Method and apparatus for low latency location via proactive scheduling

Abstract

Latency in user equipment (UE) positioning is reduced by requesting and scheduling UE positioning ahead of the time that positioning is required. A positioning request from an external client or UE may indicate the time at which the position should be determined or measured. A location management function (LMF) may manage and coordinate UE position measurements ahead of the positioning time. The LMF may schedule downlink and / or uplink measurements to be performed at the desired time. Either the LMF or a location server associated with the UE's serving base station may be assigned to receive the positioning results and obtain the UE's location. The location server or LMF may transmit the location to the UE or external client. To further reduce latency, user plane transport may be used.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 This patent application claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 060,325, entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR LOW LATENCY LOCATION VIA SCHEDULING IN ADVANCE," filed August 3, 2020, and to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 104,501, entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR LOW LATENCY LOCATION VIA SCHEDULING IN ADVANCE," filed October 22, 2020, and to U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 17 / 389,178, entitled "METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR LOW LATENCY LOCATION VIA SCHEDULING IN ADVANCE," filed July 29, 2021, all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0002] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to position determination for mobile devices, and more particularly to supporting location sessions for mobile devices with low latency. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., LTE or WiMax). Fifth-generation (5G) mobile standards call for higher data rates, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, providing 1 gigabit per second for dozens of workers. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless (e.g., 5G) network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. Locating mobile devices is also becoming increasingly important in fully autonomous scenarios such as warehouses, automated factories, and for drones and self-driving vehicles. In many applications (e.g., for autonomous scenarios), reducing or limiting latency is desirable or even critical. There are many components in the positioning process that can contribute to latency. Therefore, it may be desirable to reduce the components that contribute to latency as much as possible in order to provide a time position fix of the mobile device that meets applicable latency requirements. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. As such, the following summary is not intended to be an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements of all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. As such, the following summary is intended solely to present some concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0006] Latency in UE location determination is reduced by requesting and scheduling UE location determination ahead of the time location is needed. A positioning request from an external client or UE may indicate the time at which the location should be determined or measured. A location management function (LMF) may manage and coordinate UE location measurements ahead of the time the UE's location should be determined. The LMF may schedule downlink and / or uplink measurements to be performed at the desired time. Either the LMF or a location server associated with the UE's serving base station may be assigned to receive the positioning results and obtain the UE's location. The location server or LMF associated with the base station may transmit the location to the UE or external client. To further reduce latency, user plane transport may be used.

[0007] In one implementation, a method performed by a Location Management Function (LMF) to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which the location of the UE should be measured; and sending a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near that time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at that time based on at least one positioning method.

[0008] In one implementation, a location management function (LMF) configured to support a location location session for a user equipment (UE) includes an external interface configured to communicate wirelessly with a wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a positioning message for the UE from a first entity via the external interface, the positioning message indicating a time at which a location of the UE should be measured; send a request message via the external interface to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near that time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at that time based on at least one positioning method.

[0009] In one implementation, a location management function (LMF) configured to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which a location of the UE should be measured, and means for sending a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method.

[0010] In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a Location Management Function (LMF) to support a positioning session for a user equipment (UE), the program code comprising instructions for receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which a position of the UE should be measured; and transmitting a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a position measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time, the position measurement enabling the position of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method.

[0011] In one implementation, a method performed by a location server in a radio access network (RAN) to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE) includes receiving an assignment message from a location management function (LMF), the assignment message comprising an assignment to a location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; returning an acknowledgement to the LMF indicating that the assignment is accepted; receiving location measurement results for the UE from multiple entities, the location measurements being scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF and the location measurement results being obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time; enabling the UE's location to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location has been determined.

[0012] In one implementation, a location server in a radio access network (RAN) configured to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE) includes an external interface configured to communicate wirelessly with a wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive an assignment message from a location management function (LMF) via the external interface, the assignment message comprising an assignment to the location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured, return an acknowledgment to the LMF via the external interface indicating that the assignment is accepted, receive location measurement results for the UE from multiple entities via the external interface, enable the location measurements to be scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF, the location measurement results to be obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time, and the location of the UE to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and send a release message to the LMF via the external interface to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location is determined.

[0013] In one implementation, a location server in a radio access network (RAN) configured to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE) includes: means for receiving an assignment message from a location management function (LMF), the assignment message comprising an assignment to the location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; means for returning an acknowledgment to the LMF indicating that the assignment is accepted; means for receiving UE location measurement results from multiple entities, the location measurement being scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF and the location measurement results being obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time; means for enabling the UE's location to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and means for sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location is determined.

[0014] In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor of a location server in a radio access network (RAN) to support a positioning session for a user equipment (UE), the program code comprising instructions for receiving an assignment message from a location management function (LMF), the assignment message comprising an assignment to a location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; returning an acknowledgment to the LMF indicating that the assignment is accepted; receiving location measurement results for the UE from multiple entities, the location measurements being scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF and the location measurement results being obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time; enabling the UE's location to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location is determined.

[0015] In one implementation, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) to support a location location session for the UE includes receiving a location request message from a location management function (LMF) in a wireless network, where the location request message requests a location measurement by the UE at or near a certain time; obtaining a location measurement result at or near the time, where the location measurement enables a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the location measurement result and at least one positioning method; and transmitting the location measurement result or location to the location server.

[0016] In one implementation, a user equipment (UE) configured to support a position location session for the UE includes a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with a wireless network, at least one memory, and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive a position location request message from a Location Management Function (LMF) in the wireless network via the wireless transceiver, the position location request message requesting a position measurement by the UE at or near a certain time, obtaining a position measurement result at or near the time, the position measurement enabling a position of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result and at least one positioning method, and transmitting the position measurement result or a position to the location server via the wireless transceiver.

[0017] In one implementation, a user equipment (UE) configured to support a position location session for the UE includes means for receiving a position location request message from a location management function (LMF) in a wireless network, where the position location request message requests a position measurement by the UE at or near a certain time; means for obtaining a position measurement result at or near the time, where the position measurement enables a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result and at least one positioning method; and means for transmitting the position measurement result or the location to the location server.

[0018] In one implementation, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to support a position location session for the UE, the program code comprising instructions for receiving a position location request message from a Location Management Function (LMF) in a wireless network, the position location request message requesting a position measurement by the UE at or near a certain time; obtaining a position measurement result at or near the time, the position measurement enabling a position of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result and at least one positioning method; and transmitting the position measurement result or position to the location server.

[0019] 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.

[0020] 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]

[0021] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system including a Next Generation (NG) radio access network. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an expanded architecture diagram of an NG-RAN node including a location server surrogate (LSS). [Figure 3A] A message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, a gNB including an LSS, and a UE for a UE-assisted positioning procedure such as multi-RTT. [Figure 3B] A message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, a gNB including an LSS, and a UE for a UE-assisted positioning procedure such as multi-RTT. [Figure 3C] FIG. 10 is a message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, NG-RAN, and the UE for the location execution phase performed in the RRC Inactive state. [Figure 4] A message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, a gNB including an LSS, and a UE for a UE-based positioning procedure such as multi-RTT. [Figure 5] A message flow diagram showing messaging between an external client, an LMF, a gNB including an LSS, and a UE for an MT-LR positioning procedure. [Figure 6] A message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, the gNB including the LSS, and the UE for the MO-LR positioning procedure. [Figure 7] A message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, the gNB including the LSS, and the UE for a regular or triggered location procedure. [Figure 8] A message flow diagram showing messaging between the LMF, gNB, and UE for a UE-assisted positioning procedure such as multi-RTT. [Figure 9] A schematic block diagram illustrating some example functions of a location management function configured to schedule a position determination of a UE in advance and assign a location server associated with a serving gNB to determine the position of the UE. [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating certain example features of a location server associated with a serving base station for a UE and configured to receive position measurement results and determine the location of the UE. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some example functions of a UE configured to support advance scheduling of UE position determination and assignment of a location server associated with a serving base station. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart of an example method for supporting a UE location session performed by an LMF. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart of an example method performed by a location server for supporting a position location session for a UE. [Figure 14] 1 is a flowchart of an example method for supporting a UE location session performed by a UE. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] Elements, phases, steps, and / or actions with the same reference label in different drawings may correspond to one another (e.g., may be similar or identical to one another). Additionally, some elements in various drawings are labeled using a numeric prefix followed by an alphabetic or numeric suffix. Elements with the same numeric prefix but different suffixes may be different instances of the same type of element. A numeric prefix without a suffix is ​​used herein to refer to any element with that numeric prefix. For example, different instances of gNBs 110-1 and 110-2 are shown in FIG. 1. Thus, a reference to gNB 110 may refer to either gNB 110-1 or 110-2.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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.

[0025] 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, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0026] 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 recognized 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 having stored therein 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 a number of 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.

[0027] 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, 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.) that is enabled to communicate over a wireless communication network on behalf of a user, a service, or some autonomous function. 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,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber device,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or “UT,” “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” “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.

[0028] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs with which it communicates with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB), etc. Additionally, in some systems, a base station may simply provide edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE may 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 may send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either a UL / reverse traffic channel or a DL / forward traffic channel.

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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 (primarily) 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).

[0031] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) has defined control plane location strategies 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 strategies 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 similarly 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 wireless interfaces that support IP packet access, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) with GSM, GPRS with UMTS, or IP access with LTE, NR, or WiFi.

[0032] Both the CP and UP positioning solutions may utilize a location server (LS) to support positioning. The LS 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 LS may initiate a session with the UE (e.g., a positioning session or a SUPL session) and coordinate position measurements by the UE and determination of the UE's estimated location. During the positioning session, the LS may request positioning capabilities from the UE (or the UE may provide it without a request), provide assistance data to the UE (e.g., if requested by the UE or even without a request) to assist the UE in obtaining position measurements and / or calculating position estimates, and may request position estimates or position measurement results from the UE. To obtain a position estimate, the LS (and UE) may utilize positioning using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Angle of Arrival (AOD), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT (also called Multi-RTT), or a combination of these or other positioning methods. Assistance data may be used by the UE to help acquire and measure GNSS and / or Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) signals (e.g., by providing expected characteristics of these signals, such as frequency, expected time of arrival, signal coding, signal Doppler, etc.).

[0033] In UE-based modes of operation, 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.).

[0034] In a UE-assisted mode of operation, the UE may return position measurements to the LS, and the LS 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 characteristics including base station position and possibly PRS timing in the case of terrestrial positioning using, e.g., TDOA, AOD, multi-RTT, etc.).

[0035] There may be several sources of latency during a positioning session between a UE and a location server. The various sources of latency include, for example, sending a location request to the location server, scheduling DL PRS and / or UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmissions, scheduling position measurements from the UE and / or base station, waiting for DL ​​PRS or UL SRS transmissions to be sent, obtaining DL PRS (at the UE) or UL SRS (at the base station) measurement results, transmitting the measurement results to the location server, computing a position estimate, and transmitting the position estimate to a client, e.g., an external client or the UE. Delays in any of the foregoing may contribute to the overall latency of obtaining a position.

[0036] In many applications, such as emergency calls, asset management, and for autonomous scenarios such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), it is desirable to minimize latency in location determination. In one implementation, as discussed herein, some of the latency components can be eliminated by requesting and scheduling location before it is needed. For example, a specific time T at which location measurements are obtained may be agreed upon in advance. Latency then begins at time T. To reduce the implementation impact of scheduling location in advance at a specific time T, a 5G core network (5GCN) location management function (LMF) can be used to perform location coordination and management before time T based on previously defined location procedures and signaling. In some implementations, latency can be further reduced by using a location server surrogate (LSS) (also referred to as a location server, location management component, local LMF, or location server function) in or connected to the serving base station (e.g., gNB). The LSS can be used to reduce any latency components after time T. For example, the LMF in a 5GCN may be used for location-related procedures related to latency components before time T, and the LSS may be used for any location-related procedures related to latency components after time T.

[0037] 1 shows a positioning architecture diagram of a communication system 100 that may support reduced latency by requesting and scheduling positioning in advance of when positioning is needed, as well as by use of supporting location management functions in the NG-RAN, referred to herein as "location server surrogates (LSS)," which may be one or more of the gNBs 110 of FIG. 1, or may be external to the gNBs 110 but within the NG-RAN 135.

[0038] The communication system 100 may be configured to support position determination of a user equipment (UE) 102. Here, the communication system 100 comprises the UE 102 and components of a fifth-generation (5G) network, including a next-generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 135 and a 5G core network (5GCN) 140. The 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may also be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN, and the 5GCN 140 may also be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). The communication system 100 may further utilize information from a satellite vehicle (SV) 190 for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or Beidou, or some other local or regional satellite positioning system (SPS) such as IRNSS, EGNOS, or WAAS. Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. Communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0039] It should be noted that FIG. 1 provides only a generalized illustration of the various components, and that any or all of the components may be utilized as appropriate, and that each of them may be duplicated or omitted as desired. Specifically, while only one UE 102 is illustrated, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the communications system 100. Similarly, the communications system 100 may include more (or fewer) SVs 190, gNBs 110, Next Generation Evolved Node Bs (ng-eNBs) 114, AMFs 115, external location services (LCS) clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communications system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0040] 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology or other communication technologies and protocols) may be used to configure resources associated with larger amounts of location-related information, or broadcast communications from the wireless node (e.g., broadcast of assistance data), transmission of a positioning reference signal (PRS), or some other location-related functionality of the wireless node in response to receiving a request.

[0041] The UE 102 may comprise and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL)-enabled terminal (SET), or some other name. Furthermore, the UE 102 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, but not necessarily, the UE 102 may support wireless communication using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also referred to as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. The UE 102 may also support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable the UE 102 to communicate with external clients 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1 or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125) and / or enable external clients 130 to receive location information about the UE 102 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0042] The UE 102 may comprise a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where a user may utilize audio, video, and / or data I / O devices and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. An estimate of the UE 102's location may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, location, location estimate, or location fix, and may be geographic and thus provide location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 102 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., elevation, height or depth above ground, floor, or basement). Alternatively, the UE 102's location may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as an address or designation of a point or small area within a building, such as a particular room or floor). The UE 102's location may also be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or civic-wise) where the UE 102 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 102 may also be a relative location comprising distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined with respect to some origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, civic-wise, or with reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, floor plan, or floor plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to solve for local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then, if necessary, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0043] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 comprise NR NodeBs, also referred to as gNBs 110-1 and 110-2 (collectively and generally referred to herein as gNBs 110). A pair of gNBs 110 in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other, for example, directly as shown in FIG. 1 or indirectly via other gNBs 110. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 102 via wireless communication between the UE 102 and one or more of the gNBs 110, which may provide wireless communication access to the 5GCN 140 on behalf of the UE 102 using 5G NR. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. 1, the serving gNB for UE 102 is assumed to be gNB 110-1, although other gNBs (e.g., gNB 110-2) may function as the serving gNB if UE 102 moves to another location, or may function as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 102. A location server surrogate (LSS) 117 in a node in NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1, may perform location server functions as discussed herein.

[0044] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may also or instead include next-generation evolved Node Bs, also referred to as ng-eNBs 114. The ng-eNBs 114 may be connected to one or more gNBs 110 in the NG-RAN 135, e.g., directly or indirectly via other gNBs 110 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNBs 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 102. Some gNBs 110 (e.g., gNB 110-2) and / or ng-eNBs 114 in FIG. 1 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons, which may transmit signals (e.g., PRS signals) and / or broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning the UE 102, but may not receive signals from the UE 102 or other UEs. It should be noted that although only one ng-eNB 114 is shown in FIG. 1, some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 114.

[0045] As noted, while FIG. 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate according to 5G NR and LTE communication protocols for the NG-RAN 135, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, the LTE protocol for the Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) or the IEEE 802.11x protocol for a WLAN, may also be used. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to the UE 102, the RAN may comprise the E-UTRAN, which may include base stations with evolved Node Bs (eNBs) that support LTE wireless access. The core network for the EPS may then comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In that case, the EPS may comprise the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, where in FIG. 1 the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140.

[0046] The gNB 110 and the ng-eNB 114 may communicate with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, which may communicate with a Location Management Function (LMF) 120 for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support the mobility of the UE 102, including cell changes and handovers, and may be responsible for supporting signaling connections to the UE 102, and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 102. The LMF 120 may support scheduling of positioning of the UE 102 when the UE accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support positioning procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDOA), Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), Multi-cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures. The LMF 120 may also process location service requests for the UE 102 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or to the GMLC 125. In some embodiments, a node / system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC). Note that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functions (including deriving the position of the UE 102) may be performed at the UE 102 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE 102 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNB 110 and the ng-eNB 114, as well as assistance data provided to the UE 102, e.g., by the LMF 120).

[0047] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125 may support location requests for the UE 102 received from the external client 130 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 102) from the LMF 120 or the LSS 117 may be returned to the GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return the location response (e.g., including the location estimate) to the external client 130. Although the GMLC 125 is shown in FIG. 1 as connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, in some implementations, only one of these connections may be supported by the 5GC 140.

[0048] A Network Exposure Function (NEF) 127 may be included in the 5GCN 140 to support services including location services from external clients 130 for Internet of Things (IoT) UEs. The NEF 127 may support secure exposure of capabilities and events related to the 5GCN 140 and the UE 102 to the external client 130 and may enable secure provision of information from the external client 130 to the 5GCN 140. In the context of location services, the NEF 127 may function to obtain the current or last known location of the UE 102 and may obtain an indication of a change in the location of the UE 102 or an indication of when the UE 102 becomes available (or reachable). The NEF 127 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support the last known location, the current location, and / or deferred, periodic, and triggered location determination of the UE 102. If desired, the NEF 127 may include or be combined with the GMLC 125 and may then obtain location information for the UE 102 directly from (e.g., may be connected to) the LSS 117 or the LMF 120. The NEF 127 may also be connected to the AMF 115 to enable the NEF 127 to obtain the location of the UE 102 from the AMF 115.

[0049] The user plane function (UPF) 126 may support voice and data bearers for the UE 102 and may enable voice and data access for the UE 102 to other networks, such as the Internet. The functions of the UPF 126 may include external PDU session points of interconnection to data networks, packet (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP)) routing and forwarding, the user plane portion of packet inspection and policy rule enforcement, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane, downlink packet buffering, and triggering of downlink data notifications. For example, a location report for the UE 102, including a location estimate determined by an LSS 117 within or connected to the serving gNB 110-1, may be returned by the gNB 110-1 to the external client 130 via the UPF 126 and user plane aggregator (UPA) 128, if present.

[0050] The UPA 128 is optional and allows the external client 130 to receive a location report for the UE 102 by interacting only with the UPA 128. When the UPA 128 is not present and when the LSS 117 forwards the location of the UE 102 to the external client 130 via user plane signaling, the external client 130 may need to interact directly with the gNB 110-1 for the UE 102, which may be less efficient (e.g., when the gNB 110-1 for the UE 102 changes) and / or may be a security risk to the gNB and / or external client 130. The UPA 128 eliminates the need for the gNB 110-1 (or LSS 117) to establish location reporting sessions to multiple external clients, and for the external client to establish location reporting sessions to multiple gNBs 110. The UPA 128 may also provide security for the NG-RAN 135 and / or the external client 130 by authenticating and authorizing the external client 130 and / or the gNB 110-1 (or the LSS 117). The UPA 128 may be part of the 5GCN 150 or may be external to the 5GCN 150 (e.g., associated with the external client 130). In some implementations, the UPA 128 may be part of or connected to the LMF 120, the GMLC 125, or the NEF 127. The UPA 128 may also be referred to as a router, an IP router, a UP router, or a routing function.

[0051] The LMF 120 may communicate with the gNB 110 and / or the ng-eNB 114 using the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (sometimes referred to as NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP® Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPPa) defined in 3GPP® TS 36.455, and NRPPa messages are transferred between the gNB 110 and the LMF 120 and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115. The LMF 120 and the UE 102 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP® TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages may be transferred between the UE 102 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110-1 or the serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 102. For example, LPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a service-based protocol based on Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or between the AMF 115 and the UE 102 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 102 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods, such as A-GNSS, RTK, DL-TDOA, AOD, multi-RTT, and / or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 102 using a network-based positioning method such as ECID or UL-TDOA (e.g., when used in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114), or using a positioning method that uses UL and DL position measurements such as multi-RTT, and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmissions from the gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114.

[0052] Using a UE-assisted positioning method, the UE 102 may obtain position measurements and transmit the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120 or the LSS 117 in a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in the serving gNB 110-1) for calculation of a position estimate for the UE 102. For example, the position measurements may include one or more of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), an AOA, and / or an AOD for the gNB 110, the ng-eNB 114, and / or a WLAN access point (AP). The position measurements may additionally or instead include GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase measurements for the SV190. With a UE-based positioning method, the UE 102 may obtain position measurements (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to those for a UE-assisted positioning method) and may calculate the position of the UE 102 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gNB 110, the ng-eNB 114, or other base stations or APs). With a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., the gNB 110 and / or the ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain position measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or time of arrival (TOA) measurements) for signals transmitted by the UE 102 and / or receive the measurements obtained by the UE 102 and may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120 or the LSS 117 in a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in the serving gNB 110-1) for calculation of a position estimate for the UE 102.

[0053] Information provided by the gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 to a location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 using NRPPa or to the LSS 117 in a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in the serving gNB 110-1, using Xn Application Protocol (XnAP), may include timing and configuration information for PRS transmissions as well as location coordinates. The location server may then provide some or all of this information to the UE 102 as assistance data in an LPP message via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140.

[0054] An LPP message sent from the location server to the UE 102 may instruct the UE 102 to do any of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP message may include instructions for the UE 102 to obtain GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, and / or DL-TDOA (or some other positioning method) measurements. In the case of DL-TDOA, the LPP message may instruct the UE 102 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., RSTD measurements) of PRS signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by a particular gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station, such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The RSTD measurements may comprise the difference in arrival time at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g., a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may return the measurement results to a location server, for example, to the LMF 120 in an LPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114), or to an LSS 117 in a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as within the serving gNB 110-1.

[0055] As mentioned, although the communications system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communications system 100 may be implemented to support other communications technologies (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions), such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., used to support and interact with mobile devices such as the UE 102. In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, in some embodiments, the 5GC 140 may connect to a WLAN either directly or using a Non-3GPP InterWorking Function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1 ) in the 5GC 140. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 102 and may comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some other embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced with other RANs and other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) instead of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC instead of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send and receive location information to and from the eNBs in the E-UTRAN and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 102. In these other embodiments, on-demand resource allocation for positioning of the UE 102 may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, with the difference being that the functions and procedures described herein for the gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may instead apply to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs, in some cases.

[0056] Note that the gNB 110 and the ng-eNB 114 do not always coexist in the NG-RAN 135. Moreover, when both the gNB 110 and the ng-eNB 114 are present, the NG interface with the AMF 115 may exist for one of them.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 1, the gNB 110 may be authorized to control one or more transmission points (TPs) 111, such as a broadcast-only TP for improved support of DL positioning methods such as DL-TDOA or ECID. Additionally, the gNB 110 may be authorized to control one or more reception points (RPs) 113, such as an internal position measurement unit (LMU), for UL measurements for positioning methods such as UL-TDOA or ECID. The TPs 111 and RPs 113 may be combined into or defined as part of a transmission / reception point (TRP) 112 to support downlink (DL) and / or uplink (UL) positioning methods such as DL-TDOA, UL-TDOA, and multi-cell RTT. Furthermore, the gNB 110 may be authorized to include a location server surrogate (LSS) 117 to support positioning of the UE 102 by the serving gNB 110. The LS 117 may support some or all of the same functions as the LMF 120, the difference being that the LSS 117 is located in the NG-RAN 135 while the LMF 120 is located in the 5GCN 140. The term "location server surrogate" is used herein for the NG-RAN location management function, although other terms such as "local LMF" or "NG-RAN LMF" may be used. Positioning of the UE 102 by the serving gNB 110 may be used to provide location services to the UE 102, the serving AMF 115, or the LMF 120 to improve NG-RAN operation, for example, by reducing location determination latency and increasing the number of UEs 102 for which location can be supported.

[0058] As shown, the ng-eNB 114 may control one or more TPs 109, which may use a different protocol than the TPs 111 in the gNBs 110-1 and 110-2—for example, the TPs 109 may use a protocol for LTE, while the TPs 111 use a protocol for 5G NR. The TPs 109 may perform similar functions as the TPs 111 in the gNBs 110-1 and 110-2, and thus the TPs 111 and 109 may be collectively referred to herein as TPs.

[0059] The location management function, i.e., LSS 117, in the NG-RAN 135 may have capabilities comparable to a 5GCN LMF, e.g., LMF 120. An operator may constrain the LSS 117, for example, to support NR radio access technology (RAT)-dependent positioning. The LSS 117 may communicate with a gNB central unit (gNB-CU), if present, and may support location determination and reporting, as described later. The LMF 120 may manage scheduling for one or more transmission points (TPs) 111 configured to transmit downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) to be measured by the UE 102, and one or more reception points (RPs) 113 configured to receive and measure uplink (UL) resource signals (RS) transmitted by the UE 102 as well as other UL transmissions by the UE 102.

[0060] The LMF 120 and LSS 117 in the gNB 110 may perform various functions. For example, the LMF 120 may request position measurement results from the UE 102, e.g., using LPP, manage UL position measurements by the gNB 110 or TRP 112 for the UE 102, and manage static and dynamic scheduling of DL-PRS and broadcast of assistance data by the gNB 110. The LMF 120 may further interact with other gNBs 110 to coordinate support for positioning (e.g., to obtain UL position measurement results for the UE 102 or to request changes to DL-PRS broadcasts). The LSS 117 may receive position measurement results and determine a position estimate for the UE 102. The above functions are given by way of example only. Additional or different functions may be performed if desired. The LSS 117 may communicate with other gNBs 110 using XnAP or a location-specific protocol on top of XnAP to coordinate support for these functions.

[0061] Thus, the LSS 117 may support the NG-RAN 135's determination of the UE 102's location, which may be requested by the UE 102 (e.g., using LPP), by the serving AMF 115 (e.g., using NGAP or a location-specific protocol signaled by the NGAP), by another gNB 110 / ng-eNB 114 (e.g., using XnAP or a location-specific protocol signaled by the XnAP), or by the LMF 120 (e.g., using the NRPPa protocol). Such capability enables location support with reduced latency in location determination (as the NG-RAN 135 is closer to the UE 102 than the LMF 120) and offloads location support from the LMF.

[0062] Signaling between the AMF 115 and the NG-RAN 135 node may use protocol layering as defined in 3GPP® Technical Specifications (TS) 38.300 and 3GPP® TS 23.501 and can utilize the Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) at the top level as defined in 3GPP® TS 38.413. The NG-RAN 135 location reporting procedure is defined in 3GPP® TS 23.502 and 3GPP® TS 38.413 and allows the serving AMF 115 to request the serving NG-RAN node (gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) to report the location of the UE 102 once, periodically upon a serving cell change, or periodically when the UE 102's presence in the area of ​​interest changes. The location provided by the serving NG-RAN node may comprise the NR or LTE Cell Global Identity (CGI) and Tracking Area Code (TAC). This procedure may be further refined to include optional Quality of Service (QoS) parameters in the NGAP Location Reporting Control message to allow the serving AMF 115 to request a more accurate location of the UE 102 than that corresponding to the CGI. This procedure may further include an optional list of supported Geographic Area Description (GAD) shapes in the Location Reporting Control message. This procedure may further include enabling the serving NG-RAN node to obtain a more accurate UE location during QoS (e.g., when using Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) positioning). This procedure may further enable the NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB 110) to return the UE's location to the serving AMF 115 using the GAD shape when requested in the NGAP Location Reporting Control message.

[0063] 2 shows an architectural diagram of an NG-RAN node 200, which may include an LSS 117 or may be coupled to an LSS 117 within the NG-RAN 135, e.g., as a separate entity or as part of another gNB. In one implementation, the NG-RAN node 200 may be a gNB 110. The architecture shown in FIG. 2 may be applicable, for example, to any of the gNBs 110-1 and 110-2 in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1.

[0064] As shown, the gNB 110 includes a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 202 and gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 204 and 206, which may be physically co-located or physically separate in the gNB 110. The gNB-CU 202 is a logical or physical node that supports the gNB 110's Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols used over the NR Uu air interface and controls the operation of one or more gNB-DUs. The gNB-CU 202 is the termination point of the F1 interface connected to the gNB-DU. As shown, the gNB-CU 202 may communicate with the AMF 115 via an NG interface. The gNB-CU 202 may further communicate with one or more other gNBs 110 via an Xn interface. The gNB-DUs 204 and 206 are logical or physical nodes that support the radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) protocol layers used on the NR Uu air interface of the gNB 110, and their operation is partially controlled by the gNB-CU 202. The gNB-DUs are the termination points of the F1 interface connected to the gNB-CU 202. The gNB-CU 202 requests positioning results (e.g., E-CID) from the gNB-DUs 204 and 206. The gNB-DUs 204 and 206 report the measurement results to the gNB-CU 202. The gNB-DUs 204 and 206 may include positioning functionality. It should be understood that other measurement nodes are not excluded.

[0065] The LSS 117 may be part of the gNB-CU 202 (e.g., the logical functionality of the gNB-CU 202). However, to offload positioning support from the gNB-CU 202 and to enable a multi-vendor environment, a separate LSS 117 is allowed, which may be connected to the gNB-CU 202 via an F1 interface. Additionally or alternatively, the LSS 117 in the NG-RAN 135 may be external to the gNB 110, for example, as part of another gNB, and connected to the gNB 110 via an Xn interface. The gNB-CU 202 may then forward all positioning-related signaling to the LSS 117 and / or the gNB-DUs 204 and 206 or the TRP 112.

[0066] 2, the gNB 110 may include a TP 111 and an RP 113 that are combined into a TRP 112 and an LSS 117, which may be physically or logically located within the gNB 110. The gNB-CU 202 may be configured to communicate with the TP 111, the RP 113, and the LS 117, for example, via an F1 interface. The gNB-CU 202 thus controls one or more of the TP 111 and the RP 113, and the LSS 117 is accessible from the gNB-CU 202 via the F1 interface.

[0067] In some embodiments, the NG-RAN node 200 (or gNB 110) may comprise a subset of the elements shown in FIG. 2. For example, the NG-RAN node 200 may comprise the gNB-CU 202 and the LSS 117, but may not include one or more of the gNB-DUs 204 and 206, the RP 113, or the TP 111. Alternatively, the NG-RAN node 200 may include one or more of the gNB-DUs 204 and 206, the RP 113, or the TP 111, but may not include the LSS 117. Furthermore, the elements shown in FIG. 2 may be logically separate but physically co-located, or may be partially or completely physically separate. For example, the LSS 117 may be physically separate from the gNB-CU 202 or may be physically combined with the gNB-CU 202. Similarly, one or more of the gNB-DUs 204 and 206, the RP 113, or the TP 111 may be physically separate from the gNB-CU 202 or may be physically combined with the gNB-CU 202. If physically separated, the F1 interface may define signaling over a physical link or connection between the two separated elements. In some implementations, the gNB-CU 202 may be divided into a control plane portion (referred to as a CU-CP or gNB-CU-CP) and a user plane portion (referred to as a CU-UP or gNB-CU-UP). In this case, both the gNB-CU-CP and the gNB-CU-CP may interact with the gNB-DUs 204 and 206 to support NR Uu air interface signaling for the control plane and the user plane, respectively. However, only the gNB-CU-CP may interact with the LSS 117, the TP 111, and the RP 113 to support and control location-related communications.

[0068] The protocol layering between the gNB-CU 202 and the TP 111, RP 113, and LSS 117 may be based on the F1 C as defined in 3GPP TD 38.470, which uses the F1 Application Protocol (F1AP) at the top level as specified in 3GPP TS 38.473. New messages to support positioning may be added directly to the F1AP or may be introduced in a new location-specific protocol that is transported using the F1AP.

[0069] The positioning procedure between the gNB-CU 202 and the LSS 117 may comprise all positioning-related procedures over the NG, Xn, and NR-Uu interfaces. For example, the positioning procedure between the AMF 115 and the NG-RAN node 200 may use NGAP. The positioning procedure between the NG-RAN node 200 and another NG-RAN node, such as the gNB 110, may use XnAP or a protocol above XnAP, such as the Enhanced NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP TS 38.455. The positioning procedure between the NG-RAN node 200 and the UE 102 may use RRC and / or LPP.

[0070] Corresponding messages to support positioning may be carried inside a transparent F1AP message transfer container. For example, the transfer of NGAP Location Reporting Control and NAS Transport messages may be carried in the UL / DL NGAP Message Transfer. The transfer of location-related XnAP messages may be carried in the UL / DL XnAP Message Transfer. The transfer of location-related RRC (LPP) messages may be carried in the UL / DL RRC (LPP) Message Transfer.

[0071] The above support may also be achieved using a new location protocol transported using a single F1AP UL / DL LSS Message Transfer container and / or F1AP. Thus, the gNB-CU202 may forward any location-related forwarding messages received on the NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces either to the LSS117 within the same gNB110 (e.g., if the gNB110 includes an LSS117, as shown in FIG. 2) or to another gNB (e.g., if the gNB110 does not have an LSS117).

[0072] The location procedures between the LSS 117 and the gNB-DUs 204 and 206, the TP 111, and the RP 113, which may be coordinated by the gNB-CU 202, may include the transfer of UL / DL PRS configuration and UL / DL PRS measurement information. The above functionality may be similar to that of an LTE LMU as specified in 3GPP TS 36.305 and TS 36.459 (SLmAP), and may also be similar to that between the LMF 120 and the NG-RAN node 200. Thus, the NRPPa may be extended to support TRP location measurement / configuration messages, which may be carried inside F1AP transport messages.

[0073] Thus, the NG-RAN node 200 may support signaling and location procedures between the gNB-CU 202 and the LSS 117 based on the F1AP to support the same location procedures as supported on the NG, Xn, and NR-Uu interfaces, and in addition to support the transfer of UL / DL PRS configuration and measurement information from / to the LSS to / from the gNB-DU / TRP.

[0074] As can be seen, the NG-RAN location function (LSS) can be implemented using existing interfaces and protocols. However, assuming there are common location procedures for Xn, NG, and F1, it would be efficient to define a new generic RAN location protocol that could be transported by Xn-C or F1-C (and possibly NG) transport messages. Assuming most functionality is also required between the LMF and NG-RAN nodes (i.e., to support new location methods and features with the 5GC LMF), it may also be possible to extend NRPPa to support additional RAN location messages.

[0075] During positioning of the UE 102, it is often desirable to minimize the latency of the location determination (e.g., in the context of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), where the UE 102 may be some moving object or tool in an automated factory or warehouse). There are many components that contribute to the latency of the positioning. For example, various components of latency may include: A) sending a position location request from the external client 130 or the UE 102 to a location server, e.g., the LMF 120; B) scheduling DL and / or UL PRS transmissions for UL, DL, and / or UL / DL NR positioning methods; C) scheduling position measurements from the UE 102 and / or the gNB 110; D) waiting for DL ​​PRS and / or UL SRS transmissions to be sent; E) obtaining DL PRS (in the UE 102) and / or UL SRS (in the gNB 110) measurement results; F) sending the measurement results to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for UE-assisted positioning or to the UE 102 for UE-based positioning; G) calculating the position; and H) sending the position to a client (e.g., the external client 130 or the UE 102). As discussed herein, the latency of most or all of these contributing components can be reduced or eliminated.

[0076] In one implementation, latency caused by the location preparation phase of positioning may be eliminated by scheduling the location of the UE 102 before location is required. Thus, components that contribute to latency prior to performing UE position measurements, such as components A-D above, may be eliminated by requesting and scheduling the location of the UE 102 before location is required. For example, if a specific time T for acquiring the position of the UE 102 is agreed upon in advance, the latency of positioning may start at time T, and time associated with the location preparation phase prior to time T does not contribute to the latency. The 5GCN LMF 120 may be used to coordinate and manage the location prior to time T, such as for the location preparation phase.

[0077] In one implementation, some latency components that occur after a positioning procedure is performed, such as components F and H above, may be minimized by using a location server surrogate (LSS) 117 associated with the serving gNB 110-1. The LSS 117 may be used, for example, for components F, G, and H above, all of which occur after time T, while the LMF 120 may be used for components A through C above, which occur before time T.

[0078] In some implementations, both the advance scheduling of the UE 102's position location and the LSS 117 may be used for positioning. In other implementations, only the advance scheduling of the UE 102's position location may be used for positioning, e.g., the LMF 120 may be used as a location server instead of the LSS 117 to determine the UE 102's position estimate, which may eliminate the delays due to components A-D above. In these other implementations, the position location is advance scheduled by the LMF 120, and the same LMF 120 also supports obtaining the position and forwarding the position to an external client (e.g., external client 130).

[0079] In implementations in which the location of the UE 102 is requested and scheduled in advance, the LMF 120 may receive a positioning message requesting the location of the UE 102 at time T. Specifically, in one interpretation designated herein as I1, the location of the UE 102 at time T (meaning where the UE is located at time T) may be requested, or at least predicted. Other interpretations of time T may include (I2) measuring the location of the UE 102 at or near time T (e.g., obtaining measurements for the UE 102 at or near time T), (I3) requesting measurements for the UE 102 at or near time T, (I4) initiating a positioning session with the UE 102 (and / or a nearby gNB 110) at or near time T, (I5) calculating the location of the UE 102 at or near time T, and (I6) transmitting the location of the UE 102 to the external client 130 at or near time T. All interpretations of time T may be used to reduce latency by allowing some or all of the above-described components A-D to be performed in advance and therefore not contribute to latency. However, from an external client's perspective, a useful interpretation may be I1, such that the position of the UE 102 at or near time T is provided, because this can eliminate the uncertainty in the time to which the position applies that may be present in part with other interpretations. Nevertheless, the techniques described herein to support advance positioning may be used with these other interpretations, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art. For example, with interpretation I2, measuring the position of the UE 102 at or near time T may allow the "UE's position at time T" to be obtained as with interpretation I1.If any entity (e.g., UE102 or gNB110) that obtains measurements for UE102 at or near time T also timestamps the measurements (e.g., to allow LSS117 or LMF120 to associate the time of each measurement with time T), it may be possible for a location server (e.g., LSS117 or LMF120) or UE102 (for UE-based positioning) to extrapolate or interpolate the position measurements to accurately or nearly accurately determine the "position of UE102 at time T."

[0080] The term "at or near time T" is used in several places herein, e.g., to refer to the position of UE 102 "at or near time T" or to refer to measuring the position of UE 102 "at or near time T." In these places, "at or near time T" may be taken to mean a time within 1 to 500 milliseconds (ms) of time T, with very accurate implementations sometimes achieving times within 1 to 5 ms of time T, slightly less accurate implementations sometimes achieving times within 5 to 50 ms of time T, and even less accurate implementations sometimes achieving times within 50 to 500 ms of time T.

[0081] As mentioned above, the LMF 120 may receive a positioning message requesting the position of the UE 102 at time T (T is interpreted as discussed above). The positioning message may be from, for example, the external client 130 or the UE 102. For example, the positioning message may be an event report received before time T and indicating a periodic event scheduled to occur at time T, a triggered event occurring at the current time, or a triggered event expected to occur later at or near time T. The LMF 120 may manage and coordinate the position of the UE 102 before time T, e.g., during a position location preparation phase. For example, the LMF 120 may send request messages to various entities, such as the base station (gNB 110) and the UE 102, to schedule position measurements of the UE 102 by each of the entities at or near time T. The LMF 120 may indicate the time T at which the position of the UE 102 should be measured and the identity of a location server, e.g., the LSS 117 (if used) or the LMF 120. The scheduled position measurement enables the position of the UE 102 to be measured at time T based on one or more positioning methods. For example, the entity may include the UE 102, and the location measurement may include DL-TDOA, downlink AOD (DL-AOD), A-GNSS, WLAN, RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. The entity may include at least one base station, e.g., the serving gNB 110-1, several neighboring gNBs 110 (e.g., gNB 110-2), or a combination thereof, and the positioning method may include UL-TDOA, uplink AOA (UL-AOA), RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. The LMF 120 may, for example, send a message to the serving gNB 110-1 to trigger transmission of an UL SRS signal by the UE 102 at or near time T, such that at least a portion of the position measurement results may be obtained by the gNB 110 at or near time T using the UL SRS signal.

[0082] In an implementation in which a location server, e.g., LSS 117, associated with the serving gNB 110-1 is used, the LMF 120 may be used to coordinate the use of the location server. For example, the LMF 120 may send an assignment message to the serving gNB 110-1 for the UE 102, enabling the serving gNB 110-1 to assign a location server. The location server (e.g., LSS 117) may be associated with the serving gNB 110-1 and may be, for example, internal to the serving gNB 110-1, part of the CU for the serving gNB 110-1, connected to the CU for the serving gNB 110-1, or external to and connected to the serving gNB 110-1. The LMF 120 may provide the serving gNB 110-1 and the location server with information needed for positioning, including, for example, the time T, the IDs of each entity performing positioning, the position measurements to be performed, configuration information for DL ​​and / or UL signals, and / or the IDs of external clients, if any, or a combination thereof. A location server associated with the serving gNB 110-1 may receive location measurement results from one or more measurement entities, such as the UE 102 and / or neighboring gNBs 110. The location server may determine the location of the UE 102 based on the location measurement results, or may transmit the location measurement results to the UE 102 and receive the location after the UE 102 determines its location based on the location measurement results. The location server may transmit the location to the UE 102 or the external client 130, for example, based on a user plane positioning protocol.

[0083] 3A is a message flow 300 illustrating messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110 including the LSS 117, and the UE 102 for a UE-assisted positioning procedure such as multi-RTT. The serving gNB 110-1 and multiple neighboring gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 may sometimes be collectively referred to as the gNB 110. The LSS 117 may be a logical function of the serving gNB 110-1 CU. In some implementations, the LSS 117 may be internal to the gNB 110-1 but connected to the CU or external to the gNB 110-1. For example, if the LSS 117 is external to the gNB 110-1 or separate from the gNB 110-1 CU, additional messages (e.g., XnAP messages) may be used to forward messages from the gNB 110-1 to the LSS 117 and from the LSS 117 back to the gNB 110-1. The positioning procedure shown in FIG. 3A includes both DL PRS and UL SRS for comprehensiveness. For example, DL PRS and UL SRS measurements may be used to support a positioning method such as multi-cell RTT (also referred to as multi-RTT), where the UE 102 obtains DL measurements and the gNB 110 obtains UL measurements. However, it should be understood that the procedure shown in FIG. 3A may be used with other types of positioning methods, for example, relying solely on the DL PRS by removing the step related to the UL SRS, or relying solely on the UL SRS by removing the step related to the DL PRS. Thus, this procedure may be used with positioning such as UL-TDOA, UL-AOA, DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, WLAN, RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. For example, steps 2, 11, 12, 13a, and 15 of FIG. 3A may be omitted to support UL positioning methods such as UL-TDOA or UL-AOA, in which the gNB 110 measures UL SRS signals from the UE 102, but the UE 102 does not measure DL PRS signals or other DL signals (e.g., from SV190 or WLAN APs) from the gNB 110.Similarly, steps 4-6, 9-10, 13b, and 14 of FIG. 3A may be omitted to support DL positioning methods such as DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, or WLAN, in which the UE 102 measures DL PRS signals or other DL signals (e.g., from an SV190 or WLAN AP) from the gNB 110, but the gNB 110 does not measure UL SRS signals from the UE 102.

[0084] As shown in FIG. 3A, the positioning procedure may be scheduled to request location of the UE 102 when location is needed, e.g., before time T. Accordingly, on the left side of the message flow is a timeline showing when the various steps are performed relative to time T. As shown, steps 1a-12 are all part of the location preparation step and are performed before time T. At time T, UL and DL signals are transmitted and measured. After time T is the location execution step, which is shown to include steps 13-19. FIG. 3A further illustrates the use of an LSS 117 at the serving gNB 110-1 to further reduce the latency of the positioning procedure, e.g., during the location execution step.

[0085] Phase 1a and phases 1b and 1c illustrate different types of messages that may be used to initiate a positioning procedure. For example, phase 1a supports a Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR) or a Mobile Terminated Location Request (MT-LR) positioning procedure, while phases 1b and 1c support a regular or triggered positioning procedure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that additional messages may be included in a MO-LR positioning procedure, a MT-LR positioning procedure, or a regular or triggered positioning procedure. It should be understood that phase 1a or phases 1b and 1c may be transmitted, if any, and that typically not all three messages are transmitted during a positioning procedure.

[0086] In stage 1a, the AMF 115 may invoke an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation to the LMF 120 to request the current location of the UE 102. The Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation message may be sent, for example, to support MT-LR or MO-LR. The Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation message may include the time T at which the location of the UE 102 should be measured and the identification information of the external client 130 (e.g., the IP address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the external client 130 and / or a location reference that can be recognized by the external client 130). The service operation may include an LCS Correlation identifier, serving cell identification information of the primary cell in the master RAN node and the primary cell in the secondary RAN node when available based on a dual connectivity scenario, and the client type, and may include an indication of whether the UE 102 supports LPP, the required QoS, and the supported Geographical Area Description (GAD) shapes.

[0087] In stage 1b, if periodic or triggered positioning is supported, the UE 102 may send an LCS Supplementary Services Event Report message to the LMF 120, which is forwarded via the serving AMF 115 and passed to the LMF 120 using the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation. The event report may indicate a time T at which the location of the UE 102 should be measured and may include an LPP Provide Capabilities message. The event report may indicate a periodic event expected at time T, a triggered event at the current time before time T, or a triggered event expected at or near time T. The event report may further include the type of event being reported (e.g., whether it is a regular event or the expiration of a maximum reporting interval) and may include an embedded positioning message, such as an LPP Provide Capabilities message. The UE 102 may also include a deferred routing identifier, if previously received, to forward the event report to the LMF 120. The AMF 115 may then forward the event report to either the serving LMF 120 or any appropriate LMF based on whether the deferred routing identifier indicates a specific LMF or any (default) LMF. The UE 102 may also include in the event report the (H)GMLC contact address, the Location Deferred Request (LDR) reference number, whether a location estimate should be reported, and, if so, the location QoS. To support user plane location reporting as in stage 17a, the UE 102 may include in the event report identification information of the external client 130, such as the IP address or FQDN of the external client 130, and / or location criteria that can be recognized by the external client 130. The identification information may further indicate that the external client 130 supports receiving the UE 102's location via the user plane.

[0088] In step 1c, after the LMF 120 receives the event report, and if the LMF 120 is able to handle this event report, the LMF 120 updates the status of the event report (e.g., the number of event reports received so far from the UE 102 and / or the time length of the event reports so far) and returns an LCS supplementary service acknowledgment for the event report to the UE 102. This acknowledgment may optionally include a new deferred routing identifier indicating a new serving LMF or a default (any) LMF. If the UE 102 does not receive any response from the LMF 120 after a predetermined time, for example, if the current LMF 120 does not support deferred location requests (for temporary or permanent reasons) or due to some radio access failure, the UE 102 may retransmit the report one or more times. If the UE 102 sends repeated event reports more than a predetermined maximum number of retransmissions and the UE 102 still does not receive any response from the AMF 115, the UE 102 stops retransmitting the report, saves the event report, and then records a corresponding flag to indicate that the report transmission was unsuccessful. When the UE 102 performs a registration update and detects that the PLMN has changed, the UE 102 may send a report to the corresponding AMF if the flag is set, and the flag is cleared upon successful transmission of the report.

[0089] In stage 2, the LMF 120 and the gNB 110 may obtain from or transmit to the gNB 110 DL PRS configuration information (e.g., including parameters for DL ​​PRS transmission, such as PRS frequency, bandwidth, timing, coding, muting, frequency hopping, etc.) needed for a positioning method, e.g., multi-RTT positioning, using an NRPPa DL PRS configuration information exchange, e.g., as described in 3GPP TS 38.305. The PRS configuration information may also be transmitted as assistance data to the UE 102 (in stage 11) and / or the LSS 117 (in stage 7). The PRS configuration information may be used by the UE 102 to assist in DL PRS measurements in stage 13a, by the LMF 120 to request UL SRS configuration information from the serving gNB 110-1 for the UE 102 in stage 4, and / or by the LSS 117 to assist in calculating the position of the UE 102 in stage 16.

[0090] In stage 3, the LMF 120 may request the positioning capabilities of the UE 102 (if not already obtained, e.g., as in stage 1b), using, e.g., the LPP Capability Transfer procedure described in 3GPP TS 38.305.

[0091] In step 4, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1 to request UL information for the UE 102.

[0092] In step 5, the serving gNB 110-1 determines the available resources for UL SRS and configures the UE 102 with the UL-SRS resource set using RRC in step 5a.

[0093] In step 6, the serving gNB 110-1 provides the UL SRS configuration information to the LMF 120 in an NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION RESPONSE message.

[0094] In step 7, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa LSS ASSIGNMENT REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1. The LSS assignment message enables the serving gNB 110-1 to assign an LSS 117 associated with the serving gNB 110-1. The LSS assignment message may include a time T. The LSS assignment message may further include (i) identification of entities performing position measurements (e.g., the gNB 110 and the UE 102), (ii) identification of position measurement results to be obtained in step 13 (e.g., RSTD, AOA, AOD, RSRP, RSRQ, Rx-Tx, GNSS pseudorange, and one or more indications of the entities obtaining them), (iii) configuration information for DL ​​PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 2), (iv) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 3), (v) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 4), (vi) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 5), (vii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 6), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 7), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 8), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 9), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 10), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 11), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 12), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 13), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 13), (viii) UL PRS (e.g., obtained or transmitted in step 12), (viii) UL PRS (e The LSS assignment may include one or more of the following: (i) configuration information for the SRS (e.g., obtained in stage 6); (ii) an identification of the external client for locating the UE 102 (e.g., an identification or indication of the external client 130 or the UE 102, and, in the case of the external client 130, (H) a GMLC contact address, an LDR reference number, an IP address or FQDN of the external client 130, and / or a location reference, and / or whether the external client 130 supports receiving the location of the UE 102 via the user plane); (iii) whether a location estimate should be reported, and if so, a location QoS; or (iv) a combination thereof. The LSS assignment may further indicate the type of positioning method to be used, e.g., multi-RTT supported by the UE.

[0095] In step 8, the serving gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa LSS ASSIGNMENT RESPONSE message to the LMF 120 indicating the assignment of the LSS 117. The LSS ASSIGNMENT RESPONSE message may include the identity or address of the LSS 117.

[0096] In step 9a, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa Positioning Activation Request message to the serving gNB 110-1 to trigger an UL SRS transmission from the UE 102. The NRPPa Positioning Activation Request message includes the time T at which the UE 102's position should be measured and therefore the time at which the UE 102 must transmit the UL SRS to enable the UL measurements in step 13b to occur at or near time T. In step 9b, the serving gNB 110-1 triggers the UE SRS transmission at or near time T. The UE 102 waits until at or near time T to begin the UL SRS transmission. The serving gNB 110-1 may return an NRPPa acknowledgment to the LMF 120 (not shown in FIG. 3A ).

[0097] In step 10, the LMF 120 provides UL information to the selected gNB 110 in an NRPPa MEASUREMENT REQUEST message. This message includes an indication that an LSS 117 in the serving gNB 110-1 is to be used, as well as the identity of the serving gNB 110-1 and / or the LSS 117, and the time T for performing the UL measurements. This message includes all information needed to enable the gNB / TRP 110 to perform the UL measurements.

[0098] In step 11, the LMF 120 sends an LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the UE 102. The message includes any assistance data needed for the UE 102 to perform the necessary DL PRS measurements (e.g., including the PRS configuration information sent or received by the LMF 120 in step 2).

[0099] In stage 12, the LMF 120 sends an LPP Request Location Information message to the UE 102 to request DL measurements, e.g., of the UE receive time minus transmit time difference (Rx-Tx), to support a positioning method, e.g., multi-RTT. The Request Location Information message includes an indication that the LSS 117 associated with the serving gNB 110-1 is to be used, as well as the time T. The Request Location Information message may further indicate the type of positioning method to be used, e.g., multi-RTT, supported by the UE.

[0100] In step 13a, at or near time T (e.g., within 1-500 ms of time T), UE102 performs DL PRS measurements from all gNBs110 provided in the assistance data in step 11.

[0101] In step 13b, at or near time T, each gNB 110 configured in step 10 measures the UL SRS transmission from the UE 102.

[0102] In step 14, neighboring gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 each report the UE SRS measurement results to the serving gNB 110-1 and LSS 117 as identified in step 10 in an XnAP transfer message including an NRPPa Measurement Response message. This step differs from the location procedure in which the LMF 120 is used but the LSS 117 is not used in that the gNB 110 does not send NRPPa Measurement Response messages to the LMF 120 but instead sends these messages to the LSS 117, which may reduce latency.

[0103] In step 15, the UE 102 reports the DL PRS measurement results for the positioning method, e.g., multi-RTT, to the serving gNB 110-1 and the LSS 117 in an RRC Transfer message that includes an LPP Provide Location Information message. For security, access stratum (AS) encryption of the LPP Provide Location Information message may be used rather than non-access stratum (NAS) encryption. This step differs from a location procedure in which the LMF 120 is used but the LSS 117 is not, in that the UE 102 does not send the LPP Provide Location Information message to the LMF 120 but instead sends this message to the LSS 117, which may reduce latency.

[0104] In step 16, the LSS 117 determines positioning information and a location of the UE 102 using the received measurement results from steps 14 and 15. For example, the LSS 117 determines the RTT between the UE 102 and each gNB 110 from the Rx-Tx time difference measurements of the UE 102 and each gNB 110 for which corresponding UL and DL measurement results were provided in steps 14 and 15, and calculates the location of the UE 102 based on the RTT. The RTT determination and location calculation may be based on existing methods, for example, corresponding UE and gNB Rx-Tx measurements are added to obtain the RTT between the UE 102 and each gNB 110, and the RTT and the known locations of the gNBs 110 are used to determine the location of the UE 102 via multilateration.

[0105] In stage 17a, for MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, the LSS 117 may forward the location of the UE 102 in a User Plane Location Transfer message to the external client 130 via the serving gNB 110-1. The LSS 117 may transmit the final location on the user plane path via a UP router, for example, a UPA 128 in the 5GCN 140. Each LSS 117 may have, for example, a permanent (e.g., secure Transport Layer Security (TLS)) Internet Protocol (IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) / IP, or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) / IP connection to the UP router. The UP router, for example, the UPA 128, may have a secure IP connection to the external client 130 and may forward messages from the LSS 117. The UP router may be part of the LMF 120, the GMLC 125, or the NEF 127, or may be connected to one of these by proprietary means. Thus, the location report may be forwarded to the external client 130 in two stages, with routing occurring at the IP, UDP, or TCP level. Sending the location report to the external client 130 in this manner reduces latency. To send the UE 102's location to the correct external client 130, the LSS 117 can utilize the external client 130's identification information received in stage 7, such as the (H)GMLC contact address, LDR reference number, IP address, FQDN, location criteria, and / or whether the external client 130 supports receiving the UE 102's location via the user plane. For example, the identification information may be sent to the UP router along with the UE 102's location to enable the UP router to identify the external client 130 and / or may be used by the LSS 117 to select a UP router. The identification information may further be forwarded by the UP router to the external client 130 to enable the external client 130 to identify the UE 102 whose location is associated with it.

[0106] In stage 17b, for MO-LR, the LSS 117 may transfer the location of the UE 102 to the UE 102, for example in an RRC Location Transfer message.

[0107] In stage 18, the LSS 117 sends an NRPPa LSS ASSIGNMENT RELEASE message to the LMF 120 indicating, for example, the success or failure of the positioning, and optionally the location of the UE 102 and the positioning method used.

[0108] In stage 19, the LMF 120 sends an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation Response message to the AMF 115, e.g., for an MO-LR or MT-LR positioning procedure. The Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation Response message enables the AMF 115 to complete the MO-LR or MT-LR procedure as described later with respect to Figures 5 and 6.

[0109] 3B is a message flow 350 illustrating another implementation of messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110 including the LSS 117, and the UE 102 for a UE-assisted positioning procedure, such as multi-RTT. The positioning procedure shown in FIG. 3B is similar to that shown in FIG. 3A, except that the SRS invocation (shown in step 9b of FIG. 3A) and the NRPPa Measurement Request (shown in step 10 of FIG. 3A) are performed by the LSS 117 at or shortly before time T (e.g., 100-500 ms before time T). In addition, the LSS 117 takes over the invocation of the UL SRS from the LMF 120 (at step 11 of FIG. 3B), which gives the LSS 117 greater control and can reduce latency.

[0110] Steps 1-3 of FIG. 3B may be the same as steps 1-3 of FIG. 3A.

[0111] In stage 4, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1 to request UL information for the UE 102. The LMF 120 may request one or more desired SRS configurations from the serving gNB 110-1.

[0112] In stage 5, the serving gNB 110-1 determines the available resources for UL SRS and configures the UE 102 with the UL-SRS resource set in stage 5a using RRC. The gNB 110-1 may further determine the SRS configurations and provide them to the UE 102. The UE 102 stores the SRS configurations for later activation at or after time T.

[0113] In stage 6, the serving gNB 110-1 provides UL SRS configuration information to the LMF 120 in an NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION RESPONSE message. The gNB 110-1 may further provide the SRS configuration to the LMF 120. The UE stores the configuration for later activation at or near time T.

[0114] 3B may be similar to step 7 of FIG. 3A, except that the LMF 120 may further provide an SRS configuration to the LSS 117 as part of the LSS Assignment Request. The LSS 117 stores the SRS configuration for requesting UL measurements from the gNB 110 at or near time T and for initiating the desired SRS at the UE 102 at or near time T. Providing the SRS configuration to the LSS 117 in step 7 by the LMF 120 may be referred to as "pre-configuring the LSS 117."

[0115] Steps 8, 9, and 10 of FIG. 3B may be the same as steps 8, 11, and 12 of FIG. 3A, respectively.

[0116] In step 11, when a position estimate is needed at time T, the LSS 117 invokes one or more of the pre-configured SRSs (from step 5a) in the UE 102 at or near time T, which may be based on the pre-configuration of the LSS 117 in step 7. The UE 102 transmits the UL SRS for positioning as pre-configured, for example, at or near time T. Step 11 may be performed shortly before time T (e.g., 50-500 ms before time T) to allow the UE 102 to transmit the UL SRS at or near time T.

[0117] In step 12, the LSS 117 sends an NRPPa Measurement Request to the gNB 110 to measure the UE UL SRS transmission. This message contains all the information needed to enable the gNB / TRP 110 to perform UL measurements and report the measurement results to the LSS 117.

[0118] In step 13a, the UE 102 measures the DL-PRS according to the configuration provided in step 9 and performs the measurements required in step 10 (eg, RSTD, Rx-Tx, etc.).

[0119] In step 13b, each gNB 110 configured in step 10 measures the UL SRS transmission from the UE 102. Both steps 13a and 13b are preferably at or near time T.

[0120] In step 14, neighboring gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 each report the UE SRS measurement results in an XnAP transfer message containing an NRPPa Measurement Response message to the serving gNB 110-1 and the LSS 117. This step differs from a location procedure in which the LMF 120 is used but the LSS 117 is not used in that the gNB 110 does not send NRPPa Measurement Response messages to the LMF 120 but instead sends these messages to the LSS 117, which may reduce latency.

[0121] Steps 15 and 16 of FIG. 3B may be the same as steps 15 and 16 of FIG. 3A.

[0122] In step 17, the LSS 117 may stop the UL SRS transmission in the UE 102, whereupon the UE 102 ceases UL SRS transmission. The SRS configuration from steps 5a and 6 may be retained or stored in the UE 102 and the LSS 117 for possible later invocation, for example, when a new location is needed (e.g., for periodic or triggered location determination of the UE 102), and the process from step 11 onward may be repeated. The DL-PRS and SRS configuration stored in the UE 102 and the LSS 117 may also be used in case the serving gNB / LSS 110-1 / 117 changes after handover. For example, the serving gNB 110-1 during the location determination execution phase may be a different serving gNB than that during the location determination preparation phase. The UE 102 may retain the SRS configuration even after a cell change. When the serving gNB / LSS110-1 / 117 changes, the old serving gNB110-1 may provide configuration information to the new serving gNB110 / LSS117 so that the new gNB110 / LSS117 can still activate the UL SRS (provided from a different serving gNB / LSS) as configured in step 5a.

[0123] Steps 18a, 18b, 19, and 20 of FIG. 3B may be the same as steps 17a, 17b, 18, and 19, respectively, of FIG. 3A.

[0124] FIG. 3C is a message flow 370 illustrating messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110 including the LSS 117, and the UE 102 for a location execution phase performed in the RRC_INACTIVE state shortly before (e.g., 10-100 ms before) or at time T. Message flow 370 may be used to support event reporting by the UE 102 for periodic or triggered MT-LR, where (e.g., unlike FIG. 3A ) the LSS 117, rather than the LMF 120, supports the entire procedure. This may reduce latency (e.g., compared to the procedure of FIG. 3A ). This procedure utilizes pre-configuration of the LSS 117 by the LMF 120. The UE 102 is also assumed to be in the RRC_INACTIVE state throughout the procedure of FIG. 3C .

[0125] The location preparation stage of the procedure of Figure 3C may precede Figure 3C, as described in the Deferred MT-LR procedure defined in 3GPP TS 23.273. In addition, the LMF 120 may perform some or all of steps 2 through 10 of Figure 3B (e.g., as part of the location preparation stage, such as that described in the Deferred MT-LR procedure defined in 3GPP TS 23.273, which may include pre-configuring the LSS 117 with an UL SRS configuration (in step 7 of Figure 3B) and providing the UL SRS configuration to the UE 102 in steps 4 and 5 of Figure 3B).

[0126] The UE 102 may detect an upcoming event, such as the expiration of a periodic timer for a periodic or triggered MT-LR, that occurs shortly after time T (e.g., after 100-1000 ms) and requires a position estimate. The UE 102 may instead detect an event at time T that requires a position estimate for the UE 102 as soon as possible after time T.

[0127] In stages 1a and 1b, the UE 102 may perform a random access procedure (RACH), which terminates at the serving gNB 110-1. Stages 1a and 1b may be performed shortly before time T (e.g., 100-1000 ms before T), in which case stages 1-5 of FIG. 3C are part of the location preparation stage and do not contribute to latency as shown in FIG. 1C. Alternatively, stages 1a and 1b may be performed at time T, in which case stages 1-5 may contribute to latency.

[0128] In stage 2, if event reporting is allowed in the RRC_INACTIVE state (which may be indicated to the UE 102 during the location preparation procedure (e.g., as indicated in the Deferred MT-LR procedure defined in 3GPP TS 23.273, or in stage 9 or stage 10 of FIG. 3B)), the UE 102 sends an LCS Event Report as part of the Small Data Request message in message 3 (msg3) (for a four-step RACH) or message A (msgA) (for a two-step RACH) within the RRC Resume Request message. This avoids setting up and then releasing a connection to RRC_INACTIVE for positioning and reporting the results, which reduces power consumption, signaling overhead, and latency. After the gNB / LSS110-1 / 117 receives the small data request message from the UE 102 with the LCS Event Report in stage 2, the gNB / LSS110-1 / 117 may configure dedicated pre-configured physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources for subsequent measurement reporting of the UE 102. The LCS Event Report sent in stage 2 may include an indication of time T and / or may include an LPP message that may indicate time T, for example, if stage 1 is performed shortly before time T.

[0129] In stage 3, the gNB / LSS 110-1 / 117 sends an LCS Event Report Acknowledgement to the UE 102 along with the pre-configured UL resources (PUR, configured grant) in message 4 (msg4) (for 4-step RACH) or message B (msgB) (for 2-step RACH) in the RRC Release message. Using the dedicated pre-configured PUSCH resource, the UE 102 may continue to send subsequent LPP Provide Location Information messages in stage 8 on this PUSCH resource, e.g., without moving to an RRC CONNECTED state. The serving gNB / LSS 110-1 / 117 may also determine a new UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the pre-configuration of the LSS 117 by the LMF 120 in stage 7 of FIG. 3B. The new UL SRS configuration may be provided in an RRC Release in stage 3 (e.g., as differential or delta signaling compared to the already (pre-)configured UL SRS in the UE 102, or compared to the last UL SRS configuration used by the UE 102 for the most recent previous event report sent by the UE 102; e.g., only the SRS parameters that have changed are provided compared to those provided in stage 5a of FIG. 3B or stage 3 of FIG. 3C for the most recent previous event report).

[0130] In stage 4, for UL-only positioning and UL+DL positioning, the LSS 117 in the serving gNB 110-1 may activate a pre-configured SRS (e.g., from stage 5a of FIG. 3B). The activation request may also be provided in the RRC Release in stage 3. If a time T was provided in stage 2, the UL SRS may be activated to occur at or near time T.

[0131] In step 5, the LSS 117 sends an NRPPa Measurement Request to each of the gNBs 110 (not shown in FIG. 3C) selected by the LSS 117 to perform UL measurements. Each NRPPa Measurement Request may indicate measurement results at or near time T, if time T was provided in step 2.

[0132] In step 6, the UE 102 measures the DL-PRS according to the configuration provided (in step 9 of FIG. 3B) and performs the required measurements (e.g., RSTD, Rx-Tx, etc.) (e.g., as step 10 of FIG. 3B). If step 1 was performed shortly before time T, the measurements may be performed at or near time T.

[0133] In step 7, the gNB 110 measures the UE SRS transmission from the UE 102 and determines a location measurement, e.g., a gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement. This measurement may be made at or near time T, if time T was provided in step 5.

[0134] In step 8, the UE 102 transmits the DL-PRS measurement results obtained in step 6 (e.g., as part of the LPP Provide Information message) to the LSS 117 in the RRC_INACTIVE state using the pre-configured UL resources provided in step 3.

[0135] In step 9, each of the non-serving gNBs 110 in step 7 (not shown) reports the UE SRS measurement results obtained in step 7 to the serving gNB 110-1 and LSS 117 in an XnAP transfer message including an NRPPa Measurement Response message.

[0136] In step 10, the LSS 117 uses the measurements received in steps 8 and 9 to determine a location estimate, e.g., RTT, for the UE 102 from measurements of the UE 102 and gNB 110 Rx-Tx time difference for each gNB 110. The RTT determination and location calculation may be based on existing methods, e.g., corresponding UE and gNB Rx-Tx measurements are added to obtain the RTT between the UE 102 and a particular gNB 110, and the RTT and known location of the gNB 110 are used to determine the location of the UE 102 via multilateration.

[0137] In step 11, the LSS 117 may deactivate the semi-persistent UL SRS for positioning transmissions at the UE 102, whereupon the UE 102 ceases UL SRS transmission.

[0138] In stage 12, the LSS 117 may forward the location of the UE 102 to the external client 130 via the serving gNB 110-1 in a User Plane Location Transfer message. The LSS 117 may transmit the final location on the user plane path via a UP router, e.g., a UPA 128 in the 5GCN 140. Each LSS 117 may have, for example, a permanent (e.g., secure Transport Layer Security (TLS)) Internet Protocol (IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) / IP, or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) / IP connection to the UP router. The UP router, e.g., the UPA 128, may have a secure IP connection to the external client 130 and may forward messages from the LSS 117. The UP router may be part of the LMF 120, the GMLC 125, or the NEF 127, or may be connected to one of these via proprietary means. Thus, the location report may be forwarded to the external client 130 in two stages, with routing occurring at the IP level, the UDP level, or the TCP level. Sending the location report to the external client 130 in this manner reduces latency.

[0139] 4 is a message flow 400 illustrating messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110 including the LSS 117, and the UE 102 for a UE-based positioning procedure such as multi-RTT. In the positioning procedure shown in FIG. 4, steps 1-14 may be the same as steps 1-14 shown in FIG. 3A, except that the LMF 120 may indicate, for example, in steps 7, 11, and 12, that a UE-based positioning procedure should be used. If preferred, the UE-based positioning procedure shown in FIG. 4 may use steps 1-14 described in FIG. 3B instead of steps 1-14 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 3A. In that case, references below to steps 11, 13a, and 14 of FIG. 4 refer instead to steps 9, 13a, and 14 of FIG. 3B, respectively.

[0140] 4, in step 15, the LSS 117 transmits the UL measurement results received in step 14 to the UE 102 in an RRC Transfer message that includes the UL measurement results, for example, in an LPP Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Provide Location Information message. For security, access stratum (AS) encryption of the LPP Provide Assistance Data message or the LPP Provide Location Information message may be used.

[0141] In step 16, UE 102 determines positioning information and a location of UE 102 using the measurement results obtained in step 13a and received in step 15. For example, UE 102 determines the RTT from measurements of the Rx-Tx time difference between UE 102 and gNB 110 for each gNB 110 for which corresponding UL and DL measurement results were provided in step 15, and calculates the location of UE 102 using, for example, the locations of gNBs 110, which may have been received in step 11. The position determination in step 16 may be the same as or similar to the position determination in step 16 of FIG. 3A.

[0142] In stage 17, for MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, the UE 102 reports the estimated location to the serving gNB 110-1 and the LSS 117 in an RRC Transfer message that includes the estimated location in an LPP Provide Location Information message. For security, AS encryption of the LPP Provide Location Information message may be used.

[0143] In step 18, for MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, the LSS 117 may transfer the location of the UE 102 to the external client 130 in a User Plane Location Transfer message. Step 18 may be similar to or the same as step 17a of Figure 3A. In the case of MO-LR, the UE 102 may retain the location determined in step 16 and does not need to transfer the location to the LSS 117.

[0144] In step 19, the LSS 117 sends an NRPPa LSS ASSIGNMENT RELEASE message to the LMF 120 indicating, for example, the success or failure of the positioning, and optionally the positioning method used.

[0145] In stage 20, the LMF 120 sends an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation Response message to the AMF 115, e.g., for an MO-LR or MT-LR positioning procedure. The Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation Response message enables the AMF 115 to complete the MO-LR or MT-LR procedure as described later with respect to Figures 5 and 6.

[0146] 5 is a message flow 500 illustrating messaging between an external LCS client 130, a GMLC 125, an LMF 120, a gNB 110 including an LSS 117, and a UE 102 for an MT-LR positioning procedure. In general, the 5GC MT-LR procedure is specified in 3GPP TS 23.273. The message flow 500 is for a procedure applicable to, for example, a request from an LCS client 130 for a single current location of the UE 102, where it is assumed that the LCS client 130 is authorized to use location services and that privacy validation is not required. The positioning procedure may be a UE-assisted or UE-based positioning procedure for RTT as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B or 4, or any other desired positioning method that may include measurements of the DL PRS, the UL SRS, or both the DL PRS and the UL SRS.

[0147] As shown in stage 1 of FIG. 5, the external location services (LCS) client 130 sends a request to the GMLC 125 for the location of the UE 102. This request includes a time T at which the location of the UE 102 should be obtained. The time T may have any of the previously described interpretations I1-I6, but preferably is the time at which a location measurement result for the UE 102 should be obtained, or indicates that the location of the UE 102 should be obtained at (or near) the time T. The time T may be a local time or a global time, for example, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The request may include the required QoS, supported Geographical Area Description (GAD) shapes, and client type. Preferably, the external client 130 sends the location request in stage 1 shortly (e.g., 1-5 seconds) before the occurrence of the time T. This can enable the LMF 120 to schedule the transmission of the UL SRS by the UE 102, the transmission of the DL PRS by the eNB 110, the measurement of the DL PRS by the UE 102, and the measurement of the UL SRS by the gNB 110, as described in Figures 3A, 3B, and 4, before the occurrence of time T, thereby reducing the latency to the period between time T and the delivery of the location of the UE 102 to the external client 130.

[0148] In stage 2, the GMLC 125 invokes a Namf_Location_ProvidePositioningInfo service operation towards the AMF 115 to request the UE's current location. The service operation includes a time T. The service operation includes an identifier for the UE 102, e.g., a Subscription Permanent Identifier (SUPI), and a client type, and may include the required QoS and supported GAD shapes. For example, as described for stages 1a, 1b, and 7 of FIG. 3A, the service operation further includes the identity of the external client.

[0149] As part of stage 2, if the UE 102 is in Connection Management (CM) IDLE state, the AMF 115 initiates a network-triggered service request procedure to establish a signaling connection with the UE (not shown in Figure 5). The AMF 115 also selects the LMF 120 based on available information.

[0150] In stage 3, the AMF 115 invokes the Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation towards the LMF 120 to request the current location of the UE, which may be the same as stage 1a in Figures 3A, 3B, and 4. The service operation includes the time T and the identification information of the external client 130.

[0151] In stage 4, a positioning procedure is performed to determine the location of UE 102 at time T, e.g., as discussed in stages 2-17a and 18 of FIG. 3A , stages 2-18a and 19 of FIG. 3B , or stages 2-19 of FIG. 4 . Other positioning procedures may be used in which time T is requested and scheduled in advance for UE 102 location determination, e.g., those discussed in FIG. 8 . During the location preparation stage, LMF 120 schedules DL PRS and / or UL SRS transmission at (or around) time T. LMF 120 may also schedule support for LSS 117 at serving gNB 110-1 using NRPPa, requesting that DL measurements from the UE and UL measurements from gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 be transmitted to LSS 117. LMF 120 may also transmit information on the DL PRS configuration and UL SRS configuration to LSS 117. When the positioning procedure is complete, the LMF 120 receives confirmation from the LSS 117, such as in step 18 of FIG. 3A, step 19 of FIG. 3B, or step 19 of FIG.

[0152] In step 5, the LMF 120 returns an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation response to the AMF 115.

[0153] In step 6, the AMF 115 returns a Namf_Location_ProvidePositioningInfo response to the GMLC 125.

[0154] In step 7, the GMLC 125 sends a location service response to the external LCS client 130. Steps 5-7 may be used to confirm that the location was previously sent to the external client 130 as part of step 4.

[0155] 6 is a message flow 600 illustrating messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110 including the LSS 117, and the UE 102 for an MO-LR positioning procedure. In general, the 5GC MO-LR procedure is specified in 3GPP TS 23.273. Message flow 600 illustrates general network positioning requested by the UE 102, for example, to obtain its own location-related information. The positioning procedure may be a UE-assisted or UE-based positioning procedure for RTT as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B or 4, or any other desired positioning method that may include measurements of the DL PRS, the UL SRS, or both the DL PRS and the UL SRS.

[0156] In step 1 of FIG. 6, when the UE 102 is in a CM IDLE state, the UE 102 triggers a UE-initiated service request to establish a signaling connection with the AMF 115.

[0157] In stage 2, the UE 102 sends an MO-LR Request supplementary service message included in a UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the AMF 115. The message includes a time T at which the UE 102's position should be determined and indicates that the UE 102 is requesting its position. The time T may have any of the previously described interpretations I1-I6, but preferably is the time at which a position measurement result for the UE 102 should be obtained, or indicates that the UE 102's position should be obtained at (or near) time T. The time T may be, for example, UTC or the local time of the serving gNB 110-1. The MO-LR Request may optionally include an LPP Positioning message. The MO-LR Request message may carry QoS information required by the LCS (e.g., accuracy, response time, LCS QoS class). Preferably, the UE 102 sends the MO-LR Request in stage 2 shortly (e.g., 1-5 seconds) before the occurrence of time T. This can enable the LMF 120 to schedule the transmission of the UL SRS by the UE 102, the transmission of the DL PRS by the eNB 110, the measurement of the DL PRS by the UE 102, and the measurement of the UL SRS by the gNB 110, as described in Figures 3A, 3B, and 4, before the occurrence of time T, thereby reducing the latency to the period between time T and the delivery of the location of the UE 102 to the UE 102.

[0158] In phase 3, the AMF 115 invokes the Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation service operation towards the LMF 120, which may be the same as phase 1a in Figures 3A, 3B, and 4. The service operation includes a time T.

[0159] In stage 4, a positioning procedure is performed to determine the location of UE 102 at time T, e.g., as discussed in stages 2-16, 17b, and 18 of FIG. 3A , stages 2-17, 18b, and 19 of FIG. 3B , or stages 2-16 and 19 of FIG. 4 . Other positioning procedures may be used in which time T is requested and scheduled in advance for UE 102 location determination, e.g., those discussed in FIG. 8 . During the location preparation stage, LMF 120 schedules DL PRS and / or UL SRS transmission at (or around) time T. LMF 120 may also schedule support for LSS 117 at serving gNB 110-1 using NRPPa, requesting that DL measurements from UE 102 and UL measurements from gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 be transmitted to LSS 117. LMF 120 may also transmit information on the DL PRS configuration and UL SRS configuration to LSS 117. When the positioning procedure is complete, the LMF 120 receives confirmation from the LSS 117, such as in step 18 of FIG. 3A, step 19 of FIG. 3B, or step 19 of FIG.

[0160] In step 5, once the positioning procedure of step 4 is completed, the LMF 120 returns an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation response to the AMF 115. The service action includes an LCS Correlation identifier and may include information about the positioning method.

[0161] In step 6, the AMF 115 sends an MO-LR Response message included in the DL NAS TRANSPORT message to the UE 102. The MO-LR Response message may indicate that the MO-LR process is complete. In addition, the AMF may record charging information.

[0162] 7 is a message flow 700 illustrating messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110 including the LSS 117, the UE 102, and a 5GC LCS entity 702 for a periodic or triggered MT-LR positioning procedure. In general, 5GC periodic and triggered positioning procedures are specified in 3GPP TS 23.273. Message flow 700 summarizes the initiation and reporting of a positioning event, for example, for a deferred 5GC-MT-LR procedure for a periodic or triggered event. The positioning procedure may be a UE-assisted or UE-based positioning procedure for RTT as shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4, or any other desired positioning method that may include measurements of the DL PRS, the UL SRS, or both the DL PRS and the UL SRS.

[0163] In stage 1, initiation of periodic or triggered location location of the UE 102 may be performed, for example, as described in 3GPP TS 23.273, section 6.3.1, with the procedure initiated by the external client 130. As part of the initiation, the identification of the external client 130 (e.g., as described for stage 1b of FIG. 3A ) may be provided to the UE 102 by the LMF 120, along with information about the periodic or triggered event and the identification of the LMF 120. Stage 1 is performed by the external client 130, a Home HMLC (HGMLC), such as GMLC 125, the AMF 115, the UE 102, and the LMF 120. Following stage 1, the LMF 120 either maintains state information for the periodic or triggered MT-LR and supports stages 3-5 of FIG. 7, or forwards the state information to another LMF 120 for support of stages 3-5 of FIG. 7. The state information may include the type of location to be initiated, periodic or triggered, and the identity of the external client 130. The state information maintained by the LMF 120 enables the LMF 120 to validate event reports received as described below in stage 3 as being legitimate event reports which may enable the LMF 120 to trigger the procedures described below for stage 4.

[0164] In stage 2, after a periodic or triggered location request is initiated, the UE 102 monitors for the occurrence of the requested triggering event or periodic event. For area events or motion events, the UE 102 may monitor the requested event at intervals equal to or less than the maximum event sampling interval. Preferably, the UE 102 attempts to detect the event shortly (e.g., 1-5 seconds) before the event occurs. For periodic events, the UE 102 can detect impending events by setting a timer to expire a few seconds before each periodic event. The UE 102 can then consider the time T, as used in the procedures of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4, to be the same as the occurrence of the periodic event. For area event triggers or motion event triggers, the UE 102 may need to wait until the event occurs. In that case, the UE 102 may set the time T, as used in the procedures of FIGS. 3A and 4, to a time a few seconds after the event is detected. For events related to pre-configured movement of an object or tool in an automated factory or warehouse (e.g., movement of a load or tool containing UE 102 to a new location, where the time at which the movement will be completed is known in advance), UE 102 can detect the event in advance based on the time at which the movement is expected to be completed.

[0165] In stage 3, the UE 102 sends an event report message to the LMF 120, which is forwarded via the serving AMF 115 and delivered to the LMF 120 using the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation, which may be the same as stage 1b in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4. For periodic events, the UE 102 may send the event report message at regular intervals to trigger each periodic location determination. As described for stage 2, the event report message is sent before each periodic reporting time T at which the location of the UE 102 is to be determined and includes the time T. For example, the event report message may be sent at time T-Δ, which may be 1 to 5 seconds before time T, or sufficient time for the positioning preparation phase. For a triggering event, the UE 102 may send the event report message at time T-Δ, which may be 1 to 5 seconds before time T, or sufficient time for the positioning preparation phase if the UE 102 knows the event time T in advance as discussed for stage 2. The time T may be, for example, UTC or the local time of the serving gNB 110-1. The time T may have any of the previously described interpretations I1-I6, but preferably is the time at which a position measurement result for the UE 102 should be obtained or indicates that the position of the UE 102 should be obtained at (or near) time T. The event report may indicate the type of event being reported (e.g., whether it is a regular event or the expiration of the maximum reporting interval) and may include an embedded positioning message containing any position measurement results or position estimates already obtained. The AMF 115 forwards the event report to the serving LMF 120 based on a deferred routing identifier included by the UE 102 indicating to the LMF 120. The UE 102 may also include in the event report the identity of the external client 130, whether a position estimate should be reported, and, if so, the location QoS. When forwarding the event report message to the LMF 120, the AMF 115 may include the received deferred routing identifier.The deferred routing identifier can assist the LMF 120 in identifying scheduled or triggered location sessions.

[0166] In stage 4, when LMF 120 receives the event report, and if LMF 120 is able to handle this event report, LMF 120 updates the status of the event report (e.g., the number of event reports received so far from UE 102 and / or the time length of the event reports so far) and returns a supplementary service acknowledgment for the event report to UE 102, which may be the same as stage 1c in Figures 3A, 3B, and 4.

[0167] In stage 5, a positioning procedure is performed to determine the location of the UE 102 at time T, e.g., as discussed in stages 2-17a and 18 of FIG. 3A , stages 2-18a and 19 of FIG. 3B , or stages 2-19 of FIG. 4 . Other positioning procedures may be used in which time T is requested and scheduled in advance for position determination of the UE 102, e.g., as discussed in FIG. 8 . During the positioning preparation stage, the LMF 120 schedules DL PRS and / or UL SRS transmissions at (or around) time T, which may support on-demand PRS. The LMF 120 may also schedule support for the LSS 117 at the serving gNB 110-1 using the NRPPa, requesting that DL measurements from the UE 102 and UL measurements from gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 be transmitted to the LSS 117. The LMF 120 may also transmit information on the DL PRS configuration and the UL SRS configuration to the LSS 117.

[0168] In stage 6, the UE 102 continues to monitor for further periodic or triggering events as in stage 2, triggering stages 3-5 each time a triggering event is detected.

[0169] As discussed in stage 3, if the triggering event is a periodic reporting time T, the UE 102 may transmit an event report message before the periodic reporting time T and include the time T in the event report message so that the LMF 120 can schedule the DL PRS transmission and / or the UL SRS transmission at time T. However, if the triggering event is something other than a periodic reporting time, the triggering event may be used to schedule a location determination before some known time T. For example, the trigger may be based on the expected movement of the UE. By way of illustration, in a factory or warehouse, the UE 102 may be attached to a tool or package that is expected to be moved to a new location P. Thus, a location determination may be scheduled by the UE 102 to occur shortly after the expected arrival of the UE 102 at location P. Thus, the trigger may be a command or decision to move the UE 102 to the new location P, where time T is the expected time of arrival at location P plus, for example, a small buffer time delta.

[0170] In other implementations, the UE's movement may not be known or predicted in advance. For example, existing MT-LR triggers in 3GPP TS 23.273 include a change in area and the UE moving more than some threshold straight-line distance. However, because these triggers may not be predictable in advance, the UE 102 may select a reporting time T that is some short time after the trigger is detected. This implementation still reduces latency, which has the advantage of providing the location to the external client 130 (or UE 102) at a shorter time interval after the location measurement, making the location determination more accurate and reliable at the time of receipt.

[0171] 8 is a message flow 800 illustrating messaging between the LMF 120, the gNB 110, and the UE 102 for a UE-assisted positioning procedure, such as multi-RTT, where the time T for position determination of the UE 102 is scheduled in advance, but where the LSS 117 is not used. Message flow 800 is similar to message flow 300 shown in FIG. 3A, without the messages related to the LSS 117. It should be understood that the message flow can be used with UE-based positioning procedures that do not use the LSS 117.

[0172] 8 may be the same as those discussed in Figure 3A. Steps 7 and 8 from Figure 3A do not need to be performed in message flow 800.

[0173] Step 7a of FIG. 8 may be similar to step 9a of FIG. 3A, in which the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa Positioning Activation Request message to the serving gNB 110-1 to trigger an UL SRS transmission from the UE 102. The NRPPa Positioning Activation Request message includes a time T at which the position of the UE 102 should be measured. In step 7b, which may be similar to step 9b of FIG. 3A, the serving gNB 110-1 triggers the UE SRS transmission and indicates the time T. The UE 102 waits until time T to begin the UL SRS transmission. The serving gNB 110-1 may return an NRPPa acknowledgment to the LMF 120 (not shown in FIG. 8).

[0174] In step 8, the LMF 120 provides the UL information to the selected gNBs 110 in NRPPa MEASUREMENT REQUEST messages (one message per gNB 110). These messages include the time T for performing the UL measurements. These messages contain all the information needed to enable the gNB / TRP 110 to perform the UL measurements.

[0175] In step 9, the LMF 120 sends an LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the UE 102. This message contains any required assistance data for the UE 102 to perform the necessary DL PRS measurements.

[0176] In step 10, the LMF 120 sends an LPP Request Location Information message to the UE 102 to request Multi-RTT measurements. The Request Location Information message includes a time T. The Request Location Information message may further indicate the type of positioning method to be used, for example, multi-RTT supported by the UE.

[0177] In step 11a, at or near time T, the UE 102 performs DL PRS measurements from all gNBs 110 provided in the assistance data in step 9.

[0178] In step 11b, at or near time T, each gNB110 configured in step 8 measures the UE SRS transmission from the UE102.

[0179] In step 12, each of the neighboring gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and 110-4 reports the UE SRS measurement results to the LMF 120 in an NRPPa Measurement Response message.

[0180] In step 13, the UE 102 reports the DL PRS measurements for multi-RTT to the LMF 120 in an LPP Provide Location Information message.

[0181] In step 14, the LMF 120 determines the positioning information and location of the UE 102 using the received measurement results from steps 12 and 13. For example, the LMF 120 determines the RTT from measurements of the Rx-Tx time difference between the UE 102 and the gNB 110 for each gNB 110 for which corresponding UL and DL measurement results were provided in steps 12 and 13, and calculates the location of the UE 102.

[0182] In stage 15a, the LMF 120 returns an Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation response to the AMF 115 to return the current location of the UE, e.g., for an MO-LR or MT-LR positioning procedure. The service action includes an LCS Correlation identifier, a location estimate, its age and accuracy, and may include information about the positioning method.

[0183] In step 15b, for periodic or triggered location determination, the LMF 120 invokes the Nlmf_Location_EventNotify service operation to the external client via the GMLC 125 with an indication of the type of event being reported, the GMLC contact address and LDR reference number, the identification information of the LMF 120 if the LMF 120 is the serving LMF, and any location estimate obtained in step 14.

[0184] 9 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example functionality of a Location Management Function (LMF) 900, e.g., LMF 120, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, configured to schedule a position determination of a UE 102 in advance and, optionally, assign a location server associated with a serving gNB to determine the position of the UE 102. The LMF 900 may include, for example, one or more processors 902, memory 904, an external interface 910 (e.g., a wired or wireless network interface to base stations and / or entities in a core network) that may be operably coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 920 and memory 904 with one or more connections 906 (e.g., a bus, wires, fibers, links, etc.). In some example implementations, all or a portion of the LMF 900 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

[0185] The one or more processors 902 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 902 may be configured to perform the functions described herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 908 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 920 and / or the memory 904. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 902 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 LMF 900.

[0186] The medium 920 and / or memory 904 may store instructions or program code 908, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 902, cause the one or more processors 902 to operate as special-purpose computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in LMF 900, the medium 920 and / or memory 904 may include one or more components or modules that can be implemented by the one or more processors 902 to perform the methods described herein. While the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 920 executable by the one or more processors 902, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 904 or may be dedicated hardware either within or external to the one or more processors 902.

[0187] A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 920 and / or memory 904 and may be utilized by one or more processors 902 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 920 and / or memory 904 as shown in the LMF 900 is exemplary only, and thus 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 LMF 900.

[0188] The medium 920 and / or memory 904 may include a positioning session module 922 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 902, configures the one or more processors 902 to participate in a positioning session for the UE. For example, the one or more processors 902 may be configured to participate in the positioning session by receiving, e.g., from the UE or an external client, via the external interface 910, a positioning message for the UE that may include a time T at which the location of the UE is to be measured. The one or more processors 902 may be configured to send a request message via the external interface 910 to an entity, such as a base station and / or the UE, to schedule a position measurement for the UE.

[0189] The medium 920 and / or memory 904 may include an evolved scheduling module 924 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 902, configures the one or more processors 902 to schedule position measurements prior to when the UE's position should be determined. For example, the one or more processors 902 may be configured to receive a time T at which the UE's position should be determined, e.g., from a positioning message, and to schedule position measurements from the base station and / or the UE prior to time T. For example, the one or more processors 902 may be configured to send a message via the external interface 910 to a serving base station to enable the serving base station to initiate transmission of an UL SRS signal by the UE at or near time T, or to send a message to the UE to enable measurement of a DL PRS signal by the UE at or near time T. The one or more processors 902 may be configured to include the time T in a request message sent to an entity, such as a base station and / or the UE, to schedule position measurements for the UE.

[0190] The medium 920 and / or the memory 904 may include a location server assignment module 926 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 902, configures the one or more processors 902 to send a message via the external interface 910 to a serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station. The location server may be, for example, the LSS 117 from FIGS. 1 and 2. The one or more processors 902 may be configured to include in the assignment message information about the multiple entities and position measurement results, such as time T, identification information of each of the entities performing positioning, identification information of the position measurement results, configuration information for DL ​​signals transmitted by the base station, where at least some of the position measurement results are obtained by the UE using DL signals when the multiple entities include the UE, configuration information for UL signals transmitted by the UE, where at least some of the position measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using UL signals when the multiple entities include at least one base station, identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or some combination thereof. The one or more processors 902 may be configured to include an identification of the location server, in addition to the time T, in a request message sent to an entity such as a base station and / or the UE to schedule a position measurement for the UE. The one or more processors 902 may further be configured to receive, via the external interface 910, a release message from the serving base station after the position of the UE is measured at time T.

[0191] 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 902 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.

[0192] 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 920 or memory 904 connected to one or more processors 902 and executed by the one or more processors 902. 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.

[0193] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 908 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 920 and / or the memory 904. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer program code 908. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code 908 stored thereon may include program code 908 for supporting proactive scheduling of UE 102 position determination and assignment of a location server associated with a serving gNB, in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 920 includes a physical computer storage medium. 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 can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 908 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk and disc, as used herein, include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs; disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0194] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 920, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communications device. For example, the communications device may include an external interface 910 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.

[0195] Memory 904 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 904 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 902, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within one or more processors 902 or may otherwise be co-located / coupled with one or more processors 902. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid-state memory drives, etc.

[0196] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operatively receive or otherwise be configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 920. 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 920 on which computer-implementable program code 908 may be stored, which, when executed by one or more processors 902, may be effectively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 920 may be part of the memory 904.

[0197] 1 and 2 , that is associated with a serving base station for the UE 102 and configured to receive location measurement results and determine the location of the UE 102 as described herein. The location server 1000 is associated with a serving base station for the UE, e.g., gNB 110-1, because the location server 1000 may be internal to the serving gNB, may be part of a central unit (CU) for the serving gNB, may be connected to the CU for the serving gNB, or may be external to and connected to the serving gNB.

[0198] The location server 1000 may include an external interface 1010, which may include, for example, one or more processors 1002, memory 1004, a wireless transceiver 1011, and / or a communication interface 1016, which may be operatively coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium 1020 and the memory 1004 using one or more connections 1006 (e.g., a bus, a wire, a fiber, a link, etc.). The wireless transceiver 1011 may be a transceiver for communicating with the UE 102, for example, if the location server is internal to the serving gNB 110-1. The wireless transceiver 1011 may include a transmitter 1012 and a receiver 1014 coupled to one or more antennas 1009 to transmit (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receive (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals and convert signals from wireless to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The communication interface 1016 may be, for example, a wired or wireless network interface to a CU for the serving gNB 110-1 or a serving base station if the location server 1000 is part of, or connected to, a CU for the serving gNB, or may be for an entity in a core network if the location server 1000 is external to, and connected to, a serving gNB. In some example implementations, all or part of the location server 1000 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

[0199] The one or more processors 1002 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1002 may be configured to perform the functions described herein by implementing one or more instructions or program code 1008 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1020 and / or the memory 1004. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1002 may represent one or more circuits configurable to perform at least a portion of data signal calculation procedures or processes related to the operation of the location server 1000.

[0200] The medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 may store instructions or program code 1008, including executable code or software instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1002, cause the one or more processors 1002 to operate as special-purpose computers programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As shown in the location server 1000, the medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 may include one or more components or modules that can be implemented by the one or more processors 1002 to perform the methods described herein. While the components or modules are shown as software in the medium 1020 executable by the one or more processors 1002, it should be understood that the components or modules may be stored in the memory 1004 or may be dedicated hardware either within or external to the one or more processors 1002.

[0201] A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 and may be utilized by the one or more processors 1002 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 as shown in the location server 1000 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 1000.

[0202] The medium 1020 and / or the memory 1004 may include an assignment module 1022 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to receive, via the communication interface 1016, an assignment message from the LMF 120 including a time T at which the location of the UE 102 is to be determined. The assignment message enables the location server 1000 to function as the location server 1000 for the UE 102 to determine the location of the UE 102 at time T. The assignment message may include information for multiple entities and location measurement results in the assignment message. For example, the information may include at least one of: a time at which the UE's location should be measured, an identification of each of the multiple entities, an identification of the location measurement results, configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the base station, where when the multiple entities include the UE, at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals, configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where when the multiple entities include at least one base station, at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signals, an identification of an external client for locating the UE, or some combination thereof. The one or more processors 1002 may be further configured to return an acknowledgment to the LMF via the communication interface 1016 indicating that the assignment is accepted.

[0203] The medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 may include a positioning module 1024 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to receive position measurements for the UE 102 from multiple entities, such as the UE 102 and neighboring base stations, via the external interface 1010. The position measurements are scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF and obtained by the multiple entities at or near time T. The position measurements may be, for example, DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, WLAN, RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof received from the UE 102, and / or UL-TDOA, UL-AOA, RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof received from one or more base stations.

[0204] The medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 may include a position determination module 1026 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to enable the location server 1000 or the UE 102 to determine a position of the UE 102 based on position measurements and at least one positioning method. For example, the one or more processors 1002 may be configured to determine a position of the UE 102 based on received position measurements. In another example, the one or more processors 1002 may be configured to transmit, e.g., via the external interface 1010, position measurements received from other base stations to the UE 102 and receive a position from the UE after the UE has determined a position from the position measurements.

[0205] The medium 1020 and / or the memory 1004 may include a release module 1028 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to send a release message to the LMF via the communication interface 1016 to release the location server allocation after the location of the UE 102 has been determined.

[0206] The medium 1020 and / or memory 1004 may include a location forwarding module 1030 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1002, configures the one or more processors 1002 to transmit a location of the UE 102 to an external client or the UE 102 via the external interface 1010. The one or more processors may be configured to transmit the location to the external client based on a user plane protocol.

[0207] 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 1002 may be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0208] 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 1020 or memory 1004 connected to one or more processors 1002 and executed by the one or more processors 1002. 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.

[0209] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1008 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1020 and / or the memory 1004. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer program code 1008. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code 1008 stored thereon may include program code 1008 for supporting proactive scheduling of UE 102 position determination and assignment of a location server associated with a serving gNB, in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1020 includes a physical computer storage medium. 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 can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1008 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk and disc, as used herein, include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs; disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0210] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 1020, the instructions and / or data may be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communications device. For example, the communications device may include an external interface 1010 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.

[0211] Memory 1004 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1004 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 1002, it should be understood that all or a portion of the primary memory may be provided within one or more processors 1002 or may otherwise be co-located / coupled with one or more processors 1002. Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as the primary memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid-state memory drives, etc.

[0212] In some implementations, the secondary memory may operatively receive or otherwise be configurable to couple to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1020. 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 1020 on which computer-implementable program code 1008 may be stored, which, when executed by one or more processors 1002, may be effectively enabled to perform all or a portion of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1020 may be part of the memory 1004.

[0213] 11 shows a schematic block diagram illustrating some example functionality of a UE 1100, which may be, for example, the UE 102 shown in FIG. 1, configured to support proactive scheduling of UE 102 position determination and assignment of a location server associated with a serving base station, as discussed herein. The UE 1100 may execute, for example, the signal flows shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and the process flows shown in FIG. 14, and the algorithms disclosed herein. The UE 1100 may include, for example, one or more processors 1102, memory 1104, at least one wireless transceiver (e.g., a wireless network interface) shown as a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 1110 and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 1112, which may be operatively coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 and the memory 1104 with one or more connections 1106 (e.g., a bus, wires, fibers, links, etc.), an SPS receiver 1115, and an external interface such as one or more sensors 1113. The wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceiver 1110 and / or WLAN transceiver 1112) may further include transceivers for a wireless personal area network (WPAN), a wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), etc. The SPS receiver 1115 may receive and process SPS signals, for example, from the SV 190 shown in FIG. 1. The one or more sensors 1113 may include, for example, a barometer, and / or an inertial measurement unit (IMU) such as one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, a magnetometer, etc. The UE 1100 may further include additional items not shown, such as a user interface through which a user can interface with the UE, which may include a display, a keypad, or other input devices such as a virtual keypad on a display. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the UE 1100 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

[0214] The at least one wireless transceiver may be a transceiver 1110 for a WWAN communication system and a transceiver 1112 for a WLAN communication system, or may be a combined transceiver for both WWAN and WLAN. The WWAN transceiver 1110 may include a transmitter 1110t and a receiver 1110r coupled to one or more antennas 1111 to transmit (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receive (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals and convert signals from wireless to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The WLAN transceiver 1112 may include a transmitter 1112t and a receiver 1112r coupled to one or more antennas 1111 or separate antennas to transmit (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receive (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals and convert signals from wireless to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The transmitters 1110t and 1112t may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receivers 1110r and 1112r may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components.The WWAN transceiver 1110 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with base stations and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), etc. New Radio (NR) may use mm-wave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. The WLAN transceiver 1112 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with an access point and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. The transceivers 1110 and 1112 may be communicatively coupled to a transceiver interface, for example, by an optical and / or electrical connection, which may be at least partially integrated with the transceivers 1110 and 1112.

[0215] 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 wireless transceivers 1110 and 1112. In some embodiments, the UE antenna 1111 may be coupled to the wireless transceivers 1110 and 1112. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the UE 1100 may be performed at the connection point between the UE antenna 1111 and the wireless transceivers 1110 and 1112. For example, measurement points of reference for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be the input (output) terminal of the receiver 1110r (transmitter 1110t) and the output (input) terminal of the UE antenna 1111. In a UE 1100 with multiple UE antennas 1111 or an antenna array, the antenna connectors may be viewed as virtual points representing the collective outputs (inputs) of the multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments, the UE 1100 may measure the received signal including the signal strength, and the TOA measurements and raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 1102.

[0216] 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.

[0217] 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.

[0218] A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 and may 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 exemplary only, and thus 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.

[0219] The medium 1120 and / or the 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 participate in a positioning session for the UE. For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to participate in the positioning session by receiving, via the transceiver 1110, a location request message transmitted from the LMF requesting a position measurement by the UE at or near time T. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to obtain the position measurement results and may be configured to transmit the position measurement results or a position estimate to a location server. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive, from the LMF via the transceiver 1110, assistance data including configuration information for DL ​​PRS transmitted by multiple base stations at or near time T, for example, and obtain the position measurement results by measuring the DL PRS at or near that time based on the configuration information. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to determine a position of the UE 102 based on the position measurement results. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive, via the transceiver 1110, a request to transmit the UL SRS at or near time T, and to transmit the UL SRS accordingly. The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive, via the transceiver 1110, position measurement results from a location server, and to determine a position of the UE 102 based on position measurement results obtained by the UE 102 and received from the location server.

[0220] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include an evolved scheduling module 1124 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to receive scheduled position measurement results prior to when the UE's position is to be determined at time T and to perform position measurement at or near time T. The one or more processors 1102 may further be configured to receive a scheduled UL SRS and transmit the UL SRS at time T.

[0221] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include a location server assignment module 1126 that, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to send and receive messages to a location server associated with a serving base station.

[0222] 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 in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0223] 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 of memory or number of memories, or to any particular type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0224] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as 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. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer program code 1108. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code 1108 stored thereon may include program code 1108 for supporting proactive scheduling of UE 102 position determination and assignment of a location server associated with a serving gNB, in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 includes a physical computer storage medium. 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 can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1108 in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer; disk and disc, as used herein, include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs; disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0225] 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 wireless 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.

[0226] 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, disk drives, optical disk drives, tape drives, solid-state memory drives, etc.

[0227] 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 program 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.

[0228] FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1200 for supporting a location location session for a user equipment (UE), such as UE 102, performed by a location management function (LMF), such as LMF 120 shown in FIG. 1, in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementations.

[0229] In block 1202, the LMF receives a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, e.g., as discussed in stage 1a or 1b of Figure 3A, 3B, 4, or 8, where the positioning message indicates a time at which the location of the UE should be measured (e.g., time T as described in Figures 3A-7). For example, in one implementation, e.g., as discussed in stage 1b of Figure 3A, 3B, 4, or 8 and stage 3 of Figure 7, the first entity may be the UE, and the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time. The means for receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which the location of the UE should be measured, may include, for example, an external interface 910 and one or more processors 902 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 904 and / or medium 920 in the LMF 900, such as the positioning session module 922 shown in FIG. 9.

[0230] In block 1204, the LMF sends a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a position measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time that enables the position of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method, as discussed, for example, in step 10 or 12 of FIG. 3A or FIG. 4 and steps 8 and 10 of FIG. 8. The means for sending the request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a position measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time that enables the position of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method, may include, for example, an external interface 910 and one or more processors 902 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 904 and / or medium 920 in the LMF 900, such as the positioning session module 922 and evolved scheduling module 924 shown in FIG. The plurality of entities may include, for example, a UE, and the at least one positioning method may be DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, wireless local area network (WLAN, also referred to as WiFi), RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. The plurality of entities may include, for example, at least one base station, and the at least one positioning method comprises UL-TDOA, UL-AOA, RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. The at least one base station may include, for example, a serving base station for the UE (e.g., gNB 110-1), multiple neighbor base stations for the UE (e.g., gNB 110), or both.3A or step 9a of FIG. 4 and step 7a of FIG. 8, the LMF may further send a message to the serving base station, which message enables the serving base station to initiate transmission of an uplink SRS signal by the UE at or near the time, and at least a portion of the position measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the uplink SRS signal. The means for sending the message to the serving base station, which message enables the serving base station to initiate transmission of an uplink SRS signal by the UE at or near the time, and at least a portion of the position measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the uplink SRS signal, may include, for example, an external interface 910 and one or more processors 902 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 904 and / or medium 920 in the LMF 900, such as a positioning session module 922 and an evolved scheduling module 924 shown in FIG.

[0231] In one implementation, as discussed in step 7 of FIGS. 3A and 4, for example, the LMF may send an assignment message to a serving base station (e.g., gNB 110-1) for the UE, where the assignment message enables the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station. The location server receives location measurement results from at least some of the multiple entities and enables the location of the UE to be calculated by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method. For example, the serving base station may be a New Radio (NR) NodeB (e.g., gNB 110-1), and the location server may be internal to the gNB, part of a central unit (CU) for the gNB, connected to the CU for the gNB, or external to the gNB and connected to it. The location server may be, for example, the LSS 117 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In one implementation, the location server receives location measurement results from each of the multiple entities, calculates the location of the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and transmits the location to an external client (e.g., as described with respect to FIG. 3A). The means for transmitting an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station, may include, for example, an external interface 910 and one or more processors 902 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 904 and / or medium 920 in the LMF 900, such as the location server assignment module 926 shown in FIG. 9. In some implementations, the LMF may include information and location measurement results for multiple entities in the assignment message.For example, the information may include at least one of: a time at which the UE's location should be measured, an identification of each of the multiple entities, an identification of the location measurement result, configuration information for a downlink (DL) signal (e.g., a DL PRS signal) transmitted by the base station, where at least a portion of the location measurement result is obtained by the UE using the DL signal when the multiple entities include the UE, configuration information for an uplink (UL) signal (e.g., a UL SRS signal) transmitted by the UE, where at least a portion of the location measurement result is obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signal when the multiple entities include at least one base station, an identification of an external client for locating the UE, or some combination thereof. In one implementation, the LMF includes at least one of the time at which the UE's location should be measured, an identification of the location server, or both, in each request message. For example, as discussed in step 18 of FIG. 3A and step 19 of FIG. 4, the LMF may further receive a release message from the serving base station after the UE's location is measured at that time. The release message may include, for example, an indication of success or failure and / or the positioning method used. The means for receiving a release message from the serving base station after the UE's location has been measured at that time may include, for example, an external interface 910 and one or more processors 902 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 904 and / or medium 920 in the LMF 900, such as the location server assignment module 926 shown in FIG.

[0232] FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1300 for supporting a location determination session for a user equipment (e.g., UE 102) performed by a location server, such as LSS 117 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementation.

[0233] In block 1302, a location server receives an assignment message from a Location Management Function (e.g., LMF 120), e.g., as discussed in Figures 3A, 3B, and step 7 of Figure 4, where the assignment message comprises a location server assignment to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicates a time at which the UE's location should be measured (e.g., time T as described with respect to Figures 3A-7). The location server may, for example, be internal to a New Radio (NR) NodeB (e.g., gNB 110-1) for the UE, may be part of or connected to a central unit (CU) for the serving gNB, or may be external to and connected to the serving gNB. A means for receiving an assignment message from a Location Management Function (LMF), where the assignment message assigns a location server to enable location measurement of the UE and indicates a time at which the UE's location should be measured, may include, for example, an external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in location server 1000, such as assignment module 1022 shown in FIG. 10.

[0234] In block 1304, the location server returns an acknowledgment to the LMF indicating that the allocation is accepted, as discussed in Figures 3A, 3B, and stage 8 of Figure 4. Means for returning an acknowledgment to the LMF indicating that the allocation is accepted may include, for example, the external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 within the location server 1000, such as the allocation module 1022 shown in Figure 10.

[0235] In block 1306, the location server receives location measurement results for the UE from multiple entities, where the location measurements are scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF and the location measurement results are obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time, as discussed in steps 14 and 15 of Figures 3A and 3B and steps 14 and 17 of Figure 4. The means for receiving location measurement results for the UE from multiple entities, where the location measurements are scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF and the location measurement results are obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time, may include, for example, an external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in location server 1000, such as location measurement module 1024 shown in Figure 10.

[0236] At block 1308, the location server enables the location of the UE to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method, as discussed in step 16 of Figures 3A and 3B and steps 15 and 16 of Figure 4. The means for enabling the location of the UE to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method may include, for example, the external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in the location server 1000, such as the position determination module 1026 shown in Figure 10. For example, as discussed in steps 15 and 16 of Figure 4, the location server can enable the location of the UE to be determined by the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method by transmitting the location measurement results to the UE, where the location of the UE is calculated by the UE based at least in part on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method. For example, as discussed in step 17 of Figure 4, the location server may receive the UE's position from the UE after the UE's position has been calculated by the UE. The means for transmitting position measurements to the UE may include, for example, an external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in the location server 1000, such as the position determination module 1026 shown in Figure 10. The means for receiving the UE's position from the UE after the UE's position has been calculated by the UE may include, for example, the external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in the location server 1000, such as the position determination module 1026 shown in Figure 10.

[0237] In block 1310, the location server sends a release message to the LMF to release the location server allocation after the UE's location has been determined, as discussed in step 18 of FIG. 3A , step 19 of FIG. 3B , and step 19 of FIG. 4 . The release message may include, for example, an indication of success or failure and / or the positioning method used. Means for sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server allocation after the UE's location has been determined may include, for example, the external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in the memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in the location server 1000, such as the release module 1028 shown in FIG. 10 .

[0238] In one implementation, the multiple entities may include a UE, and at least one positioning method may be DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, WLAN (or WiFi), RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof.

[0239] In some implementations, the multiple entities may include at least one base station (e.g., gNB 110), and the at least one positioning method comprises UL-TDOA, UL-AOA, RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. For example, the at least one base station may be a serving base station (e.g., gNB 110-1) for the UE, multiple neighbor base stations (e.g., other gNBs 110) for the UE, or both.

[0240] In an implementation, the assignment message may include at least one of: identification information of each of the multiple entities; identification information of the location measurement results; configuration information for downlink (DL) signals (e.g., DL PRS signals) transmitted by the base station, where at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals when the multiple entities include the UE; configuration information for uplink (UL) signals (e.g., UL SRS signals) transmitted by the UE, where at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by at least one base station (e.g., gNB 110) using the UL signals when the multiple entities include at least one base station; identification information of an external client (e.g., external client 130) for locating the UE; or some combination thereof.

[0241] In one implementation, for example, as discussed in stages 17a and 17b of FIG. 3A , stages 18a and 18b of FIG. 3B , or stage 18 of FIG. 4 , the location server may further transmit the location of the UE to at least one of an external client (e.g., external client 130) and the UE. For example, the location of the UE may be transmitted to the external client based on a user plane protocol. The means for transmitting the location of the UE to at least one of the external client and the UE may include, for example, an external interface 1010 and one or more processors 1002 with dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 1004 and / or medium 1020 in the location server 1000, such as the location forwarding module 1030 shown in FIG. 10 .

[0242] FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 1400 for supporting a location location session for a user equipment (UE), such as the UE 102 shown in FIG. 1, performed by a UE in a manner consistent with the disclosed implementations.

[0243] At block 1402, the UE receives a location request message from a Location Management Function (e.g., LMF 120) in a wireless network, the location request message requesting a location measurement by the UE at or near a certain time (e.g., time T as described with respect to FIGS. 3A-8), as discussed in, for example, step 12 of FIG. 3A , step 10 of FIG. 3B , step 12 of FIG. 4 , or step 10 of FIG. 8 . Means for receiving a location request message from a Location Management Function (LMF) in a wireless network, the location request message requesting a location measurement by the UE at or near the certain time, may include, for example, a 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 in the UE 1100, such as a positioning session module 1122 and an evolved scheduling module 1124 shown in FIG. 11 .

[0244] In block 1404, the UE obtains position measurements at or near the time, which enable a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurements and at least one positioning method, e.g., as discussed in Figures 3A, 3B, and step 13a of Figure 4 or step 11a of Figure 8. The at least one positioning method may be DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, WLAN (or WiFi), RTT, multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof. The means for obtaining a position measurement result at or near that time, wherein the position measurement result enables the location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result and at least one positioning method, may include, for example, a 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 in the UE 1100, such as the positioning session module 1122 and evolved scheduling module 1124 shown in FIG. 11.

[0245] At block 1406, the UE transmits the position measurement or position to the location server, e.g., as discussed in step 15 of Figures 3A and 3B, step 17 of Figure 4, or step 13 of Figure 8. Means for transmitting the position measurement or position to the location server may include, for example, a 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 within the UE 1100, such as a positioning session module 1122 and a location server assignment module 1126 shown in Figure 11.

[0246] In one implementation, the location server comprises an LMF, e.g., as described with respect to Figure 8. In another implementation, the location server comprises a location server (e.g., LS117) in a radio access network (RAN) for a wireless network, e.g., as described with respect to Figures 3A, 3B, and 4, and the location request message indicates the location server.

[0247] In one implementation, the UE may further receive a request to transmit an uplink signal (e.g., an UL SRS signal) at or near the time, e.g., as discussed in step 9b of Figure 3A, step 11 of Figure 3B, step 9b of Figure 4, or step 7b of Figure 8. Means for receiving a request to transmit an uplink signal at or near the time may include, for example, a 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 within the UE 1100, such as a positioning session module 1122 and an evolved scheduling module 1124 shown in Figure 11. 3A, 3B, and stage 13b of FIG. 4, or stage 11b of FIG. 8, the UE may transmit an uplink signal at or near that time, which uplink signal enables an additional position measurement result to be obtained by at least one base station (e.g., gNB 110) at or near that time, which additional position measurement result further enables a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result, the additional position measurement result, and the at least one positioning method. Means for transmitting an uplink signal at or near that time may include, for example, a 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 within the UE 1100, such as the positioning session module 1122 and evolved scheduling module 1124 shown in FIG. 11. In one implementation, the UE may receive the additional position measurement result from a location server, for example, as discussed in stage 15 of FIG. 4.The means for receiving the additional position measurement results from the location server may include, for example, a 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 within the UE 1100, such as the positioning session module 1122 and the location server assignment module 1126 shown in FIG. 11. For example, as discussed in stage 16 of FIG. 4, the UE may determine a location based on the position measurement results, the additional position measurement results, and the at least one positioning method. The means for determining a location based on the position measurement results, the additional position measurement results, and the at least one positioning method may include, for example, the 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 within the UE 1100, such as the positioning session module 1122 shown in FIG. 11.

[0248] 3A , step 9 of FIG. 3B , step 11 of FIG. 4 , or step 9 of FIG. 8 , the UE may receive assistance data from the LMF, the assistance data comprising configuration information for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by multiple base stations at or near the time, as discussed in step 11 of FIG. 3A , step 9 of FIG. 3B , step 11 of FIG. 4 , or step 9 of FIG. 8 . Means for receiving assistance data from the LMF, the assistance data comprising configuration information for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by multiple base stations at or near the time, may include, for example, a 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 within the UE 1100, such as a positioning session module 1122 and an evolved scheduling module 1124 shown in FIG. 11 . 3A, 3B, and step 13a of FIG. 4, and step 11a of FIG. 8, the UE may obtain a location measurement result by measuring the DL PRS at or near the time based on the configuration information. Means for obtaining a location measurement result by measuring the DL PRS at or near the time based on the configuration information may include, for example, a 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 in the UE 1100, such as a positioning session module 1122 and an evolved scheduling module 1124 shown in FIG.

[0249] 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.

[0250] 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 the 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 should be understood that throughout this specification, descriptions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular apparatus, such as a special purpose computer, a special purpose computing apparatus, or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, which are typically 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.

[0251] 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.

[0252] 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.

[0253] 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.

[0254] It is therefore intended that claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter also include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

[0255] In view of this description, embodiments may include different combinations of features. Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0256] Clause 1. A method performed by a Location Management Function (LMF) to support a positioning session for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which the location of the UE should be measured; and sending a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a position measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near that time, the position measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at that time based on at least one positioning method.

[0257] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the plurality of entities includes a UE, and wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of radiation (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0258] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station and the at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0259] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0260] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, further comprising the step of transmitting a message to a serving base station, the message enabling the serving base station to trigger transmission of an uplink SRS signal by the UE at or near the time, wherein at least a portion of the position measurement results are obtained by at least one base station using the uplink SRS signal.

[0261] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising the step of sending an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station, the location server receiving location measurement results from at least some of the multiple entities, and enabling a location of the UE to be calculated by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0262] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) and the location server is internal to the gNB, part of a central unit (CU) for the gNB, connected to the CU for the gNB, or external to the gNB and connected to it.

[0263] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 6 or 7, wherein the location server receives position measurement results from each of the plurality of entities, calculates a position of the UE based on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and transmits the position to the external client.

[0264] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 6 to 8, further comprising including information and location measurements for a plurality of entities in the assignment message.

[0265] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the information includes at least one of: a time at which the location of the UE is to be measured, or identification information of each of a plurality of entities, or identification information of location measurement results, or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by a base station, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals when the plurality of entities includes the UE, or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signals when the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0266] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 6 to 10, further comprising including in each request message at least one of a time at which the location of the UE should be measured, or an identification of a location server, or both.

[0267] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 6 to 11, further comprising receiving a release message from the serving base station after the location of the UE has been measured at that time.

[0268] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the first entity is a UE, the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report is received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time.

[0269] Clause 14. A Location Management Function (LMF) configured to support a location session for a user equipment (UE), comprising: an external interface configured to communicate wirelessly with a wireless network; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a positioning message for the UE from a first entity via the external interface, the positioning message indicating a time at which a location of the UE should be measured; send a request message via the external interface to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near that time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at that time based on at least one positioning method.

[0270] Clause 15. The LMF of clause 14, wherein the plurality of entities includes a UE and at least one positioning method comprises Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Arrival (DL-AOD), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0271] Clause 16. The LMF of either clause 14 or 15, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station and wherein at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0272] Clause 17. The LMF of clause 16, wherein at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0273] Clause 18. The LMF of clause 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via the external interface, a message to a serving base station, the message enabling the serving base station to trigger transmission of an uplink SRS signal by the UE at or near the time, and at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the uplink SRS signal.

[0274] Clause 19. The LMF of any of clauses 14 to 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send, via the external interface, an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station, the location server receiving location measurement results from at least some of the multiple entities, and the location of the UE being calculated by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0275] Clause 20. The LMF of clause 19, where the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) and the location server is internal to the gNB, part of a central unit (CU) for the gNB, connected to the CU for the gNB, or external to the gNB and connected to it.

[0276] Clause 21. The LMF of either clause 19 or 20, wherein the location server receives location measurement results from each of the plurality of entities, calculates a location of the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method, and transmits the location to an external client.

[0277] Clause 22. The LMF of any of clauses 19 to 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to include information and location measurement results for the plurality of entities in the assignment message.

[0278] Clause 23. The LMF of Clause 22, wherein the information includes at least one of: a time at which the location of the UE is to be measured, or identification information of each of a plurality of entities, or identification information of a location measurement result, or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by a base station, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals when the plurality of entities includes the UE, or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signals when the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0279] Clause 24. The LMF of any of clauses 19 to 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to include in each request message at least one of a time at which the location of the UE should be measured, or an identification of the location server, or both.

[0280] Clause 25. The LMF of any of clauses 19 to 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the external interface, a release message from the serving base station after the location of the UE has been measured at that time.

[0281] Clause 26. The LMF of any of clauses 14 to 25, wherein the first entity is a UE, the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report is received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time.

[0282] Clause 27. A Location Management Function (LMF) configured to support a location session for a user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which a location of the UE should be measured; and means for sending a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method.

[0283] Clause 28. The LMF of clause 27, wherein the plurality of entities includes a UE and at least one positioning method comprises Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Arrival (DL-AOD), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0284] Clause 29. The LMF of either clause 27 or 28, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station and wherein at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0285] Clause 30. The LMF of clause 29, wherein at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0286] Clause 31. The LMF of clause 30, further comprising means for transmitting a message to a serving base station, the message enabling the serving base station to trigger transmission of an uplink SRS signal by the UE at or near the time, wherein at least a portion of the location measurements are obtained by the at least one base station using the uplink SRS signal.

[0287] Clause 32. The LMF of any of clauses 27 to 31, further comprising means for sending an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station, the location server receiving location measurement results from at least some of the plurality of entities, and enabling a location of the UE to be calculated by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0288] Clause 33. The LMF of clause 32, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) and the location server is internal to the gNB, part of a central unit (CU) for the gNB, connected to the CU for the gNB, or external to the gNB and connected to it.

[0289] Clause 34. The LMF of either clause 32 or 33, wherein the location server receives location measurement results from each of the plurality of entities, calculates a location of the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and transmits the location to an external client.

[0290] Clause 35. The LMF of any of clauses 32 to 34, further comprising means for including information and location measurement results for a plurality of entities in the assignment message.

[0291] Clause 36. The LMF of Clause 35, wherein the information includes at least one of: a time at which the location of the UE is to be measured, or identification information of each of a plurality of entities, or identification information of a location measurement result, or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by a base station, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals when the plurality of entities includes the UE, or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signals when the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0292] Clause 37. The LMF of any of clauses 32 to 36, further comprising means for including in each request message at least one of a time at which the location of the UE should be measured, or an identity of the location server, or both.

[0293] Clause 38. The LMF of any of clauses 32 to 37, further comprising means for receiving a release message from the serving base station after the location of the UE has been measured at that time.

[0294] Clause 39. The LMF of any of clauses 27 to 38, wherein the first entity is a UE, the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report is received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time.

[0295] Clause 40. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a Location Management Function (LMF) to support a positioning session for a user equipment (UE), the program code comprising instructions for receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which a position of the UE should be measured; and transmitting a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling a position measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near that time, the position measurement enabling the position of the UE to be measured at that time based on at least one positioning method.

[0296] Clause 41. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 40, wherein the plurality of entities includes a UE, and wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of radiation (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0297] Clause 42. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of either clause 40 or 41, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, and wherein the at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof.

[0298] Clause 43. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 42, wherein the at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0299] Clause 44. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Clause 43, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for transmitting a message to a serving base station, the message enabling the serving base station to trigger transmission of an uplink SRS signal by the UE at or near the time, wherein at least a portion of the position measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the uplink SRS signal.

[0300] Clause 45. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40 to 44, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for sending an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station, the location server receiving position measurement results from at least some of the plurality of entities, and enabling a position of the UE to be calculated by the location server or the UE based on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0301] Clause 46. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 45, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB), and the location server is internal to the gNB, part of a central unit (CU) for the gNB, connected to the CU for the gNB, or external to the gNB and connected thereto.

[0302] Clause 47. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of either clause 45 or 46, wherein the location server receives position measurement results from each of the plurality of entities, calculates a position of the UE based on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and transmits the position to an external client.

[0303] Clause 48. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 45 to 47, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for including information and position measurement results for a plurality of entities in the assignment message.

[0304] Clause 49. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 48, wherein the information includes at least one of: a time at which a location of the UE is to be measured, or identification information of each of a plurality of entities, or identification information of location measurement results, or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by a base station, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals when the plurality of entities includes the UE, or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where at least a portion of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signals when the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0305] Clause 50. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 45 to 49, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for including in each request message at least one of a time at which the location of the UE is to be measured, or an identification of the location server, or both.

[0306] Clause 51. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 45 to 50, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving a release message from the serving base station after the location of the UE has been determined at that time.

[0307] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40 to 51, wherein the first entity is a UE, the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report is received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time.

[0308] Clause 53. A method performed by a location server in a Radio Access Network (RAN) to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising the steps of: receiving an assignment message from a Location Management Function (LMF), the assignment message comprising an assignment for the location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; returning an acknowledgement to the LMF indicating that the assignment is accepted; receiving location measurement results for the UE from a plurality of entities, the location measurements being scheduled at the plurality of entities by the LMF and the location measurement results being obtained by the plurality of entities at or near that time; enabling the UE's location to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location has been determined.

[0309] Clause 54. The method of clause 53, wherein the location server is internal to a New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) for the UE, is part of a Central Unit (CU) for the serving gNB, is connected to the CU for the serving gNB, or is external to and connected to the serving gNB.

[0310] Clause 55. The method of any of clauses 53 or 54, wherein the plurality of entities includes a UE and at least one positioning method comprises Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Arrival (DL-AOD), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0311] Clause 56. The method of any of clauses 53 to 55, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, and the at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0312] Clause 57. The method of clause 56, wherein the at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0313] Clause 58. The method of any of clauses 53 to 57, wherein the step of enabling the location of the UE to be determined by the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method comprises the step of transmitting the location measurement results to the UE, and the location of the UE is calculated by the UE based at least in part on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0314] Clause 59. The method of clause 58, further comprising receiving a location of the UE from the UE after the location of the UE has been calculated by the UE.

[0315] Clause 60. The method of any of clauses 53 to 59, wherein the assignment message further includes at least one of: identification information of each of the plurality of entities; or identification information of location measurement results; or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the base station, where, when the plurality of entities include the UE, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using DL signals; or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where, when the plurality of entities include at least one base station, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using UL signals; or identification information of an external client for locating the UE; or some combination thereof.

[0316] Clause 61. The method of any of clauses 53 to 60, further comprising transmitting the location of the UE to at least one of the external client and the UE.

[0317] Clause 62. The method of clause 61, further comprising transmitting the location of the UE to an external client based on a user plane protocol.

[0318] Clause 63. A location server in a radio access network (RAN) configured to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE), the location server comprising: an external interface configured to communicate wirelessly with a 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 configured to receive an assignment message from a location management function (LMF) via the external interface, the assignment message comprising an assignment to a location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; return an acknowledgment to the LMF via the external interface indicating that the assignment is accepted; receive location measurement results for the UE from multiple entities via the external interface, the location measurements scheduled at the multiple entities by the LMF, the location measurement results obtained by the multiple entities at or near the time, and the location of the UE to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and send a release message to the LMF via the external interface to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location has been determined.

[0319] Clause 64. The location server of clause 63, wherein the location server is internal to a serving New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) for the UE, is part of a Central Unit (CU) for the serving gNB, is connected to the CU for the serving gNB, or is external to and connected to the serving gNB.

[0320] Clause 65. The location server of either clause 63 or 64, wherein the plurality of entities includes UEs and at least one positioning method comprises Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Arrival (DL-AOD), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0321] Clause 66. The location server of any of clauses 63 to 65, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station and wherein at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0322] Clause 67. The location server of clause 66, wherein at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0323] Clause 68. The location server of any of clauses 63 to 67, wherein at least one processor is configured to transmit the position measurement results to the UE via an external interface, thereby enabling a position of the UE to be determined by the UE based on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and wherein the position of the UE is calculated by the UE based at least in part on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0324] Clause 69. The location server of clause 68, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the external interface, a location of the UE from the UE after the location of the UE has been calculated by the UE.

[0325] Clause 70. The location server of any of clauses 63 to 69, wherein the allocation message further includes at least one of: identification information of each of the plurality of entities, or identification information of location measurement results, or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the base station, where, when the plurality of entities include the UE, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using DL signals, or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where, when the plurality of entities include at least one base station, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using UL signals, or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0326] Clause 71. The location server of any of clauses 63 to 70, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, via the external interface, the location of the UE to at least one of the external client and the UE.

[0327] Clause 72. The location server of clause 71, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the location of the UE based on a user plane protocol to an external client via the external interface.

[0328] Clause 73. A location server in a Radio Access Network (RAN) configured to support a location determination session for a user equipment (UE), the location server comprising: means for receiving an assignment message from a Location Management Function (LMF), the assignment message comprising an assignment for the location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; means for returning an acknowledgement to the LMF indicating that the assignment is accepted; means for receiving location measurement results for the UE from a plurality of entities, the location measurements being scheduled at the plurality of entities by the LMF and the location measurement results being obtained by the plurality of entities at or near that time; means for enabling the UE's location to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and means for sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location has been determined.

[0329] Clause 74. The location server of clause 73, wherein the location server is internal to a serving New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) for the UE, is part of a Central Unit (CU) for the serving gNB, is connected to the CU for the serving gNB, or is external to and connected to the serving gNB.

[0330] Clause 75. The location server of either clause 73 or 74, wherein the plurality of entities includes UEs and at least one positioning method comprises Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Arrival (DL-AOD), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0331] Clause 76. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 75, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station and wherein at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0332] Clause 77. The location server of clause 76, wherein at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0333] Clause 78. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 77, wherein the means for enabling the location of the UE to be determined by the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method comprises means for transmitting the location measurement results to the UE, and the location of the UE is calculated by the UE based at least in part on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0334] Clause 79. The location server of clause 78, further comprising means for receiving a position of the UE from the UE after the position of the UE has been calculated by the UE.

[0335] Clause 80. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 79, wherein the allocation message further includes at least one of: identification information of each of the plurality of entities, or identification information of location measurement results, or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the base station, where, when the plurality of entities include the UE, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using the DL signals, or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where, when the plurality of entities include at least one base station, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using the UL signals, or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0336] Clause 81. The location server of any of clauses 73 to 80, further comprising means for transmitting the location of the UE to at least one of the external client and the UE.

[0337] Clause 82. The location server of clause 81, further comprising means for transmitting the location of the UE to an external client based on a user plane protocol.

[0338] Clause 83. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor of a location server in a radio access network (RAN) to support a positioning session for a user equipment (UE), the program code comprising instructions for receiving an assignment message from a location management function (LMF), the assignment message comprising an assignment to a location server to enable measurement of the UE's location and indicating a time at which the UE's location should be measured; returning an acknowledgment to the LMF indicating that the assignment is accepted; receiving location measurement results for the UE from a plurality of entities, the location measurements being scheduled at the plurality of entities by the LMF and the location measurement results being obtained by the plurality of entities at or near that time; enabling the UE's location to be determined by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and sending a release message to the LMF to release the location server's assignment after the UE's location has been determined.

[0339] Clause 84. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 83, wherein the location server is within a serving New Radio (NR) NodeB (gNB) for the UE, is part of a central unit (CU) for the serving gNB, is connected to the CU for the serving gNB, or is external to and connected to the serving gNB.

[0340] Clause 85. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of either clause 83 or 84, wherein the plurality of entities includes a UE, and wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of radiation (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0341] Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 83 to 85, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, and wherein the at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0342] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 86, wherein the at least one base station comprises a serving base station for the UE, or a plurality of neighbor base stations for the UE, or both.

[0343] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 83 to 87, wherein the instructions for enabling a position of the UE to be determined by the UE based on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method comprise instructions for transmitting the position measurement results to the UE, and the position of the UE is calculated by the UE based at least in part on the position measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

[0344] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 88, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving a location of the UE from the UE after the location of the UE has been calculated by the UE.

[0345] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 83 to 89, wherein the assignment message further includes at least one of: identification information of each of the plurality of entities; or identification information of location measurement results; or configuration information for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the base station, where, when the plurality of entities include the UE, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the UE using DL signals; or configuration information for uplink (UL) signals transmitted by the UE, where, when the plurality of entities include at least one base station, at least some of the location measurement results are obtained by the at least one base station using UL signals; or identification information of an external client for locating the UE, or some combination thereof.

[0346] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 83 to 90, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for transmitting the location of the UE to at least one of the external client and the UE.

[0347] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 91, the program code further comprising instructions for transmitting the location of the UE to an external client based on a user plane protocol.

[0348] Clause 93. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) to support a location session for the UE, the method comprising the steps of receiving a location request message from a location management function (LMF) in a wireless network, the location request message requesting a location measurement by the UE at or near a certain time; obtaining location measurement results at or near the time, the location measurement enabling a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method; and transmitting the location measurement results or location to the location server.

[0349] Clause 94. The method of clause 93, wherein the location server comprises an LMF.

[0350] Clause 95. The method of clause 93, wherein the location server comprises a location server in a radio access network (RAN) for the wireless network, and wherein the location request message indicates the location server.

[0351] Clause 96. The method of any of clauses 93 to 95, further comprising receiving a request to transmit an uplink signal at or near the time; and transmitting the uplink signal at or near the time, wherein the uplink signal enables an additional position measurement result to be obtained by at least one base station at or near the time; and the additional position measurement result further enables a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result, the additional position measurement result, and the at least one positioning method.

[0352] Clause 97. The method of clause 96, further comprising receiving an additional position measurement result from a location server; and determining a position based on the position measurement result, the additional position measurement result, and at least one positioning method.

[0353] Clause 98. The method of any of clauses 93 to 97, wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of arrival (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0354] Clause 99. The method of any of clauses 93 to 98, further comprising the steps of receiving assistance data from the LMF, the assistance data comprising configuration information for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by a plurality of base stations at or near the time, and obtaining a position measurement result by measuring the DL PRS at or near the time based on the configuration information.

[0355] Clause 100. A user equipment (UE) configured to support a location session for the UE, the UE comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with a 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 configured to receive a location request message from a location management function (LMF) in the wireless network via the wireless transceiver, the location request message requesting a location measurement by the UE at or near a certain time, obtaining location measurement results at or near the time, the location measurement enabling a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the location measurement results and at least one positioning method, and transmitting the location measurement results or the location to the location server via the wireless transceiver.

[0356] Clause 101. The UE of clause 93, wherein the location server comprises an LMF.

[0357] Clause 102. The UE of clause 93, wherein the location server comprises a location server in a radio access network (RAN) for the wireless network, and the location request message indicates the location server.

[0358] Clause 103. The UE of any of clauses 100-102, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the wireless transceiver, a request to transmit an uplink signal at or near the time, and transmit, via the wireless transceiver, the uplink signal at or near the time, the uplink signal enabling an additional position measurement result to be obtained by at least one base station at or near the time, the additional position measurement result further enabling a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result, the additional position measurement result, and the at least one positioning method.

[0359] Clause 104. The UE of clause 103, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive additional location measurement results from a location server via the wireless transceiver, and determine a location based on the location measurement results, the additional location measurement results, and the at least one positioning method.

[0360] Clause 105. The UE of any of clauses 100 to 104, wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of arrival (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0361] Clause 106. The UE of any of clauses 100 to 105, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the wireless transceiver, assistance data from the LMF, the assistance data comprising configuration information for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by a plurality of base stations at or near the time, and to obtain a location measurement result by measuring the DL PRS at or near the time based on the configuration information.

[0362] Clause 107. A user equipment (UE) configured to support a location determination session for the UE, the UE comprising: means for receiving a location request message from a location management function (LMF) in a wireless network, the location request message requesting a location measurement by the UE at or near a certain time; means for obtaining a location measurement result at or near the time, the location measurement enabling a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the location measurement result and at least one positioning method; and means for transmitting the location measurement result or the location to the location server.

[0363] Clause 108. The UE of clause 107, wherein the location server comprises an LMF.

[0364] Clause 109. The UE of clause 107, wherein the location server comprises a location server in a radio access network (RAN) for the wireless network, and the location request message indicates the location server.

[0365] Clause 110. The UE of any of clauses 107 to 109, further comprising means for receiving a request to transmit an uplink signal at or near the time, and means for transmitting the uplink signal at or near the time, the uplink signal enabling an additional position measurement result to be obtained by at least one base station at or near the time, the additional position measurement result further enabling a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result, the additional position measurement result, and the at least one positioning method.

[0366] Clause 111. The UE of clause 110, further comprising means for receiving additional position measurement results from a location server, and means for determining a position based on the position measurement results, the additional position measurement results, and at least one positioning method.

[0367] Clause 112. The UE of any of clauses 107 to 111, wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of arrival (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0368] Clause 113. The UE of any of clauses 107 to 112, further comprising: means for receiving assistance data from the LMF, the assistance data comprising configuration information for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by a plurality of base stations at or near the time; and means for obtaining a position measurement result by measuring the DL PRS at or near the time based on the configuration information.

[0369] Clause 114. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to support a position location session for the UE, the program code comprising instructions for receiving a position location request message from a location management function (LMF) in a wireless network, the position location request message requesting a position measurement by the UE at or near a certain time; obtaining position measurement results at or near the time, the position measurement enabling a position of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement results and at least one positioning method; and transmitting the position measurement results or location to the location server.

[0370] Clause 115. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 114, wherein the location server comprises an LMF.

[0371] Clause 116. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 114, wherein the location server comprises a location server in a radio access network (RAN) for the wireless network, and wherein the location request message indicates the location server.

[0372] Clause 117. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 114 to 116, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving a request to transmit an uplink signal at or near the time and transmitting the uplink signal at or near the time, the uplink signal enabling an additional position measurement result to be obtained by at least one base station at or near the time, the additional position measurement result further enabling a location of the UE to be determined by the UE or a location server based at least in part on the position measurement result, the additional position measurement result, and the at least one positioning method.

[0373] Clause 118. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of clause 117, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for receiving additional position measurements from a location server, and determining a position based on the position measurements, the additional position measurements, and the at least one positioning method.

[0374] Clause 119. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 114 to 118, wherein at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of arrival (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

[0375] Clause 120. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of any of clauses 114 to 119, the program code further comprising instructions for receiving assistance data from the LMF, the assistance data comprising configuration information for downlink (DL) positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by a plurality of base stations at or near the time, and obtaining a position measurement result by measuring the DL PRS at or near the time based on the configuration information.

[0376] While the above disclosure illustrates exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0377] 102UE 109TP 110 gNB 111TP 112 TRP 113 RP 114 ng-eNB 115 AMF 117 LSS 120 LMF 125 GMLC 126 UPF 127 NEF 128 UPA 130 external clients 135 NG-RAN 140 5GCN 202 gNB-CU 204 gNB-CU 702 5GC LCS Entity 900 Location management function 902 processor 904 memory 906 Connection 908 Program Code 910 External Interface 920 Medium 922 Positioning Session Module 924 Evolutionary Scheduling Module 926 Location Server Allocation Module 1000 Location Servers 1002 processor 1004 memory 1006 connections 1008 Program Code 1009 Antenna 1010 External Interface 1011 Transceiver 1016 Communication Interface 1020 Medium 1022 Allocation Module 1024 Positioning Module 1026 Positioning Module 1028 Release Module 1030 Position Transfer Module 1100 UE 1102 processor 1104 Memory 1106 Connection 1108 Program Code 1110 WWAN transceiver 1111 Antenna 1112 WLAN Transceiver 1113 Sensor 1115 SPS receiver 1120 Medium 1122 Positioning Session Module 1124 Evolutionary Scheduling Module 1126 Location Server Allocation Module

Claims

1. 1. A method performed by a Location Management Function (LMF) for supporting a location determination session for a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity, the positioning message indicating a time at which a position of the UE should be measured; and sending a request message to a plurality of entities, the request message scheduling location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of entities includes the UE, and the at least one positioning method comprises Downlink (DL) Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Arrival (DL-AOD), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

3. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of entities includes at least one base station, and the at least one positioning method comprises uplink (UL) time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), UL angle of arrival (UL-AOA), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or some combination thereof.

4. The at least one base station a serving base station for the UE; or a plurality of neighboring base stations for the UE; or The method of claim 3 comprising both of these.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station; the location server receiving location measurement results from at least some of the plurality of entities; and the location of the UE being calculated by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

6. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the location server receives the location measurement results from each of the plurality of entities, calculates the location of the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and transmits the location to an external client.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising including information for the plurality of entities and the location measurement results in the assignment message.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving a release message from the serving base station after the location of the UE is measured at the time.

9. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first entity is the UE, the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report is received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time.

10. A Location Management Function (LMF) configured to support a location determination session for a User Equipment (UE), comprising: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with a wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, the at least one processor: receiving a positioning message for the UE from a first entity via the external interface, the positioning message indicating a time at which a position of the UE should be measured; sending a request message to a plurality of entities via the external interface, the request message scheduling a location measurement of the UE by each of the plurality of entities at or near the time, the location measurement enabling the location of the UE to be measured at the time based on at least one positioning method; The LMF is configured as follows.

11. 11. The LMF of claim 10, wherein the plurality of entities includes the UE, and the at least one positioning method comprises downlink (DL) time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), DL angle of radiation (DL-AOD), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), wireless local area network (WLAN), round trip time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, or any combination thereof.

12. 11. The LMF of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send an assignment message to a serving base station for the UE via the external interface, the assignment message enabling the serving base station to assign a location server associated with the serving base station, the location server receiving location measurement results from at least some of the plurality of entities, and a location of the UE being calculated by the location server or the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method.

13. 13. The LMF of claim 12, wherein the location server receives the location measurement results from each of the plurality of entities, calculates the location of the UE based on the location measurement results and the at least one positioning method, and transmits the location to an external client.

14. 11. The LMF of claim 10, wherein the first entity is the UE, the positioning message comprises an event report, the event report is received before the time, and the event report indicates a periodic event expected at the time, a triggered event at the current time, or a triggered event expected at or near the time.

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