Position Estimation Procedure Including Base Station and Reference Device

Abstract

Techniques for communication are disclosed. In one aspect, a reference device (e.g., a gNB or BS) and a BS obtain a configuration of a TDOA procedure including a respective PRS transmitted by the reference device and the BS. In one aspect, the reference device and the BS respectively mute their own transmissions while the other device is transmitting its respective PRS. Other aspects are directed to DL-TDOA techniques, UL-TDOA techniques, and elliptical positioning techniques.

Description

Technical Field

[0001]

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication.

Background Art

[0002]

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE (registered trademark)) or WiMax (registered trademark)). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM (registered trademark)).

[0003]

[0003] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), requires, among other improvements, higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard by the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users and data rates of one gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor. Hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported to support large sensor deployments. Thus, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communication should be significantly extended compared to current 4G standards. Further, signaling efficiency should be extended and latency should be significantly reduced compared to current standards.

Summary of the Invention

[0004]

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed in this specification. Accordingly, the following summary should not be regarded as an extensive overview related to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify important or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delimit the scope related to a particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting, in a simplified form prior to the forms for carrying out the invention presented below, some concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed in this specification.

[0005]

[0005] In one aspect, a method of operating a base station includes obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure that includes a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, where the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap, transmitting the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period, and muting transmissions during the second time period.

[0006]

[0006] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0007]

[0007] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be below a maximum permitted time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0008]

[0008] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be above a minimum gap for re-tuning of a radio frequency (RF).

[0009]

[0009] In some aspects, muting transmission during the second time period further comprises muting transmission during the time gap.

[0010]

[0010] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at a slot-level, muting at a symbol-level, muting at a PRS resource set instance-level, or a combination thereof.

[0011]

[0011] In some aspects, a symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0012]

[0012] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation performed on respective bitmap values associated with the given symbol from a symbol-level muting pattern.

[0013]

[0013] In one aspect, a method of operating a reference device having a known location includes obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap; muting transmissions during the first time period while the first PRS is being received from the base station; and transmitting the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period.

[0014]

[0014] In some aspects, a PRS receiving occasion for receiving the first PRS is configured within the scope of each muting occasion.

[0015]

[0015] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0016]

[0016] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0017]

[0017] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0018]

[0018] In some aspects, muting transmissions during the first time period further comprises muting transmissions during the time gap.

[0019]

[0019] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0020]

[0020] In some aspects, the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0021]

[0021] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation performed on each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

[0022]

[0022] In one aspect, a method of operating a position estimation entity includes receiving a first timing measurement associated with a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement associated with a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time differential between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device associated with a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second time differential between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time differential between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of a third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time differential between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, and a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UEdetermining a difference), and determining a position estimate of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0023]

[0023] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises a first ratio, or the second timing information comprises a second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0024]

[0024] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises paired reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to a third reception time, a fourth reception time, and a fifth reception time.

[0025]

[0025] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises paired receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements related to a first reception time, a second reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0026]

[0026] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0027]

[0027] In one aspect, a method of operating a location estimation entity includes receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE, receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS-P) in the reference device for positioning and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device, receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of the RS-P in the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station, determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and determining an estimated location value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0028]

[0028] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0029]

[0029] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0030]

[0030] In some embodiments, the first timing information comprises a pair of receive - transmit (Rx - Tx) time difference measurements related to the first receive time, the second receive time, and the third transmit time.

[0031]

[0031] In some embodiments, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0032]

[0032] In one embodiment, a method of operating a position estimation entity includes receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, and receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first receive time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a second receive time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first receive time and a third receive time of the second PRS at the reference device, and receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth receive time of the first PRS at the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third receive time and a fifth receive time of the second PRS at the target UE, and determining a propagation delay summation between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay summation.

[0033]

[0033] In some embodiments, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0034]

[0034] In some embodiments, the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurements of pairs related to a first reception time, a second reception time, and a third reception time.

[0035]

[0035] In some embodiments, the second timing information comprises receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements of pairs related to a fourth reception time, a fifth reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0036]

[0036] In some embodiments, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0037]

[0037] In one embodiment, a base station includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, and configuring the at least one transceiver to transmit the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period and to mute the transmission during the second time period.

[0038]

[0038] In some embodiments, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0039]

[0039] In some embodiments, the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0040]

[0040] In some embodiments, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0041]

[0041] In some embodiments, muting transmissions during the second time period further comprises muting transmissions during the time gap.

[0042]

[0042] In some embodiments, muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource configuration instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0043]

[0043] In some embodiments, the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0044]

[0044] In some embodiments, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

[0045]

[0045] In one embodiment, a reference device includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to obtain a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, mute transmissions during the first time period while the first PRS is being received from the base station, and cause the at least one transceiver to transmit the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period.

[0046]

[0046] In some aspects, the PRS reception opportunities for receiving the first PRS are configured within the scope of their respective muting opportunities.

[0047]

[0047] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0048]

[0048] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to the maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0049]

[0049] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to the minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0050]

[0050] In some aspects, muting transmissions during the first time period further comprises muting transmissions during the time gap.

[0051]

[0051] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at the slot level, muting at the symbol level, muting at the PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0052]

[0052] In some aspects, the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0053]

[0053] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

[0054]

[0054] In one aspect, the location estimation entity includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, and the at least one processor receives, via the at least one transceiver, a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, and receives, via the at least one transceiver, (i) a first timing information indicating a first ratio between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second ratio between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, and receives, via the at least one transceiver, (i) a second timing information indicating a second ratio between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of a third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth ratio between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, and determines a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and is configured to determine an estimated location value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0055]

[0055] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0056]

[0056] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0057]

[0057] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises received - transmitted (Rx - Tx) time difference measurements of pairs related to a first reception time, a second reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0058]

[0058] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0059]

[0059] In one aspect, the position estimation entity includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE, receiving, via the at least one transceiver, first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS - P) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device, receiving, via the at least one transceiver, second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of RS - P in the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station, determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0060]

[0060] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises a first ratio, or the second timing information comprises a second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0061]

[0061] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to a third reception time, a fourth reception time, and a fifth reception time.

[0062]

[0062] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises a pair of receive - transmit (Rx - Tx) time difference measurements related to a first reception time, a second reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0063]

[0063] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0064]

[0064] In one aspect, the position estimation entity includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station; receive, via the at least one transceiver, first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a third reception time of the second PRS at the reference device; receive, via the at least one transceiver, second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of the first PRS at the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE; determine a total propagation delay between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; and determine an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay.

[0065]

[0065] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0066]

[0066] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurements of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time.

[0067]

[0067] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to a fourth reception time, a fifth reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0068]

[0068] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0069]

[0069] In one aspect, a base station includes means for obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, means for transmitting the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period, and means for muting transmissions during the second time period.

[0070]

[0070] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0071]

[0071] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0072]

[0072] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0073]

[0073] In some aspects, muting transmissions during the second time period further comprises muting transmissions during the time gap.

[0074]

[0074] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource configuration instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0075]

[0075] In some aspects, a symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0076]

[0076] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from a symbol-level muting pattern.

[0077]

[0077] In one aspect, a reference device comprises means for obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, means for muting transmission during the first time period while the first PRS is being received from the base station, and means for transmitting the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period.

[0078]

[0078] In some aspects, a PRS reception opportunity for receiving the first PRS is configured within the range of each muting opportunity.

[0079]

[0079] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0080]

[0080] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be below a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0081]

[0081] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0082]

[0082] In some aspects, muting the transmission during the first time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap.

[0083]

[0083] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at the slot level, muting at the symbol level, muting at the PRS resource configuration instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0084]

[0084] In some aspects, the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0085]

[0085] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

[0086]

[0086] In one aspect, the location estimation entity includes means for receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, means for receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, means for receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of a third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, means for determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and means for determining an estimated location value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0087]

[0087] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0088]

[0088] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0089]

[0089] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises pair of reception - transmission (Rx - Tx) time difference measurements related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0090]

[0090] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or reference UE.

[0091]

[0091] In one aspect, the location estimation entity includes means for receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE, means for receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS-P) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device, means for receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of RS-P in the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station, means for determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and means for determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0092]

[0092] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0093]

[0093] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0094]

[0094] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises a pair of receive - transmit (Rx - Tx) time difference measurements related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0095]

[0095] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0096]

[0096] In one aspect, the position estimation entity includes means for receiving a first timing measurement related to the first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to the second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, means for receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between the first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and the second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and the third reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, means for receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between the fourth reception time of the first PRS at the target UE and the third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and the fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, means for determining a total propagation delay between (i) the propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) the propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and means for determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay.

[0097]

[0097] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0098]

[0098] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurements of pairs related to a first reception time, a second reception time, and a third reception time.

[0099]

[0099] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements of pairs related to a fourth reception time, a fifth reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0100]

[0100] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0101]

[0101] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, when executed by a base station, causes the base station to obtain a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, cause the target UE to be transmitted the first PRS during the first time period, and store computer-executable instructions to mute the transmission during the second time period.

[0102]

[0102] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0103]

[0103] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0104]

[0104] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0105]

[0105] In some aspects, muting transmissions during a second time period further comprises muting transmissions during a time gap.

[0106]

[0106] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource configuration instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0107]

[0107] In some aspects, a symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0108]

[0108] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from a symbol-level muting pattern.

[0109]

[0109] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, when executed by a reference device, causes the reference device to obtain a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, mute transmissions during the first time period while the first PRS is received from the base station, and transmit the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period, and stores computer-executable instructions.

[0110]

[0110] In some aspects, a PRS reception opportunity for receiving the first PRS is configured within the scope of each muting opportunity.

[0111]

[0111] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or reference UE.

[0112]

[0112] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to the maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0113]

[0113] In some aspects, the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0114]

[0114] In some aspects, muting transmissions during a first time period further comprises muting transmissions during the time gap.

[0115]

[0115] In some aspects, muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof.

[0116]

[0116] In some aspects, the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

[0117]

[0117] In some aspects, muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

[0118]

[0118] In one aspect, when executed by a location estimation entity, a non-transitory computer-readable medium causes the location estimation entity to receive a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, and to receive first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, and to receive second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of a third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, and to determine a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and stores computer-executable instructions for determining an estimated location value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0119]

[0119] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0120]

[0120] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0121]

[0121] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0122]

[0122] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or reference UE.

[0123]

[0123] In one aspect, the non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location-estimation entity, cause the location-estimation entity to receive a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE, receive first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS-P) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device, receive second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of RS-P in the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station, determine a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and determine an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0124]

[0124] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0125]

[0125] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0126]

[0126] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements for pairs related to a first reception time, a second reception time, and a third transmission time.

[0127]

[0127] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0128]

[0128] In one aspect, when executed by a location estimation entity, a non-transitory computer-readable medium causes the location estimation entity to receive a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, and to receive first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a third reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, and to receive second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of the first PRS at the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, and to determine a total propagation delay between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and stores computer-executable instructions for determining an estimated location of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay.

[0129]

[0129] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0130]

[0130] In some aspects, the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurements of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time.

[0131]

[0131] In some aspects, the second timing information comprises receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements of pairs related to the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0132]

[0132] In some aspects, the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0133]

[0133] Other objects and advantages related to the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of how to implement the invention.

[0134]

[0134] The accompanying drawings are presented to assist in the description of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided for purposes of illustration of the aspects rather than limitation.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0135]

Figure 1

[0135] A diagram showing an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 2A

[0136] A diagram showing an exemplary wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 2B

Figure 3A

[0137] A simplified block diagram of some exemplary aspects of components that can be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support the communications taught herein.

Figure 3B

Figure 3C

Figure 4A

[0138] Diagram showing an exemplary frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure and channels within this frame structure.

Figure 4B

Figure 4C

Figure 4D

Figure 5

[0139] Diagram of an exemplary positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set with different time gaps according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 6

[0140] Diagram showing an example of conventional DL time difference of arrival (TDoA)-based positioning.

Figure 7

[0141] Diagram showing an exemplary timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station and a UE according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 8

[0142] Diagram showing an exemplary timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station and a UE according to another aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 9

[0143] Diagram showing an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 10

[0144] Diagram showing an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 11

[0145] Timing diagram of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a UE and a BS according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 12

[0146] Timing diagram of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a UE and a BS according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 13

[0147] Timing diagram of the TDOA measurement signal according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 14

[0148] Diagram showing an exemplary process of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 15

[0149] Diagram showing an exemplary process of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 16

[0150] Diagram showing an exemplary implementation form of FIGS. 14 to 15 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 17

[0151] Diagram showing an alternative muting method according to an exemplary implementation form of the process of FIGS. 14 to 15 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 18

[0152] Diagram showing an exemplary process of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 19

[0153] Diagram showing an exemplary implementation form of the process of FIG. 18 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 20

[0154] Diagram showing an exemplary process of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 21

[0155] Diagram showing an exemplary implementation form of the process of FIG. 20 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 22

[0156] Diagram showing an exemplary process of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Figure 23

[0157] Diagram showing an exemplary implementation form of the process of FIG. 22 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0136]

[0158] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and the related drawings directed to various examples provided for purposes of illustration. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Further, well-known elements of the present disclosure are not described in detail or are omitted so as not to obscure relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0137]

[0159] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “an example, instance, or act of exemplifying.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term “aspect of the present disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described features, advantages, or mode of operation.

[0138]

[0160] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented, in part, depending on a particular application example, in part, on a desired design, in part, on the corresponding technology, etc., by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0139]

[0161] Furthermore, many aspects are described with respect to a series of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It should be recognized that the various actions described herein may be implemented by a particular circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Further, the series of actions described herein should be regarded as being implemented in their entirety within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause the relevant processor of the device to perform or cause to be performed the functions described herein. Accordingly, the various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented in several different forms all of which are contemplated as being within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Further, for each of the aspects described herein, a corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0140]

[0162] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset positioning device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). The UE can be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term "UE" as used herein may be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variants thereof. Generally, the UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, etc.).

[0141]

[0163] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with a UE, depending on the network it is deployed in, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or g Node B), etc. The base station can be used to support wireless access by a UE, including mainly supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide only an edge node signaling function, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can send signals to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can send signals to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). The term traffic channel (TCH) as used herein may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0142]

[0164] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP), or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or some cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs can be an array of antennas of the base station (such as in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system, or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non - collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRPs can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non - collocated physical TRPs can be the serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Since the TRP is the point from which the base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references in this specification to transmissions from the base station or receptions at the base station should be understood to refer to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0143]

[0165] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access by the UE (for example, may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit to the UE reference signals to be measured by the UE and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be called a positioning beacon (for example, when transmitting a signal to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (for example, when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0144]

[0166] An "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0145]

[0167] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. (Sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) The wireless communication system 100 may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB corresponding to the wireless communication system 100 being an LTE network, or a gNB corresponding to the wireless communication system 100 being an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0146]

[0168] The base station 102 can collectively form a RAN, interface with a core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., location management function (LMF), or secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 can be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170. In addition to other functions, the base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of transferring user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load distribution, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 that can be wired or wireless.

[0147]

[0169] The base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with the UE 104. Each of the base stations 102 can provide communication coverage to its respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., via some frequency resource such as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Extended Cell Identifier (ECI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT), Extended Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can, depending on the context, refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station as long as a carrier frequency is detected and can be used for communication within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0148]

[0170] The geographical coverage area 110 of the neighboring macrocell base station 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), but some of the geographical coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by a larger geographical coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographical coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographical coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that can provide services to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0149]

[0171] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink transmission (also called a reverse link) from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) transmission (also called a forward link) from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. The carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and the uplink (e.g., in the case of the downlink, more or fewer carriers may be allocated than in the case of the uplink).

[0150]

[0172] Wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether the channel is available.

[0151]

[0173] Small cell base station 102’ may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell base station 102’ may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102’ that employs LTE / 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0152]

[0174] Wireless communication system 100 may further include an mmW base station 180 that can operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies while communicating with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes called millimeter waves. Near mmW can extend downward to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also called centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band has high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmission and / or reception) via an mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, in an alternative configuration, it will be understood that one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Thus, it will be understood that the above description is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0153]

[0175] Transmission beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). In transmission beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (with respect to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster and stronger RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device(s). To change the directivity of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, the RF current from the transmitter is supplied to the individual antennas with an appropriate phase relationship such that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling and suppressing the radiation in the undesired directions.

[0154]

[0176] The transmission beams can be quasi - collocated, which means that, regardless of whether the transmission antennas of the network node are physically collocated or not, the transmission beams appear to have the same parameters to the receiver (e.g., UE). In NR, there are four types of quasi - collocation (QCL) relationships. In particular, a given type of QCL relationship means that some parameters regarding the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information regarding the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is of QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0155]

[0177] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting of an array of antennas and / or adjust the phase setting in that direction to amplify RF signals received from a particular direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when the receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0156]

[0178] Transmission and receive beams can be spatially related. Spatial relationship means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information regarding a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0157]

[0179] Note that the "downlink" beam can be either a transmission beam or a reception beam depending on the entity forming it. For example, when the base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmission beam. However, when the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a reception beam for receiving the downlink reference signal. Similarly, the "uplink" beam can be either a transmission beam or a reception beam depending on the entity forming it. For example, when the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink reception beam, and when the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmission beam.

[0158]

[0180] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges, FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW frequency band generally includes the frequency ranges of FR2, FR3, and FR4. Therefore, the terms "mmW" and "FR2" or "FR3" or "FR4" can generally be used interchangeably.

[0159]

[0181] In a multi - carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on a primary frequency (e.g., FR1) that is used by the UE104 / 182 and the cell with which the UE104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or starts an RRC connection re - establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE - specific control channels and can be a carrier within the authorized frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier can be configured when an RRC connection is established between the UE104 and the anchor carrier and is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier within an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE - specific, UE - specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to distribute the load across different carriers. The terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably since a "serving cell" (whether it is a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier through which some base station is communicating.

[0160]

[0182] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by macrocell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and the other frequencies utilized by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two aggregated 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to what can be achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0161]

[0183] Wireless communication system 100 may further include UE164 that can communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communication link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE164.

[0162]

[0184] In the example of FIG. 1, one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites) can be used as an independent source of location information for any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity). UE 104 can include one or more dedicated GNSS receivers specially designed to receive GNSS signals 124 for deriving geolocation information from SV 112. GNSS generally includes a system of transmitters arranged to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its location on or above the Earth based at least in part on signals (e.g., GNSS signals 124) received from a transmitter (e.g., SV 112). Such transmitters generally transmit signals marked with a set number of chips of a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code. Although generally located in SV 112, the transmitters can sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, a base station 102, and / or another UE 104.

[0163]

[0185] The use of the SPS signal 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBASs) that can be enabled for use in connection with or otherwise in conjunction with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBASs can include augmentation systems (one or more) that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or the GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN). Accordingly, as used herein, SPS can include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and the SPS signal 124 can include SPS signals, SPS-like signals, and / or other signals associated with such one or more SPSs.

[0164]

[0186] Wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelink"). In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UE 104s connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (registered trademark) (WiFi(registered trademark)-D), Bluetooth(registered trademark).

[0165]

[0187] Figure 2A shows an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, 5GC 210 (also referred to as Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally regarded as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (such as UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (such as UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.) that operate collaboratively to form a core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to 5GC 210, specifically to user plane function 212 and control plane function 214 respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 can have one or more gNB 222, and other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB 224 and gNB 222. Either (or both) of gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 (such as any of the UEs described herein).

[0166]

[0188] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that may be communicating with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as a plurality of distinct servers (e.g., physically distinct servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may correspond to each single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, via the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into the components of the core network or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server such as an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) server or a service server).

[0167]

[0189] Figure 2B shows another exemplary wireless network structure 250. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in Figure 2A) can be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 that operates cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260), as well as a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262. The functions of AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204 and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM), AMF 264 retrieves security material from AUSF. The functions of AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). SCM receives a key from SEAF that it uses to derive an access network-specific key. The functions of AMF 264 also include location service management for regulatory services, transport for location service messages between UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 acting as a location server 230, transport for location service messages between NG-RAN 220 and LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with an evolved packet system (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification.Furthermore, AMF264 also supports functions for non-3GPP (Registered Trademark) (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0168]

[0190] The functions of UPF262 include, when applicable, acting as an anchor point for in / intra-RAT mobility, acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF262 may also support the transfer of user plane location service messages between UE204 and a location server such as SLP272.

[0169]

[0191] The functions of SMF266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in UPF262 for routing traffic to appropriate destinations, policy enforcement and partial control of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF266 communicates with AMF264 is called the N11 interface.

[0170]

[0192] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that may communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as a plurality of distinct servers (e.g., physically distinct servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may correspond to each single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, via the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the NG-RAN 220, and the UE 204 via the control plane (using, for example, interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and an external client (not shown in Figure 2B) via the user plane (using, for example, protocols intended to carry voice and / or data such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0171]

[0193] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, in particular the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220, respectively. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is called the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is called the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 called the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface called the "Uu" interface.

[0172]

[0194] The functions of gNB 222 are divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is called the "F1" interface. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions for transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for functions exclusively allocated to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 hosts the radio resource control (RRC) of gNB 222, the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and the protocol of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP). The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media access control (MAC) layer, and the physical (PHY) layer of gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. Therefore, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, and with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer.

[0173]

[0195] FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, and FIG. 3C show some exemplary components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or implement any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of the infrastructure of NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the file transfer operations taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components as those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate by different technologies.

[0174]

[0196] UE 302 and base station 304 each include at least one wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350 respectively, and provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, receiving, measuring, adjusting, refraining from transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356 respectively to communicate with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over the respective wireless communication medium (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.) respectively according to the designated RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.) respectively. In particular, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 respectively for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and each include one or more receivers 312 and 352 respectively for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358.

[0175]

[0197] UE 302 and base station 304 also each include at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320 and 360, respectively, in at least some cases. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are each connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366 and provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, receiving, measuring, adjusting, refraining from transmitting, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc. over the respective wireless communication medium via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.) according to the designated RAT and, conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.). In particular, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and each include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, Zigbee and / or Z-Wave transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0176]

[0198] A transceiver circuit including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may, in some implementations, comprise an integrated device (e.g., implemented as the transmitter circuit and receiver circuit of a single communication device), in some implementations, may comprise a separate transmitter device and a separate receiver device, or in other implementations, may be implemented in other ways. In one aspect, the transmitter may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform transmission “beamforming” as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and the receiver may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) such that each device can perform only reception or transmission at a given time, rather than both reception and transmission simultaneously. The wireless communication devices of UE302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also comprise, for example, a network listening module (NLM) for performing various measurements.

[0177]

[0199] UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370 in at least some cases. SPS receivers 330 and 370 can be respectively connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, and can provide means for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, such as signals from the Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, Beidou, India's Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 can each include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378. SPS receivers 330 and 370 appropriately request information and operations from other systems, and perform the calculations necessary to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304 using the measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0178]

[0200] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390 respectively, and provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities. For example, network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) can be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. In some embodiments, network interfaces 380 and 390 can be implemented as transceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signal communication. This communication can involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0179]

[0201] In one aspect, at least one WWAN transceiver 310 and / or at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320 may form the (wireless) communication interface of the UE 302. Similarly, at least one WWAN transceiver 350, at least one short-range wireless transceiver 360, and / or at least one network interface 380 may form the (wireless) communication interface of the base station 304. Similarly, at least one network interface 390 may form the (wireless) communication interface of the network entity 306. The various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360) and wired transceivers (e.g., network interfaces 380 and 390) may generally be characterized as at least one transceiver or, alternatively, as at least one communication interface. Thus, whether a particular transceiver or communication interface relates to a wired or wireless transceiver or communication interface, respectively, may be inferred from the type of communication being performed (e.g., backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally relates to signaling via at least one wired transceiver).

[0180]

[0202] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include at least one processor 332, 384, and 394, for example, to provide functions related to wireless communication and to provide other processing functions. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can thus provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, and the like. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, at least one general-purpose processor, a multi-core processor, a central processing unit (CPU), an ASIC, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0181]

[0203] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include a memory circuit that implements memory components 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) to maintain information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memory components 340, 386, and 396 can thus provide means for storing, retrieving, maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may each include PRS modules 342, 388, and 398. PRS modules 342, 388, and 398, when executed, can be part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394 respectively, which cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein, or can be hardware circuits. In other aspects, PRS modules 342, 388, and 398 can be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., integrated with another processing system that is part of a modem processing system, etc.). Alternatively, PRS modules 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in memory components 340, 386, and 396 respectively, which cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.). FIG. 3A shows possible locations of PRS module 342, which can be part of, for example, at least one WWAN transceiver 310, memory component 340, at least one processor 332, or any combination thereof, or can be a stand-alone component. FIG. 3B shows possible locations of PRS module 388, which can be part of, for example, at least one WWAN transceiver 350, memory component 386, at least one processor 384, or any combination thereof, or can be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C shows possible locations of the PRS module 398, which can be part of, for example, at least one network interface 390, a memory component 396, at least one processor 394, or any combination thereof, or can be a stand-alone component.

[0182]

[0204] The UE 302 can include one or more sensors 344 coupled to at least one processor 332 to provide means for detecting or sensing movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by at least one WWAN transceiver 310, at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320, and / or the SPS receiver 330. By way of example, the (one or more) sensors 344 can include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the (one or more) sensors 344 can include multiple different types of devices and can combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the (one or more) sensors 344 can use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0183]

[0205] Further, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing an indication (e.g., an audible and / or visual indication) to the user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon actuation of a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 can also include a user interface.

[0184]

[0206] Looking at at least one processor 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 can be provided to at least one processor 384. The at least one processor 384 may implement functions for the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The at least one processor 384 may perform RRC layer functions related to broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reports, header compression / decompression, and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0185]

[0207] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, includes error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-value quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream is then mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then synthesized with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate a plurality of spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from reference signals transmitted by the UE 302 and / or channel condition feedback. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0186]

[0208] In UE302, receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides the information to at least one processor 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions related to various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover the spatial streams destined for UE302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE302, they may be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a fast Fourier transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signals are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on the channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to at least one processor 332 that implements layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0187]

[0209] In the uplink, at least one processor 332 provides demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decoding, header recovery, and control signal processing between the transport channel and the logical channel to recover IP packets from the core network. At least one processor 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0188]

[0210] Similar to the functions described for downlink transmission by base station 304, at least one processor 332 performs RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting, PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, rearrangement of RLC data PDUs, RLC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0189]

[0211] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by base station 304 can be used by transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to enable spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 can be provided to one or more different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 can modulate RF carriers with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0190]

[0212] Uplink transmission is processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described for the receiver function in UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals through its respective one or more antennas 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides that information to at least one processor 384.

[0191]

[0213] On the uplink, at least one processor 384 provides demultiplexing between the transport channel and the logical channel, packet reassembly, decoding, header restoration, and control signal processing to restore IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from at least one processor 384 can be provided to the core network. At least one processor 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0192]

[0214] For the sake of convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A - 3C as including various components that can be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the illustrated components can have different functions in different designs. In particular, generally, some components (e.g., memory components and processor components) are required for the operation of a computing device, but the various other components in FIGS. 3A - 3C are optional and can vary depending on the implementation form. For example, in the case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation form of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device, or a tablet computer, or a PC, or a laptop may have Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the SPS receiver 330, or may omit sensors 344, etc. In another example, in the case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation form of the BS 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi hotspot AP without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the SPS receiver 370, or may omit others.

[0193]

[0215] The various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, and 392, respectively. In one aspect, data buses 334, 382, and 392 can each form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306. For example, if different logical entities are implemented within the same device (e.g., a gNB and a location server function are incorporated into the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0194]

[0216] The components of FIGS. 3A - 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A - 3C can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit uses at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this function and / or can incorporate it. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 - 346 can be implemented by the processor of UE 302 and (one or more) memory components (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 - 388 can be implemented by the processor of base station 304 and (one or more) memory components (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 - 398 can be implemented by the processor of network entity 306 and (one or more) memory components (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE", "by the base station", "by the network entity", etc. However, as should be understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions are actually performed by specific components or combinations of components such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, PRS modules 342, 388, and 398, etc., of UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc.

[0195]

[0217] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network configured to communicate with UE 302 via base station 304 or independently of base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0196]

[0218] To support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs), various frame structures may be used. FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 showing an example of a downlink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 showing an example of channels within the downlink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 4C is a diagram 450 showing an example of an uplink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 4D is a diagram 480 showing an example of channels within the uplink frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0197]

[0219] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilize OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, the modulated symbols are sent in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0198]

[0220] LTE supports a single numerology (such as subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple numerologies (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ = 0), 30 kHz (μ = 1), 60 kHz (μ = 2), 120 kHz (μ = 3), and 240 kHz (μ = 4), or larger ones may be available. At each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15 kHz SCS (μ = 0), there is 1 slot per subframe and 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth in MHz with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30 kHz SCS (μ = 1), there are 2 slots per subframe and 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth in MHz with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60 kHz SCS (μ = 2), there are 4 slots per subframe and 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth in MHz with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120 kHz SCS (μ = 3), there are 8 slots per subframe and 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth in MHz with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (μ = 4), there are 16 slots per subframe and 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth in MHz with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0199]

[0221] In the examples of FIGS. 4A to 4D, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized sub-frames of 1 ms each, and each sub-frame contains one time slot. In FIGS. 4A to 4D, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), time increases from left to right, frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), and frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0200]

[0222] A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, and each time slot contains one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one sub-carrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A to 4D, for the normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive sub-carriers in the frequency domain for a total of 84 REs and may contain 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain. For the extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive sub-carriers in the frequency domain for a total of 72 REs and may contain 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0201]

[0223] Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). The DL-RS may include a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), etc. FIG. 4A shows an exemplary location of REs carrying the PRS (labeled "R").

[0202]

[0224] The set of resource elements (REs) used for the transmission of PRS is called a "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span (one or more, etc.) "N" consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0203]

[0225] The transmission of the PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific (also called "comb density") comb size. The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, in the case of comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, in the case of comb 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every 4th subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8, etc.) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb 2, comb 4, comb 6, and comb 12 are supported for DL-PRS. FIG. 4A shows an exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb 6 (spanning 6 symbols). That is, the location of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicates the comb 6 PRS resource configuration.

[0204]

[0226] Currently, the DL-PRS resources can span two, four, six, or twelve consecutive symbols within a slot having a fully frequency-domain staggered pattern. The DL-PRS resources can be configured in any upper-layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol of a slot. There can be a constant resource element unit energy (EPRE) for all the REs of a given DL-PRS resource. The following are the frequency offsets between symbols for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 spanning two, four, six, and twelve symbols. Comb 2 of two symbols: {0,1}, Comb 2 of four symbols: {0,1,0,1}, Comb 2 of six symbols: {0,1,0,1,0,1}, Comb 2 of twelve symbols: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}, Comb 4 of four symbols: {0,2,1,3}, Comb 4 of twelve symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Comb 6 of six symbols: {0,3,1,4,2,5}, Comb 6 of twelve symbols: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}, and Comb 12 of twelve symbols: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0205]

[0227] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Further, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Further, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, the same common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length selected from 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} slots, where μ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1,2,4,6,8,16,32} slots.

[0206]

[0228] The PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where the TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource of a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a "PRS resource" or simply a "resource" may be referred to as a "beam". It should be noted that this has no implication regarding whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0207]

[0229] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply an "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0208]

[0230] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply referred to as a "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs having the same values for several parameters. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all numerologies supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" represents "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRBs, is at least 24 PRBs, and at most 272 PRBs. Currently, up to 4 frequency layers are defined, and up to 2 PRS resource sets can be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0209]

[0231] The concept of frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while the frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRS, which is different. When the UE sends its positioning capability to the network, such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session, it can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0210]

[0232] Figure 4B shows an example of various channels within the downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. Generally, up to four BWPs can be specified for both the downlink and uplink. That is, the UE can consist of up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. At a given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, which means that the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or larger than the bandwidth of the SSB, although it may or may not include the SSB.

[0211]

[0233] Referring to FIG. 4B, the primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification information. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identification information group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identification information and the physical layer cell identification information group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the above-mentioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped using the PSS and SSS to form the SSB (also called SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH such as the system information block (SIB), and paging messages.

[0212]

[0234] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs). Each CCE contains one or more resource element group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle contains one or more REGs. Each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called the control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is limited to a single CORESET and is transmitted together with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0213]

[0235] In the example of FIG. 4B, there is one CORESET for each BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (however, it can be only one or two symbols). Different from the LTE control channel that occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized in a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., CORESET). Therefore, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in FIG. 4B are shown to be smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. It should be noted that the illustrated CORESET is continuous in the frequency domain, but it does not have to be continuous. Furthermore, the CORESET can span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0214]

[0236] Each DCI in the PDCCH carries information regarding uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data to be transmitted to the UE, which are respectively called uplink grant and downlink grant. More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for the downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) and the uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, uplink transmission power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH can be transported by one, two, four, eight, or sixteen CCEs to adapt to different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0215]

[0237] As shown in FIG. 4C, some of the REs (labeled as "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at a receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE, etc.). The UE may further transmit SRS, for example, in the last symbol of a slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs. In the example of FIG. 4C, the illustrated SRS is a comb 2 spanning one symbol. The SRS may be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for each UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation due to distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0216]

[0238] Currently, the SRS resources can extend to one, two, four, eight, or twelve consecutive symbols within a slot having a comb size of comb 2, comb 4, or comb 8. The following are the frequency offsets between symbols for the currently supported SRS comb patterns. Comb 2 of 1 symbol: {0}, Comb 2 of 2 symbols: {0,1}, Comb 2 of 4 symbols: {0,1,0,1}, Comb 4 of 4 symbols: {0,2,1,3}, Comb 4 of 8 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Comb 4 of 12 symbols: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}, Comb 8 of 4 symbols: {0,4,2,6}, Comb 8 of 8 symbols: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}, and Comb 8 of 12 symbols: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0217]

[0239] The set of resource elements used for the transmission of SRS is called an "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for the transmission of SRS signals and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0218]

[0240] Generally, a UE transmits SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or a neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, SRS can also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). The term "SRS" as used herein can refer to SRS configured for channel quality measurement or SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between those two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as "SRS for communication (SRS-for-communication)" and / or the latter as "SRS for positioning (SRS-for-positioning)".

[0219]

[0241] Several extensions to the previous definition of SRS are proposed for SRS for positioning (also called "UL-PRS"), such as a new staggered pattern within the SRS resource (excluding single symbol / COM2), a new COM type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, a higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. Further, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" should be configured based on the downlink reference signal or SSB from neighboring TRPs. Additionally, one SRS resource can be transmitted outside the active BWP and one SRS resource can span multiple component carriers. Also, SRS is configured in the RRC connected state and can be transmitted only within the active BWP. Further, there can be frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Also, there can be open-loop power control and no closed-loop power control, and COM8 (i.e., SRS transmitted in every 8th subcarrier in the same symbol) can be used. Finally, the UE can transmit through the same transmit beam from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA. All of these are features added to the current SRS framework and they are configured through RRC upper layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control element (CE) or DCI).

[0220]

[0242] FIG. 4D shows an example of various channels within an uplink slot of a frame according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The random access channel (RACH), also referred to as the physical random access channel (PRACH), can be within one or more slots in a frame based on the PRACH configuration. The PRACH can include six consecutive RB pairs within a slot. The PRACH enables a UE to perform an initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. The physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) can be located on the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and can also be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0221]

[0243] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to the specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" as used herein may refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, including but not limited to PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc., defined in LTE and NR. Further, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. When it is necessary to further distinguish the types of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as "DL-PRS", and the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., SRS, PTRS for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS". Further, in the case of signals that can be transmitted in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), those signals may be prefixed with "UL" or "DL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be distinguished from "DL-DMRS".

[0222]

[0244] FIG. 5 is a diagram of an exemplary PRS resource set with different time gaps according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 5, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. Each block represents a slot in the time domain and a certain bandwidth in the frequency domain.

[0223]

[0245] Figure 5 shows two DL-PRS resource set configurations, a first DL-PRS resource set configuration 510, and a second DL-PRS resource set configuration 550. Each DL-PRS resource set configuration 510 and 550 includes four PRS resources (labeled "Resource 1", "Resource 2", "Resource 3", and "Resource 4") and has a repetition factor of 4. A repetition factor of 4 means that each of the four PRS resources is repeated 4 times (i.e., transmitted 4 times) within the DL-PRS resource set. That is, there are four repetitions of each of the four PRS resources within the DL-PRS resource set.

[0224]

[0246] The DL-PRS resource set configuration 510 has a time gap of 1 slot, meaning that each repetition of a PRS resource (e.g., "Resource 1") starts on the first slot after the previous repetition of that PRS resource. Thus, as shown by the DL-PRS resource set configuration 510, the four repetitions of each of the four PRS resources are grouped together. Specifically, the four repetitions of the PRS resource "Resource 1" occupy the first four slots (i.e., slots n to n + 3) of the DL-PRS resource set configuration 510, the four repetitions of the PRS resource "Resource 2" occupy the second four slots (i.e., slots n + 4 to n + 7), the four repetitions of the PRS resource "Resource 3" occupy the third four slots (i.e., slots n + 8 to n + 11), and the four repetitions of the PRS resource "Resource 4" occupy the last four slots (i.e., slots n + 12 to n + 15).

[0225]

[0247] In contrast, the DL-PRS resource set configuration 550 has a time gap of four slots, meaning that each repetition of a PRS resource (e.g., "Resource 2") starts on the fourth slot after the previous repetition of that PRS resource. Thus, as shown by the DL-PRS resource set configuration 550, four repetitions of each of the four PRS resources are scheduled every fourth slot. For example, the four repetitions of the PRS resource "Resource 1" occupy the first, fifth, ninth, and thirteenth slots (i.e., slots n, n + 4, n + 8, and n + 12) of the DL-PRS resource set configuration 550.

[0226]

[0248] As shown in FIG. 5, it should be noted that the duration imposed by one DL-PRS resource set including repeated DL-PRS resources should not exceed the PRS periodicity. Further, UE receive beam sweeping for receiving / measuring a DL-PRS resource set is not specified and rather depends on the UE implementation form.

[0227]

[0249] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In the positioning procedure of OTDOA or DL-TDOA, the UE measures the difference in the time of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from a pair of base stations, which is called reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement, and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives the identifiers (IDs) of the reference base station (e.g., serving base station) and a plurality of non-reference base stations in the assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between each of the reference base station and the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE.

[0228]

[0250] In the case of DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses the beam report from the UE of the received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmission beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base station.

[0229]

[0251] The uplink-based positioning method includes uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. In the case of UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE regarding one or more uplink reception beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and angles of the reception beams to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angles of the base stations and the known locations, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0230]

[0252] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include Extended Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT"). In the RTT procedure, an initiator (base station or UE) sends an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to a responder (UE or base station), and the responder returns an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, which is called the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, which is called the transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference. The propagation time (also referred to as the "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx time difference and the Rx-Tx time difference. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. In the case of multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs RTT procedures with multiple base stations to enable its location to be determined (e.g., using multi-lateration) based on the known locations of the base stations. The RTT method and the multi-RTT method can be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

[0231]

[0253] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strengths of detected neighbor base stations. Then, based on this information and the known locations of the base stations, the location of the UE is estimated.

[0232]

[0254] To assist in the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include identifiers of base stations (or cells / TRPs of base stations) from which reference signals should be measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the periodicity of positioning subframes, muting sequences, frequency hopping sequences, reference signal identifiers, reference signal bandwidths, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a specific positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may be transmitted directly from the base station itself (e.g., in an overhead message broadcast periodically). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes on its own without using the assistance data.

[0233]

[0255] In the case of the positioning procedure of OTDOA or DL-TDOA, the assistance data may further include the expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the (one or more) positioning measurements are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8 μs.

[0234]

[0256] A location estimate may be referred to by other names such as position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodesic and have coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or it may be civic and have a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A location estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including the area or volume within which the location is expected to be included at some specified or default level of confidence).

[0235]

[0257] Next, some examples of the above-described NR RRT-based positioning techniques are described in more detail.

[0236]

[0258] FIG. 6 shows an example of conventional DL time difference of arrival (TDoA)-based positioning. In DL-TDoA, the difference in ToA between synchronized cells, e.g., gNB1, gNB2, and gNB3 in FIG. 6, gives a distance estimate along a hyperbola. Multiple TDoA measurements are used for multilateration, e.g., for four or more cells. Network synchronization error between gNBs is a major obstacle to high-precision positioning. Potential timing errors τ1, τ2, and τ3 introduce measurement uncertainty along each hyperbola.

[0237]

[0259] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 showing an exemplary timing of an RTT measurement signal exchanged between a base station 702 (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) and a UE 704 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 7, the base station 702 sends an RTT measurement signal 710 (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) to the UE 704 at time t1. The RTT measurement signal 710 has some propagation delay T_Prop as it travels from the base station 702 to the UE 704. At time t2 (ToA of the RTT measurement signal 710 at the UE 704), the UE 704 receives / measures the RTT measurement signal 710. After some UE processing time, the UE 704 sends an RTT response signal 720 at time t3. After the propagation delay T_Prop, the base station 702 receives / measures the RTT response signal 720 from the UE 704 at time t4 (ToA of the RTT response signal 720 at the base station 702).

[0238]

[0260] To identify the ToA (e.g., t2) of a reference signal (e.g., the RTT measurement signal 710) transmitted by a given network node (e.g., the base station 702), a receiver (e.g., the UE 704) first processes all resource elements (REs) on the channel on which the transmitter is transmitting the reference signal together and performs an inverse Fourier transform to convert the received reference signal into the time domain. The conversion of the received reference signal into the time domain is called the estimation of the channel energy response (CER). The CER indicates the peaks on the channel over time, and thus the earliest “significant” peak should correspond to the ToA of the reference signal. Generally, the receiver uses a quality threshold regarding noise to filter out spurious local peaks and thereby probably correctly identify the significant peaks on the channel. For example, the receiver can choose the earliest maximum of the CER that is at least X dB higher than the median of the CER and the ToA estimate that is at most Y dB lower than the main peak on the channel. The receiver determines the CER for each reference signal from each transmitter to determine the ToA of each reference signal from different transmitters.

[0239]

[0261] In some designs, the RTT response signal 720 may explicitly include the difference between time t3 and time t2 (i.e., T_Rx-Tx712). Using this measurement and the difference between time t4 and time t1 (i.e., T_Tx-Rx722), the base station 702 (or other positioning entities such as the location server 230, LMF270, etc.) can calculate the distance to the UE 704 as d=(1 / 2c)*(T_Tx-Rx - T_Rx-Tx)=(1 / 2c)*(t2-t1)-(1 / 2c)*(t4-t3), where c is the speed of light. Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 7, additional sources of delay or error can result from UE and gNB hardware group delays for location positioning.

[0240]

[0262] Various parameters related to positioning can affect the power consumption in the UE. Knowledge of such parameters can be used to estimate (or model) the UE power consumption. By accurately modeling the UE power consumption, various power saving features and / or performance enhancement features can be utilized in a predictive manner to improve the user experience.

[0241]

[0263] The source of additional delay or error is due to UE and gNB hardware group delay for location. FIG. 8 shows FIG. 800 illustrating exemplary timings of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station (gNB) (e.g., of the base stations described herein) and a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) according to an aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7 in some respects. However, in FIG. 8, UE and gNB hardware group delays (mainly due to internal hardware delays between baseband (BB) components and antennas (ANT) in the UE and gNB) are shown with respect to 802, 804, 806, and 808. As will be appreciated, both path-specific delays or beam-specific delays on the Tx side and Rx side affect the RTT measurement value. Hardware group delays such as 802, 804, 806, and 808 can contribute to timing errors and / or calibration errors that can affect RTT as well as other measurements such as TDOA, RSTD, which can affect positioning performance. For example, in some designs, a 10 ns error results in a 3 meter error in the final fix.

[0242]

[0264] FIG. 9 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 900 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 9, a UE 904 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein) is attempting to calculate an estimated value of its position by a multi-RTT positioning method, or another entity (e.g., a base station or a core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) is attempting to assist in calculating an estimated value of its position. The UE 904 can wirelessly communicate with a plurality of base stations 902-1, 902-2, and 902-3 (collectively, base stations 902, which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein) using RF signals and a protocol standardized for the modulation of these RF signals and the exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 900 (i.e., the location of the base stations, geometry, etc.), the UE 904 can determine its position or assist in determining its position in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 904 may specify its position using a two-dimensional coordinate system, but the aspects disclosed herein are not limited thereto and are also applicable to determining the position using a three-dimensional coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, FIG. 9 shows one UE 904 and three base stations 902, but it is understood that there may be more UEs 904 and more base stations 902.

[0243]

[0265] To support the location estimate, base station 902 may be configured to broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, TRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, etc.) to UE 904 within their coverage areas to enable UE 904 to measure the characteristics of such reference RF signals. For example, UE 904 can measure the ToA of specific reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by at least three different base stations 902 and use the RTT positioning method to report these ToAs (and additional information) back to the serving base station 902 or another positioning entity (e.g., location server, LMF).

[0244]

[0266] In one aspect, although UE 904 is described as measuring a reference RF signal from base station 902, UE 904 may measure a reference RF signal from one of a plurality of cells supported by base station 902. When UE 904 measures a reference RF signal transmitted by a cell supported by base station 902, at least two other reference RF signals measured by UE 904 to perform the RTT procedure are from cells supported by a base station 902 different from the first base station 902 and may have good or poor signal strength at UE 904.

[0245]

[0267] To determine the position (x, y) of UE904, the entity determining the position of UE904 needs to know the location of base station 902, which can be represented as (x_k, y_k) in the reference coordinate system, where in the example of FIG. 9, k = 1, 2, 3. When one of base stations 902 (e.g., the serving base station) or UE904 determines the position of UE904, the location of the involved base station 902 can be provided to serving base station 902 or UE904 by a location server (e.g., a location server, LMF) having knowledge of the network geometry. Alternatively, the location server may determine the position of UE904 using the known network geometry.

[0246]

[0268] Either UE904 or each base station 902 can determine the distance (d k , where k = 1, 2, 3) between UE904 and each base station 902. In one aspect, it can be implemented to determine the RTT910 of the signal exchanged between UE904 and any base station 902, and it can be converted to the distance (d k ). As further described below, the RTT technique can measure the time between sending a signaling message (e.g., a reference RF signal) and receiving a response. These methods can utilize calibration to remove any processing delays. In some environments, it can be assumed that the processing delays for UE904 and base station 902 are the same. However, such an assumption may not actually hold.

[0247]

[0269] Once each distance d_k is determined, UE904, base station 902, or a location server (e.g., LMF) can solve for the position (x, y) of UE904 by using various known geometric techniques, such as trilateration or multilateration. From FIG. 9, it can be seen that the position of UE904 is ideally at the common intersection of three semi - circles, where each semi - circle is defined by a radius d_k and a center (x_k, y_k), where k = 1, 2, 3.

[0248]

[0270] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or an angle of departure (AoD) that defines a direction, which may be linear (e.g., in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions), or in some cases a range of directions (e.g., for a UE 904 from the location of the base station 902). The intersection of two directions at or near a point (x, y) may provide another estimate of the location of the UE 904.

[0249]

[0271] A location estimate (e.g., for a UE 904) may be referred to by other names such as a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A location estimate may be geodesic and may include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), or it may be civic and may include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. Further, a location estimate may be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included at some specified or default level of confidence).

[0250]

[0272] FIG. 10 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 1000 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 shows an example of a multi-cell RTT positioning method, while FIG. 10 shows an example of a single-cell RTT positioning method. In FIG. 10, RTT1 is measured together with an AoD1 associated with a beam in which a DL PRS is transmitted from the cell to the UE. The overlapping regions of RTT1 and AoD1 shown in FIG. 10 provide a rough location estimate for the associated UE.

[0251]

[0273] Figure 11 shows a timing diagram 1100 of RTT measurement signals exchanged between UE 302 and BS 304 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The timing diagram 1100 in Figure 11 is a variation of the timing diagram 700 in Figure 7, where T_Prop is shown as T oF (time of flight), T_Tx-Rx is shown as τ A , T_Rx-Tx is shown as τ B , signal 710 is shown as PRS, and signal 720 is shown as SRS.

[0252]

[0274] Referring to Figure 11, in some designs, RTT-based ranging / positioning (e.g., sidelink RTT between two sidelink UEs, or Uu-RTT RTT between a UE and a gNB) does not require exact synchronization between different nodes, and the clock drift of each node itself can be a dominant component of the measurement error. For single-round PRS / SRS exchange (such as in Rel-16 / 17 Uu-RTT), τ A = 2T oF + τ B (where T oF = RTT / 2 is the one-way time of flight, and τ A , τ B are the Rx-Tx time differences), and the clock drift is

[0253]

Number

[0254] and

[0255]

Number

[0256] can be modeled as, provided that

[0257]

Number

[0258] and

[0259]

Number

[0260] is the measured Rx-Tx time difference, e A or e B models the deviation from the ideal time and can be expressed in ppm / ppb (parts per million / parts per billion). For 5G NR UE, according to 38.101-1 / 2, the required clock drift is up to ±0.1 ppm (±100 ppb).

[0261]

Number

[0262] The T estimated by oF has an error of

[0263]

Number

[0264] where, provided that T oF is at the level of dozens of nanoseconds (for distances, e.g., in the case of 3 to 30 meters), while τ B is at the level of milliseconds, and thus

[0265]

Number

[0266] is the dominant part of the estimation error. Assuming τ B = 100 ms, the worst case of e A - e B is ±0.2 ppm, so the error can be 10 ns (3 meters in distance).

[0267]

[0275] Referring to FIG. 11, for Uu-based RTT in 3GPP Rel-16, the maximum time from PRS to SRS is required between DL-PRS and SRS for Rx-Tx time difference measurement. For example, the maximum PRS-to-SRS requirement of 25 ms corresponds to a ranging error of 75 cm due to this ±0.1 ppm time drift.

[0268]

[0276] However, with the increasing requirements for positioning accuracy in 3GPP Rel-17 / 18, the maximum PRS to SRS required can be small and can limit gNB scheduling flexibility. For example, for Rel-16 accuracy (e.g., 3 - 10 meters), the time from the maximum PRS to SRS

[0269]

Number

[0270] can be, and this may not be a very strict requirement (where 10% is the error budget). However, with the increase in positioning measurement values in Rel-17 (e.g., 1 m for general commercial use or 20 cm for IIoT), the time from the maximum PRS to SRS can be 3.3 ms or 0.66 ms, either being impossible or causing a lack of SRS capability.

[0271]

[0277] For this purpose, time drift error compensation can be implemented to improve positioning accuracy even when the time from PRS to SRS is relatively long.

[0272]

[0278] FIG. 12 shows a timing diagram 1200 of RTT measurement signals exchanged between UE 302 and BS 304 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In contrast to FIG. 11, the first PRS (PRS#1) before SRS is paired with the second PRS (PRS#2) after SRS.

[0273]

[0279] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, PRS#1, SRS, and PRS#2 are symmetric (e.g., the slot offset between PRS#1 and SRS is equal to the slot offset between SRS and PRS#2). In this case, the drift is reduced

[0274]

Number

[0275] can be calculated as follows

[0276]

Number

[0277] However

[0278]

Number

[0279] The error of can be calculated as follows

[0280]

Number

[0281] However, the symmetric nature of PRS#1, SRS, and PRS#2 reduces the dominant part of the time drift error (e.g., this makes scheduling flexibility difficult but improves latency).

[0282]

[0280] Referring to FIG. 12, in other designs, PRS#1, SRS, and PRS#2 are asymmetric (e.g., the slot offset between PRS#1 and SRS is not equal to the slot offset between SRS and PRS#2). In this case, the drift is reduced

[0283]

Number

[0284] can be calculated as follows,

[0285] [Number]

[0286] However, the drift error reference duration is,

[0287] [Number]

[0288] and, however,

[0289] [Number]

[0290] the error of is e A T oF can be calculated as, however, the drift correction reference duration is long enough for the multiplication correction factor (for example, making it easier than scheduling flexibility but increasing latency) to be effective such that it is not a constant 1.

[0291]

[0281] Referring to FIG. 12, it can be seen that multiple DL-PRSs can be configured to mitigate the clock drift problem described above. In some designs, PRS#1 and PRS#2 can be associated with two independent PRS resource configurations. However, setting up separate DL-PRS configurations for PRS#1 and PRS#2 can be relatively inefficient.

[0292]

[0282] Figures 5 to 12 generally relate to the RTT measurement procedure between the BS and the target UE. In some designs, a reference device related to a known location may be involved in one or more positioning procedures. In some designs, the reference device may correspond to a BS such as BS304. However, in other designs, the reference device may correspond to a reference UE (e.g., a UE having the most recent positioning fix). In some designs, such a reference device supports DL-PRS measurement and reporting of related measurement values (e.g., RSTD, Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP) to the LMF (or UE for UE-based positioning), and transmission of SRS (or PRS in the case of a BS-implemented reference device), and the TRP may be configured to measure measurement values related to the reference device (e.g., RTOA, Rx-Tx time difference, AOA) and report them to the LMF, etc. (or to the UE for UE-based positioning).

[0293]

[0283] Figure 13 shows a timing diagram 1300 of TDOA measurement signals exchanged between BS A (e.g., BS304), a reference device B (e.g., UE302 having a known location, or another BS304, etc.), and UE302 according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0294]

[0284] TDOA-based positioning highly relies on network synchronization (between gNBs) for positioning accuracy. By introducing a reference device (hereinafter shown as reference device B) having a known location (either a UE or a gNB), the requirement for gNB synchronization is the cross-gNB time difference (T oF (B,UE)-T oF (A,UE)) as its own time difference (

[0295]

Number

[0296] and

[0297] [Number]

[0298] can be mitigated by converting to , whereby

[0299] [Number]

[0300] wherein, provided that T oF (A,B) can be obtained from calendar information (e.g., since the locations of BS A and reference device B are known, the propagation delay between BS A and reference device B can be calculated rather than measured).

[0301]

[0285] Assuming a constant clock drift during a short period τ, the measured

[0302] [Number]

[0303] wherein, provided that e is a clock drift that can be ±0.1 ppm for both the UE and the gNB. The error

[0304] [Number]

[0305] depends mainly on , for example

[0306] [Number]

[0307] wherein, provided that τ B (e UE -e B ) is the dominant part of the error, and (e UE -e B) can be ±0.2 ppm.

[0308]

[0286] In some systems, this error level may not be acceptable. For example, in some designs, the average value of the basic measurements of the UE-modulated carrier frequency may be required to be accurate within ±0.1 PPM over a 1 ms period of the cumulative measurement interval when compared to the carrier frequency received from the NR Node B.

[0309]

[0287] In some designs, the error due to time drift mainly depends on the gap (τ B ) between PRS#1 and PRS#2. For the increased accuracy requirements in 3GPP Rel-17 (e.g., 1 m for general commercial use or 20 cm for IIoT), assuming a 10% error budget, for the accumulated ±0.2 ppm, the required maximum gaps between PRS#1 and PRS#2 are 1.67 milliseconds and 0.33 milliseconds respectively, for example

[0310]

Number

[0311] can be.

[0312]

[0288] Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a TDOA procedure where a reference device and / or gNB having a known location mute their respective transmissions while other devices are transmitting PRS. Such aspects can provide various technical advantages such as improved positioning accuracy for the location estimation of the target UE.

[0313]

[0289] FIG. 14 shows an exemplary process 1400 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1400 can be implemented by a base station such as BS304.

[0314]

[0290] Referring to FIG. 14, at 1410, a base station (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, network interface 380, processor 384, PRS module 388, etc.) obtains a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure that includes a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period. The first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap. In some designs, the configuration at 1410 can be obtained from a location management function (LMF) that can be integrated with the base station or from an LMF that can be remote from the base station (e.g., in a network entity 306 such as a location server or a core network component). When the LMF is integrated with the base station, the configuration can be transferred internally between the logical components of the base station at 1410.

[0315]

[0291] Referring to FIG. 14, at 1420, a base station (e.g., transmitter 354 or 364, etc.) transmits the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period. In some designs, the first PRS can correspond to PRS#1 as shown in FIG. 13.

[0316]

[0292] Referring to FIG. 14, at 1430, the base station (e.g., PRS module 388, processor 384, etc.) mutates the transmission during the second time period.

[0317]

[0293] FIG. 15 shows an exemplary process 1500 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1500 can be implemented by a reference device having a known location such as BS304 or UE302 (e.g., a reference UE).

[0318]

[0294] Referring to FIG. 15, at 1510, a reference device (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380, processor 332 or 384, PRS module 342 or 388, etc.) obtains a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure that includes a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, and the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap. In some designs, the configuration at 1410 can be obtained from an LMF that can be integrated with the base station, or from an LMF that can be remote from the base station (e.g., in a network entity 306 such as a location server or a core network component).

[0319]

[0295] Referring to FIG. 15, at 1520, a reference device (e.g., PRS module 342 or 388, processor 332 or 384, etc.) mutates transmission during the first time period while the first PRS is being received from the base station. In some designs, the first PRS can correspond to PRS#1 as shown in FIG. 13.

[0320]

[0296] Referring to FIG. 15, at 1530, a reference device (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324, or 354 or 364, etc.) transmits the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period. In some designs, the second PRS can correspond to PRS#2 as shown in FIG. 13.

[0321]

[0297] Referring to FIGS. 14-15, in some designs, the time gap is configured to be below the maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS. In some designs, the time gap is configured to be above the minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment. For example, the minimum gap can be one or two symbols for 15 / 30 kHz SCS. In some designs, the minimum gap can be configured for PRS always-on DL resources and thus can be defined for both TDD symbols and FDD symbols.

[0322]

[0298] Referring to FIGS. 14-15, muting at 1430 and / or 1520 further mutates the transmission during the time gap. In some designs, muting includes muting at the slot level, muting at the symbol level, muting at the PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof. In some designs, the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol. In a further example, for a given symbol, muting at 1430 and / or 1520 is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

[0323]

[0299] Referring to FIGS. 14-15, in some designs, the PRS reception opportunities for receiving the first PRS at the reference device are configured within each muting opportunity.

[0324]

[0300] FIG. 16 shows an exemplary implementation 1600 of processes 1400-1500 of FIGS. 14-15 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In FIG. 16, the TDOA configuration is shown for a slot including 14 OFDM symbols indicated as symbols 0... 13. In FIG. 16, a base station (e.g., BS A or BS304) transmits PRS#1 on symbols 2-5, and a reference device (e.g., reference device B) mutates its transmission on symbols 2-5 while receiving PRS#1. The gap between PRS#1 and PRS#2 (i.e., τ of FIG. 13) UE ) is defined between symbols 6-9, during which both the base station and the reference device mute their respective transmissions. The reference device then transmits PRS#2 on symbols 10-13 while the base station continues to mute its transmission.

[0325]

[0301] FIG. 17 shows alternative muting schemes 1700, 1720, and 1740 according to an exemplary implementation of processes 1400-1500 of FIGS. 14-15 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In particular, muting schemes 1700-1720 represent examples of slot-level muting schemes, while muting scheme 1740 represents an example of a symbol-level muting scheme. In each of the muting schemes 1700, 1720, and 1740 shown in FIG. 17, PRS#1 is transmitted by the base station and PRS#2 is transmitted by the reference device with 4 repetitions. As shown with respect to muting schemes 1700, 1720, and 1740, when muting is performed at the symbol level as in muting scheme 1740, the time gap between PRS#1 and PRS#2 can be reduced.

[0326]

[0302] As described above with respect to FIG. 12, PRSs can be paired together to assist in reducing time drift errors for RTT measurement procedures. In a further aspect of the present disclosure, as will be described in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 18-23, PRSs can be paired together to assist in reducing time drift errors for other types of measurement procedures such as DL-TDOA, UL-TDOA, and ellipse measurement procedures. Such aspects can provide various technical advantages including improved positioning accuracy for position estimation of a target UE.

[0327]

[0303] FIG. 18 shows an exemplary process 1800 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, process 1800 can be performed by a position estimation entity such as UE 302 (e.g., in the case of UE-based positioning), an LMF integrated with BS 304, or a network entity 306 (e.g., a location server, a core network component, etc.). In particular, process 1800 is an example of the DL-TDOA technique.

[0328]

[0304] Referring to FIG. 18, at 1810, a position estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives a first timing measurement associated with a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement associated with a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station.

[0329]

[0305] Referring to FIG. 18, at 1820, a location estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of a first PRS at a reference device associated with a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device, and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of a second PRS at the reference device. In some designs, the first timing information includes the first ratio. In other designs, the first timing information includes information from which the location estimation entity can derive the first ratio. For example, the first timing information may include received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements associated with the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0330]

[0306] Referring to FIG. 18, at 1830, a location estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of a first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of the third PRS at the target UE, and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of a second PRS at the target UE. In some designs, the second timing information includes the second ratio. In other designs, the second timing information includes information from which the location estimation entity can derive the second ratio. For example, the second timing information may include reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements associated with the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0331]

[0307] Referring to FIG. 18, at 1840, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor 332 or 384 or 394, PRS module 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) determines a propagation delay difference between (i) the propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) the propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE. In some designs, the propagation delay difference may be based on the known (or calculated) propagation delay between the base station and the reference device.

[0332]

[0308] Referring to FIG. 18, at 1850, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor 332 or 384 or 394, PRS module 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) determines an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0333]

[0309] FIG. 19 shows an exemplary implementation 1900 of the process 1800 of FIG. 18 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In particular, the first PRS corresponds to PRS#1, the second PRS corresponds to PRS#3, and the third PRS corresponds to PRS#2.

[0334]

[0310] In the context, the baseline DL-TDOA algorithm has an associated error of [T oF (A,B)+T oF (B,UE)-T oF (A,UE)]e UE +τ B,1 (e UE -e B ). However, according to the process 1800 of FIG. 18, this baseline DL-TDOA algorithm can be compensated for time drift, for example,

[0335]

Equation

[0336] is. However, according to the process 1800 of FIG. 18, this baseline DL-TDOA algorithm can be compensated for time drift, for example,

[0337] [Number]

[0338] and, provided that T oF (A, B) can be obtained from calendar information (for example, since the locations of BS A and reference device B are known, the propagation delay between BS A and reference device B can be calculated rather than measured). In this case, the error is lower than the error of the baseline DL-TDOA algorithm, as described above, e A [T oF (A, B) + T oF (B, UE) - T oF (A, UE)] can be.

[0339]

[0311] Referring to FIG. 19, in one example, the RSTD of a pair, for example,

[0340] [Number]

[0341] and

[0342] [Number]

[0343] To obtain, it can be measured by a UE associated with a pair of PRS from the same gNB (PRS#1 and #3) and a reference device or another PRS from another gNB (PRS#2). For UE-assisted positioning, the measured RSTD is reported to the LMF. An alternative option is

[0344] [Number]

[0345] to report the ratio associated with. In some designs, for example

[0346]

Number

[0347] and

[0348]

Number

[0349] To obtain, the pair's Rx - Tx time difference is measured by a reference device associated with a pair of PRSs from another same gNB (PRS#1 and #3) or by the gNB. For UE - assisted positioning, the pair's Rx - Tx time difference is reported to the LMF. For UE - based positioning, the pair's Rx - Tx time difference is reported to the UE. An alternative option is

[0350]

Number

[0351] to report the ratio related to

[0352]

[0312] Figure 20 shows an exemplary process 2000 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, process 2000 can be implemented by a positioning entity such as UE302 (e.g., in the case of UE - based positioning), an LMF integrated with BS304, or a network entity 306 (e.g., a location server, a core network component, etc.). In particular, process 2000 is an example of the UL - TDOA technique.

[0353] Referring to FIG. 20, in 2010, a location estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE.

[0354] Referring to FIG. 20, in 2020, a location estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of a first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal (RS-P) for positioning in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of a second SRS in the reference device. In some designs, the first timing information includes the first ratio. In other designs, the first timing information includes information for the location estimation entity to derive the first ratio. For example, the first timing information may include received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0355] Referring to FIG. 20, at 2030, a position estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of a first SRS at a base station and a fourth reception time of an RS-P at the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of a second SRS at the base station. In some designs, the second timing information includes the second ratio. In other designs, the second timing information includes information for the position estimation entity to derive the second ratio. For example, the second timing information may include reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0356] Referring to FIG. 20, at 2040, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor 332 or 384 or 394, PRS module 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) determines a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between a base station and a target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between a reference device and the target UE. In some designs, the propagation delay difference may be based on a known (or calculated) propagation delay between the base station and the reference device.

[0357] Referring to FIG. 20, at 2050, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor 332 or 384 or 394, PRS module 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) determines an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0358]

[0318] Figure 21 shows an exemplary implementation 2100 of the process 2000 of FIG. 20 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In particular, the first SRS corresponds to SRS#1, the second SRS corresponds to SRS#3, and the third SRS corresponds to SRS#2. Further, the third SRS corresponds to SRS#2 in FIG. 21, but in other designs, the reference device corresponds to the gNB as described above. In this case, SRS#2 may be replaced by another PRS.

[0359]

[0319] In the context, the baseline UL-TDOA algorithm is [T oF (A,B)+T oF (B,UE)-T oF (A,UE)]e A +τ B,1 (e A -e B ) with associated errors

[0360]

Number

[0361] is. However, according to the process 2000 of FIG. 20, this baseline UL-DLOA algorithm can be compensated for time drift, for example,

[0362]

Number

[0363] is, provided that T oF (A,B) can be obtained from calendar information (for example, since the locations of BS A and the reference device B are known, the propagation delay between BS A and the reference device B can be calculated rather than measured). In this case, the error is lower than the error of the baseline UL-TDOA algorithm as described above, e UE [T oF (A,B)+T oF (B,UE)-T oF (A,UE)] can be.

[0364]

[0320] Referring to FIG. 21, in one example, the pair of Rx-Tx time differences can be measured, for example,

[0365]

Number

[0366] and

[0367]

Number

[0368] To obtain and, it can be measured by a reference device (e.g., a UE or a gNB) associated with a pair of SRSs from another gNB (SRS#1 and #3). In some designs, the pair of Rx-Tx time differences are reported to the LMF (it is necessary that only network-based positioning methods are considered for UL-based positioning). An alternative option can be

[0369]

Number

[0370] to report the ratio associated with.

[0371]

[0321] FIG. 22 shows an exemplary process 2200 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, process 2200 can be implemented by a positioning entity such as UE 302 (e.g., in the case of UE-based positioning), an LMF integrated with BS 304, or a network entity 306 (e.g., a location server, a core network component, etc.). In particular, process 2200 is an example of an "ellipse" positioning technique (e.g., the measured path of the RS-P for an elliptical shape).

[0372]

[0322] Referring to FIG. 22, at 2210, a position estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station.

[0373]

[0323] Referring to FIG. 22, at 2220, a position estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of a first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a third reception time of a second PRS at the reference device. In some designs, the first timing information includes the first ratio. In other designs, the first timing information includes information for the position estimation entity to derive the first ratio. For example, the first timing information may include relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurements of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time.

[0374]

[0324] Referring to FIG. 22, at 2230, a position estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network interface 380 or 390, data bus 382, etc.) receives second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of a first PRS at a target UE and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the target UE, and (ii) a fourth time difference between a third reception time and a fifth reception time of a second PRS at the target UE. In some designs, the second timing information includes the second ratio. In other designs, the second timing information includes information for the position estimation entity to derive the second ratio. For example, the second timing information may include the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements of pairs related to the third transmission time.

[0375]

[0325] Referring to FIG. 22, at 2240, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor 332 or 384 or 394, PRS module 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) determines a total propagation delay between (i) a propagation delay between a base station and a target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between a reference device and the target UE.

[0376]

[0326] Referring to FIG. 22, at 2250, a position estimation entity (e.g., processor 332 or 384 or 394, PRS module 342 or 388 or 398, etc.) determines an estimated position value of the target UE based on a first timing measurement, a second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay.

[0377]

[0327] FIG. 23 shows an exemplary implementation 2300 of process 2200 of FIG. 22 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In particular, the PRS corresponds to PRS#1, the second PRS corresponds to PRS#2, and the SRS corresponds to SRS.

[0378]

[0328] In the context, the baseline ellipse algorithm is [T oF (A, UE) + T oF (B, UE) - T oF (A, B)]e B + τ UE,1 (e B - e UE ) with a related error of

[0379]

Number

[0380] is. However, according to process 2200 in FIG. 22, this baseline ellipse algorithm can be compensated for time drift. For example,

[0381]

Number

[0382] is, provided that T oF (A, B) can be obtained from calendar information (for example, since the locations of BS A and reference device B are known, the propagation delay between BS A and reference device B can be calculated rather than measured). In this case, the error can be e A [T oF (A, B) + T oF (B, UE) - T oF (A, UE)] as described above, which is lower than the error of the baseline ellipse algorithm.

[0383]

[0329] Referring to FIG. 23, in one example, a set of three relative time of arrival (RTOA) is, for example,

[0384]

Number

[0385] and

[0386]

Number

[0387] To obtain, it includes the paired RToA measured by a reference device (e.g., gNB or UE) related to a pair of PRSs from another same gNB (PRS#1 and #2), and a third RToA related to the SRS from the UE. In some designs, each RTOA can be reported to the LMF (UE-assisted positioning) or the UE (UE-based positioning). An alternative option is

[0388]

Number

[0389] It may be to report the ratio related to

[0390]

[0330] In the various aspects described above, the reference for RSTD measurement is made. In some designs, the RSTD measurement may correspond to the DL-RSTD measurement. In some designs, DL-RSTD is SubframeRxj -T SubframeRxi The DL relative timing difference between the transmission point (TP) j and the reference TP i, defined as, provided that T SubframeRxj is the time when the UE receives the start of one subframe from TPj, and T SubframeRxi is the time when the UE receives the corresponding start of one subframe from the TP i that is closest in time to the subframe received from TPj. Multiple DL PRS resources can be used to determine the start of one subframe from the TP. For FR1, the reference point for DL RSTD can be the UE's antenna connector. For FR2, the reference point for DL RSTD can be the UE's antenna. In some designs, DL-RSTD may be applicable in the RRC_Connected state. In some designs, RSTD is the relative timing difference between two cells, e.g., between a reference cell and a measured adjacent cell. RSTD measurement is possible on intra-frequency cells and inter-frequency cells.

[0391]

[0331] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped as examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than those explicitly stated in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer than all the features of the individual exemplary clauses disclosed. Accordingly, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated herein, and each clause can exist as a separate example by itself. Each dependent clause can refer in the clause to a particular combination with one of the other clauses, but the (one or more) aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to the particular combination. It will be understood that other exemplary clauses can also include combinations of (one or more) dependent clause aspects with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or any combination of features with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations only if it is explicitly stated or cannot be readily inferred that a particular combination (such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor, etc., conflicting aspects) is not intended. Further, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on that independent clause.

[0392]

[0332] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0393]

[0333] Clause 1. A method of operating a base station, comprising: obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap; transmitting the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period; and muting the transmission during the second time period.

[0394]

[0334] Clause 2. The reference device corresponds to another base station or reference UE, and is the method described in Clause 1.

[0395]

[0335] Clause 3. The time gap is configured to be less than or equal to the maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS, and is the method described in any one of Clauses 1 to 2.

[0396]

[0336] Clause 4. The time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to the minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment, and is the method described in any one of Clauses 1 to 3.

[0397]

[0337] Clause 5. Muting the transmission during the second time period further includes muting the transmission during the time gap, and is the method described in any one of Clauses 1 to 4.

[0398]

[0338] Clause 6. Muting includes muting at the slot level, muting at the symbol level, muting at the PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof, and is the method described in any one of Clauses 1 to 5.

[0399]

[0339] Clause 7. The symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is related to each symbol, and is the method described in Clause 6.

[0400]

[0340] Clause 8. Muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation performed on each bitmap value related to the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern, and is the method described in Clause 7.

[0401]

[0341] A method of operating a reference device having a known location, comprising: obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap; muting transmission during the first time period while the first PRS is being received from the base station; and transmitting the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period.

[0402]

[0342] Clause 10. The method according to clause 9, wherein the PRS reception opportunity for receiving the first PRS is configured within the range of each muting opportunity.

[0403]

[0343] Clause 11. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 10, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

[0404]

[0344] Clause 12. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 11, wherein the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

[0405]

[0345] Clause 13. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 12, wherein the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

[0406]

[0346] Clause 14. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 13, wherein muting transmission during the first time period further comprises muting transmission during the time gap.

[0407]

[0347] Clause 15. Muting comprises muting at the slot level, muting at the symbol level, muting at the PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof, and is performed by the method described in any of Clauses 9 to 14.

[0408]

[0348] Clause 16. The symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is related to each symbol, and is performed by the method described in Clause 15.

[0409]

[0349] Clause 17. Muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation performed on each bitmap value related to the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern, and is performed by the method described in Clause 16.

[0410]

[0350] A method for operating a location estimation entity, comprising: receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station; receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device; receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE; determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; and determining an estimated location value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0411]

[0351] The method according to clause 18, wherein the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0412]

[0352] The method according to any one of clauses 18 to 19, wherein the second timing information comprises pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0413]

[0353] The method according to any one of clauses 18 to 20, wherein the first timing information comprises pair of reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0414]

[0354] Clause 22. The reference device corresponds to another base station or reference UE, and is the method described in any of Clauses 18 to 21.

[0415]

[0355] Clause 23. A method of operating a location estimation entity, comprising receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE), and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE; receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS-P) in the reference device, and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device; receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of RS-P in the base station, and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station; determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; and determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference.

[0416]

[0356] Clause 24. The method according to Clause 23, wherein the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0417]

[0357] Clause 25. The method according to any of Clauses 23 to 24, wherein the second timing information comprises a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

[0418]

[0358] Clause 26. The first timing information comprises a pair of receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time, and is the method according to any one of Clauses 23 to 25.

[0419]

[0359] Clause 27. The reference device is the method according to any one of Clauses 23 to 26, corresponding to another base station or a reference UE.

[0420]

[0360] Clause 28. A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station, and (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device, and (ii) receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between the first reception time and a third reception time of the second PRS at the reference device, (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of the first PRS at the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE, and (ii) receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE, (i) determining a total propagation delay between a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE, and determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay.

[0421]

[0361] Clause 29. The method according to Clause 28, wherein the first timing information comprises the first ratio, or the second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof.

[0422]

[0362] Clause 30. The first timing information is the method according to any of Clauses 28 to 29, comprising relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time.

[0423]

[0363] Clause 31. The second timing information is the method according to any of Clauses 28 to 30, comprising reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and the third transmission time.

[0424]

[0364] Clause 32. The reference device is the method according to any of Clauses 28 to 31, corresponding to another base station or reference UE.

[0425]

[0365] Clause 33. An apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, wherein the memory, the transceiver, and the processor are configured to implement the method according to any of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0426]

[0366] Clause 34. An apparatus comprising means for implementing the method according to any of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0427]

[0367] Clause 35. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions comprise at least one instruction for causing a computer or a processor to implement the method according to any of Clauses 1 to 32.

[0428]

[0368] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0429]

[0369] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various exemplary logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementations should not be construed as departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0430]

[0370] The various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gates or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0431]

[0371] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM (registered trademark)), registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0432] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. A computer-readable medium includes both a computer storage medium and a communication medium including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, the terms “disk” and “disc” include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically by laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0433]

[0373] While the above disclosure shows exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in a particular order. Further, elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, but the plural is contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular. The invention described in the claims of the present application at the time of filing is appended below. [C1] A method of operating a base station, comprising: obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap; transmitting the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period; muting transmission during the second time period; A method comprising the steps of: [C2] The method according to C1, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C3] The method according to C1, wherein the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS. [C4] The method according to C1, wherein the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment. [C5] The method according to C1, wherein muting the transmission during the second time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap. [C6] The method according to C1, wherein the muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof. [C7] The method according to C6, wherein the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol. [C8] The method according to C7, wherein muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern. [C9] A method of operating a reference device having a known location, comprising: Obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap. During reception of the first PRS from the base station, muting transmission during the first time period. Transmitting the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period. A method comprising the above. [C10] The method according to C9, wherein a PRS reception opportunity for receiving the first PRS is configured within a range of each muting opportunity. [C11] The method according to C9, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C12] The method according to C9, wherein the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS. [C13] The method according to C9, wherein the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment. [C14] The method according to C9, wherein muting the transmission during the first time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap. [C15] The method according to C9, wherein the muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof. [C16] The method according to C15, wherein a symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol. [C17] The method according to C16, wherein muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern. [C18] A method of operating a position estimation entity, Receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station. Receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of a second PRS in the reference device; Receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS in a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of the third PRS in the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS in the target UE; Determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; Determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference A method comprising. [C19] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or A combination thereof The method according to C18. [C20] The method according to C18, wherein the second timing information comprises reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time. [C21] The method according to C18, wherein the first timing information comprises received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time. [C22] The method according to C18, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C23] A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising: Receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE; receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal (RS-P) for positioning in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device; receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of the RS-P in the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station; determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference; A method comprising. [C24] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof; The method according to C23. [C25] The method according to C23, wherein the second timing information comprises pair reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time. [C26] The method according to C23, wherein the first timing information comprises pair reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time. [C27] The method according to C23, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C28] A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising: receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) in a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS in the base station; receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS in a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a third reception time of the second PRS in the reference device; receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of the first PRS in the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS in the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS in the target UE; determining a total propagation delay between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; determining an estimated position of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay A method comprising: [C29] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof The method according to C28. [C30] The method according to C28, wherein the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time. [C31] The method according to C28, wherein the second timing information comprises receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and the third transmission time. [C32] The method according to C28, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C33] a memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver A base station comprising: wherein the at least one processor is Obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap. Causing the at least one transceiver to transmit the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period. Muting the transmission during the second time period. A base station configured to perform the above. [C34] The reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. The base station according to C33. [C35] The base station according to C33, wherein the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS. [C36] The base station according to C33, wherein the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment. [C37] The base station according to C33, wherein muting the transmission during the second time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap. [C38] The muting includes muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof. The base station according to C33. [C39] The symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is related to a respective symbol. The base station according to C38. [C40] The muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value related to the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern. The base station according to C39. [C41] A memory. At least one transceiver. At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. A reference device comprising the above, wherein the at least one processor Obtain a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap. During reception of the first PRS from the base station, mute transmission during the first time period. Cause the at least one transceiver to transmit the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period. A reference device configured to perform the above. [C42] The reference device according to C41, wherein the PRS reception opportunity for receiving the first PRS is configured within the range of each muting opportunity. [C43] The reference device according to C41, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C44] The reference device according to C41, wherein the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS. [C45] The reference device according to C41, wherein the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment. [C46] The reference device according to C41, wherein muting the transmission during the first time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap. [C47] The reference device according to C41, wherein the muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof. [C48] The reference device according to C47, wherein the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol. [C49] The reference device according to C48, wherein muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation with respect to each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern. [C50] A memory, At least one transceiver, At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver A location estimation entity comprising, wherein the at least one processor: Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station; Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device; Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE; Determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; Determining an estimated location value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference; A location estimation entity configured to perform the above. [C51] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or A combination thereof The location estimation entity according to C50. [C52] The location estimation entity according to C50, wherein the second timing information comprises reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time. [C53] The location estimation entity according to C50, wherein the first timing information comprises reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time. [C54] The reference device is a position estimation entity described in C50 corresponding to another base station or reference UE. [C55] A memory, At least one transceiver, At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver A position estimation entity comprising: the at least one processor Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE; Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, (i) a first timing information indicating a first ratio between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal (RS-P) for positioning in the reference device and (ii) a second ratio between a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device and the first reception time; Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, (i) a second timing information indicating a second ratio between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of the RS-P in the base station and (ii) a fourth ratio between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station; Determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; Determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference A position estimation entity configured to perform the above. [C56] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or A combination thereof The position estimation entity described in C55. [C57] The second timing information is the positioning entity according to C55, comprising the measured values of the reference signal time difference (RSTD) of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time. [C58] The first timing information is the positioning entity according to C55, comprising the measured values of the reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time. [C59] The reference device is the positioning entity according to C55, corresponding to another base station or a reference UE. [C60] A memory, At least one transceiver, And at least one processor communicably coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver The positioning entity comprises, and the at least one processor Receives, via the at least one transceiver, a first timing measurement related to the first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station, and a second timing measurement related to the second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station. Receives, via the at least one transceiver, first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between the first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and the second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device, and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and the third reception time of the second PRS at the reference device. Receives, via the at least one transceiver, second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between the fourth reception time of the first PRS at the target UE and the third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE, and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and the fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE. Determines the total propagation delay between (i) the propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) the propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE. Determines the estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay. A location estimation entity configured to perform [C61] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof The location estimation entity according to C60. [C62] The location estimation entity according to C60, wherein the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time. [C63] The location estimation entity according to C60, wherein the second timing information comprises reception-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and the third transmission time. [C64] The location estimation entity according to C60, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C65] A base station, means for obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, means for transmitting the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period, means for muting the transmission during the second time period A base station comprising. [C66] The base station according to C65, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C67] The base station according to C65, wherein muting the transmission during the second time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap. [C68] A reference device, means for obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by a base station to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, the first time period and the second time period being separated from each other by a time gap, means for muting the transmission during the first time period while the first PRS is being received from the base station, means for transmitting the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period; A reference device comprising: [C69] The reference device is the reference device according to C68 corresponding to another base station or reference UE. [C70] The reference device according to C68, wherein muting the transmission during the first time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap. [C71] means for receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station; means for receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS at the reference device; means for receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS at a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE; means for determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; means for determining an estimated position of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference; A position estimation entity comprising: [C72] The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof The position estimation entity according to C71. [C73] The position estimation entity according to C71, wherein the second timing information comprises reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values of pairs related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time. [C74] The position estimation entity according to C71, wherein the first timing information includes a pair of receive - transmit (Rx - Tx) time difference measurement values related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time. [C75] The position estimation entity according to C71, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C76] Means for receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE. Means for receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS - P) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device. Means for receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in a base station and a fourth reception time of the RS - P in the base station and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second SRS in the base station. Means for determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE. Means for determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference. A position estimation entity comprising the above. [C77] The first timing information includes the first ratio, or The second timing information includes the second ratio, or a combination thereof. The position estimation entity according to C76. [C78] The position estimation entity according to C76, wherein the second timing information includes a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement values related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time. [C79] The position estimation entity according to C76, wherein the first timing information includes received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time. [C80] The position estimation entity according to C76, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE. [C81] Means for receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) at a base station and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS at the base station. Means for receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS at a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) at the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a third reception time of the second PRS at the reference device. Means for receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of the first PRS at the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS at the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS at the target UE. Means for determining a total propagation delay between (i) a propagation delay between the base station and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE. Means for determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay. A position estimation entity comprising the above. [C82] The first timing information includes the first ratio, or The second timing information includes the second ratio, or A combination thereof. The position estimation entity according to C81. [C83] The position estimation entity according to C81, wherein the first timing information includes relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement values of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time. [C84] The position estimation entity according to C81, wherein the second timing information includes a received-transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement value of a pair related to the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and the third transmission time. [C85] The position estimation entity according to C81, wherein the reference device corresponds to another base station or a reference UE.

Claims

1. A method for operating a network component, comprising: obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) to be transmitted by the network component to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS to be transmitted by a reference device having a known location to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap; transmitting the first PRS to the target UE during the first time period; muting the transmission during the second time period, wherein muting the transmission during the second time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap; A method comprising the above.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reference device corresponds to another network component or a reference UE.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

7. The muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation performed on each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the muting pattern at the symbol level, the method according to claim 6. **Claim 8** A method of operating a reference device having a known location, comprising: Obtaining a configuration of a time difference of arrival (TDOA) procedure comprising a first positioning reference signal (PRS) for transmission by a network component to a target user equipment (UE) during a first time period and a second PRS for transmission by the reference device to the target UE during a second time period, wherein the first time period and the second time period are separated from each other by a time gap; During the first time period while the first PRS is received from the network component, muting the transmission, wherein muting the transmission during the first time period further comprises muting the transmission during the time gap; Transmitting the second PRS to the target UE during the second time period A method comprising: **Claim 9** The PRS reception opportunity for receiving the first PRS is configured within the range of each muting opportunity, the method according to claim 8. **Claim 10** The reference device corresponds to another network component or a reference UE, the method according to claim 8. **Claim 11** The time gap is configured to be less than or equal to a maximum allowable time gap between the first PRS and the second PRS, the method according to claim 8. **Claim 12** The time gap is configured to be greater than or equal to a minimum gap for radio frequency (RF) readjustment, the method according to claim 8. **Claim 13** The method according to claim 8, wherein the muting comprises muting at a slot level, muting at a symbol level, muting at a PRS resource setting instance level, or a combination thereof.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the symbol-level muting pattern is defined by a bitmap, and each bit value of each bitmap is associated with a respective symbol.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the muting for a given symbol is performed based on an AND operation performed on each bitmap value associated with the given symbol from the symbol-level muting pattern.

16. A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising: receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) in a network component and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS in the network component; receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS in a reference device associated with a known location and a third transmission time of a third PRS in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second PRS in the reference device; receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first PRS in a target user equipment (UE) and a fourth reception time of the third PRS in the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS in the target UE; determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the network component and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; Determining an estimated position of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference A method comprising

17. The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or Is a combination thereof The method according to claim 16.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the second timing information comprises a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first timing information comprises a pair of reception - transmission (Rx - Tx) time difference measurements related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the reference device corresponds to another network component or a reference UE.

21. A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising: Receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first sounding reference signal (SRS) in a target user equipment (UE) and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second SRS in the target UE; Receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first SRS in a reference device related to a known location and a third transmission time of a reference signal for positioning (RS - P) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a second reception time of the second SRS in the reference device; (i) a third time difference between a third reception time of the first SRS in the network component and a fourth reception time of the RS-P in the network component; and (ii) receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between the third reception time and a fourth time difference between the fifth reception time of the second SRS in the network component, determining a propagation delay difference between (i) a propagation delay between the network component and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the propagation delay difference; A method comprising:

22. The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or a combination thereof; The method according to claim 21.

23. The method according to claim 21, wherein the second timing information comprises a pair of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements related to the third reception time, the fourth reception time, and the fifth reception time.

24. The method according to claim 21, wherein the first timing information comprises a pair of receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third transmission time.

25. The method according to claim 21, wherein the reference device corresponds to another network component or a reference UE.

26. A method of operating a position estimation entity, comprising: Receiving a first timing measurement related to a first transmission time of a first positioning reference signal (PRS) in a network component and a second timing measurement related to a second transmission time of a second PRS in the network component; Receiving first timing information indicating a first ratio between (i) a first time difference between a first reception time of the first PRS in a reference device related to a known location and a second reception time of a third PRS from a target user equipment (UE) in the reference device and (ii) a second time difference between the first reception time and a third reception time of the second PRS in the reference device; Receiving second timing information indicating a second ratio between (i) a third time difference between a fourth reception time of the first PRS in the target UE and a third transmission time of the third PRS in the target UE and (ii) a fourth time difference between the third reception time and a fifth reception time of the second PRS in the target UE; Determining a total propagation delay between (i) a propagation delay between the network component and the target UE and (ii) a propagation delay between the reference device and the target UE; Determining an estimated position value of the target UE based on the first timing measurement, the second timing measurement, the first timing information, the second timing information, and the total propagation delay; A method comprising:

27. The first timing information comprises the first ratio, or The second timing information comprises the second ratio, or A combination thereof The method according to claim 26.

28. The method according to claim 26, wherein the first timing information comprises relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurements of pairs related to the first reception time, the second reception time, and the third reception time.

29. The method according to claim 26, wherein the second timing information comprises a pair of receive - transmit (Rx - Tx) time difference measurement values related to the fourth reception time, the fifth reception time, and the third transmission time. **Claim 30** The method according to claim 26, wherein the reference device corresponds to another network component or a reference UE. **Claim 31** The method according to claim 1, wherein the network component corresponds to a base station. **Claim 32** The method according to claim 8, wherein the network component corresponds to a base station. **Claim 33** The method according to claim 16, wherein the network component corresponds to a base station.

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