Spatial relationship indication method and device

Abstract

The present application discloses a method and device for indicating a spatial relationship, which belongs to the field of communication technology. The spatial relationship indicating method of the present application includes: a terminal receiving first information, where the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This invention claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on June 30, 2021, bearing application number 202110736502.0 and titled "Spatial relationship indication method and apparatus," the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and specifically relates to a method and device for indicating spatial relationships. [Background technology]

[0003] In related art, positioning reference signals generally do not support dynamic configuration according to positioning demands and changes. Although positioning reference signals can still be transmitted when there are few personnel or when there is no positioning demand late at night, when an emergency or low-latency demand occurs, the positioning reference signal cannot be transmitted in a timely manner and can only wait for a specific transmission period to perform measurements and calculations. This results in wasting positioning resources or in a failure to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner.

[0004] For this reason, in related technologies, the introduction of a new positioning reference signal to solve the above problem, for example, the introduction of an on-demand positioning reference signal, is being considered. However, when a new positioning reference signal is introduced, there are still technical issues that remain to be resolved, such as how to transmit this positioning reference signal, for example, whether all positioning reference signals need to be turned on and off, or whether only reference signals having a specific spatial relationship need to be turned on and off, and how to configure the spatial relationship to realize the transmission of a positioning reference signal that meets demand. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a spatial relationship indication method and device that can solve the problem of how to realize the transmission of positioning reference signals. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method for indicating a spatial relationship, the method including receiving, by a terminal, first information, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0007] According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for indicating a spatial relationship, the method including: a network side device transmitting first information, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0008] According to a third aspect, there is provided a spatial relationship indication device, the device including a first communication module for receiving first information, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0009] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a spatial relationship indication device, the device including a second communication module for transmitting first information, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0010] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a terminal including a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and operable to run on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing a method according to the first aspect.

[0011] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a terminal including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is adapted to receive first information, wherein the first information is adapted to at least one of: configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal; and activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0012] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a network side device, the network side device including a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and operable to run on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, realizing the method of the second aspect.

[0013] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a network side device including a processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface is used to transmit first information, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0014] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a readable storage medium, on which a program or instructions are stored, the program or instructions realizing the method according to the first aspect or the method according to the second aspect when executed by a processor.

[0015] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a chip, the chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being coupled to the processor, the processor running a program or instruction to implement the method of the first aspect or to be used to implement the method of the second aspect.

[0016] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer program / program product, the computer program / program product being stored on a non-transitory storage medium, the program / program product being executed by at least one processor to implement the method according to the first aspect or to implement the method according to the second aspect. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal receives first information, and the first information can configure and / or activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, which is beneficial to realizing the transmission of a positioning reference signal, beneficial to avoiding wasting positioning resources or not being able to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and beneficial to improving the utilization rate of positioning resources or reporting positioning measurement results in a timely manner. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a spatial relationship indication method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of spatial extents of multiple spatial relationships according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a spatial relationship indication method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a spatial relationship indication method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 6]1 is a structural schematic diagram of a spatial relationship indicating device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a spatial relationship indicating device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a network side device according to an embodiment of the present application; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments, and all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0020] The terms "first," "second," etc. in the specification and claims of this application are intended to distinguish between similar objects and are not intended to describe a particular order or sequence. It should be understood that terms used in this manner are interchangeable where appropriate, so that embodiments of this application may be performed in orders other than those illustrated or described herein, and that objects distinguished by "first" and "second" are generally of the same type and do not limit the number of objects; for example, a first object may be one or more. Furthermore, "and / or" in the specification and claims indicates at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between the related objects.

[0021] It should be noted that the techniques described in the embodiments of the present application are not limited to Long Term Evolution (LTE) / LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, but can also be applied to other wireless communication systems, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-Carrier Frequency-Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application are always used interchangeably, and the described techniques may be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies as well as other systems and radio technologies. The following description describes New Radio (NR) systems for illustrative purposes, and uses NR terminology in most of the following description; these technologies may also be used in applications other than NR system applications, such as sixth generation (6G) systems. th This may be applied to 6G (6th Generation) communication systems.

[0022] 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system to which the embodiments of the present application can be applied. The wireless communication system includes a terminal 11 and a network side device 12. Here, the terminal 11 may be referred to as a terminal device or user equipment (UE), and may be a terminal side device such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer (also called a notebook computer), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a palmtop computer, a netbook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted equipment (VUE), a pedestrian-mounted equipment (PUE), etc., and wearable devices include a smart watch, a bracelet, an earphone, glasses, etc. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific type of the terminal 11.The network side device 12 may be a base station or a core network, where the base station may be called a Node B, an evolved Node B, an access point, a base transceiver station (BTS), a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a B node, an evolved B node (eNB), a next generation Node B (gNB), a home B node, a home evolved B node, a WLAN access point, a WiFi node, a transmitting receiving point (TRP), or any other suitable term in the art, and the base station is not limited to a specific technical term as long as the same technical effect is achieved. Here, the core network device may be called a location server, a location management function (LMF), an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC), or any other suitable term in the art. It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application only take base stations or core network equipment in an NR system as examples, but do not limit the specific types of base stations or core network equipment.

[0023] The following describes in detail the spatial relationship indicating method and device according to the embodiments of the present application through several examples and its application scenarios in conjunction with the drawings.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2 , an embodiment of the present application provides a spatial relationship indication method 200, which may be performed by a terminal, in other words, the method may be performed by software or hardware installed in the terminal, and includes the following steps:

[0025] S202: The terminal receives first information, the first information being used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0026] The spatial relationship mentioned in each embodiment of the present application may be used by a terminal to transmit or receive a positioning reference signal, and this spatial relationship may include at least one of a pre-coding matrix indicator (PMI), pre-coding information, antenna port and / or panel information, spatial relationship reference signal information, a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, quasi-co-location (QCL) information, a path loss reference signal (PathLoss RS, PL RS), etc.

[0027] The positioning reference signal or positioning reference signal information referred to in each embodiment of the present application may include at least one of a positioning reference signal (PRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), an SRS for positioning (SRS for positioning), a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel signal block / synchronization signal block (SSB), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a sidelink-synchronization signal (S-SS), a physical broadcast synchronization channel (PBSCH) block, master information block (MIB) information, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a control resource set (CORESET), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc.

[0028] The PRS includes at least one of an LTE PRS, an NR PRS, an on-demand positioning reference signal, and the like.

[0029] It should be noted that the positioning reference signal referred to in each embodiment of the present application may be the positioning reference signal of the serving cell, or may be the positioning reference signal of a non-serving cell or a neighboring cell.

[0030] In this embodiment, the first information may configure one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, or the first information activates one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, or the initial state of the one or more spatial relationships that the first information configures for the positioning reference signal is an activated state, i.e., the first information configures and simultaneously activates one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0031] Optionally, after S202, the method may further include a step of the terminal receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using the one or more spatial relationships configured and / or activated in the first information.

[0032] In one example, the terminal receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using one spatial relationship includes one of the following:

[0033] 1) A terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal on multiple periods, repetitions, or resources using one spatial relationship.

[0034] 2) The terminal receives or transmits positioning reference signals over multiple periods, repetitions, resources, frequency division multiplexing, or time division multiplexing using one spatial relationship in sequence, where the spatial relationships used by the terminal over the multiple periods, repetitions, resources, frequency division multiplexing, or time division multiplexing may be different.

[0035] For example, a terminal may receive or transmit positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources, or a terminal may receive or transmit positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships over multiple time domain or frequency domain resources.

[0036] In another example, the terminal receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using multiple spatial relationships includes one of the following:

[0037] 1) The terminal receives or transmits positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships in a spatial relationship list in sequence over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources, where the spatial relationship list may be configured and / or activated by first information, and the spatial relationship list includes one or more spatial relationships or one or more reference signals.

[0038] 2) The terminal receives or transmits positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships among the plurality of spatial relationships in sequence over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources.

[0039] 3) The terminal receives or transmits positioning reference signals using different activated spatial relationships in the spatial relationship list in turn over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources.

[0040] 4) The terminal receives or transmits positioning reference signals using different activated spatial relationships among the plurality of spatial relationships in turn over the plurality of periods, repetitions or resources.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal receives first information, and the first information can configure and / or activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, which is beneficial to realizing the transmission of a positioning reference signal, beneficial to avoiding wasting positioning resources or not being able to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and beneficial to improving the utilization rate of positioning resources or reporting positioning measurement results in a timely manner.

[0042] Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, optionally, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information may include: 1) a spatial relation list including one or more spatial relations or one or more reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships.

[0043] The mapping relationship between the positioning reference signal and the spatial relationship list mentioned above is as follows: 1) one positioning reference signal corresponds to one of the spatial relationship lists; 2) one positioning reference signal corresponds to a plurality of the spatial relationship lists; 3) a plurality of positioning reference signals correspond to one of the spatial relationship lists; 4) a plurality of positioning reference signals correspond to a plurality of the spatial relationship lists.

[0044] When the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information comprises: 1) a PMI list containing one or more PMIs; 2) A precoding information list including one or more pieces of precoding information; 3) one or more PMIs; 4) one or more precoding information; 5) It may include at least one of a plurality of first mapping relationships including a mapping relationship between a positioning reference signal and an antenna port.

[0045] Alternatively, the above 1) to 5) may be explicitly indicated by the first information.

[0046] Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, optionally, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information is further used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0047] 1) Multiple positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship, for example, multiple positioning reference signals may be transmitted or received by the same beam.

[0048] 2) Multiple positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships. As shown in Figure 3, the second spatial relationship can refer to beams 1 to 6 in Figure 3, and the first spatial relationship can refer to a beam (thick beam) including beams 1 and 2 in Figure 3.

[0049] In this example, the multiple positioning reference signals may have the same wide beam or different narrow beams, where the spatial extent of the beam may be embodied by the beam granularity or beam width.

[0050] For example, positioning reference signals 1 and 2 may be transmitted or received using beam 1 (narrow beam), positioning reference signals 3 and 4 may be transmitted or received using beam 2 (narrow beam), and positioning reference signals 1, 2, 3 and 4 may all be transmitted or received using one wide beam in Figure 3.

[0051] 3) The plurality of positioning reference signals are related to a first reference signal, and the spatial extent of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial extent of the plurality of positioning reference signals, e.g., the spatial extent of a beam for the first reference signal is greater than the spatial extent of a beam of the plurality of positioning reference signals.

[0052] 4) The positioning reference signal is related to a first reference signal and a second reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the second reference signal, e.g., the spatial range of a beam of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of a beam of the second reference signal.

[0053] 5) The positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and N second reference signals, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is equal to or greater than the spatial range of the N second reference signals, where N is a positive integer. For example, the spatial range of a beam of the first reference signal is equal to or greater than the spatial range of the beams of the N second reference signals.

[0054] Alternatively, the above 1) to 5) may be implicitly indicated by the first information.

[0055] This embodiment can help the terminal identify the relationship between thick beams and thin beams and directionally replenish positioning reference signal resources in the relevant directions, thereby reducing waste of positioning reference signal resources.

[0056] For example, the first information may configure and / or activate multiple spatial relationships for multiple positioning reference signals, where the spatial ranges of the multiple spatial relationships are different. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3, the terminal may first transmit or receive positioning reference signals using the thick beams shown in Fig. 3 (although only one thick beam is shown in Fig. 3, the actual number of thick beams may be more), select (e.g., select one) a thick beam based on the measurement results of the positioning reference signals, and then transmit or receive positioning reference signals using a thin beam within the selected thick beam, which is advantageous in reducing waste of positioning reference signal resources.

[0057] Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, optionally, when the first information is used to configure a plurality of spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information is further used to indicate at least one of the following:

[0058] 1) Multiple positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same spatial relationship, for example, multiple positioning reference signals may be transmitted or received by the same beam.

[0059] 2) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships, and optionally, a spatial range of the first spatial relationship is greater than a spatial range of the second spatial relationship.

[0060] For example, in the example shown in Figure 3, positioning reference signal 5 may be transmitted or received using beam 1 (narrow beam), positioning reference signal 6 may be transmitted or received using beam 2 (narrow beam), and positioning reference signals 5 and 6 may both be transmitted or received using the single wide beam in Figure 3.

[0061] 3) The multiple positioning reference signals in the positioning reference signal resource set are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the multiple positioning reference signals.

[0062] 4) The second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set (abbreviated as set 2) has an integer relationship with the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource set (abbreviated as set 1). For example, set 2 has 16 positioning reference signal resources (abbreviated as resource), and set 1 has 8 resources, and every two resources in set 2 correspond to one resource in set 1.

[0063] 5) The second positioning reference signals in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signals in the first positioning reference signal resource subset have an integer relationship.

[0064] 6) When the second positioning reference signals in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signals in the first positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship, the number of the second positioning reference signals and the number of the first positioning reference signals have an integer relationship, for example, the number of the second positioning reference signals is two or three times the number of the first positioning reference signals.

[0065] Alternatively, the above 1) to 6) may be implicitly indicated by the first information.

[0066] This embodiment can assist the terminal in identifying the relationship between a thick beam (which may be referred to as a first-level beam) and a thin beam (which may be referred to as a second-level beam) and directionally replenishing positioning reference signal resources in the relevant directions, thereby reducing waste of positioning reference signal resources.

[0067] Based on the above 1) to 6), the first information is: 1) One positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, and the multiple repetitions map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 2) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 3) The positioning reference signal has multiple periods, and the multiple periods map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 4) a positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, the multiple repetitions being associated with different spatial relationships; and 5) multiple positioning reference signals in the positioning reference signal resource set are associated with different spatial relationships; and 6) the positioning reference signal has multiple periods, and the multiple periods are associated with different spatial relationships.

[0068] Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, optionally, the first information is specifically used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0069] Optionally, the first information may be used to configure at least one of the following for an on-demand positioning reference signal:

[0070] 1) A spatial relationship list containing one or more spatial relationships.

[0071] 2) One or more spatial relationships.

[0072] 3) One or more expected (or anticipated) angle of departure (AoD) direction information and / or width information. In this embodiment, the expected angle of departure may be understood as a search window.

[0073] 4) One or more expected Angle of Arrival (AoA) direction information and / or width information.

[0074] Alternatively, the above 1) to 4) may be explicitly indicated by the first information.

[0075] Optionally, the first information may be used to configure at least one of the following for an on-demand positioning reference signal:

[0076] 1) An on-demand positioning reference signal is associated with one or more positioning reference signals.

[0077] 2) One or more on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with one positioning reference signal or associated with one on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 3, one or more on-demand positioning reference signals may be transmitted or received by narrow beams 1 and 2 in FIG. 3, and an associated on-demand positioning reference signal may be transmitted or received by a wide beam in FIG. 3.

[0079] 3) The on-demand positioning reference signal and the associated positioning reference signal have an integer relationship. For example, an on-demand positioning reference signal resource set (set2) has 16 resources, and the associated positioning reference signal resource set (set1) has 8 resources, and every two resources in set2 correspond to one resource in set1.

[0080] Alternatively, the above 1) to 3) may be implicitly indicated by the first information.

[0081] Optionally, the configuration may be related to an expected arrival angle or an expected departure angle, for example, one or more on-demand positioning reference signals of an on-demand positioning reference signal resource set correspond to one expected arrival angle or expected departure angle. In one possible embodiment, the number of on-demand positioning reference signals is determined based on the range of the expected arrival angle or expected departure angle, thereby determining the spatial relationship corresponding to each on-demand positioning reference signal. In another possible embodiment, the spatial relationship corresponding to the on-demand positioning reference signal is determined based on the range of the expected arrival angle or expected departure angle and / or the number of on-demand positioning reference signals. Simply put, if the range of the expected arrival angle is 60 degrees and the central angle is 0 degrees, in one possible embodiment, the first spatial relationship is a reference signal with a central angle of 0 degrees and a range of 60 degrees. Or the second spatial relationship is a reference signal with a range of 60 degrees. relationship are M reference signals belonging to the expected arrival angle, for example, two reference signals each with a central angle of −15 degrees or +15 degrees.

[0082] Optionally, the first information includes, for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the multiple on-demand positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship; and 2) the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 4) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with the positioning reference signal, and the spatial range of the positioning reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 5) A plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are used to configure at least one of: a first reference signal and N second reference signals associated therewith, and a spatial range of the first reference signal being equal to or greater than a spatial range of the N second reference signals.

[0083] Alternatively, the above 1) to 5) may be implicitly indicated by the first information. For specific examples, please refer to the introduction of the above examples in the specification.

[0084] Based on the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , optionally, when the first information is used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, receiving the first information includes one of the following:

[0085] 1) Receive Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) signaling to activate one or more spatial relationships for positioning reference signals.

[0086] 2) receiving downlink control information (DCI), the DCI including indication information of one or more spatial relationships of positioning reference signals, the DCI being used to activate one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signals;

[0087] 3) receiving positioning protocol signaling, the positioning protocol signaling including an activation command, the activation command being used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the positioning protocol signaling may include LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) signaling, New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) signaling, etc.

[0088] Optionally, the first information may further include at least one of a physical cell identifier (PCI), identification information of a non-serving cell, and frequency information, where at least one of a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel signal block / SSB, a positioning reference signal, a sounding reference signal, and a CSI-RS of the non-serving cell may be configured as one or more spatial relations of a positioning reference signal.

[0089] Optionally, the activation command mentioned in 3) above can be: a) carrying identification information of a positioning reference signal; b) conveying identification information of one or more spatial relationships; and c) carrying an identification of the spatial relationship list; and d) activating a first subset of positioning reference signals or spatial relationships corresponding to beams in a first direction; e) Expected AoD direction and / or width information Carrying and, f) Expected AoA direction and / or width information Carrying It is used in at least one of the following:

[0090] Alternatively, the activation command may include instruction information instructing the positioning reference signal to be transmitted or received according to specific or predefined precoding information, or the positioning protocol signaling may include precoding information and the positioning reference signal corresponds to one or more of the precoding information, or the activation command may include instruction information instructing the positioning reference signal to be transmitted or received according to specific or predefined antenna ports and / or precoding information, or the activation command may include instruction information instructing the positioning reference signal to be transmitted or received according to specific or predefined spatial relationship information.

[0091] Based on the embodiments in the preceding sentence, the method further includes the terminal sending request information, and the request information includes: 1) spatial relationship priority information of positioning reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships of positioning reference signals; and 3) an on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0092] In this embodiment, the terminal can directly request the configuration of relevant information of the positioning reference signal, which is advantageous in solving the problems in the related art that the positioning reference signal wastes positioning resources or cannot report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and is advantageous in reducing the waste of positioning reference signal resources.

[0093] It should be noted that the on-demand positioning reference signal in the preceding sentence is one of the positioning reference signals, and the related description of the positioning reference signal may also apply to the on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0094] Based on each embodiment in the preceding sentence, when multiple spatial relationships are configured for the terminal, the method further includes the terminal receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using one of the following:

[0095] 1) Spatial relationship used for CORESET. For example, when multiple TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information for receiving a control resource set.

[0096] 2) Default spatial relationship: For example, when multiple TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the default TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information for reception.

[0097] 3) Pre-configured spatial relationship. For example, when multiple TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information configured by R16.

[0098] 4) First spatial relationship: For example, when multiple pieces of TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the first TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information.

[0099] 5) Spatial relationship used for initial access. For example, when multiple TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information for initial access.

[0100] 6) Activated spatial relationship. For example, when a plurality of TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and activation information is received to activate one of them, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the activated TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information.

[0101] 7) A spatial relationship indicated by a first rule for indicating usage rules of multiple spatial relationships. For example, when multiple TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information are configured in a terminal and a first rule exists, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI states / QCL signals / spatial relationship information specified by the first rule.

[0102] In addition to the above embodiments, based on each embodiment in the preceding paragraph, when one spatial relationship and one spatial relationship set are configured for the terminal, the method further includes the terminal receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using one of the following:

[0103] 1) Spatial relationship used to receive a control resource set. For example, when one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information and one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information set are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information for receiving the control resource set.

[0104] 2) One configured spatial relationship. For example, when one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information and one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information set are configured in the terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the configured one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information.

[0105] 3) Spatial relationship used for initial access. For example, when one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information and one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information set are configured in a terminal and activation information is not received, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information for initial access.

[0106] 4) Activated spatial relationship. For example, if one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information and one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information set are configured in a terminal, and the terminal receives activation information to activate one of the sets, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the activated TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information.

[0107] 5) A spatial relationship indicated by a second rule for indicating a rule for using multiple spatial relationships. For example, when one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information and one TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information set are configured in a terminal and a second rule exists, the terminal receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using the TCI state / QCL signal / spatial relationship information specified by the second rule.

[0108] Based on the embodiments in the preceding paragraph, the capability information supported by the terminal is: 1) Support for constructing multiple spatial relationships; and 2) Support for constructing multiple spatial relationships within a single time unit; 3) Support transmitting or receiving positioning reference signals according to PMI; 4) supporting transmitting or receiving positioning reference signals according to a fixed antenna or codebook mapping scheme.

[0109] Based on the embodiments in the preceding paragraph, optionally, when the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal is updated, the method further comprises the steps of: 1) updating spatial information corresponding to the uplink signal based on the updated spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal; 2) transmitting a first signaling to an LMF, the first signaling including the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal and / or the spatial relationship of the uplink signal; 3) transmitting the uplink signal according to the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal when configuring the uplink signal.

[0110] Based on each embodiment in the preceding sentence, optionally, when a downlink positioning reference signal is set as a spatial relationship of an uplink signal, the terminal does not update the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal within the transmission period of the uplink signal, and / or the terminal completes the configuration or activation of the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal M time domain units (e.g., slots) before the transmission of the uplink signal, where M is a positive integer.

[0111] In order to describe the spatial relationship indicating method according to the embodiment of the present application in detail, the following description will be made in conjunction with one specific embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0112] S402: The terminal sends request information to the LMF.

[0113] This request information is 1) spatial relationship priority information of positioning reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships of positioning reference signals; and 3) It is used to request the LMF to configure or activate at least one of the on-demand positioning reference signal and the on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0114] S404: The LMF sends a configuration message to the terminal, which may refer to the first message in the previous embodiment, and which is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signals.

[0115] S406: The terminal sends the request information to the LMF.

[0116] This request information is 1) spatial relationship priority information of positioning reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships of positioning reference signals; and 3) It is used to request the LMF to configure or activate at least one of the on-demand positioning reference signal and the on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0117] S408: The LMF sends an activation message to the terminal, which may refer to the first message in the previous embodiment, and which is used to activate one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0118] In another embodiment, S408 may be performed by an access network side device (eg, a base station), for example, S408 is replaced by the base station sending an activation message to the terminal.

[0119] In this embodiment, after receiving a configuration message or an activation message, the terminal may perform the steps of receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal introduced in the previous embodiment.

[0120] It should be noted that the above steps S402, S406 and S408 are optional steps that may or may not exist in actual applications, and are indicated by dotted lines in Figure 4. Also, S402 and S406 generally do not exist at the same time. Also, the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) in Figure 4 plays the role of message forwarding.

[0121] Above, a spatial relationship indication method according to an embodiment of the present application has been described in detail in conjunction with Fig. 2. Below, a spatial relationship indication method according to another embodiment of the present application will be described in detail in conjunction with Fig. 3. It can be understood that the interaction between the network side device and the terminal described from the network side device is the same as the description from the terminal side in the method shown in Fig. 2, and relevant descriptions will be omitted appropriately to avoid repetition of the description.

[0122] 5 is a flowchart illustrating a spatial relationship indication method according to an embodiment of the present application, which can be used in a network side device, and the network side device may be an LMF or a base station, etc. As shown in FIG. 5, the method 500 includes the following steps:

[0123] S502: The network side device transmits first information, and the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0124] In an embodiment of the present application, the network side device sends first information, which can configure and / or activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, and is advantageous to realizing the transmission of the positioning reference signal, advantageous to avoiding wasting positioning resources or not being able to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and advantageous to improving the utilization rate of positioning resources or reporting positioning measurement results in a timely manner.

[0125] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information is 1) a spatial relation list including one or more spatial relations or one or more reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships.

[0126] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: 1) the plurality of positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship; and 2) the plurality of positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, the first reference signal having a spatial extent greater than the spatial extent of the plurality of positioning reference signals; 4) the positioning reference signal is related to a first reference signal and a second reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the second reference signal; 5) The positioning reference signal is used to indicate at least one of the following: the positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and N second reference signals, the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than or equal to the spatial range of the N second reference signals, and N is a positive integer.

[0127] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure a plurality of spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: 1) multiple positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same spatial relationship; and 2) a plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of positioning reference signals; and 4) the second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource set have an integer relationship; 5) the second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource subset have an integer relationship; and 6) Used to indicate at least one of the following: when a second positioning reference signal in a second positioning reference signal resource set and a first positioning reference signal in a first positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship, the number of second positioning reference signals and the number of first positioning reference signals are in an integer relationship.

[0128] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is: 1) One positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, and the multiple repetitions map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 2) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 3) The positioning reference signal has multiple periods, and the multiple periods map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 4) a positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, the multiple repetitions being associated with different spatial relationships; and 5) The positioning reference signal resource set is used to indicate at least one of that multiple positioning reference signals are associated with different spatial relationships.

[0129] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0130] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) a spatial relationship list including one or more spatial relationships; 2) one or more spatial relationships; 3) one or more expected angles of departure (AoD) direction information and / or width information; 4) Used to configure at least one of one or more expected angle of arrival (AoA) direction information and / or width information.

[0131] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the on-demand positioning reference signal is associated with one or more positioning reference signals; 2) one or more on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with one positioning reference signal or associated with one on-demand positioning reference signal; 3) the on-demand positioning reference signal and the associated positioning reference signal are in an integer relationship.

[0132] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the multiple on-demand positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship; and 2) the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 4) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with the positioning reference signal, and the spatial range of the positioning reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 5) A plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are used to configure at least one of: a first reference signal and N second reference signals associated therewith, and a spatial range of the first reference signal being equal to or greater than a spatial range of the N second reference signals.

[0133] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, transmitting the first information comprises: 1) transmitting MAC CE signaling to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal; 2) transmitting DCI including an indication of one or more spatial relationships of the positioning reference signals; 3) transmitting positioning protocol signaling, the positioning protocol signaling including an activation command, the activation command being used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0134] Optionally, in one embodiment, the method further includes the network side device receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using one or more spatial relationships.

[0135] Optionally, in one embodiment, the network side device receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal using one spatial relationship may include: 1) the network side device receives or transmits positioning reference signals on multiple periods, repetitions, or resources using a spatial relationship; 2) The network side device sequentially receives or transmits positioning reference signals on multiple cycles, repetitions, resources, frequency division multiplexing, or time division multiplexing using a spatial relationship.

[0136] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal is updated, the method further comprises the step of: 1) updating spatial information corresponding to the uplink signal based on the updated spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal; 2) a behavior of sending a first signaling including a spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal and / or a spatial relationship of the uplink signal to a location management function (LMF); 3) receiving the uplink signal according to the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal when configuring the uplink signal.

[0137] Alternatively, in one embodiment, when a downlink positioning reference signal is set as the spatial relationship of an uplink signal, the network side device does not update the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal within the transmission period of the uplink signal, and / or the network side device completes the configuration or activation of the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal M time domain units before the transmission of the uplink signal, where M is a positive integer.

[0138] It should be noted that the execution body of the spatial relationship indicating method according to the embodiment of the present application may be a spatial relationship indicating device or a control module for executing the spatial relationship indicating method in the spatial relationship indicating device. In the embodiment of the present application, the spatial relationship indicating device according to the embodiment of the present application will be described by taking the spatial relationship indicating device executing the spatial relationship indicating method as an example.

[0139] 6 is a structural schematic diagram of a spatial relationship indicating device according to an embodiment of the present application, which may correspond to a terminal in other embodiments. As shown in FIG. 6, the device 600 includes the following modules:

[0140] The first communication module 602 may be used to receive first information, where the first information is used to at least one of configure one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal and activate one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0141] Optionally, the apparatus 600 may further include a first determination module, which may be used to determine the first information.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present application, the device 600 (e.g., a terminal) receives first information, which can configure and / or activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, and is beneficial to realizing the transmission of the positioning reference signal, and is beneficial to avoiding wasting positioning resources or not being able to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and is beneficial to improving the utilization rate of positioning resources or reporting positioning measurement results in a timely manner.

[0143] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information is 1) a spatial relation list including one or more spatial relations or one or more reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships.

[0144] Optionally, in one embodiment, the mapping relationship between the positioning reference signal and the spatial relationship list is: 1) one positioning reference signal corresponds to one of the spatial relationship lists; 2) one positioning reference signal corresponds to a plurality of the spatial relationship lists; 3) a plurality of positioning reference signals correspond to one of the spatial relationship lists; 4) a plurality of positioning reference signals corresponding to a plurality of the spatial relationship lists.

[0145] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is: 1) a PMI list containing one or more PMIs; 2) A precoding information list including one or more pieces of precoding information; 3) one or more PMIs; 4) one or more precoding information; 5) At least one of a plurality of first mapping relationships including a mapping relationship between a positioning reference signal and an antenna port.

[0146] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: 1) Multiple positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship.

[0147] 2) the plurality of positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, the first reference signal having a spatial extent greater than the spatial extent of the plurality of positioning reference signals; 4) the positioning reference signal is related to a first reference signal and a second reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the second reference signal; 5) The positioning reference signal is used to indicate at least one of the following: the positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and N second reference signals, the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than or equal to the spatial range of the N second reference signals, and N is a positive integer.

[0148] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure a plurality of spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: 1) multiple positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same spatial relationship; and 2) a plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of positioning reference signals; and 4) the second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource set have an integer relationship; 5) the second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource subset have an integer relationship; and 6) Used to indicate at least one of the following: when a second positioning reference signal in a second positioning reference signal resource set and a first positioning reference signal in a first positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship, the number of second positioning reference signals and the number of first positioning reference signals are in an integer relationship.

[0149] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is: 1) One positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, and the multiple repetitions map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 2) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 3) The positioning reference signal has multiple periods, and the multiple periods map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 4) a positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, the multiple repetitions being associated with different spatial relationships; and 5) multiple positioning reference signals in the positioning reference signal resource set are associated with different spatial relationships; and 6) the positioning reference signal has multiple periods, and the multiple periods are associated with different spatial relationships.

[0150] Optionally, in one embodiment, the spatial extent of the first spatial relationship is greater than the spatial extent of the second spatial relationship.

[0151] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0152] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) a spatial relationship list including one or more spatial relationships; 2) one or more spatial relationships; 3) one or more expected angles of departure (AoD) direction information and / or width information; 4) Used to configure at least one of one or more expected angle of arrival (AoA) direction information and / or width information.

[0153] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the on-demand positioning reference signal is associated with one or more positioning reference signals; 2) one or more on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with one positioning reference signal or associated with one on-demand positioning reference signal; 3) the on-demand positioning reference signal and the associated positioning reference signal are in an integer relationship.

[0154] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the multiple on-demand positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship; and 2) the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 4) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with the positioning reference signal, and the spatial range of the positioning reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 5) A plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are used to configure at least one of: a first reference signal and N second reference signals associated therewith, and a spatial range of the first reference signal being equal to or greater than a spatial range of the N second reference signals.

[0155] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first communication module 602 is configured to: 1) receiving MAC CE signaling for activating one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal; 2) receiving DCI including an indication of one or more spatial relationships of positioning reference signals; 3) receiving positioning protocol signaling, the positioning protocol signaling including an activation command, the activation command being used to activate one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0156] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information further includes at least one of PCI, identification information of a non-serving cell, and frequency information, wherein at least one of SSB, positioning reference signal, sounding reference signal, and CSI-RS of the non-serving cell can be configured as one or more spatial relations of a positioning reference signal.

[0157] Optionally, in one embodiment, the activation command is: 1) carrying identification information of a positioning reference signal; 2) carrying identification information of one or more spatial relationships; and 3) carrying an identification of the spatial relationship list; and 4) activating a first subset of positioning reference signals or spatial relationships corresponding to beams in a first direction; 5) Angle of Departure (AoD) direction information and / or width information Carrying and, 6) Angle of Arrival (AoA) direction information and / or width information Carrying It is used in at least one of the following:

[0158] Alternatively, in one embodiment, the activation command includes instruction information, which instructs the positioning reference signal to be transmitted or received according to specific or predefined precoding information, or the positioning protocol signaling includes precoding information, and the positioning reference signal corresponds to one or more of the precoding information, or the activation command includes instruction information, which instructs the positioning reference signal to be transmitted or received according to specific or predefined antenna ports and / or precoding information, or the activation command includes instruction information, which instructs the positioning reference signal to be transmitted or received according to specific or predefined spatial relationship information.

[0159] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first communication module 602 may further be used to send request information, and the request information may include: 1) spatial relationship priority information of positioning reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships of positioning reference signals; and 3) an on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0160] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first communication module 602 may further be used to receive or transmit positioning reference signals using one or more spatial relationships.

[0161] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first communication module 602 further comprises: 1) receiving or transmitting a positioning reference signal over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources using a spatial relationship; 2) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals over multiple periods, repetitions, resources, frequency division multiplexing or time division multiplexing using a spatial relationship in turn;

[0162] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first communication module 602 further comprises: 1) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources; 2) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships on multiple time domain or frequency domain resources.

[0163] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first communication module 602 further comprises: 1) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships in a spatial relationship list in sequence over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources; 2) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals using different ones of the spatial relationships sequentially over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources; 3) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals using different activated spatial relationships in the spatial relationship list in sequence over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources; 4) receiving or transmitting positioning reference signals using different spatial relationships that are activated in sequence over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources.

[0164] Optionally, in one embodiment, the spatial relationship includes at least one of PMI, precoding information, antenna port and / or panel information, spatial relationship reference signal information, TCI state, QCL information, and path loss reference signal.

[0165] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the device has multiple spatial relationships, the first communication module 602 may further include: 1) the spatial relationship used to receive the control resource set; 2) default spatial relationships and 3) pre-constructed spatial relationships and 4) The first spatial relationship and 5) the spatial relationships used for initial access; 6) activated spatial relations and 7) A plurality of spatial relationship use rules may be used to receive or transmit a positioning reference signal using one of the spatial relationships indicated by a first rule for indicating the rules.

[0166] Optionally, in one embodiment, when one spatial relationship and one spatial relationship set are configured for the device, the first communication module 602 further comprises: 1) the spatial relationship used to receive the control resource set; 2) A spatial relationship is constructed, 3) spatial relations used for initial access; 4) activated spatial relations; 5) A rule for instructing the use of a plurality of spatial relationships may be used to receive or transmit a positioning reference signal using one of the spatial relationships instructed by a second rule.

[0167] Optionally, in one embodiment, the capability information supported by the device is: 1) Support for constructing multiple spatial relationships; and 2) Support for constructing multiple spatial relationships within a single time unit; 3) Support transmitting or receiving positioning reference signals according to PMI; 4) supporting transmitting or receiving positioning reference signals according to a fixed antenna or codebook mapping scheme.

[0168] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal is updated, the device further performs the following for the uplink signal having the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal: 1) updating spatial information corresponding to the uplink signal based on the updated spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal; 2) transmitting a first signaling to an LMF, the first signaling including the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal and / or the spatial relationship of the uplink signal; 3) transmitting the uplink signal according to the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal when configuring the uplink signal.

[0169] Alternatively, in one embodiment, when a downlink positioning reference signal is set as a spatial relationship of an uplink signal, the device does not update the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal within the transmission period of the uplink signal, and / or the device completes the configuration or activation of the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal M time domain units (e.g., slots) before the transmission of the uplink signal, where M is a positive integer.

[0170] The apparatus 600 according to the embodiment of the present application can refer to the flow corresponding to the method 200 according to the embodiment of the present application, and each unit / module and the above-mentioned other operations and / or functions in the apparatus 600 are for realizing the corresponding flow in the method 200, respectively, and can achieve the same or equivalent technical effects, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be further described here.

[0171] The spatial relationship indicating device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device, a device having an operating system, or an electronic device, or may be a component, integrated circuit, or chip in a terminal. The device or electronic device may be a mobile terminal or a non-mobile terminal. Exemplarily, the mobile terminal may include, but is not limited to, the types of terminals 11 listed above. The non-mobile terminal may be, for example, a server, a network-attached storage (NAS), a personal computer (PC), a television (TV), a teller machine, a self-service machine, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not specifically limited thereto.

[0172] The spatial relationship indication device according to the embodiments of the present application can realize each process realized by the method embodiments of Figures 2 to 5 and achieve the same technical effects, and will not be further described here to avoid repetition of description.

[0173] 7 is a structural schematic diagram of a spatial relationship indicating device according to an embodiment of the present application, which may correspond to a network-side device in other embodiments. As shown in FIG. 7, the device 700 includes the following modules:

[0174] The second communication module 702 may be used to transmit first information, where the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0175] Optionally, the apparatus 700 may further include a second determination module, which may be used to determine the first information.

[0176] In an embodiment of the present application, the device 700 transmits first information, which can configure and / or activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, and is advantageous to realizing the transmission of the positioning reference signal, advantageous to avoiding wasting positioning resources or not being able to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and advantageous to improving the utilization rate of positioning resources or reporting positioning measurement results in a timely manner.

[0177] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information is 1) a spatial relation list including one or more spatial relations or one or more reference signals; 2) one or more spatial relationships.

[0178] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: 1) the plurality of positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship; and 2) the plurality of positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, the first reference signal having a spatial extent greater than the spatial extent of the plurality of positioning reference signals; 4) the positioning reference signal is related to a first reference signal and a second reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the second reference signal; 5) The positioning reference signal is used to indicate at least one of the following: the positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and N second reference signals, the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than or equal to the spatial range of the N second reference signals, and N is a positive integer.

[0179] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to configure a plurality of spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: 1) multiple positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same spatial relationship; and 2) a plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of positioning reference signals; and 4) the second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource set have an integer relationship; 5) the second positioning reference signal in the second positioning reference signal resource set and the first positioning reference signal in the first positioning reference signal resource subset have an integer relationship; and 6) Used to indicate at least one of the following: when a second positioning reference signal in a second positioning reference signal resource set and a first positioning reference signal in a first positioning reference signal resource set have the same first spatial relationship, the number of second positioning reference signals and the number of first positioning reference signals are in an integer relationship.

[0180] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is: 1) One positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, and the multiple repetitions map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 2) A plurality of positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 3) The positioning reference signal has multiple periods, and the multiple periods map different antenna ports and / or precoding information; 4) a positioning reference signal has multiple repetitions, the multiple repetitions being associated with different spatial relationships; and 5) The positioning reference signal resource set is used to indicate at least one of that multiple positioning reference signals are associated with different spatial relationships.

[0181] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal and activating one or more spatial relationships for an on-demand positioning reference signal.

[0182] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) a spatial relationship list including one or more spatial relationships; 2) one or more spatial relationships; 3) one or more expected angles of departure (AoD) direction information and / or width information; 4) Used to configure at least one of one or more expected angle of arrival (AoA) direction information and / or width information.

[0183] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the on-demand positioning reference signal is associated with one or more positioning reference signals; 2) one or more on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with one positioning reference signal or associated with one on-demand positioning reference signal; 3) the on-demand positioning reference signal and the associated positioning reference signal are in an integer relationship.

[0184] Optionally, in one embodiment, the first information is for an on-demand positioning reference signal: 1) the multiple on-demand positioning reference signals have the same spatial relationship; and 2) the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals have the same first spatial relationship but different second spatial relationships; 3) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with a first reference signal, and the spatial range of the first reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 4) a plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are associated with the positioning reference signal, and the spatial range of the positioning reference signal is greater than the spatial range of the plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals; 5) A plurality of on-demand positioning reference signals are used to configure at least one of: a first reference signal and N second reference signals associated therewith, and a spatial range of the first reference signal being equal to or greater than a spatial range of the N second reference signals.

[0185] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the first information is used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, the second communication module 702 is configured to: 1) transmitting MAC CE signaling to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal; 2) transmitting DCI including an indication of one or more spatial relationships of the positioning reference signals; 3) transmitting positioning protocol signaling, the positioning protocol signaling including an activation command, the activation command being used to activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal.

[0186] Optionally, in one embodiment, the second communication module 702 may be used to receive or transmit positioning reference signals using one or more spatial relationships.

[0187] Optionally, in one embodiment, the second communication module 702 receives or transmits a positioning reference signal using a spatial relationship: 1) the second communication module 702 receives or transmits positioning reference signals over multiple periods, repetitions, or resources using a spatial relationship; 2) the second communication module 702 sequentially receives or transmits positioning reference signals over multiple periods, repetitions, resources, frequency division multiplexing, or time division multiplexing using a spatial relationship.

[0188] Optionally, in one embodiment, when the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal is updated, the second communication module 702 further performs the following with respect to the uplink signal having the spatial relationship with the downlink positioning reference signal: 1) updating spatial information corresponding to the uplink signal based on the updated spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal; 2) transmitting a first signaling to an LMF, the first signaling including the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal and / or the spatial relationship of the uplink signal; 3) receiving the uplink signal according to the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal when configuring the uplink signal.

[0189] Alternatively, in one embodiment, when a downlink positioning reference signal is set as a spatial relationship of an uplink signal, the device does not update the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal within a transmission period of the uplink signal, and / or the device completes the configuration or activation of the spatial relationship of the downlink positioning reference signal M time domain units prior to the transmission of the uplink signal, where M is a positive integer.

[0190] The apparatus 700 according to the embodiment of the present application can refer to the flow corresponding to the method 500 according to the embodiment of the present application, and each unit / module and the above-mentioned other operations and / or functions in the apparatus 700 are for realizing the corresponding flow in the method 500, respectively, and can achieve the same or equivalent technical effects, and for the sake of brevity, they will not be further described here.

[0191] Optionally, as shown in Figure 8, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 800, which includes a processor 801, a memory 802, and a program or instruction stored in the memory 802 and operable on the processor 801. For example, if the communication device 800 is a terminal, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor 801, it can realize each process of the embodiment of the spatial relationship indicating method and achieve the same technical effect. If the communication device 800 is a network-side device, when the program or instruction is executed by the processor 801, it can realize each process of the embodiment of the spatial relationship indicating method and achieve the same technical effect. In order to avoid repetition, no further description will be given here.

[0192] An embodiment of the present application further provides a terminal, the terminal including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being used to receive first information, where the first information is used to at least one of configure one or more spatial relationships for positioning reference signals and activate one or more spatial relationships for positioning reference signals. This embodiment of the terminal corresponds to the embodiment of the terminal-side method described above, and the implementation processes and realization manners of the embodiment of the method can all be applied to this embodiment of the terminal, and the same technical effects can be achieved. Specifically, Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a hardware structure for realizing the terminal of the embodiment of the present application.

[0193] The terminal 900 includes at least some components such as, but not limited to, a radio frequency unit 901, a network module 902, an audio output unit 903, an input unit 904, a sensor 905, a display unit 906, a user input unit 907, an interface unit 908, a memory 909, and a processor 910.

[0194] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the terminal 900 may further include a power source (e.g., a battery) for powering each component, and the power source may be logically connected to the processor 910 by a power management system, thereby enabling the power management system to realize functions such as charge / discharge management and power consumption management. The terminal structure shown in Figure 9 does not constitute a limitation on the terminal, and the terminal may include more or fewer components than those shown, or a combination of some components, or a different arrangement of components, which will not be further described here.

[0195] It should be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the input unit 904 may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) 9041 and a microphone 9042, and the graphics processor 9041 processes image data of still or video images captured by an image capture device (e.g., a camera) in a video capture mode or an image capture mode. The display unit 906 may include a display panel 9061, which may be configured in the form of a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode, or the like. The user input unit 907 includes a touch panel 9071 and other input devices 9072. The touch panel 9071 is also called a touch screen. The touch panel 9071 may include two parts: a touch detection device and a touch controller. The other input devices 9072 may include, but are not limited to, a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control buttons, switch buttons, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, and a control lever, which will not be further described herein.

[0196] In the embodiment of the present application, the radio frequency unit 901 receives downlink data from the network side device, and then processes the data in the processor 910, and transmits uplink data to the network side device. Generally, the radio frequency unit 901 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier, a duplexer, etc.

[0197] The memory 909 may be used to store software programs or instructions and various data. The memory 909 may primarily include a program or instruction storage area and a data storage area, where the program or instruction storage area can store an operating system, an application program or instructions required for at least one function (e.g., an audio playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc. The memory 909 may include high-speed random access memory and may further include non-transitory memory, where the non-transitory memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory, such as at least one magnetic disk memory device, flash memory device, or other non-transitory solid-state memory device.

[0198] The processor 910 may include one or more processing units. Optionally, the processor 910 may integrate an application processor and a modem processor. Here, the application processor mainly processes an operating system, a user interface, and application programs or instructions, and the modem processor mainly processes wireless communication, such as a baseband processor. As can be appreciated, the modem processor does not have to be integrated into the processor 910.

[0199] Here, the radio frequency unit 901 may be used to receive first information, where the first information is used to at least one of configure one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal and activate one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal.

[0200] In an embodiment of the present application, a terminal receives first information, and the first information can configure and / or activate one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal, which is beneficial to realizing the transmission of a positioning reference signal, beneficial to avoiding wasting positioning resources or not being able to report positioning measurement results in a timely manner, and beneficial to improving the utilization rate of positioning resources or reporting positioning measurement results in a timely manner.

[0201] The terminal 900 according to the embodiment of the present application can also implement each process of the embodiment of the spatial relationship indication method described above, and achieve the same technical effect. In order to avoid repetition, it will not be further described here.

[0202] An embodiment of the present application further provides a network side device, the network side device including: a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being used for transmitting first information, where the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for positioning reference signals and activating one or more spatial relationships for positioning reference signals. This embodiment of the network side device corresponds to the embodiment of the network side device method described above, and the implementation processes and realization manners of the embodiment of the method can all be applied to this embodiment of the network side device, and the same technical effects can be achieved.

[0203] Specifically, an embodiment of the present application further provides a network side device. As shown in Fig. 10, the network side device 1000 includes an antenna 101, a radio frequency device 102, and a baseband device 103. The antenna 101 and the radio frequency device 102 are connected to each other. In the uplink direction, the radio frequency device 102 receives information through the antenna 101 and transmits the received information to the baseband device 103 for processing. In the downlink direction, the baseband device 103 processes the information to be transmitted and transmits it to the radio frequency device 102, and the radio frequency device 102 processes the received information and then transmits it through the antenna 101.

[0204] The above frequency band processing device may be located in a baseband device 103, and the method performed by the network side equipment in the above embodiments may be implemented in the baseband device 103, which includes a processor 104 and a memory 105.

[0205] The baseband device 103 may include, for example, at least one baseband board, on which multiple chips are installed, and as shown in FIG. 10 , one of the chips is, for example, a processor 104, which is connected to a memory 105, calls a program in the memory 105, and performs the operations of the network side equipment shown in the above embodiment of the method.

[0206] The baseband device 103 may further include a network interface 106, which is used to exchange information with the radio frequency device 102, and this interface is, for example, a common public radio interface (abbreviated as CPRI).

[0207] Specifically, the network side device of the embodiment of the present application further includes instructions or programs stored in memory 105 and capable of running on processor 104, and processor 104 can call the instructions or programs in memory 105 to execute the methods performed by each module shown in FIG. 7 and achieve the same technical effects, which will not be further described here to avoid repetition.

[0208] The embodiments of the present application further provide a readable storage medium, on which a program or instruction is stored, which, when executed by a processor, can realize each process of the above-mentioned embodiment of the spatial relationship indicating method and achieve the same technical effect. In order to avoid repetition, no further description will be given here.

[0209] The processor may be the processor in the terminal described in the above embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0210] The embodiments of the present application further provide a chip, the chip including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is coupled to the processor, the processor runs a program or instruction, and is used to realize each process of the embodiments of the spatial relationship indication method, and can achieve the same technical effect. In order to avoid repetition, no further description will be given here.

[0211] It should be understood that the chips referred to in the embodiments of this application may be referred to as system level chips, system chips, chip systems, or system-on-chips.

[0212] It should be noted that, in this specification, the terms "comprise," "include," "includes," or any other variant thereof are intended to cover the non-exclusive "comprise," whereby a process, method, article, or apparatus comprising a set of elements not only includes those elements, but also other elements not expressly listed or inherent in such process, method, article, or apparatus. Absent further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprises one of" does not preclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus comprising that element. It should be noted that the scope of the methods and apparatuses in the embodiments of this application is not limited to performing functions in the order shown or discussed, but may include performing functions in an essentially simultaneous manner or in the reverse order based on the functions involved. For example, the described method may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described with reference to some examples may be combined in other examples.

[0213] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the above description of the embodiments, the methods of the above embodiments can be realized in the form of software and a necessary general-purpose hardware platform. Of course, they can also be realized in hardware, but in many cases the former is a more preferred embodiment. Based on this understanding, the technical proposal of the present application, in substance or in part contributing to the prior art, may be embodied in the form of a computer software product, which is stored in a storage medium (e.g., ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes a number of instructions for causing a terminal (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, air conditioner, network side device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment of the present application.

[0214] Although the embodiments of the present application have been described above in conjunction with the drawings, the present application is not limited to the above specific embodiments. The above specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not limiting. Those skilled in the art can take the teachings of the present application into account and implement many forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. 1. A method for indicating a spatial relationship, comprising: The terminal transmits request information; receiving first information by the terminal, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating the one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal; the request information is used to request configuring the one or more spatial relationships of the positioning reference signals; the positioning reference signal is an on-demand positioning reference signal, When the first information is used to configure the plurality of spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: A spatial relationship indication method used to indicate that multiple positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same spatial relationship.

2. When the first information is used to configure the one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, the first information comprises: The method of claim 1 , comprising a spatial relation list comprising one or more spatial relations or one or more reference signals.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first information further comprises a physical cell identifier (PCI).

4. The mapping relationship between the positioning reference signal and the spatial relationship list is as follows: one positioning reference signal corresponds to one of the spatial relationship lists; one positioning reference signal corresponds to a plurality of the spatial relationship lists; The method of claim 2 , comprising one of:

5. When the first information is used to configure the one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: a plurality of positioning reference signals associated with a first reference signal, the first reference signal having a spatial extent greater than the spatial extent of the plurality of positioning reference signals; the positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and a second reference signal, the spatial extent of the first reference signal being greater than the spatial extent of the second reference signal; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein a positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and N second reference signals, and is used to indicate at least one of the following: a spatial extent of the first reference signal is greater than or equal to a spatial extent of the N second reference signals, and N is a positive integer.

6. 1. A method for indicating a spatial relationship, comprising: a network side device receiving request information; the network side device transmitting first information, wherein the first information is used for at least one of configuring one or more spatial relationships for a positioning reference signal and activating the one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal; the request information is used to request configuring the one or more spatial relationships of the positioning reference signals; the positioning reference signal is an on-demand positioning reference signal, When the first information is used to configure the plurality of spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: A spatial relationship indication method used to indicate that multiple positioning reference signals in a positioning reference signal resource set have the same spatial relationship.

7. When the first information is used to configure the one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, the first information comprises: The method of claim 6 , comprising a spatial relation list comprising one or more spatial relations or one or more reference signals.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first information further comprises a physical cell identifier (PCI).

9. The mapping relationship between the positioning reference signal and the spatial relationship list is as follows: one positioning reference signal corresponds to one of the spatial relationship lists; one positioning reference signal corresponds to a plurality of the spatial relationship lists; 8. The method of claim 7, comprising one of:

10. When the first information is used to configure the one or more spatial relationships for the positioning reference signal, the first information further comprises: a plurality of positioning reference signals associated with a first reference signal, the first reference signal having a spatial extent greater than the spatial extent of the plurality of positioning reference signals; the positioning reference signal is associated with a first reference signal and a second reference signal, the spatial extent of the first reference signal being greater than the spatial extent of the second reference signal; 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a positioning reference signal is used to indicate at least one of: a first reference signal and N second reference signals associated therewith; and a spatial extent of the first reference signal being equal to or greater than the spatial extent of the N second reference signals.

11. A terminal comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and operable on the processor, the program or instructions implementing the spatial relationship indication method of any one of claims 1 to 5 when executed by the processor.

12. A network side device comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and operable on the processor, the program or instructions realizing the spatial relationship indication method according to any one of claims 6 to 10 when executed by the processor.

13. A readable storage medium having a program or instructions stored thereon, the program or instructions implementing the spatial relationship indicating method of any one of claims 1 to 5, or the spatial relationship indicating method of any one of claims 6 to 10, when executed by a processor.

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