Procedures for associating Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resources with Random Access Channel (RACH)

Abstract

In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) engaged in a positioning session with a transmission receiving point (TRP) receives, during a first state, a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, receives a first association between at least one SRS resource of the one or more SRS resources and at least one Random Access Channel (RACH) resource of the one or more RACH resources, switches from the first state during the ongoing positioning session, and, while out of the first state, transmits at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to the TRP using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource and the at least one RACH resource.

Description

Priority claims

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Greek Patent Application No. 20190100545, entitled "PROCEDURES FOR ASSOCIATING A SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL (SRS) RESOURCE TO RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL (RACH)," filed December 5, 2019, and U.S. Nonprovisional Patent Application No. 16 / 942,115, entitled "PROCEDURES FOR ASSOCIATING A SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL (SRS) RESOURCE TO RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL (RACH)," filed July 29, 2020, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. [Technical Field]

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. [Background technology]

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

[0004]

[0004] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, called New Radio (NR), promises higher data rates, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard from the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor. To support large wireless sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be enhanced and latency should be significantly reduced compared to current standards. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. As such, the following summary is not intended to be an extensive overview related to all contemplated aspects, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope related to particular aspects. As such, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting some concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the detailed description presented below.

[0006]

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE) includes, during a first state, receiving a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources; obtaining a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of one or more random access channel (RACH) resources; and, while outside the first state, transmitting at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to a transmit receiving point (TRP) using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource.

[0007]

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a TRP includes receiving one or more SRSs on one or more SRS resources from a UE, receiving at least a first signal of a RACH procedure having a transmission property from the UE during a positioning session with the UE based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources, and performing a positioning measurement of the first signal of the RACH procedure.

[0008]

[0008] In one aspect, a UE includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a configuration of one or more SRS resources during a first state; obtain a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources; and, while outside the first state, transmit at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to a TRP using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource.

[0009]

[0009] In one aspect, a TRP includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive one or more SRSs on one or more SRS resources from a UE, receive at least a first signal of a RACH procedure having a transmission property from the UE during a positioning session with the UE based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources, and perform positioning measurements of the first signal of the RACH procedure.

[0010]

[0010] In one aspect, the UE includes: means for receiving a configuration of one or more SRS resources during a first state; means for obtaining a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources; and means for transmitting at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to the TRP using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource while outside the first state.

[0011]

[0011] In one aspect, the TRP includes means for receiving one or more SRSs on one or more SRS resources from the UE, means for receiving at least a first signal of a RACH procedure having a transmission property from the UE during a positioning session with the UE based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources, and means for performing positioning measurements of the first signal of the RACH procedure.

[0012]

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes computer-executable instructions comprising: during a first state, at least one instruction to instruct a UE to receive a configuration of one or more SRS resources; at least one instruction to instruct the UE to obtain a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources; and while outside the first state, at least one instruction to instruct the UE to transmit at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to a TRP using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource.

[0013]

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes computer-executable instructions comprising: at least one instruction to instruct a TRP to receive one or more SRSs on one or more SRS resources from a UE; at least one instruction to instruct the TRP to receive at least a first signal of a RACH procedure having a transmission property from a UE during a positioning session with the UE based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources; and at least one instruction to instruct the TRP to perform positioning measurements of the first signal of the RACH procedure.

[0014] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0015]

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are given merely to illustrate, not to limit, the aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1]

[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system, in accordance with various aspects. [Figure 2A]

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, in accordance with various aspects. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, in accordance with various aspects. [Figure 3A]

[0018] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a wireless communication node and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3B]1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a wireless communication node and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3C] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a wireless communication node and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 4A]

[0019] 1 illustrates an example of a frame structure and channels within the frame structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] 1 illustrates an example of a frame structure and channels within the frame structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5]

[0020] FIG. 1 illustrates an example random access procedure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 illustrates an example random access procedure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates different radio resource control (RRC) states in NR, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8]

[0022] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an example positioning procedure between a UE and two TRPs, according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 9]

[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates a method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 illustrates a method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017]

[0024] Aspects of the present disclosure are presented in the following description and related drawings, directed to various examples given for purposes of illustration. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0018]

[0025] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0019]

[0026] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0020]

[0027] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that various actions described herein may be performed by particular circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. Furthermore, a sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied as a whole in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described actions.

[0021]

[0028] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station,” as used herein, are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term “UE” as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber device,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or UT, “mobile device,” “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE can be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (eg, based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0022]

[0029] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. Base stations may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0023]

[0030] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receiving point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the base station's cell (or several cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference RF signal (or simply "reference signal") the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, and therefore, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood as referring to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0024]

[0031] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0025]

[0032] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver is sometimes referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply as a "signal" when it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0026]

[0033] According to various aspects, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0027]

[0034] The base stations 102 collectively form the RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170). In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0028]

[0035] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish between cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. Furthermore, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably, as a TRP is generally a physical transmission point of a cell. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0029]

[0036] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover regions), but some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0030]

[0037] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 (also called a reverse link) and / or downlink transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104 (also called a forward link). The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0031]

[0038] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0032]

[0039] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0033]

[0040] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in millimeter-wave (mmW) and / or near-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also referred to as centimeter wave, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above description is by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0034]

[0041] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a “phased array” or “antenna array”) that creates beams of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF current from the transmitter is supplied to individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the waves from the separate antennas add together to increase radiation in desired directions while canceling and suppressing radiation in undesired directions.

[0035]

[0042] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships. In particular, a given type of QCL relationship means that some parameters related to a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and mean delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0036]

[0043] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0037]

[0044] The receive beams may be spatially related. The spatial relationship means that parameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal may be derived from information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS), a navigation reference signal (NRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a PTRS, etc.) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0038]

[0045] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0039]

[0046] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in licensed frequencies (although this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in unlicensed frequencies. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals; for example, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, nothing UE-specific may be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0040]

[0047] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0041]

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0042]

[0049] Wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communications link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE 164.

[0043]

[0050] According to various aspects, FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally considered to have control plane functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, data network access, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC 210 and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into components of the core network or alternatively, may be external to the core network.

[0044]

[0051] According to various aspects, FIG. 2B illustrates another exemplary wireless network structure 250. For example, a 5GC 260 may be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223, with or without gNB direct connectivity to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface.

[0045]

[0052] The AMF 264 functions include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept, transport for session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264 functions also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network-specific keys. The AMF 264 functions also include location service management for barred services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP access networks.

[0046]

[0053] The functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an outer protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, Quality of Service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic validation (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 272.

[0047]

[0054] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0048]

[0055] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0049]

[0056] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or perform any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230, LMF 270, and SLP 272) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0050]

[0057] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, configured to communicate via one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with the designated RAT. In particular, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358.

[0051]

[0058] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also, at least in some cases, include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, etc.) over the wireless communications medium in question. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.), in accordance with the designated RAT. In particular, WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368.

[0052]

[0059] A transceiver circuit including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may, in some implementations, comprise an integrated device (e.g., implemented as transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single communications device), in some implementations, comprise separate transmitter and receiver devices, or in other implementations, may be implemented in other manners. In one aspect, a transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform transmit “beamforming” as described herein. Similarly, a receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, a transmitter and a receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that each device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit simultaneously. The wireless communication device of the UE 302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0053]

[0060] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, for receiving SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and actions from other systems as appropriate and perform the calculations necessary to determine the positions of the UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithms.

[0054]

[0061] In one aspect, the WWAN transceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver, and / or the SPS receiver 330 may share the same receiver(s) and / or transmitter(s). That is, the receiver(s) 312, the receiver(s) 322, and / or the SPS receiver 330 may be the same receiver(s), and / or the transmitter(s) 314 and the transmitter(s) 324 may be the same transmitter(s). This may be the case when the WWAN transceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver, and / or the SPS receiver 330 are integrated into a single communication device. Alternatively, the WWAN transceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver, and / or the SPS receiver 330 may be separate (individual) communication devices.

[0055]

[0062] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390 for communicating with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signal communication. This communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0056]

[0063] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302 includes processor circuitry implementing a processing system 332, for example, for providing functionality related to positioning operations and for providing other processing functions. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384, for example, for providing functionality related to positioning operations and for providing other processing functions. The network entity 306 includes a processing system 394, for example, for providing functionality related to positioning operations and for providing other processing functions. In one aspect, the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits.

[0057]

[0064] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) to maintain information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (as shown in Figures 3A-3C) that, when executed by the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein.

[0058]

[0065] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the processing system 332 to provide movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the WWAN transceiver 310, the WLAN transceiver 320, and / or the SPS receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0059]

[0066] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providing instructions (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0060]

[0067] Referring more particularly to the processing system 384, on the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transfer of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0061]

[0068] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol streams are spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0062]

[0069] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover the spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to a processing system 332 that implements Layer 3 and Layer 2 functions.

[0063]

[0070] In the uplink, processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. Processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0064]

[0071] Similar to the functionality described with respect to downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with forwarding upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0065]

[0072] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to enable spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0066]

[0073] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 384.

[0067]

[0074] In the uplink, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0068]

[0075] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are illustrated in Figures 3A-3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein, although it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may have different functions in different designs.

[0069]

[0076] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. The components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Additionally, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by a UE," "by a base station," "by a positioning entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by a particular component or combination of components, such as a UE, a base station, a positioning entity, etc., including processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0070]

[0077] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4A is a diagram 450 illustrating an example of an UL frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Figure 4B is a diagram 480 illustrating an example of channels within an UL frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0071]

[0078] In the example of Figures 4A and 4B, a 15 kHz numerology is used. Thus, in the time domain, a frame (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)) is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figures 4A and 4B, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0072]

[0079] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, with each time slot including one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A and 4B, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0073]

[0080] LTE, and possibly NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0074]

[0081] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), e.g., subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz or greater may be available. Table 1, given below, lists some various parameters for different NR numerologies.

[0075] [Table 1]

[0076]

[0082] As shown in FIG. 4A, some of the REs carry demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may further transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS), for example, in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the combs. The comb structure (also referred to as "comb size") indicates the number of subcarriers in each symbol period that carry a reference signal (here, the SRS). For example, a comb size of comb 4 means that every fourth subcarrier of a given symbol carries a reference signal, and a comb size of comb 2 means that every second subcarrier of a given symbol carries a reference signal. In the example of FIG. 4A, both SRSs shown are comb 2. The SRSs can be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for each UE. The CSI describes how an RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0077]

[0083] FIG. 4B illustrates an example of various channels within an uplink subframe of a frame according to an aspect of the present disclosure. A random access channel (RACH), also referred to as a physical random access channel (PRACH), may be within one or more subframes within a frame based on a PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a subframe. The PRACH enables a UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be located on the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQIs), precoding matrix indicators (PMIs), rank indicators (RIs), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may be further used to carry buffer status reports (BSRs), power headroom reports (PHRs), and / or UCI.

[0078]

[0084] A set of resource elements used for transmitting an SRS is called an "SRS resource" and may be identified by a parameter SRS-ResourceId. The set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and may span N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resources occupy consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmitting an SRS signal and is identified by an SRS resource set ID (SRS-ResourceSetId).

[0079]

[0085] Generally, a UE transmits an SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or a neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS can also be used as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), multiple round trip time (multiple RTT), angle of arrival (AoA), etc.

[0080]

[0086] Several extensions over the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS-for-positioning (also called "UL-PRS"), including new staggered patterns within SRS resources (except for single symbol / comb 2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, a higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. Furthermore, the parameters SpatialRelationInfo and PathLossReference should be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Also, SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, there may be frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Also, there may be open-loop power control and no closed-loop power control, and Com8 (i.e., SRS transmitted on every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA through the same transmit beam. All of these are additional features to the current SRS framework, configured through RRC upper layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through the MAC Control Element (CE) or DCI).

[0081]

[0087] 5 illustrates an exemplary four-step random access procedure 500 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The four-step random access procedure 500 is performed between a UE 504 and a base station 502, which may correspond to any of the UEs and base stations, respectively, described herein.

[0082]

[0088] There are various situations in which a UE may perform the four-step random access procedure 500 (also referred to as a "RACH procedure," "PRACH procedure," etc.). For example, the UE may perform the four-step random access procedure 500 when gaining initial network access after coming out of an RRC idle state, when performing an RRC connection re-establishment procedure, during handover when downlink or uplink data arrives and the UE is in an RRC connected state but its uplink synchronization status is "not-synchronized," when transitioning from an RRC inactive state, when establishing time alignment for adding an SCell, when requesting other synchronization information, or when performing beam failure recovery.

[0083]

[0089] Before performing the four-step random access procedure 500, the UE 504 first reads one or more SSBs broadcast by the base station 502 with which the UE 504 is performing the four-step random access procedure 500. In NR, each beam transmitted by a base station (e.g., base station 502) is associated with a different SSB, and the UE (e.g., UE 504) selects a beam to use to communicate with the base station 502. Based on the SSB of the selected beam, the UE 504 can then read SIB type 1 (SIB1), which carries cell access-related information and provides the UE 504 with scheduling of other system information blocks transmitted on the selected beam.

[0084]

[0090] When a UE sends the first message of the four-step random access procedure 500 to the base station 502, the UE sends a specific pattern called a preamble (also called a RACH preamble, a PRACH preamble, or a sequence). The RACH preamble distinguishes requests from different UEs 504. However, if two UEs 504 use the same RACH preamble simultaneously, a collision is possible. There are a total of 64 such patterns available to the UE 504, and in contention-based random access, the UE 504 randomly chooses one of them. However, in contention-free random access, the network instructs the UE 504 as to which one to use.

[0085]

[0091] At 510, the UE 504 selects one of 64 RACH preambles to send to the base station 502 as a RACH request. This message is called “Message 1” or “Msg1” in the four-step RACH procedure. Based on synchronization information (i.e., SIB1) from the base station 502, the UE 504 selects a RACH preamble and sends it in the RACH occasion (RO) corresponding to the selected SSB / beam. More specifically, a specific mapping is defined between the SSBs and the ROs (occurring every 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms) for the base station 502 to determine which beam the UE 504 has selected. By detecting in which RO the UE 504 sent the preamble, the base station 502 can determine which SSB / beam the UE 504 has selected.

[0086]

[0092] Note that the RO is a time-frequency transmission opportunity for transmitting a RACH preamble, and the RACH preamble index (i.e., a value from 0 to 63 for 64 possible preambles) allows the UE 504 to generate the type of RACH preamble expected at the base station 502. The RO and RACH preamble index may be configured for the UE 504 by the base station 502 in the SIB. A RACH resource is the RO on which one RACH preamble index is transmitted. Thus, the terms "RO" (or "RACH occasion") and "RACH resource" may be used interchangeably, depending on the context.

[0087]

[0093] With reciprocity, the UE 504 may use the uplink transmit beam corresponding to the best downlink receive beam determined during synchronization (i.e., the best receive beam for receiving the selected downlink beam from the base station 502). That is, the UE 504 uses the parameters of the downlink receive beam used to receive the beam from the base station 502 to determine the parameters of the uplink transmit beam. If reciprocity is available at the base station 502, the UE 504 may transmit a preamble on one beam. Otherwise, the UE 504 repeats transmitting the same preamble on all of its uplink transmit beams.

[0088]

[0094] The UE 504 also needs to provide its identity to the network (via the base station 502) so that the network can handle it in the next steps. This identity is called the Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identity (RA-RNTI) and is determined from the time slot in which the RACH preamble is sent. If the UE 504 does not receive a response from the base station 502 within a certain period of time, the UE 504 increases its transmit power in a fixed step and sends the RACH preamble / Msg1 again.

[0089]

[0095] At 520, the base station 502 sends a random access response (RAR), referred to as "Message 2" or "Msg2" in the four-step RACH procedure, to the UE 504 on the selected beam. The RAR is sent on the PDSCH and addressed to the RA-RNTI calculated from the time slot in which the preamble was sent (i.e., the RO). The RAR carries the following information: a Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI), a Timing Advance (TA) value, and uplink grant resources. The base station 502 assigns the C-RNTI to the UE 504 to enable further communication with the UE 504. The TA value specifies how much the UE 504 should change its timing to compensate for the round-trip delay between the UE 504 and the base station 502. The uplink grant resources indicate the initial resources the UE 504 can use on the PUSCH. After this step, the UE 504 and base station 502 establish a coarse beam alignment that can be utilized in subsequent steps.

[0090]

[0096] At 530, using the allocated PUSCH, the UE 504 sends an RRC connection request message, referred to as "Message 3" or "Msg3," to the base station 502. Because the UE 504 sends Msg3 on resources scheduled by the base station 502, the base station 502 therefore knows where to detect Msg3 and which uplink receive beam should be used. Note that the Msg3 PUSCH can be sent on the same uplink transmit beam or a different uplink transmit beam than Msg1.

[0091]

[0097] The UE 504 identifies itself in Msg3 by the C-RNTI assigned in the previous step. The message contains the identity of the UE 504 and a connection establishment cause. The identity of the UE 504 is either a temporary mobile subscriber identity (TMSI) or a random value. If the UE 504 has previously connected to the same network, the TMSI is used. The UE 504 is identified in the core network by the TMSI. If the UE 504 is connecting to the network for the first time, a random value is used. The reason for the random value or TMSI is that the C-RNTI may have been assigned to more than one UE in the previous step due to multiple requests arriving simultaneously. The connection establishment cause indicates why the UE 504 needs to connect to the network and is explained further below.

[0092]

[0098] At 540, if Msg3 is successfully received, base station 502 responds with a contention resolution message, referred to as "Message 4" or "Msg4." This message is addressed to the TMSI (from Msg3) or a random value, but includes a new C-RNTI to be used for further communications. Specifically, base station 502 sends Msg4 in the PDSCH using the downlink transmit beam determined in the previous step.

[0093]

[0099] The four-step random access procedure 500 described above is a contention-based random access procedure. In contention-based random access, UEs 504 connecting to the same cell or TRP send the same request, in which case there is a possibility of collision between requests from various UEs 504. In contention-free random access, the network can instruct the UE 504 to use some unique identification information to prevent the UE's 504 request from colliding with requests from other UEs. A contention-free random access procedure can be performed when the UE 504 is in RRC connected mode before the random access procedure, such as in the case of handover.

[0094]

[0100] 6 illustrates an example two-step random access procedure 600 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The two-step random access procedure 600 may be performed between a UE 604 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a base station 602 (e.g., any of the base stations described herein).

[0095]

[0101] At 610, the UE 604 transmits RACH message A (“MsgA”) to the base station 602. In the two-step random access procedure 600, Msg1 and Msg3, described above with reference to FIG. 5, are aggregated (e.g., combined) into MsgA and sent to the base station 602. Thus, MsgA includes a RACH preamble and a PUSCH, similar to the Msg3 PUSCH of the four-step RACH procedure. The RACH preamble may have been selected from 64 possible preambles, as described above with reference to FIG. 5, and may be used as a reference signal for demodulation of the data transmitted in MsgA. At 620, the UE 604 receives RACH message B (“MsgB”) from the base station 602. MsgB may be a combination of Msg2 and Msg4, described above with reference to FIG. 5.

[0096]

[0102] The combination of Msg1 and Msg3 into one MsgA and Msg2 and Msg4 into one MsgB allows the UE 604 to reduce the RACH procedure setup time to support the low latency requirements of 5G NR. Although the UE 604 may be configured to support the two-step random access procedure 600, the UE 604 may still support the four-step random access procedure 500 as a fallback in case the UE 604 is not able to use the two-step random access procedure 600 due to some constraints (e.g., high transmit power requirements, etc.). Thus, a UE in 5G / NR may be configured to support both the two-step random access procedure and the four-step random access procedure and may determine which random access procedure to configure based on RACH configuration information received from the base station.

[0097]

[0103] After the random access procedure 500 / 600, the UE 504 / 604 is in the RRC connected state. The RRC protocol is used on the air interface between the UE and the base station. The main functions of the RRC protocol include connection establishment and release functions, system information broadcast, radio bearer establishment, reconfiguration and release, RRC connection mobility procedures, paging notification and release, and outer loop power control. In LTE, a UE can be in one of two RRC states (connected or idle), while in NR, a UE can be in one of three RRC states (connected, idle, or inactive). Different RRC states have different radio resources associated with them that the UE can use when the UE is in a given state.

[0098]

[0104] FIG. 7 illustrates different RRC states in NR according to an aspect of the present disclosure. When a UE is powered on, it is initially in an RRC disconnected / idle state 710. After a random access procedure 500 or 600, the UE moves to an RRC connected state 720. If there is no activity from the UE for a short period of time, the UE can suspend its session by moving to an RRC inactive state 730. The UE can resume its session by performing the random access procedure 500 or 600 to transition to the RRC connected state 720. Therefore, the UE needs to perform the random access procedure 500 or 600 to transition to the RRC connected state 720, regardless of whether the UE is in the RRC idle state 710 or the RRC inactive state 730.

[0099]

[0105] Operations performed in the RRC idle state 710 include Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) selection, system information broadcast, cell reselection mobility, paging for mobile terminated data (initiated and managed by the 5GC), discontinuous reception (DRX) for core network paging (configured by the NAS). Operations performed in the RRC connected state 720 include 5GC (e.g., 5GC 260) and new RAN (e.g., new RAN 220) connection establishment (both control and user plane), UE context storage in the new RAN and UE, new RAN knowledge of the cell to which the UE belongs, forwarding of unicast data to / from the UE, and network controlled mobility. Operations performed in the RRC inactive state 730 include broadcasting of system information, cell reselection for mobility, paging (initiated by the new RAN), RAN-based Notification Area (RNA) management (by the new RAN), DRX for RAN paging (configured by the new RAN), 5GC and new RAN connection establishment (both control plane and user plane) for the UE, storing UE context in the new RAN and UE, and new RAN knowledge of the RNA to which the UE belongs.

[0100]

[0106] In some cases, the UE may transition from the RRC connected state 720 to the RRC idle state 710 or the RRC inactive state 730 during an ongoing positioning session, such as a multiple round trip time (multiple RTT) session (which may be uplink only or downlink and uplink), an uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) session (uplink only), or an uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA) session (uplink only).

[0101]

[0107] In the RTT procedure, the initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), and the responder transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmit time of the RTT response signal, called a receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmit time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, called a "Tx-Rx" measurement. The propagation time (also called "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx measurements. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning (also called "multi-cell RTT"), the UE performs RTT procedures with multiple base stations to allow its location to be triangulated based on the known locations of the base stations. RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

[0102]

[0108] In a UL-TDOA session, the UE transmits an uplink reference signal (e.g., SRS) that is received by a reference base station and one or more non-reference base stations. The base stations report the time of arrival (ToA) of the uplink reference signal to a positioning entity (e.g., UE, serving base station, location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272), and the positioning entity calculates a reference signal time difference (RSTD) of the uplink reference signal between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE.

[0103]

[0109] Unlike multi-RTT and UL-TDOA positioning methods, which require three or more base stations to measure signals from the UE, a UL-AoA session can be conducted between the UE and a single base station. In a UL-AoA procedure, for UL-AoA positioning, the base station measures the angle and other channel properties (e.g., gain level) of the uplink receive beam used to communicate with the UE to estimate the UE's location. The UE and base station may also conduct an RTT procedure to further refine the location estimation.

[0104]

[0110] There are various reasons why a UE may transition from the RRC connected state 720 to the RRC idle state 710 or the RRC inactive state 730 during an ongoing positioning session. For example, the UE's configured DRX cycle may require the UE to transition to the RRC inactive state 730, or the UE's serving base station may instruct the UE to transition to the RRC inactive state 730, or the UE may be disconnected from the network for some reason and transition to the RRC idle state 710. Whatever the reason, it would be beneficial for the UE to be able to utilize a subsequent random access procedure 500 or 600 to continue the positioning session that was ongoing before the UE transitioned to the RRC connected state 720.

[0105]

[0111] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques for associating SRS resources with RACH resources for a UE in an RRC idle state 710 or an RRC inactive state 730 during an uplink-only (e.g., AoA, UL-TDOA) or uplink-downlink (e.g., RTT) positioning session. Figure 8 is a diagram 800 of an example positioning procedure between a UE 804 and two TRPs 802-1 and 802-2 (collectively, TRPs 802) in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. The UE 804 may correspond to any of the UEs described herein, and the TRPs 802 may correspond to (or be the TRPs of) any of the base stations described herein. The positioning session may be a multi-RTT session, a UL-TDOA session, a UL-AoA session, etc.

[0106]

[0112] During a first RRC connected state 810 (which may correspond to the RRC connected state 720), the UE 804 is configured with a first set of one or more SRS resources to transmit one or more SRSs 812 to the TRP 802 for a positioning session. In particular, the UE 804 is configured with one or more SRS resources to transmit one or more SRSs 812-1 to the TRP 802-1 (labeled "SRS1") and one or more SRS resources to transmit one or more SRSs 812-2 to the TRP 802-2 (labeled "SRS2"). In one aspect, the one or more SRS resources may be an SRS resource set.

[0107]

[0113] While in the first RRC connected state 810, the UE 804 obtains, for each TRP 802, a first association of at least one SRS resource (or at least one SRS resource set) of the one or more SRS resources to at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources. More specifically, the UE 804 obtains an association of at least one SRS resource (or at least one SRS resource set) of the one or more SRS resources from which one or more SRSs 812-1 were transmitted to at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources allocated for transmission of a RACH message (e.g., Msg1, Msg3, MsgA) to the TRP 802-1. Similarly, the UE 804 obtains an association of at least one SRS resource (or at least one SRS resource set) of the one or more SRS resources on which one or more SRSs 812-2 are transmitted to at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources allocated for transmission of a RACH message (e.g., Msg1, Msg3, MsgA) to the TRP 802-2. The UE 804 may receive (and be configured with) those associations from the serving TRP (e.g., one of the TRPs 802-1 and 802-2) or each of the TRPs 802-1 and 802-2. In one aspect, the associations may be received together with the SRS resource configuration or in a separate transmission. The at least one SRS resource may be, for example, one or more SRS resources, an SRS resource set, etc.

[0108]

[0114] The UE 804 then transitions to an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state 820. This may be due to, for example, a command from a serving TRP (e.g., one of TRPs 802-1 and 802-2), expiration of a DRX timer, etc. When the UE 804 decides to switch from the RRC idle / inactive state 820 to a second RRC connected state 830, the UE 804 uses the configured association between the SRS resource (or SRS resource set) and the RACH resource, received during the RRC connected state 810, to transmit the RACH message(s) 822 (e.g., Msg1 and Msg3, or MsgA) of the associated random access procedure (e.g., random access procedure 500 / 600). More specifically, the UE 804 transmits RACH message(s) 822-1 (e.g., Msg1 and Msg3 or MsgA) to the TRP 802-1 using transmission properties inherited from at least one associated SRS resource (or SRS resource set) on which the SRS 812-1 was transmitted. Similarly, the UE 804 transmits RACH message(s) 822-2 (e.g., Msg1 and Msg3 or MsgA) to the TRP 802-2 using transmission properties inherited from at least one associated SRS resource (or SRS resource set) on which the SRS 812-2 was transmitted. The TRP 802 measures the RACH messages on the associated RACH resources as they would be SRS resources for positioning (e.g., ToA, AoA, etc.). The transmission properties inherited from the at least one associated SRS resource may include an uplink spatial transmit filter for the at least one SRS resource, a path loss reference resource, a path loss estimate, and / or a transmit power estimate for the at least one SRS resource, a transmission timing for the at least one SRS resource, a subcarrier spacing (SCS), a duration, and / or a transmission bandwidth for the at least one SRS resource. Note that MsgA includes a RACH preamble and a PUSCH, and the PUSCH carries the DMRS.Thus, if the RACH message(s) 822 is MsgA, either the preamble or the DMRS or both may be used for positioning.

[0109]

[0115] More specifically, in one aspect, the configured association may associate an uplink spatial transmit filter (also referred to as an uplink transmit beam) of at least one SRS resource (or SRS resource set) with at least one RACH resource. In that case, the UE 804 can transmit a PRACH preamble (e.g., a PRACH preamble for Msg1 or MsgA) on the at least one RACH resource using the uplink spatial transmit filter of the at least one SRS resource. Additionally or alternatively, the configured association may associate a path loss reference resource, a path loss estimate, and / or a transmit power estimate of the at least one SRS resource (or SRS resource set) with the at least one RACH resource. In that case, the UE 804 can transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmit power estimate, the path loss estimate, and / or the path loss reference resource of the at least one SRS resource. Additionally or alternatively, the configured association may associate a transmission timing of at least one SRS resource (or SRS resource set) with at least one RACH resource. In that case, the UE 804 can transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource. Additionally or alternatively, the configured association may associate a first SCS, a first duration, and / or a first transmission bandwidth of the at least one SRS resource (or SRS resource set) with the at least one RACH resource. In that case, the UE 804 can transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using a second SCS, a second duration, and / or a second transmission bandwidth that are based on the first SCS, the first duration, and / or the first transmission bandwidth of the at least one SRS resource.

[0110]

[0116] Referring more specifically to the SCS, duration, and / or transmission bandwidth of at least one SRS resource (or SRS resource set), at least one SRS resource may have a different SCS, duration, and / or transmission bandwidth than that enabled for the RACH resource. Thus, there may need to be a mapping between the SCS of at least one SRS resource and the SCS of at least one RACH resource, the duration of at least one SRS resource and the duration of at least one RACH resource, and / or the transmission bandwidth of at least one SRS resource and the transmission bandwidth of at least one RACH resource. Such mappings may be defined by the relevant standard. These mappings may take the form of one or more rules. For example, a rule may state: if the duration of at least one SRS resource is greater than "X," then select "Y" for the duration of at least one RACH resource.

[0111]

[0117] When the UE 804 transmits a RACH message 822, the UE 804 needs to identify itself to the receiving TRP 802 in each RACH resource. To do this, as a first option, each TRP 802 may be provided with a one-to-one mapping of RACH occasions to UEs. That is, each UE (e.g., the UE 804) will be associated with its own RACH occasion(s). This mapping may be provided by a location server (e.g., the location server 230, the LMF 270, the SLP 272) or a TRP (e.g., the serving TRP). As a second option, the UE 804's identifier may be conveyed to the network in the Msg3 or MsgA payload. As a third option, there may be some association of the UE 804 with each RACH resource. For example, a RACH preamble index may be mapped to a specific UE. This information may be provided by either the location server or the TRP (e.g., the serving TRP). As a fourth option, a group of UEs may be associated with a set of one or more RACH resources, one or more RACH occasions, one or more RACH preamble indices, or any combination thereof, and the UE 804 may provide a shorter identifier in the RACH message payload that uniquely identifies the UE 804 within that group. Again, this mapping may be provided by a location server or a TRP (e.g., a serving TRP).

[0112]

[0118] Also, there may need to be a trigger mechanism to inform the involved TRPs (here, TRPs 802-1 and 802-2) to monitor the associated RACH resources instead of the SRS resources for positioning. As a first option, the serving TRP (e.g., one of TRPs 802-1 and 802-2) may inform a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272), and the location server may inform a neighboring TRP (e.g., the other of TRPs 802-1 and 802-2). As a second option, the serving TRP may inform the neighboring TRP directly over the backhaul link.

[0113]

[0119] After a random access procedure with a TRP 802 (e.g., random access procedure 500 / 600), the UE 804 is in a second RRC connected state 830 (e.g., RRC connected state 720). At this point, the UE 804 is configured (e.g., by the location server 230, the LMF 270, the SLP 272) with a new set of one or more SRS resources (or SRS resource sets) for positioning purposes for each TRP 802. The UE 804 continues the positioning session by sending one or more SRSs 832-1 to TRP 802-1 on the newly configured SRS resources for TRP 802-1 and one or more SRSs 832-2 to TRP 802-2 on the newly configured SRS resources for TRP 802-2. At some point after entering the second RRC connected state 830, the UE 804 may receive a second association of at least one SRS resource (or SRS resource set) of the set of one or more SRS resources allocated for each TRP 802 to at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources allocated for each TRP 802. Again, the UE 804 may receive the association from the serving TRP (e.g., one of TRPs 802-1 and 802-2) or from the respective TRP 802. The UE 804 may store this association until the next time the UE 804 transitions to an RRC idle or disconnected state during the same positioning session. Thus, as will be appreciated, the UE 804 may repeat the above operations until the positioning session is complete.

[0114]

[0120] Because the RACH message(s) 822 are transmitted as part of an ongoing positioning session, the TRP 802 performs positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, AoA) of the SRS 812, the RACH message(s) 822, and the SRS 832. The TRP 802 may then report these measurements to a positioning entity, such as a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272), the UE 804 (for UE-based positioning), or a serving TRP (e.g., one of TRPs 802-1 and 802-2). If the positioning session is a multi-RTT session, the TRP 802 may transmit downlink reference signals in response to the received SRS 812, RACH message(s) 822, and SRS 832. As known in the art, the payload of these response signals may include the amount of time between receiving the SRS 812, RACH message(s) 822, and SRS 832 and transmitting the response signal (i.e., the TRP 802's Rx-Tx measurements). Alternatively, the TRP 802 may transmit this information to a positioning entity. The location of the UE 804 may then be estimated using known techniques.

[0115]

[0121] As will be appreciated, the various network nodes described above may communicate over different interfaces and using different protocols. For example, the UE 804 may communicate with a location server using LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) signaling, and vice versa. The TRP 802 may communicate with a location server using LTE Positioning Protocol Type A (LPPa) or NR Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) signaling. The TRPs 802 may communicate with each other over a backhaul connection (e.g., backhaul connection 223). The UE 804 may communicate with the TRP 802 using a wireless cellular protocol, such as an LTE or NR protocol.

[0116]

[0122] 9 illustrates an example method 900 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The method 900 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein, such as the UE 804).

[0117]

[0123] At 910, the UE receives a configuration of one or more SRS resources (e.g., one or more SRS resources or one or more SRS resource sets) while in a first state (e.g., RRC connected state 720). The one or more SRS resources may be configured specifically for positioning. In one aspect, operation 910 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory component 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0118]

[0124] At 920, the UE obtains a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources. The one or more RACH resources may be allocated for the UE to transmit RACH messages to a particular TRP. The UE may obtain the first association during the first state or during a previous RRC connected state 720. In an aspect, operation 920 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0119]

[0125] At 930, the UE transmits at least a first signal (e.g., Msg1, Msg3, MsgA) of the RACH procedure to the TRP using a transmission property based on a first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource while outside the first state (e.g., while in the RRC Disconnected / Idle state 710 or the RRC Inactive state 730). In one aspect, operation 930 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0120]

[0126] 10 illustrates an example method 1000 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. Method 1000 may be performed by a TRP (e.g., any of the base stations or the TRP of any of the base stations described herein, such as one of TRPs 802).

[0121]

[0127] At 1010, the TRP receives one or more SRSs on one or more SRS resources from a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein, such as UE 804). The one or more SRS resources may be configured specifically for positioning. In one aspect, operation 1010 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory component 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0122]

[0128] At 1020, the TRP receives at least a first signal (e.g., Msg1, Msg3, MsgA) of a RACH procedure having a transmission property from the UE during a positioning session (e.g., a multi-RTT session, a UL-TDOA session, or an AoA session) with the UE based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more RACH resources. In one aspect, operation 1020 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0123]

[0129] At 1030, the TRP performs positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, AoA) of the first signal of the RACH procedure. In one aspect, operation 1030 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing this operation.

[0124]

[0130] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0125]

[0131] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0126]

[0132] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, FPGAs, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0127]

[0133] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0128]

[0134] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy discs, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0129]

[0135] While the above disclosure sets forth exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. The inventions described in the claims of the present application as originally filed are set forth below. [C1] Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising: receiving, during a first state, a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources; obtaining a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one Random Access Channel (RACH) resource of one or more RACH resources; and causing the at least one transceiver to transmit, while outside the first state, at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to a Transmit Receiving Point (TRP) using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource. A user equipment (UE) configured to perform the following: [C2] The at least one processor being configured to obtain the first association means that the at least one processor: receiving the first association from a serving TRP during the first state; or determining the first association; The UE of C1, configured to perform the following: [C3] The at least one processor: During a second state, receiving a configuration of one or more second SRS resources; and receiving a second association between at least one SRS resource of the one or more second SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more second RACH resources. further configured to: wherein the second state comprises a radio resource control (RRC) connected state. UE described in C1. [C4] the transmission properties comprise an uplink spatial transmit filter for the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the uplink spatial transmit filter of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. UE described in C1. [C5] the transmission properties comprise a path loss reference resource, a path loss estimate, and / or a transmit power estimate for the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmit power estimate, the path loss estimate, and / or the path loss reference resource of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. UE described in C1. [C6] the transmission properties comprise a transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. UE described in C1. [C7] The transmission properties comprise a first subcarrier spacing (SCS), a first duration, a first transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, of the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using a second SCS, a second duration, a second transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, that is based on the first SCS, the first duration, the first transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. UE described in C1. [C8] The UE of C1, wherein the first signal of the RACH procedure comprises RACH message A, RACH message 1, RACH message 3, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for RACH message A, or a DMRS for RACH message 3. [C9] The at least one processor: The UE of C1, further configured to indicate an identifier of the UE to the TRP during transmission of the first signal of the RACH procedure. [C10] The identifier of the UE is When the RACH procedure is a two-step RACH procedure, it is included in the payload of a RACH message A; or When the RACH procedure is a four-step RACH procedure, the payload of the RACH message 3 contains: UE described in C9. [C11] The identifier of the UE is indicated to the TRP based on an association between the UE and one or more RACH preamble indices, or the identifier of the UE is indicated to the TRP based on a one-to-one mapping between the UE and at least one RACH occasion, or 10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the identifier of the UE is indicated to the TRP based on the UE being a member of a group of UEs associated with the at least one RACH resource, a RACH occasion, a RACH preamble index, or any combination thereof. [C12] The UE according to C11, wherein the identifier of the UE is unique within the group of UEs and is included in the first signal of the RACH procedure. [C13] The UE of C1, wherein the one or more RACH resources comprise a set of time, frequency, and / or sequence resources allocated for transmission of at least the first signal of the RACH procedure. [C14] The UE according to C1, wherein the configuration of the one or more SRS resources is for at least a positioning session for the UE. [C15] The UE of C14, wherein the positioning session comprises an uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) session, a multi-round trip time (multi-RTT) session, an AoA session, or any combination thereof. [C16] the positioning session comprises a multi-RTT session; The at least one processor: reporting one or more receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements; reporting an SRS resource or resource set identifier, RACH occasion, RACH preamble index, or RACH slot associated with the one or more reported Rx-Tx measurements; The UE of C14, further configured to: [C17] The UE of C1, wherein the first state comprises a radio resource control (RRC) connected state. [C18] The UE according to C1, wherein the first association is received during the first state. [C19] Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; 1. A transmit receiving point (TRP) comprising: the at least one processor for receiving one or more sounding reference signals (SRSs) from a user equipment (UE) on one or more SRS resources; receiving, from the UE during a positioning session with the UE, at least a first signal of a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure having a transmission property based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of one or more RACH resources; performing positioning measurements on the first signal of the RACH procedure; and A Transmit Receive Point (TRP) configured to: [C20] The at least one processor The TRP of C19, further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit the first association to the UE. [C21] The transmission properties comprise an uplink spatial transmit filter for the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to receive a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the uplink spatial transmit filter of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. TRP described in C19. [C22] The transmission properties comprise a path loss reference resource, a path loss estimate, and / or a transmit power estimate for the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to receive a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmit power estimate, the path loss estimate, and / or the path loss reference resource of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. TRP described in C19. [C23] the transmission properties comprise a transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to receive a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. TRP described in C19. [C24] The transmission properties comprise a first subcarrier spacing (SCS), a first duration, a first transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, of the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to receive a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using a second SCS, a second duration, a second transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, that is based on the first SCS, the first duration, the first transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. TRP described in C19. [C25] The at least one processor receiving an indication of an identifier of the UE when receiving the first signal of the RACH procedure, wherein the identifier of the UE is included in a payload of a RACH message A when the RACH procedure is a two-step RACH procedure, or in a payload of a RACH message 3 when the RACH procedure is a four-step RACH procedure; The TRP of C19, further configured to: [C26] the identifier of the UE is indicated based on an association between the UE and a particular RACH preamble index, or the identifier of the UE is indicated based on a one-to-one mapping between the UE and at least one RACH occasion, or the identifier of the UE is indicated based on the UE being a member of a group of UEs associated with the at least one RACH resource, a RACH occasion, a RACH preamble index, or any combination thereof; TRP described in C25. [C27] The at least one processor The TRP of C19, further configured to receive a trigger from a location server or another TRP to perform the positioning measurement of the first signal of the RACH procedure. [C28] The at least one processor The TRP of C19, further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to send a trigger to another TRP to perform the positioning measurement of the first signal of the RACH procedure. [C29] A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, during a first state, a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources; obtaining a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one Random Access Channel (RACH) resource of the one or more RACH resources; transmitting, while outside the first state, at least a first signal of a RACH procedure to a Transmit Receiving Point (TRP) using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource; A method comprising: [C30] A method of wireless communication implemented by a Transmit Receiving Point (TRP), comprising: receiving one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) from a user equipment (UE) on one or more SRS resources; receiving, from the UE during a positioning session with the UE, at least a first signal of a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure having a transmission property based on a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of one or more RACH resources; performing positioning measurements on the first signal of the RACH procedure; and A method comprising:

Claims

1. Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; 1. A user equipment (UE) comprising: receiving, during a first state, a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for a positioning session for the UE; obtaining, during the first state, a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one Random Access Channel (RACH) resource for the positioning session of one or more RACH resources allocated for a subsequent RACH procedure; and causing the at least one transceiver to transmit, while outside the first state, at least a first signal of the RACH procedure on the at least one RACH resource using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource to a Transmit Reception Point (TRP), wherein the first signal is a RACH message to be measured by the TRP for the positioning session. A user equipment (UE) configured to:

2. The at least one processor being configured to obtain the first association means that the at least one processor: receiving the first association from a serving TRP during the first state; or determining the first association; The UE of claim 1 , configured to:

3. The at least one processor receiving a configuration of one or more second SRS resources during the second state; receiving a second association between at least one SRS resource of the one or more second SRS resources and at least one RACH resource of the one or more second RACH resources; further configured to: wherein the second state comprises a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state. The UE of claim 1.

4. the transmission properties comprise an uplink spatial transmit filter for the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the uplink spatial transmit filter of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. The UE of claim 1.

5. the transmission properties comprise a path loss reference resource, a path loss estimate, and / or a transmit power estimate for the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmit power estimate, the path loss estimate, and / or the path loss reference resource of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. The UE of claim 1.

6. the transmission properties comprise a transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using the transmission timing of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. The UE of claim 1.

7. the transmission properties comprise a first subcarrier spacing (SCS), a first duration, a first transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, of the at least one SRS resource or resource set; the at least one processor is further configured to cause the at least one transceiver to transmit a PRACH preamble on the at least one RACH resource using a second SCS, a second duration, a second transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, that is based on the first SCS, the first duration, the first transmission bandwidth, or any combination thereof, of the at least one SRS resource or resource set. The UE of claim 1.

8. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the first signal of the RACH procedure comprises a RACH message A, a RACH message 1, a RACH message 3, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for RACH message A, or a DMRS for RACH message 3.

9. The at least one processor Further configured to indicate an identifier of the UE to the TRP during transmission of the first signal of the RACH procedure; 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the identifier of the UE is included in the payload of a RACH message A when the RACH procedure is a two-step RACH procedure, or is included in the payload of a RACH message 3 when the RACH procedure is a four-step RACH procedure.

10. the identifier of the UE is indicated in the TRP based on an association between the UE and one or more RACH preamble indices; or The identifier of the UE is indicated in the TRP based on a one-to-one mapping between the UE and at least one RACH occasion, or The identifier of the UE is indicated in the TRP based on the UE being a member of a group of UEs associated with the at least one RACH resource, a RACH occasion, a RACH preamble index, or any combination thereof; 10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the identifier of the UE is unique within the group of UEs and is included in the first signal of the RACH procedure.

11. The positioning session comprises a multi-RTT session; The at least one processor reporting one or more receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements; reporting an SRS resource or resource set identifier, RACH occasion, RACH preamble index, or RACH slot associated with the one or more reported Rx-Tx measurements; The UE of claim 1 , further configured to:

12. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first state comprises a radio resource control (RRC) connected state.

13. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the first association is received during the first state.

14. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, during a first state, a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for a positioning session for the UE; obtaining, during the first state, a first association between at least one SRS resource or resource set of the one or more SRS resources and at least one Random Access Channel (RACH) resource for the positioning session of one or more RACH resources allocated for a subsequent RACH procedure; While outside the first state, transmitting at least a first signal of the RACH procedure on the at least one RACH resource to a Transmit Reception Point (TRP) using a transmission property based on the first association between the at least one SRS resource or resource set and the at least one RACH resource, wherein the first signal is a RACH message to be measured by the TRP for the positioning session. A method comprising:

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