Line of sight determination

Abstract

The UE includes a wireless transceiver, a directional reflector-based ranging system configured to determine a direction and distance between the UE and a reflector, and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to obtain from the ranging system (1) a first direction between the UE and a particular reflector and (2) a first distance between the UE and the particular reflector corresponding to the first direction, and based on a positioning reference signal (PRS) received from a PRS source by the wireless transceiver, determine (3) a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction, and determine whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 17 / 160,022, entitled "LINE OF SIGHT DETERMINATION," filed January 27, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth-generation (5G) service, and the like. Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications services (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Access (GSM) variants of TDMA, and the like.

[0003]

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

[0004] In one embodiment, a UE (user equipment) includes a memory, a wireless transceiver, a directional, reflection-based ranging system configured to determine a direction between the UE and a reflector and a corresponding distance between the UE and the reflector, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the wireless transceiver, and the directional, reflection-based ranging system, wherein the processor obtains from the ranging system (1) a first direction between the UE and a particular reflector and (2) a first distance between the UE and the particular reflector corresponding to the first direction, and based on a positioning reference signal (PRS) received by the wireless transceiver from a PRS source, (3) an angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE. (3) determine a second direction corresponding to the first direction of arrival of the PRS source; and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction; and determine whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance.

[0005] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to determine the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold closeness and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold closeness. The processor is configured to determine the first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction. The processor is configured to determine the first threshold based on a quantity of antenna elements of a wireless transceiver used to receive one or more PRSs.

[0006] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The processor is configured to determine, based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity, that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source. The processor is configured to send, via the wireless interface, a report including position information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the position information is based on a line-of-sight measurement or a non-line-of-sight measurement. The position information includes a location estimate of the UE. The processor is configured to obtain, from the ranging system, (5) a plurality of first directions between the UE and a corresponding plurality of reflecting objects and (6) a plurality of first distances corresponding to the plurality of first directions, and determine, based on the second direction being outside a threshold proximity to each of the plurality of first directions, whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source without using any of the plurality of first direction indications.

[0007]

[0007] In one embodiment, the UE includes means for transmitting a ranging signal and receiving a reflection of the ranging signal; means for determining, based on the ranging signal and the reflection of the ranging signal, (1) a first direction between the UE and the reflecting object and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; means for determining, based on a positioning reference signal (PRS) received by the UE from a PRS source, (3) a second direction corresponding to the angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction; and means for determining, based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance, whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source.

[0008] Implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The means for determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source includes means for determining that the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity. The UE includes means for determining a first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction. The means for determining a first threshold includes means for determining the first threshold based on a quantity of antenna elements of the means for determining the second direction between the UE and the PRS source.

[0009] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of such a UE may include one or more of the following features: The means for determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source includes means for determining, based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity, that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source. The UE includes means for sending a report including location information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight measurements. The location information includes a location estimate of the UE.

[0010]

[0010] In one embodiment, a method for determining a line-of-sight relationship between a UE and a PRS source includes transmitting a ranging signal, receiving a reflection of the ranging signal, and determining, based on the ranging signal and the reflection of the ranging signal, (1) a first direction between the UE and the reflecting object and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; based on a PRS received from the PRS source by the UE, determining (3) a second direction corresponding to the angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction; and determining, based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance, whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source.

[0011] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source includes determining that the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity; the method includes determining a first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction; and determining the first threshold based on an amount of antenna elements used to determine the second direction between the UE and the PRS source.

[0012] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features: determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source includes determining that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity; the method includes sending a report including location information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight measurements; the location information includes a location estimate of the UE.

[0013]

[0013] In one embodiment, a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions to cause a processor of a UE to transmit a ranging signal to determine a line-of-sight relationship between the UE and a PRS source; and based on the ranging signal and a reflection of the ranging signal received by the UE, determine (1) a first direction between the UE and the reflecting object and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; based on the PRS received by the UE from the PRS source, determine (3) a second direction corresponding to the angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction; and based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance, determine whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source.

[0014] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: the instructions for causing the processor to determine whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source include instructions for causing the processor to determine the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity; the instructions include instructions for causing the processor to determine a first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction; and the instructions for causing the processor to determine a first threshold include instructions for causing the processor to determine the first threshold based on an amount of antenna elements used to determine the second direction between the UE and the PRS source.

[0015] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of such a storage medium may include one or more of the following features: The instructions for causing the processor to determine whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source include instructions for causing the processor to determine that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity. The instructions include instructions for causing the processor to send a report including location information determined from one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight measurements. The location information includes a location estimate of the UE. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1]

[0016] FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system. [Figure 2]

[0017] 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary user equipment shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3]

[0018] 2 is a block diagram of components of an exemplary transmit / receive point shown in FIG. 1; [Figure 4]

[0019] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of the exemplary server shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 5]

[0020] 1 is a block diagram of an example user equipment. [Figure 6]

[0021] Signaling and process flows for determining line-of-sight status of positioning reference signal sources, determining location information, and determining map information. [Figure 7]

[0022] 1 is a simplified diagram of the environment of a target user equipment (UE), an anchor UE, and a building. [Figure 8]

[0023] 1 is a simplified diagram of a memory containing a database of angles and distances to reflectors determined by a ranging system and positioning reference signal-based angles of arrival of signals from and distances to the source of the positioning reference signal. [Figure 9]

[0024] 1 is a block flow diagram of a method for determining a line-of-sight relationship between user equipment and a positioning reference signal source. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017]

[0025] Discussed herein are techniques for determining whether a signal received from a signal source was a line-of-sight transmission, i.e., whether it followed a line-of-sight path from the source to the receiver. For example, a reflection-based ranging system in a user equipment may determine the angle and distance from the user equipment to the reflector. The user equipment may also determine the angle of arrival of a positioning reference signal (PRS) from each source and determine the distance traveled by the positioning reference signal. By comparing the angle of arrival with the angle and respective distance determined by the ranging system, it can be determined whether the positioning reference signal traveled a line-of-sight (LOS) path. For example, if the angle of arrival corresponds (is close to) the angle determined by the ranging system and the corresponding distance traveled by the PRS corresponds (is close to) the respective distance determined by the ranging system, the PRS can be identified as having traveled a LOS path. If the angles correspond but the distances do not, the PRS can be identified as having traveled a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path. If the angle of arrival does not correspond to the angle determined by the ranging system, the LOS / NLOS status of the PRS path may be identified as uncertain, in which case one or more other techniques may be used in addition to or instead of the techniques described above to determine the LOS / NLOS status of the PRS path. These are examples, and other examples may also be implemented.

[0018]

[0026] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned: The accuracy of determined location information may be improved. For example, radio frequency fingerprinting can be improved by providing LOS / NLOS and transmit / receive location pair information (indicating transmit / receive information and a LOS / NLOS flag (as to whether there is LOS or NLOS at that (those) locations)) and / or by providing information regarding the angle and distance to reflecting objects. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation according to the present disclosure must provide any, much less all, of the discussed capabilities.

[0019]

[0027] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating a friend or family member, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs), as well as terrestrial radio sources within the wireless network, such as base stations and access points. Standardization for 5G wireless networks is expected to include support for various positioning methods, which may utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for location determination.

[0020]

[0028] The description may, for example, refer to sequences of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein may be performed by particular circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. The sequences of actions described herein may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause an associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are within the scope of the present disclosure, including claimed subject matter.

[0021]

[0029] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” as used herein are not specific to or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, such a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). The term “UE” as used herein may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber device,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or UT,” “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are possible for the UE, such as via a wired access network, a WiFi network (eg, based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0022]

[0030] Depending on the network in which it is deployed, a base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), generic Node B (gNode B, gNB), etc. Furthermore, in some systems, the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functionality.

[0023]

[0031] A UE may be embodied by any of several types of devices, including, but not limited to, a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wireline phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. A communication link through which a UE may send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a RAN may send signals to a UE is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0024]

[0032] The terms "cell" or "sector" as used herein may correspond to one of multiple cells of a base station or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., on a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing neighboring cells operating over the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., sector) of a geographic coverage area over which the logical entity operates.

[0025]

[0033] 1 , an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) 135, a fifth-generation (5G) next-generation RAN (NG) (NG-RAN), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. The UE 105 and / or the UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, a truck, a bus, a boat, etc.), or other device. The 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network, the NG-RAN 135 may also be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN, and the 5GC 140 may also be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of the NG-RAN and 5GC is underway in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). Thus, the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. The RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, e.g., a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The UE 106 may be configured and coupled similarly to the UE 105 to transmit and / or receive signals to and from similar other entities in the system 100, although such signaling is not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity of illustration. Similarly, the description focuses on the UE 105 for simplicity. The communications system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou, or some other regional or local SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of communication system 100 are described below. Communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0026]

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1 , the NG-RAN 135 includes NR NodeBs (gNBs) 110a, 110b and a next-generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to wirelessly communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105, and are communicatively coupled to and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). The AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as the first point of contact for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. The BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may be macrocells (e.g., high-power cellular base stations), or small cells (e.g., low-power cellular base stations), or access points (e.g., short-range base stations configured to communicate using short-range technologies such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Bluetooth-low energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.). One or more of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 over multiple carriers. Each of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic area, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be partitioned into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antenna. The communication system 100 may also include other base stations, such as one or more WLAN APs (wireless local area network access points).

[0027]

[0035] FIG. 1 provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as needed. In particular, while only one UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in communications system 100. Similarly, communications system 100 may include a greater number (or fewer) of SVs (i.e., more or fewer than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external client 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in communications system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0028]

[0036] 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure the directional signals at a UE (e.g., the UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate a location for the UE 105 at a location-enabled device, such as the UE 105, gNB 110a, 110b, or LMF 120, based on measurements received at the UE 105 for such directionally transmitted signals. The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, Location Management Function (LMF) 120, Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions, respectively, in various embodiments.

[0029]

[0037] System 100 is capable of wireless communication in that components of system 100 can communicate with one another (at least sometimes using a wireless connection) directly or indirectly, e.g., via BSs 110a, 110b, 114 and / or network 140 (and / or one or more other devices, not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). In indirect communication, communications may be altered during transmission from one entity to another, e.g., by changing header information of data packets, modifying formatting, etc. UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., although these are merely examples and other configurations of UE may be used, as UE 105 need not be any of these configurations. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or headsets, etc.). Still other UEs, whether currently existing or developed in the future, may be used. Additionally, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the BSs 110a, 110b, 114, the core network 140, and / or the external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The core network 140 may communicate with the external clients 130 (e.g., computer systems), for example, to enable the external clients 130 to request and / or receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0030]

[0038] The UE 105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, WiFi communications, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communications, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything, e.g., V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). The V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communications)). The system 100 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals at different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter may transmit modulated signals simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc. The UEs 105, 106 may communicate with each other through sidelink (SL) communications between UEs by transmitting over one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0031]

[0039] The UE 105 may comprise and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL)-enabled terminal (SET), or by some other name. Furthermore, the UE 105 may correspond to a cell phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, although not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also referred to as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may enable UE 105 to communicate with external client 130 (e.g., via elements of 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1 or possibly via GMLC 125) and / or enable external client 130 to receive location information regarding UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 125).

[0032]

[0040] The UE 105 may comprise a single entity or may comprise multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of the UE 105's location may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic and thus provide location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the UE 105 that may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height or depth above ground, floor level or basement level). Alternatively, the UE 105's location may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address or as a designation of some point or small area in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The UE 105's location may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or urbanically) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location comprising, for example, a distance and a direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, with respect to a city, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term location may comprise any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine the values ​​of the local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then, if desired, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0033]

[0041] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, etc. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may otherwise be unable to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of a TRP. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may otherwise be unable to receive transmissions from a base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. A TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0034]

[0042] The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and the gNBs 110a, 110b may provide wireless communication access to the 5G Grid Control 140 for the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 110a, although another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may act as the serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location or as a secondary gNB to provide the UE 105 with additional throughput and bandwidth.

[0035]

[0043] 1 may include the ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next-generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105 but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0036]

[0044] Each of the BSs 110a, 110b, and 114 may comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a BS's cell may comprise a TRP, but the TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 100 may include only macro TRPs, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro TRPs, pico TRPs, and / or femto TRPs. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A femto TRP or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and allow restricted access by terminals associated with the femto cell (e.g., terminals for home users).

[0037]

[0045] As mentioned, while Figure 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol, may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), which may comprise base stations with evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may comprise an E-UTRAN+EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 of Figure 1 and the EPC corresponds to the 5G Node B 140.

[0038]

[0046] The gNBs 110a, 110b and ng-eNBs 114 may communicate with an AMF 115, which communicates with the LMF 120, for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and, in some cases, data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105 or with the BSs 110a, 110b, 114, for example, through wireless communications. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Extended Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105, for example, received from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names, such as a location manager (LM), location function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value-added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including deriving the location of the UE 105) may be performed in the UE 105 (e.g., using signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 and / or signal measurements obtained by the UE 105, e.g., for assistance data provided to the UE 105 by the LMF 120).The AMF 115 may act as a control node that handles signaling between the UE 105 and the core network 140 and may provide QoS (Quality of Service), flow, and session management. The AMF 115 may support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling for connections to the UE 105.

[0039]

[0047] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, which may then return a location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130. Although the GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, in some implementations, only one of these connections may be supported by the 5GC 140.

[0040]

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

[0041]

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

[0042]

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

[0043]

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

[0044]

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

[0045]

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

[0046]

[0054] As mentioned, although communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., used to support and interact with mobile devices such as UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, 5GC 140 may connect to a WLAN using a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1 ) in 5GC 150. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in 5GC 140, such as AMF 115. In some embodiments, both NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including eNBs, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) in place of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC in place of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use an LPPa instead of an NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use an LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE 105 using a directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for a 5G network, except that the functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may instead apply to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs, in some cases.

[0047]

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

[0048]

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

[0049]

[0057] 2 is an example of the present disclosure, including the claims, and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, and other configurations may be used. For example, an exemplary configuration of a UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other exemplary configurations include processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of sensors 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0050]

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

[0051]

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

[0052]

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

[0053]

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

[0054]

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

[0055]

[0063] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from the wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate or combined / integrated components. 2, antenna 246 may include two or more antennas, e.g., for diversity and / or to provide a phased array of antennas (although the single antenna may be a phased array antenna). Wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), Global System for Mobiles (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth, Zigbee, etc. New Radio may use millimeter wave and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies.The wired transceiver 250 may include, for example, a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication with the network 135. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, for example, for optical and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

[0056]

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

[0057]

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

[0058]

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

[0059]

[0067] The positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200, the movement of the UE 200, and / or the relative location of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may be in communication with and / or include some or all of the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may operate in conjunction with the processor 210 and the memory 211 to implement at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, as appropriate, although the description herein may only refer to the PD 219 being configured to implement or implementing in accordance with a positioning method. Additionally, or alternatively, the PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some of the signals 248) for trilateration, to assist in the acquisition and use of SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques to determine the location of the UE 200 (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)), or may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, etc.) that may sense and provide an indication of the orientation and / or movement of the UE 200, and the processor 210 (e.g., processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use the indication to determine the movement (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of the uncertainty and / or error in the determined location and / or movement. The functionality of PD219 may be provided in various manners and / or configurations, for example, by general purpose / application processor 230, transceiver 215, SPS receiver 262, and / or other components of UE200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0060]

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

[0061]

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

[0062]

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

[0063]

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

[0064]

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

[0065]

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

[0066]

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

[0067]

[0075] Positioning Techniques

[0076] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateralization (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) often operate in a "UE-assisted" mode in which measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are made by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the UE's position based on the measurements and the known locations of the base stations. Because these techniques use a location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the UE's position, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car navigation or cell phone navigation, which instead generally rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0068]

[0077] UEs may use satellite positioning systems (SPS) (also known as global navigation satellite systems (GNSS)) for high-precision positioning using precise point positioning (PPP) or real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements from ground stations. LTE Release 15 allows data to be encrypted so that only UEs that have subscribed to the service can read the information. Such assistance data changes over time. Therefore, a UE that has subscribed to the service may not be able to easily "decrypt" the data for other UEs that have not paid for the subscription by transferring the data to them. This transfer would need to be repeated each time the assistance data changes.

[0069]

[0078] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, angle of arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a Base Station Almanac (BSA) containing multiple "entries" or "records," one record per cell, where each record includes the geographic cell location but may also include other data. An identifier for a "record" among the multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the UE's position.

[0070]

[0079] In traditional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position and thus avoids sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of gNBs (more broadly, base stations)). The BSA information may be encrypted. However, because BSA information changes much less frequently than, for example, the previously described PPP or RTK assistance data, it may be easier (compared to PPP or RTK information) to make BSA information available to UEs that do not subscribe and pay for decryption keys. Transmission of reference signals by gNBs makes BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or wardriving, essentially allowing for the generation of BSA information based on in-situ and / or over-the-top observations.

[0071]

[0080] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or assessed based on one or more criteria, such as position determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event triggering the determination of location-related data and the availability of that data at a positioning system interface, e.g., the interface of the LMF 120. At the initialization of the positioning system, the latency for the availability of location-related data is called the time to first fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The reciprocal of the time elapsed between two consecutive availability of location-related data is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which location-related data is generated after the first fix. Latency may depend, for example, on the processing capability of the UE. For example, the UE may report its processing capability as the duration of DL PRS symbols in time units (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process per T amount of time (e.g., T ms) for a 272 PRB (Physical Resource Block) allocation. Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs that a UE can handle PRSs, the number of PRSs that a UE can handle, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0072]

[0081] One or more of a number of different positioning techniques (also called positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity, such as one of the UEs 105, 106. For example, known location determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also called TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Enhanced Cell Identity (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between the two entities. This distance, along with the known location of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities, may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple distances from one entity (e.g., UE) to another entity (e.g., TRP) and the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel time between one entity and another may be used to determine the relative distance from the other entity, and these relative distances may be used in combination with the known locations of the other entities to determine the location of the one entity. Angle of arrival and / or angle of departure may be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or angle of departure of a signal may be used in combination with the distance between devices (determined using the signals, e.g., the signal's travel time, the signal's received power, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or angle of departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or angle of departure may be a zenith angle relative to directly above the entity (i.e., relative to a direction radially outward from the center of the Earth).E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, timing advance (i.e., the difference between reception time and transmission time at the UE), estimated timing and power of detected neighbor cell signals, and possibly the angle of arrival (e.g., of signals at the UE from a base station, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in arrival time at a receiving device of signals from different sources, along with the known location of the sources and known offset in transmission time from the sources, is used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0073]

[0082] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on the serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and the serving base station, since typically at least three base stations are required). One or more base stations transmit the RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by base stations to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as the LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also referred to as receive time, reception time, time of reception, or time of arrival (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE's current downlink timing (e.g., as derived by the UE from a DL signal received from its serving base station), transmits (e.g., when commanded by its serving base station) common or individual RTT response messages (e.g., SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations, and includes in the payload of each RTT response message the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message. Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-TxThe RTT response message will contain a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. The difference T between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station Tx→Rx The time difference T reported by the UE Rx→Tx By comparing the propagation time between the base station and the UE, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, and by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time, the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station.

[0074]

[0083] UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based method, except that the UE (e.g., when instructed by the serving base station) transmits an uplink RTT measurement signal that is received by multiple base stations in the UE's vicinity. Each participating base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in the RTT response message payload the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

[0075]

[0084] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the party performing the RTT calculation (network or UE) typically (but not always) sends an initial message or signal (e.g., an RTT measurement signal), and the other party responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals that may include the difference between the ToA of the initial message or signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message or signal.

[0076]

[0085] Multi-RTT techniques may be used to determine location. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send out one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and multiple second entities (e.g., base stations and / or other TSPs such as UEs) may receive signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entities to determine a distance to the second entity and may use the multiple distances and the known location of the second entities to determine the location of the first entity by trilateration.

[0077]

[0086] In some cases, additional information may be obtained in the form of a linear direction (which may be, for example, in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions), or possibly an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD), which defines a range of directions (e.g., for the UE from the location of the base station). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the location for the UE.

[0078]

[0087] In positioning techniques using PRS (positioning reference signal) signals (e.g., TDOA and RTT), PRS signals transmitted by multiple TRPs are measured and the signal arrival times, known transmission times, and known locations of the TRPs are used to determine the distance from the UE to the TRP. For example, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in TDOA techniques to determine the location (position) of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRSs or PRS signals. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, resulting in PRS signals from more distant TRPs being buried by PRS signals from closer TRPs, and therefore not being detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal, for example, to 0, and thus not transmitting the PRS signal). In this way, a weaker PRS signal (at the UE) may be more easily detected by the UE without the weaker PRS signal interfering with a stronger PRS signal. The term RS and its variants (e.g., PRS, SRS) can refer to one reference signal, or two or more reference signals.

[0079]

[0088] Positioning reference signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS), which are sometimes referred to as SRS (Sounding Reference Signals) for positioning. A PRS may comprise a PRS resource or PRS resource set of a frequency layer. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs with common parameters configured by higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources within the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources within the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. The DL PRS Point A parameter also defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), and the DL PRS resources belong to the same DL PRS resource set with the same Point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belong to the same frequency tier with the same Point A. The frequency tiers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same value of comb size (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol; thus, for comb N, every Nth resource element is a PRS resource element).

[0080]

[0089] The TRP may be configured to transmit the DL PRS per schedule, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software within the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP may transmit the DL PRS intermittently, for example, periodically at regular intervals from the initial transmission. The TRP may be configured to transmit one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP, where the resources have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across a slot. Each PRS resource set comprises multiple PRS resources, and each PRS resource comprises multiple resource elements (REs) that may be in multiple resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot. An RB is a collection of REs that spans one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and a quantity of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (12 for 5G RBs). Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within the slot, and the number of consecutive symbols the PRS resource may occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol in the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols in the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted RE may repeat across slots, with each transmission being called a repetition, resulting in multiple repetitions within a PRS resource. DL PRS resources within a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. A DL PRS resource ID within a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or multiple beams).

[0081]

[0090] PRS resources may also be defined by quasi-co-location and starting PRB parameters. The quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi-co-location information of DL PRS resources with other reference signals. A DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with a DL PRS or SS / PBCH (Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel) block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. A DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with a SS / PBCH block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DL PRS resource with respect to reference point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and may have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0082]

[0091] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. An individual time at which all repetitions of all PRS resources in a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is called an "instance." Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within the PRS resource set, such that an instance is complete when the specified number of repetitions have been transmitted on each of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be referred to as an "occasion." A DL PRS configuration, including a DL PRS transmission schedule, may be provided to a UE to assist (or even enable) the UE in measuring the DL PRS.

[0083]

[0092] Multiple frequency layers of a PRS can be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth greater than any one of the layer bandwidths alone. Multiple frequency layers of component carriers (which may be contiguous and / or distinct) that meet criteria such as being quasi-colocated (QCLed), having the same antenna port, etc., can be stitched together to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​PRS and UL PRS), resulting in increased time-of-arrival measurement accuracy. When QCLed, different frequency layers behave similarly, allowing PRS stitching to result in a larger effective bandwidth. A larger effective bandwidth, sometimes referred to as the aggregated PRS bandwidth or the aggregated PRS frequency bandwidth, provides better time-domain resolution (e.g., for TDOA). An aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, each of which may be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component may be transmitted on a different component carrier, band, or frequency layer, or on a different portion of the same band.

[0084]

[0093] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in that the RTT uses positioning signals transmitted by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in the RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP may transmit DL-PRS signals that are received by the UE, and the UE may transmit SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) signals that are received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be referred to as an SRS or SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning may be used, in which the UE transmits a single UL-SRS for positioning that is received by multiple TRPs, rather than transmitting a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT typically searches for UEs currently camped on that TRP (the served UE, the TRP is the serving TRP) and also searches for UEs camped on neighboring TRPs (neighboring UEs). The neighboring TRPs may be the TRPs of a single BTS (e.g., gNB), or may be the TRPs of one BTS and the TRPs of separate BTSs. In RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS signal for the positioning signal in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thus the distance between the UE and the TRP) may be close in time to each other, so that errors due to UE movement and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE within about 10 ms of each other, respectively. It has been found that when the SRS for the positioning signal is transmitted by the UE and the PRS and SRS for the positioning signals are carried close in time to each other, particularly when multiple UEs attempt positioning simultaneously, radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (e.g., causing excessive noise, etc.) may occur and / or computational congestion may occur in the TRP attempting to measure multiple UEs simultaneously.

[0085]

[0094] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the RTT and corresponding distances to each of the TRPs 300 and the location of the UE 200 are determined based on the distance to the TRP 300 and the known location of the TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures positioning signals and provides measurement information to the TRP 300, which determines the RTT and distance. The TRP 300 provides the distance to a location server, e.g., server 400, which determines the location of the UE 200 based on the distance to different TRPs 300. The RTT and / or distance can be determined by the TRP 300 receiving a signal from the UE 200, by the TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices, e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or server 400, or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 receiving a signal from the UE 200.

[0086]

[0095] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. NR-native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only, UL-only, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0087]

[0096] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be called a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. A position estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. A position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume that the location is expected to cover with some specified or default confidence level).

[0088]

[0097] Line-Of-Sight / Non-Line-Of-Sight Determination and Use

[0098] Various techniques may be implemented to determine whether a signal received by a target UE from another UE is a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmission, and therefore whether the UE is LOS or NLOS with respect to the other UE. The target UE is a UE whose location is to be determined, and the anchor UE is a UE with a known location, which may not be known at the time of the signal exchange between the target UE and the anchor UE. Using NLOS signals between the anchor UE and the target UE to determine the range between the target UE and the anchor UE may result in an incorrect (longer than actual) range being determined. If this incorrect range is used to determine the location of the target UE, the determined location is likely to be incorrect and may be unacceptably incorrect (i.e., by more than an acceptable threshold error). Situations arise where a target UE (e.g., a vehicle UE in a V2X context) is out of coverage and the target UE uses the anchor UE to determine the range between the target UE and the anchor UE in order to determine the location of the target UE. Determining whether the PRS from the anchor UE is LOS / NLOS without the assistance of infrastructure such as a gNB is useful to help ensure the accuracy of the determined location for the target UE.

[0089]

[0099] 5 with further reference to FIGS. 1-4 , UE 500 includes a processor 510, an interface 520, a memory 530, and a directional, reflectance-based ranging system 540 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 550. UE 500 may include the components shown in FIG. 5 and may include one or more other components, such as any of the components shown in FIG. 2 ; thus, UE 200 may be an example of UE 500. For example, processor 510 may include one or more of the components of processor 210. Interface 520 may include one or more of the components of transceiver 215. For example, interface 520 includes a wireless transmitter 522, a wireless receiver 524, and an antenna 526, which correspond, for example, to wireless transmitter 242, wireless receiver 244, and antenna 246. The interface 520 may include two or more antennas 526, for example, to facilitate electrical beam steering of a communication beam, and / or the antenna 526 may be comprised of multiple elements configured for electrical beam steering (e.g., in conjunction with the wireless transmitter 522 and / or wireless receiver 524). Although three antennas 526 are shown in this example (two of the antennas 526 are shown as optional), the UE 500 may be configured with other quantities of antennas. The processor 510 is configured to steer the antenna 526 to point in various directions. For example, the processor 510 may electronically steer the antenna 526 by controlling the phase applied to signals transmitted by different elements of the antenna 526 and / or different antennas of the antenna 526 (if there are two or more antennas 526), ​​and controlling the phase applied to signals received by different antenna elements of the antenna 526 and / or different antennas of the antenna 526. The processor 510 may, for example, determine the AoA of a signal (e.g., a PRS) from another UE based on the direction of the beam of the antenna 526 when the signal was received. Also or alternatively, the interface 520 may include a wired transmitter 252 and / or a wired receiver 254.Memory 530 may be configured similarly to memory 211, including, for example, software with processor-readable instructions configured to cause processor 510 to perform functions.

[0090]

[0100] The ranging system 540 is configured to determine the location of an object using reflections of a transmitted signal, the location being expressed as an angle to the object relative to the coordinate system of the UE 500 and a distance to the object. The ranging system 540 includes a wireless transmitter 542, a wireless receiver 544, and an antenna 546 (which may comprise a single antenna element, multiple antenna elements, and / or multiple antennas). For example, separate antennas may be used for transmitting signals and receiving reflected signals, although the discussion herein refers to a single antenna. The ranging system 540 transmits signals from the wireless transmitter 542 via the antenna 546 and receives reflections of the transmitted signals by the wireless receiver 544 via the antenna 546. The ranging system 540 may include a processor 548 communicatively coupled to the wireless transmitter 542 and the wireless receiver 544 (and possibly to memory, not shown). The processor 548 is configured to steer the antenna 546 to point in various directions. For example, the processor 548 may electronically steer the antenna 546 by controlling the phases applied to signals transmitted by different elements of the antenna 546 and the phases applied to signals received by different elements of the antenna 546. The processor 548 may, for example, cause the antenna 546 to rotate its beam, e.g., at a constant angular rate. The ranging system 540 may be turned off during times when the UE 500 is not collecting information, e.g., measuring the PRS, for use in determining the location of the UE 500. The processor 548 may be configured to analyze the departure time of the transmitted signal and the arrival time of the reflected signal to determine the distance from the UE 500 to an object, and calculate the distance between the UE 500 and the object as the difference between the arrival time and the departure time divided by the speed of light. Additionally or alternatively, the processor 548 may be configured to determine the distance between the UE 500 and the object based on the transmitted signal power and the received signal power.Processor 548 is also configured to determine, for each determined distance, a direction of the object relative to UE 500 based on the direction of the transmitted signal (e.g., as electronically steered by processor 548). Some or all of processor 548 may be located within processor 510. That is, processor 548 may not be physically separate from processor 510.

[0091]

[0101] The ranging system 540 may take various forms. For example, the ranging system may be a radar (radio detection and ranging) system, a lidar (light detection and ranging) system, a sonar (acoustic navigation and ranging) system, and / or a reflectance-based ranging system. The ranging system 540 is directional in that the beamwidth produced by the antenna 526 is narrow enough to enable the ranging system 540 to determine meaningful information about the direction of an object relative to the UE 500. For example, the antenna 526 may have a beamwidth of approximately 1° to 2°, and the ranging system 540 may provide a direction to an object relative to the UE 500 with an error of approximately + / −0.2°. These values ​​of beamwidth and angular error are merely examples, and ranging systems with other beamwidths and / or errors may be used.

[0092]

[0102] The description herein may refer only to the processor 510 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as when the processor 510 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 530). The description herein may refer to the UE 500 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 500 that perform the function (e.g., the processor 510 and the memory 530). The processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 530 and, where appropriate, the interface 520) includes an LOS / NLOS unit 550 (line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight unit). The LOS / NLOS unit 550 is configured to determine whether another UE is within line-of-sight of the UE 500 or is in a non-line-of-sight relationship relative to the UE 500 (e.g., the line-of-sight between the UE 500 and the other UE is blocked or obscured). The LOS / NLOS unit 550 is configured to determine whether an angle between the UE 500 and another UE determined by the ranging system 540 corresponds to (e.g., within an angle threshold difference of) an angle determined from reception of one or more communication signals, and, for corresponding angles, determine whether a distance corresponding to the ranging signal and a distance corresponding to the communication signal correspond (e.g., within a distance threshold difference). The LOS / NLOS unit 550 is configured to conclude that an LOS condition exists between the UE 500 and another UE based on the corresponding distances, and to conclude that the other UE is in NLOS with respect to the UE 500 if the angles correspond but the distances do not. The LOS / NLOS unit 550 is discussed further below, and this description may refer to the processor 510 generally or the UE 500 generally as implementing any of the functions of the LOS / NLOS unit 550.

[0093]

[0103] 6 and 7, with further reference to FIGS. 1-5, a signaling and process flow 600 for determining whether a PRS is LOS, determining location information from the LOS PRS, and determining map information from the location information includes the steps shown. Flow 600 is exemplary only, as steps may be added, rearranged, and / or removed. For example, the timing shown in FIG. 6 is exemplary, as steps may occur in a different order than shown (e.g., one or more reflectance-based ranging steps may occur after one or more PRS exchanges). In flow 600, a target UE 700 interacts with an anchor UE 710, an anchor UE 720, an anchor UE 730, a building 740, a building 750, and an RSU 605 (roadside unit), with the UEs 700, 710, 720, 730, and the buildings 740 and 750 arranged in the layout shown in FIG. 7. This is exemplary only, and other layouts and quantities and types of entities are possible. The target UE 700 is an example of a UE 500, and the anchor UEs 710, 720, 730 may be examples of a UE 500, for example, with or without a ranging system 540. The RSU 605 may be an example of a TRP 300.

[0094]

[0104] At stage 610, the target UE 700 performs reflection-based ranging for the anchor UE 710, the anchor UE 730, the building 740, and the building 750. For illustrative purposes, the ranging system 540 starts transmitting ranging signals from 0° relative to the target UE 700 as shown in FIG. 7 and rotates the antenna 546 clockwise as viewed from FIG. 7. As a result, with the layout shown in FIG. 7, the ranging system 540 encounters the building 740, the building 750, the anchor UE 710, and the anchor UE 730 in that order. The ranging system 540 sends a ranging Tx signal 611, which is reflected by the building 740 to produce a ranging reflected signal 612, which is received by the ranging system 540. Similarly, ranging system 540 transmits ranging Tx signals 613, 615, 617, which are reflected by building 750, anchor UE 710, and anchor UE 730, respectively, to produce ranging reflected signals 614, 616, 618, which are received by ranging system 540. Ranging Tx signals 611, 613, 615, 617 may be, for example, radio frequency (RF) signals in the case of a radar system, optical signals in the case of a lidar system, acoustic signals (e.g., ultrasonic signals) in the case of a sonar system, etc.

[0095]

[0105] The range to the buildings 740, 750 and anchor UEs 710, 730 may be determined based on the respective ranging reflected signals 612, 614, 616, 618, e.g., at the time of receipt of these signals. For each received reflected ranging signal, the ranging system 540 (e.g., the processor 548) determines the angle of the object that reflected the ranging Tx signal relative to the target UE 700. For example, because for any object within range of the ranging system 540, the time for the ranging Tx signal to be transmitted, reflected, and received by the target UE 700 will be nearly instantaneous (even considering beam rotation and possible movement of the target UE 700, such as a vehicle), the ranging system 540 may determine the current angle of the beam from the antenna 546 at the time the ranging reflection was received to be the angle of the object relative to the target UE 700. The ranging system 540 may use the round-trip time of the ranging Tx signal and the ranging reflected signal, and / or the transmit power of the ranging Tx signal and the receive power of the ranging reflected signal, to determine the distance to the object reflecting the ranging Tx signal (i.e., the distance to the reflector). Furthermore, the ranging system 540 (e.g., the processor 548) determines a respective distance to the reflector for each angle resulting in a reflection. Referring also to FIG. 8 for the example layout of FIG. 7, analysis of the ranging Tx signal and ranging reflection results in four angles and four corresponding distances to the reflectors (here, the buildings 740, 750 and the anchor UEs 710, 730). The ranging system 540 or the processor 510 may store the determined angles and distances in the memory 530. In this example, the processor 548 determines from the ranging Tx signal 611 and ranging reflection 612 that the object (here, a building 740) is at a distance of 120 m and at 10° (when taken as 0° relative to the target UE 700 pointed at as shown in FIG. 7).The processor 548 determines from the ranging Tx signals 613, 615, 617 and respective ranging reflected signals 614, 616, 618 that the object is located at distances of 120 m, 250 m, 427 m from the target UE 700, and at angles of 45°, 130°, and 164° relative to the target UE 700, where the angles and distances are stored in entries 811, 812, 813, 814 in a database 810. The angles determined by the ranging system in the database 810 form a set of angles α, and the distances determined by the ranging system form a set β (where α and β may each include a single value or multiple values).

[0096]

[0106] At stage 620, the target UE 700 receives PRSs from anchor UEs 710, 720, and 730. The anchor UEs 710 and 730 are in LOS with the target UE 700 as shown in FIG. 7, while the anchor UE 720 is in NLOS with the target UE 700, with a building 740 located between the target UE 700 and the anchor UE 720. Thus, the anchor UEs 710 and 730 send PRSs 621 and 624, which travel directly to the target UE 700, while the anchor UE 720 sends PRSs 622, which are reflected by the building 750 to create a PRS reflection 623, which is received by the target UE 700. The processor 510 may determine the AoA of each PRS, for example, by determining the steering angle of the antenna 526 when the PRS (or PRS reflection) is received. The processor 510 may also determine the respective distances traveled by each PRS from the respective anchor UE to the target UE 700. For example, anchor UE 710, 720, 730 may send respective post-PRS signals 625, 626, 627 indicating the respective departure times of PRSs 621, 622, 624 and the location of the respective anchor UE 710, 720, 730. Processor 510 may receive the indication of the departure times and obtain (e.g., from memory 530) the respective first arrival times of each of PRSs 621, 624 and PRS reflection 623. Processor 510 may determine the distances traveled by PRSs 621, 624 and PRS 622, and PRS reflection 623 based on the difference between the respective departure times of PRSs 621, 622, 624 and the respective first arrival times of PRSs 621, 622 and PRS reflection 623 divided by the speed of light. If the processor 510 is configured to detect multiple receptions of the same PRS (e.g., the two strongest instances of the PRS), multiple angles may be close together, where the AoAs and corresponding distances are stored in the memory 530 in entries 821, 822, 823 in the database 820.The PRS-based angles in database 820 form a set of angles γ, and the PRS-based distances in database 820 form a set δ (where γ and δ may each include a single value or multiple values).

[0097]

[0107] At stage 630, the target UE 700 determines whether each of the received PRSs is from an anchor UE that is in LOS or NLOS with respect to the target UE 700. The LOS / NLOS unit 550 is configured to determine whether the AoA determined by the processor 510 corresponds to the object angle determined by the ranging system 540. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 determines whether an angle in the set γ corresponds to an angle in the set α (i.e., γ x ∈α). If the AoA is within an angle threshold proximity (e.g., within a threshold number of degrees (e.g., 2°, 3°, or 5°)) of the angle determined by the ranging system, the AoA may be considered to correspond to the angle determined by the ranging system. The angle threshold may be dynamic, for example, depending on the AoA accuracy achievable by the processor 510 from analysis of the PRS (e.g., based on the number of antenna elements of antenna 526, antenna element spacing, and / or duration of the ranging session, which may correlate to the AoA resolution achievable from analysis of the signals received by antenna 526). The angle determined by the ranging system may be a range of angles (e.g., a reflecting object may span a range of angles). If the AoA falls within such an angle range or is within a threshold proximity of either end of the angle range, the AoA may be considered to correspond to such a range of angles. The LOS / NLOS unit 550 is configured to determine whether the distance determined by the processor 510 corresponds to the object distance determined by the ranging system 540 for an AoA corresponding to the angle determined by the ranging system. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may determine whether the distance determined by the processor 510 corresponds to the object distance determined by the ranging system 540 for an angle α xAoAγ corresponding to x About AoAγ x PRS-based distance δ to x But angle α x The distance β determined by the ranging system to x If the PRS-based distance is within a threshold proximity (e.g., within a threshold percentage (e.g., 5%, or 10%, or 20%)) of the distance determined by the ranging system, the PRS-based distance may be considered to correspond to the distance determined by the ranging system.

[0098]

[0108] The LOS / NLOS unit 550 may be configured to determine the LOS / NLOS status of the anchor UE based on the AoA in γ and the corresponding distance in δ, the angle determined by the ranging system in α and the corresponding distance in β, according to the following equation:

[0099] gamma x ∈α (where

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

number

[0100]

[0109] The LOS / NLOS unit 550 may be configured to use the angle set α and the distance set β to determine the LOS / NLOS status of the PRS source over a limited time. Thus, for example, the validity of the angle set and distance set may be limited in time because the angle and distance to the PRS source will change as the UE 500 moves. The LOS / NLOS unit 550 may adjust the validity time based on the movement of the UE 500. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may extend the validity time indefinitely as long as the UE 500 is stationary.

[0101]

[0110] 6 , at stage 640, the target UE 700 determines location information. For example, the processor 510 may determine one or more PRS measurements, one or more ranges, and / or one or more location estimates for the target UE 700. At stage 630, one or more measurements (e.g., PRS measurements) and one or more ranges are determined, and at stage 640, one or more additional measurements and / or one or more additional ranges may be determined. The processor 510 may use LOS / NLOS knowledge to select measurements for only those PRSs that were LOS to the UE 500 to determine the location information, which may improve the accuracy of the location information.

[0102]

[0111] At step 650, the target UE provides capability information and location information to the server 400. The target UE 500 may send a capability message 652 to the server 400 indicating that the target UE 700 has a reflection-based ranging system. The capability message may be separate from or included in a location information report 654 sent by the target UE 700 to the server 400. The capability message 652 may be explicit or may be implicit (e.g., by including one or more indications indicating that the LOS / NLOS for one or more corresponding PRS-based location information items was determined by reflection-based ranging). The location information report 654 may indicate, if an LOS / NLOS determination was made by the LOS / NLOS unit 550 (i.e., was not uncertain), whether the location information was determined from a PRS from a PRS source that was LOS (e.g., the anchor UE) or a PRS from a PRS source that was NLOS. For example, for each PRS for which the corresponding anchor UE is determined to be in LOS or NLOS, the location information derived from the PRS may be associated with an indication of LOS or NLOS, as appropriate, in a location information report 654. The location information report 654 may include a set of angles α determined by the ranging system and a set of distances β determined by the ranging system. In flow 600, the target UE 700 sends the location report 654 to the server 400; however, the location report 654 may also or alternatively be sent to one or more other entities, such as a static (stationary) UE or a roadside unit (RSU). Other UEs may use the Tx / Rx and LOS / NLOS pair information (e.g., the Tx / Rx location and whether there is an LOS or NLOS condition at the location) in performing ranging at the indicated location (e.g., if an NLOS condition is indicated for a location, save energy by not attempting ranging at that location).

[0103]

[0112] 9, with further reference to FIGS. 1-8, a method 900 for determining a line-of-sight relationship between a UE and a PRS source includes the steps shown. However, method 900 is by way of example only and not limitation. Method 900 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, or performing steps simultaneously, and / or splitting a single step into multiple steps.

[0104]

[0113] At step 910, the method 900 includes transmitting a ranging signal. For example, the ranging system 540 sends the ranging signal, such as an RF signal, an optical signal, or an acoustic signal, via the antenna 546. As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the ranging system 540 sends ranging Tx signals 611, 613, 615, 617 toward the buildings 740, 750 and the anchor UEs 710, 730. The processor 548, optionally with the memory 530, the wireless transmitter 542, and the antenna 546 may comprise means for transmitting the ranging signal.

[0105]

[0114] At step 920, the method 900 includes receiving reflections of the ranging signals. For example, one or more ranging signals hit one or more reflecting objects, which reflect the ranging signals, and the ranging system 540 receives the reflections of the ranging Tx signals. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , the ranging Tx signals 611, 613, 615, and 617 are reflected into ranging reflected signals 612, 614, 616, and 618, which are received by the ranging system 540. The processor 548, possibly with the memory 530 and / or the processor 510, the wireless receiver 544, and the antenna 546 may comprise means for receiving reflections of the ranging signals.

[0106]

[0115] At stage 930, method 900 includes determining (1) a first direction between the UE and the reflecting object and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction based on the ranging signal and the reflection of the ranging signal. For example, processor 548 uses information from the ranging Tx signal and the ranging reflected signal to determine an angle and distance to the reflecting object (e.g., using the times of departure and arrival of the transmitted and reflected signals and / or the power of the transmitted and reflected signals). Processor 548 may determine the angle and distance, for example, in database 810 in the example layout of FIG. 7. Processor 548, possibly in conjunction with a memory such as memory 530, may comprise means for determining the first direction and the first distance.

[0107]

[0116] At stage 940, method 900 includes determining, based on the PRS received by the UE from the PRS source, (3) a second direction corresponding to the angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE, and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE, corresponding to the second direction. For example, processor 510 may analyze the received PRS and post-PRS signaling to determine an AoA relative to the anchor UE and a distance from the anchor UE to UE 500 along the path traveled by the PRS. For example, using PRSs 621, 624 and PRS reflections 623, processor 510 can determine arrival times, and from post-PRS signals 625-627, processor 510 determines departure times of PRSs 621, 622, 624, from which processor 510 determines travel times and, therefore, estimated distances between target UE 700 and anchor UEs 710, 720, 730 as indicated in database 820. The determined distance would not be the LOS distance if the PRS used to determine the time of arrival was a PRS reflection. The processor 548, possibly in conjunction with a memory such as memory 530, may comprise means for determining the direction and distance between the UE and the PRS source.

[0108]

[0117] At step 950, method 900 includes determining, based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance, whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source. For example, LOS / NLOS unit 550 analyzes the determined angles and distances, e.g., in databases 810, 820, to determine the LOS / NLOS status of one or more PRS sources, e.g., anchor UEs, relative to the UE. Processor 510, possibly in conjunction with memory 530, may comprise means for determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source.

[0109]

[0118] Implementations of method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises determining that the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may select an angle determined by the PRS (i.e., an AoA determined from the received PRS) and first determine whether the angle determined by the ranging system corresponds to (e.g., within a threshold proximity of) this angle determined by the PRS. If the selected AoA corresponds to the angle determined by the ranging system, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may determine whether the respective distances (i.e., the distance determined by the PRS and the distance determined by the ranging system) correspond (e.g., within a threshold proximity). If the distances correspond, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 determines that the PRS source is LOS to the UE. In another example implementation, the method 900 comprises determining a first threshold value based on an angular accuracy of the second direction. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may select the value of the first threshold value based on one or more indications of the accuracy of the angle determined by the PRS (e.g., an indication of an error range of the determined angle). The processor 510, possibly in conjunction with the memory 530 and possibly in conjunction with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 524 and the antenna 526), ​​may comprise means for determining the first threshold value. In another example implementation, determining the first threshold value comprises determining the first threshold value based on a quantity of antenna elements used to determine the second direction between the UE and the PRS source. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may select the value of the first threshold value based on an indication of the number of antenna elements used to receive the PRS, as this quantity may be directly related to the resolution of the AoA.

[0110]

[0119] Additionally or alternatively, implementations of method 900 may include one or more of the following features. In one example implementation, determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises determining whether the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may select an angle determined by the PRS (i.e., an AoA determined from the received PRS) and first determine whether the angle determined by the ranging system corresponds to (e.g., within its threshold proximity) this angle determined by the PRS. If the selected AoA corresponds to the angle determined by the ranging system, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may determine whether the respective distances (i.e., the distance determined by the PRS and the distance determined by the ranging system) correspond (e.g., within threshold proximity). If the distances do not correspond, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 determines that the PRS source is NLOS for the UE. In another example implementation, the method 900 comprises sending a report comprising location information determined from one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight measurements. For example, the LOS / NLOS unit 550 may send a location information report 654 to another entity (e.g., the server 400, the TRP 300, a roadside unit, etc.), where the report 654 indicates the location information (e.g., one or more measurements and / or one or more location estimates for the UE 500) and whether the location information was determined using a PRS from a source that was LOS or NLOS for the UE 500. The processor, possibly in conjunction with the memory, and in conjunction with the interface 520 (eg, wireless transmitter 522 and antenna 526, and / or a wired transmitter), may comprise means for sending the report.

[0111]

[0120] Other considerations

[0121] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof. The features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various locations, including being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0112]

[0122] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include the plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including" specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0113]

[0123] As used herein, the term RS (reference signal) may refer to one or more reference signals and may apply to any form of the term RS, e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS, etc., as appropriate.

[0114]

[0124] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or state means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or state, and may be based on one or more items and / or states in addition to the stated item or state.

[0115]

[0125] Also, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items ending with "at least one of" or "one or more of" indicates a disjunctive list, such as a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C" meaning A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations of more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B means that the item can be configured to perform a function with respect to A, or a function with respect to B, or a function with respect to A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select whether to measure A or B, or both). Similarly, recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes a means for measuring A (which may or may not be capable of measuring B), or a means for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure A), or a means for measuring A and B (which may be capable of selecting whether to measure A or B, or both).As another example, a statement that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of performing function X or performing function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to perform at least one of measuring X or measuring Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X).

[0116]

[0126] Considerable variation may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and / or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets) executed by a processor, or both. Additionally, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, might be utilized. Unless otherwise noted, functional or other components shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as connected to or in communication with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, components may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication therebetween.

[0117]

[0127] The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to some configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves, and many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0118]

[0128] A wireless communication system is a communication system in which communications are carried wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or sound waves propagating through space rather than by wired or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but is configured so that at least some communications are transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the device's functionality be solely or even primarily for communication, or that the device be a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (one-way or two-way), e.g., at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0119]

[0129] In the description, specific details are provided to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, the configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques are shown without unnecessary detail to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides only example configurations and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing the described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0120]

[0130] As used herein, the terms “processor-readable medium,” “machine-readable medium,” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific manner. With a computing platform, various processor-readable media may participate in providing instructions / code to a processor for execution and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., such as a signal). In many implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0121]

[0131] While several example configurations have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, in which other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, some actions may occur before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0122]

[0132] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than, or exceeds) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within, or is below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is a value that is lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. The inventions described in the claims of the present application as originally filed are set forth below. [C1] A UE (user equipment), Memory and a wireless transceiver; a directional reflectance-based ranging system configured to determine a direction between the UE and a reflecting object and a corresponding distance between the UE and the reflecting object; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the wireless transceiver, and the directional reflectance-based ranging system; wherein the processor: Obtaining from the ranging system: (1) a first direction between the UE and a specific reflecting object; and (2) a first distance between the UE and the specific reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; (3) determining a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the positioning reference signal (PRS) at the UE based on a PRS received from the PRS source by the wireless transceiver; and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction. determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance; A UE configured to: [C2] UE according to C1, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity. [C3] The UE of C2, wherein the processor is configured to determine the first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction. [C4] The UE of C3, wherein the processor is configured to determine the first threshold based on a quantity of antenna elements of the wireless transceiver used to receive one or more PRSs. [C5] UE according to C1, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity. [C6] The UE of C1, wherein the processor is configured to send, via a wireless interface, a report comprising location information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight measurements or non-line-of-sight measurements. [C7] The UE of C6, wherein the location information comprises a location estimate of the UE. [C8] the processor: (5) obtaining from the ranging system a plurality of first directions between the UE and a corresponding plurality of reflecting objects, and (6) a plurality of first distances corresponding to the plurality of first directions; and determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source without using any of the plurality of first direction indications based on the second direction being outside a threshold proximity to each of the plurality of first directions. The UE according to C1, configured to perform the following: [C9] A UE (user equipment), means for transmitting a ranging signal and receiving a reflection of said ranging signal; means for determining, based on the ranging signal and the reflection of the ranging signal, (1) a first direction between the UE and a reflecting object, and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; means for determining, based on a positioning reference signal (PRS) received by the UE from a PRS source, (3) a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE, and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE, the second direction corresponding to the second direction; means for determining, based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance, whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source; A UE equipped with: [C10] The UE of C9, wherein the means for determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises means for determining that the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity. [C11] The UE of C10, further comprising means for determining the first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction. [C12] The UE of C11, wherein the means for determining the first threshold comprises means for determining the first threshold based on a quantity of antenna elements of the means for determining the second direction between the UE and the PRS source. [C13] 1. A method for determining a line-of-sight relationship between a UE (User Equipment) and a PRS source (Positioning Reference Signal Source), comprising: transmitting a ranging signal; receiving a reflection of the ranging signal; determining, based on the ranging signal and the reflection of the ranging signal, (1) a first direction between the UE and a reflecting object, and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; Based on the PRS received by the UE from the PRS source, (3) determining a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE, and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction; determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance; A method comprising: [C14] The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises determining that the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity. [C15] The method of C14, further comprising determining the first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction. [C16] The method of C15, wherein determining the first threshold comprises determining the first threshold based on a quantity of antenna elements used to determine the second direction between the UE and the PRS source. [C17] The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises determining that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity. [C18] The method of C13, further comprising sending a report comprising location information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight measurements or non-line-of-sight measurements. [C19] The method of C18, wherein the location information comprises a location estimate of the UE. [C20] To determine the line-of-sight relationship between the UE (User Equipment) and the PRS source (Positioning Reference Signal Source), transmitting a ranging signal; determining, based on the ranging signal and a reflection of the ranging signal received by the UE, (1) a first direction between the UE and a reflecting object, and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; Based on the PRS received by the UE from the PRS source, (3) determining a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE, and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE corresponding to the second direction; determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance; a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions for causing a processor of the UE to perform the following: [C21] The storage medium of C20, wherein the instructions for causing the processor to determine whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprise instructions for causing the processor to determine that the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity.

Claims

1. A UE (User Equipment), Memory and a wireless transceiver; a directional, reflectance-based ranging system configured to determine a direction between the UE and a reflecting object and a corresponding distance between the UE and the reflecting object; a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the wireless transceiver, and the directional reflectance-based ranging system; wherein the processor: Obtaining from the directional reflection-based ranging system: (1) a first direction between the UE and a specific reflecting object; and (2) a first distance between the UE and the specific reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; (3) determining a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the positioning reference signal (PRS) at the UE based on a PRS received from a PRS source by the wireless transceiver; and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE, the second direction corresponding to the second direction. determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance; A UE configured to:

2. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity.

3. The UE of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction.

4. The UE of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the first threshold based on an amount of antenna elements of the wireless transceiver used to receive one or more PRSs.

5. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity.

6. 2. The UE of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to send, via a wireless interface, a report comprising location information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight measurements.

7. The UE of claim 6 , wherein the location information comprises a location estimate of the UE.

8. the processor: (5) obtaining a plurality of first directions between the UE and a corresponding plurality of reflecting objects from the directional reflection-based ranging system; and (6) obtaining a plurality of first distances corresponding to the plurality of first directions. determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source without using any of the plurality of first direction indications based on the second direction being outside a threshold proximity to each of the plurality of first directions; The UE of claim 1 , configured to:

9. 1. A method for determining a line-of-sight relationship between a UE (User Equipment) and a Positioning Reference Signal Source (PRS Source), comprising: the UE transmitting a ranging signal; receiving a reflection of the ranging signal at the UE; determining, based on the transmitted ranging signal and the received reflection of the ranging signal, (1) a first direction between the UE and a reflecting object, and (2) a first distance between the UE and the reflecting object corresponding to the first direction; Based on the PRS received by the UE from the PRS source, (3) determine a second direction corresponding to an angle of arrival of the PRS at the UE, and (4) a second distance traveled by the PRS from the PRS source to the UE, the second direction corresponding to the second direction; determining whether the second distance is a line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction, the first distance, the second direction, and the second distance; A method comprising:

10. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises determining that the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being within a second threshold proximity.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising determining the first threshold based on an angular accuracy of the second direction.

12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the first threshold comprises determining the first threshold based on a quantity of antenna elements used to determine the second direction between the UE and the PRS source.

13. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining whether the second distance is the line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source comprises determining that the second distance is a non-line-of-sight distance between the UE and the PRS source based on the first direction and the second direction being within a first threshold proximity and based on the first distance and the second distance being outside a second threshold proximity.

14. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending a report comprising location information determined from the one or more PRSs and at least one line-of-sight / non-line-of-sight indication indicating whether the location information is based on line-of-sight or non-line-of-sight measurements, the location information comprising a location estimate of the UE.

15. 15. A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions for causing a processor of a user equipment (UE) to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 14 to determine a line-of-sight relationship between the UE and a positioning reference signal source (PRS source).

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