communication system 100 may support NR and support communication between one or more base stations 105 and supported UEs 115 using communication links 125. The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be fixed or mobile. The wireless communication system 100 may support forwarding capabilities, including transmission of reference signals based on the need at the base station 105 or UE 115, minimizing always-on transmissions. As part of the communication, each of the base stations 105 and UEs 115 may support reference signal transmission for operations including channel estimation, beam management and scheduling, and wireless device positioning within one or more coverage areas 110.

[0065] For example, the base station 105 may transmit one or more downlink reference signals for NR communications, including a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission. Each CSI-RS transmission may be configured for a particular UE 115 to estimate the channel and report channel quality information. The reported channel quality information may be used for scheduling or link adaptation at the base station 105, or as part of a mobility or beam management procedure for directional transmissions associated with enhanced channel resources.

[0066] In some examples, the base station 105 may transmit one or more additional downlink reference signals for communications including positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions. The PRS transmissions may be configured for a particular UE 115 to measure and report one or more reporting parameters (e.g., reporting quantities) associated with positioning and location information. The base station 105 may use the reported information as part of a UE-assisted positioning technique. The PRS transmissions and reporting parameter feedback may support various location services (e.g., navigation systems, emergency communications). In some examples, the reporting parameters augment one or more additional location systems (such as Global Positioning System (GPS) technology) supported by the UE 115.

[0067] The base station 105 may configure a PRS transmission on one or more PRS resources of the channel. The PRS resource may span resource elements of multiple physical resource blocks (PRBs) in one or more OFDM symbols of a slot depending on the configured number of ports. For example, a PRS resource may span one symbol of a slot and include one port for transmission. In any OFDM symbol, the PRS resource may occupy consecutive PRBs. In some examples, the PRS transmission may be mapped to consecutive OFDM symbols of a slot. In other examples, the PRS transmission may be mapped to interspersed OFDM symbols of a slot. In addition, the PRS transmission may support frequency hopping within a PRB of a channel.

[0068] One or more PRS resources may span several PRS resource sets according to a PRS resource configuration of the base station 105. The structure of one or more PRS resources, PRS resource sets, and PRS resource configurations within a PRS transmission may be referred to as a multi-level resource configuration. For example, the multi-level PRS resource configuration of the base station 105 may include multiple PRS resource sets, and each PRS resource set may include a set of PRS resources (e.g., a set of four PRS resources).

[0069] The UE 115 may receive a PRS transmission over one or more PRS resources of the slot. The UE 115 may determine reporting parameters for at least some, if not each, of the PRS resources included in the transmission. The reporting parameters for each PRS resource (which may include a reporting amount) may include one or more of a time of arrival (TOA), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), an angle, a PRS identification number, a receive-to-transmit difference (UE Rx-Tx), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ).

[0070] Aspects of the wireless communication system 100 may include the use of PRS transmissions by the base stations 105 or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmissions by the UE 115 for UE position determination. In downlink-based UE position determination, a location server, e.g., E-SMLC 164 in an LTE network or LMF 196 in an NR network (sometimes referred to as location server 164 / 196), may be used to provide positioning assistance data (AD) to the UE 115. In UE-assisted positioning, the location server may receive measurement reports from the UE 115 indicating location measurements of one or more base stations 105, which the location server may use to determine a location estimate for the UE 115, e.g., using OTDOA or other desired techniques.

[0071] A location estimate of the UE 115 may be determined using reference signals, such as PRS signals, from one or more base stations 105. Positioning methods such as Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), DL Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Reference Signal Received Power (DL RSRP), time difference between transmission and reception of a signal (Rx-Tx), DL Angle of Launch (DL AoD), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), etc., are positioning methods that may be used to estimate the location of the UE 115 using reference signals from base stations. For example, OTDOA relies on measuring a reference signal time difference (RSTD) between a downlink (DL) signal received from a base station for a reference cell and a DL signal received from a base station for one or more neighboring cells. DL signals for which RTSD may be obtained comprise cell-specific reference signals (CRS) and positioning reference signals (PRS), e.g., as defined in 3GPP TS 36.211.

[0072] Other positioning methods may use reference signals transmitted or received by a base station. Although the present disclosure is detailed with reference to a single positioning method for brevity, it should be understood that the present disclosure is applicable to multiple positioning methods, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. For example, other positioning methods include downlink-based positioning methods, such as DL Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), UL Reference Signal Received Power (UL RSRP), time difference between reception and transmission of a signal (Rx-Tx), DL Launch Angle (DL AoD), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), uplink-based positioning methods, such as UL Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDOA), UL Launch Angle (UL AoA), UL Relative Time of Arrival (UL-RTOA), and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods, such as round trip time (RTT) with one or more neighboring base stations.

[0073] FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of an exemplary conventional subframe sequence 200 with PRS positioning occasions. The subframe sequence 200 may be applicable to broadcasting PRS signals from a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) or other network nodes. The subframe sequence 200 may be used in an LTE system, and the same or similar subframe sequence may be used in other communication technologies / protocols, such as 5G and NR. In FIG. 2, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the downlink and uplink radio frames 210 may each be 10 milliseconds (ms) long. In a downlink frequency division duplex (FDD) mode, in the illustrated example, the radio frame 210 is organized into 10 subframes 212, each 1 ms long. Each subframe 212 comprises two slots 214, e.g., 0.5 ms long each.

[0074] In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth may be divided into uniformly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 216 (also called "tones" or "bins"). For example, with a regular length cyclic prefix (CP), using, for example, 15 kHz spacing, the subcarriers 216 may be grouped into groups of 12 subcarriers. A resource of one OFDM symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain (represented as a block of subframes 212) is called a resource element (RE). Each grouping of 12 subcarriers 216 and 14 OFDM symbols is called a resource block (RB), and in the above example, the number of subcarriers in a resource block is

[0075]

number

[0076] For a given channel bandwidth, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 222, also referred to as the transmission bandwidth configuration 222, can be written as:

[0077]

number

[0078] For example, for a channel bandwidth of 3 MHz in the above example, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 222 is

[0079]

number

[0080] It should be noted that the frequency components of a resource block (e.g., 12 subcarriers) are called a physical resource block (PRB).

[0081] A base station may transmit radio frames (e.g., radio frame 210), or other physical layer signaling sequences, and support PRS signals (i.e., downlink (DL) PRS) according to a frame structure that is either similar to or the same as that shown in Figure 2, which may be measured and used for location estimation of a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). Other types of wireless nodes in a wireless communications network (e.g., distributed antenna systems (DAS), remote radio heads (RRHs), UEs, APs, etc.) may also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in a manner similar to (or the same as) that shown in Figure 2.

[0082] A collection of resource elements used for transmission of a PRS signal is called a "PRS resource." The collection of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot 214 in the time domain. For example, the cross-hatched resource elements in a slot 214 may be an example of two PRS resources. A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, and each PRS resource has a PRS resource identifier (ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same transmission / reception point (TRP). A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (if a TRP may transmit one or more beams). Note that this does not have any indication as to whether the TRP and beam from which the signal is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0083] The PRS may be transmitted in special positioning subframes that are grouped into positioning occasions. A PRS occasion is one instance of a regularly repeating time period (e.g., consecutive slots) during which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. Each regularly repeating time period may contain a group of one or more consecutive PRS opportunities. Each PRS opportunity may be assigned to a certain number (N PRS The PRS positioning occasion of a cell supported by a base station may comprise a number of consecutive positioning subframes (TRPs) of milliseconds or subframes. S For example, Figure 2 shows a PRS 218 indicates a period of the positioning occasion such that TRP S is equal to 4 (218) and TRPS is equal to or greater than 20 (220). S may be measured in terms of the number of subframes between the starts of successive positioning occasions. Multiple PRS opportunities may be associated with the same PRS resource configuration, in which case each such opportunity may be referred to as a "PRS resource opportunity," etc.

[0084] The PRS may be transmitted at a constant power. The PRS may also be transmitted at zero power (i.e., muted). Muting, which turns off periodically scheduled PRS transmissions, may be useful when PRS signals between different cells overlap by occurring at or near the same time. In this case, PRS signals from some cells may be muted while PRS signals from other cells are transmitted (e.g., at a constant power). Muting may aid the UE in signal acquisition and time of arrival (TOA) and reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements of unmuted PRS signals (by eliminating interference from unmuted PRS signals). Muting may be viewed as not transmitting a PRS for a given positioning occasion for a particular cell. A muting pattern (also referred to as a muting sequence) may be signaled to the UE (e.g., using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)) using a bit string. For example, if a bit at location j is set to "0" in a bit string signaled to indicate a muting pattern, the UE may infer that the PRS is muted for the jth positioning occasion.

[0085] To further enhance the audibility of the PRS, the positioning subframe may be a low-interference subframe transmitted without a user data channel. As a result, in an ideally synchronized network, the PRS may be interfered with by PRSs of other cells with the same PRS pattern index (i.e., with the same frequency shift), but not with data transmissions. The frequency shift may be used to reduce the interference between the PRSs of the cells or other transmission points (TPs) (

[0086]

number

[0087] ) as a function of the PRS ID, or the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) (

[0088]

number

[0089] ), which yields an effective frequency reuse factor of 6.

[0090] Also to enhance PRS audibility (e.g., when the PRS bandwidth is limited, such as with only six resource blocks corresponding to a 1.4 MHz bandwidth), the frequency band for successive PRS positioning occasions (or successive PRS subframes) may be changed in a known and predictable manner via frequency hopping. In addition, a cell supported by a base station may support more than one PRS configuration, where each PRS configuration may support a different frequency offset (vshift), a different carrier frequency, a different bandwidth, a different code sequence, and / or a different time period for positioning occasions and a particular period (TRP). S ) with a certain number of subframes (N PRS In some implementations, one or more of the PRS configurations supported in a cell may be for directional PRS and thus may have additional distinct characteristics, such as distinct directions of transmission, distinct horizontal angular ranges, and / or distinct vertical angular ranges.

[0091] The PRS configuration as described above, including the PRS transmission / muting schedule, is signaled to the UE via a network entity, such as a location server (e.g., LMF) or a base station (e.g., gNB), to enable the UE to perform PRS positioning. The PRS configuration may be provided, for example, per TRP. In some implementations, the UE may receive PRS configuration information from both the location server and the base station. For example, the PRS configuration may be provided to the UE from the location server per base station (e.g., gNB), and the base station may determine the PRS offset for each TRP and provide this configuration to the UE. The UE is not expected to blindly perform PRS configuration detection.

[0092] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may sometimes refer to a specific reference signal used for positioning in an LTE system. However, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS signals in LTE, Navigation Reference Signals (NRS), Transmitter Reference Signals (TRS), Cell-Specific Reference Signals (CRS), Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS), Primary Synchronization Signals (PSS), and Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS).

[0093] Similar to the PRS discussed above, the UL PRS transmitted by the UE, sometimes referred to as the Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) in NR, is a UE-specific configured reference signal used for the purpose of sounding the uplink radio channel. As for the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), such sounding provides knowledge of various levels of radio channel characteristics. For example, the SRS may be used in the gNB simply to obtain signal strength measurements, e.g., for the purpose of UL beam management. In another example, the SRS may be used in the gNB to obtain detailed amplitude and phase estimates as a function of frequency, time, and space. In NR, channel sounding with SRS supports more diverse use cases compared to LTE. For example, the SRS supports downlink CSI acquisition for reciprocity-based gNB transmit beamforming (downlink MIMO), uplink CSI acquisition for link adaptation and codebook / non-codebook based precoding for uplink MIMO, and uplink beam management.

[0094] The time / frequency mapping of the SRS resource may be defined by the following properties: Time length NsymbSRS is the time length of the SRS resource, which can be 1, 2, or 4 consecutive OFDM symbols in a slot, in contrast to LTE, which only allows a single OFDM symbol per slot. Starting symbol position l0 is the starting symbol of the SRS resource, which can be located anywhere within the last 6 OFDM symbols of a slot, as long as the resource does not straddle the last boundary of the slot. Repetition factor R is for SRS resources configured with frequency hopping, where the repetition allows the same set of subcarriers to be sounded in R consecutive OFDM symbols before the next hop occurs. Allowed values ​​of R are 1, 2, 4, where R≦NsymbSRS. Transmission comb interval K TCand comb offset kTC define the frequency domain comb structure occupied by resource elements (REs) of the SRS resource, where the comb spacing is either 2 REs or 4 REs as in LTE. Such a structure allows frequency domain multiplexing of different SRS resources of the same or different users on different combs, where the different combs are offset from each other by an integer number of REs. The comb offset is defined with respect to the PRB boundaries and can take values ​​in the range 0, 1, ..., KTC-1 REs. Thus, with a comb spacing KTC=2, there are two different combs available for multiplexing if needed, and with a comb spacing KTC=4, there are four different available combs. For periodic semi-persistent SRS, the periodicity is set quasi-statically such that the resource is transmitted once every N slots, where allowed configurable values ​​are N∈{1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560}. In addition, an offset O is set, where O∈{0,1,...,N-1}, measuring the number of slots. The reference point for the slot offset is the first slot (slot 0) of radio frame 0. The bandwidth (BW) configuration of the SRS resource is controlled by the RRC parameters C_"SRS", n_"shift", B_"SRS", b_"hop", and n_"RRC". These parameters together define which part of the bandwidth portion (BWP) is sounded by the SRS resource. The parameter C_"SRS"∈{0,1,...,63} selects the bandwidth configuration for the SRS resource corresponding to a particular row of the length 64 table. For positioning, the number of consecutive OFDM symbols in the SRS resource is configurable with one of the values ​​in the set {1,2,4,8,12}. For positioning, the starting location in the time domain for the SRS resource may be anywhere in the slot, i.e., the offset l offset is in the range of {0,1,...,13}. For positioning, UE transmit (Tx) beam sweeping on UL SRS transmission across multiple UL SRS resources may be used for UL beam management / alignment towards serving and neighboring cells.

[0095] Like the UE, the base station is not expected to blindly perform detection of UL PRS signals. The expected UL PRS configuration as described above may be provided to the UE, for example in assistance data. The UE may then transmit UL PRS signals that match the UL PRS configuration expected by the base station. The base station receives the UL PRS signals from the UE and generates a positioning result based on the received signals and the expected UL PRS configuration. The positioning result is reported to a location server or the UE for location estimation.

[0096] However, the UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal according to the expected UL PRS configuration. If the UE fails to transmit the UL PRS signal in the expected PRS configuration, the positioning performed by the base station will be inaccurate because it is based on the expected UL PRS configuration. According to an implementation, the UE may transmit a reference signal transmission report to a network entity, such as a location server, another base station, or a transmission / reception point (TRP), indicating that the UL PRS signal was not transmitted according to the expected UL PRS configuration.

[0097] The UE may fail to transmit the UL PRS signal according to the expected UL PRS configuration in various manners. For example, the UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal at all, may transmit the UL PRS signal at a lower power than configured, may transmit the UL PRS signal in a different beam than configured, or a combination thereof. Thus, the reference signal transmission report provided by the UE may specify in what manner the UL PRS signal did not follow the expected UL PRS configuration, for example, that the UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal at all, may transmit the UL PRS signal at a lower power than configured, may transmit the UL PRS signal in a different spatial relationship, i.e., in a different beam, than configured, or a combination thereof.

[0098] Moreover, there may be various reasons why the UE is unable to transmit the UL PRS signal according to the expected UL PRS configuration. The reason why the UL PRS signal is not transmitted according to the expected UL PRS configuration may be dynamic, i.e., the location server cannot know in advance that the UL PRS signal will not be transmitted according to the expected UL PRS configuration. According to an implementation, the reference signal transmission report from the UE may additionally provide the reason why the UL PRS signal was not transmitted according to the expected UL PRS configuration.

[0099] For example, the UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal because it is in the middle of a serving cell change, i.e., handover. For example, the UE may be in a reconfiguration mode due to a cell change and may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal. The UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal due to a conflict with a DL symbol. The UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal due to a conflict with another UL PHY channel, e.g., the conflicting UL PHY channel may have a higher transmission priority. The UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal because it is outside the UE's valid bandwidth portion. For example, a wideband spectrum in an NR network may be divided into multiple, e.g., four, non-overlapping sub-bands, where one sub-band may be assigned to the UE's BWP and the UL PRS signal is configured to be in a different sub-band. The UE may not be able to transmit the UL PRS signal due to an interruption caused by an uplink or downlink RF retuning time. For example, the UE may not transmit a UL PRS signal during a carrier switch or during a UL and / or DL ​​retuning phase, i.e., rf-RetuningTimeUL and / or rf-RetuningTimeDL. The UE may not be able to transmit a UL PRS signal because the UE is in an idle mode, such as a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode. For example, DRX is a mechanism whereby the UE goes into a "sleep" mode for some period of time and "wakes up" for another period of time. If the UL PRS signal is configured to be transmitted during the "sleep" period, the UE may not transmit a UL PRS signal.

[0100] The UE may transmit a UL PRS signal, but the transmission may not be in accordance with an expected UL PRS configuration. For example, the UE may transmit a UL PRS signal at a lower power than expected, i.e., not in accordance with the UL PRS configuration. For example, the UE may transmit a UL PRS signal at a lower power than expected due to carrier aggregation uplink power limitations. For example, when the UE is transmitting on a primary component carrier and a secondary component carrier, the UE's total uplink power is limited and DL PRS transmissions may be transmitted at a lower power. The UE may transmit a UL PRS signal at a lower power than expected due to dual connectivity (DC). For example, similar to carrier aggregation uplink power limitations, when the UE transmits and receives signals on multiple component carriers, the UE's total uplink power may be limited and DL PRS transmissions may be transmitted at a lower power. The UE may transmit a UL PRS signal at a lower power than expected due to safety limitations due to maximum permissible exposure (MPE), e.g., use of FR2. In addition, the UE may be in a low battery state, causing it to transmit UL PRS signals at low power or not transmit UL PRS signals.

[0101] A UE may transmit a UL PRS signal on a beam different from the one expected, e.g., in FR2, a UE may transmit a UL PRS signal but not use the configured spatial-Tx-Reference due to contention with a Tx beam of a higher priority channel.

[0102] According to an implementation, the reference signal transmission report by the UE may provide additional information regarding the UL PRS signals that were not transmitted according to the expected UL PRS configuration. For example, the UE may indicate the slot ID or subframe ID or frame ID that includes the UL PRS signals for positioning that were not affected. The UE may indicate the resource ID or resource set ID of the UL PRS signals that were not affected. If the UE was unable to transmit the UL PRS signals according to the expected spatial relationship configuration, for example for a particular Tx beam, the UE may indicate the reference ID of the DL signal (e.g., SSB or DL ​​PRS or CSIRS) that is configured for the spatial relationship between the reference signal from the transmission / reception point and the UL PRS signal. For example, if the UL PRS is transmitted on a beam different from the one configured, the UE may report which beam was used. The UE may indicate the reference ID of the DL signal that is configured for the path loss determination between the reference signal from the transmission / reception point and the UL PRS signal. The UE may indicate the symbol or group of symbols of the UL PRS signals that were not affected. If there is a conflict with another UL channel, the UE may indicate the type of channel of the affected UL PRS or whether the UL channel is periodic, semi-persistent, or non-periodic. The UE may provide information for idle mode, e.g., DRX configuration.

[0103] FIG. 3 illustrates an example PRS configuration 300 for a cell supported by a wireless node (e.g., base station 105). Again, PRS transmission for LTE is assumed in FIG. 3, but aspects of PRS transmission the same or similar to those shown in and described for FIG. 3 may apply to 5G, NR, and / or other wireless technologies. FIG. 3 illustrates an example PRS configuration 300 for a cell supported by a wireless node (e.g., base station 105) that includes a system frame number (SFN), a cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS )352, and PRS period (TRP S ) 320 shows how the PRS positioning occasion is determined. Typically, the cell-specific PRS subframe configuration is determined by the “PRS configuration index” I PRSIt is defined as the PRS period (TRP S ) 320 and cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) is defined in 3GPP TS 36.211, entitled "Physical Channels and Modulation", as shown in Table 1 below, by PRS configuration index I PRS It is defined based on:

[0104] [Table 1]

[0105] The PRS configuration is defined relative to the system frame number (SFN) of the cell transmitting the PRS. PRS For the first subframe of the downlink subframes, the PRS case may satisfy the following: (10×n f +[n s / 2]-Δ PRS )mod T PRS =0 formula 1

[0106] where n f is the SFN, 0≦n f ≦1023, n s is f where 0≦n s ≦19 and TRP S is the PRS period 320, and Δ PRS is the cell-specific subframe offset 352.

[0107] As shown in FIG. 3, the cell-specific subframe offset Δ PRS 352 may be defined in terms of the number of subframes transmitted starting from system frame number 0 (slot "Number 0" marked as slot 350) through the beginning of the first (subsequent) PRS positioning occasion. In the example of FIG. 3, the number of consecutive positioning subframes (N PRS ) is equal to 4.

[0108] In some aspects, the UE 115 may include a PRS configuration index I in the OTDOA assistance data for a particular cell. PRS When receiving the PRS period TRP, the UE 115 uses Table 1 to S 320 and PRS Subframe Offset Δ PRS The UE 115 may then determine the radio frame, subframe, and slot when the PRS is scheduled in the cell (eg, using equation (1)).

[0109] Typically, PRS opportunities from all cells in a network using the same frequency may be aligned in time and have a fixed, known time offset (e.g., cell-specific subframe offset 352) relative to other cells in a network using a different frequency. In an SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 105) may be aligned on both frame boundaries and system frame numbers. Thus, in an SFN synchronous network, all cells supported by various wireless nodes may use the same PRS configuration index for any particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in an SFN asynchronous network, various wireless nodes may be aligned on frame boundaries but not on system frame numbers. Thus, in an SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be configured separately by the network such that the PRS opportunities are aligned in time.

[0110] If the UE 115 can obtain the cell timing (e.g., SFN or frame number) of at least one of the cells, e.g., the reference cell or the serving cell, the UE 115 may determine the timing of the PRS opportunities of the reference cell and neighboring cells for OTDOA positioning. The timing of other cells may then be derived by the UE 115, e.g., based on the assumption that PRS opportunities from different cells overlap.

[0111] As defined by 3GPP (e.g., in 3GPP TS 36.211), for an LTE system, the sequence of subframes used to transmit a PRS (e.g., for OTDOA positioning) is divided into (i) a block of spare bandwidth (BW), (ii) a configuration index I, as previously described. PRS , (iii) time length N PRS , (iv) an optional muting pattern, and (v) a muting sequence period T REP In some cases, at fairly low PRS duty ratios, N PRS =1, TRP S = 160 subframes (equivalent to 160 ms), and BW = 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz. To increase the PRS duty cycle, N PRS We can increase the value of to 6 (i.e., N PRS =6), the bandwidth (BW) value can be increased to the system bandwidth (i.e., for LTE, BW = LTE system bandwidth). PRS =TRP S ) up to N PRS (e.g., greater than 6) and / or shorter TRP S An extended PRS with a low PRS duty cycle (e.g., less than 160 ms) may also be used in later versions of LPP in accordance with 3GPP TS 36.355. A directional PRS may be configured as described immediately above in accordance with 3GPP TS, for example, with a low PRS duty cycle (e.g., less than N PRS =1, TRP S =160 subframes) or a higher duty cycle may be used.

[0112] A New Radio (NR) DL PRS resource may be defined as a set of resource elements used for NR DL PRS transmission that may span multiple PRBs within N (one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot. In any OFDM symbol, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs.

[0113] A DL PRS resource set may be defined as a set of DL PRS resources, each having a DL PRS resource ID. DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set may be associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP, e.g., a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams. It may be noted that this does not have any indication as to whether the TRPs and beams from which signals are transmitted are known to the UE.

[0114] A DL PRS opportunity may be one instance of a periodically recurring time period (consecutive slots) during which a DL PRS is expected to be transmitted. For example, a DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission module may be indicated to a UE for DL ​​PRS positioning. For example, a UE may not be expected to perform blind detection of a DL PRS configuration.

[0115] FIG. 4 illustrates an example PRS configuration 400 in a multi-beam system. The base station 105 may configure multiple PRS resource sets, for example, each associated with one period and transmitted over multiple occasions. As shown, PRS resource set 1 410 may be defined as a set of PRS resources including PRS resource 1 412 and PRS resource 2 414, which are a set of resource elements spanning multiple PRBs in N (one or more) consecutive symbols in a slot. Each of PRS resource 1 412 and PRS resource 2 414 has a DL PRS resource ID and both are associated with the same TRP but may be transmitted on different beams. FIG. 4 illustrates a first instance 410a of PRS resource set 1 410, a second instance 410b of PRS resource set 1 410, and a third instance 410c of PRS resource set 1 410. rep The PRS resource set 1 410 is an example of N PRS =2, period TRP S , and N symb Figure 4 shows which opportunities of PRS resources are muted for one configured T rep An example of how the bit muting pattern is controlled is shown below.

[0116] A "frequency layer", renamed "positioning frequency layer" for positioning according to the agreement made in RAN1 under 3GPP, is a collection of DL PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs with the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type, the same center frequency, and the same point-A. All DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same positioning frequency layer have the same values ​​of DL PRS bandwidth and starting PRB. In addition, all DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same positioning frequency layer have the same value of comb size.

[0117] Conventionally, when the DL reference signal to be used as DL path loss reference is DL-PRS, dl-PRS-Resource-Power is provided, which is defined as the average per resource element energy (EPRE) in dBm of the resource elements carrying the DL-PRS resource signal used by the TRP for DL-PRS resource transmission.

[0118] Regarding DL PRS transmit (TX) power, traditionally, the UE assumes a constant EPRE for all resource elements (REs) of a given DL PRS resource, and assumes that the range of DL PRS resource TX power values ​​is the same for synchronization signal blocks (SSBs). Furthermore, by agreement in RAN1, the UE includes a capability defined as the time length in ms of DL PRS symbols that the UE can process per Tms, assuming an allocation of 272 PRBs.

[0119] As discussed above, the PRS may be muted. A bitmap of DL PRS muting may be configured for a DL PRS resource set. The bitmap size value may be, for example, 2 bits, 4 bits, 8 bits, 16 bits, 32 bits. Multiple options for the applicability of the bitmap are supported. In a first option, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a configurable number of consecutive instances of a DL-PRS resource set (in periodic transmission of the DL-PRS resource set). All DL-PRS resources within a DL-PRS resource set instance are muted for the DL-PRS resource set instance indicated as muted by the bitmap. In a second option, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a single repetition index for each of the DL-PRS resources within the DL-PRS resource set instance, e.g., the length of the bitmap is equal to DL-PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor. The second option may apply to all instances of the DL-PRS resource set of which the above DL-PRS resource is a part.

[0120] FIG. 5A shows a first option in a scenario where there are four TRPs, TRP1, TRP2, TRP3, and TRP4, each transmitting comb-2, 2-symbol PRS with repetition of 2 in consecutive slots slot0 and slot1 in a first opportunity 502 and a second opportunity 504. Pairs of TRPs, e.g., TRP1 / TRP2 and TRP3 / TRP4, are frequency division multiplexed (FDM) using comb-2. Each TRP is configured with a 2-bit bitmap (each bit corresponds to each of the two opportunities). If the bit is 1, the TRP transmits in that opportunity, otherwise the opportunity is muted (all repetitions of that particular opportunity are muted).

[0121] 5A, the UE needs to receive both opportunities 502 and 504 to get a "clean copy" of the PRS from all TRPs. For example, in the first opportunity 502, only TRP1 and TRP2 transmit in both repetitions, but TRP3 and TRP4 are muted, and in the second opportunity 504, only TRP3 and TRP4 transmit in both repetitions, but TRP1 and TRP2 are muted.

[0122] Figure 5B shows a second option for the same scenario as shown in Figure 5A, where there are four TRPs, TRP1, TRP2, TRP3, and TRP4, each transmitting comb-2, 2-symbol PRS with repetition of 2 in consecutive slots slot0 and slot1 in a first opportunity 502 and a second opportunity 504. Pairs of TRPs, e.g., TRP1 / TRP2 and TRP3 / TRP4, are frequency division multiplexed (FDM) using comb-2. Each TRP is configured with a 2-bit bitmap (each bit corresponds to each of the two repetitions). If the bit is 1, the TRP transmits at that repetition index, otherwise the opportunity is muted.

[0123] In the muting configuration shown in Figure 5B, the UE receives clean copies of the PRS from all four TRPs in one opportunity. For example, in opportunity 502, in the first iteration (slot0), TRP1 and 2 transmit FDM-enhanced PRS and TRP3 and TRP4 are muted, and in the second iteration (slot1), TRP3 and TRP4 transmit FDM-enhanced PRS but TRP1 and TRP2 are muted.

[0124] Downlink PRS may be multiplexed with other PHY channels. When multiplexing DL PRS signals with other DL channel signals, for a serving TRP, the UE assumes that DL PRS is not mapped on any symbol, including the synchronization symbol (SS) or the physical broadcast channel (PBCH). In slots where SS / PBCH are transmitted on some symbols, DL PRS may be transmitted on other symbols. For neighboring TRPs, when time-frequency locations for SSB transmissions on the neighboring TRPs are provided, the UE assumes that DL-PRS is not mapped on symbols occupied by SSB transmissions of the neighboring TRPs, i.e., DL-PRS is not transmitted on these symbols. Configured DL PRS is transmitted on DL symbols of slots configured by higher layers. Configured DL PRS is transmitted on symbols of slots configured as flexible symbols by higher layers. If the UE is not given a measurement gap, the UE is not expected to process DL PRS resources on the serving cell or neighboring cells on symbols indicated as UL by the serving cell.

[0125] Conventionally, each PRS resource is processed separately by the UE during positioning. As a result, positioning is limited by the bandwidth of each individual PRS. However, by splicing PRS together, the effective bandwidth of the PRS can be increased. FIG. 6 shows, as an example, three individual PRS resources PRS1 602, PRS2 604, and PRS3 606 spliced ​​together to generate an aggregated PRS 600 with an effective PRS bandwidth larger than the individual bandwidth of any of the PRS resources 602, 604, 606. The increase in PRS bandwidth corresponds to an improvement in TOA estimation performance and therefore the accuracy of OTDOA measurement. The aggregated PRS can be DL PRS transmitted by the same TRP, or UL PRS or SL PRS transmitted by the same UE.

[0126] Figure 7A shows a table and graphs illustrating the correlation between increasing bandwidth (BW) in the PRS and the correlation distribution function (CDF) of absolute TOA error in nsec across multiple UEs for line-of-sight (LOS) links. Figure 7B similarly shows a table and graphs illustrating the correlation between increasing bandwidth (BW) in the PRS and the CDF of absolute TOA error in nsec across multiple UEs for non-line-of-sight (nLOS) links. As can be seen, the absolute TOA error decreases as the bandwidth of the PRS increases for a constant CDF.

[0127] An aggregated PRS as used herein may include one or more PRS components transmitted from the same TRP or the same UE. Each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP or the same UE may be a separate PRS resource each associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth, or may be multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. As an example, an aggregated PRS may have one PRS component when each PRS component comprises multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource.

[0128] For example, in one implementation, an aggregated PRS may be defined as a collection of PRS resources transmitted from the same transmitting entity, e.g., TRP or UE, such that a receiving entity, e.g., UE or TRP, may assume that the PRS is transmitted from the same antenna port. Each PRS resource of the aggregated PRS may be referred to herein as a PRS component. Thus, each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP may be a separate PRS resource, each associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth. Each PRS component may be physically transmitted on one or more of different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0129] As another example, in one implementation, an aggregated PRS is defined as one PRS resource transmitted from one transmitting entity and spanning multiple non-contiguous bandwidths, such that a receiving entity may assume that the PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port. Each individual contiguous frequency domain bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource of the aggregated PRS shall be referred to herein as a PRS component.

[0130] Over time, the receiving entity may not receive a stable number of PRS components in the aggregated PRS. For example, the PRS components may be punctured, e.g., the transmitting entity may not transmit the PRS components. For example, the DL PRS components may compete with synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) or uplink symbols. Similarly, the UL or SL PRS components may compete with SSBs or DL ​​symbols. In addition, the PRS components in the aggregated PRS opportunities may not be aligned in the time domain, so that the receiving entity cannot process one or more of the PRS components. For example, the PRS components may have different slot structures due to slot format downlink control information (DCI).

[0131] 8A, 8B, and 8C show examples of PRS components in an aggregated PRS that cannot be processed by a receiving entity. FIG. 8A shows, by way of example, two occasions 802 and 804, including aggregated PRSs PRS1 and PRS2, received by a receiving entity, e.g., a UE for DL ​​or SL PRS, or a TRP for UL PRS. As shown, PRS components PRS1 and PRS2 are received in opportunity 802, but PRS component PRS2 is not aligned in the time domain with PRS component PRS1 in opportunity 804, e.g., may have a different slot structure, and therefore is not processed by the receiving entity.

[0132] FIG. 8B illustrates another scenario in which PRS components PRS1 and PRS2 are aligned in time at occasions 812 and 814, but at the second occasion 814, contention with an SSB in the frequency layer of PRS component PRS2 prevents the receiving entity from receiving the PRS resource.

[0133] 8C illustrates another scenario in which PRS components PRS1 and PRS2 are aligned in time at occasions 812 and 814, but conflicts with UL symbols in the frequency layer of PRS component PRS2 prevent the UE from receiving DL PRS resources at the second occasion 814. Similarly, conflicts with DL symbols may prevent the TRP or UE from receiving UL or SL PRS resources.

[0134] FIG. 9 illustrates an opportunity 900 including multiple PRS components PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 of an aggregated PRS received by a receiving entity, e.g., a UE or a TRP. The PRS components PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 are aligned in time and are not punctured. The unpunctured and aligned PRS components of the aggregated PRS received by the receiving entity may be processed together by the receiving entity (902) under the assumption that the PRS components of the aggregated PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port from the same transmitting entity, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth. By processing the PRS components together, e.g., the receiving entity processes the PRS components of the aggregated PRS under the assumption that the PRS components are transmitted from the same antenna port of the transmitting entity. By processing the PRS components together, a higher accuracy of the measurement is expected. Thus, for example, the unpunctured PRS components PRS1 and PRS2 at opportunity 802 in FIG. 8A may be processed together by the receiving entity, effectively increasing the PRS bandwidth; similarly, the unpunctured PRS components PRS1 and PRS2 at opportunity 812 in FIG. 8B may be processed together by the receiving entity, and the unpunctured PRS components PRS1 and PRS2 at opportunity 822 in FIG. 8C may be processed together by the receiving entity.

[0135] In the case where one or more PRS components in the aggregated PRS are punctured, e.g., as shown in opportunity 814 or 824 of FIG. 8B or FIG. 8C, respectively, or are not aligned in the time domain, e.g., as shown in opportunity 804 of FIG. 8A, the receiving entity cannot process the PRS components together. FIG. 10 shows an opportunity 1000 including multiple PRS components PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 of the aggregated PRS, one of which is punctured. PRS component PRS2 is shown as being punctured by an SSB, but may be punctured by, e.g., a UL (DL) symbol, or may have a different slot structure than PRS components PRS1 and PRS3. In one implementation, in the case where one of the PRS components, e.g., PRS2, the PRS is omitted (e.g., punctured or not aligned in the time domain) in one or more of the OFDM symbols, the receiving entity may not process the remaining PRS components on these OFDM symbols. Thus, the receiving entity does not process any components of the aggregated PRS on a symbol where there is a conflict in at least one of the individual PRS components or where they are not aligned in the time domain. In other words, if a PRS is omitted in one or more of the OFDM symbols in the PRS component PRS2, the UE leaves all remaining components PRS1 and PRS3 of the aggregated PRS on the OFDM symbol unprocessed.

[0136] 11 illustrates an opportunity 1100 including multiple PRS components PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 of an aggregated PRS, where PRS component PRS2 is punctured by SSB but may be punctured, for example, by UL (DL) symbols or may have a different slot structure than PRS components PRS1 and PRS3. In one implementation, if in one of the PRS components, e.g., PRS2, the PRS is omitted (e.g., punctured or not aligned in the time domain) in one or more of the OFDM symbols, the receiving entity may process each of the PRS components PRS1 and PRS3 independently (1102 and 1104). In other words, if a PRS is omitted in one or more of the OFDM symbols in the PRS component PRS2, the receiving entity leaves the omitted PRS component PRS2 unprocessed and processes the remaining PRS components PRS1 and PRS3 separately over one or more OFDM symbols, e.g., assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports. At opportunity 1100, the accuracy requirements for the aggregated PRS may be the same as those defined for separately processing each of the PRS components of the aggregated PRS.

[0137] FIG. 12 illustrates an opportunity 1200 including multiple PRS components PRS1, PRS2, PRS3, and PRS4 of an aggregated PRS, where PRS component PRS2 is punctured by SSB, but may be punctured by, for example, UL (DL) symbols, or may have a different slot structure than PRS components PRS1, PRS3, and PRS4. In one implementation, in one of the PRS components, for example PRS2, if the PRS is omitted in one or more of the OFDM symbols, the receiving entity may process consecutive PRS components PRS3 and PRS4 together (1202) assuming that PRS components PRS3 and PRS4 of the aggregated PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth of these PRS components. Any remaining non-punctured non-consecutive PRS components in the aggregated PRS are processed independently by the receiving entity (1204).

[0138] 13 illustrates an opportunity 1300 including multiple PRS components PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 of an aggregated PRS, where PRS component PRS2 is punctured by SSB, but may be punctured by, for example, UL (DL) symbols, or may have a different slot structure than PRS components PRS1 and PRS3. In one implementation, in one of the PRS components, for example PRS2, if the PRS is omitted in one or more of the OFDM symbols, the receiving entity may process the unpunctured PRBs across all PRS components PRS1, PRS2, and PRS3 together (1302 and 1304). Thus, the unpunctured PRBs in PRS2 that are contiguous with PRS3 are processed together (1302), and the unpunctured PRBs in PRS2 that are contiguous with PRS1 are processed together (1304).

[0139] In addition, each PRS component in the aggregated PRS may be transmitting with a different transmit power, e.g., EPRE, because the PRS components may be physically located in different component carriers and / or bands. Thus, an indication of the relative transmit power between the PRS components in the aggregated PRS from the same TRP may be provided to the receiving entity, e.g., through higher layer signaling (e.g., LPP or RRC protocol) or lower level signaling (e.g., MAC Control Element (CE) or DCI signaling). The UE may then perform positioning using the aggregated DL PRS and an indication of the relative transmit power, e.g., to normalize the power of the PRS components. The indication of the relative transmit power may be, e.g., a power offset relative to a reference DL or UL reference signal (RS). The power offset may be, e.g., an offset of the EPRE relative to the RS. The RS may be, e.g., a PRS component, a PRS resource from the same transmitting entity that is not part of the aggregated PRS, or a signal that is not a PRS. For example, one PRS component, e.g., the one with the lowest ID or configured, may be a reference and the remaining power offsets may be indicated with respect to that reference. In another example, the indication of relative transmit power may be an indication of transmit power for each PRS component. If an indication of relative transmit power is not provided to the receiving entity, the receiving entity may assume that the same transmit power, e.g., EPRE, is used for all of the PRS components in the aggregated PRS. Furthermore, multiple power offsets may be indicated for different collections of PRS components. For example, if there are four PRS components, a first indication of relative transmit power may be provided for a first pair of PRS components and a second indication of relative transmit power may be provided for a second pair of PRS components.

[0140] When a receiving entity receives an aggregated PRS, to benefit from the greater accuracy of processing the PRS components together, the receiving entity may measure the aggregated PRS instances when the constraints on the configuration of the PRS components are the same or similar, e.g., within a predetermined threshold. If the constraints on the configuration of the PRS components in the aggregated PRS instances are not the same or similar, the PRS components are not aligned and the receiving entity may process the PRS components separately. Thus, the PRS components of an aggregated PRS to be processed together shall have the same constraints or similar constraints, e.g., within a predetermined threshold, including one or more of: symbol indices not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols (e.g., 14 symbols); slot indices not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots (e.g., 10 slots); frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames (e.g., 10 frames); subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes (e.g., 10 subframes); the same period, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-collocation (QCL) information, "starting PRB" within a predetermined threshold (e.g., the difference may not exceed 24 PRBs), the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), the same muting configuration, and bandwidth within a predetermined threshold (e.g., the ratio of maximum bandwidth to minimum bandwidth may not exceed 2), or a combination thereof. It should be understood that the specific numbers and thresholds provided above are examples and not limitations, eg, other numbers and thresholds may be used if desired.

[0141] In addition, it may be useful for the UE to provide a capability regarding its ability to receive and process aggregated DL PRS. For example, currently, the UE may provide a capability including the duration in ms of DL PRS symbols that the UE can process per Tms, assuming an allocation of 272 PRBs. The UE may additionally provide an indication of its capability to receive and process aggregated PRS. If the UE indicates that it supports Xms of PRS symbols per Tms, assuming 272 PRBs, it may be understood that the UE also supports X / Nms of PRS symbols for the aggregated PRS of 272 PRBs for each of the N PRS components. However, the duration of DL PRS symbols that the UE can process in a certain length of time may not scale linearly with the number N of PRS components. Thus, the UE may include in the capability message an indication of the duration of DL PRS symbols that the UE can process in a certain length of time for different numbers N of PRS components in the aggregated PRS. For example, the capability message may indicate the length of time of DL PRS symbols in ms that the UE can process per Tms, assuming an allocation of 272 PRBs, for different values ​​of the number N of PRS components of the aggregated PRS. Thus, the UE may provide a capability message indicating different lengths of time of DL PRS symbols that the UE can process in a certain length of time based on the number N of PRS components.

[0142] FIG. 14 is a message flow 1400 illustrating various messages transmitted between components of the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 during a positioning session for performing positioning using aggregated DL PRS with TRPs 105a, 105b, and 105c. However, it should be understood that one or more of the TRPs 105a, 105b, and 105c may be replaced with a UE, and similar positioning may be performed using sidelink (SL) PRS from one or more UEs, or a combination of DL PRS from the TRP 105 and SL PRS from one or more UEs. The location server 196 may be, for example, an LMF for a 5G NR network. The location server 196 may be located remotely in a core network, for example, the core network 190 shown in FIG. 1, or may be co-located with a TRP, such as the serving TRP 105a. The UE 115 may be configured to perform UE-assisted or UE-based positioning, in which case the UE itself determines its location, for example, using assistance data provided to the UE. In the message flow 1400, it is assumed that the UE 115 and the location server 196 communicate using the LPP positioning protocol mentioned earlier, although the use of NPP or a combination of LPP and NPP or other future protocols such as NRPPa is also possible.

[0143] In stage 1, the location server 196 sends a capability request message to the UE 115, for example, to request capabilities from the UE 115.

[0144] In stage 2, the UE 115 returns a capability provision message to the location server 196, in which the UE 115 provides its capability to perform positioning. The UE 115 may provide an indication of the UE's capability to receive and process the aggregated PRS. For example, the UE 115 may indicate that it is capable of processing the aggregated PRS. Assuming 272 PRBs, the UE 115 may further indicate that the UE 115 supports X ms of PRS symbols per T ms, and that the UE 115 also supports X / N ms of PRS symbols for the aggregated PRS of 272 PRBs for each of the N PRS components. In one implementation, the UE 115 may provide an indication of the length of time of DL PRS symbols that the UE 115 can process in a certain length of time for a different number N of PRS components in the aggregated PRS. For example, the capability message may indicate the duration in ms of DL PRS symbols that the UE 115 can process per Tms, assuming an allocation of 272 PRBs, for different values ​​of the number N of PRS components of the aggregated PRS.

[0145] In stage 3, the location server 196 may send an LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the UE 115 to provide positioning assistance data to configure the UE 115 to obtain and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, and TRP3 105c, e.g., the assistance data may include the configuration of the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. If the UE 115 is expected to perform position calculations, e.g., in a UE-based positioning procedure, the assistance data may include the physical locations of the TRPs.

[0146] In stage 4, the location server 196 may send an LPP Location Information Request message to the UE 115 to request the UE 115 to measure DL PRS transmissions from the TRP. For example, the location server 196 may request measurements of RSTD if OTDOA is used, or other types of measurements. The location server 196 may also indicate whether UE-based positioning is requested, whereby the UE 115 determines its location.

[0147] In step 5a, the UE receives several PRS components, shown with separate arrows, for an aggregated DL PRS transmission from TRP1 105a. Although the PRS components are shown with separate arrows, it should be understood that the PRS components are not separated in the time domain but in the frequency domain. Each PRS component may be a separate PRS resource, each of which is associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. For example, the PRS components may be transmitted by TRP1 105a on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band. The PRS components transmitted by TRP1 105a are configured with the same or similar (within a predetermined threshold) constraints, such as one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-collocation (QCL) information, starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), muting configuration, and bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof. The PRS components are not punctured and are time aligned.

[0148] In stage 5b, UE 115 processes together the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS received in stage 5a that are configured with the same constraint, assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port of TRP1 105a, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth, e.g., as shown in Figure 9. UE 115 may process separately the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS received in stage 5a that are not configured with the same constraint.

[0149] In step 6a, the UE receives several PRS components, shown with separate arrows, for an aggregated DL PRS transmission from TRP2 105b. Although the PRS components are shown with separate arrows, it should be understood that the PRS components are not separated in the time domain but in the frequency domain. The PRS components in the aggregated DL PRS transmission may be similar to those shown in step 5a, but the PRS components are punctured or non-aligned, as shown by the dotted arrows in step 6a, so that the PRS in at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols. For example, the PRS components may be punctured by competing with synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in the frequency layer, competing with uplink symbols in the frequency layer, or non-aligned in the time domain by having a different slot structure, or a combination of these.

[0150] In step 6b, the UE 115 may process any unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS received in step 6a together, assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port of TRP2 105b. As discussed above, the UE 115 may process the punctured PRS components differently. For example, on an occasion where a PRS component is punctured, the UE 115 may leave all remaining PRS components of at least one aggregated PRS unprocessed on one or more symbols, for example, as shown in FIG. 10. In another implementation, on an occasion where a PRS component is punctured, the UE 115 may leave the punctured PRS components unprocessed and process the remaining PRS components separately on one or more symbols, for example, as shown in FIG. 11. The remaining PRS components may be processed, for example, assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports. The remaining PRS components may be processed with accuracy requirements corresponding to each of the remaining PRS components separately. In another implementation, on an occasion where a PRS component is punctured, the UE 115 may leave the punctured PRS component unprocessed and may process any remaining consecutive PRS components together on one or more symbols, e.g., as shown in FIG. 12. In another implementation, on an occasion where a PRS component is punctured, the UE 115 may process the unpunctured PRBs of all PRS components together on one or more symbols, e.g., as shown in FIG. 13.

[0151] In step 7a, the UE receives several PRS components, shown with separate arrows, for an aggregated DL PRS transmission from the TRP3 105c. Although the PRS components are shown with separate arrows, it should be understood that the PRS components are not separated in the time domain but in the frequency domain. The PRS components in the aggregated DL PRS transmission may be similar to those shown in step 5a. An indication of the relative transmit power between the PRS components of the aggregated PRS is also received by the UE 115. The indication of the relative transmit power may be received together with the PRS or in a separate message, or may be provided in the assistance data received in step 3. For example, the indication of the relative transmit power may be received through higher layer signaling (e.g., LPP or RRC protocol) or lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE or DCI signaling). The indication of relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, a power offset relative to a reference DL reference signal (RS), which may be, for example, one of the PRS components, a PRS resource from the same TRP that is not part of an aggregated PRS, or a signal that is not a PRS. The indication of relative transmit power may be a power offset in energy per resource element (EPRE) relative to a reference DL RS. There may be multiple indications of relative transmit power, for example, each for a different set of power components. In some implementations, the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components may be an indication of transmit power for each PRS component.

[0152] In step 7b, the UE 115 processes the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS received in step 7a together, e.g., assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port of TRP3 105c and using an indication of the relative transmit power, e.g., to normalize the power of the PRS components.

[0153] In stage 8, the UE 115 may perform desired location measurements using the obtained and processed aggregated DL PRS received from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, and TRP3 105c. The UE 115 may perform downlink-based positioning, such as TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, or RSRP, or downlink and uplink-based positioning methods, such as RTT (not shown in FIG. 14) if an uplink reference signal is used.

[0154] In stage 9, the UE 115 may optionally determine the position of the UE using the positioning results from stage 8 and the known positions of the TRPs obtained, for example, together with the assistance data in stage 3, for example, in a UE-based positioning procedure.

[0155] In step 10, the UE 115 transmits a location information provision message to the location server 196, including the PRS-based positioning result obtained in step 8 and / or the UE's location determined in optional step 9.

[0156] In step 11, location server 196 may determine the UE's location based on any PRS-based positioning results received in step 10 or may verify the UE's location received in step 10. The UE's location may be forwarded to an external client (not shown).

[0157] FIG. 15 is a message flow 1500 illustrating various messages transmitted between components of the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 during a positioning session for performing positioning using aggregated UL PRS with TRPs 105a, 105b, and 105c. However, it should be understood that one or more of the TRPs 105a, 105b, and 105c may be replaced with a UE, and similar positioning may be performed by one or more UEs, or a combination of TRPs 105 and UEs. The location server 196 may be, for example, an LMF for a 5G NR network. The location server 196 may be located remotely in a core network, for example, the core network 190 shown in FIG. 1, or may be co-located with a TRP, such as the serving TRP 105a. In the message flow 1500, it is assumed that the UE 115 and the location server 196 communicate using the LPP positioning protocol mentioned earlier, although the use of other future protocols, such as NPP or a combination of LPP and NPP, or NRPPa, is also possible.

[0158] In stage 1, the location server 196 sends a capability request message to the UE 115, for example, to request capabilities from the UE 115.

[0159] In stage 2, the UE 115 returns a capability provision message to the location server 196 in which the UE 115 provides its capability to perform positioning. The UE 115 may provide an indication of the UE's capability to transmit aggregated UL PRS, e.g., aggregated SRS.

[0160] In stage 3, the location server 196 may send configuration messages to TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, and TRP3 105c (sometimes collectively referred to as TRP105) to provide PRS configuration constraints for UL PRS transmissions from the UE 115.

[0161] In stage 4, the location server 196 may send an LPP UL signal request message to the UE 115 to request the UE 115 to start UL PRS transmission to the TRP. Alternatively, the serving base station, e.g., gNB, may send an RRC request for UL signal. For the sidelink, the location server 196 (or the serving base station, e.g., gNB) may send a PC5 request for UL signal. The request may include details about the requested UL PRS (e.g., coding, bandwidth, carrier frequency, frequency and timing of transmission, periodicity, and / or start and end times of transmission).

[0162] In step 5a, the UE 115 transmits several PRS components, shown with separate arrows, for an aggregated UL PRS transmission to the TRP 105. The UE 115 may continue to transmit the PRS components periodically until a requested end time or until the transmission is cancelled or reconfigured by the location server 196. Although the PRS components are shown with separate arrows, it should be understood that the PRS components are not separated in the time domain but in the frequency domain. Each PRS component may be a separate PRS resource, each of which is associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. For example, the PRS components may be transmitted by the UE 115 on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band. The PRS components transmitted by the UE 115 are configured with the same or similar (within a predetermined threshold) constraints, such as one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), muting configuration, and bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof. The PRS components are not punctured and are time aligned.

[0163] In stage 5b, each of the TRPs 105 processes together the PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS received in stage 5a that are configured with the same constraint, assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated DL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port of the UE 115, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth, e.g., as shown in Figure 9. The TRPs 105 may process separately the PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS received in stage 5a that are not configured with the same constraint.

[0164] In step 5c, the TRP 105 may perform desired location measurements using the acquired and processed aggregated UL PRS received in steps 5a and 5b from the UE 115. The TRP 105 may perform uplink-based positioning, such as TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, or RSRP, or downlink and uplink-based positioning methods, such as RTT (not shown in FIG. 15) if a downlink reference signal is used.

[0165] In step 5d, the TRP 105 may send a position information provision message to the location server 196, which may include the PRS-based positioning result obtained in step 5c.

[0166] In step 6a, the UE transmits several PRS components, shown with separate arrows, for an aggregated UL PRS transmission to the TRP 105. Although the PRS components are shown with separate arrows, it should be understood that the PRS components are not separated in the time domain but in the frequency domain. The PRS components in the aggregated UL PRS transmission may be similar to those shown in step 5a, but the PRS components are punctured or non-aligned, as shown by the dotted arrows in step 6a, so that the PRS in at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols. For example, the PRS components may be punctured by competing with synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in the frequency layer, competing with downlink symbols in the frequency layer, or non-aligned in the time domain by having different slot structures, or a combination of these.

[0167] In step 6b, each of the TRPs 105 processes together any unpunctured and aligned PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS received in step 6a, assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port of the UE 115. As discussed above, the TRPs 105 may process punctured or unaligned PRS components differently. For example, on an occasion where a PRS component is punctured or unaligned in the time domain, the TRPs 105 may leave all remaining PRS components of at least one aggregated PRS unprocessed on one or more symbols, for example, as shown in FIG. 10. In another implementation, on an occasion where a PRS component is punctured or unaligned in the time domain, the TRPs 105 may leave the punctured or unaligned PRS components unprocessed and process the remaining PRS components separately on one or more symbols, for example, as shown in FIG. 11. The remaining PRS components may be processed, for example, assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports. The remaining PRS components may be processed with accuracy requirements corresponding to each of the remaining PRS components separately. In another implementation, on the occasion that the PRS components are punctured or not aligned in the time domain, the TRP 105 may leave the punctured PRS components unprocessed and may process any remaining consecutive PRS components together on one or more symbols, for example, as shown in FIG. 12. In another implementation, on the occasion that the PRS components are punctured or not aligned in the time domain, the TRP 105 may process the unpunctured PRBs of all the PRS components together on one or more symbols, for example, as shown in FIG. 13.

[0168] In step 6c, the TRP 105 may perform desired location measurements using the acquired and processed aggregated UL PRS received in steps 6a and 6b from the UE 115. The TRP 105 may perform uplink-based positioning, such as TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, or RSRP, or downlink and uplink-based positioning methods, such as RTT (not shown in FIG. 15) if a downlink reference signal is used.

[0169] In step 6d, the TRP 105 may send a position information provision message to the location server 196, which may include the PRS-based positioning result obtained in step 6c.

[0170] In step 7a, the UE 115 transmits several PRS components, shown with separate arrows, for an aggregated UL PRS transmission to the TRP 105. Although the PRS components are shown with separate arrows, it should be understood that the PRS components are not separated in the time domain but in the frequency domain. The PRS components in the aggregated UL PRS transmission may be similar to those shown in step 5a. An indication of the relative transmit power between the PRS components of the aggregated PRS is also received by the TRP 105. The indication of the relative transmit power may be received together with the PRS or in a separate message. For example, the indication of the relative transmit power may be received through higher layer signaling (e.g., LPP or RRC protocol) or lower layer signaling (e.g., MAC CE or DCI signaling). The indication of relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, a power offset relative to a reference UL Reference Signal (RS), which may be, for example, one of the PRS components, a PRS resource from the same TRP that is not part of an aggregated PRS, or a signal that is not a PRS. The indication of relative transmit power may be a power offset in energy per resource element (EPRE) relative to the reference UL RS. There may be multiple indications of relative transmit power, for example, each for a different set of power components. In some implementations, the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components may be an indication of transmit power for each PRS component.

[0171] In step 7b, each of the TRPs 105 processes the PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS received in step 7a jointly, e.g., assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port of the UE 115 and using an indication of the relative transmit power, e.g., to normalize the power of the PRS components.

[0172] In step 7c, the TRP 105 may perform desired location measurements using the acquired and processed aggregated UL PRS received in steps 7a and 7b from the UE 115. The TRP 105 may perform uplink-based positioning, such as TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, or RSRP, or downlink and uplink-based positioning methods, such as RTT (not shown in FIG. 15) if a downlink reference signal is used.

[0173] In step 7d, the TRP 105 may send a position information provision message to the location server 196, which may include the PRS-based positioning result obtained in step 7c.

[0174] In step 8, the location server 196 determines the location of the UE based on any PRS-based positioning results received in steps 5d, 6d, or 7d. The location of the UE may be forwarded to an external client (not shown).

[0175] FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1600 for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network performed by a first wireless entity, such as a UE 115 or a TRP 105, in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementation.

[0176] At block 1602, a first wireless entity may receive configurations for positioning reference signals (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in stage 3 of Figure 14 and stage 3 of Figure 15. At block 1604, the first wireless entity may receive one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in stages 5a, 6a, and 7a of Figure 14 or stages 5a, 6a, and 7a of Figure 15, where each aggregated PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising separate PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. In block 1606, the second wireless entity may jointly process unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain, e.g., as discussed in steps 5b, 6b, and 7b of FIG. 14 or steps 5b, 6b, and 7b of FIG. 15. For example, unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain may be processed together assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated UL PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port. In block 1608, the first wireless entity may perform positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in step 8 of FIG. 14 or steps 5c, 6c, and 7c of FIG. 15. In block 1610, the first wireless entity may transmit position information based on the positioning result, e.g., to a location server or a base station, e.g., as discussed in step 10 of FIG. 14 or steps 5d, 6d, and 7d of FIG. 15.

[0177] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities may comprise transmission / reception points (TRPs) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS may comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS. For example, a configuration for a PRS associated with the one or more second wireless entities may be received from a location server, such as an LMF.

[0178] In one implementation, the first wireless entity may be a UE, the one or more second wireless entities may comprise second UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRS may comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0179] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0180] In one implementation, the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource may be contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0181] In one implementation, the location information may be a positioning result or a location estimate for the first wireless entity determined using the positioning result, for example as discussed in steps 9 and 10 of FIG.

[0182] In one implementation, for example as discussed in step 5a of FIG. 14 or step 5a of FIG. 15, each PRS component from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0183] In one implementation, at least one PRS component of the at least one aggregated PRS is punctured or not aligned with other PRS components in the time domain, so that the PRS among the at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols, e.g., as discussed in step 6a of FIG. 14 or step 6a of FIG. 15. For example, the at least one PRS component is punctured due to one or more of having a different slot structure, conflicting with a synchronization signal block (SSB) in the frequency layer, conflicting with an uplink symbol in the frequency layer, conflicting with a downlink symbol in the frequency layer, or a combination thereof, e.g., as discussed in step 6a of FIG. 14 or step 6a of FIG. 15. In one implementation, the first wireless entity may leave all remaining unprocessed PRS components of the at least one aggregated PRS on one or more symbols, e.g., as discussed in step 6b of FIG. 14 or step 6b of FIG. 15. In one implementation, the first wireless entity may leave at least one unprocessed PRS component to be punctured and may process the remaining PRS components separately over one or more symbols, e.g., as discussed in step 6b of FIG. 14 or step 6b of FIG. 15. For example, the remaining PRS components may be processed assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports, e.g., as discussed in step 6b of FIG. 14 or step 6b of FIG. 15. The remaining PRS components may be processed separately with accuracy requirements corresponding separately to each of the remaining PRS components, e.g., as discussed in step 6b of FIG. 14 or step 6b of FIG. 15. In one implementation, the first wireless entity may leave at least one unprocessed PRS component to be punctured and process the remaining consecutive PRS components together over one or more symbols, e.g., as discussed in step 6b of FIG. 14 or step 6b of FIG. 15.In one implementation, for example as discussed in step 6b of FIG. 14 or step 6b of FIG. 15, the first wireless entity may process unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) in all PRS components together over one or more symbols.

[0184] FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1700 for supporting user equipment (UE) positioning performed by a first wireless entity, such as a UE 115 or a TRP 105, in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementation.

[0185] At block 1702, a first wireless entity may receive a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in stage 3 of Figure 14 or stage 3 of Figure 15. At block 1704, the first wireless entity may receive one or more aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in stages 5a, 6a, and 7a of Figure 14 or stages 5a, 6a, and 7a of Figure 15, where each aggregated PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. At block 1706, the first wireless entity may receive an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity, e.g., as discussed in step 7a of FIG. 14 or step 7a of FIG. 15. At block 1708, the first wireless entity may process one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power, e.g., as discussed in step 7b of FIG. 14 or step 7b of FIG. 15. At block 1710, the first wireless entity may perform positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in step 8 of FIG. 14 or step 7c of FIG. 15. At block 1712, the first wireless entity may transmit position information based on the positioning results, e.g., to a location server or base station, e.g., as discussed in step 10 of FIG. 14 or step 7d of FIG. 15.

[0186] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise transmission / reception points (TRPs) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS. For example, a configuration for a PRS associated with the one or more second wireless entities may be received from a location server, such as an LMF.

[0187] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a second UE, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0188] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0189] In one implementation, the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource may be contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0190] In one implementation, as discussed in step 7a of Figure 14 or step 7a of Figure 15, the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a power offset relative to a reference signal (RS). The RS may be, for example, a PRS component, a PRS resource from the same second wireless entity that is not part of the aggregated PRS, or a non-PRS signal. The power offset may be an offset of energy per resource element (EPRE) relative to the RS.

[0191] In one implementation, as discussed in step 7a of FIG. 14 or step 7a of FIG. 15, the indication of relative transmission power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a first power offset of the first PRS component relative to the second PRS component and a second power offset of the third PRS component relative to the fourth PRS component.

[0192] In one implementation, as discussed in step 7a of FIG. 14 or step 7a of FIG. 15, the indication of the relative transmission power between the PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity may be an indication of the transmission power for each PRS component.

[0193] In one implementation, for example as discussed in step 5a of FIG. 14 or step 5a of FIG. 15, each PRS component of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0194] FIG. 18 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1800 for supporting user equipment (UE) positioning performed by a first wireless entity, such as a UE 115 or a TRP 105, in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementation.

[0195] At block 1802, the first wireless entity may receive a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in step 3 of Figure 14 or step 3 of Figure 15. At block 1804, the first wireless entity may receive one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in steps 5a, 6a, and 7a of Figure 14 or steps 5a, 6a, and 7a of Figure 15, where each aggregated PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or a single PRS resource comprises multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanning, and the PRS components in the aggregated PRS are a predetermined number of PRS components. The aggregated PRS may be configured with constraints comprising one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof. In block 1806, as discussed in steps 5b, 6b, and 7b of FIG. 14 or 5b, 6b, and 7b of FIG. 15, the first wireless entity may process one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints, and process one or more components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints.At block 1808, the first wireless entity may perform positioning using the processed aggregated PRS or PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, e.g., as discussed in step 8 of Figure 14 or steps 5c, 6c, and 7c of Figure 15. At block 1810, the first wireless entity transmits position information based on the positioning result to, e.g., a location server or a base station, e.g., as discussed in step 10 of Figure 14 or step 8 of Figure 15.

[0196] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise transmission / reception points (TRPs) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS. For example, a configuration for a PRS associated with the one or more second wireless entities may be received from. For example, the network entity may be a location server such as an LMF.

[0197] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a second UE, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0198] In one implementation, the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0199] In one implementation, the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource may be contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0200] In one implementation, the predetermined number of symbols may be 0, such that the PRS components are transmitted simultaneously.

[0201] In one implementation, for example as discussed in step 5a of FIG. 14 or step 5a of FIG. 15, each PRS component from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0202] FIG. 19 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1900 for supporting user equipment (UE) positioning performed by the UE in a manner consistent with disclosed implementations.

[0203] In block 1902, as discussed in step 2 of FIG. 14, for example, the UE may provide a capability message indicating a length of time of DL PRS symbols that may be processed by the UE in a certain length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated DL PRS, the aggregated DL PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same antenna port from the same transmission / reception point (TRP), each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP being a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource. In block 1904, as discussed in step 3 of FIG. 14, for example, the UE may receive a configuration for a DL PRS associated with one or more TRPs in the wireless network. In block 1906, as discussed in steps 5a, 6a, and 7a of FIG. 14, for example, the UE may receive an aggregated DL PRS from multiple transmission / reception points (TRPs) in the wireless network. At block 1908, the UE may perform positioning using the aggregated DL PRS from the multiple TRPs, e.g., as discussed in step 8 of Figure 14. At block 1910, the UE may transmit position information based on the positioning result to a location server, e.g., as discussed in step 10 of Figure 14.

[0204] FIG. 20 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a UE, e.g., UE 115, enabled to support UE positioning using aggregated DL or SL PRS as described herein. The UE 115 may include, e.g., one or more processors 2002, memory 2004, external interfaces such as transceivers 2010 (e.g., wireless network interfaces), which may be operatively coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 2020 and one or more connections 2006 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.) to the memory 2004. The UE 115 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface, which may include a display, a keypad, or other input devices such as a virtual keypad on a display, or a satellite positioning system receiver, through which a user may interface with the UE. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the UE 115 may be in the form of a chipset or the like. The transceiver 2010 may include, for example, a transmitter 2012 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks, and a receiver 2014 for receiving one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks.

[0205] In some embodiments, the UE 115 may include an antenna 2011, which may be an internal or external antenna. The UE antenna 2011 may be used to transmit and / or receive signals processed by the transceiver 2010. In some embodiments, the UE antenna 2011 may be coupled to the transceiver 2010. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the UE 115 may be performed at the connection point of the UE antenna 2011 and the transceiver 2010. For example, the measurement reference point for the received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 2014 (transmitter 2012) and the output (input) terminal of the UE antenna 2011. In a UE 115 with multiple UE antennas 2011 or antenna arrays, the antenna connector may be considered to be a virtual point representing the aggregate output (input) of the multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments, the UE 115 may measure received signals, including signal strength and TOA measurements, and the raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 2002.

[0206] The one or more processors 2002 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 2002 may be configured to perform functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 2008 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 2020 and / or the memory 2004. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 2002 may represent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least a portion of a data signal computation procedure or process associated with the operation of the UE 115.

[0207] The medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may store instructions or program code 2008, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 2002, cause the one or more processors 2002 to operate as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in the UE 115, the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 2002 to perform the methods disclosed herein. Although the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 2020 that is executable by the one or more processors 2002, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 2004 or may be special purpose hardware that is either within the one or more processors 2002 or external to the processor.

[0208] A number of software modules and data tables may be present in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 and utilized by the one or more processors 2002 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 as shown in the UE 115 is merely exemplary, such that the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in various ways depending on the implementation of the UE 115.

[0209] The medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may include a capabilities module 2022 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to transmit a capabilities message, for example to a location server, via the transceiver 2010. The capabilities message may indicate the capabilities of the UE to receive and process aggregated DL PRS. The capabilities message may indicate a time length of DL PRS symbols that may be processed in a certain length of time by the UE for different numbers of PRS components among the aggregated DL PRS, the aggregated DL PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same antenna port from the same transmission / reception point (TRP).

[0210] The medium 2020 and / or the memory 2004 may include an assistance data module 2024 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to receive, e.g., via the transceiver 2010, assistance data including, e.g., configured PRS constraints, e.g., for aggregated DL PRS transmissions from one or more TRPs and optionally locations of the TRPs.

[0211] The medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may include a PRS constraint configuration module 2026 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to receive configured constraints for aggregated DL PRS transmissions from one or more TRPs and determine whether PRS components among the aggregated DL PRS are the same or similar within a predetermined threshold, for example, stored in a data table present in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004.

[0212] The medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may include an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2028 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to receive, via the transceiver 2010, one or more aggregated DL PRSs from one or more TRPSs, each aggregated DL PRS including one or more PRS components transmitted from the same TRP, each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource.

[0213] The medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may include a relative transmit power module 2030 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to receive, via the transceiver 2010, an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated DL PRS transmitted from the same TRP. The relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, a power offset from a reference DL reference signal, which may be, for example, a PRS component, a PRS resource from the same TRP that is not part of the aggregated DL PRS, or a non-PRS signal. In another implementation, the relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, an indication of transmit power for each PRS component. The relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, energy per resource element (EPRE). In an implementation, in the absence of an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components, the relative transmit power module 2030, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, may configure the one or more processors 2002 to determine that the PRS components are transmitted at the same power.

[0214] The medium 2020 and / or memory 2004 may include a joint / separate processing module 2032 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to process PRS components in a received aggregated DL PRS together or to process PRS components in a received aggregated DL PRS separately. For example, if all of the PRS components are unpunctured, aligned in time, and configured with the same (or similar) constraints, the one or more processors 2002 are configured to process the PRS components together to substantially increase the PRS bandwidth. If the PRS components are punctured, e.g., have different slot structures, conflict with synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in a frequency layer, or conflict with uplink symbols in a frequency layer, or are configured with different constraints, the one or more processors 2002 may be configured not to process the PRS components together. For example, on such an occasion, the one or more processors 2002 may be configured to process none of the PRS components, to process the punctured PRS components but process the remaining PRS components separately, to process any remaining PRS components that are frequency contiguous together, or to process unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) among all the PRS components together.

[0215] The medium 2020 and / or the memory 2004 may include a location measurement module 2034 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to perform positioning using aggregated DL PRS from multiple TRPs. For example, the positioning may be, for example, TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, RSRP, or RTT if an uplink reference signal is used.

[0216] The medium 2020 and / or the memory 2004 may include a position determination module 2036 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to estimate a position of a UE in a UE-based positioning process, e.g., using location measurements received in assistance data and the positions of TRPs.

[0217] The medium 2020 and / or the memory 2004 may include a reporting module 2038 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2002, configures the one or more processors 2002 to transmit, via the transceiver 2010, location information based on the positioning results to a location server. The location information may be, for example, a location measurement result and / or a position estimate of the UE, if determined.

[0218] The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In the case of a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 2002 may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0219] For a firmware and / or software implementation, the methods may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 2020 or memory 2004 coupled to and executed by the one or more processors 2002. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. The term "memory" as used herein refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory and should not be limited to any particular type or number of memories or the type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0220] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 2008 on a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004. Examples include computer readable media encoded with data structures and computer readable media encoded with a computer program 2008. For example, the non-transitory computer readable medium having program code 2008 stored thereon may include program code 2008 for supporting OTDOA measurements in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer readable medium 2020 includes physical computer storage media. The storage media may be any commercially available medium that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory 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 store desired program code 2008 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, where disk and disc as used herein include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically by lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

[0221] In addition to storage on the computer-readable medium 2020, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in a communications device. For example, a communications device may include a transceiver 2010 having signals indicative of the instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to perform the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communications device includes a transmission medium with signals indicative of information to perform the disclosed functions.

[0222] Memory 2004 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 2004 may include, for example, primary memory and / or secondary memory. Primary memory may include, for example, random access memory, read-only memory, etc. Although shown in this example as separate from the one or more processors 2002, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within or otherwise co-located / coupled with the one or more processors 2002. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory, and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid state memory drives, etc.

[0223] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operably receive or be otherwise configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer readable medium 2020. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatus presented herein may take the form, in whole or in part, of a computer readable medium 2020 on which may be stored computer implementable code 2008 that, when executed by one or more processors 2002, may be operably enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations described herein. The computer readable medium 2020 may be part of the memory 2004.

[0224] A wireless entity, such as a UE 115 configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE), may include means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, which may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an assistance data module 2024 and a PRS constraint configuration module 2026. The means for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2028. A means for jointly processing unpunctured PRS components of an aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain, assuming that the PRS components of the aggregated PRS are transmitted from the same antenna port, may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a joint / separate processing module 2032.The means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a location measurement module 2034. The means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, the wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a reporting module 2038.

[0225] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for leaving all remaining unprocessed PRS components of at least one aggregated PRS on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a joint / separate processing module 2032.

[0226] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for leaving at least one unprocessed PRS component that has been punctured and separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 such as joint / separate processing module 2032 and / or memory 2004. The means for separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols includes means for processing the remaining PRS components assuming that they are transmitted from separate antenna ports, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 such as joint / separate processing module 2032 and / or memory 2004. The means for separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols includes means for processing the remaining PRS components with accuracy requirements corresponding separately to each of the remaining PRS components, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 such as a joint / separate processing module 2032 and / or memory 2004.

[0227] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for leaving at least one unprocessed PRS component that has been punctured and jointly processing the remaining consecutive PRS components on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a joint / separate processing module 2032.

[0228] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for jointly processing unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) among all PRS components on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a joint / separate processing module 2032.

[0229] A wireless entity, such as a UE 115 configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE), may include means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, which may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an assistance data module 2024 and a PRS constraint configuration module 2026. The means for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2028. The means for receiving an indication of the relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity may be, for example, the wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a relative transmit power module 2030.The means for jointly processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as joint / separate processing module 2032. The means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as location measurement module 2034. The means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, the wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as reporting module 2038.

[0230] A wireless entity, such as a UE 115 configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE), may include means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, which may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an assistance data module 2024 and a PRS constraint configuration module 2026. Means for receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, and PRS components in the aggregated PRS are associated with symbol indexes that are not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes that are not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, The means for configuring with constraints comprising one or more of, or combinations of, the same DL PRS index, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2028 and / or memory 2004.Means for processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as joint / separate processing module 2032. Means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as location measurement module 2034. The means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a reporting module 2038.

[0231] A UE, such as UE 115, configured to support UE positioning may include means for providing a capability message indicating a length of time of DL PRS symbols that may be processed by the UE in a length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), where the aggregated DL PRS comprises one or more PRS components transmitted from the same antenna port from the same transmission / reception point (TRP), where each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP is a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource, which may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 such as a capability module 2022 and / or memory 2004. A means for receiving a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in a wireless network may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an assistance data module 2024 and a PRS constraint configuration module 2026. A means for receiving an aggregated DL PRS from multiple TRPs in a wireless network may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2028. The means for performing positioning using aggregated DL PRS from multiple TRPs may be, for example, one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a location measurement module 2034.The means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2010 and one or more processors 2002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2020 and / or memory 2004, such as a reporting module 2038.

[0232] FIG. 21 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a TRP, e.g., TRP105, enabled to support UE positioning using aggregated UL PRS as described herein. The TRP105 may include external interfaces, which may include, for example, one or more processors 2102, memory 2104, transceivers 2110 (e.g., wireless network interfaces) and communication interfaces 2116 (e.g., wired or wireless network interfaces to other TRPs and / or core networks), which may be operatively coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 2120 and one or more connections 2106 (e.g., buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.) to the memory 2104. The TRP105 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface, which may include a display, a keypad, or other input device, such as a virtual keypad on a display, through which a user may interface with the UE, or a satellite positioning system receiver. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the TRP105 may be in the form of a chipset or the like. The transceiver 2110 may include, for example, a transmitter 2112 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 2114 for receiving one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks. The communication interface 2116 may be a wired or wireless interface capable of connecting to a network entity, such as other TRPs in the RAN or the location server 196 shown in FIG. 1.

[0233] In some embodiments, the TRP 105 may include an antenna 2111, which may be an internal or external antenna. The antenna 2111 may be used to transmit and / or receive signals processed by the transceiver 2110. In some embodiments, the antenna 2111 may be coupled to the transceiver 2110. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the TRP 105 may be performed at the connection point of the antenna 2111 and the transceiver 2110. For example, the measurement reference points for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 2114 (transmitter 2112) and the output (input) terminal of the antenna 2111. In a TRP 105 with multiple antennas 2111 or antenna arrays, the antenna connector may be considered to be a virtual point representing the aggregate output (input) of the multiple antennas. In some embodiments, the TRP 105 may measure received signals, including signal strength and TOA measurements, and the raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 2102.

[0234] The one or more processors 2102 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 2102 may be configured to perform functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program codes 2108 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 2120 and / or the memory 2104. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 2102 may represent one or more circuits that can be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal computation procedure or process associated with the operation of the TRP 105.

[0235] The medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 may store instructions or program code 2108, including executable code or software instructions, that when executed by one or more processors 2102, cause the one or more processors 2102 to operate as a special-purpose computer programmed to execute the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in TRP105, the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by one or more processors 2102 to execute the methods disclosed herein. Although the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 2120 that is executable by one or more processors 2102, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 2104 or may be dedicated hardware that is either within one or more processors 2102 or external to the processor.

[0236] A number of software modules and data tables may be present on the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 and utilized by the one or more processors 2102 to manage both the communications and the functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 as shown in the TRP 105 is merely exemplary, such that the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in various ways depending on the implementation of the TRP 105.

[0237] The medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 may include a PRS constraint configuration module 2126 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, configures the one or more processors 2102 to receive configured constraints for aggregated UL PRS transmissions from the UE and determine whether PRS components among the aggregated UL PRS are the same or similar within a predetermined threshold, e.g., stored in a data table residing on the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104.

[0238] The medium 2120 and / or the memory 2104 may include an aggregated UL PRS receive module 2128 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, configures the one or more processors 2102 to receive, via the transceiver 2110, one or more aggregated UL PRS from a UE, where each aggregated UL PRS includes one or more PRS components transmitted from the same UE, where each PRS component transmitted from the same UE comprises a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprises multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource.

[0239] The medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 may include a relative transmit power module 2130 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, configures the one or more processors 2102 to receive, via the transceiver 2110, an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated UL PRS transmitted from the same UE. The relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, a power offset from a reference UL reference signal, which may be, for example, a PRS component, a PRS resource from the same TRP that is not part of the aggregated UL PRS, or a non-PRS signal. In another implementation, the relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, an indication of transmit power for each PRS component. The relative transmit power between PRS components may be, for example, energy per resource element (EPRE). In an implementation, in the absence of an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components, the relative transmit power module 2130, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, may configure the one or more processors 2102 to determine that the PRS components are transmitted at the same power.

[0240] The medium 2120 and / or memory 2104 may include a joint / separate processing module 2132 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, configures the one or more processors 2102 to process PRS components in a received aggregated UL PRS together or to process PRS components in a received aggregated UL PRS separately. For example, if all of the PRS components are unpunctured, aligned in time, and configured with the same (or similar) constraints, the one or more processors 2102 are configured to process the PRS components together to substantially increase the PRS bandwidth. If the PRS components are punctured, e.g., have different slot structures, conflict with synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) in a frequency layer, or conflict with downlink symbols in a frequency layer, or are configured with different constraints, the one or more processors 2102 may be configured not to process the PRS components together. For example, on such an occasion, the one or more processors 2102 may be configured to process none of the PRS components, to process the punctured PRS components but process the remaining PRS components separately, to process any remaining PRB components that are frequency contiguous together, or to process the unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) among all the PRS components together.

[0241] The medium 2120 and / or the memory 2104 may include a location measurement module 2134 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, configures the one or more processors 2102 to perform positioning using aggregated UL PRS from multiple TRPs. For example, the positioning may be, for example, TOA, RSTD, OTDOA, Rx-Tx, RSRP, or RTT, if downlink reference signals are used in addition to the UL PRS.

[0242] The medium 2120 and / or the memory 2104 may include a reporting module 2136 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 2102, configures the one or more processors 2102 to transmit, via the transceiver 2110, location information based on the positioning results, e.g., to a location server. The location information may be, for example, a place measurement result.

[0243] The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In the case of a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 2102 may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0244] For a firmware and / or software implementation, the methods may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 2120 or memory 2104 coupled to and executed by the one or more processors 2102. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. The term "memory" as used herein refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory and should not be limited to any particular type or number of memories or the type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0245] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 2108 on a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as the medium 2120 and / or the memory 2104. Examples include computer readable media encoded with data structures and computer readable media encoded with a computer program 2108. For example, the non-transitory computer readable medium on which the program code 2108 is stored may include the program code 2108 for supporting OTDOA measurements in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer readable medium 2120 includes a physical computer storage medium. The storage medium may be any commercially available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory 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 store desired program code 2108 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, where disk and disc as used herein include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically by lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0246] In addition to storage on the computer-readable medium 2120, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in a communications device. For example, a communications device may include a transceiver 2110 having signals indicative of the instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to perform the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communications device includes a transmission medium with signals indicative of information to perform the disclosed functions.

[0247] Memory 2104 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 2104 may include, for example, primary memory and / or secondary memory. Primary memory may include, for example, random access memory, read-only memory, etc. Although shown in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 2102, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within or otherwise co-located / coupled with the one or more processors 2102. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory, and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid-state memory drives, etc.

[0248] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operably receive or be otherwise configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 2120. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatus presented herein may take the form, in whole or in part, of a computer-readable medium 2120 on which may be stored computer-implementable code 2108 that, when executed by one or more processors 2102, may be operably enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations described herein. The computer-readable medium 2120 may be part of the memory 2104.

[0249] A wireless entity such as a TRP105 configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) may include means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, which may be, for example, a communication interface 2116 or a wireless transceiver 2110, as well as one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a PRS constraint configuration module 2126. Means for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, may be, for example, the wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2128. Means for jointly processing unpunctured PRS components of an aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a joint / separate processing module 2132. The means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a location measurement module 2134.The means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a reporting module 2136.

[0250] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for leaving all remaining unprocessed PRS components of at least one aggregated PRS on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a joint / separate processing module 2132.

[0251] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for leaving at least one unprocessed PRS component that has been punctured and separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as joint / separate processing module 2132. The means for separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols includes means for processing the remaining PRS components assuming that they are transmitted from separate antenna ports, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as joint / separate processing module 2132. The means for separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols includes means for processing the remaining PRS components with accuracy requirements corresponding separately to each of the remaining PRS components, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as joint / separate processing module 2132.

[0252] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for leaving at least one unprocessed PRS component that has been punctured and jointly processing the remaining consecutive PRS components on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as joint / separate processing module 2132.

[0253] In one implementation, the wireless entity may include means for jointly processing unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) among all PRS components on one or more symbols, which may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as joint / separate processing module 2132.

[0254] A wireless entity such as a TRP105 configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) may include means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, which may be, for example, a communication interface 2116 or a wireless transceiver 2110, as well as one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a PRS constraint configuration module 2126. The means for receiving one or more aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2128. The means for receiving an indication of the relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity may be, for example, the wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a relative transmit power module 2130.Means for jointly processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as joint / separate processing module 2132. Means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from one or more second wireless entities may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as location measurement module 2134. Means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as reporting module 2136.

[0255] A wireless entity such as a TRP105 configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) may include means for receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities, which may be, for example, a communication interface 2116 or a wireless transceiver 2110, as well as one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in a medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a PRS constraint configuration module 2126. Means for receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple contiguous frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, and PRS components in the aggregated PRS are associated with symbol indexes that are not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes that are not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, The means for configuring with constraints comprising one or more of, or combinations of, the same DL PRS index, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as an aggregated DL PRS receiving module 2128.Means for processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a joint / separate processing module 2132. Means for performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities may be, for example, one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a location measurement module 2134. The means for transmitting location information based on the positioning results may be, for example, a wireless transceiver 2110 and one or more processors 2102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the medium 2120 and / or memory 2104, such as a reporting module 2136.

[0256] Throughout this specification, references to "one example," "example," "some examples," or "exemplary implementations" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described with respect to a feature and / or example may be included in at least one feature and / or example of the claimed subject matter. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one example," "example," "some examples," or "in some implementations" or other similar phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same features, examples, and / or limitations. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and / or characteristics.

[0257] Some portions of the detailed description contained herein are presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital signals stored in memory of a specific apparatus or dedicated computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term specific apparatus or the like includes a general-purpose computer that is programmed to perform certain operations according to instructions from program software. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those skilled in the signal processing or related arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is herein, and generally, considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing that produces a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulations of physical quantities. Typically, although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numeric values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms should be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise indicated, and as will be apparent from the description herein, it will be understood that throughout this specification, descriptions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer, a special purpose computing apparatus, or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are generally represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities in the memory, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0258] In the above detailed description, numerous specific details have been set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and apparatuses that are known to those skilled in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the claimed subject matter.

[0259] The terms "and", "or" and "and / or" as used herein may include various meanings that are also expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, "or", when used to link a list such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B and C when used herein in an inclusive sense, and A, B or C when used herein in an exclusive sense. In addition, the term "one or more" as used herein may be used to describe any feature, structure or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe a combination of multiple or some other combination of features, structures or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and that claimed subject matter is not limited to this example.

[0260] While what are presently believed to be exemplary features have been shown and described, it would be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications could be made and equivalents substituted without departing from the claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications can be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein.

[0261] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0262] 1. A method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the method being performed by a first wireless entity, the method comprising:

[0263] receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities;

[0264] receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource;

[0265] jointly processing unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain;

[0266] performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities;

[0267] and transmitting location information based on the positioning result.

[0268] 2. The method of clause 1, wherein a configuration for a PRS associated with one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

[0269] 3. The method of any of clauses 1 or 2, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a transmission / reception point (TRP) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

[0270] 4. The method of any of clauses 1 or 2, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise second UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0271] 5. The method of any of clauses 1 or 2, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0272] 6. Any of the methods of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0273] 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the location information comprises a positioning result, or a location estimate of the first wireless entity determined using the positioning result.

[0274] 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein each PRS component from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0275] 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein at least one PRS component of the at least one aggregated PRS is punctured or not aligned in the time domain with other PRS components such that a PRS in the at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols.

[0276] 10. The method of clause 9, wherein at least one PRS component is punctured by one or more of having a different slot structure, conflicting with a synchronization signal block (SSB), conflicting with an uplink symbol, conflicting with a downlink symbol, or a combination thereof.

[0277] 11. The method of clause 9, further comprising the step of leaving all remaining PRS components of at least one aggregated PRS unprocessed on one or more symbols.

[0278] 12. The method of clause 9, further comprising leaving at least one PRS component unprocessed having been punctured, and processing the remaining PRS components separately over one or more symbols.

[0279] 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the step of separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols comprises the step of processing the remaining PRS components together assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports.

[0280] 14. The method of clause 12, wherein the step of separately processing the remaining PRS components on one or more symbols comprises the step of separately processing the remaining PRS components with an accuracy requirement corresponding to each of the remaining PRS components.

[0281] 15. The method of clause 9, further comprising leaving at least one unprocessed PRS element punctured, and processing remaining consecutive PRS elements together over one or more symbols.

[0282] 16. The method of clause 9, further comprising processing unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) in all PRS components jointly over one or more symbols.

[0283] 17. A first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, comprising:

[0284] an external interface comprising at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in a wireless network;

[0285] At least one memory;

[0286] at least one processor coupled to the at least one wireless transceiver and to the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising:

[0287] receiving, via the at least one wireless transceiver, a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities;

[0288] receiving, via at least one wireless transceiver, one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource;

[0289] jointly processing unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain;

[0290] performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities;

[0291] A first wireless entity configured to transmit, via the at least one wireless transceiver, location information based on the positioning result.

[0292] 18. The first wireless entity of clause 17, wherein a configuration for a PRS associated with one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

[0293] 19. The first wireless entity of either clause 17 or 18, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a transmission / reception point (TRP) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

[0294] 20. The first wireless entity of either clause 17 or 18, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise second UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0295] 21. The first wireless entity of either clause 17 or 18, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0296] 22. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 17 to 21, wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0297] 23. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 17 to 22, wherein the location information comprises a positioning result, or a location estimate of the first wireless entity determined using the positioning result.

[0298] 24. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 17 to 23, wherein each PRS component from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0299] 25. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 17 to 24, wherein at least one PRS component of the at least one aggregated PRS is punctured or not aligned in the time domain with other PRS components such that a PRS in the at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols.

[0300] 26. The first wireless entity of clause 25, wherein at least one PRS component is punctured by one or more of having a different slot structure, conflicting with a synchronization signal block (SSB), conflicting with an uplink symbol, conflicting with a downlink symbol, or a combination thereof.

[0301] 27. The first wireless entity of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to leave all remaining unprocessed PRS components of the at least one aggregated PRS on one or more symbols.

[0302] 28. The first wireless entity of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to leave at least one PRS component unprocessed that has been punctured and to process the remaining PRS components separately over one or more symbols.

[0303] 29. The first wireless entity of clause 28, wherein at least one processor is configured to process the remaining PRS components separately over one or more symbols by being configured to process the remaining PRS components together assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports.

[0304] 30. The first wireless entity of clause 28, wherein at least one processor is configured to process the remaining PRS components separately over one or more symbols by being configured to process the remaining PRS components separately with accuracy requirements corresponding to each of the remaining PRS components.

[0305] 31. The first wireless entity of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to leave at least one unprocessed PRS component that has been punctured and process remaining consecutive PRS components together over one or more symbols.

[0306] 32. The first wireless entity of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to process unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) in all PRS components jointly over one or more symbols.

[0307] 33. A method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the method being performed by a first wireless entity, the method comprising:

[0308] receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities;

[0309] receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource;

[0310] receiving an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from a same second wireless entity;

[0311] jointly processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power;

[0312] performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities;

[0313] and transmitting location information based on the positioning result.

[0314] 34. The method of clause 33, wherein configuration for a PRS associated with one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

[0315] 35. The method of any of clauses 33 or 34, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a transmission / reception point (TRP) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

[0316] 36. The method of any of clauses 33 or 34, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise second UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0317] 37. The method of any of clauses 33 or 34, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0318] 38. The method of any of clauses 33 to 37, wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0319] 39. The method of any of clauses 33-38, wherein the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a power offset relative to a reference signal (RS).

[0320] 40. The method of clause 39, wherein the RS comprises a PRS component, a PRS resource from the same second wireless entity that is not part of an aggregated PRS, or a signal that is not a PRS.

[0321] 41. The method of clause 39, wherein the power offset is an energy per resource element (EPRE) offset for the RS.

[0322] 42. The method of any of clauses 33-38, wherein the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a first power offset of the first PRS component relative to the second PRS component and a second power offset of the third PRS component relative to the fourth PRS component.

[0323] 43. The method of any of clauses 33-38, wherein the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises an indication of transmit power for each PRS component.

[0324] 44. The method of any of clauses 33 to 43, wherein each PRS component of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0325] 45. A first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, comprising:

[0326] an external interface comprising at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in a wireless network;

[0327] At least one memory;

[0328] at least one processor coupled to an external interface and to the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising:

[0329] receiving, via an external interface, a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities;

[0330] receiving, via an external interface, one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource;

[0331] receiving, via the external interface, an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity;

[0332] jointly processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS based at least on the received indication of relative transmit power;

[0333] performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities;

[0334] A first wireless entity configured to transmit, via an external interface, location information based on the positioning result.

[0335] 46. ​​The first wireless entity of clause 45, wherein a configuration for a PRS associated with one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

[0336] 47. The first wireless entity of either clause 45 or 46, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a transmission / reception point (TRP) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

[0337] 48. The first wireless entity of either clause 45 or 46, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise second UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0338] 49. The first wireless entity of either clause 45 or 46, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0339] 50. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 45 to 49, wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0340] 51. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 45 to 50, wherein an indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a power offset relative to a reference signal (RS).

[0341] 52. The first wireless entity of clause 51, wherein the RS comprises a PRS component, a PRS resource from the same second wireless entity that is not part of an aggregated PRS, or a signal that is not a PRS.

[0342] 53. The first wireless entity of clause 51, wherein the power offset is an energy per resource element (EPRE) offset for the RS.

[0343] 54. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 45 to 50, wherein the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises a first power offset of the first PRS component relative to the second PRS component and a second power offset of the third PRS component relative to the fourth PRS component.

[0344] 55. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 45 to 50, wherein the indication of relative transmit power between PRS components of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprises an indication of transmit power for each PRS component.

[0345] 56. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 45 to 55, wherein each PRS component of each aggregated PRS transmitted from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0346] 57. A method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the method being performed by a first wireless entity, the method comprising:

[0347] receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities;

[0348] receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising separate PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, and the PRS components in the aggregated PRS are configured with constraints comprising one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, same periodicity, same comb type, same number of symbols, same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, same subcarrier spacing, same cyclic prefix (CP), muting configuration, and bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof;

[0349] processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are constructed with the same constraints, and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not constructed with the same constraints;

[0350] performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS or PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities;

[0351] and transmitting location information based on the positioning result.

[0352] 58. The method of clause 57, wherein configuration for a PRS associated with one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

[0353] 59. The method of any of clauses 57 or 58, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a transmission / reception point (TRP) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

[0354] 60. The method of any of clauses 57 or 58, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a second UE, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0355] 61. The method of any of clauses 57 or 58, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0356] 62. The method of any of clauses 57 to 61, wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0357] 63. The method of any of clauses 57-62, wherein a predetermined number of symbols are zero so that the PRS components are transmitted simultaneously.

[0358] 64. The method of any of clauses 57 to 63, wherein each PRS component from the same TRP is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0359] 65. A first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, comprising:

[0360] an external interface comprising at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in a wireless network;

[0361] At least one memory;

[0362] at least one processor coupled to an external interface and to the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising:

[0363] receiving, via an external interface, a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities;

[0364] receive, via an external interface, one or more aggregated PRSs from one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising a distinct PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency domain bandwidth or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource, the PRS components in the aggregated PRS being configured with constraints comprising one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-colocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof;

[0365] processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are constructed with the same constraints, and processing one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not constructed with the same constraints;

[0366] performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS or PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities;

[0367] A first wireless entity configured to transmit, via an external interface, location information based on the positioning result.

[0368] 66. The first wireless entity of clause 65, wherein a configuration for a PRS associated with one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

[0369] 67. The first wireless entity of either clause 65 or 66, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a transmission / reception point (TRP) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

[0370] 68. The first wireless entity of either clause 65 or 66, wherein the first wireless entity is a UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise second UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

[0371] 69. The first wireless entity of either clause 65 or 66, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise UEs, and the one or more aggregated PRSs comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

[0372] 70. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 65 to 69, wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

[0373] 71. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 65 to 70, wherein a predetermined number of symbols is zero such that the PRS components are transmitted simultaneously.

[0374] 72. The first wireless entity of any of clauses 65 to 71, wherein each PRS component from the same TRP is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

[0375] 73. A method for supporting user equipment (UE) positioning in a wireless network performed by a UE, comprising:

[0376] providing a capability message indicating a time length of DL PRS symbols that may be processed by the UE in a certain length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), the aggregated DL PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from the same antenna port from the same transmission / reception point (TRP), each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP being a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource;

[0377] receiving a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in a wireless network;

[0378] receiving aggregated DL PRSs from a plurality of TRPs in a wireless network;

[0379] performing positioning using aggregated DL PRSs from multiple TRPs;

[0380] and transmitting position information based on the positioning result to a location server.

[0381] 74. A user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of the UE in a wireless network, comprising:

[0382] at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in a wireless network;

[0383] At least one memory;

[0384] at least one processor coupled to the at least one wireless transceiver and to the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising:

[0385] providing, via at least one wireless transceiver, a capability message indicating a time length of DL PRS symbols that may be processed by the UE in a certain length of time for different numbers of PRS components in an aggregated downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS), the aggregated DL PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same antenna port from a same transmission / reception point (TRP), each PRS component transmitted from the same TRP being a separate PRS resource or a separate band in a non-contiguous bandwidth spanned by a single PRS resource;

[0386] receiving, via at least one wireless transceiver, a configuration for a downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more TRPs in the wireless network;

[0387] receiving, via at least one wireless transceiver, aggregated DL PRSs from a plurality of TRPs in the wireless network;

[0388] Perform positioning using aggregated DL PRS from multiple TRPs;

[0389] The UE is configured to transmit, via the at least one wireless transceiver, location information based on the positioning result to the location server.

[0390] It is intended therefore that the claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter may include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof. [Explanation of symbols]

[0391] 105 TRP 110 Geographic Coverage Areas 115 UE 125 Communication Links 132 backhaul links 134 backhaul links 160 EPC 162 MME 164 E-SMLC 166 Serving Gateway 169 External Clients 172 PDN Gateway 174 HSS 176 IP Services 184 backhaul links 190 5GCN 191 H-SLP 192 AMF 193 GMLC 194 SMF 195 UPF 196 LMF 197 UDM 198 IP Services 199 External Clients 210 Radio Frame 212 Subframe 214 Slots 216 Subcarrier 320 PRS period 350 Slots 352 Cell-specific subframe offset 502 First Chance 504 Second Chance 602 PRS1 604 PRS2 606 PRS3 2002 Processing Unit, Processor 2004 Memory 2006 Connection 2008 Program Code, Computer Programs, Computer Implementable Code 2010 Transceiver 2011 Antenna 2012 Transmitter 2014 Receiver 2020 Media 2022 Competency Module 2024 Support Data Module 2026 Constraint Configuration Module 2028 Aggregated DL PRS Receiver Module 2030 Relative Transmit Power Module 2032 Joint / separate processing module 2034 Location Measurement Module 2036 Positioning module 2038 Reporting Module 2102 Processing unit, processor 2104 Memory 2106 Connection 2108 Program Code 2110 Transceiver 2111 Antenna 2112 Transmitter 2114 Receiver 2116 Communication Interface 2120 Media Module, Non-Transitory Computer Readable Medium 2126 Constraint Configuration Module 2128 Aggregated UL PRS Receiver Module 2130 Relative Transmit Power Module 2132 Joint / separate processing module 2134 Location Measurement Module 2136 Reporting Module

Claims

1. 1. A method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network performed by a first wireless entity, the method comprising: receiving a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; At least one PRS component of the at least one aggregated PRS is punctured; and the PRS in the at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols because it is not aligned in the time domain with other PRS components. and remaining PRS components in the one or more PRS components are non-punctured PRS components; jointly processing the unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain; performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; and transmitting location information based on the positioning result.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless entity is the UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise transmission / reception points (TRPs) in a network entity, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a downlink (DL) aggregated PRS.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration for the PRS associated with the one or more second wireless entities is received from a location server.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless entity is the UE, the one or more second wireless entities comprise a second UE, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise a sidelink (SL) aggregated PRS.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless entity is a transmission / reception point (TRP), the one or more second wireless entities comprise the UE, and the one or more aggregated PRS comprise an uplink (UL) aggregated PRS.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by the single PRS resource are contiguous frequency domain bandwidths.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location information comprises the positioning result or a location estimate of the first wireless entity determined using the positioning result.

8. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein each PRS component from the same second wireless entity is transmitted on one or more different component carriers, bands, frequency layers, or different bandwidths within the same band.

9. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one PRS component is punctured by one or more of having a different slot structure, conflicting with a synchronization signal block (SSB), conflicting with an uplink symbol, conflicting with a downlink symbol, or a combination thereof.

10. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: leaving all remaining PRS components of the at least one aggregated PRS unprocessed on the one or more symbols; and / or leaving the at least one unprocessed PRS component being punctured and separately processing the remaining PRS components on the one or more symbols.

11. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of leaving at least one unprocessed PRS component being punctured and processing remaining PRS components separately on the one or more symbols, wherein processing the remaining PRS components separately on the one or more symbols comprises processing the remaining PRS components together assuming that the remaining PRS components are transmitted from separate antenna ports, and / or processing the remaining PRS components separately with accuracy requirements corresponding to each of the remaining PRS components.

12. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of leaving at least one unprocessed PRS component punctured and processing remaining consecutive PRS components together over the one or more symbols, and / or processing unpunctured physical resource blocks (PRBs) among all PRS components together over the one or more symbols.

13. the PRS components in the aggregated PRS are configured with constraints comprising one or more of: symbol indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of symbols, slot indexes not separated by more than a predetermined number of slots, frames not separated by more than a predetermined number of frames, subframes not separated by more than a predetermined number of subframes, the same periodicity, the same comb type, the same number of symbols, the same quasi-collocation (QCL) information, a starting physical resource block (PRB) within a predetermined threshold, the same subcarrier spacing, the same cyclic prefix (CP), a muting configuration, and a bandwidth within a predetermined threshold, or a combination thereof; 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: processing the one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS together when the PRS components are configured with the same constraints, and processing the one or more PRS components of each aggregated PRS separately when the PRS components are not configured with the same constraints.

14. A first wireless entity configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network, the first wireless entity comprising: an external interface comprising at least one wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in the wireless network; At least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the at least one wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising: receiving, via the at least one wireless transceiver, a configuration for a positioning reference signal (PRS) associated with one or more second wireless entities; receiving one or more aggregated PRSs from the one or more second wireless entities via the at least one wireless transceiver, each aggregated PRS comprising one or more PRS components transmitted from a same second wireless entity, each PRS component transmitted from the same second wireless entity comprising distinct PRS resources associated with contiguous frequency domain bandwidths or comprising multiple frequency domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource; At least one PRS component of the at least one aggregated PRS is punctured; and the PRS in the at least one PRS component is omitted in one or more symbols because it is not aligned in the time domain with other PRS components. and remaining PRS components in the one or more PRS components are non-punctured PRS components; jointly processing the unpunctured PRS components of the aggregated PRS that are aligned in the time domain; performing positioning using the processed aggregated PRS from the one or more second wireless entities; A first wireless entity configured to transmit, via the at least one wireless transceiver, location information based on a positioning result.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon one or more instructions operable to cause at least one processor in a user equipment to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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