Transmission of Measurement Data Associated with Location Information

Abstract

In some wireless communication scenarios, a radio environment map (e.g., a channel map) can be constructed that associates measurements with location. To assist in generating or maintaining the map, one or more user equipments (UEs) may need to generate and report measurement data along with associated location information. In some embodiments, the method may include the UE generating measurement data that associates the measurements with location information associated with the UE. The method may further include the UE transmitting the measurement data with the location information to a radio access network (RAN) device for use by the RAN.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to wireless communication, and more particularly, to wireless transmission of measurement data associated with location information.

Background Art

[0002] In some wireless communication systems, an electronic device such as a user equipment (UE) wirelessly communicates with a network via one or more transmission and reception points (TRPs). The TRP can be a terrestrial TRP (T-TRP) or a non-terrestrial TRP (NT-TRP). An example of a T-TRP is a fixed base station or a Node B. An example of an NT-TRP is a TRP that can move within space and change its location, such as a TRP mounted on a drone, an airplane, and / or a satellite.

[0003] The wireless communication from the UE to the TRP is called uplink communication. The wireless communication from the TRP to the UE is called downlink communication. Resources are required to perform uplink communication and downlink communication. For example, the UE can wirelessly transmit information to the TRP in uplink communication using a specific frequency (or frequency range) over a specific period. This frequency and period are examples of resources commonly called time-frequency resources.

[0004] The TRP is part of a Radio Access Network (RAN), which is responsible for performing wireless communication with a UE through an air interface. The quality of wireless communication between one or more of the UE and the TRP depends on the quality of the wireless channel. The quality of the wireless channel depends on many factors. These factors may include, for example, the position of the UE relative to the TRP. For example, a UE located where there is a direct line of sight (LOS) to the TRP can have a higher quality wireless channel than a UE located where there is no direct LOS but is surrounded by high-rise buildings. The UE can measure one or more wireless channel parameters indicating one or more characteristics of the wireless channel and then provide the measurement results to the TRP. For example, the TRP can send a reference signal to the UE, and the UE can use the reference signal to measure channel state information (CSI). Then, the measured CSI can be sent to the TRP. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Some wireless channel parameters may be static, for example, because the TRP and major obstacles (e.g., buildings) are stationary, or may change only semi-statically with respect to a specific location. For example, parameters such as path loss and delay spread may remain constant (static) at a specific location over a specific period of time and may have the same value that is substantially the same for any UE located at that position during that specific period. If each UE located at that position measures such wireless channel parameters and transmits the measurement results, it may result in waste of overhead. Instead, in some embodiments, the RAN can construct a channel map that associates channel measurement results with locations. Once the channel map is constructed, the RAN that receives location information associated with the UE can obtain the channel information of that location by referring to the channel map, so the UE may not need to perform measurements or return measurement results. For example, the UE may not need to measure and report CSI. Therefore, overhead can be saved.

[0006] However, to construct, maintain, and / or update a channel map, one or more UEs communicating with the RAN's TRP may need to generate measurement data and report it to the RAN along with the associated location information. For example, a UE may transmit coordinates indicating its location (e.g., GPS coordinates) along with the CSI measured at that location. The location information is coordinates, the CSI is a measurement result, and the measurement data is a combination of the measurement result and the location information. The measurement data can then be used by the RAN to construct or update the channel map at that location. Thereafter, that UE or another UE at the same location can refrain from measuring and reporting the CSI. The new UE only needs to report its location to the RAN, and upon receiving this, the RAN uses the channel map to obtain the CSI.

[0007] More generally, the RAN can construct a map of radio environment information that is not just channel information, for example, this can be more than just a channel map. For example, other parameters related to the environment or different parameters can be measured by the UE and reported along with the location information associated with that UE. For example, the UE can measure and report information such as humidity or air pollution. The reported information can be stored in and utilized for the radio environment map.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0008] In some embodiments, a method is provided that is performed by a device such as a UE. The method may include generating measurement data that associates measurements with location information associated with the device. The method may further include transmitting the measurement data carrying the location information to a RAN device for use by the RAN. In some embodiments, a corresponding method is provided that is performed by a device within the RAN, such as by a TRP within the RAN. The method may include receiving, from a device that wirelessly communicates with the RAN (e.g., a UE), measurement data that associates measurements performed by the device with location information associated with the device. The method may further include decoding the measurement data to obtain measurement results of the location information and the measurements. In some embodiments, the method may further include using the location information and the measurement results to construct or update a map, such as a channel map.

[0009] Technical advantages of some embodiments are the association of measurement results with location information, whereby the RAN can construct and / or update a radio environment map (e.g., a channel map) and other UEs may not need to transmit measurement feedback of their locations, thus saving communication overhead after the map has been constructed and / or updated.

[0010] In some scenarios, there may be technical challenges in performing the reporting of location information associated with the parameter to be measured. For example, the location information of the UE may be considered private. As another example, since the capabilities of UEs can vary depending on the UE, some UEs can measure and report several different parameters for a given location, while other UEs may only be able to measure and report one parameter for a given location. Some embodiments address these technical challenges in the manner described herein. For example, in some embodiments, the ID of the UE is not included in the transmission of the measurement data. As a result, there is a technical advantage of better maintaining the privacy of the UE. As another example, in some embodiments, the data format of the measurement data may be obtained, for example, configured by the RAN for the UE, or reported by the UE. For example, the UE can transmit an identifier (ID) indicating which one or more parameters are measured by the UE to the RAN. Other configurations may include the granularity of the location size and / or the granularity of the measurement data and / or the number of locations in the measurement report carrying the measurement data. Thereby, for example, different data formats can be configured for different UEs according to the capabilities of the UEs, enabling the technical advantage of being able to accommodate different UEs with different capabilities.

[0011] The location used herein refers to a location within physical space, but may also include orientation depending on the implementation. For example, two UEs having the same coordinates within physical space but two different orientations may, depending on the implementation, be considered to be at two different locations.

[0012] Corresponding apparatuses and devices for performing the method are also disclosed herein.

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0015] For purposes of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0016] Exemplary Communication Systems and Devices Referring to FIG. 1, a simplified schematic diagram of a communication system 100 is provided as an example for illustration and not limitation. The communication system 100 includes a radio access network (RAN) 120. The radio access network 120 can be a next-generation (e.g., 6th generation (6G) and later) radio access network or a legacy (e.g., 5G, 4G, 3G, or 2G) radio access network. One or more communication electrical devices (EDs) 110a - 110j (collectively referred to as 110) can be interconnected with each other or connected to one or more network nodes (collectively referred to as 170a, 170b, 170) within the radio access network 120. The core network 130 can be part of the communication system, can depend on the radio access technology used in the communication system 100, or can be independent of the radio access technology used in the communication system 100. Also, the communication system 100 includes a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160.

[0017] Figure 2 shows an exemplary communication system 100. Generally, communication system 100 enables multiple wireless or wired elements to communicate data and other content. The purpose of communication system 100 may be to provide content such as voice, data, video, and / or text via broadcast, multicast, and unicast. Communication system 100 may operate by sharing resources such as carrier spectral bandwidth among its components. Communication system 100 may include a terrestrial communication system and / or a non-terrestrial communication system. Communication system 100 can provide a wide range of communication services and applications (e.g., earth monitoring, remote sensing, passive sensing and positioning, navigation and tracking, automatic delivery and mobility, etc.). Communication system 100 can provide high availability and robustness through the cooperation of terrestrial and non-terrestrial communication systems. For example, integrating a non-terrestrial communication system (or its components) into a terrestrial communication system can result in a heterogeneous network with multiple layers. Compared with conventional communication networks, heterogeneous networks can achieve better overall performance through efficient multi-link cooperation between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, more flexible function sharing, and faster physical layer link switching.

[0018] The terrestrial communication system and the non-terrestrial communication system can be considered as subsystems of the communication system. In the illustrated example, communication system 100 includes electronic devices (ED) 110a - 110d (collectively referred to as ED110), radio access networks (RAN) 120a - 120b, non-terrestrial communication network 120c (which may also be part of or the entire RAN), core network 130, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160. RANs 120a - 120b each include a respective base station (BS) 170a - 170b that can be collectively referred to as terrestrial transmit-receive points (T-TRPs) 170a - 170b. Non-terrestrial communication network 120c includes an access node 120c that can be collectively referred to as a non-terrestrial transmit-receive point (NT-TRP) 172.

[0019] Alternatively, or in addition, any one of the ED110s may be configured to communicate with, access, or communicate with any other of the T-TRP170a-170b and NT-TRP172, Internet 150, Core Network 130, PSTN 140, other network 160, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the ED110a may communicate uplink and / or downlink transmissions with the T-TRP170a via the interface 190a. In some examples, the ED110a, 110b, and 110d may also communicate directly with each other via one or more sidelink air interfaces 190b. In some examples, the ED110d may communicate uplink and / or downlink transmissions with the NT-TRP172 via the interface 190c.

[0020] The air interfaces 190a and 190b may use similar communication technologies such as any suitable radio access technology. For example, the communication system 100 may implement one or more channel access methods such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) on the air interfaces 190a and 190b. The air interfaces 190a and 190b may utilize other high-dimensional signal spaces that may include combinations of orthogonal and / or non-orthogonal dimensions.

[0021] The air interface 190c may enable communication between the ED110d and one or more NT-TRP172s via a wireless link or simply a link. In some examples, the link is a dedicated connection for unicast transmission, a connection for broadcast transmission, or a connection between a group of EDs for multicast transmission and one or more NT-TRPs.

[0022] RAN120a and RAN120b communicate with core network 130 to provide various services, such as voice, data, and other services, to ED110a, 110b, and ED110c. RAN120a and 120b and / or core network 130 may or may not be directly served by core network 130 and may or may not use the same radio access technology as RAN120a, RAN120b, or both, and can communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown). Core network 130 can also function as a gateway access between (i) RAN120a and 120b or ED110a, 110b, and 110c or both, and (ii) other networks (such as PSTN140, Internet 150, and other networks 160). Further, some or all of ED110a, 110b, and 110c may include functionality for communicating with different wireless networks via different wireless links using different wireless technologies and / or protocols. Instead of (or in addition to) wireless communication, ED110a, 110b, and 110c can communicate with a service provider or switch (not shown) and Internet 150 through a wired communication channel. PSTN140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing basic telephone service (POTS). Internet 150 may include a network of computers and subnets (intranets) or both and can incorporate protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). ED110a, 110b, and 110c can be multimode devices operable according to multiple radio access technologies and can incorporate multiple transceivers required to support such.

[0023] Figure 3 shows another example of an ED110, base stations 170 (e.g., 170a and / or 170b) called T-TRP170, and NT-TRP172. The ED110 is used to connect people, things, machines, etc. The ED110 can be widely used in various scenarios, such as cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), peer-to-peer (P2P), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, drones, robots, remote sensing, passive sensing, positioning, navigation and tracking, automatic delivery and mobility, etc.

[0024] Each ED110 corresponds to any end-user device suitable for wireless operation, and in particular, user equipment / devices (UE), wireless transmit-receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, mobile phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, household electrical appliance, smartbook, vehicle, automobile, truck, bus, train, or IoT device, industrial device, or device within the aforementioned devices (e.g., communication module, modem, or chip), etc. (or can be called by these names). Future-generation ED110s may be called by other terms. Each ED110 connected to the T-TRP170 and / or NT-TRP172 can be turned on dynamically or semi-statically (i.e., established, activated, or enabled), turned off (i.e., released, deactivated, or disabled), and / or configured according to one or more of connection availability and connection necessity.

[0025] ED110 includes a transmitter 201 and a receiver 203 coupled to one or more antennas 204. Only one antenna 204 is shown. Any one, several, or all of the antennas may instead be a panel. The transmitter 201 and the receiver 203 may be integrated, for example, as a transceiver. The transmitter (or transceiver) is configured to modulate data or other content for transmission by at least one antenna 204 or a network interface controller (NIC). The receiver (or transceiver) is configured to demodulate data or other content received by at least one antenna 204. Each transceiver includes some suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission and / or processing signals received wirelessly or wired. Each antenna 204 includes some suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals.

[0026] ED110 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED110. For example, the memory 208 can store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described in this document and executed by the processing unit 210. Each memory 208 includes some suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory and retrieval device. Some suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, on-processor cache, etc.

[0027] ED110 may further include one or more input / output devices (not shown) or interfaces (e.g., a wired interface to the Internet 150 of FIG. 1). The input / output devices enable interaction with a user or other devices within the network. Each input / output device includes some suitable structure for providing information to the user or receiving information from the user, such as a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a keyboard, a display, or a touch screen, including network interface communication.

[0028] ED110 further includes a processor 210 for performing operations, including operations related to preparing for transmission for uplink transmission to NT-TRP172 and / or T-TRP170, operations related to processing downlink transmissions received from NT-TRP172 and / or T-TRP170, and operations related to processing sidelink transmissions with another ED110. The processing operations related to preparing for transmission for uplink transmission may include operations such as encoding, modulation, transmission beamforming, and symbol generation for transmission. The processing operations related to processing downlink transmissions may include operations such as receiving beamforming, demodulation, and decoding of received symbols. Depending on the embodiment, according to which, downlink transmissions may be received by the receiver 203 using receiving beamforming, and the processor 210 may extract signaling from the downlink transmission (e.g., by detecting and / or decoding the signaling). An example of signaling may be a reference signal transmitted by NT-TRP172 and / or T-TRP170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 may perform transmission beamforming and / or receiving beamforming based on an indication of a beam direction received from T-TRP170, for example, based on beam angle information (BAI). In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as operations related to detection of a synchronization sequence, decoding and acquisition of system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may perform channel estimation using, for example, a reference signal received from NT-TRP172 and / or T-TRP170.

[0029] Although not shown, the processor 210 may form part of the transmitter 201 and / or the receiver 203. Although not shown, the memory 208 may form part of the processor 210.

[0030] The processor 210, as well as the processing components of the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203, can each be implemented by one or more of the same or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., within the memory 208). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of the processor 210, as well as the transmitter 201 and the receiver 203, can be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as a programmed field programmable gate array (FPGA), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0031] T-TRP170 can be known by different names in some implementations, such as, among other things, a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a network node, a network device, a network side device, a transceiver node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a home eNodeB, a next generation Node B (gNB), a transmission point (TP), a site controller, an access point (AP), or a wireless router, a relay station, a remote radio head, a terrestrial node, a terrestrial network device, or a terrestrial base station, a baseband unit (BBU), a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU), a remote radio head (RRH), a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a positioning node, etc. T-TRP170 can be a macro BS, a pico BS, a relay node, a donor node, etc., or a combination thereof. T-TRP170 can refer to the aforementioned devices or a device within the aforementioned devices (e.g., a communication module, a modem, or a chip).

[0032] In some embodiments, portions of T-TRP170 may be distributed. For example, some of the modules of T-TRP170 may be located away from the device that houses the antenna of T-TRP170 and may be coupled to the device that houses the antenna via a communication link (not shown), such as a fronthaul known as a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI). Thus, in some embodiments, the term T-TRP170 may refer to network-side modules that perform processing operations, such as determination of the location of ED110, resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, and encoding / decoding, and are not necessarily part of the device that houses the antenna of T-TRP170. These modules may also be coupled to other T-TRPs. In some embodiments, T-TRP170 may actually be a plurality of T-TRPs that operate together, for example, through coordinated multipoint transmission, to serve ED110.

[0033] The T-TRP170 includes at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 coupled to one or more antennas 256. Only one antenna 256 is illustrated. Any one, several, or all of the antennas may alternatively be a panel. The transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 may be integrated as a transceiver. The T-TRP170 further includes a processor 260 for performing operations including preparing transmissions for downlink transmissions to the ED110, processing uplink transmissions received from the ED110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmissions to the NT-TRP172, and processing transmissions received from the NT-TRP172 via the backhaul. The processing operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generation of symbols for transmission. In the uplink, or via the backhaul, the processing operations related to processing received transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, and demodulation and decoding of received symbols. The processor 260 can also perform operations related to network access (e.g., initial access) and / or downlink synchronization, such as generation of the content of a synchronization signal block (SSB), generation of system information, etc. In some embodiments, the processor 260 can also generate an indication of a beam direction, e.g., BAI, that can be scheduled for transmission by the scheduler 253. The processor 260 performs other network-side processing operations that may be described herein, such as determining the location of the ED110, determining where to deploy the NT-TRP172. In some embodiments, the processor 260 can generate signaling to configure, for example, one or more parameters of the ED110 and / or one or more parameters of the NT-TRP172. The signaling generated by the processor 260 is transmitted by the transmitter 252. Note that what is referred to as "signaling" herein may alternatively be called control signaling.Dynamic signaling can be transmitted on a control channel, e.g., a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and static or semi-static upper layer signaling can be included in packets transmitted on a data channel, e.g., a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0034] Scheduler 253 can be coupled to processor 260. Scheduler 253 can be included within T-TRP 170 or can operate separately from the T-TRP. Scheduler 253 can schedule uplink, downlink, and / or backhaul transmissions, including issuing scheduling grants and / or configuring scheduling-free (``configured grant'') resources. T-TRP 170 further includes a memory 258 for storing information and data. Memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by T-TRP 170. For example, memory 258 can store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by processor 260.

[0035] Although not shown, processor 260 can form part of transmitter 252 and / or receiver 254. Also, although not shown, processor 260 can implement scheduler 253. Although not shown, memory 258 can form part of processor 260.

[0036] Processor 260, scheduler 253, and the processing components of transmitter 252 and receiver 254 can each be implemented by one or more same or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g., memory 258. Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of processor 260, scheduler 253, and transmitter 252 and receiver 254 can be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as an FPGA, GPU, or ASIC.

[0037] Although NT-TRP172 is illustrated as a drone, this is merely an example. NT-TRP172 may be implemented in any suitable non-ground-based form. Also, NT-TRP172 may be known by different names in some implementations, such as a non-ground node, a non-ground network device, or a non-ground base station. NT-TRP172 includes a transmitter 272 and a receiver 274 coupled to one or more antennas 280. Only one antenna 280 is illustrated. Any one, some, or all of the antennas may instead be a panel. The transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be integrated as a transceiver. NT-TRP172 further includes a processor 276 for performing operations including preparing transmissions for downlink transmissions to ED110, processing uplink transmissions received from ED110, preparing transmissions for backhaul transmissions to T-TRP170, and processing transmissions received from T-TRP170 via the backhaul. The processing operations related to preparing transmissions for downlink or backhaul transmissions may include operations such as encoding, modulation, precoding (e.g., MIMO precoding), transmit beamforming, and generation of symbols for transmission. In the uplink, or via the backhaul, the processing operations related to processing received transmissions may include operations such as receive beamforming, and demodulation and decoding of received symbols. In some embodiments, the processor 276 performs transmit beamforming and / or receive beamforming based on beam direction information (e.g., BAI) received from T-TRP170. In some embodiments, the processor 276 can generate signaling, for example, to configure one or more parameters of ED110. In some embodiments, NT-TRP172 performs physical layer processing but does not perform upper layer functions such as functions in the medium access control (MAC) or radio link control (RLC) layer. This is merely an example, and more generally, NT-TRP172 can perform upper layer functions in addition to physical layer processing.

[0038] NT-TRP172 further includes a memory 278 for storing information and data. Although not shown, the processor 276 may form part of the transmitter 272 and / or the receiver 274. Although not shown, the memory 278 may form part of the processor 276.

[0039] The processor 276 and the processing components of the transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may each be implemented by one or more same or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, e.g., the memory 278. Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of the processor 276 and the transmitter 272 and the receiver 274 may be implemented using a dedicated circuit such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. In some embodiments, NT-TRP172 may actually be a plurality of NT-TRPs that operate together to serve the ED110, e.g., through coordinated multipoint transmission.

[0040] Note that the "TRP" used in this document may refer to T-TRP or NT-TRP.

[0041] T-TRP170, NT-TRP172, and / or ED110 may include other components, but these are omitted for clarity.

[0042] One or more steps of the method of the embodiments provided herein may be performed by corresponding units or modules, such as, for example, according to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows exemplary units or modules within a device such as ED110, T-TRP170, or NT-TRP172. For example, operations may be controlled by an operating system module. As another example, signals may be transmitted by a transmitting unit or module. Signals may be received by a receiving unit or module. Signals may be processed by a processing unit or module. Some operations / steps may be performed by an artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML) module. Each unit or module may be implemented using hardware, one or more components or devices that execute software, or a combination thereof. For example, any one or more of the units or modules may be an integrated circuit such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC. For example, when modules are implemented using software for execution by a processor, it will be understood that they may be fetched by the processor, individually or together, as needed, in whole or in part, for processing in single or multiple instances, and that the modules themselves may contain instructions for further deployment and instance generation.

[0043] Further details regarding ED110, T-TRP170, and NT-TRP172 are known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, these details are omitted here.

[0044] Here, the control information will be described. The control information may alternatively be referred to as control signaling, or simply signaling. In some cases, the control information may be dynamically communicated at the physical layer over a control channel, such as, for example, the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). An example of the control information that is dynamically indicated is the information transmitted by physical layer control signaling, such as the uplink control information (UCI) transmitted over the PUCCH, or the downlink control information (DCI) transmitted over the PDCCH. The dynamic indication may be an indication from a lower layer, such as physical layer / layer 1 signaling, rather than from a higher layer (e.g., not RRC signaling or MAC CE). The semi-static indication may be an indication of semi-static signaling. The semi-static signaling used in this document may refer to non-dynamic signaling, such as higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, etc.), and / or MAC CE. The dynamic signaling used in this document may refer to physical layer control signaling transmitted at the physical layer, such as DCI transmitted over the PDCCH or UCI transmitted over the PUCCH, which is dynamic signaling.

[0045] Figure 5 shows an ED communicating with a TRP 352 within the RAN 120 according to one embodiment. The ED is shown as a UE and is referred to as UE 110. However, the ED does not necessarily have to be a UE.

[0046] TRP352 can be T-TRP170 or NT-TRP172. In some embodiments, portions of TRP352 can be distributed. For example, some of the modules of TRP352 can be located away from the device that houses the antenna of TRP352 and can be coupled to the device that houses the antenna via a communication link (not shown). Thus, in some embodiments, the term TRP352 can refer to a module within RAN120 that performs processing operations such as resource allocation (scheduling), message generation, encoding / decoding, etc., and is not necessarily part of the device that houses the antenna and / or panel of TRP352. For example, a module that is not necessarily part of the device that houses the antenna / panel of TRP352 can include one or more of: processing (e.g., decoding) measurement data from UE110, generating a message to be sent to UE110, for example a message that configures the data format of the measurement data, generating a downlink transmission for initial access (e.g., SSB), generating a scheduled downlink transmission, processing an uplink transmission, etc. The module can also be coupled to other TRPs. In some embodiments, TRP352 can actually be a plurality of TRPs that operate together, for example through coordinated multipoint transmission, to serve UE110.

[0047] TRP352 includes a transmitter 354 and a receiver 356 that can be integrated as a transceiver. The transmitter 354 and the receiver 356 are coupled to one or more antennas 358. Only one antenna 358 is illustrated. Any one, some, or all of the antennas may instead be a panel. The processor 360 of the TRP352 performs the operations described herein as being performed by the TRP352 (or controls the TRP352 to perform those operations), for example, decodes measurement data received from the UE110 and generates messages that configure the UE110 (e.g., configure the data format of the measurement data). Generating messages for downlink transmission may include arranging information in a message format, encoding the message, modulating it, and (optionally) performing beamforming. Processing uplink transmission may include (optionally) performing beamforming, demodulating and decoding the received message, and the like. Decoding measurement data or any other received data may be performed by a combined method of decoding according to a channel coding scheme, for example, polar decoding when the data is encoded using a polar code, by an LDPC decoding algorithm for a low density parity check (LDPC) code. Decoding methods are well known. For completeness, exemplary decoding methods that may be implemented include, but are not limited to, maximum likelihood (ML) decoding, and / or minimum distance decoding, and / or syndrome decoding, and / or Viterbi decoding, and the like. Although not shown, the processor 360 may form part of the transmitter 354 and / or the receiver 356. The TRP352 further includes a memory 362 that stores information (e.g., control information and / or data).

[0048] The processing components of processor 360 and transmitter 354 and receiver 356 can be implemented by one or more same or different processors configured to execute instructions stored in a memory (e.g., within memory 362). Alternatively, some or all of the processing components of processor 360 and / or transmitter 354 and / or receiver 356 can be implemented using dedicated circuitry such as a programmed FPGA, GPU, or ASIC.

[0049] When TRP352 is T-TRP170, transmitter 354 can be or include transmitter 252, receiver 356 can be or include receiver 254, processor 360 can be or include processor 260, can implement scheduler 253, and memory 362 can be or include memory 258. When TRP352 is NT-TRP172, transmitter 354 can be or include transmitter 272, receiver 356 can be or include receiver 274, processor 360 can be or include processor 276, and memory 362 can be or include memory 278.

[0050] UE110 includes, as described above, antenna 204, processor 210, memory 208, transmitter 201, and receiver 203. Processor 210 performs (or controls UE110 to perform) many of the operations described herein as being performed by UE110, such as measuring parameters to obtain measurement results, obtaining location information, generating measurement data (e.g., by incorporating the measurement results and location information into the same message that is measurement data), and obtaining the data format of the measurement data (e.g., by determining the format based on the capabilities of UE110 or by receiving the configuration within the received and decoded message to obtain the configuration).

[0051] Processor 210 generates messages for uplink transmission (e.g., messages carrying measurement data), and processor 210 processes received downlink transmissions. Generation of messages for uplink transmission (e.g., measurement data) may include arranging information in message format, encoding the message, modulating it, and (optionally) performing beamforming. Processing received downlink transmissions may include (optionally) performing beamforming, demodulating and decoding the received message, etc. Although not shown, processor 210 may form part of transmitter 201 and / or receiver 203.

[0052] FIG. 6 shows a method executed by UE 110 and TRP 352 according to one embodiment.

[0053] In step 402, UE 110 generates measurement data that associates measurements with location information associated with UE 110. For example, the location information may be equal to the location of UE 110, associated with the location of UE 110, or indicate the location of UE 110.

[0054] In step 404, UE 110 transmits the measurement data carrying the location information to TRP 352 for use by RAN 120.

[0055] In step 406, TRP 352 receives the measurement data.

[0056] In step 408, TRP 352 decodes the measurement data to obtain the location information and the measurement results of the measurements.

[0057] Optionally, in step 410, TRP 352 uses the location information and the measurement results to construct or update a map of radio environment information at that location, e.g., update the channel map at that location.

[0058] Note that the measurement data in FIG. 6 may alternatively be referred to as a "measurement report".

[0059] FIG. 6 may be modified to use a device instead of UE110, where the device is an electronic device that may be a UE but does not necessarily have to be a UE. However, for ease of explanation, the remaining embodiments and variations of FIG. 6 refer to UE110 instead of the device. Similarly, FIG. 6 may be modified to use TRP352 instead of a RAN device, where the RAN device may be a TRP but does not necessarily have to be a TRP. For example, the RAN device may be a server, node, or other processing device within RAN120 that communicates with TRP352 through, for example, a backhaul link or other link, in which case TRP352 can relay measurement data to the RAN device. However, for ease of explanation, the remaining embodiments and variations of FIG. 6 refer to TRP352 instead of the RAN device.

[0060] Note that in FIG. 6, the measurement data carrying location information is for use by RAN120. This is not used by the core network 130 or another network outside of RAN120. This is because the location information associated with the measurement results is used in relation to the air interface for wireless communication and is used, for example, to construct a radio environment map such as a channel map. The location information is not transferred to the core network 130.

[0061] Acquisition of Location Information In the method of FIG. 6, the measurement data carries location information associated with UE110. The location information can be obtained in various ways, and some examples of which are described below.

[0062] In some embodiments, the location information may include at least any one of coordinates representing the location of UE110 in the space, an identifier of the area where UE110 is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates. In some embodiments, the coordinates may be either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position. In some embodiments, the geographical coordinates may include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or global positioning system (GPS) coordinates. Some specific examples are shown below.

[0063] In some embodiments, a part of the space is divided into separate areas. For example, FIG. 7 shows a part of the space 436 divided into nine areas, each associated with a different unique identifier. The identifiers are 0 to 8 in FIG. 7. Note that the identifier may sometimes be called by another name such as a tag.

[0064] The areas in FIG. 7 are shown as non-overlapping three-dimensional (3D). However, the embodiments showing the areas as 3D and / or non-overlapping are just examples. Instead, two-dimensional (2D) areas and / or partially overlapping areas may be implemented. Although nine areas are shown in FIG. 7, this is just an example. There may be more or fewer areas.

[0065] In the example of FIG. 7, the location information associated with UE110 is an identifier of the area where UE110 is located, for example, any one of the numbers from 0 to 8. In some embodiments, UE110 determines its own location, and based on that location, UE110 knows the areas 0 to 8 where the UE is located. For example, area 0 can be associated with a known reference location, such as specific GPS coordinates and / or the location of a specific TRP and / or specific coordinates in a virtual 3D space, etc. The size of each area (e.g., the length, width, and height of each of areas 0 to 8) can also be known to UE110 and TRP352 (e.g., each area can be 2 meters × 2 meters × 2 meters). The number of areas and / or the reference location and / or the size of each area can be pre-determined or configured by TRP352, and / or can be configured by UE110, for example, dynamically (e.g., via DCI), or semi-statically (e.g., via upper layer signaling such as RRC signaling, or via MAC CE). In one example, TRP352 indicates to UE110 (1) the orientation of the horizontal / vertical / altitude axis (if not pre-determined), (2) the number of areas in the vertical, horizontal, and altitude directions, (3) the ID numbering rule for each area, and (4) the location of the reference area.

[0066] Note that the illustrated horizontal / vertical / altitude axis is only an example. In other embodiments, the horizontal / vertical / altitude axis can instead be a longitude / latitude / altitude axis, and / or geographic north or magnetic north can be used for the vertical axis.

[0067] UE110 determines its own location and transmits the area identifier of the area where UE110 is located as location information. For example, if the location of UE110 is within area 1, UE110 transmits "1" as the location information carried by the measurement data in step 404 of FIG. 6.

[0068] Exemplary ways in which UE110 can determine its position are as follows: (1) using GPS or assisted GPS, and / or (2) derived based on the measured angles and distances from the TRP, and / or (3) tracked from the previous position of UE110, and / or (4) obtaining assistance from the TRP (e.g., TRP352 can determine the position of UE110 and transmit that position to UE110), and / or (5) UE110 senses its environment, e.g., using radio wave measurements (e.g., radar), and / or acoustic measurements (echo location), and / or detecting Wi-Fi signals, and / or using lidar measurements. For example, the detection can indicate the position or absence of an obstacle in a specific direction and / or at a specific distance from the UE, which can indicate a position or location information.

[0069] FIG. 8 shows a variation of FIG. 7 where the orientation of the region can be configured per UE, depending on the case. For example, in FIG. 8, the orientation on the vertical axis (not shown) is the same for all UEs, but UE110 has a different orientation of its region on the horizontal and altitude axes compared to another UE112. In some scenarios, UE-specific orientation can be useful. For example, when the UE is moving, the direction in which the UE is moving can affect the radio channel, and thus it can be better reflected by aligning the region with respect to the direction of movement of the UE. In some embodiments, the orientation of the region can be indicated by specifying an orientation that makes a specific angle in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction around a reference axis (e.g., around the vertical axis in FIG. 8). In some embodiments, there can be a finite set of predefined different orientations, and the selected orientation from the finite set of orientations is transmitted. In some embodiments, each UE110 configures the orientation of its region by transmitting the orientation of the region to the TRP352.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 8, in some embodiments, each UE may have its own local set that consists of regions encompassing the space around that UE, rather than one large region used by several UEs. This is particularly beneficial when the respective UEs are far apart and / or are configured in different region orientations. As also shown in FIG. 8, each UE does not necessarily have the same number of regions encompassing the space around the UE. For example, in FIG. 8, UE110 has the nine regions introduced in FIG. 7, while UE112 has only four regions. The number of regions may be set by UE110 or TRP352.

[0071] As described above, the configuration is possible with respect to the regions. As an example, any one or more of the following may be determined in advance, or may be configured dynamically (e.g., with control information such as DCI), or semi-statically (e.g., with higher layer signaling such as RRC signaling or with MAC CE). (1) Definition of the horizontal / vertical / altitude axes. For example, in the case of 3D axes, longitude / latitude / altitude may be configured for the three axes. As another example, geographic north / magnetic north may be configured for the vertical axis, geographic east / magnetic east may be configured for the horizontal axis, and altitude may be configured for the altitude axis. (2) The length / width / height of each 3D region. For example, each region may be configured to have the same size (e.g., the same volume), and the size may be configured. (3) The number of regions in the direction of length, width, and / or height may be configured. For example, the number of regions for each of the horizontal axis, vertical axis, and altitude axis may be configured. (4) The region ID numbering rule for each region may be configured. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the ID may be numbered first for the altitude axis, then for the horizontal axis, and finally for the vertical axis. This is just an example. (5) The position of the reference point or reference region, for example, the detailed position of the reference point within the reference region (e.g., region 0) may be configured. For example, the longitude / latitude / altitude of the center of region 0 may be configured. (6) As described above in connection with FIG. 8, the orientation of the grid, for example the orientation with respect to an axis, can be configured for each UE according to circumstances.

[0072] In some embodiments, TRP 352 configures a region (for example, TRP 352 configures one or more of the above information items (1) to (6)), and sends an instruction for the configuration to UE 110 by means of DCI, or upper layer signaling such as RRC signaling, or MAC CE. In other embodiments, UE 110 configures a region (for example, UE 110 configures one or more of the above information items (1) to (6)), and sends an instruction for the configuration to TRP 352 by means of UCI, or upper layer signaling such as RRC signaling, or MAC CE. In some embodiments, some of the configuration of the region is performed by TRP 352, and other configuration of the region is performed by UE 110. In some embodiments, UE 110 reports its configuration preference to TRP 352, and TRP 352 configures the region for UE 110 taking into account the configuration preference. In some embodiments, the configuration of the region may be per UE, or may be per group of UEs.

[0073] As in the examples of FIGS. 7 and 8, instead of position information including the ID of the area, the position information may instead be coordinates. The coordinates may or may not be coordinates representing an area. The coordinates may be coordinates in a virtual space. The coordinates may be geographical coordinates (or may be based on geographical coordinates). For example, the position information may be GPS coordinates or a geocode representing the position of UE110. Depending on the implementation, the coordinates may indicate any one, several, or all of latitude, longitude, and altitude. In some embodiments, the coordinates may be absolute coordinates, for example, GPS coordinates. In other embodiments, the coordinates may be relative coordinates with respect to a reference position (such as a TRP) determined, for example, as (0, 0, 0) in a virtual coordinate system. In some embodiments, the position information may be a relative position from a reference position, such as delta latitude, delta longitude, and / or delta altitude. The reference position may be constituted by TRP352. Using coordinates such as GPS may be easier to implement than constructing an area as in the examples of FIGS. 7 and 8. However, position information in coordinate form may require more bits to represent the position information in the measurement data compared to the ID indicating the area. Therefore, in order to save wireless communication overhead (for example, in order to make the payload of the transmitted measurement data smaller), an implementation similar to that of FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 may be deployed.

[0074] Measurement target parameter In the method of FIG. 6, UE110 associates measurements with position information in the measurement data. Depending on the implementation and capabilities of UE110, many different parameters may be measured by UE110.

[0075] In some embodiments, UE110 can measure environmental parameters at the position of UE110, such as air quality, and / or pollution, and / or humidity, and / or air pressure, etc. The measurement results of the measurement of environmental parameters can be incorporated into the measurement data and associated with the position information of UE110.

[0076] In some embodiments, UE110 may also or alternatively measure radio channel parameters at the location of UE110, such as large-scale parameters, small-scale parameters, and / or Doppler domain parameters. The measurement results of the radio channel parameter measurements may be incorporated into the measurement data and associated with the location information of UE110.

[0077] Examples of large-scale parameters that can be measured include path loss and / or shadow fading values. Examples of small-scale parameters that can be measured include (1) delay spread (e.g., average delay and / or maximum delay), and / or power delay profile, and / or number of multipath components, and / or delay domain parameters such as coherence bandwidth, and / or (2) power azimuth spectrum, and / or angular spread, and / or coherence distance, and / or beam-specific measurements, etc. spatial domain parameters. Examples of Doppler domain parameters that can be measured include Doppler shift, and / or Doppler spread, and / or Doppler power spectrum, and / or coherence time, and / or UE speed, and / or UE orientation. As described in more detail later, since large-scale and small-scale parameters cannot be influenced by the UE, their measurement results may be included in measurement data that does not carry the UE ID. On the other hand, the measurement results of Doppler domain parameters are usually influenced by the UE, so their measurement results may be included in measurement data that carries the UE ID.

[0078] When the measurement results are influenced by the UE (e.g., Doppler information), TRP352 decodes the measurement data to obtain the measurement results and the UE ID, and then performs an appropriate configuration for that UE. In one example, UE110 reports Doppler information using a data channel (e.g., PUSCH) scrambled by an ID (e.g., C-RNTI), TRP352 receives and decodes the Doppler information, and then TRP352 configures an appropriate subcarrier spacing for UE110 to attempt to solve the Doppler shift problem.

[0079] In some embodiments, the measurement may be referred to as "detection". For example, the UE can be considered as a sensor that moves through the environment and collects measurement values regarding the environment.

[0080] For various types of measurements, various types of measurement techniques may be required depending on the parameter being measured. For example, some measurements can be performed by radio frequency (RF) detection. In some examples, the UE110 can transmit a radio signal and use the echo to perform the measurement. In some examples, the UE110 can use sensors on the UE110, such as a humidity sensor that measures humidity, to perform the measurement.

[0081] To perform some measurements, it may be necessary to receive a signal from the RAN120, for example from the TRP352. As an example, the TRP352 can transmit a reference signal or a synchronization signal to the UE110. An example of a reference signal is a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS). An example of a synchronization signal is a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). The UE110 can use the reference signal and / or the synchronization signal to perform the measurement, and by doing so, obtain the measurement result. Examples of possible measurements include measuring CSI related to scattering, fading, power attenuation, and / or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the channel, and / or, alternatively, measuring the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), which may also be referred to as the signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SNIR), and / or measuring the reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or measuring the reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and / or measuring the channel quality, for example to obtain a channel quality indicator (CQI). Performing a measurement on the received signal may include extracting waveform parameters such as (but not limited to) the amplitude, frequency, noise, and / or timing of the waveform from the signal. The result is the measurement result. For example, the measurement result can be the measured SNR, SINR, RRSP, and / or RSRQ. The measurement result can then be associated with the location information of the UE110 and transmitted together in the measurement data.

[0082] Data format of measurement data The measurement data transmitted by UE110 in step 404 of FIG. 6 may have various possible data formats that can be configured by UE110 and / or TRP352. Some examples are described below.

[0083] In some embodiments, the measurement data has a data format that includes at least position information associated with the measurement result of the measurement. Thus, TRP352 can decode the measurement data to obtain the measurement result and the position information associated with the measurement result (e.g., the position where the measurement was performed). For example, FIG. 9 shows the data format of measurement data 502 according to one embodiment. The measurement data 502 includes one or more bits providing the measurement result 508 of the measurement, as well as one or more other bits reporting the associated position information 504. The position information 504 may have any of the forms described herein. FIG. 9 shows an example where the position information 504 is a series of bits transmitting the ID of the area where UE110 is located, e.g., "area 1". The measurement result 508 can report the result of any measurement target parameter, e.g., any one of the radio channel parameters or environmental parameters described herein. FIG. 9 shows an example where the measurement result 508 is a series of bits indicating the path loss measured at the position (within area 1), e.g., a path loss of 120 dB.

[0084] The measurement data 502 in FIG. 9 may include other information, e.g., UE ID, parameter ID indicating which parameter was measured, etc., depending on the implementation. Note that the measurement data 502 may sometimes be called a measurement report.

[0085] FIG. 9 is a generalization. In connection with FIGS. 10 to 13, some specific exemplary data formats of the measurement data 502 are described.

[0086] FIG. 10 shows an example of measurement data 502 each having a data format including a field of ID information. This ID information is called "parameter ID" in FIG. 10. In Example 1 of FIG. 10, the parameter ID 506 indicates to the TRP 352 a specific radio channel parameter or a specific environmental parameter measured by the UE 110 and represented as a measurement result 508 in the measurement data 510. The association between the parameter ID value and the measurement target parameter can be determined in advance (e.g., in a standard), or can be configured in advance dynamically (e.g., with control information, etc.) or semi-statically (e.g., with RRC signaling or MAC CE, etc.). Example A in FIG. 10 shows an example where each parameter ID value is associated with one measurement target parameter. For example, according to Example A, when the parameter ID 506 is equal to 0, this indicates to the TRP 352 that the measurement result 508 in the measurement data 502 is the measured path loss, and when the parameter ID 506 is equal to 1, this indicates to the TRP 352 that the measurement result 508 in the measurement data 502 is the delay spread. Example B in FIG. 10 shows an example where the parameter ID value can indicate one measurement target parameter or a plurality of measurement target parameters. When a plurality of measurement target parameters are measured, the measurement data 502 carries a plurality of measurement results. For example, Example 2 in FIG. 10 shows an example where the parameter ID 506 indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters measured by the UE 110 and represented as a plurality of measurement results 508 and 509 in the measurement data 502. Each of the measurement results 508 and 509 corresponds to a different one of the plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters. In Example 2, in addition to the measurement result 508, the measurement result 509 is included. Although only two measurement results are shown, when the table of Example B is implemented, up to four measurement results can exist. As an example, the parameter ID 506 in Example 2 can have the value "6", in which case the measurement result 508 can be the measured path loss and the measurement result 509 can be the measured angular spread. The order of the measurement results, for example, whether the measurement result 508 corresponds to the path loss or the angular spread, can be determined in advance or can be configured in advance according to, for example, rules.

[0087] Example 3 of FIG. 10 shows an example where there are multiple parameter ID values 506 and 516, each corresponding to one or more parameters to be measured. Specifically speaking, in Example 3, each parameter ID value is associated with a different position of UE 110. For example, UE 110 moves to different positions and makes one or more measurements at each position, and then sends one measurement report (e.g., a single payload encoded together) carrying measurement data 502 of multiple positions. Therefore, the measurement data 502 includes measurement values of multiple positions, and each position has associated position information, a parameter ID, and one or more measurement results (depending on the value of the parameter ID). Example 3 shows a specific scenario where two measurements are made at the first position ( "Position 1") associated with the position information 504. The results of the two measurements are reported as measurement results 508 and 509 respectively. Then, one measurement is made at the second position ( "Position 2") associated with the position information 514. The result of that measurement is reported as measurement result 518. The number of measurements made at a certain location and the identification information of one or more measurements carried out and reported are indicated by the parameter ID. The number of positions covered by the payload of the measurement data 502 may be pre-determined or pre-configured. For example, this may be limited to the maximum number of positions. Although only two positions are shown in Example 3, there may be more. Generally, different measurements can be made at different positions (e.g., for one position, delay spread is reported, and for another position, path loss is reported), but this is not necessary. It should be noted that Position 2 usually becomes a different physical position from Position 1 when UE 110 moves, but in some cases, Position 1 and Position 2 may happen to be the same position.

[0088] In an alternative example of Example 3, multiple measurement results are in the measurement data 502, all of which are associated with only one position, and any one or more of each of the multiple measurement results may be associated with respective parameter IDs. One example is Example 3 modified to delete the position 2 information 514, in which case position 1 is associated with multiple different measurements identified by separate parameter IDs 506 and 516.

[0089] FIG. 11 shows a further example where the parameter ID values can take any one of a smaller range of possible values, e.g., from 0 to 3 in the illustrated example. However, the mapping of those values to the measured parameters may be configured and changed dynamically or semi-statically. That is, there can be a mapping configured between each parameter ID value and one or more respective measured parameters, and the mapping can be any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured. In the exemplary mapping shown in FIG. 11, the larger measured parameter set / rows 9, 10, 13, and 14 of the table are mapped to parameter ID values 0, 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Alternatively, another mapping can also be configured and the mapping can be changed over time. The measurement data 502 in FIG. 11 shows that three measurement results 508, 509, and 510 are reported, which means that in this example, either parameter ID value 1 or 2 is reported in the parameter ID 506 field, because those parameter ID values correspond to three measured parameters. The advantage of the example in FIG. 11 is that the overhead of the parameter ID remains small (e.g., in the illustrated example, 2 bits to transmit one of 4 parameter ID values), but different mappings between bits and measured parameters can be configured, especially for each UE, e.g., according to the UE's capabilities.

[0090] Figures 10 and 11 show an example where the ID information (the "parameter ID" field shown in the figure) is included in the same transmission as the measurement data 502, for example, as part of the measurement data 502. For example, the parameter ID is encoded together with the location information and one or more measurement results, and the encoded payload is then transmitted by the UE 110 and decoded by the TRP 352 to extract the parameter ID, location information, and one or more measurement results. Alternatively, the parameter ID may be transmitted in a transmission different from the measurement data 502, for example, by the UE 110 or the TRP 352 before the UE 110 transmits the measurement data 502. For example, FIG. 12 shows two exemplary data formats of the measurement data 502, where there is no parameter ID. The parameter ID can be preconfigured, for example, dynamically by control signaling or semi-statically by upper layer signaling. Then, when one or more measurement results are received in the measurement data 502, the TRP 352 is pre-informed that those measurement results are related to the measurement target parameters previously identified by the parameter ID.

[0091] In an alternative embodiment, for example, if the measurement target parameters are predetermined, preconfigured in the first transmission, or indicated in the first access, the parameter ID may not need to be transmitted or configured.

[0092] In Example 1 of FIG. 12, the pre-configured parameter ID has a value that identifies one measurement target parameter measured for each position, and the measurement data 502 includes only one position ("Position 1"). In Example 2 of FIG. 12, the pre-configured parameter ID has a value that identifies two measurement target parameters measured for each position, and the measurement data 502 also includes two positions ("Position 1" and "Position 2"). Therefore, for each position, there are two measurement results, namely, measurement results 508 and 509 associated with Position 1, and measurement results 518 and 519 associated with Position 2. In some embodiments, a plurality of parameter IDs may be pre-configured. For example, the first transmission sent before transmitting the measurement data 502 can indicate the parameter ID values 0 and 1 in the table of Example A in FIG. 10, whereby it can be indicated to the TRP 352 that the subsequent measurement data 502 from the UE 110 includes two measurement results for one position, as shown in Example 2 of FIG. 12. The order of the measurement results (for example, the order in which the measurement results are concatenated in the payload) may be pre-configured or predetermined based on a default rule. In one example, the default rule can be based on the parameter ID value. For example, if the ID value is low, the measurement result is reported first. For example, the measurement result 508 in Example 2 of FIG. 12 shows the result of the path loss measurement at Position 1, and the measurement result 509 in Example 2 of FIG. 12 shows the result of the delay spread measurement at Position 1. Following this order, since the path loss corresponds to the parameter ID value 0 in the table shown in Example A of FIG. 10, the delay spread corresponds to the parameter ID value 1 in the table shown in Example A of FIG. 10, and 0 is less than 1, the path loss is reported first, and subsequently the delay spread at each position is reported in the subsequent measurement data 502.

[0093] In some embodiments, the measurement data 502 can have a data format in which information is included in the measurement data 502 that constitutes the measurement data 502. For example, FIG. 13 includes three examples of measurement data 502, all of which include configuration information 532. The configuration information 532 is encoded together with the location information and one or more measurement results in one payload, and the encoded payload can be transmitted by the UE 110 in the same transmission and then received and decoded by the TRP 352. Examples of items that can be configured by the configuration information 532 can include any one, some, or all of the following. (A) The granularity of the location size indicated by the location information. For example, the location information 504 can indicate "Region 1". Since the size of "Region 1" can be configured by the configuration information 532, for example, the UE 110 and the TRP 352 can know how large the area / volume covered by Region 1 is. In one example, when the measurement is related to an environmental parameter such as air quality, each region can be configured to cover a large volume. A plurality of region granularities, each having a unique ID, can be predetermined to be transmitted to indicate the granularity of the location size. A plurality of granularities of the location size can be used. For example, the granularity of environmental information is larger, and the granularity of radio channel information is smaller. (B) The granularity of the measurement data 502, such as the quantization level. For example, the configuration information 532 can indicate the bit length of the measurement result 508. The bit length can be appropriately configured according to the capabilities of the UE 110 and / or the desired or required overhead (e.g., the total number of bits of the measurement data 502) and / or the type of measurement (e.g., humidity may probably only require 1 bit, where the bit value 0 means lower than a specific humidity level and the bit value 1 means higher than that humidity level). In one example, in the case of path loss, the granularity can be configured as 1 bit or 2 bits to report the measurement result, for example, according to the following table.

[0094] [Table 1]

[0095] Similar techniques can be taken to compose other measurement results. (C) The number of positions in the measurement report carrying the measurement data 502. For example, in Example 1 of FIG. 13, the payload of the measurement data 502 relates to one position ("Position 1"), while in Example 2 of FIG. 13, the payload of the measurement data 502 relates to two positions ("Position 1" and "Position 2"), each having one or more associated measurement results. The configuration information 532 may indicate how many positions there are for the measurement data transmission, e.g., how many positions are encoded in one payload. (D) The maximum number of positions included in one measurement data payload to be transmitted. (E) In some embodiments, the configuration information 532 may include parameter IDs indicating one or more parameters measured and reported for one or more positions within the measurement data 502. For example, Example 3 of FIG. 13 does not include parameter ID 506 or parameter ID 516 because the configuration information 532 configures which parameters are measured at each position and reported in the measurement results 508 and 518. In one example, assuming the table of Example A in FIG. 10, the configuration information 532 may indicate parameter ID = {1, 2}, which means that the parameters to be measured are delay spread and the number of multipaths. As described above, the order of the measurement results (e.g., the order in which the measurement results are concatenated in the payload) may be pre-configured or predetermined based on predefined rules.

[0096] The example of FIG. 13 shows configuration information 532 within the payload of the measurement data 502 itself, for example, within the first N bits of the measurement data 502 according to something. However, the configuration information 532 may not be present in the measurement data 502. For example, the UE 110 may transmit some or all of the configuration information before transmitting the measurement data 502. In one example, the UE 110 transmits a first transmission (e.g., a first encoded payload) to the TRP 352. The first transmission includes the configuration information, for example, any one, several, or all of (A) - (E) outlined above. Thereafter, the UE 110 can transmit one or more measurement reports each carrying the measurement data 502 having a data format configured according to the information within the first transmission. In some embodiments, any one, several, or all of (A) - (E) outlined above may be pre - determined.

[0097] More generally, the measurement data configuration may be transmitted by the UE 110 to the TRP 352, or may be transmitted by the TRP 352 to the UE 110. The measurement data configuration can be configured with any one or more of the items described above, for example, the granularity of the position size indicated by the position information, and / or the granularity of the measurement data, and / or the number of positions within the measurement report carrying the measurement data. The measurement data configuration may be received as part of the payload of the measurement data 502 carrying the measurement result, in the same transmission as the measurement data 502, for example, as in the example of FIG. 13 where the configuration information 532 is included as part of the measurement data 502 payload. Alternatively, the measurement data configuration may be transmitted or received in a separate transmission, for example, before the transmission of the measurement data 502. The separate transmission may be dynamic control signaling (e.g., DCI or UCI). The separate transmission may alternatively be semi - static control signaling (e.g., upper layer signaling such as RRC signaling or MAC CE).

[0098] As described above, there are many different possible data formats for measurement data, such as the exemplary data formats in FIGS. 9 to 13. Thus, in some embodiments of the method of FIG. 6, the method further includes the step of the UE 110 and / or the TRP 352 obtaining the data format of the measurement data. The data format may include at least location information. The data format may include location information associated with at least one measurement result. The data format may be any one of the examples described above. However, the data format is not limited to the examples described above, and may be a data format in which different information or additional information is included in the measurement data. As an example, any one or more of the exemplary measurement data 502 in FIGS. 9 to 13 may include a time stamp indicating when the measurement was made, and / or information regarding the accuracy of the measurement result. As another example, the granularity of the location and / or the granularity of the measurement result may be shown separately for each location within the measurement data.

[0099] By configuring the data format of the measurement data, the bit meaning of the bits in the measurement data is known. For example, the UE 110 and the TRP 352 know which fields correspond to which instructions and the bit lengths of those fields. This makes it possible to correctly decode and extract information from the received measurement data.

[0100] In some embodiments, the data format is obtained by the UE110 by the UE determining the data format based on the capabilities of the UE110. For example, a UE110 that can measure a variety of radio channels and / or environmental parameters may select a data format corresponding to the transmission of several measurement results that may be associated with different positions, respectively, such as Example 3 in FIG. 10. The data format may have a parameter ID field configured to convey a plurality of different values mapped to a plurality of different combinations of measured target parameters, such as Example B in FIG. 10. As another example, when the UE110 is in a power-saving mode, or when another intensive process (e.g., machine learning training) is currently being executed, the UE110 may select a data format with a smaller payload, such as a data format corresponding to the transmission of one measurement result per position. In some embodiments, the UE110 dynamically determines which parameters and / or what parameters to measure and transmit for a particular position according to, for example, the capabilities of the UE110, the operating mode of the UE110 (e.g., whether the UE110 is in a power-saving mode), etc. Each UE can dynamically determine its respective parameters based on the capabilities of the UE and the operating mode of the UE. For example, two UEs served by the TRP352 can dynamically determine, measure, and report their respective parameters, which may or may not partially overlap.

[0101] The data format can be transmitted by the UE110 to the TRP352 in various ways, such as in the measurement data itself (e.g., in the configuration information 532), in separate dynamic control signaling (e.g., in the UCI), in upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), or in MAC CE, etc. In some embodiments, the data format is obtained by the UE110 by the UE110 receiving an indication of the data format from the TRP352.

[0102] In some embodiments, the data format is obtained by the TRP 352 by, for example, the TRP 352 selecting the data format based on the capabilities of the UE 110 according to the information in the capability report transmitted from the UE 110. In some embodiments, the same data format is selected for one group of UEs served by the TRP 352, while in other embodiments, the TRP 352 selects a data format suitable for each UE on a per-UE basis. In some embodiments, the TRP 352 obtains the data format from the UE, as described above, for example. When the TRP 352 selects an indication of the data format and transmits it to the UE, the data format can be transmitted by the TRP 352 in various ways, for example, by dynamic control signaling (e.g., in DCI), or by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), or by MAC CE, etc.

[0103] In some embodiments, the measurement data may be determined by the data format. For example, the data format may be configured to carry the measurement results of a particular measurement, and perhaps a particular measurement is transmitted by a parameter ID. The measurement data determined by the data format may include at least any one of environmental information, channel information, measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters configured by the RAN, or measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters determined by the UE 110.

[0104] In some embodiments, the transmission including the measurement data of FIG. 6 (e.g., the transmission of step 404 in FIG. 6) may not include the ID of UE110. For example, the measurement data 502 in the examples from FIG. 9 to FIG. 13 does not indicate that the UE ID of UE110 is included. The omission of the UE ID provides the advantage of enhancing the privacy of UE110. For example, since the location information is related to the location of UE110, transmitting the location information and the UE ID specifically reveals which UE is at that location, which can be considered private. Many measurement target parameters do not require the identification of the UE. For example, they may not be influenced by the UE and may be the same at that location regardless of the UE. For example, the aforementioned large-scale and small-scale parameters cannot be influenced by the UE, so the measurement results thereof may be included in the measurement data without carrying the UE ID. However, some measurement target parameters (e.g., the aforementioned Doppler region parameters) may be influenced by the UE, and in this case, the measurement data may carry the UE ID of the UE transmitting the measurement data.

[0105] The measurement data transmitted in FIG. 6 (examples of which are shown in FIGS. 9 to 13) can be transmitted from the UE 110 in various ways. In some embodiments, the measurement data is transmitted by physical layer control signaling, for example, as UCI on a control channel. In such embodiments, the control information carrying the measurement data can have its CRC value scrambled by an ID, for example, by performing an XOR operation on the CRC value and the ID. The ID may be common to a group of UEs in some cases, and can be an ID assigned to several UEs for transmitting measurement data, such as a group-common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), which may be pre-determined or instructed by the TRP 352. In other embodiments, the measurement data may be transmitted on a data channel, for example, on the PUSCH. In this case, the transmission of the measurement data may be scheduled, for example, by a dynamic explicit scheduling grant. When the transmission is scheduled, the CRC value of the control information scheduling the measurement data on the data channel can be scrambled by an ID, for example, by performing an XOR operation on the CRC value and the ID. The ID may be common to a group of UEs in some cases, and can be an ID assigned to several UEs for transmitting measurement data, such as a group-common RNTI, which may be pre-determined or instructed by the TRP 352. The advantage of scheduling the measurement data 502 on the data channel is that it may be easier to accommodate large and / or variable-sized measurement data 502. Instead, the advantage of scheduling the measurement data 502 on the control channel is that the overhead can be reduced because the TRP 352 can directly obtain the measurement data 502 by decoding the control channel, rather than decoding the control channel to obtain the scheduling information of the measurement data 502 and then separately decoding the data channel to obtain the measurement data 502. In some embodiments, the measurement data 502 may be transmitted on a dedicated detection / measurement feedback channel, which can be either a control channel or a data channel.In some embodiments, measurement data 502 may be transmitted using grant-free resources instead of licensed (scheduled) resources. When grant-free transmission is used on grant-free resources, the number of repetitions may be reduced (or there may be no repetitions) compared to other information transmitted on grant-free resources because the measurement data 502 may not be considered important.

[0106] In some embodiments, whether the measurement data is transmitted on a control channel or a data channel, some or all of the measurement data itself may be scrambled. Scrambling may be performed by performing an XOR operation on the measurement data and an ID, for example, by scrambling using the ID. The ID may be common to a group of UEs in some cases, for example, an ID assigned to several UEs for transmitting measurement data, such as a group-common RNTI, which may be predetermined or instructed by the TRP 352.

[0107] Construction of Radio Environment Map As described above, for example, the above-described measurement data transmitted by the UE 110 in FIG. 6 may be used by the TRP 352 to construct or update a radio environment map such as a channel map. For example, in the optional step 410 of FIG. 6, the TRP 352 uses the location information and the measurement results for this purpose.

[0108] In some embodiments, RAN120 can maintain an integrated or wide-area radio environment map that covers some or all of the area served by RAN120. For example, FIG. 14 shows a radio environment map 602 maintained by RAN120 (e.g., stored in TRP352) according to one embodiment. The radio environment map 602 includes 12 adjacent areas labeled from 0 to 11. For each area, radio environment information such as environmental parameters and / or radio channel parameters is maintained. If the radio environment information for a particular area is unknown, a label of "unknown" is assigned, similar to areas 7 to 11 in FIG. 14. If the radio environment information for a particular area is only partially known or outdated, a label of "intermediate" is assigned, as in the case of areas 0, 1, and 4 in FIG. 14. If the radio environment information is up-to-date and complete, a label of "stable" is assigned, similar to areas 2, 3, 5, and 6 in FIG. 14.

[0109] In some embodiments, TRP352 can be configured or required to cause the UE to perform measurements and transmit measurement data only when the UE is in an area labeled "intermediate" or "unknown" (e.g., steps 402 and 404 in FIG. 6), thereby saving overhead.

[0110] In some embodiments, UE110 can download the radio environment map 602 and perform measurements and transmit measurement data only when UE110 is in an area labeled "intermediate" or "unknown" (e.g., steps 402 and 404 in FIG. 6), thereby saving overhead.

[0111] Variations of FIG. 14 are possible. For example, map 602 can label each area as "stable" or "unstable", and UE 110 can perform measurements and transmit measurement data only when it is in an area labeled "unstable". As another example, map 602 can assign to each area a reliability or accuracy value related to the measurement data currently owned by RAN 120 for that area. The reliability or accuracy value may decrease as the measurement data gets older, for example, as the time between when the measurement data was received and the current time increases. UE 110 can perform measurements and transmit measurement data only when it is in an area where the reliability or accuracy value falls below a certain threshold.

[0112] In some embodiments, even if RAN 120 maintains map 602, it may not affect the frequency at which UE 110 transmits measurement data. For example, UE 110 may be configured to transmit measurement data once every N seconds and / or when UE 110 moves, and TRP 352 can decide to update map 602 or, for example, ignore the received measurement data if there is no need to update map 602 for that area.

[0113] Example In view of the above and in addition to the above, the following examples are disclosed.

[0114] Example 1: A method performed by an apparatus, the method comprising generating measurement data associating measurements with location information associated with the apparatus, and transmitting the measurement data carrying the location information to a RAN device for use by a radio access network (RAN).

[0115] Example 2: The method according to Example 1, further comprising obtaining a data format of the measurement data, the data format including at least location information.

[0116] Example 3: The measurement data determined by the data format includes at least any one of environmental information, channel information, a measurement result corresponding to a measurement target parameter constituted by a RAN, or a measurement result corresponding to a measurement target parameter determined by a device, according to the method described in Example 2.

[0117] Example 4: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 3, further comprising the step of transmitting identifier (ID) information indicating a specific radio channel parameter or a specific environmental parameter measured by a device and represented as a measurement result within the measurement data.

[0118] Example 5: The method according to Example 4, wherein the specific radio channel parameter is any one of a large-scale parameter, a small-scale parameter, or a Doppler region parameter.

[0119] Example 6: The method according to Example 4 or Example 5, wherein the ID information is associated with one measurement target parameter.

[0120] Example 7: The method according to Example 4 or Example 5, wherein the ID information indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters measured by a device and represented as a plurality of measurement results within the measurement data, each of the measurement results corresponding to any one of the different ones of the plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters, and the measurement results being included in the plurality of measurement results.

[0121] Example 8: The method according to any one of Examples 4 to 7, wherein the ID information includes an ID value, the ID value being any one of a plurality of ID values, and each ID value of the plurality of ID values corresponds to one or more respective measurement target parameters.

[0122] Example 9: The method according to Example 8, wherein a mapping between each ID value and one or more respective measurement target parameters is configured for the device, and the mapping is any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured.

[0123] Example 10: The method according to any one of Examples 4 to 9, wherein the ID information is included in the same transmission as the measurement data.

[0124] Example 11: The method according to any one of Examples 4 to 9, wherein the ID information is transmitted in a transmission different from the measurement data and is transmitted before the measurement data is transmitted.

[0125] Example 12: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 11, wherein the transmission including the measurement data does not include the ID of the device.

[0126] Example 13: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 12, wherein the measurement data is transmitted by physical layer control signaling.

[0127] Example 14: The method according to Example 13, wherein the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the control information carrying the measurement data is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices.

[0128] Example 15: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 12, wherein the measurement data is transmitted on a data channel.

[0129] Example 16: The method according to Example 15, wherein the CRC of the control information for scheduling the measurement data on the data channel is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices.

[0130] Example 17: The method according to any one of Examples 1 to 12, wherein at least a part of the measurement data is scrambled using an ID common to a group of devices.

[0131] Example 18: The method according to Example 14 or Example 16 or Example 17, wherein the ID common to a group of devices is a group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

[0132] Example 19: The measurement data configuration is transmitted by a device or received from a RAN, and the measurement data configuration constitutes at least any one of the granularity of the position size indicated by the position information, the granularity of the measurement data, or the number of positions in the measurement report carrying the measurement data, and is the method according to any one of Examples 1 to 18.

[0133] Example 20: The position information includes at least any one of coordinates representing the position of a device in space, an identifier of the area where the device is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates, and is the method according to any one of Examples 1 to 19.

[0134] Example 21: The coordinates are either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position, and are the method according to Example 20.

[0135] Example 22: The geographical coordinates include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, and are the method according to Example 20 or Example 21.

[0136] Example 23: A device comprising at least one processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to generate measurement data associating measurements with position information associated with the device and output the measurement data carrying the position information to a RAN device for use by a radio access network (RAN).

[0137] Example 24: The at least one processor further obtains the data format of the measurement data, and the data format includes at least position information, and is the device according to Example 23.

[0138] Example 25: The measurement data determined by the data format includes at least any one of environmental information, channel information, measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters configured by the RAN, or measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters determined by the device, and is the device according to Example 24.

[0139] Example 26: The apparatus according to any one of Examples 23 to 25, wherein at least one processor further outputs identifier (ID) information indicating a specific radio channel parameter or a specific environmental parameter that is measured by the apparatus and represented as a measurement result in measurement data for transmission.

[0140] Example 27: The apparatus according to Example 26, wherein the specific radio channel parameter is any one of a large-scale parameter, a small-scale parameter, or a Doppler region parameter.

[0141] Example 28: The apparatus according to Example 26 or Example 27, wherein the ID information is associated with one measurement target parameter.

[0142] Example 29: The apparatus according to Example 26 or Example 27, wherein the ID information indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters that are measured by the apparatus and represented as a plurality of measurement results in measurement data, each of the measurement results corresponding to any one of the different respective radio channel parameters or environmental parameters, and the measurement results are included in the plurality of measurement results.

[0143] Example 30: The apparatus according to any one of Examples 26 to 29, wherein the ID information includes an ID value, the ID value is any one of a plurality of ID values, and each ID value of the plurality of ID values corresponds to one or more respective measurement target parameters.

[0144] Example 31: The apparatus according to Example 30, wherein a mapping between each ID value and one or more respective measurement target parameters is configured for the apparatus, and the mapping is any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured.

[0145] Example 32: The apparatus according to any one of Examples 26 to 31, wherein the ID information is for inclusion in the same transmission as the measurement data.

[0146] Example 33: The ID information is for transmission different from the measurement data and is for transmission before transmitting the measurement data, the apparatus according to any one of Examples 26 to 31.

[0147] Example 34: The transmission including the measurement data is an apparatus according to any one of Examples 23 to 33 that does not include the ID of the apparatus.

[0148] Example 35: The measurement data is for transmission by physical layer control signaling, the apparatus according to any one of Examples 23 to 34.

[0149] Example 36: The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the control information carrying the measurement data is scrambled by an ID common to one group of apparatuses, the apparatus according to Example 35.

[0150] Example 37: The measurement data is for transmission on a data channel, the apparatus according to any one of Examples 23 to 34.

[0151] Example 38: The CRC of the control information scheduling the measurement data on the data channel is scrambled by an ID common to one group of apparatuses, the apparatus according to Example 37.

[0152] Example 39: At least a part of the measurement data is scrambled using an ID common to one group of apparatuses, the apparatus according to any one of Examples 23 to 34.

[0153] Example 40: The ID common to one group of apparatuses is a group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), the apparatus according to Example 36 or Example 38 or Example 39.

[0154] Example 41: The measurement data configuration is to be transmitted by the apparatus or received from the RAN, and the measurement data configuration constitutes at least any one of the granularity of the position size indicated by the position information, the granularity of the measurement data, or the number of positions in the measurement report carrying the measurement data, the apparatus according to any one of Examples 23 to 40.

[0155] Example 42: The position information includes at least any one of coordinates representing the position of a device in space, an identifier of a region where the device is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates, and the device according to any one of Examples 23 to 41.

[0156] Example 43: The coordinates are either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position, and the device according to Example 42.

[0157] Example 44: The geographical coordinates include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, and the device according to Example 42 or Example 43.

[0158] Example 45: The device is a user equipment (UE) that wirelessly communicates with a RAN, and the device according to any one of Examples 23 to 44.

[0159] Example 46: A method executed by a device in a radio access network (RAN), the method including receiving, from a device that wirelessly communicates with the RAN, measurement data that associates measurements executed by the device with position information associated with the device, and decoding the measurement data to obtain measurement results of the position information and the measurements.

[0160] Example 47: The method according to Example 46, further including obtaining a data format of the measurement data, where the data format includes at least the position information.

[0161] Example 48: The measurement data determined by the data format includes at least any one of environmental information, channel information, measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters configured by the RAN, or measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters determined by the device, and the method according to Example 47.

[0162] Example 49: The method according to any one of Examples 46 to 48, further comprising the step of receiving identifier (ID) information indicating a specific radio channel parameter or a specific environmental parameter measured by a device and represented as a measurement result in measurement data.

[0163] Example 50: The method according to Example 49, wherein the specific radio channel parameter is any one of a large-scale parameter, a small-scale parameter, or a Doppler region parameter.

[0164] Example 51: The method according to Example 49 or Example 50, wherein the ID information is associated with one measurement target parameter.

[0165] Example 52: The method according to Example 49 or Example 50, wherein the ID information indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters measured by a device and represented as a plurality of measurement results in measurement data, each of the measurement results corresponding to any one of the different ones of the plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters, and the measurement results are included in the plurality of measurement results.

[0166] Example 53: The method according to any one of Examples 49 to 52, wherein the ID information includes an ID value, the ID value is any one of a plurality of ID values, and each ID value of the plurality of ID values corresponds to one or more measurement target parameters respectively.

[0167] Example 54: The method according to Example 53, wherein a mapping between each ID value and its corresponding one or more measurement target parameters is configured, and the mapping is any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured.

[0168] Example 55: The method according to any one of Examples 49 to 54, wherein the ID information is received in the same transmission as the measurement data.

[0169] Example 56: The method according to any one of Examples 49 to 54, wherein the ID information is received in a transmission different from the measurement data and is received before the measurement data.

[0170] Example 57: The transmission including measurement data is the method according to any one of Examples 46 to 56, not including the ID of the device.

[0171] Example 58: The measurement data is received by physical layer control signaling, and is the method according to any one of Examples 46 to 57.

[0172] Example 59: The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the control information carrying measurement data is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices, and is the method according to Example 58.

[0173] Example 60: The measurement data is received on a data channel, and is the method according to any one of Examples 46 to 57.

[0174] Example 61: The CRC of the control information scheduling measurement data on a data channel is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices, and is the method according to Example 60.

[0175] Example 62: At least a part of the measurement data is scrambled using an ID common to a group of devices, and is the method according to any one of Examples 46 to 57.

[0176] Example 63: The ID common to a group of devices is a group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), and is the method according to Example 59 or Example 61 or Example 62.

[0177] Example 64: The measurement data configuration is transmitted by the RAN or received from a device, and the measurement data configuration constitutes at least any one of the granularity of the position size indicated by the position information, the granularity of the measurement data, or the number of positions in the measurement report carrying the measurement data, and is the method according to any one of Examples 46 to 63.

[0178] Example 65: The position information includes at least any one of coordinates representing the position of the device in space, an identifier of the area where the device is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates, and is the method according to any one of Examples 46 to 64.

[0179] Example 66: The method according to Example 65, wherein the coordinates are either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position.

[0180] Example 67: The method according to Example 65 or Example 66, wherein the geographical coordinates include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

[0181] Example 68: A device to be deployed in a radio access network (RAN), the device comprising at least one processor and a memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to receive measurement data that associates measurements performed by a device that wirelessly communicates with the RAN with location information associated with the device, and to decode the measurement data to obtain measurement results of the location information and the measurements.

[0182] Example 69: The device according to Example 68, wherein the at least one processor further obtains a data format of the measurement data, the data format including at least location information.

[0183] Example 70: The device according to Example 69, wherein the measurement data determined by the data format includes at least any one of environmental information, channel information, measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters configured by the RAN, or measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters determined by the device.

[0184] Example 71: The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 70, wherein the at least one processor further receives identifier (ID) information indicating a specific wireless channel parameter or a specific environmental parameter measured by the device and represented as a measurement result in the measurement data.

[0185] Example 72: The device according to Example 71, wherein a specific radio channel parameter is any one of a large-scale parameter, a small-scale parameter, or a Doppler region parameter.

[0186] Example 73: The device according to Example 71 or 72, wherein the ID information is associated with one measurement target parameter.

[0187] Example 74: The device according to Example 71 or 72, wherein the ID information indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters measured by the device and represented as a plurality of measurement results in the measurement data, each of the measurement results corresponding to any one of the different ones of the plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters, and the measurement results being included in the plurality of measurement results.

[0188] Example 75: The device according to any one of Examples 72 to 74, wherein the ID information includes an ID value, the ID value being any one of a plurality of ID values, and each ID value of the plurality of ID values corresponds to one or more measurement target parameters.

[0189] Example 76: The device according to Example 75, wherein a mapping between each ID value and one or more respective measurement target parameters is configured, and the mapping is any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured.

[0190] Example 77: The device according to any one of Examples 71 to 76, wherein the ID information should be received in the same transmission as the measurement data.

[0191] Example 78: The device according to any one of Examples 71 to 76, wherein the ID information should be received in a transmission different from the measurement data and should be received before receiving the measurement data.

[0192] Example 79: The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 78, wherein the transmission including the measurement data does not include the ID of the device.

[0193] Example 80: The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 79, wherein the measurement data should be received by physical layer control signaling.

[0194] Example 81: The device according to Example 80, wherein the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the control information carrying the measurement data is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices.

[0195] Example 82: The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 79, wherein the measurement data should be received on a data channel.

[0196] Example 83: The device according to Example 82, wherein the CRC of the control information for scheduling measurement data on the data channel is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices.

[0197] Example 84: The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 79, wherein at least a part of the measurement data is scrambled using an ID common to a group of devices.

[0198] Example 85: The device according to Example 81 or Example 83 or Example 84, wherein the ID common to a group of devices is a group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

[0199] Example 86: The measurement data configuration should be transmitted by the RAN or received from a device, and the measurement data configuration constitutes at least any one of the granularity of the position size indicated by the position information, the granularity of the measurement data, or the number of positions in the measurement report carrying the measurement data. The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 85.

[0200] Example 87: The device according to any one of Examples 68 to 86, wherein the position information includes at least any one of coordinates representing the position of the device in space, an identifier of the area where the device is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates.

[0201] Example 88: The device according to Example 87, wherein the coordinates are either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position.

[0202] Example 89: The device according to Example 87 or Example 88, wherein the geographic coordinates include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates.

[0203] Example 90: The device according to any one of Clauses 68 to 89, wherein the device is a network device.

[0204] Example 91: The device according to Example 90, wherein the network device is a transmit-receive point (TRP).

[0205] Various methods are disclosed in this document. Examples of apparatuses (e.g., ED or UE) and devices (e.g., TRP) for performing the various methods described in this document are also disclosed.

[0206] The apparatus (e.g., UE110) may include a memory for storing processor-executable instructions and at least one processor for executing the processor-executable instructions. When the processor executes the processor-executable instructions, the processor can directly execute the steps of the method of the apparatus described in this document, e.g., the steps executed by UE110 in FIG. 6, or cause the apparatus to execute them. As an example, the processor can generate measurement data associating measurements with location information and output the measurement data for transmission. Since the measurement data is generated by a processor encoding a payload including both bits representing the measurement result of the measurement and bits representing the measurement location, the measurement and the location information can be associated. The encoding can be performed by applying some error control coding algorithm, e.g., polar coding or LDPC coding. The measurement data can be output for transmission by outputting the bits representing the measurement data from the processor. Then, those bits are transmitted by a transmitter.

[0207] The device (e.g., TRP352) may include a memory for storing processor-executable instructions and at least one processor for executing the processor-executable instructions. When the processor executes the processor-executable instructions, the processor can directly execute the steps of the method of the device described above, e.g., the steps of the method executed by TRP352 in FIG. 6, or cause the device to execute them. For example, the processor can receive measurement data that associates the executed measurement with location information. The measurement data can be received by receiving it at the input of the processor. The measurement data can be transmitted from a device that wirelessly communicates with the RAN. As another example, the processor can decrypt the measurement data to obtain the location information and the measurement result of the measurement.

[0208] Advantages of some embodiments of this document include the following. The ability of a UE to report measurement results associated with location information, whereby the RAN can construct and / or update a radio environment map (e.g., a channel map), and other UEs may not need to transmit measurement feedback for their locations, so communication overhead can be saved after the map is constructed and / or updated. The specific parameters to be measured and / or the number of parameters to be measured can be determined dynamically and, in some cases, for each UE, thus complementing a network with several UEs having different capabilities. To help protect the privacy of the UE, the UE ID can be omitted in some cases. Some embodiments of this document configure the UE such that the network measures certain parameters (e.g., measures a reference signal and reports CSI), the UE cannot self-determine which parameters to measure, the UE must include the UE ID in the transmission, and is different from previous protocols where the transmission is limited to the control channel. In these previous measurement protocols, there is also no reporting of location information. Further, in these previous protocols, the information on the data channel is not used by the RAN but is transferred from the RAN to another network (e.g., the core network). In some of the appended embodiments, measurement data carrying location information is used by the RAN even when the measurement data is carried on the data channel. This is not used by the core network or by another network outside the RAN. This is because the location information associated with the measurement results is used in relation to the air interface for wireless communication and is used, for example, to construct a radio environment map such as a channel map.

[0209] Note that the expression "at least one of A or B" used in this book is interchangeable with the expression "A and / or B". This refers to a list where one can select A or B or both A and B. Similarly, "at least one of A, B, or C" used in this book is interchangeable with "A and / or B and / or C" or "A, B, and / or C". This refers to a list where one can select A or B or C, or both A and B, or both A and C, or both B and C, or all of A, B, and C. The same principle applies to longer lists having the same format.

[0210] Although the present invention has been described with reference to its specific features and embodiments, various modifications and combinations can be made to the present invention without departing from it. Therefore, the description and the drawings should be regarded as merely illustrative of some embodiments of the present invention as determined by the appended claims, and it is contemplated to cover any modifications, variations, combinations, or equivalents that fall within the scope of the present invention. Thus, although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made in this book without departing from the present invention as determined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the scope of this application is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments of the processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods, and steps described herein. As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art from the disclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps that presently exist or will be developed in the future and that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein can be utilized in accordance with the present invention. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to include such processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps within their scope.

[0211] Furthermore, any of the modules, components, or devices exemplified in this book that execute instructions may include or access a non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage medium that stores information such as computer / processor-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and / or other data. A non-exhaustive list of examples of non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media includes magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital video discs or digital versatile discs (DVD), Blu-ray Disc (trademark), or other optical discs such as optical storage devices, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented by any method or technology, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or other memory technologies. Any such non-transitory computer / processor storage media may be part of a device, or may be accessible from or connectable to a device. Any of the applications or modules described in this book may be implemented using computer / processor-readable / executable instructions that may be stored or held by such non-transitory computer / processor-readable storage media.

Description of Signs

[0212] 1 Position 2 Position 100 Communication System 110 Electronic Device (ED), UE 110a Electronic Device (ED) 110b Electronic Device (ED) 110c Electronic Device (ED) 110d Electronic Device (ED) 110a~120j Communication Electronic Device (ED) 120 Radio Access Network (RAN) 120a Radio Access Network (RAN) 120b Wireless Access Network (RAN) 120c Non-terrestrial Communication Network, Access Node 130 Core Network 140 Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 150 Internet 160 Other Networks 170 T-TRP, Base Station 170a Network Node, Terrestrial Transceiver Point (T-TRP), Base Station (BS) 170b Network Node, Terrestrial Transceiver Point (T-TRP), Base Station (BS) 172 Non-terrestrial Transceiver Point (NT-TRP) 190a Air Interface 190b Sidelink Air Interface 190c Air Interface 201 Transmitter 203 Receiver 204 Antenna 208 Memory 210 Processing Unit, Processor 252 Transmitter 253 Scheduler 254 Receiver 256 Antenna 258 Memory 260 Processor 272 Transmitter 274 Receiver 276 Processor 278 Memory 280 Antenna 352 TRP 354 Transmitter 356 Receiver 358 Antenna 360 Processor 362 Memory 436 Space 502 Measurement Data 504 Location Information 506 Parameter ID 508 Measurement Results 509 Measurement Results 510 Measurement Data 514 Location Information 516 Parameter ID 518 Measurement Results 519 Measurement Results 532 Configuration Information 602 Radio Environment Map

Claims

1. A method executed by a device, the method comprising, when radio environment information of the area where the device is located is unknown, incomplete, or not up-to-date, generating measurement data associating measurements with location information associated with the device; transmitting the measurement data carrying the location information to a RAN device for use by a radio access network (RAN), and the RAN maintaining a map indicating the radio environment information for each area using the measurement data. A method comprising the above.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising obtaining a data format of the measurement data, the data format including at least the location information.

3. The measurement data determined by the data format includes environment information, channel information, measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters configured by the RAN, or measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters determined by the device The method according to claim 2, including at least any one of the above.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising transmitting identifier (ID) information indicating a specific radio channel parameter or a specific environment parameter measured by the device and represented as a measurement result in the measurement data.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the specific radio channel parameter is any one of a large-scale parameter, a small-scale parameter, or a Doppler region parameter.

6. The method according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the ID information is associated with one measurement target parameter.

7. The method according to claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the ID information indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environment parameters measured by the device and represented as a plurality of measurement results in the measurement data, each of the measurement results corresponding to a different one of the plurality of radio channel parameters or environment parameters, and the measurement results are included in the plurality of measurement results.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein the ID information includes an ID value, the ID value being any one of a plurality of ID values, and each ID value of the plurality of ID values corresponds to one or more measurement target parameters respectively.

9. The mapping of each ID value to the respective one or more measurement target parameters is configured for the device, and the mapping is any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured, the method according to claim 8.

10. The ID information is included in the same transmission as the measurement data, the method according to any one of claims 4 to 9.

11. The ID information is transmitted in a transmission different from the measurement data and is transmitted before the measurement data is transmitted, the method according to any one of claims 4 to 9.

12. The transmission including the measurement data does not include the ID of the device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. The measurement data is transmitted by physical layer control signaling, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. The cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the control information carrying the measurement data is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices, the method according to claim 13.

15. The measurement data is transmitted on a data channel, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. The CRC of the control information for scheduling the measurement data on the data channel is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices, the method according to claim 15.

17. At least a part of the measurement data is scrambled using an ID common to a group of devices, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

18. The ID common to the group of devices is a group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), the method according to claim 14 or claim 16 or claim 17.

19. The measurement data configuration is transmitted by the device or received from the RAN, and the measurement data configuration is the granularity of the position size indicated by the position information, the granularity of the measurement data, or the number of positions in the measurement report carrying the measurement data constituting at least any one of them, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. The position information is coordinates representing the position of the device in space, an identifier of the area where the device is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates including at least any one of them, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the coordinates are either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position.

22. The method according to claim 20 or claim 21, wherein the geographic coordinates include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

23. At least one processor; A memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22 An apparatus comprising.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the apparatus is a user equipment (UE) that wirelessly communicates with the RAN.

25. A method executed by a device in a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: Receiving, from a device that wirelessly communicates with the RAN, measurement data that associates measurements performed by the device with location information associated with the device when radio environment information of a region where the device is located is unknown, incomplete, or not up-to-date; Decoding the measurement data to obtain measurement results of the measurement and the location information; Maintaining a map indicating the radio environment information for each region using the measurement data Including a method.

26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising obtaining a data format of the measurement data, the data format including at least the location information.

27. The measurement data determined by the data format is Environmental information, Channel information, Measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters configured by the RAN, or Measurement results corresponding to measurement target parameters determined by the device Including at least any one of the above. The method according to claim 26.

28. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, further comprising receiving identifier (ID) information indicating a specific radio channel parameter or a specific environmental parameter measured by the device and represented as the measurement result in the measurement data.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the specific radio channel parameter is any one of a large-scale parameter, a small-scale parameter, or a Doppler region parameter.

30. The method according to claim 28 or claim 29, wherein the ID information is associated with one parameter to be measured.

31. The method according to claim 28 or claim 29, wherein the ID information indicates a plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters measured by the device and represented as a plurality of measurement results in the measurement data, each of the measurement results corresponding to any one of the different ones of the plurality of radio channel parameters or environmental parameters, and the measurement results are included in the plurality of measurement results.

32. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 31, wherein the ID information includes an ID value, the ID value is any one of a plurality of ID values, and each ID value of the plurality of ID values corresponds to one or more parameters to be measured.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein a mapping between each ID value and the one or more parameters to be measured is configured, and the mapping is any one of a plurality of possible mappings that can be configured.

34. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 33, wherein the ID information is received in the same transmission as the measurement data.

35. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 33, wherein the ID information is received in a transmission different from the measurement data and is received before the measurement data.

36. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 35, wherein the transmission including the measurement data does not include the ID of the device.

37. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 36, wherein the measurement data is received by physical layer control signaling.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of control information carrying the measurement data is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices.

39. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 36, wherein the measurement data is received on a data channel.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein a CRC of control information scheduling the measurement data on the data channel is scrambled by an ID common to a group of devices.

41. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 36, wherein at least a part of the measurement data is scrambled using an ID common to a group of devices.

42. The method according to claim 38 or claim 40 or claim 41, wherein the ID common to the group of devices is a group common radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

43. A measurement data configuration is transmitted by the RAN or received from the device, and the measurement data configuration is the granularity of the location size indicated by the location information, the granularity of the measurement data, or the number of locations in a measurement report carrying the measurement data The method according to any one of claims 25 to 42, which constitutes at least any one of them.

44. The location information is coordinates representing the location of the device in space, an identifier of the area where the device is located, or geographical coordinates equal to or based on the coordinates The method according to any one of claims 25 to 43, including at least any one of them.

45. The method according to claim 44, wherein the coordinates are either absolute coordinates or relative coordinates with respect to a reference position.

46. The method according to claim 44 or claim 45, wherein the geographical coordinates include at least any one of an indication of latitude, longitude, and altitude, an indication of latitude and longitude, an indication of latitude and altitude, an indication of longitude and altitude, a geocode, or global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.

47. A device deployed in a radio access network (RAN), the device comprising at least one processor; and a memory storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to execute the method according to any one of claims 25 to 46 A device comprising.

48. The device according to claim 47, wherein the device is a network device.

49. The device according to claim 48, wherein the network device is a transmit receive point (TRP).

50. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing one or more processors to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 22.

51. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing one or more processors to execute the method according to any one of claims 25 to 46.

52. An apparatus comprising means or a unit for performing any one of claims 1 to 22.

53. An apparatus comprising means or a unit for performing any one of claims 25 to 46.

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