Positioning Reference Signal Configuration and Management

Abstract

A signal measurement assistance method includes obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication indicating a first reference signal and a first expected arrival angle of the first reference signal, and at least one of requesting a transmitting / receiving point (TRP) to send the first indication to a user equipment or requesting the TRP to search for the first reference signal based on the first expected arrival angle.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to techniques for facilitating the measurement of signals, such as reference signals.

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Indian Patent Application No. 202011040980, entitled "RS CONFIGURATION AND MANAGEMENT," filed on September 22, 2020, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth-generation (5G) service, and the like. Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications services (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Access (GSM) variants of TDMA, and the like.

[0004]

[0003] Fifth-generation (5G) mobile standards require, among other improvements, higher data rates, a greater number of connections, and better coverage. The 5G standard from the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be enhanced and latency should be significantly reduced compared to current standards. Summary of the Invention

[0005]

[0004] An exemplary network entity includes an interface, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the interface and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to perform at least one of: obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first instruction indicating a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; requesting a transmitting / receiving point (TRP) to send the first instruction to a user equipment, or requesting the TRP to search for the first reference signal based on the first expected angle of arrival.

[0006]

[0005] An exemplary signal measurement assistance method includes: obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first instruction indicating a first reference signal and a first expected arrival angle of the first reference signal; and at least one of requesting a transmitting / receiving point (TRP) to send the first instruction to a user equipment or requesting the TRP to search for the first reference signal based on the first expected arrival angle.

[0007]

[0006] An exemplary user equipment includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to: send, via the transceiver, to a network entity an angle use capability message indicating the UE's ability to use signal angle information to measure a signal; receive, via the transceiver, from the network entity a reference signal indication indicating a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; and search for a reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0008]

[0007] An exemplary method for measuring a reference signal in a user equipment includes: sending an angle usage capability message from the user equipment to a network entity indicating the user equipment's ability to use signal angle information to measure a signal; receiving, in the user equipment, from the network entity, a reference signal indication indicating the reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching, in the user equipment, for a reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window; and measuring the reference signal in the user equipment. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a simplified diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. [Figure 3]

[0010] 1 is a block diagram of components of an exemplary transmit / receive point. [Figure 4]

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of components of an exemplary server, various embodiments of which are illustrated in FIG. [Figure 5]

[0012] 1 is a block diagram of an example user equipment. [Figure 6]

[0013] 1 is a block diagram of an example network entity. [Figure 7A]

[0014] 1 is a perspective view of a signal received at an angle of arrival from a base station. [Figure 7B]

[0015] 1 is a simplified diagram of a signal received at a line-of-sight arrival angle from a base station and at a reflected arrival angle from a base station. [Figure 8]

[0016] 6 is a simplified diagram of an example receive-signal path for the user equipment shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 9]

[0017] 1 is a diagram of the processing and signal flow for determining position information. [Figure 10]

[0018] FIG. 10 is a simplified example diagram of the angular capacity message shown in FIG. 9. [Figure 11]

[0019] 10 is a diagram of a simplified example of a table of a set of reference signal angle information. [Figure 12]

[0020] FIG. 10 is a diagram of a simplified example of the reference signal angle information message shown in FIG. 9. [Figure 13]

[0021] 1 is a block flow diagram of a signal measurement assistance method. [Figure 14]

[0022] 1 is a block flow diagram of a method for measuring a reference signal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010]

[0023] Techniques for facilitating measurement of signals, such as reference signals, are described herein. For example, a user equipment may indicate one or more abilities of the user equipment to use angle assistance information to search for, receive, and measure (reference) signals. The ability may be indicated for each reference signal and / or one or more respective characteristics of the reference signals (e.g., frequency band, frequency band combination). A network entity may request a transmitting / receiving point to send angle assistance information to the user equipment to help reduce an angular search window used by the user equipment to receive the (reference) signal(s). The user equipment may provide feedback to the network entity to help improve the angle assistance information. However, other examples may be implemented.

[0011]

[0024] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned: For example, latency in determining location information may be reduced by reducing the time to find a signal to be measured; location information accuracy may be improved; computational complexity may be reduced by reducing the processing to find a received signal, for example. Other capabilities may be provided, and every implementation according to the present disclosure need not provide any, much less all, of the described capabilities.

[0012]

[0025] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs), and terrestrial radio sources in the wireless network, such as base stations and access points. Standardization for 5G wireless networks is expected to include support for various positioning methods, which may utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for position determination.

[0013]

[0026] The descriptions may, for example, refer to sequences of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein may be performed by particular circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. The sequences of actions described herein may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause an associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are within the scope of the present disclosure, including claimed subject matter.

[0014]

[0027] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” as used herein are not specific to or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, such a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term “UE” as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber device,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or UT, “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” “mobile device,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a WiFi network (eg, based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0015]

[0028] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs, depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of base stations include an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), or a generic Node B (gNode B, gNB). Furthermore, in some systems, the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0016]

[0029] A UE may be embodied by any of several types of devices, including, but not limited to, a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wireline phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a RAN may send signals to a UE is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0017]

[0030] The terms “cell” or “sector” as used herein may correspond to one of multiple cells of a base station or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term “cell” may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., on a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish neighboring cells operating over the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some examples, the term “cell” may refer to a portion (e.g., sector) of a geographic coverage area over which the logical entity operates.

[0018]

[0031] Referring to FIG. 1 , an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a UE 106, a radio access network (RAN), here a fifth-generation (5G) next-generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135, a 5G core network (5GC) 140, and a server 150. The UE 105 and / or the UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, truck, bus, boat, etc.), or other device. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may also be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN, and the 5GC 140 may also be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of the NG-RAN and 5GC is underway in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). Thus, the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, e.g., a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The UE 106 may be configured and coupled similarly to the UE 105 to send and / or receive signals to and from similar other entities in the system 100, although such signaling is not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity of illustration. Similarly, the description focuses on the UE 105 for simplicity. The communications system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)), such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou, or some other local or regional SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Described below are additional components of communication system 100. Communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0019]

[0032] 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR NodeBs (gNBs) 110a, 110b and an evolved eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other and each configured to wirelessly communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). The AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial point of contact for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. A base station such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station), or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate using a short-range technology such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.). One or more BSs, e.g., one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114, may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic area, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be partitioned into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antennas.

[0020]

[0033] FIG. 1 provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as needed. In particular, while one UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in communications system 100. Similarly, communications system 100 may include a greater number (or fewer) of SVs (i.e., more or fewer than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external client 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in communications system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0021]

[0034] 1 shows a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure the directional signals at a UE (e.g., the UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate a location for the UE 105 at a location-enabled device, such as the UE 105, gNB 110a, 110b, or LMF 120, based on measurements received at the UE 105 for such directionally transmitted signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may each be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions in various embodiments.

[0022]

[0035] System 100 is capable of wireless communication in that components of system 100 can communicate with one another (at least sometimes using a wireless connection) directly or indirectly, for example, via gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices, not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). In indirect communication, communications may be altered during transmission from one entity to another, for example, by changing header information of data packets, modifying formatting, etc. UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., although these are examples and other configurations of UEs may be used, as UE 105 need not be any of these configurations. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or headsets, etc.). Still other UEs, whether currently existing or developed in the future, may be used. Additionally, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, the 5GC 140, and / or the external client 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to enable the external client 130 to request and / or receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0023]

[0036] The UE 105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi® communications, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communications, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (vehicle-to-anything, e.g., V2P (vehicle-to-pedestrian), V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure), V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). The V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (dedicated short-range communications)). The system 100 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals at different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can transmit modulated signals simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc. The UEs 105, 106 may communicate with each other through sidelink (SL) communications between UEs by transmitting over one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0024]

[0037] The UE 105 may comprise and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL)-enabled terminal (SET), or by some other name. Additionally, the UE 105 may correspond to a cell phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, although not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also referred to as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable UE 105 to communicate with external client 130 (e.g., via elements of 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1 or possibly via GMLC 125) and / or enable external client 130 to receive location information regarding UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 125).

[0025]

[0038] The UE 105 may comprise a single entity, or may comprise multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of the location of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic and thus provide location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 105 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height or depth above ground, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address or as a designation of some point or small area in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in urban terms) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location, for example, comprising a distance and a direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin in the known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, with respect to a city, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine the values ​​of the local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then, if desired, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0026]

[0039] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may otherwise be unable to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may occur between UEs without the involvement of a TRP. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​the TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may otherwise be unable to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may occur between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0027]

[0040] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and the gNBs 110a, 110b may provide wireless communication access to the 5G Grid Control 140 for the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 110a, although another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may act as the serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location or as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

[0028]

[0041] 1 may include the ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next-generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105 but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0029]

[0042] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 may each comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector in a BS's cell may comprise a TRP, but the TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 100 may include exclusively macro TRPs, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro TRPs, pico TRPs, and / or femto TRPs. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and allow restricted access by terminals with an association with the femto cell (e.g., terminals for home users).

[0030]

[0043] Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB 110a includes an RU 111, a DU 112, and a CU 113. The RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113 share the functions of the gNB 110a. While the gNB 110a is shown with a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, a gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. The interface between the CU 113 and the DU 112 is referred to as the F1 interface. The RU 111 is configured to perform digital front-end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmit / receive) and digital beamforming and includes a portion of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU 111 may implement a DFE using massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB 110a. The DU 112 hosts the radio link control (RLC) layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, and physical layer of the gNB 110a. One DU can support one or more cells, with each cell supported by a single DU. The operation of the DU 112 is controlled by the CU 113. The CU 113 is configured to perform functions such as forwarding user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., although some functions are allocated exclusively to the DU 112. The CU 113 hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 110a. The UE 105 may communicate with the CU 113 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, with the DU 112 via the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer, and with the RU 111 via the PHY layer.

[0031]

[0044] As mentioned, although Figure 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), which may comprise base stations with evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may comprise an E-UTRAN+EPC, where E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 in Figure 1 and the EPC corresponds to the 5G Node B 140.

[0032]

[0045] The gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which communicates with the LMF 120, for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and, in some cases, data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105 through wireless communication or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114, for example. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Aided GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Extended Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as a location manager (LM), location function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value-added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP).At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including deriving the location of the UE 105) may be implemented in the UE 105 (e.g., using signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 and / or signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for, e.g., assistance data provided to the UE 105 by the LMF 120). The AMF 115 may act as a control node that handles signaling between the UE 105 and the 5GC 140 and may provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. The AMF 115 may support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105.

[0033]

[0046] The server 150, e.g., a cloud server, is configured to obtain and provide a location estimate of the UE 105 to the external client 130. The server 150 may be configured, for example, to run a microservice / service that obtains a location estimate of the UE 105. The server 150 may, for example, pull the location estimate from the UE 105 (e.g., by sending a location request to the UE 105), from one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 (e.g., via the RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113), and / or from the LMF 120. As another example, the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113), and / or the LMF 120 may push a location estimate of the UE 105 to the server 150.

[0034]

[0047] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 via the server 150 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) may be returned to the GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return a location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. Although the GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, in some implementations it may not be connected to the AMF 115 or the LMF 120.

[0035]

[0048] 1, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using the New Radio Location Protocol A (sometimes referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, and NRPPa messages are transferred between the gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and the LMF 120 and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115. As further shown in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or instead communicate using a New Radio Positioning Protocol (sometimes referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b, or serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP) and between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based location methods, such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID.The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based location methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b, or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with a gNB or TRP, or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0036]

[0049] In a UE-assisted location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for calculation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN APs. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193.

[0037]

[0050] In a UE-based location method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (which may, for example, be the same as or similar to location measurements for a UE-assisted location method) and may calculate the location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, or other base station or AP).

[0038]

[0051] In a network-based location method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or Time of Arrival (ToA) measurements for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculation of a location estimate for the UE 105.

[0039]

[0052] The information provided by the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 to the LMF 120 using the NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions and location coordinates. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140.

[0040]

[0053] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other location method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station, such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0041]

[0054] As mentioned, although communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., used to support and interact with mobile devices such as UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, 5GC 140 may connect to a WLAN using a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1 ) in 5GC 140. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in 5GC 140, such as AMF 115. In some embodiments, both NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) in place of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC in place of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use an LPPa instead of an NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use an LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE 105 using a directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for a 5G network, except that the functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may, in some cases, instead apply to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0042]

[0055] As mentioned, in some embodiments, the positioning functionality may be implemented at least in part using directional SS beams sent by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) that are within range of the UE whose position is to be determined (e.g., UE 105 of FIG. 1). The UE may, in some cases, use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114) to calculate the UE's position.

[0043]

[0056] 2, UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105, 106 and comprises a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position device (PD) 219. Processor 210, memory 211, sensor(s) 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and position device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by bus 220 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., camera 218, position device 219, and / or one or more of sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. Processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. Processor 210 may comprise multiple processors, including general-purpose / application processor 230, digital signal processor (DSP) 231, modem processor 232, video processor 233, and / or sensor processor 234. One or more of processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, sensor processor 234 may comprise, for example, a processor for RF (radio frequency) sensing (in which one or more (cellular) wireless signals are transmitted and reflection(s) are used to identify, map, and / or track objects), ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (and even more SIMs).For example, one SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identity Module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used by an end user of UE 200 for connectivity. Memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by processor 210, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause processor 210 to perform a function. While the description may refer to processor 210 performing a function, this includes other implementations, such as when processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to processor 210 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of processors 230-234 performing the function. The description may refer to UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 that perform the function. Processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 is described more fully below.

[0044]

[0057] 2 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure; other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Another exemplary configuration includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, a wireless transceiver, and one or more of sensor(s) 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or a wired transceiver.

[0045]

[0058] The UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and downconverted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Also or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform the baseband processing.

[0046]

[0059] The UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include one or more of various types of sensors, such as, for example, one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more light sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may comprise, for example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope(s)) (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions). The sensor(s) 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer(s)) for determining orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes, for example, to support one or more compass applications. The environmental sensor(s) may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals whose indications may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0047]

[0060] The sensor(s) 213 may be used in relative location measurement, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-assisted location determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be useful for determining whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or mobile and / or whether certain useful information regarding the mobility of the UE 200 should be reported to the LMF 120. For example, based on information acquired / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and may report a relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor-assisted location determination enabled by the sensor(s) 213). In another example, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of other devices relative to the UE 200 for relative positioning information.

[0048]

[0061] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements of the direction and / or speed of movement of the UE 200, which may be used in relative location determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200, respectively. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational velocity of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction and displacement of the UE 200's movement. The instantaneous direction and displacement of the movement may be integrated to track the UE 200's location. For example, a reference location of the UE 200 may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a certain moment in time, and measurements from the accelerometer(s) and gyroscope(s) obtained after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine the UE 200's current location based on the UE 200's movement (direction and distance) relative to the reference location.

[0049]

[0062] The magnetometer(s) may determine magnetic field strength in different directions, which may be used to determine an orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may provide a means for sensing the magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field to, for example, the processor 210.

[0050]

[0063] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and vice versa. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. New Radio may use mmWave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies.The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with and send communications to and receive communications from the NG-RAN 135. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for sending and / or receiving appropriate signals.

[0051]

[0064] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibrating device, a keyboard, a touchscreen, etc. The user interface 216 may include two or more of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to allow a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store instructions of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 for processing by the DSP 231 and / or the general-purpose processor 230 in response to actions from the user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 200 may store instructions of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 for presenting output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include audio input / output (I / O) devices, including, for example, a speaker, a microphone, digital-to-analog circuitry, analog-to-digital circuitry, amplifiers, and / or gain control circuits (including two or more of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Also or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure, for example, on a keyboard and / or touchscreen of the user interface 216 .

[0052]

[0065] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signals 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signals 260 from wireless signals to wired signals, e.g., electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals 260 to estimate the location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general-purpose processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special-purpose processors (not shown) may be utilized in conjunction with the SPS receiver 217 to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals and / or to calculate the estimated location of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general-purpose processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special-purpose processors and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing the measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0053]

[0066] The UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or video images. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge-coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by the general-purpose processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Also or alternatively, a video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing the captured images. The video processor 233 may decode / restore stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown), e.g., of the user interface 216.

[0054]

[0067] The position device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200, the movement of the UE 200, and / or the relative position of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may be in communication with and / or include part or all of the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may operate in conjunction with the processor 210 and the memory 211 to implement at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, as appropriate, although the description herein may refer to the PD 219 being configured to implement or implementing according to the positioning method(s). Also or alternatively, the PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some of the wireless signals 248) for trilateration, to assist in the acquisition and use of SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 based on the cell (e.g., cell center) of the serving base station and / or another technique, such as E-CID. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition combined with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks such as mountains, and / or man-made landmarks such as buildings, bridges, streets, etc.) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)) to determine the location of the UE 200 and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200.The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense and provide an indication of the orientation and / or movement of the UE 200, which the processor 210 (e.g., processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine the movement (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of the uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or movement. The functionality of the PD 219 may be provided in various manners and / or configurations by, for example, the general purpose / application processor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0055]

[0068] 3, an example of a TRP 300 of the gNB 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 comprises a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interfaces) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, as shown in FIG. 2). Memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code that includes instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 312 may not be directly executable by processor 310, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause processor 310 to perform functions.

[0056]

[0069] The description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors included in the processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the TRP 300 (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 311) (and thus one of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114) that perform the function. The processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is described more fully below.

[0057]

[0070] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and vice versa. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc.The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communications, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to and receive communications from, e.g., the LMF 120, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical communications and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0058]

[0071] 3 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein describes the TRP 300 as being configured to perform or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0059]

[0072] 4, server 400, of which LMF 120 is an example, comprises a computing platform including processor 410, memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and transceiver 415. Processor 410, memory 411, and transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other by bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and / or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interface) may be omitted from server 400. Processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. Processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including the general-purpose / application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and / or sensor processor shown in FIG. 2). Memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 stores software 412, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions configured, when executed, to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 410 to perform a function. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors included in the processor 410 that perform the function. The description may refer to the server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 that perform the function. The processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 411.The functionality of processor 410 is more fully described below.

[0060]

[0073] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and vice versa. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to and receive communications from, e.g., the TRP 300, and / or one or more other network entities.The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and / or electrical communications, for example.

[0061]

[0074] The description herein may refer to processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when processor 410 executes software and / or firmware (stored in memory 411). The description herein may refer to server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 (e.g., processor 410 and memory 411) that perform the function.

[0062]

[0075] 4 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure; other configurations may be used. For example, wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also or alternatively, the description herein describes server 400 as being configured to perform or performing certain functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by TRP 300 and / or UE 200 (i.e., TRP 300 and / or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0063]

[0076] Positioning Technique

[0077] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) often operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, in which measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are obtained by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the UE's position based on the measurements and the known locations of the base stations. Because these techniques use a location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the UE's position, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car navigation or cell phone navigation, which instead generally rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0064]

[0078] A UE may use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (also known as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) for high-accuracy positioning using precise point positioning (PPP) or real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements from ground stations. LTE Release 15 allows data to be encrypted so that the information can only be read by UEs that have subscribed to the service. Such assistance data varies over time. Therefore, a UE that has subscribed to the service may not easily "decrypt" the data for other UEs by passing it on to them that have not paid for the subscription. The passing would need to be repeated each time the assistance data changes.

[0065]

[0079] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, angle of arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a Base Station Almanac (BSA) that contains multiple "entries" or "records," one record per cell, where each record includes the geographic cell location but may also include other data. An identifier for a "record" among the multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the UE's position.

[0066]

[0080] In traditional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own location and thus avoids sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which improves latency and scalability. The UE uses relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of gNBs (more broadly, base stations)). The BSA information may be encrypted. However, because BSA information fluctuates much less frequently than, for example, the previously described PPP or RTK assistance data, it may be easier (compared to PPP or RTK information) to make the BSA information available to UEs that have not subscribed and paid for a decryption key. The transmission of reference signals by gNBs makes the BSA information potentially accessible for crowdsourcing or wardriving, essentially allowing the BSA information to be generated based on in-situ and / or over-the-top observations.

[0067]

[0081] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or assessed based on one or more criteria, such as position determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event triggering the determination of position-related data and the availability of that data at a positioning system interface, e.g., the interface of the LMF 120. At the initialization of the positioning system, the latency for the availability of position-related data is referred to as the time to first fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The reciprocal of the time elapsed between two consecutive availability of position-related data is referred to as the update rate, i.e., the rate at which position-related data is generated after the initial position fix. Latency may depend, for example, on the processing capability of the UE. For example, the UE may report its processing capability as the duration of DL PRS symbols in time units (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process per T amount of time (e.g., T ms) for a 272 PRB (Physical Resource Block) allocation. Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs that a UE can handle PRSs, the number of PRSs that a UE can handle, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0068]

[0082] One or more of many different positioning techniques (also called positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity such as one of the UEs 105, 106. For example, known positioning techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also called TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Extended Cell Identity (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the range between the two entities. That range, along with the known location of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities, may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and another may be used to determine the relative range from the other entity, which may be used in combination with the known location of the other entity to determine the location of the entity. Angle of arrival and / or angle of departure may be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or angle of departure of a signal, combined with the range between devices (determined using the signal, e.g., the signal's travel time, the signal's received power, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices, may be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or angle of departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as due north. The angle of arrival or angle of departure may be a zenith angle directly upward from the entity (i.e., relative to a radial direction outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the receive time and the transmit time at the UE), the estimated timing and power of detected neighbor cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of the signal at the UE from the base station, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the arrival times at a receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known locations of the sources and known offsets in the transmit times from the sources, are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0069]

[0083] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on the serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and the serving base station, since typically at least three base stations are required). One or more base stations transmit the RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by base stations to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as the LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also referred to as receive time, reception time, time of reception, or time of arrival (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE's current downlink timing (e.g., as derived by the UE from a DL signal received from its serving base station), transmits (e.g., when commanded by its serving base station) common or individual RTT response messages (e.g., SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations, and includes in the payload of each RTT response message the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message. Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-TxThe RTT response message will contain a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. The difference T between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station Tx→Rx The UE reported time difference T Rx→Tx By comparing the propagation time between the base station and the UE, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, and by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time, the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station.

[0070]

[0084] UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based method, except that the UE (e.g., when commanded by the serving base station) transmits (one or more) uplink RTT measurement signals that are received by multiple base stations in the UE's vicinity. Each participating base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in the RTT response message payload the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

[0071]

[0085] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the party performing the RTT calculation (network or UE) typically (but not always) sends the initial message(s) or signal(s) (e.g., RTT measurement signal(s)), and the other party responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals that may include the difference between the ToA of the initial message(s) or signal(s) and the transmission time of the RTT response message(s) or signal(s).

[0072]

[0086] Multi-RTT techniques may be used to determine location. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send out one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and multiple second entities (e.g., other TSPs, such as base station(s) and / or UE(s)) may receive the signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity, such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entities to determine a range to the second entity and may use the multiple ranges and the known location of the second entities to determine the location of the first entity by trilateration.

[0073]

[0087] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of a linear direction (which may be, for example, in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions), or possibly an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a range of directions (e.g., for the UE from the location of the base station). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the location for the UE.

[0074]

[0088] In positioning techniques (e.g., TDOA and RTT) that use PRS (positioning reference signal) signals, PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured, and the signal arrival times, known transmission times, and known locations of the TRPs are used to determine the range from the UE to the TRP. For example, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in TDOA techniques to determine the location of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRSs or PRS signals. PRS signals are generally sent using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other. Thus, PRS signals from more distant TRPs may be overwhelmed by PRS signals from closer TRPs, and thus, signals from more distant TRPs may not be detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signals, for example, to 0, and thus not transmitting the PRS signals). In this way, a weaker PRS signal (at the UE) can be more easily detected by the UE without a stronger PRS signal interfering with the weaker PRS signal. The term RS and its variants (e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal)) may refer to one reference signal or two or more reference signals.

[0075]

[0089] Positioning reference signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS, often simply referred to as PRS) (sometimes called SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning) and uplink PRS (UL PRS). The PRS may comprise a PN code (pseudorandom code) or may be generated using a PN code (e.g., by modulating a carrier signal with the PN code) so that the source of the PRS can act as a pseudolite. The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least within a designated area so that the same PRS from different PRS sources does not overlap). The PRS may comprise a PRS resource or a PRS resource set of a frequency layer. The DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs with one or more PRS resources having common parameters configured by the higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. The DL PRS point A parameter also defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), and DL PRS resources belong to the same DL PRS resource set with the same point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belong to the same frequency layer with the same point A. The frequency layers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size (i.e., for comb N, the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol such that every Nth resource element is a PRS resource element).A PRS resource set may be identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a particular TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by a base station's antenna panel. A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set may be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus a PRS resource, or simply a resource, may also be referred to as a beam. This does not have any implications regarding whether the base station and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0076]

[0090] The TRP may be configured to send the DL PRS per schedule, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP may send the DL-PRS intermittently, for example, periodically at regular intervals from the initial transmission. The TRP may be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP, where the resources have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across a slot. Each PRS resource set comprises multiple PRS resources, and each PRS resource comprises multiple resource elements (REs) that may be in multiple resource blocks (RBs) within N consecutive symbols (one or more) within a slot. An RB is a collection of REs that spans one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and a quantity of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (12 for 5G RBs). Each PRS resource consists of an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource may occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol in the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols in the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted RE may repeat across slots, with each transmission being called a repetition; therefore, there may be multiple repetitions in a PRS resource. DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. A DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams).

[0077]

[0091] The PRS resources may also be defined by quasi-co-location and starting PRB parameters. The quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi-co-location information of the DL PRS resources with other reference signals. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with the DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) block from the serving cell or a non-serving cell. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with the SS / PBCH block from the serving cell or a non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DL PRS resources with respect to reference point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and may have a minimum value of 0 PRBs and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0078]

[0092] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Any time configured for all repetitions of all PRS resources in a PRS resource set to be transmitted is called an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within the PRS resource set; thus, an instance is complete when the specified number of repetitions have been transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be referred to as an "occasion." A DL PRS configuration, including a DL PRS transmission schedule, may be provided to a UE to facilitate (and even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0079]

[0093] Multiple frequency layers of a PRS can be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth greater than any of the layer bandwidths individually. Multiple frequency layers of component carriers (which may be contiguous and / or separate) and that meet criteria such as being quasi-colocated (QCLed), having the same antenna port, etc., can be stitched to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​PRS and UL PRS) and result in increased time-of-arrival measurement accuracy. Stitching comprises combining PRS measurements across individual bandwidth segments into a unified portion so that the stitched PRS can be treated as if taken from a single measurement. When QCLed, different frequency layers behave similarly, allowing stitching of PRSs to result in a larger effective bandwidth. A larger effective bandwidth, sometimes referred to as the aggregated PRS bandwidth or the aggregated PRS frequency bandwidth, provides better time-domain resolution (e.g., of TDOA). An aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, where each PRS resource of the aggregated PRS may be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component may be transmitted on a different component carrier, band, or frequency layer or on a different portion of the same band.

[0080]

[0094] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in that the RTT uses positioning signals sent by the TRP to the UE and by UEs (participating in the RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP may send DL-PRS signals received by the UE, and the UE may send SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) signals received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be referred to as SRS or SRS signals. In 5G multi-RTT, cooperative positioning may be used, in which the UE sends a single UL-SRS for positioning received by multiple TRPs rather than a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT will generally search for UEs currently camped on that TRP (served UEs, the TRP is the serving TRP) and also for UEs camped on neighboring TRPs (neighbor UEs). The neighbor TRPs may be the TRPs of a single BTS (e.g., gNB), or may be the TRPs of one BTS and the TRPs of a separate BTS. In RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS signal for the positioning signal in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thus the range between the UE and the TRP) may occur close in time to each other, so that errors due to UE motion and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, signals in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE within about 10 ms of each other, respectively. It has been found that when the SRS for the positioning signal is sent by the UE and the PRS and SRS for the positioning signal are carried close in time to each other, particularly when many UEs attempt positioning simultaneously, radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (which may cause excessive noise, etc.) may occur and / or calculation congestion may occur in the TRP attempting to measure many UEs simultaneously.

[0081]

[0095] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the UE 200 determines the RTT, the corresponding range to each TRP 300, and the location of the UE 200 based on the range to the TRP 300 and the known location of the TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures positioning signals and provides the measurement information to the TRP 300, which determines the RTT and range. The TRP 300 provides the range to a location server, e.g., server 400, which determines the location of the UE 200, e.g., based on the range to a different TRP 300. The RTT and / or range can be determined by the TRP 300 receiving signal(s) from the UE 200, by this TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices, e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or server 400, or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 receiving signal(s) from the UE 200.

[0082]

[0096] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only, UL-only, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0083]

[0097] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be called a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or other names. A position estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that is expected to contain the location with some specified or default confidence level).

[0084]

[0098] Positioning with Angle Aiding

[0099] Angle information regarding a reference signal received by a UE may be useful for several reasons. For example, knowing (e.g., by determining) the angle of arrival of a reference signal may be useful in determining the location of the UE. As another example, knowing the angle(s) of arrival of one or more reflected signals may be used for RF sensing to determine information about the UE's environment, e.g., the quantity, size, and / or location of an object of interest. Reflector locations may be mapped to the object of interest. The reflections may also or alternatively be used to determine a virtual base station (e.g., gNB) location and improve the positioning accuracy of the UE position. Thus, the UE may attempt to determine the angle of arrival of the reference signal. For example, to reduce latency and / or reduce power consumption, it may be beneficial to have assistance information to facilitate the determination of the angle(s) of arrival. For example, the UE may use a range of expected angle(s) of arrival for a reference signal to reduce a search window for receiving and measuring the reference signal, which may improve computational costs (e.g., latency, processing power).

[0085]

[0100] Angle information for one or more reference signals may be useful for multipath mitigation. For example, knowing the range of expected arrival angles may aid in multipath mitigation, e.g., ignoring unwanted multipath signals and / or using multipath signals (e.g., to characterize the environment, aid in positioning, etc.). Additional measurements supporting multipath mitigation include timing, power K-factor, and Doppler shift measurements for line-of-sight (LOS) and one or more non-line-of-sight (NLOS) paths. Assistance data may be provided to the UE for use in determining measurements supporting multipath mitigation, positioning, etc. For example, the expected timing of the reference signal, e.g., the expected time of reception and the uncertainty of the time of reception, may be provided, thus providing a time window for reception of the reference signal. For example, for a DL PRS in FR1, the uncertainty may be + / - 32 μs, and for a DL PRS in FR2, the uncertainty may be + / - 8 μs. However, to date, angle assistance data has not been provided to the UE.

[0086]

[0101] With reference to FIG. 5 and further to FIGS. 1-4, UE 500 includes a processor 510, an interface 520, and a memory 530 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 540. UE 500 may include some or all of the components shown in FIG. 5 and one or more other components, such as any of the components shown in FIG. 2; thus, UE 200 may be an example of UE 500. Processor 510 may include one or more components of processor 210. Memory 530 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include RAM, flash memory, disk memory, ROM, and the like. Memory 530 may store software 532, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions configured, when executed, to cause processor 510 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, software 532 may not be directly executable by processor 510, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause processor 510 to perform functions. The interface 520 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 215, such as the wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246, or the wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246, or the wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and the antenna 246. Also or alternatively, the interface 520 may include the wired transmitter 252 and / or the wired receiver 254. The interface 520 may include the SPS receiver 217 and the antenna 262.

[0087]

[0102] The description herein may refer to the processor 510 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 510 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 530). The description herein may refer to the UE 500 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 500 that perform the function (e.g., the processor 510 and the memory 530). The processor 510 includes an angle capability unit 550 (possibly along with the memory 530 and, where appropriate, the interface 520). The angle capability unit 550 may be configured to send one or more capability messages indicating the UE 500's ability to use angle information related to a reference signal to measure the reference signal. The capability message(s) may indicate one or more parameters related to the UE 500's ability to use the angle information, such as a range of angles relative to the UE 500 over which the UE 500 may direct a beam to measure the reference signal, one or more frequency bands and / or one or more frequency band combinations corresponding to one or more other parameters related to the UE 500's ability to use the angle information, etc. The configuration and functionality of the angle capability unit 550 is further described herein, and the UE 500 (e.g., the processor 510 and, as appropriate, one or more other components, such as the memory 530) is configured to perform the functionality of the angle capability unit 550 described herein.

[0088]

[0103] 6, with further reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, a network entity 600, which may be an example of the TRP 300 shown in FIG. 3, an example of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4, or a combination thereof (e.g., a TRP including an LMF), includes a processor 610, an interface 620, and a memory 630 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 640. The network entity 600 may include some or all of the components shown in FIG. 6 and may include one or more other components, such as any of the components shown in FIGS. 3 and / or 4. For example, the interface 620 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 315, e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and antenna 346, or the wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346, or the wireless transmitter 342, the wireless receiver 344, and the antenna 346. Also or alternatively, the interface 620 may include a wired transmitter 352 and / or a wired receiver 354. The memory 630 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include RAM, flash memory, disk memory, and / or ROM, etc. The memory 630 may store software 632, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code including instructions configured, when executed, to cause the processor 610 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 632 may not be directly executable by the processor 610, but may be configured, for example, when compiled and executed, to cause the processor 610 to perform a function. The network entity 600 may also or alternatively include similar components of the server 400. For example, the network entity 600 may be the TRP 300 or the server 400 and be configured to communicate with (e.g., send requests to) the TRP 300, or may include the TRP 300 and be configured to communicate with (e.g., send requests to) the TRP portion of the network entity 600.

[0089]

[0104] The description herein may refer to the processor 610 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 610 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 630). The description herein may refer to the network entity 600 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the network entity 600 (e.g., the processor 610 and the memory 630) that perform the function. The processor 610 includes an angle information unit 650 (possibly along with the memory 630 and, where appropriate, the interface 620). The angle information unit 650 may be configured to request the TRP 300 to send reference signal angle information to the UE 500 for use by the UE 500 in measuring one or more reference signals. For example, if the network entity 600 is the TRP 300, the angle information unit 650 may request one or more other parts of the network entity 600 to send reference signal angle information to the UE 500. The reference signal angle information may, for example, identify one or more particular signals, identify one or more reference signal frequency bands, explicitly or implicitly indicate an angle of arrival window for each reference signal, indicate a location corresponding to each reference signal and angle of arrival window, and / or indicate a validity time associated with each reference signal and angle of arrival window. The configuration and functionality of angle information unit 650 are further described herein, and network entity 600 (e.g., processor 610 and, optionally, one or more other components, such as memory 630) are configured to perform the functions of angle information unit 650 described herein.

[0090]

[0105] 7A and 7B, and with further reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a network entity 600 (shown here as a TRP, which may include, for example, an LMF) may send a reference signal to the UE 500. The reference signal may follow an LOS path 710 that is incident on the location of the UE 500 at an arrival angle characterized by an azimuth angle 720 (θ) and a zenith angle 730 (φ). The orientation of the UE 500 in FIGS. 7A and 7B is exemplary, as the UE 500 may be rotated to various, possibly any, orientations. The azimuth angle θ and the zenith angle φ are determined with respect to the surface of the Earth, assuming the Earth is a perfect sphere, the x-y plane is tangent to the sphere at the location of the UE 500, and the z-axis is perpendicular to the x-y plane. In addition to LOS path 710, the reference signal may also (or alternatively) follow NLOS path 740, emanating from network entity 600 and reflecting off object 750 before being received by UE 500. The AoA of the reference signal from NLOS path 740 (the reflected path) generally differs from the AoA of LOS path 710 (although the AoA of LOS path 710 and the AoA of NLOS path 740 may be within the same range of AoA). Although one NLOS path and one reflecting object are shown in FIG. 7B and described as one reference signal being sent from network entity 600 to UE 500, multiple reference signals may be sent and / or the reference signal may take multiple NLOS paths to a destination location (e.g., to UE 500), e.g., reflecting off different objects, reflecting off multiple objects in one NLOS path, etc.

[0091]

[0106] 8, multiple receive signal paths 801, 802 may be provided in UE 500. To receive one or more signals from one or more desired AoAs and provide the signal(s) to processor 510, e.g., for measurement, one or more transducers 810, 820 may be coupled to one or more respective tuners 811, 821, which may be coupled to one or more respective phase shifters 812, 822, which may be coupled to one or more filters 813, 823 and one or more filters 814, 824. The tuner(s) 811, 821, the phase shifter(s) 812, 822, and the filter(s) 813, 814, 823, 824 are optional, and any one or more of these items may be omitted. Tuner(s) 811, phase shifter(s) 812, and filter(s) 813, 814 provide two of the receive signal paths 801. The transducer(s) 810 may comprise one or more antenna panels. The tuner(s) 811 may be adjusted under the control of the processor 510 so that the transducer(s) 810 are tuned to receive different frequencies (e.g., signals in different frequency bands). The phase shifter(s) 812 may be controlled by the processor 510 to provide different phase shifts to the transducer(s) 810 to steer the beam of the transducer(s) 810. The filter(s) 813, 814 may be configured to block or allow desired signal frequencies and may be controlled by the processor 510 to change which frequencies are blocked / passed.The transducer(s) 820, tuner(s) 821, phase shifter(s) 822, and filter(s) 823, 824 are configured to provide similar functionality as the transducer(s) 810, tuner(s) 811, phase shifter(s) 812, and filter(s) 813, 814. One or more of the receive signal paths 801, 802 may be modified to receive different frequencies and / or different angles of arrival of signals at different times, for example, by varying the phase shift and / or frequency filter applied to the received signal. The illustrated receive signal paths 801, 802 are examples, and other configurations are possible.

[0092]

[0107] 9, a processing and signal flow 900 for determining location information includes the stages shown. Flow 900 is an example, and stages may be added to, removed from, and / or reordered within flow 900.

[0093]

[0108] At stage 905, network entity 600 may obtain reference signal angle information. For example, network entity 600 may gather crowd-sourced information by analyzing channel paths (e.g., delays, angles, path gains, etc.) across multiple signals, e.g., multiple PRS beams and / or multiple SRS beams (ports), information regarding the locations where the information was collected, etc. Network entity 600 may analyze the information to determine angles of arrival corresponding to different signals, e.g., different reference signal channels. The determined information may include AoAs for LOS signals and AoAs for NLOS signals that were reflected before arriving at the corresponding locations.

[0094]

[0109] At stage 910, the UE 500, e.g., the angle capability unit 550, sends an angle capability message 912 to the network entity 600 via the interface 520. The angle capability message 912 may indicate whether the UE 500 is capable of using angle information to assist the UE 500 in measuring reference signals, e.g., to determine the AoA of the reference signals. The angle capability message 912 may include one or more parameters related to the UE 500's ability to use the angle information, e.g., one or more parameters related to the UE 500's ability to measure the angles of one or more reference signals. The angle capability message 912 may provide information regarding the UE 500's ability to use angle information for different frequencies (e.g., frequency bands, frequency band combinations), e.g., because the UE 500 may have different quantities and / or types of antennas with different performance characteristics for different frequencies. Different antenna quantities and / or types may provide, e.g., different abilities to beam steer to several angles relative to the body of the UE 500.

[0095]

[0110] 10 , an exemplary angle capability message 1000 includes an angle usage capability field 1010, a frequency band combination field 1020, a frequency band field 1030, an angle range field 1040, and an accuracy field 1050. The value in the angle usage field 1010 may indicate whether the UE 500 may use angle information (e.g., an angle search window) to measure a reference signal. The value of the angle usage capability field 1010, for example, a single bit with a value of 1 indicating that the UE 500 may use angle information to measure a reference signal (e.g., in the corresponding frequency band combination and / or frequency band indicated by fields 1020, 1030) or a value of 0 indicating that the UE 500 does not use angle information, may be coded. The frequency band combination field 1020 indicates one or more frequency bands corresponding to the angle usage capability indication in the angle usage capability field 1010. The frequency band field 1030 indicates one or more frequency bands corresponding to the angle usage capability indication in the angle usage capability field 1010 and the frequency band combination(s) indicated in the frequency band combination field 1020. Thus, for example, within the frequency band combination indicated in field 1020, a frequency band may be indicated in field 1030 as to the angle usage capability of the UE 500 for the indicated band within the corresponding indicated band combination. For example, the ability of the UE 500 to use angle information for different band combinations and / or different bands may depend on the number of antennas and / or antenna panels (e.g., different locations on the UE 500 of one or more antenna elements) and the capabilities of the antenna(s), e.g., potential scanning angle(s). The angle range field 1040 may indicate an angular range or field of view (FOV) over which the UE 500 may be able to steer an antenna beam for the corresponding band combination and / or corresponding band.For example, the value of the angle range field 1040 may indicate a maximum sweep angle for the antenna beam corresponding to the indicated band combination in field 1020 and / or the indicated band in field 1030. A value of 360° in the angle range field 1040 may indicate that there is no angle sweep limit for the corresponding band combination and / or band. The value of the accuracy field 1050 may provide one or more parameters related to the accuracy of the location information (e.g., one or more measurements, one or more position estimates, etc.) to be provided (e.g., required to be provided) by the UE 500. Fields 1020, 1030, 1040, and 1050 are optional, and one or more of fields 1020, 1030, 1040, and 1050 may be omitted. Furthermore, an indication that the UE 500 is not capable of using angle information may be a default value, and the capability message 1000 may omit a value in the angle usage capability field 1010 indicating that the UE 500 is not capable of using angle information to measure reference signals. No angle usage capability may be indicated by a 0° angle range. The angle usage capability field 1010 may be omitted, e.g., the UE 500's ability to use angle information to measure reference signals is implicit in providing non-zero values ​​for one or more of fields 1020, 1030, 1040. The capability message 1000 is an example, and many other configurations of capability messages may be used.

[0096]

[0111] Referring again to FIG. 9 , at stage 920, the network entity 600 obtains the location of the UE 500. The network entity 600 may determine a coarse location of the UE 500 using one or more of a variety of techniques. For example, the network entity 600 may use the location of the UE 500 or the location of the serving TRP 300 as the cell sector center of the serving cell, or may determine the location of the UE using E-CID or another technique. The network entity 600 may determine the location of the UE 500 using one or more techniques, for example, by combining the determined locations using a weighted average. The network entity 600 may determine a future predicted location for the UE 500, for example, based on the movement of the UE 500, particularly relative to the TRP 300. The velocity of the UE 500 may be used by the network entity 600 to determine the predicted location of the UE 500 and may be used to determine the validity time for assistance information provided to the UE 500 (as described further below).

[0097]

[0112] In step 930, the network entity 600, e.g., the angle information unit 650, may request the TRP 300 to use or send the reference signal angle information. For example, in sub-step 932, the angle information unit 650 may request the TRP 300 (e.g., the TRP portion of the network entity 600 or a separate TRP 300) to use the reference signal angle information for AoA measurements of the UL PRS from the UE 500. Also or alternatively, the angle information unit 650 may request the TRP 300 to send a reference signal angle information message 934 to the UE 500, and the TRP 300 may send the reference signal angle information message 934 to the UE 500. For example, the network entity 600 may send a request via interface 620 to the TRP 300, which sends the message to the UE 500, or, if the network entity 600 includes or is the TRP 300, the angle information unit 650 requests the TRP portion of the network entity 600 to send a reference signal angle information message 934 to the UE 500. The reference signal angle information used by the network entity 600 in sub-stage 932 may be the same as or similar to the content of the reference signal angle information message 934. The reference signal angle information message 934 may include assistance information for use by the UE 500 in measuring a reference signal, for example, to determine the angle of arrival of the measurement signal. Although the description herein may refer to a reference signal, this includes one or more reference signals. The reference signal angle information message 934 may include one or more information elements (IEs) for conveying reference signal angle information, such as a DL-PRS expected AoA and / or AoD. The AoA may include an azimuth angle, e.g., azimuth angle 720, and / or a zenith angle (e.g., ZoA (zenith arrival angle)), e.g., zenith angle 730, and the AoD may include an azimuth angle and / or a zenith angle (e.g., ZoD (zenith departure angle)). The IE(s) may include a DL-PRS forecast uncertainty, which may be combined with the forecast angle to provide a search window.Also or alternatively, the endpoints of the search window may be provided with a low-end angle and a high-end angle, for example, so that the UE 500 can search between the low-end angle and the high-end angle for the reference signal. The IE(s) may include a location corresponding to each indication of the angle search window. The endpoints or the expected angle plus uncertainty provide an explicit search window. However, the angle search window may be implicit (e.g., the provided expected angle and the uncertainty around that expected angle are implicit). The angle uncertainty may be implicit, for example, by having the uncertainty statically and / or dynamically configured in the UE 500 and the network entity 600. The UE 500 may be statically configured (e.g., hard-coded during manufacturing of the UE 500) and / or dynamically configured (e.g., by receiving an instruction with a configuration or an instruction regarding which angle uncertainty to use from a set of statically configured configurations).

[0098]

[0113] The RS angle information message 934 may be sent to one or more UEs 500. For example, UEs in an area may benefit from the same RS angle information message 934, e.g., may be able to use at least some of the same angle assistance data to help narrow a search window. The network entity 600 may cause the TRP 300 (e.g., the TRP portion of the network entity 600) to broadcast the RS angle information message 934 and / or send the RS angle information message 934 in a multicast message. The UEs 500 that should receive the RS angle information message 934 may be grouped, e.g., the UEs in the group are assigned a common group ID and the RS angle information message 934 is broadcast using the group ID, or the RS angle information message 934 may be multicast to UEs 500 with the same group ID.

[0099]

[0114] 11 , the contents of the reference signal angle information message 934 may be selected from a reference signal angle information table 1100, which includes a reference signal field 1110, a location field 1120, and an angle assistance data field 1130. Table 1100 includes various example values ​​for fields 1110, 1120, and 1130, some of which have different formats for the same field. Table 1100 is an example, and other configurations of the reference signal angle information message may be used, e.g., the same format for values ​​of a given field may be used for different, e.g., all, entries. Reference signal angle information table 1100 includes entries 1151, 1152, 1153, 1154, 1155, and 1156, each of which includes a value for each of fields 1110, 1120, and 1130.

[0100]

[0115] The network entity 600 may indicate the reference signal(s) to the UE 500 in various manners according to a value taken from table 1100. For example, as shown in entry 1151, the reference signal field 1110 may indicate a channel. The channel indication may include one or more parameters for the channel (e.g., a frequency layer) for defining the reference signal. As another example, as shown in entries 1152 and 1153, the reference signal field 1110 may indicate a frequency band, such that all reference signals within the indicated frequency band will have corresponding locations and assistance data (i.e., as indicated by the other fields 1120 and 1130 of the same entry). As another example, as shown in entries 1154 and 1155, the reference signal field 1110 may indicate a frequency band combination, such that all reference signals within the indicated frequency band combination will have corresponding locations and assistance data (and possibly validity times). As another example, as shown in entry 1156, the reference signal field 1110 may indicate a particular signal, here, PRS1. The indication of a particular signal may include one or more parameters for defining the signal (eg, frequency layer, slot offset, symbol offset, comb number, etc.).

[0101]

[0116] Each of the entries 1151-1156 in the reference signal angle information table 1100 includes a location to which the entry is applicable, e.g., the angle assistance data is applicable. The location may be a specific point (e.g., x, y, and z coordinates, or latitude and longitude, etc.), or an area (e.g., a point with a radius, or a defined boundary (e.g., a rectangle, circle, or other regular or irregular shape)).

[0102]

[0117] The angle assistance data field 1130 of each of entries 1151-1156 provides angle information that the UE 500 and / or TRP 300 may use to measure one or more signals, e.g., a reference signal. For example, the angle information may provide a particular angle (e.g., an average or expected angle of arrival of a (reference) signal), e.g., as shown in entry 1151. The angle may include an azimuth angle (θ) and may also include a zenith angle (φ). As another example, the angle information may include a search window in the form of an expected angle and uncertainty, e.g., as shown in entry 1152. The uncertainty is specified by a signal uncertainty value and thus may be symmetric about the expected angle, e.g., + / - A°, or may be specified by a lower uncertainty and an upper uncertainty, e.g., +B°, -C°, such that the uncertainty may be asymmetric about the expected angle. As another example, the angle information may provide the search window by specifying the limits of the search window. As shown in entry 1153, the angle assistance data specifies a window having an azimuth angle range of M° to N° and a zenith angle range of P° to Q°. The angle window values ​​are generally shown as Angle Window 1, Angle Window 2, and Angle Window 3 in entries 1154-1156, respectively.

[0103]

[0118] The angles in the angle assistance data 1130 may include angles of arrival at the UE location and / or at the TRP locations. The angle assistance data may provide expected angles of arrival of reference signals at predictive UE locations. The processor 610 or the processor 310 may use these angles to determine corresponding angles of arrival of reference signals from corresponding locations at a TRP 300 (e.g., separate from or part of the network entity 600). Also or alternatively, the angle assistance data 1130 may comprise expected angles of arrival at one or more TRPs of reference signals sent by the UE 500 from predictive locations. For example, the TRP 300 of the network entity 600 may use the angle assistance data 1130 to narrow an angle search window for an UL PRS from the UE 500, e.g., for AoA-based positioning.

[0104]

[0119] Network entity 600 is configured to obtain values ​​for reference signal angle information table 1100. For example, network entity 600 may obtain reference signal angle information as described above with respect to stage 905. Network entity 600 may determine angles of arrival corresponding to different signals, e.g., different reference signal channels, to generate table 1100 from which network entity 600 may select information for reference signal angle information message 934.

[0105]

[0120] The network entity 600 may be configured to generate, or request the TRP 300 to generate, the reference signal angle information message 934 only if the network entity 600 receives an angle capability message 912 indicating that the UE 500 is capable of using angle information for measuring at least one reference signal. For example, the network entity 600 may generate the message 934 and / or request the TRP 300 to generate the message 934 in response to receiving the angle capability message 912 and in response to the angle capability message 912 indicating that the UE 500 can use angle information for at least one reference signal to receive and / or measure the reference signal(s). The network entity 600 may be configured to generate, or request the generation of, the message 934 in response to the UE 500 indicating that the UE 500 can use angle information for at least one reference signal that the TRP 300 will be transmitting.

[0106]

[0121] 12 , network entity 600 may select reference signal angle information to be used by the network entity in sub-stage 932 and / or for use in reference signal angle information message 934. For example, network entity 600 may request TRP 300 to generate reference signal angle information message 934, e.g., message 1200, by selecting information from table 1100 and possibly providing additional information for entries in message 1200, here entries 1251, 1252. Message 1200 is an example of message 934 (or reference signal angle information used in sub-stage 932) and includes reference signal field 1210, location field 1220, assistance data field 1230, and validity time field 1240. At least a portion of fields 1210, 1220, and field 1230 may be filled with information selected from table 1100. For example, network entity 600, e.g., angle information unit 650, may use the determined (e.g., predicted) location of UE 500 to identify one or more entries in table 1100 whose location includes the determined location of UE 500. Alternatively, network entity 600 may provide assistance data related to one or more locations in addition to and / or other than the predicted location of UE 500 (e.g., provide assistance data for an area around UE 500). Network entity 600 may determine which reference signal(s) corresponding to the identified entry(ies) the TRP 300 will be transmitting and for which UE 500 may use angle information (based on angle capability message 912), and generate one or more entries for message 1200 including the to-be-transmitted reference signal(s) and the corresponding location(s) for which UE 500 may use angle information. Alternatively, message 1200 may include a location indication indicating the area for which angle assistance data may (or should) be used.The angle information unit 650 may fill the assistance data field 1230 with angle assistance data from the identified entry(ies) from table 1100. The angle information unit 650 may include AoD information in the assistance data field 1230 in addition to or instead of the AoA information. The AoD information may indicate the angle of departure of each reference signal that the UE 500 may use for RF sensing and / or positioning using multipath. For example, the UE 500 may use the AoD of a measured signal to help determine the location of a reflecting object and / or to help determine the location of the UE 500 using the reflected signal.

[0107]

[0122] The one or more values ​​of the Assistance Data field 1230 may depend on one or more parameters (e.g., quality, latency, and / or accuracy) of the location information to be provided by the UE 500. For example, a smaller angle window may be provided with a smaller latency requirement. As another example, Assistance Data may be provided in response to a threshold level of accuracy being required, and Assistance Data may not be provided in other cases, e.g., when only a coarse location of the UE 500 is requested.

[0108]

[0123] The assistance data field 1230 may include delay assistance data in addition to angle assistance data. In addition to angle information to help the UE 500 narrow the AoA search window for the reference signal to be measured, the network entity 600 may request the TRP 300 to provide timing information so that the UE 500 may narrow the time search window for the reference signal to be measured. Similar to angle information, timing information may be provided as a start time and an end time for the window, as a reference time point and time uncertainty (symmetric or asymmetric) for determining the window, as a reference time with implicit uncertainty, etc. The timing information may be provided together with the angle information as shown, or may be provided independently of the angle information, and the UE 500 (e.g., processor 510) may analyze corresponding information (e.g., location, reference signal) for angle information and timing information, for example, to use both angle information and timing information together to search for and measure the reference signal. While the description herein often refers to a reference signal, it may be applicable to signals other than reference signals.

[0109]

[0124] The validity time field 1240 of each of the entries 1251, 1252 provides a validity time for the assistance data field 1230. The angle information may change rapidly, for example, due to movement of the UE 500 relative to the TRP 300. Also, the angle information is highly base station specific and may vary significantly from base station to base station (e.g., due to different relative movements of the UE 500 to different base stations, for example, for LOS paths from the UE 500 to the different base stations). For example, if the UE 500 is moving substantially straight toward or away from the TRP 300, the angle information may change little, if at all, for the LOS signal; however, if the UE 500 is moving partially or substantially across the LOS with respect to the TRP 300, the angle information may change rapidly, especially the closer the UE 500 is to the TRP 300. Thus, the network entity 600 may request the TRP 300 to include a validity time value for the message 1200 or for each entry in the message 1200. Different entries of message 1200 may include different validity times because angle information may change at different rates for different reference signals, e.g., due to different paths, particularly different NLOS paths. The validity time values, e.g., time 1 in entry 1251 and time 2 in entry 1252, indicate the validity time for the corresponding assistance data in assistance data field 1230 (at least the angle information in assistance data field 1230). The validity time may be specified in various manners, e.g., as a timer value for a time after receipt of message 1200 or a specific time (e.g., time of day) in the future. The validity time indicates the time after which UE 500 (or network entity 600 in sub-step 932) should not use the corresponding assistance data, or at least the time after which the assistance data may become useless in narrowing the angle and / or time search for the reference signal. The value(s) of the validity time(s) may depend on the rate of change of the expected AoA of the (reference) signal.The value(s) of the validity time(s) may depend on various factors, including the distance between the UE 500 and the TRP 300, the speed of the UE 500, the direction of movement of the UE 500 relative to the TRP 300 (e.g., relative to the LOS path between the UE 500 and the TRP 300, and thus the rate of AoA change of the LOS path), etc. For example, if the UE 500 is close to the TRP 300 and / or moving rapidly across the LOS path, the validity time may be much shorter than if the UE 500 is stationary, moving slowly, and / or moving near the LOS path.

[0110]

[0125] The assistance data may be repeatedly updated. For example, to adapt to rapid changes in the angle assistance information, the network entity 600 may request the TRP 300 to repeatedly, frequently, and rapidly send the RS Angle Information message 934. The RS Angle Information message 934 may be sent to the UE 500 periodically and / or aperiodically (e.g., on-demand) with updated information. The RS Angle Information message 934 may be sent to the UE 500 using, for example, lower layer (low latency) communication, e.g., MAC-CE (medium access control-control element), especially if the network entity 600 includes an LMF (local LMF in the RAN). The updated RS Angle Information message may be provided, for example, before the expiration of the validity time of the RS Angle Information message 934 (e.g., the most recently sent RS Angle Information message, or at least the most recently sent RS Angle Information message that included assistance information for the reference signal of the updated RS Angle Information message).

[0111]

[0126] In step 940, the TRP 300 sends an RS configuration message 942 to the UE 500. The RS configuration message 942 includes a DCI message with one or more parameters of the RS configuration, e.g., slot offset, comb number, frequency offset, frequency layer, etc. The UE 500 uses the RS configuration information to help measure the reference signal, e.g., by tuning one or more antennas accordingly, and uses the assistance data to narrow the search direction and / or search time for the reference signal.

[0112]

[0127] In stage 950, the TRP 300 sends one or more RSs 952 to the UE 500. The TRP 300 sends the RSs based on, for example, the RS configuration message 942 with the indicated parameter(s) and possibly in the direction indicated by the AoD information in the assistance data.

[0113]

[0128] In step 960, the UE 500 determines location information based on the received RS. For example, the UE 500 may measure the PRS from the TRP 300 to determine location information (e.g., RSRP, ToA, SINR, location estimate, etc.). The UE 500 may send some or all of the determined location information to the network entity 600 (e.g., the TRP 300 or the server 400 via the TRP 300) in a location information message 962. The UE 500 may be configured (dynamically or statically) to report only measurements of reference signals measured within an indicated angle window (e.g., in response to receiving the indicated angle measurement window). For example, in the case of RF sensing, this may be beneficial by narrowing the list of targets. Also or alternatively, the UE 500 may be configured (dynamically or statically) to report measurements of reference signals measured within the indicated angle window and measurements of reference signals measured outside the indicated angle window. The UE 500 may be configured to indicate that a reference signal for which an angle window was provided was received outside the indicated angle window. The UE 500 may be configured to indicate that the provided assistance data was invalid and / or inaccurate. Also or alternatively, the UE 500 may be configured to provide feedback to the network entity 600 to assist the network entity 600 in determining the assistance data. For example, the UE 500 may be configured to provide suggested assistance data to the network entity 600 based on the AoA of the received reference signal. The suggested assistance data may be, for example, the actual AoA of the received reference signal and / or an angle search window that includes the actual AoA of the received reference signal. For example, message 962 may indicate that a channel X reference signal was received at an azimuth AoA of Y° (and possibly indicate that the reference signal was received at a zenith AoA of Z°).

[0114]

[0129] At stage 970, the network entity 600 may determine location information. The network entity 600 (e.g., the LMF) may determine a range and / or location estimate for the UE 500, for example, based on the location information message 962 and possibly one or more other messages with other measurement information.

[0115]

[0130] operation

[0131] 1-12, a signal measurement assistance method 1300 includes the steps shown. However, method 1300 is by way of example only and not limitation. Method 1300 may be varied, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0116]

[0132] At stage 1310, method 1300 includes obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal. For example, angle information unit 650 may retrieve reference signal angle information comprising one or more indications of one or more reference signals and corresponding angle assistance data from table 1100 stored in memory 630 (e.g., for each message 1200) or receive such information via interface 620 (e.g., collecting crowd-sourced information). Processor 610, possibly in combination with memory 630 and possibly in combination with interface 620 (e.g., wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346, wired receiver 354, wireless receiver 444 and antenna 446, and / or wired receiver 454), may comprise means for obtaining the reference signal angle information.

[0117]

[0133] At stage 1320, method 1300 includes at least one of requesting a transmitting / receiving point (TRP) to send a first instruction to the user equipment or requesting the TRP to search for a first reference signal based on the first expected angle of arrival. For example, angle information unit 650 may send the first instruction (e.g., values ​​of at least a portion of reference signal 1110 and assistance data 1130, or values ​​of at least a portion of fields 1210, 1230 of message 1200) to a TRP (that is part of network entity 600) or request interface 620 to send a request to a separate TRP 300 via interface 620 (e.g., wired transmitter 452) for the TRP 300 to send the first instruction. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, and possibly in combination with the interface 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, and / or the wired transmitter 452), may comprise means for requesting the TRP to send a first instruction. Also or alternatively, the angle information unit 650 may request the TRP 300 (e.g., the TRP portion of the network entity 600) to search for one or more reference signals based on one or more expected angles of arrival of the one or more reference signals. For example, the angle information unit 650 may use values ​​of at least portions of the reference signal 1110 and the assistance data 1130 (e.g., values ​​of at least portions of the fields 1210, 1230 of the message 1200 (regardless of whether the message 1200 is generated)) to establish one or more search windows for the one or more reference signals. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for requesting the TRP to search for a first reference signal based on a first expected angle of arrival.

[0118]

[0134] Implementations of the method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, the method 1300 includes at least one of requesting the TRP to transmit a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment or providing the validity time indication to the TRP. For example, if the network entity 600 is or includes the TRP 300, the angle information unit 650 may cause an interface (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346) to send the validity time field 1240 in the message 1200. As another example, if the network entity is the server 400, the angle information unit 650 may send a request to the TRP 300 via the interface 620 (e.g., the wired transmitter 452) for the TRP to send the validity time indication. As another example, if the network entity 600 includes the TRP 300, the angle information unit 650 may provide the validity time indication to the TRP 300. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630 and possibly in combination with the interface 620, may comprise means for requesting the TRP to transmit a validity time indication and / or means for providing the validity time indication to the TRP. In another example implementation, the method 1300 includes determining a value of the validity time indication based on a movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP. For example, the processor 610 may calculate the validity time indication or select the validity time indication from a set of predefined validity time value options. The processor 610 may determine the value of the validity time based on, for example, an expected rate of change of an expected AoA of the LOS path between the TRP 300 and the UE 500, e.g., based on the velocity and direction of the UE 500 (e.g., angular velocity relative to the TRP 300). As another example, the processor 610 may determine the value of the validity time based on the velocity of the UE 500, e.g., without determining the rate of change of the AoA at the UE 500. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630 (e.g., to obtain UE movement information), and possibly in combination with the interface 620, may comprise means for determining a value for the validity time indication.

[0119]

[0135] Also or alternatively, implementations of method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, the first indication further indicates a first location, and the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication indicative of the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and the second location, and the method further comprises obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment and selecting the first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location. For example, the first indication may also include an indication in location field 1120, and processor 610 may obtain (e.g., calculate or receive) a (current or future (e.g., predicted)) location of UE 500 and select the first indication corresponding to the location of UE 500 (e.g., including the location of UE 500) from a plurality of possible sets (e.g., table entries) of such indications stored in a table such as table 1100. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, and possibly in combination with the interface 620 (e.g., the wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346, the wireless receiver 444 and antenna 446, and / or the wired receiver 454), may comprise means for obtaining a user equipment location. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for selecting a first indication. In another example implementation, the method 1300 comprises requesting the TRP to transmit the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message. For example, the network entity 600 may repeatedly obtain a location of the UE 500, determine an RS angle information message 934 based on the location, and send the RS angle information message 934 to the UE 500 using low latency communication such as, for example, MAC-CE or physical layer messaging.

[0120]

[0136] Also or alternatively, implementations of method 1300 may include one or more of the following features. In one exemplary implementation, the first indication indicates a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window including the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal. For example, the RS angle information message 934 may include an angle search window (e.g., an expected AoA and uncertainty, or a start angle and an end angle over the expected AoA), e.g., as shown in entries 1151-1153. The AoA may include an azimuth angle and a possible zenith angle. In another exemplary implementation, the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, wherein the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival, and at least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment. For example, multiple indications of reference signals with multiple corresponding expected AoAs may be provided in the RS angle information (e.g., RS angle information message 934) along with at least one NLOS expected AoA included in the RS angle information. In another example implementation, obtaining the reference signal angle information comprises analyzing reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements. For example, the processor 610 may compile reference signal angle information for use as assistance data from crowd-sourced measurements of reference signals. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630, may comprise means for analyzing the reference signal measurements and locations. In another example implementation, the method 1300 comprises requesting the TRP to send a first indication to the user equipment in response to receiving a capability message from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle-of-arrival information to measure reference signals. For example, the processor 610 may request the interface 620, or a separate TRP 300, to send angle assistance information in response to (possibly only if) the UE 500 reporting a capability to use angle assistance information to receive (and measure) reference signals.In another example implementation, the user equipment is a first user equipment, and the method comprises requesting a TRP to transmit a first instruction in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message to both the first user equipment and a second user equipment. For example, the angle information unit 650 may request a separate TRP 300 or a TRP 300 that is part of the network entity 600 to send multicast or broadcast messages with the first instruction to multiple UEs 500, e.g., for use in reducing an angle search window for measuring one or more reference signals. The processor 610, possibly in combination with the memory 630 and possibly in combination with the interface 620 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 442 and antenna 446, or the wired transmitter 452), may comprise means for requesting the TRP to transmit the multicast and / or broadcast message.

[0121]

[0137] 1-12, a method 1400 of measuring a reference signal in user equipment includes the steps shown. However, method 1400 is by way of example only and not by way of limitation. Method 1400 may be varied, for example, by having steps added, removed, reordered, combined, performed simultaneously, and / or by splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0122]

[0138] At stage 1410, method 1400 includes transmitting, from the user equipment to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating the user equipment's ability to use the signal angle information to measure signals. For example, UE 500, e.g., angle capability unit 550, may send angle capability message 912, e.g., one or more entries of message 1000 or a similar message, to network entity 600 via interface 520. Processor 510, in combination with interface 520 (e.g., wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with memory 530, may comprise means for transmitting the angle usage capability message.

[0123]

[0139] At stage 1420, the method 1400 includes, at the user equipment, receiving from a network entity a reference signal indication indicative of a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal. For example, the UE 500 may receive an RS Angle Information message 934 from the network entity 600 (which may be the same entity to which the UE 500 sent the Angle Capability message 912 or may be a different entity). The message 934 may indicate one or more parameters (e.g., frequency and / or channel) indicative of the reference signal. The reference signal angle search window may be implicit (e.g., based on a provided expected AoA and precoding uncertainty) or explicit. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, may comprise means for receiving the reference signal indication in combination with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246).

[0124]

[0140] At stage 1430, method 1400 includes, at the user equipment, searching for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window. For example, processor 510 may control interface 520, e.g., one or more antenna panels or one or more antennas. For example, processor 510 may control one or more components of one or more of receive signal paths 801, 802, e.g., transducer(s) 810, tuner(s) 821, phase shifter(s) 812, and / or filter(s) 813, 814, 823, 824, to search for a reference signal based on the reference signal angle search window, e.g., to search across the AoA of the search window. Processor 510, in combination with interface 520 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246, including one or more of receive signal paths 801, 802), possibly in combination with memory 530, may comprise means for searching for a reference signal.

[0125]

[0141] At stage 1440, method 1400 includes measuring a reference signal at the user equipment. For example, processor 510 may measure one or more parameters (e.g., RSRP, RSSI, ToA, etc.) of the received reference signal by searching for the reference signal (e.g., as described herein). Processor 510, possibly in combination with memory 530 and in combination with interface 520 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246), may comprise means for searching for the reference signal.

[0126]

[0142] Implementations of method 1400 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, method 1400 includes reporting a measurement of a reference signal only if the reference signal is received within at least one reference signal angle search window. For example, processor 510 may be configured to (and capable of) not reporting a reference signal received outside an indicated angle search window. Processor 510, in combination with interface 520 (e.g., wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246), possibly in combination with memory 530, may comprise means for reporting a measurement of a reference signal. In another example implementation, method 1400 includes reporting a measurement of a reference signal regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside at least one reference signal angle search window. For example, processor 510 may be configured to report a measurement of a reference signal received inside or outside an indicated angle search window. In another example implementation, method 1400 includes transmitting an error message from the user equipment to a network entity indicating that the user equipment failed to receive a reference signal within at least one reference signal angle search window. For example, the processor 510 may be configured to send an indication via the interface 520 that the reference signal did not arrive during the indicated angle search window. The processor 510 may send an error message to the same entity that provided the search window and / or to another entity. The error message may include the actual angle of arrival at which the reference signal was received by the UE 500. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530 and in combination with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246), may comprise means for transmitting the error message.

[0127]

[0143] Also or alternatively, implementations of method 1400 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, the angle usage capability message indicates at least one of frequency bands on which the user equipment's capability of using signal angle information to measure signals is applicable, or frequency band combinations on which the user equipment's capability of using signal angle information to measure signals is applicable. For example, the angle capability unit 550 may generate the angle capability message 912 to indicate the UE 500's ability to use the angle information to search for reference signals on a band-by-band and / or band combination-by-band basis. In another example implementation, the method 1400 includes, at the user equipment, determining whether a valid time of the reference signal indication has expired, wherein searching for reference signals based on at least one reference signal angle search window is performed based on the valid time of the reference signal indication not having expired. For example, the RS angle information message 934 may include one or more validity times, and the processor 510 may determine whether the validity time corresponding to the reference signal to be measured has expired, and if the validity time for that reference signal has not expired, use only the angle assistance data in the RS angle information message 934 for that reference signal. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, may comprise means for determining whether the validity time of a reference signal has expired.

[0128]

[0144] Implementation example

[0145] Implementation examples are provided in the following numbered clauses.

[0129]

[0146] Article 1. The interface and Memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the interface and the memory; a processor for: obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; requesting a transmission / reception point (TRP) to send a first indication to the user equipment; or Requesting the TRP to search for a first reference signal based on a first expected angle of arrival. with at least one of A network entity configured to:

[0130]

[0147] Clause 2. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to at least one of requesting the TRP to transmit a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment or providing the validity time indication to the TRP.

[0131]

[0148] Clause 3. The network entity of clause 2, wherein the processor is configured to determine a value of the validity time indication based on a movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP.

[0132]

[0149] Clause 4. The first indication further indicates the first location, and wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises second indications indicating the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and a second location, and wherein the processor: Obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment; selecting a first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; 2. The network entity of claim 1, configured to:

[0133]

[0150] Clause 5. The network entity of clause 4, wherein the processor is configured to request the TRP to send the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message.

[0134]

[0151] Clause 6. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the first instruction indicates the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window that includes the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal.

[0135]

[0152] Clause 7. The network entity of Clause 6, wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, wherein the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival, and wherein at least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment.

[0136]

[0153] Clause 8. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to analyze the reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements to obtain reference signal angle information.

[0137]

[0154] Clause 9. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to request the TRP to send a first instruction to the user equipment, wherein the processor is configured to request the TRP to send the first instruction to the user equipment in response to receiving, from the user equipment, a capability message indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle of arrival information to measure a reference signal.

[0138]

[0155] Clause 10. The network entity of clause 1, wherein the user equipment is a first user equipment, and wherein the processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to both the first user equipment and the second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message.

[0139]

[0156] Article 11. means for obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; means for requesting a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) to transmit a first indication to the user equipment; or means for requesting the TRP to search for a first reference signal based on a first expected angle of arrival; with at least one of A network entity comprising:

[0140]

[0157] Clause 12. The network entity of clause 11, further comprising at least one of means for requesting the TRP to send a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment, or means for providing the validity time indication to the TRP.

[0141]

[0158] Clause 13. The network entity of clause 12, further comprising means for determining a value of the validity time indication based on a movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP.

[0142]

[0159] Clause 14. The first indication further indicates a first location, and wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication indicating the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and a second location, and the network entity: means for obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment; means for selecting a first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; 12. The network entity of clause 11, further comprising:

[0143]

[0160] Clause 15. The network entity of clause 14, comprising means for requesting the TRP to send a first instruction to the user equipment, wherein the means for requesting the TRP to send the first instruction comprises means for requesting the TRP to send the first instruction as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message.

[0144]

[0161] Clause 16. The network entity of clause 11, wherein the first instruction indicates the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window that includes the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal.

[0145]

[0162] Clause 17. The network entity of Clause 16, wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, wherein the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival, and wherein at least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment.

[0146]

[0163] Clause 18. The network entity of clause 11, wherein the means for obtaining reference signal angle information comprises means for analyzing reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements to obtain the reference signal angle information.

[0147]

[0164] Clause 19. The network entity of clause 11, comprising means for requesting the TRP to send a first instruction to the user equipment, wherein the means for requesting the TRP to send the first instruction to the user equipment comprises means for requesting the TRP to send the first instruction to the user equipment in response to receiving, from the user equipment, a capability message indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle of arrival information to measure a reference signal.

[0148]

[0165] Clause 20. The network entity of clause 11, comprising means for requesting the TRP to send a first instruction to a user equipment, wherein the user equipment is a first user equipment, and wherein the means for requesting the TRP to send the first instruction to the user equipment comprises means for requesting the TRP to send the first instruction to both the first user equipment and a second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message.

[0149]

[0166] Article 21. obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; requesting a transmission / reception point (TRP) to send a first indication to the user equipment; or Requesting the TRP to search for a first reference signal based on a first expected angle of arrival. with at least one of A signal measurement assistance method comprising:

[0150]

[0167] Clause 22. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 21, further comprising at least one of requesting the TRP to transmit a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment or providing the validity time indication to the TRP.

[0151]

[0168] Clause 23. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 22, further comprising determining a value for the validity time indication based on a movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP.

[0152]

[0169] Clause 24. The signal measurement assistance method, wherein the first indication further indicates a first location, and wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication indicating the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and a second location, further comprising: Obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment; selecting a first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; 22. The signal measurement assistance method of claim 21, further comprising:

[0153]

[0170] Clause 25. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 24, wherein the signal measurement assistance method comprises requesting the TRP to transmit the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message.

[0154]

[0171] Clause 26. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 21, wherein the first instruction indicates the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window that includes the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal.

[0155]

[0172] Clause 27. The signal measurement assistance method of Clause 26, wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, wherein the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival, and wherein at least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment.

[0156]

[0173] Clause 28. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 21, wherein obtaining reference signal angle information comprises analyzing reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements.

[0157]

[0174] Clause 29. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 21, comprising requesting the TRP to send a first indication to the user equipment in response to receiving a capability message from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle of arrival information to measure a reference signal.

[0158]

[0175] Clause 30. The signal measurement assistance method of clause 21, wherein the user equipment is a first user equipment, and wherein the signal measurement assistance method comprises requesting the TRP to transmit the first indication to both the first user equipment and the second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message.

[0159]

[0176] Clause 31. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, the processor-readable instructions causing a processor of a network entity to: obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; requesting a transmission / reception point (TRP) to send a first indication to the user equipment; or Requesting the TRP to search for a first reference signal based on a first expected angle of arrival. with at least one of 1. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium configured to cause

[0160]

[0177] Clause 32. The storage medium of clause 31, further comprising at least one of processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to request the TRP to transmit a validity time indication associated with the first instruction to the user equipment, or processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to provide the validity time indication to the TRP.

[0161]

[0178] Clause 33. The storage medium of clause 32, further comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to determine a value of the validity time indication based on movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP.

[0162]

[0179] Clause 34. The first instructions further indicate the first location, and wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises second instructions indicating the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and a second location, and the storage medium further comprises: Obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment; selecting a first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; 32. The storage medium of claim 31, further comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause:

[0163]

[0180] Clause 35. The storage medium of clause 34, wherein the storage medium comprises processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message.

[0164]

[0181] Clause 36. The storage medium of clause 31, wherein the first instructions indicate the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window that includes the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal.

[0165]

[0182] Clause 37. The storage medium of Clause 36, wherein the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, wherein the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival, and wherein at least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment.

[0166]

[0183] Clause 38. A storage medium as described in Clause 31, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to obtain reference signal angle information include a first angle search window, the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to analyze the reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements.

[0167]

[0184] Clause 39. The storage medium of Clause 31, comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to request the TRP to send a first instruction to the user equipment in response to receiving a capability message from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle-of-arrival information to measure a reference signal.

[0168]

[0185] Clause 40. The storage medium of clause 31, wherein the user equipment is a first user equipment, and wherein the storage medium comprises processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to request the TRP to transmit the first instruction to both the first user equipment and the second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message.

[0169]

[0186] Article 41. A transceiver; Memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; a processor for: transmitting, via the transceiver, to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating an ability of the UE to use signal angle information to measure a signal; receiving, via a transceiver, from a network entity, a reference signal indication indicative of a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window; A user equipment configured to:

[0170]

[0187] Clause 42. The user equipment of clause 41, wherein the processor is configured to report the reference signal measurement value only if the reference signal is received within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0171]

[0188] Clause 43. The user equipment of clause 41, wherein the processor is configured to report the reference signal measurement regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0172]

[0189] Clause 44. The user equipment of clause 41, wherein the processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, to a network entity, an error message indicating that the user equipment failed to receive a reference signal within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0173]

[0190] Clause 45. The user equipment of clause 44, wherein the processor is configured to include an actual angle of arrival of the reference signal in the error message.

[0174]

[0191] Article 46. Angle Use Capability Messages the frequency bands over which the user equipment's ability to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable, or Frequency band combinations where the ability of user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable 42. A user equipment as claimed in clause 41, which exhibits at least one of:

[0175]

[0192] Clause 47. The user equipment of clause 41, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the validity time of the reference signal indication has expired, and, based on the validity time of the reference signal indication not having expired, search for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0176]

[0193] Clause 48. User equipment, means for transmitting an angle usage capability message to a network entity indicating an ability of the user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals; means for receiving, from a network entity, a reference signal indication indicative of a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; means for searching for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window; means for measuring a reference signal; A user equipment comprising:

[0177]

[0194] Clause 49. The user equipment of clause 48, further comprising means for reporting a reference signal measurement only if the reference signal is received within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0178]

[0195] Clause 50. The user equipment of clause 48, further comprising means for reporting reference signal measurements regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0179]

[0196] Clause 51. The user equipment of clause 48, further comprising means for transmitting to a network entity an error message indicating that the user equipment failed to receive a reference signal within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0180]

[0197] Clause 52. The user equipment of clause 51, wherein the error message includes an actual angle of arrival of the reference signal.

[0181]

[0198] Article 53. Angle usage capability messages are the frequency bands over which the user equipment's ability to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable, or Frequency band combinations where the ability of user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable 48. A user equipment as claimed in clause 48, which exhibits at least one of:

[0182]

[0199] Clause 54. The user equipment of Clause 48, further comprising means for determining whether the validity time of the reference signal indication has expired, wherein the means for searching comprises means for searching for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window based on the validity time of the reference signal indication not having expired.

[0183]

[0200] Clause 55. A method for measuring a reference signal in a user equipment, the method comprising: sending, from the user equipment to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating an ability of the user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals; receiving, at the user equipment, from a network entity, a reference signal indication indicative of a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching, at the user equipment, for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window; measuring a reference signal at the user equipment; A method comprising:

[0184]

[0201] Clause 56. The method of clause 55, further comprising reporting a reference signal measurement only if the reference signal is received within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0185]

[0202] Clause 57. The method of clause 55, further comprising reporting the reference signal measurement regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0186]

[0203] Clause 58. The method of clause 55, further comprising transmitting an error message from the user equipment to the network entity indicating that the user equipment failed to receive a reference signal within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0187]

[0204] Clause 59. The method of clause 58, wherein the error message includes the actual angle of arrival of the reference signal.

[0188]

[0205] Article 60. Angle Use Capability Messages the frequency bands over which the user equipment's ability to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable, or Frequency band combinations where the ability of user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable 56. The method of claim 55, wherein the method comprises at least one of:

[0189]

[0206] Clause 61. The method of clause 55, further comprising determining, in the user equipment, whether the validity time of the reference signal indication has expired, wherein searching for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window is performed based on the validity time of the reference signal indication not having expired.

[0190]

[0207] Clause 62. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, the processor-readable instructions causing a processor of a user equipment to: sending an angle usage capability message to a network entity indicating an ability of the user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals; receiving, from a network entity, a reference signal indication indicative of a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching, at the user equipment, for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window; measuring a reference signal at the user equipment; 1. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium configured to cause

[0191]

[0208] Clause 63. The storage medium of Clause 62, further comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to report a measurement value of the reference signal only if the reference signal is received within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0192]

[0209] Clause 64. The storage medium of Clause 62, further comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to report measurements of the reference signal regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0193]

[0210] Clause 65. The storage medium of Clause 62, further comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to transmit an error message to a network entity indicating that the user equipment failed to receive a reference signal within at least one reference signal angle search window.

[0194]

[0211] Clause 66. The storage medium of clause 65, wherein the error message includes the actual angle of arrival of the reference signal.

[0195]

[0212] Article 67. Angle usage capability messages are the frequency bands over which the user equipment's ability to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable, or Frequency band combinations where the ability of user equipment to use signal angle information to measure signals is applicable 63. The storage medium of claim 62, wherein the storage medium exhibits at least one of the following:

[0196]

[0213] Clause 68. The storage medium of Clause 62, further comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to determine whether the validity time of the reference signal indication has expired, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to search for a reference signal comprise processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to search for a reference signal based on at least one reference signal angle search window based on the validity time of the reference signal indication not having expired.

[0197]

[0214] Other Considerations

[0215] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the scope of the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. The features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0198]

[0216] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0199]

[0217] Also, as used herein, "or" in a list of items (sometimes ending with "at least one of" or "one or more of") indicates a disjunctive list, such that a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C," or a list of "A, B, or C" means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A, B, and C), or a combination of two or more features (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item can be configured to perform the function with respect to A, or the function with respect to B, or the function with respect to A and B. For example, the phrases "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" mean that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select whether A and B, or both, to measure). Similarly, a reference to a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes a means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or a means for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting whether A and B, or both, to measure).As another example, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of perform function X or perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to perform at least one of measuring X or measuring Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select whether X or Y, or both, to measure).

[0200]

[0218] Unless otherwise specified, as used herein, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0201]

[0219] Substantial modifications may be made according to particular requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or particular elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets) executed by a processor, or both. Additionally, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be employed. Unless otherwise noted, functional or other components shown in the figures and / or described herein as connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be connected directly or indirectly so as to enable communication therebetween.

[0202]

[0220] The systems and devices described above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves, and thus many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0203]

[0221] A wireless communication system is a communication system in which communications are carried wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than through wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not all communications be transmitted wirelessly, but is configured such that at least some communications are transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the function of the device be exclusively, or even primarily, for communication, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0204]

[0222] In the description, specific details are given to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementation forms). However, the configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques are shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description merely provides an example configuration and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the above description of the configurations provides a description for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0205]

[0223] As used herein, the terms “processor-readable medium,” “machine-readable medium,” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as a signal). In many implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0206]

[0224] While several example configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, and other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, some actions may occur before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0207]

[0225] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than, or exceeds) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within, or is below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. The inventions described in the claims of the present application as originally filed are set forth below. [C1] The interface and Memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the interface and the memory; a network entity comprising: obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; requesting a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) to send the first indication to the user equipment; or requesting the TRP to search for the first reference signal based on the first expected angle of arrival; and at least one of A network entity configured to: [C2] The network entity of C1, wherein the processor is configured to at least one of: request the TRP to send a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment; or provide the validity time indication to the TRP. [C3] The network entity of C2, wherein the processor is configured to determine a value of the validity time indication based on movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP. [C4] the first instructions further indicate a first location; the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and a second location; The processor: obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment; selecting the first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; The network entity according to C1, configured to: [C5] The network entity of C4, wherein the processor is configured to request the TRP to send the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message. [C6] The network entity of C1, wherein the first instruction indicates the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window that includes the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal. [C7] the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival; At least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment. A network entity as described in C6. [C8] The network entity of C1, wherein the processor is configured to analyze reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements to obtain the reference signal angle information. [C9] The processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to the user equipment; the processor is configured to request the TRP to send the first indication to the user equipment in response to receiving a capability message from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle-of-arrival information to measure a reference signal; The network entity described in C1. [C10] the user equipment is a first user equipment; the processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to both the first user equipment and a second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message; The network entity described in C1. [C11] obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; requesting a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) to send the first indication to a user equipment; or requesting the TRP to search for the first reference signal based on the first expected angle of arrival; and at least one of A signal measurement assistance method comprising: [C12] The signal measurement assistance method described in C11 further comprises at least one of requesting the TRP to send a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment, or providing the validity time indication to the TRP. [C13] The signal measurement assistance method of C12, further comprising determining a value of the validity time indication based on movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP. [C14] the first instructions further indicate a first location; the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal, a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal, and a second location; The signal measurement assistance method includes: obtaining a user equipment location of the user equipment; selecting the first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; The signal measurement assistance method according to C11, further comprising: [C15] The signal measurement assistance method of C14, comprising requesting the TRP to send the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message. [C16] The signal measurement assistance method described in C11, wherein the first instruction indicates the first expected arrival angle of the first reference signal as a first angle search window including the first expected arrival angle of the first reference signal. [C17] the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival; At least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment. A signal measurement assistance method according to C16. [C18] The signal measurement assistance method of C11, wherein obtaining the reference signal angle information comprises analyzing reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements. [C19] The signal measurement assistance method described in C11, comprising requesting the TRP to send the first indication to the user equipment in response to receiving a capability message from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle of arrival information to measure a reference signal. [C20] the user equipment is a first user equipment; The signal measurement assistance method includes requesting the TRP to transmit the first indication to both the first user equipment and a second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message. A signal measurement support method according to C11. [C21] A transceiver; Memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; a user equipment comprising: transmitting, via the transceiver, to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating an ability of the UE to use signal angle information to measure a signal; receiving, via the transceiver, from the network entity, a reference signal indication indicating a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching for the reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window; A user equipment configured to: [C22] The user equipment of C21, wherein the processor is configured to report the measurement value of the reference signal only if the reference signal is received within the at least one reference signal angle search window. [C23] The user equipment of C21, wherein the processor is configured to report measurements of the reference signal regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside the at least one reference signal angle search window. [C24] The user equipment of C21, wherein the processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, an error message to the network entity indicating that the user equipment failed to receive the reference signal within the at least one reference signal angle search window. [C25] The user equipment of C24, wherein the processor is configured to include an actual angle of arrival of the reference signal in the error message. [C26] The angle usage capability message comprises: a frequency band in which the capability of the user equipment to use the signal angle information to measure signals is applicable; or a frequency band combination to which the capability of the user equipment to use the signal angle information to measure signals is applicable; 2. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the user equipment exhibits at least one of the following: [C27] The processor: determining whether the reference signal indication has expired; searching for the reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window based on the valid time of the reference signal indication not having expired; The user equipment of C21, configured to perform the following: [C28] 1. A method for measuring a reference signal in a user equipment, comprising: transmitting, from the user equipment to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating an ability of the user equipment to use signal angle information to measure a signal; receiving, at the user equipment, from the network entity, a reference signal indication indicating the reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching, at the user equipment, for the reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window; measuring the reference signal at the user equipment; A method comprising: [C29] The method of C28, further comprising reporting measurements of the reference signal only if the reference signal is received within the at least one reference signal angle search window. [C30] The method of C28, further comprising reporting measurements of the reference signal regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside the at least one reference signal angle search window.

Claims

1. The interface and Memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the interface and the memory; a network entity comprising: obtaining reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival at a user equipment location of the first reference signal; requesting a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) to transmit the first indication to a user equipment; A network entity configured to:

2. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit a validity time indication associated with the first indication to the user equipment.

3. The network entity of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the value of the validity time indication based on a movement of the user equipment relative to the TRP.

4. the first indication further indicates a first location; the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal, a second location, and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal at the second location; The processor: obtaining the user equipment location of the user equipment; selecting the first indication from the reference signal angle information based on the user equipment location corresponding to the first location; configured to:

2. The network entity of claim 1, wherein optionally, the processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to the user equipment as one of a MAC layer message or a physical layer message.

5. the first indication indicates the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal as a first angle search window that includes the first expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; Optionally, the reference signal angle information further comprises a second indication of the first reference signal and a second expected angle of arrival of the first reference signal; the first expected angle of arrival is different from the second expected angle of arrival; At least one of the first expected angle of arrival and the second expected angle of arrival corresponds to a non-line-of-sight path between the TRP and the user equipment. The network entity of claim 1 .

6. The network entity of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to analyze reference signal measurements and locations corresponding to the reference signal measurements to obtain the reference signal angle information.

7. the processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first instruction to the user equipment; The processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to the user equipment in response to receiving a capability message from the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is configured to use angle-of-arrival information to measure a reference signal. The network entity of claim 1 .

8. the user equipment is a first user equipment; the processor is configured to request the TRP to transmit the first indication to both the first user equipment and a second user equipment in at least one of a multicast message or a broadcast message; The network entity of claim 1 .

9. obtaining, by a network entity, reference signal angle information comprising a first indication of a first reference signal and a first expected angle of arrival at a user equipment location of the first reference signal; requesting, by a network entity, a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) to transmit the first indication to a user equipment; A signal measurement assistance method comprising:

10. A transceiver; Memory and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory; a user equipment comprising: transmitting, via the transceiver, to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating an ability of the UE to use signal angle information to measure a reference signal; receiving, via the transceiver, from the network entity, a reference signal indication indicative of a reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching for the reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window; A user equipment configured to:

11. the processor is configured to report the reference signal measurement only if the reference signal is received within the at least one reference signal angle search window; or 11. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to report measurements of the reference signal regardless of whether the reference signal is received outside the at least one reference signal angle search window.

12. the processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, to the network entity, an error message indicating that the user equipment failed to receive the reference signal within the at least one reference signal angle search window; The user equipment of claim 10 , wherein optionally the processor is configured to include an actual angle of arrival of the reference signal in the error message.

13. The angle usage capability message comprises: a frequency band in which the capability of the user equipment to use the signal angle information to measure signals is applicable; or a frequency band combination to which the capability of the user equipment to use the signal angle information to measure a reference signal is applicable; 11. The user equipment of claim 10, wherein the user equipment exhibits at least one of:

14. The processor: determining whether the reference signal indication has expired; searching for the reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window based on the valid time of the reference signal indication not having expired; The user equipment of claim 10 configured to:

15. 1. A method for measuring a reference signal in a user equipment, comprising: sending, from the user equipment to a network entity, an angle usage capability message indicating an ability of the user equipment to use signal angle information to measure a reference signal; receiving, at the user equipment, from the network entity, a reference signal indication indicative of the reference signal and at least one reference signal angle search window corresponding to the reference signal; searching, at the user equipment, for the reference signal based on the at least one reference signal angle search window; measuring the reference signal at the user equipment; A method comprising:

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