Apparatus and method for low-overhead frequency-averaged beam pattern feedback in millimeter-wave positioning systems

Abstract

The location of a mobile device is estimated using angle-based positioning-related measurements. The angle-based positioning-related measurements are generated using transmit (Tx) or receive (Rx) beams from one or more base stations that generate beams across an ultra-wide bandwidth, which produces frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response. Array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming are conveyed to indicate the frequency and spatial distortions. The array gain distribution variations may be provided to the mobile device in assistance data for subbands that are only a portion of the allocated bandwidth for the base station, or may be provided to the mobile device as an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple subbands of the allocated bandwidth to reduce signaling overhead.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Priority claims This application claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 17 / 095,262, filed November 11, 2020, entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LOW OVERHEAD FREQUENCY-AVERAGED BEAM PATTERN FEEBACK IN MILLIMETER WAVE POSITIONING SYSTEMS," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to estimating the location of a mobile device, and more particularly, to assisting positioning using beams produced by mmW small cells. [Background technology]

[0003] The location of a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, can be useful or essential for many applications, including emergency calling, navigation, wayfinding, asset tracking, and Internet services. The location of a mobile device can be estimated based on information collected from various systems. In cellular networks implemented according to 4G (also called fourth generation) Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access or 5G (also called fifth generation) “New Radio” (NR), for example, base stations may transmit positioning reference signals (PRS). A mobile device acquiring PRSs transmitted by different base stations may communicate signal-based measurements to a location server, which may be part of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core Network (5GCN), for use in calculating a location estimate for the mobile device. For example, a UE may generate positioning-related measurements from a downlink (DL) PRS, such as reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and receive-transmit (Rx-TX) time difference measurements, which may be used in various positioning methods, such as time difference of arrival (TDOA), angle of radiation (AoD), and multi-cell round trip time (RTT). Alternatively, a mobile device may calculate an estimate of its inherent location using various positioning methods. Other positioning methods that may be used for a mobile device include using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS, or Galileo, as well as using Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), in which the network provides assistance data to the mobile device to assist it in acquiring and measuring GNSS signals and / or in calculating a position estimate from the GNSS measurements.

[0004] In 5G NR cellular networks, small cells play an increasingly important role. For example, it may be desirable for operators to deploy a large number of small cells to increase capacity on top of macrocell coverage. Small cells using millimeter wave ("mmW") transmissions (sometimes referred to as Frequency 2 and Frequency 4 and above) are expected to expand globally because mmW can achieve wider spectral bandwidths and shorter air interface latencies than those found in macrocells. Specifically, the deployment of mmW small cells is expected to be particularly useful in indoor environments, where, for example, the expectation of extremely high data rates, e.g., at the Gbps level, is driving their deployment. Expanded deployment of small cells will provide additional positioning opportunities, particularly in environments where positioning is challenging, e.g., indoor environments. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The location of a mobile device is estimated using angle-based positioning-related measurements. The angle-based positioning-related measurements are generated using transmit (Tx) or receive (Rx) beams from one or more base stations that generate beams across an ultra-wide bandwidth, which produces frequency and spatial distortions and defects in the array gain response. The array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming is conveyed to the mobile device in assistance data for subbands that are only a portion of the allocated bandwidth for the base station, or as an aggregation of the array gain distribution variation for multiple subbands of the allocated bandwidth to reduce signaling overhead.

[0006] In one implementation, a method for assisting mobile device positioning in a wireless network performed by the mobile device may include receiving assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station. The method may include measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from the at least one base station based on the assistance data. The method may include generating location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

[0007] In one implementation, a mobile device configured to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network may include a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory. The at least one processor may be configured to receive assistance data for positioning via the wireless transceiver, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The at least one processor may be configured to measure at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from the at least one base station based on the assistance data. The at least one processor may be configured to generate location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

[0008] In one implementation, a mobile device configured to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network includes means for receiving assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station. The mobile device may include means for measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from the at least one base station based on the assistance data. The mobile device may include means for generating location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

[0009] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium has stored thereon program code operable to configure at least one processor in a mobile device to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network, the program code including program code for receiving assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from the at least one base station based on the assistance data. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for generating location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

[0010] In one implementation, a method for assisting positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network performed by a location server may include obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station. The method may include receiving at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from at least one network node. The method may include determining a location estimate for the mobile device based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0011] In one implementation, a location server for assisting in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network may include an external interface configured to communicate in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory. The at least one processor may be configured to obtain, via the external interface, an array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The at least one processor may be configured to receive, via the external interface, at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from the at least one network node. The at least one processor may be configured to determine a location estimate for the mobile device based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0012] In one implementation, a location server for assisting in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network may include means for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station. The location server includes means for receiving at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from at least one network node. The location server includes means for determining a location estimate for the mobile device based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0013] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium has program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a location server to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network, the program code including program code for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for receiving at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from at least one network node. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for determining a location estimate for the mobile device based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0014] In one implementation, a method for assisting in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network performed by a location server may include obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The method may include preparing assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The method may include transmitting, to the mobile device, the assistance data for positioning using the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0015] In one implementation, a location server configured to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network may include an external interface configured to communicate in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory. The at least one processor may be configured to obtain, via the external interface, array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The at least one processor may be configured to prepare assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The at least one processor may be configured to transmit, via the external interface, to the mobile device, the assistance data for positioning using the array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0016] In one implementation, a location server configured to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network may include means for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The location server may include means for preparing assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The location server may include means for transmitting, to the mobile device, the assistance data for positioning using the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0017] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium has program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a location server configured to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network, the program code may include program code for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for preparing assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for transmitting, to a mobile device, assistance data for positioning using the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0018] In one implementation, a method for assisting positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network performed by a base station may include obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station, and transmitting the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station to a location server.

[0019] In one implementation, a base station configured to assist in positioning of mobile devices in a wireless network may include an external interface configured to communicate in the wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory. The at least one processor may be configured to obtain array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station. The at least one processor may be configured to transmit, via the external interface, to a location server, the array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station.

[0020] In one implementation, a base station configured to assist in positioning of mobile devices in a wireless network may include means for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station, and means for transmitting the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station to a location server.

[0021] In one implementation, a non-transitory storage medium has program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a base station configured to assist in positioning of mobile devices in a wireless network, and may include program code for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station. The non-transitory storage medium includes program code for transmitting the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station to a location server.

[0022] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0023] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided only to illustrate, not limit, the aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] 2 is a block diagram of a design of a base station and a user equipment (UE), which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary subframe sequence structure for a positioning reference signal (PRS). [Figure 5] FIG. 1 illustrates downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AoD) location determination. [Figure 6A] FIG. 1 illustrates uplink (UL) angle of arrival (AoA) location determination using a single base station. [Figure 6B] FIG. 1 illustrates uplink (UL) angle of arrival (AoA) location determination using multiple base stations. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 shows an example of a narrow beam produced by a mmW antenna panel. [Figure 8A] FIG. 10 shows array gain (dB) as a function of angle and frequency for a 16×1 antenna array with array spacing d=λ / 2 at 57 GHz for multiple frequencies. [Figure 8B] FIG. 10 shows array gain (dB) as a function of angle and frequency for a 16×1 antenna array with array spacing d=λ / 2 at 71 GHz for multiple frequencies. [Figure 9A] A diagram showing one type of array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station that may be provided to a UE in assistance data. [Figure 9B] A diagram showing one type of array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station that may be provided to a UE in assistance data. [Figure 9C] A diagram showing one type of array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station that may be provided to a UE in assistance data. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example signaling flow showing various messages transmitted during a positioning session in which array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station may be provided to assist positioning. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a UE that is enabled to assist positioning using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a location server enabled to assist in positioning a UE using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency. [Figure 13] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a base station enabled to assist in positioning a UE using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency. [Figure 14] 1 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for determining a location of a mobile device performed by a mobile device. [Figure 15] 1 is a flowchart of an example method for determining a location of a mobile device performed by a location server. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart of another exemplary method for determining a location of a mobile device performed by a location server. [Figure 17] 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for determining a location of a mobile device performed by a base station. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, directed to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0026] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0027] Those skilled in the art will understand that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, desired design, corresponding technology, etc.

[0028] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that 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. In addition, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied entirely in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct the associated processor(s) of the device to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein, for example, as “logic configured to” perform the described actions.

[0029] The terms “user equipment (UE)” and “base station,” as used herein, are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at some time) 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,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” a “mobile device,” or variations thereof. In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE can be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0030] Depending on the network in which it is deployed, a base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with the UE and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, NodeB, evolved NodeB (eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. Additionally, in some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) channel or a 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) can refer to either a UL / reverse traffic channel or a DL / forward traffic channel.

[0031] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple physical transmission points that may or may not be co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical transmission point, the physical transmission point may be a base station antenna corresponding to the base station's cell. When the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical transmission points, the physical transmission point may be an array of base station antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, the physical transmission points may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical transmission point may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and neighbor base stations whose reference RF signals the UE is measuring.

[0032] To support UE positioning, two broad classifications of positioning solutions have been defined: control plane and user plane. In control plane (CP) positioning, signaling related to positioning and positioning support may be carried over existing network (and UE) interfaces and using existing protocols dedicated to transporting signaling. In user plane (UP) positioning, signaling related to positioning and positioning support may be carried as part of other data using protocols such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

[0033] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has defined control plane location solutions for UEs using radio access according to Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) (2G), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) (3G), LTE (4G), and New Radio (NR) for fifth generation (5G). These solutions are defined in 3GPP Technical Specifications (TS) 23.271 and 23.273 (common part), 43.059 (GSM access), 25.305 (UMTS access), 36.305 (LTE access), and 38.305 (NR access). The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) has also defined a UP location solution known as Secure User Plane Location (SUPL), which can be used to locate UEs accessing any of a number of radio interfaces supporting IP packet access, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) with GSM, GPRS with UMTS, or IP access with LTE or NR.

[0034] Both the CP and UP positioning solutions may utilize a location server (LS) to support positioning. The location server may be part of or accessible from the serving network or home network for the UE, or may simply be accessible via the Internet or via a local intranet. When positioning of the UE is necessary, the location server may initiate a session with the UE (e.g., a location session or a SUPL session) and coordinate position measurements by the UE and determination of the UE's estimated location. During the location session, the location server may request positioning capabilities from the UE (or the UE may provide them without a request), provide assistance data to the UE (e.g., if requested by the UE or even without a request), and request position estimates or position measurement results from the UE, e.g., for GNSS, TDOA, AoD, Multi-RTT, and / or Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) positioning methods. The assistance data may be used by the UE to acquire and measure GNSS and / or PRS signals (e.g., by providing expected characteristics of these signals, such as frequency, expected time of arrival, signal coding, signal Doppler, etc.).

[0035] In UE-based operating modes, assistance data may additionally or alternatively be used by the UE to help determine a position estimate from obtained position measurements (e.g., where the assistance data provides satellite ephemeris data in the case of GNSS positioning, or other base station characteristics such as base station position and PRS timing in the case of terrestrial positioning using TDOA, AoD, Multi-RTT, etc.).

[0036] In the UE-assisted mode of operation, the UE may return position measurements to the location server, which may determine an estimated position of the UE based on these measurements and possibly also other known or configured data (e.g., satellite ephemeris data for GNSS positioning, or base station positions and possibly base station characteristics including PRS timing in the case of terrestrial positioning using, e.g., TDOA, AoD, Multi-RTT, etc.).

[0037] In another standalone mode of operation, the UE may perform location-related measurements without using any positioning assistance data from a location server, and may further calculate a position or change in position without using any positioning assistance data from a location server. Positioning methods that may be used in the standalone mode include GPS and GNSS (e.g., where the UE obtains satellite orbit data from data broadcast by the GPS and GNSS satellites themselves) and sensors.

[0038] For 3GPP CP location, the location server can be an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) for LTE access, a standalone SMLC (SAS) for UMTS access, a serving mobile location center (SMLC) for GSM access, or a Location Management Function (LMF) for 5G NR access. In the case of OMA SUPL location, the location server may be a SUPL Location Platform (SLP), which may operate as either: (i) a home SLP (H-SLP) if it is in or associated with the UE's home network or provides the UE with a permanent subscription for location services; (ii) a discovered SLP (D-SLP) if it is in or associated with some other (non-home) network or is not associated with any network; (iii) an Emergency SLP (E-SLP) if it assists in location for emergency calls initiated by the UE; or (iv) a visited SLP (V-SLP) if it is in or associated with the serving network or current local area for the UE.

[0039] During a positioning session, the location server and the UE may exchange messages defined according to some positioning protocol to coordinate the determination of an estimated position. Possible positioning protocols may include, for example, the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) defined by 3GPP in 3GPP TS 36.355 and the LPP Extensions (LPPe) protocol defined by OMA in OMA TSs OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_0, OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_1, and OMA-TS-LPPe-V2_0. The LPP and LPPe protocols may be used in combination such that an LPP message contains one embedded LPPe message. The combined LPP and LPPe protocols may be referred to as LPP / LPPe. LPP and LPP / LPPe may also be used to help support 3GPP control plane strategies for LTE or NR access, where LPP or LPP / LPPe messages are exchanged between the UE and the E-SMLC or between the UE and the LMF. LPP or LPPe messages may be exchanged between the UE and the E-SMLC via the serving mobility management entity (MME) and serving eNodeB for the UE. LPP or LPPe messages may also be exchanged between the UE and the LMF via the serving access and mobility management entity (AMF) and serving NR Node B (gNB) for the UE. LPP and LPP / LPPe may also be used to help support the OMA SUPL approach for many types of wireless access (such as LTE, NR, and WiFi) that support IP messaging. In this case, LPP or LPP / LPPe messages may be exchanged between a SUPL Enabled Terminal (SET), the term used for the UE for SUPL, and an SLP, and may be transported within a SUPL message, such as a SUPL POS or SUPL POS INIT message.

[0040] A location server and a base station (e.g., an eNodeB for LTE access) may exchange messages to enable the location server to (i) obtain location measurements of a particular UE from the base station, or (ii) obtain location information from the base station that is not associated with a particular UE, such as antenna position coordinates for the base station, cells supported by the base station (e.g., cell identity information), cell timing for the base station, and / or parameters for signals transmitted by the base station, such as PRS signals. For LTE access, the LPP A (LPPa) protocol may be used to transfer such messages between a base station that is an eNodeB and a location server that is an E-SMLC. For NR access, the NRPPA protocol may be used to transfer such messages between a base station that is a gNodeB and a location server that is an LMF. It should be noted that the terms “parameter” and “information element” (IE) are synonymous and are used interchangeably herein. It should also be noted that, as used herein, the term “posSIB” refers to a system information block (SIB) that contains assistance data (also referred to as “positioning assistance data”) for assisting in positioning one or more UEs. However, in some instances, the term "SIB" is used herein to refer to a SIB that includes assistance data for assisting in positioning one or more UEs. It is further noted that the terms "SI message" and "positioning SI message" are used interchangeably herein to refer to a system information message that includes assistance data, e.g., assistance data in the form of one or more posSIBs.

[0041] Small cells using mmW transmissions are expected to be increasingly deployed in 5G NR cellular networks and in environments where radio signal-based positioning is traditionally difficult, such as indoor or dense urban environments. Small cells utilize arrays of antennas in MIMO systems for beamforming. With a large number of antenna elements, beamforming can be used to create very narrow beams, for example, a 3 dB beamwidth of 15° or even narrower. The very narrow beams can be swept horizontally (by azimuth) and vertically (by elevation) to form a spatial grid of beams.

[0042] Information about which beams in a spatial grid of beams are received by the UE can provide accurate location information for the UE without requiring transmission of specific reference signals by the TRP or positioning-related measurements of the reference signals by the UE. By combining information about which beams are received by the UE from several neighboring small cell TRPs, an accurate location estimate for the UE can be produced, for example, based on beam intersections.

[0043] Positioning in millimeter wave systems has been a topic of widespread interest since Release 16. For example, implementations of positioning using millimeter wave transmissions are underway, e.g., for UE-based positioning techniques, UE-assisted positioning techniques, and for UL, DL, or UL and DL techniques for estimating angle of radiation (AoD) and / or angle of arrival (AoA) at the gNB.

[0044] In addition to millimeter-wave systems, such as Frequency Range 2 (FR2), which encompasses the frequency band from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz, shortwave systems, such as Frequency Range 4 (FR4), which encompasses the frequency band from 52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz, sometimes referred to as the "upper millimeter-wave band," are being investigated. Extensions to even higher carrier frequencies may be considered in future 3GPP releases. For example, "sub-THz" regimes may start at 100 or 275 GHz (depending on the context of use) and extend to 1000 GHz. These are expected to be part of FR4 and later (sometimes referred to as FR5) systems. Because wavelengths in the upper millimeter-wave band are shorter than those in FR2 (e.g., 28 to 39 GHz), more antenna elements may be packed into the same physical aperture in FR4 or FR5 than in FR2; for example, FR4 uses larger antenna arrays than FR2.

[0045] The focus of Release 17 is in the 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz range. In this range, approximately 14 GHz of bandwidth is available across multiple terrains (e.g., 57-71 GHz), enabling significant performance / beamforming gains. In many devices, a single radio frequency (RF) chain is likely to be used across the ultra-wide bandwidth range of approximately 14 GHz. Because a single RF chain uses a single set of phase shifters and gain stages, analog / RF beamforming is constrained, which can lead to poor performance at some frequencies.

[0046] It is desirable to assist the UE with assistance information that takes into account the specific characteristics of the upper millimeter wave band and deficiencies on the UE side, however, in some implementations this can be achieved in a low-overhead manner to take into account ultra-wideband operation.

[0047] 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). For example, small cell base stations may be “Medium Range Base Stations” and “Local Area Base Stations” as defined in Section 4.4 of 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.104, which include base stations characterized by requirements derived from a microcell scenario, where the shortest distance from the BS to the UE along the ground is 5 m or a minimum coupling loss equal to 53 dB, or by requirements derived from a picocell scenario, where the shortest distance from the BS to the UE along the ground is 2 m or a minimum coupling loss equal to 45 dB. In an aspect, the macrocell base station may include an eNB, if the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or a gNB, if the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a 5G network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include a femtocell, a picocell, a microcell, etc.

[0048] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or Next Generation Core (NGC)) through backhaul links 122 and with one or more location servers 172 through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be internal or external to the core network 170. In some implementations, the location server 172 may be an E-SMLC for LTE access, a Standalone SMLC (SAS) for UMTS access, an SMLC for GSM access, a SUPL Location Platform (SLP), or a Location Management Function (LMF) for 5G NR access. Additionally or alternatively, the location server may be within the RAN and may be co-located with or part of the serving base station 102, sometimes referred to as a Location Server Surrogate (LSS) 117. The LSS 117 may replace the location server 172 or may work in conjunction with the location server 172 to improve latency, e.g., perform some functions that would otherwise be performed by the location server 172. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: forwarding of user data, encryption and decryption of radio channels, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and alert message delivery. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / NGC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0049] The base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base station 102 in each coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resources referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portions of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0050] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover regions), but some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may significantly overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs), which may serve closed groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0051] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include UL (also called reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than UL).

[0052] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform clear channel assessment (CCA) before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0053] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or 5G technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum may extend coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum is sometimes referred to as LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U), licensed assisted access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0054] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 102, which may be a small cell base station, operating within mmW and / or quasi-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 104. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has a wavelength between 1 and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes referred to as millimeter waves. Sub-mmW can extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz, with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also known as centimeter wave, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communications using mmW / quasi-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 102 and the UE 104 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 120 to compensate for the significant path loss and short distances. It will be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Moreover, mmW base stations may operate in the upper millimeter wave band, for example, between 52.6 GHz and 114.25 GHz, or some frequency allocation within that range, for example, 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz, or other ranges. Alternatively, ultra-wide bandwidth operation may also occur at sub-THz frequencies (above 100 GHz or 275 GHz or 300 GHz, depending on how the sub-THz regime is defined). Thus, it will be understood that the above illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0055] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and emits a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a stronger RF signal at a faster speed (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device. To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (also called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are supplied to individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas combine together to increase radiation in desired directions while canceling out to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0056] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of RF signals received from that direction.

[0057] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base station 102, UE 104) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 MHz to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), and FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are called “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 and the cell in which the UE 104 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE-specific control channels. A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and can be used to provide additional radio resources. Because both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals; for example, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0058] For example, with continued reference to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (i.e., a “PCell”), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 102 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two aggregated 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system theoretically double the data rate (i.e., to 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0059] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 in which one of the UEs 104 is connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 in which the WLAN STA 152 is connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc.

[0060] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 104, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 102 via mmW communications link 120. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE, and the mmW base station 102 may support one or more SCells for the UE.

[0061] 2A shows an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, an NGC 210 (also referred to as "5GC") may be functionally viewed as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data network, IP routing, etc.), which operate in coordination to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the NGC 210, specifically to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, an eNB 224 may also be connected to the NGC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the New RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either the gNBs 222 or the eNBs 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Another optional aspect may include one or more location servers 230a, 230b (sometimes collectively referred to as location servers 230) (which may correspond to location server 172), which may be in communication with the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212 in the NGC 210, respectively, to provide positioning assistance for the UE 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that may connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the NGC 210, and / or the Internet (not shown).Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network, for example, in the RAN 220. In addition, a Location Server Surrogate (LSS) (such as the LSS 117 shown in FIG. 1) may be located in the RAN 220, for example, co-located with the gNB 222, and may perform one or more location management functions.

[0062] 2B shows another exemplary wireless network structure 250. For example, an NGC 260 (also referred to as a "5GC") may be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264, a User Plane Function (UPF) 262, a Session Management Function (SMF) 266, an SLP 268, and an LMF 270, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., NGC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the NGC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the NGC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223, with or without a gNB direct connection to the NGC 260. In some configurations, the New RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the ng-gNB 222 or the eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., with any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). The base stations of the New RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface.

[0063] The AMF functions include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport of session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and the SMF 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transport of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) subscriber identity module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF functions also include security context management (SCM), which receives keys from the SEAF that the SCM uses to derive access network-specific keys. The functions of the AMF also include location service management for barred services, transport of location service messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which may correspond to the location server 172) and between the New RAN 220 and the LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF also supports functions for non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access networks.

[0064] The functions of the UPF include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when possible), acting as an external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), routing and forwarding packets, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., UL / DL rate enforcement, reflected QoS marking in DL), UL traffic validation (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in UL and DL, DL packet buffering and DL data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node.

[0065] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, allocation and management of UE Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0066] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the NGC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each represent a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the NGC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown).

[0067] 3 shows a block diagram of a design 300 of a base station 102 and a UE 104, which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in FIG. 1. Base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 334a through 334t, and UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 352a through 352r, where in general T≧1 and R≧1.

[0068] At the base station 102, the transmit processor 320 may receive data for one or more UEs from a data source 312, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE, and provide data symbols to all UEs. The transmit processor 320 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.) and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 320 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRSs)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSSs) and secondary synchronization signals (SSSs)). A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 330 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​the data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 332a through 332t. Each modulator 332 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 332 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The T downlink signals from modulators 332a through 332t may be transmitted via T antennas 334a through 334t, respectively. According to various aspects described in more detail below, synchronization signals may be generated using position coding to convey additional information.

[0069] At the UE 104, antennas 352a through 352r may receive downlink signals from the base station 102 and / or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 354a through 354r, respectively. Each demodulator 354 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) its received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 354 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 356 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 354a through 354r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 358 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols and provide decoded data for the UE 104 to a data sink 360 and decoded control and system information to a controller / processor 380. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a channel quality indicator (CQI), etc. In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 104 may be included in a housing.

[0070] On the uplink, at the UE 104, a transmit processor 364 may receive and process data from a data source 362 and control information (e.g., for reports comprising RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from a controller / processor 380. The transmit processor 364 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 364 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 366 if applicable, further processed by modulators 354a through 354r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 102. At the base station 102, uplink signals from the UE 104 and other UEs may be received by antennas 334, processed by a demodulator 332, detected by a MIMO detector 336 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 338 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 338 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 339 and the decoded control information to a controller / processor 340. The base station 102 may include a communication unit 344 and communicate with a network controller, such as a location server 172, via the communication unit 344, which may include one or more intervening elements. The location server 172 may include a communication unit 394, a controller / processor 390, and a memory 392.

[0071] The controller / processor 340 of the base station 102, the controller / processor 380 of the UE 104, the controller 390 of the location server 172, which may be the location server 172, and / or any other component of Figure 3 may perform one or more techniques related to broadcasting positioning assistance data in a differential manner, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. For example, the controller / processor 380 of the UE 104, the controller 390 of the location server 172, the controller / processor 340 of the base station 102, and / or any other component of Figure 3 may perform or direct the operation of, for example, processes 1400, 1500, 1600, and 1700 of Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17, and / or other processes as described herein. The memories 342, 382, ​​and 392 may store data and program codes for the base station 102, the UE 104, and the location server 172, respectively. In some aspects, memory 342 and / or memory 382 and / or memory 392 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores one or more instructions for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of UE 104, location server 172, and / or base station 102, may perform or direct operation of, for example, processes 1400, 1500, 1600, and 1700 of Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17, and / or other processes as described herein. Scheduler 346 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0072] As noted above, Figure 3 is provided as an example. Other examples may differ from those described with respect to Figure 3.

[0073] In particular implementations, the UE 104 may have circuitry and processing resources capable of obtaining location-related measurements (also referred to as position measurements), such as measurements of signals received from a GPS or other satellite positioning system (SPS), measurements of a cellular transceiver such as the base station 102, and / or measurements of a local transceiver. The UE 104 may further have circuitry and processing resources capable of calculating a place fix and an estimated position of the UE 104 based on these location-related measurements. In some implementations, the location-related measurements obtained by the UE 104 may be forwarded to a location server, such as the location server 172, the location server 230a, 230b, or the LMF 270, which may then estimate or determine the position of the UE 104 based on the measurements.

[0074] The location-related measurements obtained by the UE 104 may include measurements of signals received from satellite vehicles (SVs) that are part of an SPS or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or Beidou, and / or may include measurements of signals received from terrestrial transmitters (e.g., base stations 102 or other local transceivers) fixed at known locations. The UE 104 or a separate location server (e.g., location server 172) may then obtain a location estimate for the UE 104 based on these location-related measurements using any one of several positioning methods, such as, for example, GNSS, Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT), Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), TDOA, AoA, AoD, multi-RTT, or a combination thereof. In some of these techniques (e.g., A-GNSS, AFLT, and OTDOA), pseudoranges or timing differences may be measured by the UE 104 relative to three or more terrestrial transmitters fixed at known locations, or relative to four or more SVs for which orbit data is precisely known, or a combination thereof, based at least in part on pilot signals, positioning reference signals (PRS), or other positioning-related signals transmitted by transmitters or SVs and received at the UE 104. Here, a location server such as location server 172, location servers 230a, 230b, or LMF 270 may be able to provide positioning assistance data to the UE 104, including, for example, information about the signals to be measured by the UE 104 (e.g., expected signal timing, signal coding, signal frequency, signal Doppler), terrestrial transmitter locations and / or identification information, and / or signal, timing, and orbit information of GNSS SVs to facilitate positioning techniques such as A-GNSS, AFLT, OTDOA, TDOA, AoA, AoD, multi-RTT, and ECID.The facilitation may include improving the accuracy of signal acquisition and measurements by the UE 104 and / or, in some cases, enabling the UE 104 to calculate its estimated location based on the position measurements. For example, the location server may include an almanac (e.g., a Base Station Almanac (BSA)) that indicates the locations and identities of cellular transceivers and transmitters (e.g., base stations 102) and / or local transceivers and transmitters in one or more particular areas, such as a particular venue, and may further include information describing signals transmitted by these transceivers and transmitters, such as signal power, signal timing, signal bandwidth, signal coding, and / or signal frequency. For ECID, the UE 104 may obtain measurements of the signal strength (e.g., Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) or Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)) of signals received from the cellular transceiver (e.g., base station 102) and / or local transceiver, and / or may obtain the signal-to-noise ratio (S / N), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or round-trip signal propagation time (RTT) between the UE 104 and the cellular transceiver (e.g., base station 102) or local transceiver. The UE 104 may forward these measurements to a location server to determine its position, or in some implementations, the UE 104 may use these measurements together with positioning assistance data (e.g., terrestrial almanac data or GNSS SV data, such as GNSS Almanac and / or GNSS Ephemeris information) received from the location server to determine its position.

[0075] An estimate of the UE 104's position may be referred to as a position, position estimate, position fix, fix, location, location estimate, or location fix, and may be geodetic, thereby providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 104, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., elevation, height or depth above ground, floor, or basement). Alternatively, the UE 104's location may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as an address or designation of some point or small area within a building, such as a particular room or floor). The UE 104's location may also include uncertainty and may then be represented as an area or volume (defined either geodetically or in civic form) within which the UE 104 is expected to be located with some given or default probability or confidence level (e.g., 67% or 95%). The location of the UE 104 may also be an absolute location (e.g., defined in terms of latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude and / or uncertainty) or may be a relative location, e.g., comprising distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin at a known absolute location. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. Measurements (e.g., obtained by the UE 104 or by another entity such as the base station 102) used to determine (e.g., calculate) a location estimate of the UE 104 may be referred to as measurements, location measurements, location-related measurements, positioning measurements, or position measurements, and the act of determining the location of the UE 104 may be referred to as positioning the UE 104 or locating the UE 104.

[0076] FIG. 4 illustrates the structure of an example subframe sequence 400 with a positioning reference signal (PRS) positioning occasion according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The subframe sequence 400 may be applicable to broadcasting a PRS signal from a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) or other network node. The subframe sequence 400 may be used in an LTE system, and the same or similar subframe sequence may be used in other communication technologies / protocols, such as 5G and NR. In FIG. 4 , time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. As shown in FIG. 4 , downlink and uplink radio frames 410 may each be 10 milliseconds (ms) in length. For downlink frequency division duplex (FDD) mode, the radio frame 410 is organized into 10 subframes 412, each 1 ms in length, in the illustrated example. Each subframe 412 comprises, for example, two slots 414, each 0.5 ms in length.

[0077] In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth may be divided into evenly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 416 (also called "tones" or "bins"). For example, using 15 kHz spacing, e.g., for a regular length cyclic prefix (CP), the subcarriers 416 may be grouped into groups of 12 subcarriers. A resource (represented as a block of subframes 412) of one OFDM symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain is called a resource element (RE). Each grouping of 12 subcarriers 416 and 14 OFDM symbols is called a resource block (RB), and in the above example, the number of subcarriers in a resource block is

[0078]

number

[0079] For a given channel bandwidth, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 422, also referred to as the transmission bandwidth configuration 422, can be written as:

[0080]

number

[0081] For example, for a 3 MHz channel bandwidth in the example above, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 422 is

[0082]

number

[0083] It should be noted that the frequency components of a resource block (e.g., 12 subcarriers) are called a physical resource block (PRB).

[0084] A base station may transmit radio frames (e.g., radio frame 410), or other physical layer signaling sequences, supporting PRS signals (i.e., downlink (DL) PRS) according to a frame structure that is either similar to or the same as the frame structure shown in Figure 4, and the PRS signals may be measured and used for location estimation of a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). Other types of wireless nodes in a wireless communications network (e.g., distributed antenna systems (DAS), remote radio heads (RRHs), UEs, APs, etc.) may also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in a manner similar to (or the same as) the manner shown in Figure 4.

[0085] A collection of resource elements used for transmitting PRS signals is called a "PRS resource." The collection of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot 414 in the time domain. For example, the cross-hatched resource elements within a slot 414 may be examples of two PRS resources. A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, and each PRS resource has a PRS resource identifier (ID). In addition, PRS resources within a PRS resource set are associated with the same transmission / reception point (TRP). A PRS resource ID within a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (if the TRP can transmit one or more beams). Note that this does not imply that the TRP and beam from which a signal is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0086] The PRS may be transmitted in special positioning subframes that are grouped into positioning occasions. A PRS occasion is one instance of a regularly repeating time period (e.g., consecutive slots) in which the PRS is expected to be transmitted. Each regularly repeating time period may include a group of one or more consecutive PRS opportunities. Each PRS opportunity may comprise N PRS consecutive positioning subframes. A PRS positioning occasion for a cell supported by a base station is defined as a number T of milliseconds or subframes. PRS As an example, FIG. 4 shows N PRS is equal to 4 (418)T PRS indicates a periodicity of the positioning occasions where T is equal to or greater than 20 (420). PRS may be measured in terms of the number of subframes between the starts of successive positioning occasions. Multiple PRS opportunities may be associated with the same PRS resource configuration, in which case each such opportunity may be referred to as a "PRS resource opportunity," etc.

[0087] The PRS may be transmitted at a constant power. The PRS may also be transmitted at zero power (i.e., muted). Muting, which turns off regularly scheduled PRS transmissions, may be useful when PRS signals between different cells overlap by occurring simultaneously or nearly simultaneously. In this case, PRS signals from some cells may be muted, while PRS signals from other cells are transmitted (e.g., at a constant power). Muting may aid UE signal acquisition and time of arrival (TOA) and reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements of unmuted PRS signals (by eliminating interference from muted PRS signals). Muting may be viewed as not transmitting a PRS for a given positioning occasion for a particular cell. A muting pattern (also referred to as a muting sequence) may be signaled to the UE (e.g., using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)) using a bit string. For example, if a bit at location j is set to “0” in a bit string signaled to indicate the muting pattern, the UE may infer that the PRS will be muted for the jth positioning occasion.

[0088] To further enhance the audibility of the PRS, the positioning subframe may be a low-interference subframe transmitted without a user data channel. As a result, in an ideally synchronized network, the PRS may be interfered with by PRSs of other cells with the same PRS pattern index (i.e., the same frequency shift), but not by data transmissions. The frequency shift may be different for other cells or other transmission points (TPs) (

[0089]

number

[0090] ) function of the PRS ID, or the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) if no PRS ID is assigned (

[0091]

number

[0092] ), which results in an effective frequency reuse factor of 6.

[0093] Also to enhance PRS audibility (e.g., when the PRS bandwidth is limited, such as when there are only six resource blocks corresponding to a 1.4 MHz bandwidth), the frequency band for successive PRS positioning occasions (or successive PRS subframes) may be changed in a known and predictable manner via frequency hopping. Additionally, a cell supported by a base station may support more than one PRS configuration, where each PRS configuration may use a different frequency offset (vshift), a different carrier frequency, a different bandwidth, a different code sequence, and / or a specific number of subframes (N) per positioning occasion. PRS ) and a specific period (T PRS In some implementations, one or more of the PRS configurations supported in a cell may be for directional PRS and thus may have additional distinct characteristics, such as distinct directions of transmission, distinct horizontal angular ranges, and / or distinct vertical angular ranges.

[0094] The PRS configuration, including the PRS transmission / muting schedule as described above, is signaled to the UE to enable the UE to perform PRS positioning-related measurements. The UE is not expected to blindly perform PRS configuration detection.

[0095] It should be noted that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” sometimes refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in LTE / NR systems. However, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” refer to any type of reference signal for positioning purposes. Downlink (DL) or sidelink (SL) signals whose primary purpose is not related to positioning, such as control or communication, are referred to herein as non-positioning reference signals (non-PRS). Examples of non-PRS include, but are not limited to, PHY channels such as SSB, TRS, CSI-RS, PDSCH, DM-RS, PDCCH, PSSCH, and PSCCH. As discussed herein, non-PRS signals that are normally transmitted for purposes not related to positioning may also be used by a UE for positioning purposes, for example, in hybrid positioning-related measurements. Similar to DL PRS transmitted by a base station, as discussed above, a UE may transmit UL PRS for positioning, as well as UL or SL non-PRS that can be used for positioning. The UL PRS may be, for example, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning.

[0096] Using received DL PRS or non-PRS from the base station or SL signaling from other UEs, and / or UL PRS or non-PRS transmitted to the base station or SL to other UEs, the UE may perform various positioning-related measurements, such as reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements for time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning techniques, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements for TDOA, angle of radiation (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and round trip time (RTT) or multi-cell RTT (multi-RTT) positioning techniques, time difference between reception and transmission of a signal (Rx-Tx) for multi-RTT positioning techniques.

[0097] Various positioning techniques rely on DL, UL, or SL PRS, and may also use DL, UL, or SL non-PRS. For example, positioning techniques using reference signals include downlink-based positioning, uplink-based positioning, and combined downlink and uplink-based positioning. For example, downlink-based positioning includes positioning methods such as DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning includes positioning methods such as UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Downlink and uplink-based positioning includes positioning methods such as RTT using one or more neighboring base stations (multi-RTT). Other positioning methods exist, including methods that do not rely on PRS. For example, Enhanced Cell-ID (E-CID) is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements.

[0098] Currently, positioning assistance data for PRS beams includes the azimuth and elevation angles of each DL-RS resource (beam), but does not provide any beamwidth information. Knowledge of the PRS beamwidth (as well as some other beam pattern information, such as sidelobe or backlobe information) may be used to assist in receiving the DL PRS beam and may be used to enable the UE Rx antenna to adapt for power-saving purposes. For example, if the PRS beam is a wide-angle beam, a UE receiver with a single antenna is likely to achieve high-quality positioning-related measurements. Therefore, the UE may configure its receiver with a single Rx antenna (or fewer Rx antennas) to reduce power consumption.

[0099] As discussed above, several positioning techniques are supported in 3GPP. In Release 16, assistance data from the network, e.g., location server 172, to the UE 104 is provided within the NR Positioning Protocol (NRPP) of 3GPP 38.455 or the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) of 3GPP 37.355. There are several gNB-side angle estimation techniques for positioning. Downlink (DL) AoD-based techniques, for example, use knowledge of the beam shapes of positioning reference symbol (PRS) beams transmitted by different gNBs, together with knowledge of the received RSRP for these PRS at the UE, to estimate the DL AoD. This estimation can be performed on the network side, e.g., at the location server 172 in "UE-assisted" mode, where the UE reports the measured RSRP. Alternatively, in a "UE-based" mode, the estimation may be performed at the UE 104, which is informed of the beam shape, including the AoD used with the PRS, e.g., in the assistance data, and the UE 104 determines the identity of the received DL beam from which the DL AoD can be determined and a location estimate can be generated. Currently, only the boresight direction of the beam is indicated in the assistance data.

[0100] As another example, an uplink (UL) AoA-based approach estimates the location of the UE 105 by a gNB or network, e.g., a location server 172, based on measurements of the UE's uplink transmissions (e.g., SRS) at the base station 102. The base station reports the estimated AoA to the location server 172, which may be reported in a global coordinate system (GCS) or a local coordinate system (LCS). Reporting may be different for azimuth and elevation angles.

[0101] FIG. 5 illustrates, as an example, a DL-AoD procedure 500 performed by a UE 104. A base station 102, which may be a gNB, transmits PRS resources labeled PRS#1, PRS#2, and PRS#3, shown as beams 502, 504, and 506, respectively, in a beam-sweeping manner. The UE 104 may use a beamformed receive beam 512 to measure the RSRP of each PRS resource, shown by PRS beams 502, 504, and 506. The measured RSRP for each PRS beam 502, 504, and 506 is shown by respective graphs 503, 505, and 507, where the height of the bar is proportional to the RSRP for each respective PRS beam. As shown, the PRS beam 506 that is best aligned with the line-of-sight (LOS) 510 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 has the largest RSRP. PRS beams 502 and 504 (PRS#1 and PRS#2) are not aligned with LOS 510 and therefore a relatively low RSRP is observed. In contrast, PRS beam 506 (PRS#3) is well aligned with LOS 510 and a relatively high RSRP is observed.

[0102] In the UE-assisted mode, the UE 104 reports the measured RSRP to a location server 172, e.g., the location server 172, through an LPP protocol, where the corresponding AoD is estimated and a location calculation for the UE 104 is performed. For example, based on the measured RSRP, the PRS resource that is best aligned with the LOS 510 to the UE 104 may be determined. The directionality of each PRS source is known by the location server 172, and thus the direction of the UE 104 relative to the base station 102 may be determined based on the direction of the PRS resource with the highest RSRP. In addition, the RSRP may be used to determine the distance between the UE 104 and the base station 102. Thus, both the direction and distance relative to the base station 102 may be determined, thereby providing an estimated location of the UE 104.

[0103] In the UE-based mode, the UE 104 may use assistance data provided by the location server 172, including the geographical locations of the TRPs, and PRS beam information (e.g., beam azimuth, elevation) to calculate an estimated location of the UE 104.

[0104] FIG. 6A illustrates, by way of example, a UL-AoA procedure 600 performed by a single base station 102. AoA measurements are generated by the base station 102 using a directional antenna array, such as a phased array, which produces a number of receive beams 610 that can be used to determine the direction of the source of a signal, e.g., an SRS signal, from the UE 104. For example, the receive beam 610 with the strongest signal from the UE 105 is likely aligned with the direction of the source of the signal from the UE 104. FIG. 6A illustrates an AoA measurement 602 from which the UE 105 transmits a signal as including uncertainty 603. The single base station 110 can use the AoA measurements when combined with a range estimate 604 to determine the location of the UE 105, e.g., using RTT.

[0105] 6B illustrates, by way of example, a UL-AoA procedure 650 performed by several base stations 102-1 and 102-2. The illustrated AoA measurements 651 and 652 determined by the respective base stations 102-1 and 102-2 intersect at the location of the UE 105.

[0106] FIG. 7 shows an example of a narrow beam produced by a mmW small cell antenna panel 702. The antenna panel 702 includes several separate antennas that are provided with RF current from a transmitter in the correct phase relationship so that radio waves from the separate antennas combine together to produce a beam, increasing radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in undesired directions. The beam can be steered to points in different directions, for example, by changing the azimuth and elevation angles, without moving the antenna panel 702. FIG. 7 shows the antenna panel 702 at the center of a sphere 700, showing, for example, azimuth angles from 0° to ±90° to 180° and elevation angles from 0° to ±90° to 180°. The antenna panel 702 can be controlled to produce beams at various angles, shown as beams 704, 706, and 708. Typically, the antenna panel 702 can produce an azimuth angle range of 120° and an elevation angle range of 60°. By increasing the number of individual antennas present in the antenna panel 702, the width of the resulting beam can be reduced. Initial link acquisition at the base station is performed via beamformed transmissions in the secondary synchronization block (SSB). Beam refinement beyond the SSB stage is performed either via the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or via the sounding reference signal (SRS). These stages lead to improved beams at both the base station and the user terminal.

[0107] Phased array beamforming over ultra-wide bandwidths, such as that used by the antenna panel 702, can suffer from signal direction changes / offsets, sometimes referred to as beam squinting. Beam squinting causes, for example, the beam direction to change according to the operating frequency. In addition, the beam can suffer from frequency-dependent distortions in spatial behavior due to effects of the antenna array housing (e.g., backplane, side bezel, made of plastic or metal), polarization mismatch, element pattern variations, small array size, calibration imperfections, etc. Furthermore, gain and direction distortions can affect the main lobe as well as side lobes, beam nulls, and grating lobes.

[0108] 8A and 8B graphically illustrate array gain (dB) as a function of angle and frequency for a 16×1 antenna array with an array spacing of d=λ / 2 at, for example, 57 GHz or 71 GHz, respectively. These fixed arrays are used over the range of 57 to 71 GHz. In FIGS. 8A and 8B, the array gain at frequencies 57 to 71 GHz is shown as three separate curves, e.g., curve 802 represents the array gain at 57 GHz, curve 804 represents the array gain at 61 GHz, and curve 806 represents the array gain at 71 GHz. The antenna array can be considered to cover a surrounding boresight direction of ±50° using, for example, a codebook of size 12.

[0109] Array gain performance with codebooks designed for 57 or 71 GHz is plotted as a function of frequency in Figures 8A and 8B. As can be seen, the array gain across the 57-71 GHz frequency range is not well aligned across the spatial dimensions for either antenna array design, with 57 GHz represented by solid curve 802, 61 GHz represented by dash-dotted curve 804, and 71 GHz represented by dashed curve 806. If the array gain were well aligned across the spatial dimensions, the peaks of curves 802, 804, and 806 would be aligned for all angles. However, as can be seen in Figures 8A and 8B, the peaks of curves 802, 804, and 806 are aligned at 0° and become less aligned as the angle increases. In other words, the beams (regardless of design) are not well correlated with frequency. Different beam indices may perform better at different carrier frequencies, especially toward the edge of coverage, e.g., approximately ±50° in this example. Depending on the angle of interest, the beam from either 57 GHz (curve 802) or 71 GHz (curve 806) may be better, and the difference in gain may be significant, about 2-3 dB. c At =71GHz, f c A smaller code block size may be sufficient to cover the same area as that covered by =57 GHz.

[0110] Therefore, as can be seen, the array gain distribution as a function of spatial angle (beam pattern / shape) generally varies with frequency due to beam-skinning effects, which are due to the fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency budget. For ultra-wideband coverage, e.g., between frequencies 57 GHz and 71 GHz, the beam-skinning effect on the array gain distribution is significant, and becomes even more significant for frequency band coverage, e.g., from the 52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz band. Array gain distribution variations can include frequency-dependent distortions in spatial behavior, including the effects of the antenna array housing (e.g., backplane, side bezel, made of plastic or metal), polarization mismatch, element pattern variations, small array size, calibration imperfections, etc.

[0111] The effect of beam squint can have a negative impact on angle-related positioning-related measurement results. For example, positioning using a fixed set of beam weights at a certain carrier frequency may correspond to a certain AoD or AoA estimate at that frequency. However, the same set of beam weights corresponding to the combination of phase shifters and gain controls required to steer a beam toward a certain direction, such as a codebook in FR4, may not be changed, corresponding to a different AoD or AoA estimate at a different frequency. While the same beam weights correspond to good RSRP across frequencies, the AoD or AoA may be estimated differently based on which frequency is used. For example, referring to Figures 8A and 8B, it can be seen that the peaks of different frequencies (e.g., curves 802 and 806), especially at the edge of coverage, are not aligned with each other and exhibit significantly different angles.

[0112] In one implementation, compensating for the above effects on positioning involves communicating the transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) beam pattern or shape (e.g., array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency) to a node in the network assisting the location estimation, e.g., the UE in UE-based positioning or a location server in UE-assisted positioning. The frequencies of interest may be at least an active bandwidth portion (BWP), a set of resource blocks (RBs), or a set of component carrier frequencies at the UE. The node assisting the location estimation may be an LMF, an eSMLC, a Location Server Surrogate (LSS) (an LMF-like function co-located with or embedded in a base station or RAN), or a serving base station (e.g., a gNB / TRP with which the UE is communicating). For example, in some implementations, there may be an LMF in the core network and an LSS embedded in the RAN or base station, and the LMF may "offload" positioning functions to the LSS to various degrees.

[0113] In ultra-wide bandwidths from 57 GHz to 71 GHz or greater, such as 52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz as proposed for FR4, there are more sampling frequencies, so a large amount of data is required to convey the array gain distribution variation as a function of transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) beam pattern or shape, angle, and frequency. Therefore, this approach may lead to a large overhead for ultra-wide bandwidth BWPs. Therefore, a low-overhead approach to convey the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) beam pattern for positioning may be desired.

[0114] In one implementation, array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by one or more base stations may be provided for subbands of an allocated bandwidth for the base station. For example, the array gain distribution variation may be provided as a function of a "smaller chunk" over an active BWP for the UE, which may be an ultra-wideband BWP. The "smaller chunk" may be a subband of some a priori and appropriately configured size. For example, the configuration may be based on UE parameters such as a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, an active BWP size at the mobile device, etc. For example, the UE parameters may be provided by the UE, for example, in a capability response message to a location server or other network node. Moreover, the size of the "smaller chunk" may be dynamically selected over time; for example, the size of a subband of frequency may vary over time, for example, based on UE parameters.

[0115] In another implementation, the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by one or more base stations may be provided as an aggregation or average of the array gain distribution variation for multiple different subbands or chunks of the allocated bandwidth for the base station. For example, an aggregation of array gain distribution variation may be provided for multiple subbands across the active BWP of the UE 104, which may be an ultra-wideband BWP. In one example, the aggregation of array gain distribution variation may be a weighted average of the array gain distribution variation for multiple different subbands. The weights used in the weighted average may be weights corresponding to the size of the subbands, for example.

[0116] In another implementation, the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by one or more base stations may be provided as multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of an allocated bandwidth for the base station. For example, the multiple subbands may span an active BWP of the UE 104, which may be an ultra-wide bandwidth BWP.

[0117] In implementations, the type of array gain distribution variation used may be switched between positioning sessions or between positioning-related measurements within a positioning session. For example, a first set of assistance data may include a first type of array gain distribution variation, e.g., any of the types discussed above, while a second set of assistance data may use a different type of array gain distribution variation.

[0118] There may be trade-offs regarding the type of array gain distribution variation used. For example, array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a single subband, or a cluster of subbands, or multiple different subbands, such as across an ultra-wideband BWP, may lead to a large amount of signaling, aiding data, and overhead, but better performance. In contrast, array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency that is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple subbands may lead to relatively poor performance, but less signaling, aiding data, and overhead. The approach used may depend on the capabilities of the UE 104, its ability to handle beampattern signaling, and aiding data overhead. The approach used may also depend on the signaling used and / or latency requirements. For example, a low-latency approach may use L1 / L2 signaling, which may not be capable of accommodating larger payloads, so a lower-overhead approach may be preferred. On the other hand, L3 (RRC) signaling may bear more overhead / payload. The technique used may also depend on the positioning accuracy requirements. Various techniques may be used for both transmit (Tx) beam patterns, e.g., for DL ​​AoD measurements, and receive (Rx) beam patterns, e.g., for UL AoA measurements.

[0119] 9A, 9B, and 9C show various types of array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station. As shown in FIG. 9A, 9B, and 9C, the allocated frequency (FR) for the base station is indicated by an arrow 902. The active bandwidth portion (BWP) 904 for the UE 104 may be only a portion of the base station's allocated frequency (FR).

[0120] 9A illustrates a type of array gain distribution variation 910 as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station, where the array gain distribution variation 912 may be provided as a single subband 914 of the allocated bandwidth 902 for the base station. The size of the subband 914, e.g., the range of frequencies in the subband 914, may be configured based on mobile device parameters, such as the UE data rate, the UE capabilities, and the active BWP size 904 at the UE. The size of the subband 914 may be dynamically selected and may change, for example, at different instances of assistance data.

[0121] 9B illustrates a type 920 of array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station that may be provided, such as an aggregation 922 of array gain distribution variation as an average (as indicated by arrow 922) of array gain distribution variation for multiple different subbands 924A, 924B, 924C, 924D, and 924D (which may be collectively referred to as subbands 924) of an allocated bandwidth 902 for the base station. For example, as shown, an aggregation 922 of array gain distribution variation may be provided for multiple subbands 924 across an active BWP 904 of a UE 104, which may be an ultra-wideband BWP. The aggregation 922 of array gain distribution variation may be a weighted average of array gain distribution variation for multiple different subbands 924, where the weights used in the weighted average may be based on other factors, such as the size of the subbands or the location of the subbands 924 within the BWP 904.

[0122] 9C illustrates a type of array gain distribution variation 930 as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station, which may be provided as separate array gain distribution variations 932A, 932B, 932C, 932D, and 932E (sometimes referred to as array gain distribution variations 932) for multiple different subbands 934A, 934B, 934C, 934D, and 934E, respectively (sometimes referred to as subbands 934), of an allocated bandwidth 902 for the base station. For example, as shown, separate array gain distribution variations 932 may be provided for multiple subbands 1132 across the active BWP 904 of a UE 104, which may be an ultra-wideband BWP.

[0123] The array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by the base station may be used to correct AoD or AoA measurements generated by the UE 104 or the base station 102. For example, when the UE 104 determines a received transmit (Tx) beam, e.g., as shown in FIG. 5, the angle of the transmit (Tx) beam may be adjusted as a function of the beam angle and frequency, as provided in the array gain distribution variation. Similarly, the angle of the receive (Rx) beam may be adjusted as a function of the beam angle and frequency, as provided in the array gain distribution variation, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. The adjustment of the beam angle, e.g., AoD or AoA, may be performed by a location server, or if the array gain distribution variation is provided to the UE 104, the UE may adjust the beam angle, e.g., for DL ​​AoD measurements.

[0124] For example, the UE 104 may provide capability information to declare its capabilities related to its ability to handle beam pattern assistance data overhead over ultra-wideband operation for positioning applications. For example, the UE 104 may indicate a capability for at least one of low overhead associated with array gain distribution variation signaling over a small subband of an ultra-wideband BWP or large overhead associated with array gain distribution variation over at least two subbands of an active BWP for the UE 104, where the at least two subbands may span the UE's entire active BWP or may be less than the UE's entire active BWP. The UE 104 may transmit the capability to the base station 102 or a network node associated with location estimation, such as the location server 172. The network node assisting the location estimation may be the LMF, eSMLC, LSS, or a serving base station with which the UE 104 is communicating.

[0125] The network node assisting the location estimation may generate an estimate of the DL AoD and a location estimate for the UE based on UE-side measurements provided by the UE and base station transmit (Tx) beam shape information, i.e., based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by one or more base stations.

[0126] The network node assisting the location estimation may generate an estimate of the UL AoA, and the location of the UE, based on UE-side transmit (e.g., SRS signal) measurements performed by one or more base stations and receive (Rx) beam shape information, i.e., array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by one or more base stations.

[0127] As discussed above, array gain distribution variation, which is a function of angle and frequency, is used because it varies with carrier frequency, for example, due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in an antenna array, which leads to beam squint. Array gain distribution variation may incorporate frequency-dependent distortions in spatial behavior, including housing effects, polarization mismatch, element pattern variations, small array size, calibration imperfections, etc. Furthermore, the array gain distribution variation may correspond to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe for one or more base stations.

[0128] The assistance data provided to the UE with low overhead due to array gain distribution variations may be subbands of an ultra-wide bandwidth (BWP). The subbands may be, for example, of some a priori and appropriately configured size, which may be configured based on UE conditions or parameters such as data rate, capabilities, BWP size, etc. Moreover, the subbands may be dynamically selected over time and may have different sizes.

[0129] The assistance data provided to the UE with low overhead for array gain distribution variation may be an aggregate or averaged array gain distribution variation of a number of subbands across the UE's active BWP. The aggregation may be, for example, some subset of subbands across the UE's active BWP, and thus may include the complete range of the active BWP or less than the complete range of the active BWP. In addition, the aggregation may be generated using a weighted average with weights corresponding to the subband size.

[0130] Additionally, the UE may switch the type of array gain distribution variation used (e.g., received in the assistance data) based on the type of signaling and / or at least one of latency requirements and positioning accuracy requirements.

[0131] FIG. 10 illustrates an example signaling flow 1000 depicting various messages transmitted between components of the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 during a positioning session in which, by way of example, array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station may be provided to assist in positioning. FIG. 10 illustrates a UE 104, a serving base station 102, and a location server 172. The base station 102 may be a gNB, ng-eNB, or eNB and is capable of beamforming over an ultra-wide bandwidth for transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) beams. The location server 172 may be, for example, the LMF 270 or SLP 268, and an eSMLC, LSS, or other entity used for positioning, which may be co-located with the base station 102 or RAN or within (or outside) the core network, or the serving base station 102. In implementations where an LSS or other network entity with LMF-like functionality is co-located with or embedded in the base station 102 or RAN, some of the signaling may be sent to different entities; for example, the LMF may generate assistance data, while the LSS may generate a location estimate. It should be understood that the UE 104 communicates with the location server 172 through the serving base station 102 and one or more intervening components in the core network, such as the AMF 264 or UPF 262. In signaling flow 1000, the UE 104 and location server 172 communicate using the previously mentioned LPP positioning protocol, although it is envisioned that other protocols may be used. Signaling flow 1000 may be performed in the control plane or the user plane. The messages shown in signaling flow 1000 are provided for illustrative purposes, and additional messages and actions may be involved in the positioning session between the shown and / or unshown entities.

[0132] In stage 1, the location server 172 may send a capability provision request to the UE 104 requesting that the location server 172 provide positioning capabilities for the UE 104.

[0133] In stage 2, the UE 104 may send a capability provision response message to the location server 172, and the location server 172 may provide the positioning-related capabilities of the UE 104, such as the types of positioning-related measurements the UE 104 may generate and the types of assistance data the UE 104 may receive. For example, the UE 104 may indicate that the UE 104 is capable of UE-aided or UE-based positioning or that the UE is capable of performing angle-based positioning-related measurements using ultra-wide bandwidth. The UE 104 may indicate its capability to receive assistance data, including array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by one or more base stations, and associated overhead.

[0134] In stage 3, the location server 172 may send an information request message to the base station 102 and other base stations (not shown). The information request may request location-related information from the base station 102, such as the location of the base station 102, the orientation of the base station 102, and configuration parameters related to beams generated by the base station, such as directional SS blocks, e.g., a mapping of beam identifiers to spatial angles (azimuth and elevation) relative to the base station.

[0135] In stage 4, the base station 102 may send an information response message to the location server 172 containing the requested location-related information, such as location, orientation, signal characteristics, beam angle, and other configuration information for each SS block supported by the base station, such as the mapping of beam identifiers to spatial angles (azimuth and elevation) relative to the base station. The base station 102 may provide array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency across the allocated frequencies for the base station. The array gain distribution variation is due to factors such as fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation and the influence of the antenna array housing (backplane, side bezel, etc., made of plastic or metal), and the array gain distribution variation is at least semi-persistent. Because communications between the base station 102 and the location server 172 are typically not constrained by the overhead seen in communications with the UE 104, the base station 102 may provide array gain distribution variation across the allocated frequencies for the base station and need not constrain the array gain distribution variation to a limited number of subbands or aggregations of subbands.

[0136] In stage 5, the location server 172 may generate assistance data for the UE 104, e.g., based on information responses from the base station 102 and the capabilities of the UE 104. For example, the location server 172 may generate assistance data including array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by the base station 102, which may be provided as a single subband of the allocated bandwidth for the base station, as an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple subbands, or as separate array gain distribution variations for multiple subbands, e.g., as discussed in connection with Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C. The assistance data may include additional information, such as the location of the base station 102 and other beam configuration information, which may be used to receive DL positioning signals. For example, the assistance data may include mapping of beam identification information to a nominal angle of radiation (AoD), azimuth angle, and elevation angle of each beam, which may be provided with reference to an absolute coordinate system such as a global coordinate system (GCS), or may be a local coordinate system (LCS), e.g., relative to the antenna orientation, where the antenna orientation may be given. The assistance data may further include beamwidth information, such as one or more of beamwidth, boresight direction uncertainty, beamwidth uncertainty, sidelobe and / or backlobe power levels, sidelobe and / or backlobe angles, or combinations thereof. The location server 172 may generate assistance data with different types of array gain distribution variation based on, for example, the type of signaling, latency requirements, and positioning accuracy requirements, and may switch the type of array gain distribution variation sent to the UE 104 for different instances of generating and sending assistance data to the UE 104 in a positioning session or for different positioning sessions.

[0137] In stage 6, the location server 172 may provide assistance data to the UE 104. For example, by using a limited number of subbands for the array gain distribution variation and / or by aggregating the array gain distribution variation, the assistance data may be provided in a low-overhead manner while still including information for ultra-wide bandwidth operation. In implementations in which the UE is performing UE-assisted positioning or in which positioning is based on UL positioning-related measurements, the array gain distribution variation does not need to be provided to the UE 104.

[0138] In step 7, the location server 172 may send a location information request to the UE 104, requesting, for example, DL positioning-related measurement results (e.g., DL AD measurement results) from the UE 104 and / or a location estimate based on the DL positioning-related measurement results from the UE 104 for UE-assisted or UE-based positioning, and / or may instruct the UE 104 to send an UL SRS signal for UL-based or DL+UL-based positioning.

[0139] In step 8, location server 172 may request UL measurements (eg, UL AoA measurements) of the SRS signals transmitted by the UE from one or more base stations if UL measurements are desired.

[0140] In stage 9, the base station 102 may transmit a DL reference signal, such as a PRS, using, for example, beamforming over an ultra-wide bandwidth, which may be received by the UE 104 when DL positioning-related measurements are required.

[0141] In stage 10, if UL positioning-related measurements are required, the UE 104 may transmit a UL reference signal, e.g., an SRS signal, that may be received by one or more base stations 102 using beamforming over an ultra-wide bandwidth.

[0142] In step 11a, the UE 104 may generate angle-related location-related measurements from the DL reference signal if received in step 9. For example, the UE 104 may determine which of the beams from the base station 102 is the best beam, for example, by monitoring the received signal strength of each beam, where the beam with the greatest signal strength is considered to be the best beam, and the UE 104 may measure the RSRP of the beam.

[0143] In step 11 b, the base station 102 may generate angle-related location measurements for the UL reference signal if received in step 10 .

[0144] In optional step 12, if UE-based positioning is requested and, for example, UE 104 received array gain distribution variation in step 6, UE 104 may determine a DL AoD measurement result. For example, UE 104 may adjust the DL AoD of the measured DL beam based on the array gain distribution variation received in step 6. For example, UE 104 may determine the nominal AoD of the DL beam received in step 11a, for example, based on the assistance data in step 6, and based on the frequency and nominal AoD of the DL beam, the corresponding frequency and angle in the array gain distribution variation may be used to correct the nominal AoD to a more accurate AoD. As an example, the array gain distribution variation may indicate that the AoD should be reduced (or increased) by a certain amount at the frequency of the DL beam and the determined AoD for the DL beam (from the assistance data). The UE 104 may further generate a location estimate based on the determined AoD for the received beam and the RSRP measured in step 11a, as well as the UE's location received in the assistance data in step 6.

[0145] In step 13, the UE 104 may send a location information provision response message to the location server 172, which may include the location measurement results generated in step 11a, which may be the identification information of the received beam or the DL AoD determined if generated in step 12, and may additionally or alternatively include a location estimate if determined in step 12.

[0146] In step 14, the base station 102 may provide the measured location information, if any, to the location server 172 determined in step 11b.

[0147] In stage 15, location server 172 may determine the location of the UE based on the received location information. For example, location server 172 may determine the DL AoD and / or UL AoA based on the identified transmit and / or receive beams and determine an adjustment of the beam angle as a function of angle and frequency based on the array gain distribution variation received in stage 2. For example, location server 172 may determine the nominal AoD of the DL beam received by UE 104 as reported in stage 13, and based on the frequency and nominal AoD of the DL beam, the corresponding frequency and angle in the array gain distribution variation may be used to correct the nominal AoD to a more accurate AoA. Similarly, location server 172 may determine the nominal UL AoA of the UL beam received by base station 102 as reported in stage 14, and based on the frequency and nominal AoA of the UL beam, the corresponding frequency and angle in the array gain distribution variation for the base station may be used to correct the nominal AoA to a more accurate AoA. As an example, array gain distribution variations in the frequency of a beam and the measured AoD or AoA for the beam may indicate that the measured AoD or AoA should be decreased (or increased) by a particular amount. The location server 172 may determine the location of the UE 104 based on the determined DL AoA and / or UL AoA and the known location of the base station 102. The location server 172 may provide the position of the UE 104 to a requesting entity.

[0148] 11 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a UE 1100, which may be the UE 104 shown in FIG. 1 enabled to assist in positioning using beams transmitted at ultra-wide bandwidths and assistance data including array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station, as described herein. The UE 1100 may execute the process flow shown in FIG. 14 and algorithms described herein. The UE 1100 may include one or more processors 1102, memory 1104, and an external interface such as a transceiver 1110 (e.g., a wireless network interface), which may be operably coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 and memory 1104 with one or more connections 1106 (e.g., a bus, a line, a fiber, a link, etc.). The UE 1100 may further include additional items not shown, such as, for example, a user interface, which may include a display, a keypad, or other input device, such as a virtual keypad on a display, through which a user may interface with the UE, or a satellite positioning system receiver. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the UE 1100 may be in the form of a chipset, etc. The transceiver 1110 may include, for example, a transmitter 1112 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 1114 for receiving one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks.

[0149] In some embodiments, the UE 1100 may include an antenna 1111, which may be internal or external. The UE antenna 1111 may be used to transmit and / or receive signals processed by the transceiver 1110. In some embodiments, the UE antenna 1111 may be coupled to the transceiver 1110. The antenna 1111 may include more than one antenna element, may be capable of dual polarization, may be MIMO-compatible, may be capable of beamforming, may be capable of beamsteering, and may be capable of beamtracking. In some implementations, the antenna 1111 may include multiple panels, and each panel may include multiple antenna array elements. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the UE 1100 may be performed at the connection point of the UE antenna 1111 and the transceiver 1110. For example, measurement reference points for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 1114 (transmitter 1112) and the output (input) terminal of the UE antenna 1111. In a UE 1100 with multiple UE antennas 1111, i.e., an antenna array, the antenna connectors may be considered to be virtual points representing the collective outputs (inputs) of the multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments, the UE 1100 may measure received signals, including signal strength, and the TOA measurements and raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 1102. For example, the UE 104 may measure the received signal strength of each transmitted beam to determine the best beam received by the UE 104. For example, the transmitted beam with the highest received signal strength relative to other beams may be treated as the best beam, i.e., the beam directed toward the UE 104. The UE 104 may beamform the receive beam using the antenna array, which may also be used to determine the best beam, e.g., using beam latching or RxTx pairing. The use of the receive beam may additionally provide information regarding the angle of arrival of the transmitted beam, e.g., based on the angle of the best receive beam with respect to the UE antenna array.The angle of arrival of the transmitted beam (having a defined direction) may be used to determine the orientation of the UE 1100.

[0150] The one or more processors 1102 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1108 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1102 may represent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least a portion of a data signal computation procedure or process related to the operation of the UE 1100.

[0151] The medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 may store instructions or program code 1108, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1102, cause the one or more processors 1102 to operate as special-purpose computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in the UE 1100, the medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 may include one or more components or modules that can be implemented by the one or more processors 1102 to perform the methods described herein. While the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 1120 executable by the one or more processors 1102, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 1104 or may be dedicated hardware either within or external to the one or more processors 1102. Several software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 and be utilized by the one or more processors 1102 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 as shown in the UE 1100 is merely exemplary, and that the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in various ways depending on the implementation of the UE 1100.

[0152] The medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 may include a positioning session module 1122 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to engage in a positioning session with a location server through a serving base station via the wireless transceiver 1110, the positioning session including receiving a request for capability information and transmitting a response for the capability information, receiving assistance data, receiving a request to provide location information, performing positioning-related measurements by receiving and referencing DL reference signals, transmitting UL reference signals, estimating a location, and transmitting a provide location information response that may include positioning-related measurement results and / or a location estimate. As described herein, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to transmit, via the transceiver 1110, capability information such as, for example, frequency variation of array gain for beam weights used by at least one base station, and a capability to communicate and use assistance data comprising parameters that may be related to the base station, such as data rate, capability, and active bandwidth portion size. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive assistance data for positioning, e.g., via the transceiver 1110, where the assistance data may include array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive DL reference signals, e.g., via the transceiver 1110, and perform angle-based positioning-related measurements, e.g., measuring received beams, e.g., measuring DL AoD based on a best received beam, as well as measure RSRP. The one or more processors 1102 may be further configured to determine a location estimate using the location measurements as received in the assistance data and the known positions of the base stations, e.g., using AoD techniques, as described herein.The one or more processors 1102 may further be configured to transmit, via the transceiver, location information, eg, measurement results, DL AOD measurements, and / or location estimates, to a network node, such as a location server.

[0153] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include an array gain distribution variation module 1124 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to receive array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station in the assistance data. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to correct DL AOD measurements using the array gain distribution variation, for example, by correcting the measurements as a function of angle and frequency.

[0154] The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, the methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1102 may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0155] For a firmware and / or software implementation, methods may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 or memory 1104 connected to one or more processors 1102 and executed by the one or more processors 1102. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. The term “memory,” as used herein, may refer to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and should not be limited to any particular type or number of memories or the type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0156] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104, as one or more instructions or program code 1108. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with a computer program 1108. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having the program code 1108 stored thereon may include the program code 1108 for assisting in positioning using the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 includes a physical computer storage medium. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1108 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0157] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 1120, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in a communications device. For example, a communications device may include a transceiver 1110 having signals indicative of the instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communications device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information to perform the disclosed functions.

[0158] Memory 1104 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1104 may include, for example, primary memory and / or secondary memory. Primary memory may include, for example, random access memory, read-only memory, etc. While shown in this example as being separate from one or more processors 1102, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within one or more processors 1102 or may otherwise be co-located / coupled with one or more processors 1102. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, a disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, solid-state memory drive, etc.

[0159] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operatively receive or otherwise be configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatuses presented herein may take the form, in whole or in part, of a computer-readable medium 1120 on which computer-implementable code 1108 may be stored, which, when executed by one or more processors 1102, may be effectively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1120 may be part of the memory 1104.

[0160] 12 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a location server 1200, e.g., location server 172, enabled to assist in positioning a UE using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station, as described herein. The location server 1200 may be, for example, an E-SMLC, an SLP, an LMF, an LSS, etc. The location server 1200 may execute the process flows shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 and the algorithms described herein. The location server 1200 may include, for example, one or more processors 1202, memory 1204, and an external interface 1210 (e.g., a wired or wireless network interface to other network entities, such as core network entities and base stations), which may be operably coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 and memory 1204 using one or more connections 1206 (e.g., a bus, wiring, fiber, link, etc.). The base station 1200 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface, which may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device, such as a virtual keypad on a display, through which a user may interface with the location server. In some example implementations, all or part of the location server 1200 may take the form of a chipset or the like. The external interface 1210 may be a wired or wireless interface capable of connecting to a base station in the RAN or a network entity, such as an AMF, MME, or UPF.

[0161] The one or more processors 1202 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1208 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1202 may represent one or more circuits configurable to execute at least a portion of data signal calculation procedures or processes related to the operation of the location server 1200.

[0162] The medium 1220 and / or memory 1204 may store instructions or program code 1208, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1202, cause the one or more processors 1202 to operate as special-purpose computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in location server 1200, the medium 1220 and / or memory 1204 may include one or more components or modules that can be implemented by the one or more processors 1202 to perform the methods described herein. While the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 1220 that is executable by the one or more processors 1202, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in memory 1204 or may be dedicated hardware that is either within or external to one or more processors 1202. Several software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1220 and / or memory 1204 and be utilized by the one or more processors 1202 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 1220 and / or memory 1204 as shown in the location server 1200 is only an example, and thus the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured differently depending on the implementation of the location server 1200.

[0163] The medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204 may include a positioning session module 1222 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1202, configures the one or more processors 1202 to engage in a positioning session with a UE through a serving base station via the external interface 1210, the positioning session including sending a request for capability information and receiving a response for the capability information, generating and sending assistance data, sending a request to provide location information, receiving a provide location information response from the UE, receiving location measurement results from the base station, and estimating a location of the UE. As described herein, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to receive capability information from the UE via the external interface 1210, such as, for example, frequency variation of array gain for beam weights used by at least one base station, and the UE's capability to communicate and use assistance data, comprising parameters that may be related to the base station, such as data rate, capacity, and active bandwidth portion size. The one or more processors 1202 may be configured to receive, e.g., via the external interface 1210, base station configuration information including, e.g., array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. For example, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to generate assistance data based on the base station configuration information, which may include different types of array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station based on UE parameters such as, e.g., data rate, capability, and active bandwidth portion size, as described herein, and based on, e.g., type of signaling, latency requirements, and positioning accuracy requirements.The one or more processors 1202 may be further configured to transmit assistance data to the UE via the external interface 1210, where the assistance data may include array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The one or more processors 1202 may be configured to receive location information from the UE via the external interface 1210, such as angle-based measurements or location estimates and location measurements from one or more base stations. The one or more processors 1202 may be configured to determine AoD and / or AoA measurements from the received measurement information and base station configuration information. The one or more processors 1202 may be further configured to determine a location estimate using the location measurements, e.g., AoD and AoA measurements, and the known positions of the base stations.

[0164] The medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204 may include an array gain distribution variation module 1224 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1202, configures the one or more processors 1202 to receive, e.g., from one or more base stations, an array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station. The one or more processors 1202 may be configured to correct DL AOD or UL AOD measurements using the array gain distribution variation, e.g., by correcting the measurements as a function of angle and frequency.

[0165] The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, the methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1202 may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0166] For a firmware and / or software implementation, methods may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored in non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 or memory 1204 connected to one or more processors 1202 and executed by the one or more processors 1202. Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. The term “memory,” as used herein, may refer to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and should not be limited to any particular type of memory or any particular number of memories, or to any particular type of medium on which memory is stored.

[0167] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 1220 and / or memory 1204, as one or more instructions or program code 1208. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with a computer program 1208. For example, non-transitory computer-readable media having program code 1208 stored thereon may include program code 1208 for assisting in positioning of a UE using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station, in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. Non-transitory computer-readable media 1220 includes physical computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1208 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0168] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 1220, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in a communications device. For example, a communications device may include a communications interface 1210 having signals indicative of instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communications device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information to perform the disclosed functions.

[0169] Memory 1204 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1204 may include, for example, primary memory and / or secondary memory. Primary memory may include, for example, random access memory, read-only memory, etc. While shown in this example as being separate from one or more processors 1202, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within one or more processors 1202 or may otherwise be co-located / coupled with one or more processors 1202. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, a disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, solid-state memory drive, etc.

[0170] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operatively receive or otherwise be configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatuses presented herein may take the form, in whole or in part, of a computer-readable medium 1220 on which computer-implementable code 1208 may be stored, which, when executed by one or more processors 1202, is effectively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1220 may be part of the memory 1204.

[0171] FIG. 13 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example features of a base station 1300, e.g., the gNB 102 of FIG. 1, enabled to assist in positioning of a UE using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming, as described herein. The base station 1300 may be an eNB or a gNB. The base station 1300 may execute the process flow shown in FIG. 17 and the algorithms described herein. The base station 1300 may include an external interface, which may include, for example, one or more processors 1302, memory 1304, a transceiver 1310 (e.g., a wireless network interface), and a communication interface 1316 (e.g., a wired or wireless network interface, directly to entities in a core network such as other base stations and / or location servers, or via one or more intervening entities), which may be operatively coupled with a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1320 and one or more connections 1306 (e.g., a bus, wires, fiber, link, etc.) to the memory 1304. The base station 1300 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface, which may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device, such as a virtual keypad on a display, through which a user may interface with the base station. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the base station 1300 may be in the form of a chipset or the like. The transceiver 1310 may include, for example, a transmitter 1312 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 1314 for receiving one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks.The communication interface 1316 may be a wired or wireless interface that can connect to network entities such as other base stations or location servers in the RAN, e.g., LMF 152, SLP 162, ESMLC, LSS, etc., through various entities such as AMF 154 or UPF 158 shown in FIG. 1 .

[0172] In some embodiments, the base station 1300 may include an antenna 1311, which may be an internal antenna or an external antenna. The antenna 1311 may be used to transmit and / or receive signals processed by the transceiver 1310. In some embodiments, the antenna 1311 may be coupled to the transceiver 1310. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the base station 1300 may be performed at the connection point of the antenna 1311 and the transceiver 1310. For example, the measurement reference point for the received (transmitted) RF signal measurement may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 1314 (transmitter 1312) and the output (input) terminal of the antenna 1311. In a base station 1300 with multiple antennas 1311 or antenna arrays, the antenna connector may be considered a virtual point representing the collective output (input) of the multiple antennas. The antenna 1311 may be one or more antenna arrays capable of beamforming to generate transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) beams using beam weights over an ultra-wide bandwidth, for example. In some embodiments, the base station 1300 may measure received signals, including signal strength and TOA measurements, and the raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 1302.

[0173] The one or more processors 1302 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1302 may be configured to perform the functions described herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1308 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1320 and / or the memory 1304. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1302 may represent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least a portion of data signal computation procedures or processes associated with the operation of the base station 1300.

[0174] The medium 1320 and / or memory 1304 may store instructions or program code 1308, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1302, cause the one or more processors 1302 to operate as special-purpose computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in base station 1300, the medium 1320 and / or memory 1304 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1302 to perform the methods described herein. While the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 1320 executable by the one or more processors 1302, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in memory 1304 or may be dedicated hardware either within or external to the one or more processors 1302. Several software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1320 and / or memory 1304 and be utilized by the one or more processors 1302 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 1320 and / or memory 1304 shown in the base station 1300 is merely exemplary, and thus the functionality of the modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or structured in different ways depending on the implementation of the base station 1300.

[0175] The medium 1320 and / or memory 1304 may include a positioning session module 1322 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1302, configures the one or more processors 1302 to engage in a positioning session with a UE and a location server via the external interface (the transceiver 1310 and the communication interface 1316). For example, the one or more processors 1302 may be configured to pass LPP positioning messages between the UE and the location server via the external interface. The one or more processors 1302 may be further configured to provide base station configuration information to the location server via the communication interface 1316, including beam-related information such as array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming employed by the base station. The one or more processors 1302 may further be configured to cause the transceiver 1310 to transmit DL reference signals to the UE and receive UL reference signals from the UE, e.g., using transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) beams created via beamforming. The one or more processors 1302 may be configured to measure the UL reference signal and provide measurement result information to a location server.

[0176] The medium 1320 and / or the memory 1304 may include an array gain distribution variation module 1324 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1302, configures the one or more processors 1302 to obtain the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming, where the array gain distribution variation may be stored in memory or may be determined based on the current antenna array configuration and the beam weights used in beamforming.

[0177] The methods described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, the methods may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. In a hardware implementation, the one or more processors 1302 may be implemented with one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0178] For a firmware and / or software implementation, methods may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions may be used in implementing the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1320 or memory 1304 connected to one or more processors 1302 and executed by the one or more processors 1302. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. The term “memory,” as used herein, may refer to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory and should not be limited to any particular type of memory or any particular number of memories, or to any particular type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0179] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1308 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1320 and / or the memory 1304. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with a computer program 1308. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having the program code 1308 stored thereon may include program code 1308 for assisting in positioning of a UE using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by a base station, in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1320 includes a physical computer storage medium. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1308 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0180] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 1320, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in a communications device. For example, a communications device may include a transceiver 1310 having signals indicative of the instructions and data. The instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communications device includes a transmission medium having signals indicative of information to perform the disclosed functions.

[0181] Memory 1304 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1304 may include, for example, primary memory and / or secondary memory. Primary memory may include, for example, random access memory, read-only memory, etc. While shown in this example as being separate from one or more processors 1302, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within one or more processors 1302 or may otherwise be co-located / coupled with one or more processors 1302. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, a disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, solid-state memory drive, etc.

[0182] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operatively receive or otherwise be configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1320. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatuses presented herein may take the form, in whole or in part, of a computer-readable medium 1320 on which computer-implementable code 1308 may be stored, which, when executed by one or more processors 1302, may be effectively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1320 may be part of the memory 1304.

[0183] FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1400 for assisting a mobile device, such as a UE 104, in positioning within a wireless network, performed by the mobile device in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementations.

[0184] At block 1402, a mobile device receives assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in stages 5 and 6 of Figure 10 and Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C. Means for receiving assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as, for example, a positioning session module 1122 and an array gain distribution variation module 1124 in a UE 1100 shown in Figure 11.

[0185] At block 1404, the mobile device measures positioning-related measurements based on at least one angle of a reference signal received from at least one base station based on the assistance data, e.g., as discussed in steps 9 and 11a of FIG. 10. For example, the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement may be at least one downlink angle-of-radiation (AoD) measurement. Means for measuring positioning-related measurements based on at least one angle of a reference signal received from at least one base station based on the assistance data may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as a positioning session module 1122 in the UE 1100 shown in FIG. 11.

[0186] At block 1406, the mobile device generates location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement, e.g., as discussed in steps 11a, 12, and 13 of Figure 10. Means for generating location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as a positioning session module 1122 and an array gain distribution variation module 1124 in the UE 1100 shown in Figure 11.

[0187] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array across frequency allocations by at least one base station. The array gain distribution variation may include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response. The array gain distribution variation may correspond to gain and direction information for at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0188] In one implementation, a mobile device may measure at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result of a reference signal received from at least one base station by determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result for at least one positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on an array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by the at least one base station, for example, as discussed in steps 11a, 12, and 13 of Figure 10. Means for determining at least one DL angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result for at least one positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on an array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as, for example, a positioning session module 1122 and an array gain distribution variation module 1124 in a UE 1100 shown in Figure 11.

[0189] The location information may comprise one of at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, a location estimate determined based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, and a combination thereof. The mobile device may transmit the location information to a network node, e.g., as discussed in step 13 of FIG. 10. For example, the network node may be a base station or a location server, which may be, e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or one of a serving base station. Means for transmitting the location information to the network node may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as a positioning session module 1122 and an array gain distribution variation module 1124 in the UE 1100 shown in FIG. 11.

[0190] In one implementation, the mobile device may transmit capability information to a network node indicating an ability to communicate and use assistance data comprising frequency variation of array gain for beam weights used by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in stage 2 of Figure 10. Means for transmitting capability information to a network node indicating an ability to communicate and use assistance data comprising frequency variation of array gain for beam weights used by the at least one base station may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as, for example, a positioning session module 1122 in the UE 1100 shown in Figure 11.

[0191] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station may be for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, for example, as discussed in step 5 of FIG. 10 and FIG. 9A. The size of the subband of the allocated bandwidth may be configured based on at least one mobile device parameter. For example, the at least one mobile device parameter may be, for example, at least one of a data rate of the mobile device, a capacity of the mobile device, and an active bandwidth portion size of the mobile device. The size of the subband may be dynamically selected.

[0192] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station may be an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, for example, as discussed in step 5 of FIG. 10 and FIG. 9B. The multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may span an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device. The aggregation of array gain distribution variations for the multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may comprise a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the multiple different subbands. The weights of the weighted average may correspond to the sizes of the different subbands.

[0193] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station may comprise multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, e.g., as discussed in step 5 of Figure 10 and Figure 9C. The multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may span active bandwidth portions at the mobile device.

[0194] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station is a first type of array gain distribution variation comprising one of a single array gain distribution variation for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, e.g., as discussed in step 5 of Figure 10 and Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C. The mobile device may receive second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type being different from the first type, e.g., as discussed in steps 5 and 6 of Figure 10. A means for receiving second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type different from the first type, may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 1110 and one or more processors 1102 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1104 and / or medium 1120, such as, for example, a positioning session module 1122 and an array gain distribution variation module 1124 in UE 1100 shown in FIG. 11. The second assistance data comprising the second type of array gain distribution variation may be received based on at least one of a type of signaling, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

[0195] FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1500 for assisting positioning of a mobile device performed by a location server, such as location server 172, which may be an E-SMLC, an SLP, an LSS, an LMF, or a serving base station.

[0196] In block 1502, the location server obtains array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in stage 4 of Figure 10. Means for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station may include, for example, the external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as the positioning session module 1222 and the array gain distribution variation module 1224 in the location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0197] At block 1504, the location server receives at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from the at least one network node, e.g., as discussed in steps 13 and 14 of Figure 10. Means for receiving at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from the at least one network node may include, for example, the external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as the positioning session module 1222 in the location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0198] At block 1506, the location server determines a location estimate for the mobile device based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in step 15 of Figure 10. Means for determining a location estimate for the mobile device based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station may include, for example, the external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as the positioning session module 1222 and the array gain distribution variation module 1224 in the location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0199] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array over the entire frequency range. The array gain distribution variation may include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response. The array gain distribution variation may correspond to gain and direction information for at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0200] In one implementation, the at least one network node may comprise a mobile device, and the array gain distribution variation is for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in steps 2 and 13. The location server may determine a location estimate of the mobile device by determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result of the mobile device for a positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result received from the mobile device and the array gain distribution variation for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in step 15 of FIG. 10. Furthermore, the location server may estimate the location estimate based at least in part on the DL AOD measurement result, e.g., as discussed in step 15 of FIG. 10. The means for determining a location estimate for a mobile device by determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement for the mobile device for a positioning reference signal transmitted by at least one base station based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement received from the mobile device and an array gain distribution variation for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, and the means for estimating the location estimate based at least in part on the DL AOD measurement may include, for example, an external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as a positioning session module 1222 and an array gain distribution variation module 1224 in location server 1200 shown in FIG. 12 .

[0201] In one implementation, the at least one network node may be at least one base station, and the array gain distribution variation is for a receive beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in steps 2 and 14. The location server may determine a location estimate of the mobile device by determining at least one uplink (UL) angle of arrival (AOA) measurement result of the mobile device for a sounding reference signal transmitted by the mobile device based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result received from the at least one base station and the array gain distribution variation for a receive beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in step 15 of FIG. 10. Furthermore, the location server may estimate the location estimate based at least in part on the UL AOA measurement result, e.g., as discussed in step 15 of FIG. 10. The means for determining a location estimate of a mobile device by determining at least one uplink (UL) angle of radiation (AOA) measurement for the mobile device for a sounding reference signal transmitted by the mobile device based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement received from at least one base station and an array gain distribution variation for a receive beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, and the means for estimating the location estimate based at least in part on the UL AOA measurement results may include, for example, an external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as a positioning session module 1222 and an array gain distribution variation module 1224 in location server 1200 shown in FIG. 12 .

[0202] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used for beamforming by at least one base station may be for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, for example, as discussed in step 5 of FIG. 10 and FIG. 9A. The size of the subband of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter. For example, the at least one mobile device parameter may be, for example, at least one of a data rate of the mobile device, a capacity of the mobile device, and an active bandwidth portion size of the mobile device. The size of the subband is dynamically selected.

[0203] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station may be an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, for example, as discussed in step 5 of FIG. 10 and FIG. 9B. The multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may span an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device. The aggregation of array gain distribution variations for the multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may comprise a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the multiple different subbands. The weights of the weighted average may correspond to the sizes of the different subbands.

[0204] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station may comprise multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, e.g., as discussed in step 5 of Figure 10 and Figure 9C. The multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may span active bandwidth portions at the mobile device.

[0205] FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1600 for assisting positioning of a mobile device performed by a location server, such as location server 172, which may be an E-SMLC, an SLP, an LSS, an LMF, or a serving base station.

[0206] In block 1602, the location server obtains array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in stage 4 of Figure 10. Means for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station may include, for example, the external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as the positioning session module 1222 and the array gain distribution variation module 1224 in the location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0207] In block 1604, the location server prepares assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in step 5 of Figure 10. Means for preparing assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for the at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station may include, for example, the external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as the positioning session module 1222 and the array gain distribution variation module 1224 in the location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0208] In block 1606, the location server transmits to the mobile device assistance data for positioning using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, e.g., as discussed in step 6 of Figure 10. Means for transmitting to the mobile device assistance data for positioning using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station may include, for example, the external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as the positioning session module 1222 in the location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0209] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array over the entire frequency distribution. The array gain distribution variation may include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response. The array gain distribution variation may correspond to gain and direction information for at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0210] In one implementation, the location server receives capability information from the mobile device indicating an ability to use assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency, e.g., as discussed in stage 2 of Figure 10. Means for receiving capability information from the mobile device indicating an ability to use assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency may include, for example, an external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as positioning session module 1222 in location server 1200 shown in Figure 12.

[0211] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used for beamforming by at least one base station may be for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, for example, as discussed in step 5 of FIG. 10 and FIG. 9A. The size of the subband of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter. For example, the at least one mobile device parameter may be, for example, at least one of a data rate of the mobile device, a capacity of the mobile device, and an active bandwidth portion size of the mobile device. The size of the subband is dynamically selected.

[0212] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used for beamforming by at least one base station may be an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, for example, as discussed in step 5 of FIG. 10 and FIG. 9B. The multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may span an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device. The aggregation of array gain distribution variations for the multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may comprise a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the multiple different subbands. The weights of the weighted average may correspond to the sizes of the different subbands.

[0213] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station may comprise multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, e.g., as discussed in step 5 of Figure 10 and Figure 9C. The multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth may span active bandwidth portions at the mobile device.

[0214] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station is a first type of array gain distribution variation comprising one of a single array gain distribution variation for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, e.g., as discussed in stage 5 of FIG. 10 and FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C. The location server may prepare second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, e.g., as discussed in stage 5 of FIG. 10, the second type being different from the first type. Further, the location server may transmit the second assistance data to the mobile device, e.g., as discussed in stage 6 of FIG. 10. The means for preparing second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type different from the first type, and means for transmitting the second assistance data to the mobile device may include, for example, an external interface 1210 and one or more processors 1202 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1204 and / or medium 1220, such as positioning session module 1222 and array gain distribution variation module 1224 in location server 1200 shown in FIG. 12. The second assistance data comprising the second type of array gain distribution variation may be prepared based on at least one of a type of signaling, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

[0215] FIG. 17 shows a flowchart for an example method 1700 for assisting positioning of a mobile device performed by a base station, such as base station 102.

[0216] In block 1702, the base station obtains array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station, e.g., as discussed in stage 4 of Figure 10. Means for obtaining array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station may include, for example, the external interface 1316 and one or more processors 1302 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1304 and / or medium 1320, such as the positioning session module 1322 and the array gain distribution variation module 1324 in the base station 1300 shown in Figure 13.

[0217] In block 1702, the base station transmits to a location server array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station, e.g., as discussed in stage 4 of FIG. 10. The location server may comprise one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), or a Location Server Surrogate (LSS). Means for transmitting to the location server array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station may include, for example, the external interface 1316 and one or more processors 1302 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1304 and / or medium 1320, such as the positioning session module 1322 in the base station 1300 shown in FIG. 13.

[0218] In one implementation, the array gain distribution variation is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array over the entire frequency distribution. The array gain distribution variation may include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response. The array gain distribution variation may correspond to gain and direction information for at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0219] References throughout this specification to "one example," "an example," "some examples," or "exemplary implementations" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described with respect to a feature and / or example may be included in at least one feature and / or example of the claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one example," "an example," "some examples," or "in some implementations" or other similar phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same features, examples, and / or limitations. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and / or characteristics.

[0220] Some portions of the detailed descriptions contained herein are presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital signals stored in a memory of a particular apparatus or special purpose computing device or platform. In the context of this particular specification, the term particular apparatus or the like includes a general purpose computer that, when programmed, performs particular operations pursuant to instructions from program software. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those skilled in the signal processing or related arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm, as used herein, and generally, is considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing leading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, such quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numeric values, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise expressly indicated, and as will be apparent from the description herein, it will be understood that throughout this specification, descriptions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," etc. refer to the actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer, a special purpose computing apparatus, or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are generally represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within a memory, register, or other information storage, transmission, or display device of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0221] In the foregoing detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and apparatuses that would be known by those skilled in the art have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the claimed subject matter.

[0222] As used herein, the terms "and," "or," and "and / or" can have a variety of meanings, which are also expected to depend, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. Typically, when "or" is used to link a list such as A, B, or C, it is intended to mean A, B, and C, which is used herein in an inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C, which is used herein in an exclusive sense. Additionally, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in singular, or it may be used to describe a plurality of features, structures, or characteristics, or some other combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example.

[0223] While what are presently considered to be exemplary features have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of the claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein.

[0224] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0225] 1. A method for assisting mobile device positioning in a wireless network executed by a mobile device, comprising: receiving assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from at least one base station based on the assistance data; generating location information based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

[0226] 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the array gain distribution variation described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0227] 3. Any of the methods of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0228] 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0229] 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the step of measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result of the reference signal received from the at least one base station comprises determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result for the at least one positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on an array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0230] 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the location information comprises one of at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, a location estimate determined based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, and a combination thereof, and the method further comprises transmitting the location information to a network node.

[0231] 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server.

[0232] 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station.

[0233] 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, further comprising the step of transmitting capability information to the network node indicating a capability for communicating and using assistance data comprising frequency variation of array gain for beam weights used by at least one base station.

[0234] 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement comprises at least one downlink radiation angle measurement.

[0235] 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station is for a subband of the allocated bandwidth.

[0236] 12. The method of clause 11, wherein the size of a sub-band of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter.

[0237] 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, and a mobile device active bandwidth portion size.

[0238] 14. The method of clause 12, wherein the subband sizes are dynamically selected.

[0239] 15. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0240] 16. The method of clause 15, wherein multiple different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth span active bandwidth portions at the mobile device.

[0241] 17. The method of clause 15, wherein the aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands.

[0242] 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the weights in the weighted average correspond to different subband sizes.

[0243] 19. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station comprises a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0244] 20. The method of clause 19, wherein multiple different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth span active bandwidth portions at the mobile device.

[0245] 21. A first type of array gain distribution variation, wherein the array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station comprises one of a single array gain distribution variation for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and the method further comprises: 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, comprising receiving second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type being different from the first type.

[0246] 22. The method of clause 21, wherein second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation is received based on at least one of a signaling type, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

[0247] 23. A mobile device configured to assist in mobile device positioning in a wireless network, comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly in a wireless network; At least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor receiving, via the wireless transceiver, assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from at least one base station based on the assistance data; The mobile device is configured to generate location information based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

[0248] 24. The mobile device of clause 23, wherein the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0249] 25. A mobile device according to any of clauses 23 to 24, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0250] 26. A mobile device according to any of clauses 23 to 25, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0251] 27. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 26, wherein at least one processor is configured to measure at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result of a reference signal received from at least one base station by determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result for at least one positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0252] 28. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 27, wherein the location information comprises one of at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, a location estimate determined based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, and a combination thereof, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, the location information to the network node.

[0253] 29. The mobile device of clause 28, wherein the network node is a base station or a location server.

[0254] 30. The mobile device of clause 29, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station.

[0255] 31. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit capability information to the network node indicating a capability for communicating and using assistance data comprising frequency variation of array gain for beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0256] 32. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 31, wherein the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement comprises at least one downlink radiation angle measurement.

[0257] 33. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 32, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is for a subband of the allocated bandwidth.

[0258] 34. The mobile device of clause 33, wherein a size of a sub-band of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter.

[0259] 35. The mobile device of clause 34, wherein the at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, and a mobile device active bandwidth portion size.

[0260] 36. The mobile device of clause 34, wherein the size of the subband is dynamically selected.

[0261] 37. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 32, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0262] 38. The mobile device of clause 37, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans an active bandwidth portion in the mobile device.

[0263] 39. The mobile device of clause 37, wherein the aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands.

[0264] 40. A mobile device according to clause 39, wherein the weights in the weighted average correspond to different subband sizes.

[0265] 41. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 32, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station comprises a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0266] 42. The mobile device of clause 41, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans an active bandwidth portion in the mobile device.

[0267] 43. A first type of array gain distribution variation, wherein the array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station comprises one of a single array gain distribution variation for a subband of the allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and multiple array gain distribution variations corresponding to multiple different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and wherein the at least one processor further: 33. The mobile device of any of clauses 23 to 32, configured to receive second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type different from the first type.

[0268] 44. The mobile device of clause 43, wherein second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation is received based on at least one of a signaling type, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

[0269] 45. A method for assisting positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network performed by a location server, comprising: obtaining an array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station; receiving at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from at least one network node; determining a location estimate for the mobile device based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0270] 46. ​​The method of clause 45, wherein the array gain distribution variation described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0271] 47. The method of any of clauses 45 to 46, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0272] 48. The method of any of clauses 45 to 47, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0273] 49. The method of any of clauses 45 to 48, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station.

[0274] 50. At least one network node comprises a mobile device, and the array gain distribution variation is for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, and determining a location estimate for the mobile device comprises: determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result of the mobile device for a positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result received from the mobile device and an array gain distribution variation for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; and estimating a location estimate based at least in part on the DL AOD measurements.

[0275] 51. At least one network node comprises at least one base station, and the array gain distribution variation is for a receive beam pattern corresponding to a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, and determining a location estimate for the mobile device comprises: determining at least one uplink (UL) angle of arrival (AOA) measurement of the mobile device for a sounding reference signal transmitted by the mobile device based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement received from the at least one base station and an array gain distribution variation for a receive beam pattern corresponding to a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; and estimating a location estimate based at least in part on the UL AOA measurements.

[0276] 52. The method of any of clauses 45 to 51, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is for a subband of the allocated bandwidth.

[0277] 53. The method of clause 52, wherein the size of a sub-band of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter.

[0278] 54. The method of clause 52, wherein the at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, and a mobile device active bandwidth portion size.

[0279] 55. The method of clause 52, wherein the subband sizes are dynamically selected.

[0280] 56. The method of any of clauses 45 to 51, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0281] 57. The method of clause 56, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans the active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0282] 58. The method of clause 56, wherein the aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands.

[0283] 59. The method of clause 58, wherein the weights in the weighted average correspond to different subband sizes.

[0284] 60. The method of any of clauses 45 to 51, wherein the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station comprises a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0285] 61. The method of clause 60, wherein a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth of the beam pattern span an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0286] 62. A location server for assisting in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network, comprising: an external interface configured to communicate in a wireless network; At least one memory; at least one processor coupled to an external interface and to at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor: obtaining, via an external interface, array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; receiving at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result for the mobile device from at least one network node via the external interface; and a location server configured to determine a location estimate for the mobile device based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result and array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used by the at least one base station.

[0287] 63. The location server of clause 62, wherein the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0288] 64. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 63, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0289] 65. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 64, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0290] 66. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 65, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station.

[0291] 67. At least one network node comprises a mobile device, and the array gain distribution variation is for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station, and at least one processor: determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result of the mobile device for a positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result received from the mobile device and an array gain distribution variation for a transmit beam pattern corresponding to a set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; 67. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 66, configured to determine a location estimate for the mobile device by being configured to estimate the location estimate based at least in part on the DL AOD measurements.

[0292] 68. At least one network node comprises at least one base station, and the array gain distribution variation is for a receive beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station, and at least one processor: determining at least one uplink (UL) angle of arrival (AOA) measurement of the mobile device for a sounding reference signal transmitted by the mobile device based on at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement received from the at least one base station and an array gain distribution variation for a receive beam pattern corresponding to at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; 68. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 67, configured to determine a location estimate for the mobile device by being configured to estimate the location estimate based at least in part on UL AOA measurements.

[0293] 69. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 68, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is for a subband of the allocated bandwidth.

[0294] 70. The location server of clause 69, wherein the size of a sub-band of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter.

[0295] 71. The location server of clause 69, wherein the at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, and a mobile device active bandwidth portion size.

[0296] 72. The location server of clause 69, wherein the size of the subband is dynamically selected.

[0297] 73. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 68, wherein the array gain distribution variation for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0298] 74. The location server of clause 73, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans the active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0299] 75. The location server of clause 73, wherein the aggregation of the array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands.

[0300] 76. The location server of clause 75, wherein the weights in the weighted average correspond to different subband sizes.

[0301] 77. The location server of any of clauses 62 to 68, wherein the array gain distribution variations for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station comprise a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0302] 78. The location server of clause 77, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth of the beam pattern spans an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0303] 79. A method for assisting positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network performed by a location server, comprising: obtaining an array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station; preparing assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; and transmitting to a mobile device assistance data for positioning using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station.

[0304] 80. The method of clause 79, wherein the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0305] 81. The method of any of clauses 79 to 80, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0306] 82. The method of any of clauses 79 to 81, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0307] 83. The method of any of clauses 79 to 82, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station.

[0308] 84. The method of any of clauses 79-83, further comprising receiving capability information from the mobile device indicating a capability for using assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency.

[0309] 85. The method of any of clauses 79 to 84, wherein the array gain distribution variation in the aiding data is for a subband of the allocated bandwidth.

[0310] 86. The method of clause 85, wherein the size of a sub-band of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter.

[0311] 87. The method of clause 86, wherein the at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, and a mobile device active bandwidth portion size.

[0312] 88. The method of clause 86, wherein the size of the subbands is dynamically selected.

[0313] 89. The method of any of clauses 79 to 88, wherein the array gain distribution variation in the aiding data is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0314] 90. The method of clause 89, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans the active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0315] 91. The method of clause 89, wherein the aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands.

[0316] 92. The method of clause 91, wherein the weights in the weighted average correspond to different subband sizes.

[0317] 93. The method of any of clauses 79 to 88, wherein the array gain distribution variations in the assistance data comprise a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0318] 94. The method of clause 60, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans the active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0319] 95. The array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is a first type of array gain distribution variation comprising one of a subband of the allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and the method further comprising: Preparing second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type being different from the first type; and transmitting second assistance data to the mobile device.

[0320] 96. The method of clause 95, wherein second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation is prepared based on at least one of a signaling type, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

[0321] 97. A location server configured to assist in positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network, comprising: an external interface configured to communicate in a wireless network; At least one memory; at least one processor coupled to an external interface and to at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor: obtaining, via the external interface, array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; preparing assistance data for positioning of the mobile device based on the array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station; and a location server configured to transmit, via an external interface, to a mobile device, assistance data for positioning using array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

[0322] 98. The location server of clause 97, wherein the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0323] 99. The location server of any of clauses 97 to 98, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0324] 100. A location server according to any of clauses 97 to 99, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0325] 101. The location server of any of clauses 97 to 100, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station.

[0326] 102. The location server of any of clauses 97-101, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive capability information from the mobile device indicating a capability for using assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of frequency.

[0327] 103. The location server of any of clauses 97 to 102, wherein the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is for a subband of the allocated bandwidth.

[0328] 104. The location server of clause 103, wherein a size of a sub-band of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter.

[0329] 105. The location server of clause 104, wherein the at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a mobile device data rate, a mobile device capacity, and a mobile device active bandwidth portion size.

[0330] 106. The location server of clause 104, wherein the size of the subband is dynamically selected.

[0331] 107. The location server of any of clauses 97 to 102, wherein the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0332] 108. The location server of clause 107, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans the active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0333] 109. The location server of clause 107, wherein the aggregation of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands.

[0334] 110. The location server of clause 109, wherein the weights in the weighted average correspond to different subband sizes.

[0335] 111. The location server of any of clauses 97 to 102, wherein the array gain distribution variations in the assistance data comprise a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth.

[0336] 112. The location server of clause 111, wherein a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth spans the active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

[0337] 113. The array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is a first type of array gain distribution variation comprising one of a subband of the allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth, and the at least one processor further: providing second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type different from the first type; The location server of any of clauses 97 to 102, configured to transmit second assistance data to the mobile device via the external interface.

[0338] 114. The location server of clause 113, wherein second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation is prepared based on at least one of a signaling type, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

[0339] 115. A method for assisting positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network performed by a base station, comprising: obtaining an array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station; transmitting to a location server array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station.

[0340] 116. The method of clause 115, wherein the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0341] 117. The method of any of clauses 115 to 116, wherein the array gain distribution variations include frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0342] 118. The method of any of clauses 115 to 117, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0343] 119. The method of any of clauses 115 to 118, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), or a Location Server Surrogate (LSS).

[0344] 120. A base station configured to support positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network, comprising: an external interface configured to communicate with a wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to an external interface and to at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor: obtaining an array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming used by the base station; a base station configured to transmit, via an external interface, to a location server, array gain distribution variations as a function of angle and frequency for at least one set of beam weights used in beamforming by the base station;

[0345] 121. The base station of clause 120, wherein the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to fixed spacing between antenna elements in the antenna array for the entire frequency allocation by at least one base station.

[0346] 122. The base station of any of clauses 120 to 121, wherein the array gain distribution variation includes frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response.

[0347] 123. A base station according to any of clauses 120 to 122, wherein the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

[0348] 124. The base station of any of clauses 120 to 123, wherein the location server comprises one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), or a Location Server Surrogate (LSS).

[0349] It is therefore intended that claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter may include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof. [Explanation of symbols]

[0350] 100 Wireless Communication System 102 Base Station, Serving Base Station, Macrocell Base Station, mmW Base Station 102-1 Base station 102-2 Base station 102' Small Cell Base Station 104UE 110 Coverage Area 110' coverage area 117 Location Server Surrogate (LSS) 120 communication link, mmW communication link 122 backhaul links 134 backhaul links 150 WLAN Access Points (APs) 152 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Station (STA) 154 communication links 170 Core Network 172 Location Server 190 UE 192 D2D P2P links 194 D2D P2P links 200 Wireless Network Structure 204 UE 210 NGC 212 User Plane Functions 213 User Plane Interface (NG-U) 214 Control Plane Functions 215 Control Plane Interface (NG-C) 220 New RAN 222 gNB, ng-gNB 223 Backhaul Connection 224 eNB 230 Location Server 230a Location Server 230b Location Server 250 Wireless Network Structure 260 NGC 262 User Plane Function (UPF) 263 User Plane Interface 264 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 265 Control Plane Interface 266 Session Management Facility (SMF) 268 SLP 270 LMF 300 designs 312 Data Sources 320 Transmit Processor 330 Transmit (TX) Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Processor 332 Modulators and Demodulators 332a~332t modulator 334 Antenna 334a~334t antenna 336 MIMO detector 338 Receive Processor 339 Data Sink 340 Controller / Processor 342 memory 344 Communication Unit 346 Scheduler 352a~352r antenna 354 Demodulator 354a~354r Demodulator (DEMOD) 356 MIMO detector 358 Receive Processor 360 Data Sync 362 Data Sources 364 Transmit Processor 366 TX MIMO Processor 380 Controller / Processor 382 memory 390 Controller / Processor 392 memory 394 Communication Unit 400 subframe sequences 410 Downlink and Uplink Radio Frames 412 subframe 414 Slots 416 orthogonal subcarriers 422 Transmit Bandwidth Configuration, Channel 500 DL-AoD Procedures 502 Beam, PRS Beam 503 graphs 504 Beam, PRS Beam 505 graphs 506 Beam, PRS Beam 507 graphs 510 Line of Sight (LOS) 600 UL-AoA Procedure 602 AoA measurement results 603 Uncertainty 604 Range Estimation 610 receiving beam 650 UL-AoA Procedure 651 AoA measurement results 652 AoA measurement results 702 mmW small cell antenna panel 802 curve 804 curve 806 curve 902 arrow, bandwidth 904 Active Bandwidth Portion (BWP) 910 Types of Array Gain Distribution Variation 912 Array Gain Distribution Variation 914 single sub-band 920 Types of Array Gain Distribution Variation 922 Array Gain Distribution Fluctuation, Aggregation of Array Gain Distribution Fluctuation 924 sub-band 924A Sub-Band 924B sub-band 924C sub-band 924D Sub-Band 930 Types of Array Gain Distribution Variation 932 Array Gain Distribution Variation 932A Array Gain Distribution Variation 932B Array Gain Distribution Variation 932C Array gain distribution variation 932D Array gain distribution variation 932E Array Gain Distribution Variation 934 sub-band 934A Sub-Band 934B sub-band 934C Sub-Band 934D Sub-Band 934E Sub-Band 1000 signaling flows 1100 UE 1102 processor 1104 Memory 1106 Connection 1108 Program code, computer program 1110 Transceiver, wireless transceiver 1111 antenna, UE antenna 1112 Transmitter 1114 Receiver 1120 Non-transitory computer-readable medium 1122 Positioning Session Module 1124 Array Gain Distribution Variation Module 1132 sub-band 1200 Location Server, Base Station 1202 processor 1204 memory 1206 Connection 1208 Program code, computer program, computer implementable code 1210 External interface, communication interface 1220 Non-transitory computer-readable medium 1222 Positioning Session Module 1300 base stations 1302 processor 1304 memory 1306 Connection 1308 Program code, computer program, computer implementable code 1310 transceiver 1311 Antenna 1312 Transmitter 1314 Receiver 1316 Communication Interface 1320 Non-transitory computer-readable medium 1322 Positioning Session Module 1324 Array Gain Distribution Variation Module

Claims

1. 1. A method for assisting positioning of a mobile device in a wireless network executed by the mobile device, the method comprising: receiving assistance data for positioning, said assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station; measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from the at least one base station based on the assistance data; and generating location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement.

2. the variation in array gain distribution described by the array gain distribution variation in the assistance data is due to a fixed spacing between antenna elements in an antenna array across frequency allocations by the at least one base station; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the array gain distribution variation includes frequency and spatial distortions and imperfections in the array gain response, or the array gain distribution variation corresponds to gain and direction information of at least one of a main lobe, a side lobe, a beam null, and a grating lobe.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result of a reference signal received from the at least one base station comprises determining at least one downlink (DL) angle of radiation (AOD) measurement result for at least one positioning reference signal transmitted by the at least one base station based on the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station.

4. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location information comprises one of the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, a location estimate determined based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result, and a combination thereof, and the method further comprises transmitting the location information to a network node.

5. The network node is a base station or a location server. The method of claim 4.

6. The location server comprising one of a Location Management Function (LMF), an Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (ESMLC), a Location Server Surrogate (LSS), or a serving base station. The method of claim 5.

7. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting capability information to a network node indicating a capability for communicating and using assistance data comprising frequency variation of array gain for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station; or wherein the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement result comprises at least one downlink radiation angle measurement result.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station is for a subband of an allocated bandwidth.

9. The size of the sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth is configured based on at least one mobile device parameter. The method of claim 8.

10. The at least one mobile device parameter comprises at least one of a data rate of the mobile device, a capability of the mobile device, and an active bandwidth portion size of the mobile device, or the size of the subband is dynamically selected. The method of claim 9.

11. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station is an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for multiple different subbands of an allocated bandwidth.

12. the plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth span an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device, or the aggregation of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth comprises a weighted average of the array gain distribution variations for the plurality of different subbands. The method of claim 11.

13. The weights of the weighted average correspond to the sizes of the different subbands. The method of claim 12.

14. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the array gain distribution variation for the set of beam weights used in beamforming by the at least one base station comprises a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different subbands of an allocated bandwidth, the plurality of different subbands of the allocated bandwidth spanning an active bandwidth portion at the mobile device.

15. a first type of array gain distribution variation, wherein the array gain distribution variation as the function of angle and frequency for the set of beam weights used by the at least one base station comprises one of a single array gain distribution variation for a sub-band of an allocated bandwidth, an aggregation of array gain distribution variations for a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth, and a plurality of array gain distribution variations corresponding to a plurality of different sub-bands of the allocated bandwidth, and the method further comprising: receiving second assistance data for positioning, the second assistance data comprising a second type of array gain distribution variation, the second type being different from the first type. The method of claim 1.

16. The second assistance data comprising the second type of array gain distribution variation is received based on at least one of a signaling type, a latency requirement, and a positioning accuracy requirement.

16. The method of claim 15.

17. 1. A mobile device configured to assist in mobile device positioning in a wireless network, comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly in the wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, the at least one processor comprising: receiving, via the wireless transceiver, assistance data for positioning, the assistance data comprising array gain distribution variation as a function of angle and frequency for a set of beam weights used in beamforming by at least one base station; measuring at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement of a reference signal received from the at least one base station based on the assistance data; generating location information based on the at least one angle-based positioning-related measurement; A mobile device configured to:

18. 18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the method of any one of claims 2 to 16.

19. 17. A non-transitory storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in the mobile device to be further configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16, in a wireless network.

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