Reference signal configuration for dynamic positioning.

Abstract

In one aspect, a BS transmits to a UE a time-varying RS-P configuration (e.g., for DL-PRS, or SRS-P, such as UL-SRS-P or SL-SRS-P) comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period. In another aspect, a BS transmits to a UE a varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration. The UE transmits an SRS-P or receives and measures a DL-PRS according to the time-varying RS-P configuration or the varying SRS-P configuration.

Description

Priority claims

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of Greek Application No. 20210100107, entitled "VARYING REFERENCE SIGNAL FOR POSITIONING CONFIGURATIONS," filed February 18, 2021, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. [Technical Field]

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configurations. [Background technology]

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including intermediate 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, Internet-enabled wireless service, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications services (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0004]

[0004] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), requires, 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

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

[0006]

[0006] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration from a network component, the RS-P configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating a first set of RS-Ps with at least one base station during the first time period in accordance with the first RS-P configuration; and communicating a second set of RS-Ps with at least one base station during a second time period in accordance with the second RS-P configuration.

[0007]

[0007] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals for positioning (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink transmitted by the UE to at least one base station, and the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station.

[0008]

[0008] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) received at the UE from at least one base station, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS received at the UE from at least one base station.

[0009]

[0009] In some aspects, the method includes transmitting, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and transmitting, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0010] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0011]

[0011] In some aspects, the method includes receiving from the network element a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0012] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0013] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0014] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0015]

[0015] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a network component includes determining a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period, and transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0016]

[0016] In some aspects, the method includes communicating with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to a first RS-P configuration, and communicating with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration.

[0017]

[0017] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning received from the UE at the base station, wherein the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps received from the UE at the serving base station.

[0018]

[0018] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) transmitted by the base station to the UE, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS transmitted by the base station to the UE.

[0019]

[0019] In some aspects, the method includes receiving, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and receiving, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0020] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0021]

[0021] In some aspects, the method includes transmitting to the UE a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0022] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0023]

[0023] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving from a network component a first changing sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event-triggering condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting a first set of SRS-Ps to at least one base station during a first time period in accordance with the first SRS-P configuration; determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to a second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event-triggering condition; transmitting a transition instruction to the at least one base station; and, after transmitting the transition instruction, transmitting a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period in accordance with the second SRS-P configuration.

[0024] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0025]

[0025] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0026]

[0026] In some aspects, the method includes receiving, from a network element, a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0027] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0028]

[0028] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication implemented by a network component includes determining a first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration, and transmitting the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0029] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0030]

[0030] In some aspects, the method includes receiving a first set of SRS-Ps from the UE during a first time period according to a first SRS-P configuration, receiving an indication of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to a second SRS-P configuration from the UE, and after receiving the transition indication, receiving a second set of SRS-Ps from the UE during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0031]

[0031] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0032]

[0032] In some aspects, the method includes transmitting to the UE a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0033] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0034]

[0034] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration from a network component, the RS-P configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicate a first set of RS-Ps with at least one base station during the first time period in accordance with the first RS-P configuration; and communicate a second set of RS-Ps with the at least one base station during the second time period in accordance with the second RS-P configuration.

[0035]

[0035] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning transmitted by the UE to at least one base station, and the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station.

[0036]

[0036] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) received at the UE from at least one base station, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS received at the UE from at least one base station.

[0037]

[0037] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and to transmit, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0038] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0039]

[0039] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to receive from the network component a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0040] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0041] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0042] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0043] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0044]

[0044] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to transmit to the UE a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0045] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0046]

[0046] In one aspect, a network component includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period, and to transmit the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0047]

[0047] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to communicate with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to a first RS-P configuration, and to communicate with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration.

[0048]

[0048] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning received from the UE at the base station, wherein the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps received from the UE at the serving base station.

[0049]

[0049] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) transmitted by the base station to the UE, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS transmitted by the base station to the UE.

[0050]

[0050] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to receive, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and to receive, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0051]

[0051] In one aspect, a UE includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive from a network component a first changing sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmit a first set of SRS-Ps to at least one base station during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; determine, based on monitoring the event trigger condition, to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration; transmit a transition instruction to the at least one base station; and, after transmitting the transition instruction, transmit a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0052] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0053]

[0053] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0054]

[0054] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to receive from the network component a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0055] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0056]

[0056] In one aspect, a network component includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a first varying sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration, and to transmit the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0057] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0058]

[0058] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to receive from the UE a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to a first SRS-P configuration, receive from the UE an indication of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to a second SRS-P configuration, and, after receiving the transition indication, receive from the UE a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0059]

[0059] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0060]

[0060] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to transmit to the UE a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0061] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0062] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0063] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0064]

[0064] In some aspects, the method includes means for transmitting to the UE a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0065] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0066]

[0066] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration from a network component, the RS-P configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; means for communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period in accordance with the first RS-P configuration; and means for communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period in accordance with the second RS-P configuration.

[0067]

[0067] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning transmitted by the UE to at least one base station, and the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station.

[0068]

[0068] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) received at the UE from at least one base station, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS received at the UE from at least one base station.

[0069]

[0069] In some aspects, the method includes means for transmitting, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and means for transmitting, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0070] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0071]

[0071] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving, from the network component, a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0072] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0073] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0074]

[0074] In one aspect, a network component includes means for determining a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period, and means for transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0075]

[0075] In some aspects, a method includes means for communicating, with a UE, a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to a first RS-P configuration, and means for communicating, with the UE, a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration.

[0076]

[0076] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning received from the UE at the base station, wherein the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps received from the UE at the serving base station.

[0077]

[0077] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) transmitted by the base station to the UE, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS transmitted by the base station to the UE.

[0078]

[0078] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and means for receiving, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0079]

[0079] In one aspect, a UE includes means for receiving, from a network component, a first changing sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; means for transmitting a first set of SRS-Ps to at least one base station during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; means for determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition; means for transmitting a transition instruction to the at least one base station; and means for transmitting a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration after transmitting the transition instruction.

[0080] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0081]

[0081] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0082]

[0082] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving, from the network component, a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0083] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0084]

[0084] In one aspect, a network element includes means for determining a first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration, and means for transmitting the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0085] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0086]

[0086] In some aspects, the method includes means for receiving from the UE a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to a first SRS-P configuration, means for receiving from the UE an indication of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to a second SRS-P configuration, and means for receiving from the UE a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration after receiving the transition indication.

[0087]

[0087] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0088]

[0088] In some aspects, the method includes means for transmitting to the UE a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0089] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0090] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0091] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0092]

[0092] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the network component to transmit to the UE a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0093] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0094]

[0094] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to receive a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration from a network component, the RS-P configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicate a first set of RS-Ps with at least one base station during the first time period in accordance with the first RS-P configuration; and communicate a second set of RS-Ps with at least one base station during the second time period in accordance with the second RS-P configuration.

[0095]

[0095] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning transmitted by the UE to at least one base station, and the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station.

[0096]

[0096] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) received at the UE from at least one base station, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS received at the UE from at least one base station.

[0097]

[0097] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the UE to transmit a first measurement report based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs by the UE after a first time period, and to transmit a second measurement report based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs by the UE after a second time period.

[0098] In some aspects, the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0099]

[0099] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the UE to receive from the network component a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0100]

[0100] In some aspects, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

[0101]

[0101] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0102]

[0102] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network component, cause the network component to determine a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period, and transmit the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0103]

[0103] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the network component to communicate with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to a first RS-P configuration, and to communicate with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration.

[0104]

[0104] In some aspects, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning received from the UE at the base station, wherein the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps received from the UE at the serving base station.

[0105]

[0105] In some aspects, the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) transmitted by the base station to the UE, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS transmitted by the base station to the UE.

[0106]

[0106] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the network component to receive, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and to receive, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0107]

[0107] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, cause the UE to receive, from a network component, a first varying sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmit, to at least one base station, a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; determine, based on monitoring the event trigger condition, to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration; transmit, to the at least one base station, an indication of the transition; and, after transmitting the transition indication, transmit, to the at least one base station, a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0108] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0109]

[0109] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0110]

[0110] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the UE to receive from the network component a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0111] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0112]

[0112] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network component, cause the network component to determine a first varying sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration, and to transmit the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0113] In some aspects, the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0114]

[0114] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the network component to receive from the UE a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to a first SRS-P configuration, receive from the UE an indication of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to a second SRS-P configuration, and, after receiving the transition indication, receive from the UE a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0115]

[0115] In some aspects, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0116]

[0116] In some aspects, the one or more instructions further cause the network component to transmit to the UE a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0117] In some aspects, the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0118]

[0118] Other objects and advantages associated with the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

[0119]

[0119] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the explanation of various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided merely to illustrate, not to limit, the aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0120] [Figure 1]

[0120] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A]

[0121] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless network structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A]

[0122] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3B] 1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a base station and configured to support communication as taught herein; [Figure 3C]1 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a network entity and configured to support communications as taught herein; [Figure 4A]

[0123] 1 illustrates an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4B] 1 illustrates an example of channels within a frame structure, according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5]

[0124] FIG. 1 illustrates an example PRS configuration for a cell supported by a wireless node. [Figure 6]

[0125] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0126] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8A]

[0127] 10 is a graph illustrating RF channel response at a receiver over time, in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 8B]

[0128] Diagram showing this separation of clusters in AoD. [Figure 9]

[0129] 4A-4C illustrate example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station and a UE, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10]

[0130] FIG. 10 illustrates example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station and a UE in accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 11]

[0131] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 12]

[0132] FIG. 10 illustrates example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) and a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) in accordance with other aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 13]

[0133] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 14]

[0134] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 15]

[0135] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 16]

[0136] FIG. 1 illustrates an example process for wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0121]

[0137] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, directed to various examples provided for purposes of illustration. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0122]

[0138] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the present disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the present disclosure include the described feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0123]

[0139] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0124]

[0140] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by particular circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. Furthermore, the sequence(s) of actions described herein may be considered to be embodied as a whole in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or instruct associated processors of a device to perform the functions described herein. Accordingly, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described actions.

[0125]

[0141] The terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station,” as used herein, are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise specified. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset tracking device, a wearable (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at some times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, through which the UE can be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0126]

[0142] 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), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNode B), etc. Base stations may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0127]

[0143] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receiving point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the base station's cell (or several cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. A TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, and therefore, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to the particular TRP of the base station.

[0128]

[0144] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may transmit reference signals to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0129]

[0145] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver is sometimes referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0130]

[0146] 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0131]

[0147] The base stations 102 collectively form the RAN and may interface with a core network 170 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122 and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170). In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of forwarding user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0132]

[0148] The base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a particular base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, so long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0133]

[0149] The geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover regions), but some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell (SC) base station 102' may have a geographic coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including both small cell and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include Home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve restricted groups known as Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0134]

[0150] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 (also called a reverse link) and / or downlink transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104 (also called a forward link). The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0135]

[0151] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0136]

[0152] The small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrums. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. A small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may boost coverage to and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MultiFire.

[0137]

[0153] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in millimeter-wave (mmW) and / or near-mmW frequencies in communication with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also referred to as centimeter wave, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communications using the mmW / near-mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above description is by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting various aspects disclosed herein.

[0138]

[0154] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a particular direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that particular direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a “phased array” or “antenna array”) that creates beams of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In particular, RF current from the transmitter is supplied to individual antennas with the proper phase relationship so that the waves from the separate antennas add together to increase radiation in desired directions while canceling and suppressing radiation in undesired directions.

[0139]

[0155] A transmit beam may be quasi-colocated, meaning that the transmit beam appears to a receiver (e.g., a UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships. In particular, a given type of QCL relationship means that some parameters related to a target reference RF signal on a target beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of a target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0140]

[0156] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher relative to the beam gains along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0141]

[0157] The receive beams may be spatially related. Spatial relationship means that parameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal may be derived from information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a PTRS, etc.) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0142]

[0158] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE forms a downlink beam, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if the base station forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE forms an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0143]

[0159] In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are called “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in licensed frequencies (although this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in unlicensed frequencies. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals; for example, since both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, signaling information and signals that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers.Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" may be used interchangeably.

[0144]

[0160] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0145]

[0161] Wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164, which may communicate with macrocell base station 102 via communications link 120 and / or with mmW base station 180 via mmW communications link 184. For example, macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for UE 164, and mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for UE 164.

[0146]

[0162] In the example of FIG. 1, one or more Earth-orbiting Satellite Positioning System (SPS) space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites) may be used as independent sources of location information for any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity). The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated SPS receivers specially designed to receive SPS signals 124 to derive geolocation information from the SVs 112. An SPS typically includes a system of transmitters positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its location on or above the Earth based at least in part on signals (e.g., SPS signals 124) received from a transmitter (e.g., SV 112). Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a repetitive pseudorandom noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in the SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104.

[0147]

[0163] Use of SPS signals 124 may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation system(s) that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS)-aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), etc. Thus, as used herein, SPS may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and SPS signals 124 may include SPS signals, SPS-like signals, and / or other signals related to such one or more SPSs.

[0148]

[0164] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as a UE 190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1, the UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which the UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct® (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.

[0149]

[0165] 2A shows an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) may be functionally considered to have control plane functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) that operate cooperatively to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may be in communication with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location servers 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each correspond to a single server. The location servers 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC 210 and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into components of the core network or alternatively, may be external to the core network.

[0150]

[0166] 2B shows another exemplary wireless network structure 250. For example, a 5GC 260 may be considered functionally as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). A user plane interface 263 and a control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223, with or without gNB direct connectivity to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., any of the UEs shown in FIG. 1). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via an N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via an N3 interface.

[0151]

[0167] The AMF 264 functions include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful intercept, transport for session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204 to receive intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The AMF 264 functions also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF that it uses to derive access network-specific keys. The AMF 264 functions also include location service management for barred services, transport for location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as the location server 230), transport for location service messages between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0152]

[0168] The functions of the UPF 262 include serving as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), serving as an outer protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic validation (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "termination markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transfer of location service messages over the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 272.

[0153]

[0169] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control of policy enforcement and parts of QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0154]

[0170] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 may support similar functions as the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0155]

[0171] 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated in a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or perform any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated in other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include similar components to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0156]

[0172] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) over one or more wireless communications networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communications medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.) in accordance with a designated RAT. In particular, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0157]

[0173] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near field communications (NFC), etc.) over the wireless communications medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, etc.), and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively (e.g., messages, instructions, information, pilots, etc.) in accordance with a designated RAT. In particular, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As particular examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth transceivers, Zigbee and / or Z-Wave transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0158]

[0174] A transceiver circuit including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may, in some implementations, comprise an integrated device (e.g., implemented as transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single communications device), in some implementations, comprise separate transmitter and receiver devices, or in other implementations, may be implemented in other manners. In one aspect, a transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform transmit “beamforming” as described herein. Similarly, a receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that enable each device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, a transmitter and a receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that each device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit simultaneously. The wireless communication device of the UE 302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0159]

[0175] The UE 302 and base station 304 also, in at least some cases, include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide a means for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing the SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. The SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and actions from other systems as appropriate and perform the calculations necessary to determine the positions of the UE 302 and base station 304 using the measurements obtained via any suitable SPS algorithms.

[0160]

[0176] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wire-based or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wire-based or wireless signal communication. This communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0161]

[0177] The UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. The UE 302 includes processor circuitry implementing a processing system 332, e.g., for providing wireless positioning-related functionality and other processing functions. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384, e.g., for providing wireless positioning-related functionality and other processing functions disclosed herein. The network entity 306 includes a processing system 394, e.g., for providing wireless positioning-related functionality and other processing functions disclosed herein. The processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include one or more processors, such as, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0162]

[0178] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). The memory components 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include reference signal for positioning (RS-P) modules 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The RS-P modules 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, RS-P modules 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, RS-P modules 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. FIG. 3A shows possible locations of RS-P module 342, which may be part of WWAN transceiver 310, memory component 340, processing system 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations for the RS-P module 388, which may be part of the WWAN transceiver 350, the memory component 386, the processing system 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.FIG. 3C shows possible locations for an RS-P module 398, which may be part of the network interface(s) 390, memory component 396, processing system 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0163]

[0179] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the processing system 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of movement data derived from signals received by the WWAN transceiver 310, the short-range wireless transceiver 320, and / or the SPS receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0164]

[0180] Additionally, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides a means for providing instructions (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) to a user and / or receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0165]

[0181] Referring more particularly to the processing system 384, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide RRC layer functions related to broadcasting of system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0166]

[0182] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functions related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), multi-level quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined with each other using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol streams are spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0167]

[0183] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto RF carriers and provides the information to the processing system 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality related to various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency-domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to a processing system 332 that implements Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0168]

[0184] In the uplink, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0169]

[0185] Similar to the functionality described with respect to downlink transmissions by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functions related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions related to transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0170]

[0186] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with each spatial stream for transmission.

[0171]

[0187] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described with respect to the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 384.

[0172]

[0188] In the uplink, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header recovery, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0173]

[0189] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are illustrated in Figures 3A-3C as including various components that may be configured in accordance with various examples described herein, although it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may have different functions in different designs.

[0174]

[0190] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. The components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A-3C may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), where each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide its functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Additionally, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by particular components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, RS-P modules 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0175]

[0191] 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a DL frame structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating an example of channels within a DL frame structure according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0176]

[0192] LTE, and possibly NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, the nominal FFT size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0177]

[0193] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies; for example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 204 kHz or greater may be available. Table 1, provided below, lists some various parameters for different NR numerologies.

[0178] [Table 1]

[0179]

[0194] In the example of Figures 4A and 4B, a 15 kHz numerology is used. Thus, in the time domain, a frame (e.g., 10 ms) is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figures 4A and 4B, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0180]

[0195] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, with each time slot including one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIGS. 4A and 4B, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols (OFDM symbols for DL, SC-FDMA symbols for UL) in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may include 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0181]

[0196] As shown in Figure 4A, some of the REs carry DL reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The DL-RS may include demodulation reference signals (DMRS) and channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), whose example locations are labeled "R" in Figure 4A.

[0182]

[0197] 4B shows an example of various channels in a DL subframe of a frame. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DL control information (DCI) in one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each containing nine RE groups (REGs), and each REG containing four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The DCI carries information about UL resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the DL data to be transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for UL scheduling, for non-MIMO DL scheduling, for MIMO DL scheduling, and for UL power control.

[0183]

[0198] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the above-mentioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped using the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also called SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the DL system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted over the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

[0184]

[0199] In some cases, the DL RS shown in Figure 4A may be a positioning reference signal (PRS). Figure 5 shows an example PRS configuration 500 for a cell supported by a wireless node (such as base station 102). Figure 5 illustrates how the PRS positioning occasion may be configured with a system frame number (SFN), a cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS )552, and PRS periodicity (T PRS ) 520. Generally, the cell-specific PRS subframe configuration is determined by the "PRS configuration index" I PRS The PRS periodicity (T PRS ) 520 and cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) is the PRS configuration index I as shown in Table 2 below. PRS It is defined based on

[0185] [Table 2]

[0186]

[0200] A PRS configuration is defined with reference to the SFN of the cell transmitting the PRS. A PRS instance is the N SFN with the first PRS positioning occasion. PRS For a first subframe of the downlink subframes,

[0201]

[0187]

number

[0188] can be satisfied,

[0202] where n f is 0≦n f SFN ≦ 1023, n s is 0≦n s n ≦ 19 f is the slot number in the radio frame defined by T PRS is the PRS periodicity 520, and Δ PRSis the cell-specific subframe offset 552.

[0189]

[0203] As shown in Figure 5, the cell-specific subframe offset Δ PRS 552 may be defined in terms of the number of subframes transmitted starting from system frame number 0 (slot "number 0," marked as slot 550) until the start of the first (subsequent) PRS positioning occasion. In the example in FIG. 5, the number of consecutive positioning subframes (N PRS ) is equal to 4, that is, each shaded block representing PRS positioning occasions 518a, 518b, and 518c represents four subframes.

[0190]

[0204] In some aspects, the UE may include a PRS configuration index I in the OTDOA assistance data for a particular cell. PRS When receiving the PRS, the UE uses Table 2 to determine the PRS periodicity T PRS 520 and PRS subframe offset Δ PRS The UE may then determine (e.g., using equation (1)) the radio frame, subframe, and slot when the PRS is scheduled in the cell. The OTDOA assistance data may be determined, for example, by a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270) and includes assistance data for the reference cell and several neighbor cells supported by various base stations.

[0191]

[0205] Generally, PRS occasions from all cells in a network using the same frequency may be aligned in time and have a fixed, known time offset (e.g., cell-specific subframe offset 552) relative to other cells in networks using different frequencies. In an SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102) may be aligned with respect to both frame boundaries and system frame numbers. Thus, in an SFN synchronous network, all cells supported by various wireless nodes may use the same PRS configuration index for a particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in an SFN asynchronous network, various wireless nodes may be aligned with respect to frame boundaries but not with system frame numbers. Thus, in an SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be configured separately by the network such that PRS occasions are aligned in time.

[0192]

[0206] A UE may determine the timing of PRS occasions of the reference cell and neighbor cells for OTDOA positioning if the UE can acquire the cell timing (e.g., SFN) of at least one of the cells, e.g., the reference cell or the serving cell. The timing of other cells may then be derived by the UE, e.g., based on the assumption that PRS occasions from different cells overlap.

[0193]

[0207] A set of resource elements used for transmitting a PRS is called a "PRS resource." The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols 460 within a slot 430 in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol 460, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. A PRS resource is described by at least the following parameters: a PRS resource identifier (ID), a sequence ID, a comb size N, a resource element offset in the frequency domain, a starting slot and symbol, the number of symbols per PRS resource (i.e., the duration of the PRS resource), and QCL information (e.g., QCL with respect to other DL reference signals). In some designs, one antenna port is supported. The comb size indicates the number of subcarriers in each symbol carrying a PRS. For example, a comb size of comb 4 means that every fourth subcarrier in a given symbol carries a PRS.

[0194]

[0208] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same transmit reception point (TRP). A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam; therefore, a "PRS resource" may also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this does not imply whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE. A "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion," a "positioning occasion," or simply an "occasion."

[0195]

[0209] Note that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may sometimes refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in LTE or NR systems. However, unless otherwise specified, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" as used herein refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, a PRS signal in LTE or NR, a navigation reference signal (NRS) in 5G, a transmitter reference signal (TRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or an SSB.

[0196]

[0210] SRS is an uplink-only signal transmitted by UEs to help the base station obtain channel state information (CSI) for each user. Channel state information describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and accounts for the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance. Systems use SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0197]

[0211] Several extensions over the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS for positioning (SRS-P), including a new staggered pattern within SRS resources, a new comb type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, a higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. Furthermore, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" should be configured based on DL RS from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside the active bandwidth portion (BWP), and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Finally, a UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA through the same transmission beam. All of these are features added to the current SRS framework, configured through RRC upper layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI)).

[0198]

[0212] As mentioned above, SRS in NR is a UE-specific configured reference signal transmitted by the UE for the purpose of sounding the uplink radio channel. Similar to CSI-RS, such sounding provides various levels of knowledge of radio channel characteristics. At one extreme, SRS may be used in the gNB simply to obtain signal strength measurements, e.g., for the purpose of UL beam management. At the other extreme, SRS may be used in the gNB to obtain detailed amplitude and phase estimates as a function of frequency, time, and space. In NR, channel sounding with SRS supports a more diverse set of use cases compared to LTE (e.g., downlink CSI acquisition for reciprocity-based gNB transmit beamforming (downlink MIMO), uplink CSI acquisition for link adaptation and codebook / non-codebook-based precoding for uplink MIMO, uplink beam management, etc.).

[0199]

[0213] The SRS can be configured using various options: The time / frequency mapping of the SRS resource is defined by the following characteristics:

[0200] Duration N symb SRS The duration of an SRS resource can be one, two, or four consecutive OFDM symbols within a slot, in contrast to LTE, which only allows a single OFDM symbol per slot.

[0201] Starting symbol location l0 - The starting symbol of the SRS resource can be located anywhere within the last six OFDM symbols of the slot, provided that the resource does not cross a slot end boundary.

[0202] Repetition factor R—For SRS resources configured with frequency hopping, repetition allows the same set of subcarriers to be sounded in R consecutive OFDM symbols before the next hop occurs ("hop" as used herein specifically refers to a frequency hop). For example, values ​​of R are 1, 2, 4, where R≦N symb SRS is.

[0203] Transmission comb spacing K TC and Com Offset k TC - SRS resources may occupy resource elements (REs) of a frequency-domain comb structure, where the comb spacing is either two REs or four REs, as in LTE. Such a structure allows frequency-domain multiplexing of different SRS resources of the same or different users on different combs, where the different combs are offset from each other by an integer number of REs. Comb offsets are defined with respect to PRB boundaries and are in the range 0, 1, ..., K. TC -1 RE. Therefore, the comb spacing K TC = 2, there are two different combs available for multiplexing if needed, with comb spacing K TCIf =4, there are four different combs available.

[0204] Periodicity and slot offset in case of periodic / semi-persistent SRS.

[0205] · Sounding bandwidth within the bandwidth portion.

[0206]

[0214] For low-latency positioning, the gNB may trigger an UL SRS-P via DCI (e.g., the transmitted SRS-P may include repetition or beam sweeping to enable several gNBs to receive the SRS-P). Alternatively, the gNB may send information regarding aperiodic PRS transmissions to the UE (e.g., this configuration may include information regarding PRSs from multiple gNBs to enable the UE to perform timing calculations for positioning (UE-based) or reporting (UE-assisted)). While various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to DL PRS-based positioning procedures, some or all of such embodiments may also be applied to UL SRS-P-based positioning procedures.

[0207]

[0215] Note that the terms "sounding reference signal," "SRS," and "SRS-P" may sometimes refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in LTE or NR systems. However, unless otherwise specified, the terms "sounding reference signal," "SRS," and "SRS-P" as used herein refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, an SRS signal in LTE or NR, a navigation reference signal (NRS) in 5G, a transmitter reference signal (TRS), a random access channel (RACH) signal for positioning (e.g., a RACH preamble, such as Msg-1 in a four-step RACH procedure or Msg-A in a two-step RACH procedure).

[0208]

[0216] 3GPP Rel. 16 introduced various NR positioning aspects aimed at increasing the location accuracy of positioning schemes involving measurement(s) associated with one or more UL or DL ​​PRSs (e.g., higher bandwidth (BW), FR2 beam sweeping, angle-based measurements such as angle-of-arrival (AoA) and angle-of-departure (AoD) measurements, multi-cell round-trip time (RTT) measurements, etc.). When latency reduction is a priority, UE-based positioning techniques (e.g., DL-only techniques without UL location measurement reporting) are generally used. However, when latency is less of a concern, UE-assisted positioning techniques may be used, whereby UE measurement data is reported to a network entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, etc.). The latency associated with UE-assisted positioning techniques can be somewhat reduced by implementing an LMF in the RAN.

[0209]

[0217] Layer 3 (L3) signaling (e.g., RRC or Location Positioning Protocol (LPP)) is generally used to transport reports comprising location-based data in connection with UE-assisted positioning techniques. L3 signaling is associated with relatively high latency (e.g., greater than 100 ms) compared to Layer 1 (L1, or PHY layer) signaling or Layer 2 (L2, or MAC layer) signaling. In some cases, lower latency (e.g., less than 100 ms, less than 10 ms, etc.) between the UE and the RAN for location-based reporting may be desired. In such cases, L3 signaling may not be able to reach these lower latency levels. L3 signaling for positioning measurements may comprise any combination of the following:

[0210] One or more TOA, TDOA, RSRP, or Rx-Tx measurements; · One or more AoA / AoD measurements (e.g., currently only DL AoA and UL AoD are agreed upon for gNB->LMF reporting), One or more multipath reporting measurements, e.g., per-path ToA, RSRP, AoA / AoD (e.g., currently only per-path ToA is enabled in LTE), One or more movement states (e.g., walking, driving, etc.) and trajectories (e.g., currently for the UE), and / or One or more reported quality instructions.

[0211]

[0218] More recently, L1 and L2 signaling has been contemplated for use in connection with PRS-based reporting. For example, L1 and L2 signaling is currently used in some systems to transport CSI reports (e.g., reports of channel quality indication (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), layer indicator (Li), L1-RSRP, etc.). A CSI report may comprise a set of fields in a predefined order (e.g., defined by the relevant standard). A single UL transmission (e.g., on the PUSCH or PUCCH) may include multiple reports, referred to herein as “sub-reports,” organized according to a predefined priority (e.g., defined by the relevant standard). In some designs, the predefined order may be based on the associated sub-report periodicity (e.g., aperiodic / semi-persistent / periodic (A / SP / P) over PUSCH / PUCCH), measurement type (e.g., L1-RSRP or not), serving cell index (e.g., in the case of carrier aggregation (CA)), and reportconfigID. In two-part CSI reporting, Part 1 of all reports is grouped together, Part 2 is grouped separately, and each group is coded separately (e.g., Part 1 payload size is fixed based on configuration parameters, while Part 2 size is variable and depends on the configuration parameters and on the associated Part 1 content). The number of coded bits / symbols to be output after encoding and rate matching is calculated based on the number of input bits and a beta coefficient for each associated standard. A linkage (e.g., a time offset) is defined between the instance of the RS being measured and the corresponding report. In some designs, CSI-like reporting of PRS-based measurement data using L1 and L2 signaling may be implemented.

[0212]

[0219] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system 600 in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 6, a UE 604, which may correspond to any of the UEs described above with respect to FIG. 1 (e.g., UE 104, UE 182, UE 190, etc.), is attempting to calculate an estimate of its location or assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in calculating an estimate of its location. The UE 604 may communicate wirelessly with multiple base stations 602a-d (collectively, base stations 602), which may correspond to any combination of base stations 102 or 180 and / or WLAN AP 150 in FIG. 1, using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulation of RF signals and exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communications system 600 (i.e., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 604 may determine, or assist in determining, its location in a predefined reference frame. In one aspect, the UE 604 may specify its location using a two-dimensional coordinate system, although the aspects disclosed herein are not so limited and may be applicable to determining location using a three-dimensional coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while FIG. 6 shows one UE 604 and four base stations 602, it will be appreciated that there may be more UEs 604 and more or fewer base stations 602.

[0213]

[0220] To support position estimation, base stations 602 may be configured to broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), synchronization signals, etc.) to UEs 604 in their coverage areas to enable the UEs 604 to measure reference RF signal timing differences (e.g., OTDOA or reference signal time difference (RSTD)) between pairs of network nodes and / or identify the beam that best excites LOS or the shortest radio path between the UE 604 and the transmitting base station 602. Identifying the LOS / shortest path beam(s) is interesting because not only can these beams be subsequently used for OTDOA measurements between pairs of base stations 602, but identifying these beams can also directly provide some positioning information based on the beam direction. Moreover, these beams can subsequently be used for other position estimation methods that require accurate ToA, such as round-trip time estimation-based methods.

[0214]

[0221] A "network node" as used herein may be a base station 602, a cell of a base station 602, a remote radio head, an antenna of a base station 602 if the location of the antenna of the base station 602 is separate from the location of the base station 602 itself, or any other network entity capable of transmitting a reference signal. Furthermore, a "node" as used herein may refer to either a network node or a UE.

[0215]

[0222] A location server (e.g., location server 230) may send assistance data to the UE 604, including identification information of one or more neighbor cells of the base station 602 and configuration information for the reference RF signal transmitted by each neighbor cell. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station 602 itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). Alternatively, the UE 604 may detect neighbor cells of the base station 602 on its own without using assistance data. The UE 604 may measure and (optionally) report (e.g., based in part on assistance data, if provided) the OTDOA from individual network nodes and / or the RSTD between reference RF signals received from pairs of network nodes. Using these measurements and the known location of the measured network node (i.e., the base station(s) 602 or antenna(s) that transmitted the reference RF signal measured by the UE 604), the UE 604 or location server can determine the distance between the UE 604 and the measured network node, thereby calculating the location of the UE 604.

[0216]

[0223] The term “position estimate” is used herein to refer to an estimate of a position for a UE 604, which may be geographic (e.g., may comprise latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or urban (e.g., may comprise a street address, a building designation, or a precise point or area within or near a building or street address, such as a particular entrance to a building, a particular room or suite within a building, or a landmark such as a town square). A position estimate may also be referred to as a “location,” “position,” “fix,” “position fix,” “location fix,” “location estimate,” “fix estimate,” or some other terminology. Means of obtaining a location estimate may be generally referred to as “positioning,” “locating,” or “position fixing.” A particular solution for obtaining a position estimate may be referred to as a “position solution.” A particular method for obtaining a position estimate as part of a position solution may be referred to as a “position method” or “positioning method.”

[0217]

[0224] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple physical transmission points, which may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term “base station” refers to a single physical transmission point, the physical transmission point may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the cell of the base station (e.g., base station 602). When the term “base station” refers to multiple collocated physical transmission points, the physical transmission point may be an array of antennas of the base station (e.g., as in a MIMO system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term “base station” refers to multiple non-collocated physical transmission points, the physical transmission point may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical transmission points may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE (e.g., UE 604) and a neighbor base station whose reference RF signal the UE is measuring. 6 illustrates an aspect in which base stations 602a and 602b form a DAS / RRH 620. For example, base station 602a may be a serving base station for UE 604, and base station 602b may be a neighbor base station for UE 604. Thus, base station 602b may be an RRH for base station 602a. Base stations 602a and 602b may communicate with each other via a wired or wireless link 622.

[0218]

[0225] To accurately determine the location of a UE 604 using the OTDOA and / or RSTD between RF signals received from a pair of network nodes, the UE 604 needs to measure a reference RF signal received over the LOS path (or the shortest NLOS path if no LOS path is available) between the UE 604 and the network node (e.g., base station 602, antenna). However, the RF signal not only travels by the LOS / shortest path between the transmitter and receiver, but also travels via several other paths as the RF signal spreads from the transmitter and reflects off other objects, such as hills, buildings, water, etc., on its way to the receiver. Thus, FIG. 6 shows several LOS paths 610 and several NLOS paths 612 between the base station 602 and the UE 604. In particular, FIG. 6 shows base station 602a transmitting via LOS path 610a and NLOS path 612a, base station 602b transmitting via LOS path 610b and two NLOS paths 612b, base station 602c transmitting via LOS path 610c and NLOS path 612c, and base station 602d transmitting via two NLOS paths 612d. As shown in FIG. 6, each NLOS path 612 reflects off some object 630 (e.g., a building). As will be appreciated, each LOS path 610 and NLOS path 612 transmitted by base station 602 may be transmitted by a different antenna of base station 602 (e.g., as in a MIMO system) or may be transmitted by the same antenna of base station 602 (thereby illustrating RF signal propagation). Furthermore, the term “LOS path” as used herein refers to the shortest path between the transmitter and receiver, which may not be the actual LOS path, but rather the shortest NLOS path.

[0219]

[0226] In one aspect, one or more of the base stations 602 may be configured to use beamforming to transmit RF signals. In that case, some of the available beams may focus the transmitted RF signals along the LOS path 610 (e.g., the beam producing the highest antenna gain along the LOS path), while other available beams may focus the transmitted RF signals along the NLOS path 612. A beam that has high gain along one path and therefore focuses the RF signals along that path may still have some RF signals propagating along other paths, the strength of which, of course, depends on the beam gain along those other paths. An “RF signal” comprises electromagnetic waves that transport information through space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, as explained further below, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel.

[0220]

[0227] If the base station 602 uses beamforming to transmit RF signals, the beam of interest for data communication between the base station 602 and the UE 604 will be the beam carrying the RF signal that arrives at the UE 604 with the highest signal strength (e.g., as indicated by received signal received power (RSRP) or SINR in the presence of directional interfering signals), while the beam of interest for location estimation will be the beam carrying the RF signal that excites the shortest path or LOS path (e.g., LOS path 610). In some frequency bands and for commonly used antenna systems, this will be the same beam. However, in other frequency bands, such as mmW, where multiple antenna elements may typically be used to create a narrow transmit beam, they may not be the same beam. As described below with reference to FIG. 7, in some cases, the signal strength of the RF signal on the LOS path 610 may be weaker (e.g., due to interference) than the signal strength of the RF signal on the NLOS path 612, where the RF signal arrives later due to propagation delay.

[0221]

[0228] 7 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 700 in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 7, a UE 704, which may correspond to the UE 604 of FIG. 6, is attempting to calculate an estimate of its location or to assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in calculating an estimate of its location. The UE 704 may communicate wirelessly with a base station 702, which may correspond to one of the base stations 602 in FIG. 6, using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulation of the RF signals and exchange of information packets.

[0222]

[0229] As shown in Figure 7, the base station 702 utilizes beamforming to transmit multiple beams 711-715 of RF signals. Each beam 711-715 may be formed and transmitted by an array of antennas at the base station 702. While Figure 7 shows the base station 702 transmitting five beams 711-715, it will be appreciated that there may be more or fewer than five beams, the beam shapes, such as peak gain, width, and sidelobe gain, may vary among the transmitted beams, and some of the beams may be transmitted by different base stations.

[0223]

[0230] A beam index may be assigned to each of the multiple beams 711-715 to distinguish RF signals associated with one beam from RF signals associated with another beam. Moreover, RF signals associated with a particular beam among the multiple beams 711-715 may carry a beam index indicator. The beam index may also be derived from the time of transmission of the RF signal, e.g., frame, slot, and / or OFDM symbol number. The beam index indicator may be, for example, a 3-bit field for uniquely distinguishing up to eight beams. If two different RF signals with different beam indices are received, this indicates that the RF signals were transmitted using different beams. If two different RF signals share a common beam index, this indicates that the different RF signals are transmitted using the same beam. Another way to describe two RF signals being transmitted using the same beam is to say that the antenna port(s) used for transmission of the first RF signal are quasi-colocated in space with the antenna port(s) used for transmission of the second RF signal.

[0224]

[0231] In the example of FIG. 7, UE 704 receives NLOS data stream 723 of RF signals transmitted on beam 713 and LOS data stream 724 of RF signals transmitted on beam 714. While FIG. 7 illustrates NLOS data stream 723 and LOS data stream 724 as single lines (dashed and solid lines, respectively), it will be appreciated that NLOS data stream 723 and LOS data stream 724 may each comprise multiple rays (i.e., "clusters") by the time they reach UE 704, e.g., due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through a multipath channel. For example, when an electromagnetic wave is reflected off multiple surfaces of an object, a cluster of RF signals is formed, with the reflections arriving at the receiver (e.g., UE 704) from approximately the same angle, each traveling a few wavelengths (e.g., centimeters) more or less than the others. A "cluster" of received RF signals generally corresponds to a single transmitted RF signal.

[0225]

[0232] In the example of FIG. 7, NLOS data stream 723 is not initially directed to UE 704, but as can be appreciated, it may be directed to UE 704, much like the RF signal on NLOS path 612 in FIG. 6 is. However, it may be reflected off a reflector 740 (e.g., a building) and reach UE 704 unimpeded, and thus still be a relatively strong RF signal. In contrast, LOS data stream 724 is directed to UE 704 but passes through obstructions 730 (e.g., vegetation, buildings, hills, clouds, smoke, or other confusing environments) that may significantly degrade the RF signal. As can be appreciated, LOS data stream 724 is weaker than NLOS data stream 723, but because LOS data stream 724 follows a shorter path from base station 702 to UE 704, it arrives at UE 704 before NLOS data stream 723.

[0226]

[0233] As described above, the beam of interest for data communication between a base station (e.g., base station 702) and a UE (e.g., UE 704) is the beam carrying the RF signal that arrives at the UE with the highest signal strength (e.g., highest RSRP or SINR), and the beam of interest for position estimation is the beam carrying the RF signal that excites the LOS path and has the highest gain along the LOS path among all other beams (e.g., beam 714). That is, even if beam 713 (an NLOS beam) weakly excites the LOS path (not focused along the LOS path but due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals), the weak signal, if any, of the LOS path of beam 713 may not be as reliably detectable (compared to that from beam 714), thus leading to larger errors in performing positioning measurements.

[0227]

[0234] The beam of interest for data communication and the beam of interest for position estimation may be the same beam in some frequency bands, while in other frequency bands, such as mmW, they may not be the same beam. Thus, referring to Figure 7, if UE 704 is engaged in a data communication session with base station 702 (e.g., base station 702 is the serving base station for UE 704) and is simply not attempting to measure a reference RF signal transmitted by base station 702, the beam of interest for the data communication session may be beam 713 because beam 713 carries unobstructed NLOS data stream 723. However, the beam of interest for position estimation will be beam 714 because beam 714 carries the strongest LOS data stream 724 despite being obstructed.

[0228]

[0235] 8A is a graph 800A illustrating an RF channel response at a receiver (e.g., UE 704) over time in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Under the channel shown in FIG. 8A, the receiver receives a first cluster of two RF signals on the channel tap at time T1, a second cluster of five RF signals on the channel tap at time T2, a third cluster of five RF signals on the channel tap at time T3, and a fourth cluster of four RF signals on the channel tap at time T4. In the example of FIG. 8A, because the first cluster of RF signals at time T1 arrives first, it is inferred to be a line-of-sight (LOS) data stream (i.e., a data stream arriving via line-of-sight or shortest path) and may correspond to LOS data stream 724. The third cluster at time T3 is composed of the strongest RF signals and may correspond to NLOS data stream 723. From the transmitter's perspective, each cluster of received RF signals may comprise a portion of the RF signal transmitted at a different angle; therefore, each cluster may be said to have a different angle of departure (AoD) from the transmitter. FIG. 8B is a diagram 800B illustrating this separation of clusters in the AoD. An RF signal transmitted in AoD range 802a may correspond to one cluster (e.g., "Cluster 1") in FIG. 8A, and an RF signal transmitted in AoD range 802b may correspond to a different cluster (e.g., "Cluster 3") in FIG. 8A. Note that while the AoD ranges of the two clusters shown in FIG. 8B are spatially separated, the AoD ranges of some clusters may also partially overlap, although the clusters are separated in time. For example, this may occur when two separate buildings at the same AoD from the transmitter reflect a signal toward the receiver. Note that while FIG. 8A shows clusters of 2 to 5 channel taps (or "peaks"), it will be appreciated that the clusters may have more or fewer channel taps than shown.

[0229]

[0236] RAN1 NR may define UE measurements for DL ​​reference signals applicable for NR positioning (e.g., for the serving cell, reference cell, and / or neighboring cell), including DL reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements for NR positioning, DL RSRP measurements for NR positioning, and UE Rx-Tx (e.g., hardware group delay from signal reception at the UE receiver to response signal transmission at the UE transmitter for time difference measurements for NR positioning, such as RTT).

[0230]

[0237] RAN1 NR may define gNB measurements based on UL reference signals applicable for NR positioning, such as relative UL time of arrival (RTOA) for NR positioning, UL AoA measurements (e.g., including azimuth angle and zenith angle) for NR positioning, UL RSRP measurements for NR positioning, and gNB Rx-Tx (e.g., hardware group delay from signal reception at the gNB receiver to response signal transmission at the gNB transmitter for time difference measurements for NR positioning, such as RTT).

[0231]

[0238] 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station 902 (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) and a UE 904 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) in accordance with an aspect of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 9, the base station 902 sends an RTT measurement signal 910 (e.g., a PRS, an NRS, a CRS, a CSI-RS, etc.) to the UE 904 at time t1. The RTT measurement signal 910 incurs some propagation delay T as it travels from the base station 902 to the UE 904. Prop At time t2 (ToA of the RTT measurement signal 910 at the UE 904), the UE 904 receives / measures the RTT measurement signal 910. After some UE processing time, the UE 904 transmits an RTT response signal 920 at time t3. The propagation delay T Prop After that, the base station 902 receives / measures the RTT response signal 920 from the UE 904 at time t4 (the ToA of the RTT response signal 920 at the base station 902).

[0232]

[0239] To identify the ToA (e.g., t2) of a reference signal (e.g., RTT measurement signal 910) transmitted by a given network node (e.g., base station 902), the receiver (e.g., UE 904) first processes all resource elements (REs) on the channel on which the transmitter is transmitting the reference signal together and performs an inverse Fourier transform to convert the received reference signal to the time domain. The conversion of the received reference signal to the time domain is called estimating the channel energy response (CER). The CER indicates peaks on the channel over time, and the earliest "significant" peak should therefore correspond to the ToA of the reference signal. Generally, the receiver uses a noise-related quality threshold to remove spurious local peaks, thereby presumably correctly identifying significant peaks on the channel. For example, the receiver may choose a ToA estimate that is the earliest local maximum of CER that is at least X dB higher than the median CER and a maximum that is Y dB lower than the main peak on the channel. The receiver determines the CER for each reference signal from each transmitter to determine the ToA for each reference signal from a different transmitter.

[0233]

[0240] The RTT response signal 920 is the difference between time t3 and time t2 (i.e., T Rx→Tx 912) can be explicitly included. Tx→Rx 922), the base station 902 (or other positioning entity, such as location server 230, LMF 270, etc.) can calculate the distance to the UE 904 as follows:

[0234]

number

[0235] where c is the speed of light. Although not explicitly shown in Figure 9, an additional source of delay or error may be due to the UE and gNB hardware group delay for position location.

[0236]

[0241] Various parameters related to positioning can affect power consumption in a UE. Knowledge of such parameters can be used to estimate (or model) UE power consumption. By accurately modeling the UE's power consumption, various power-saving and / or performance-enhancing features can be utilized in a predictive manner to improve the user experience.

[0237]

[0242] An additional source of delay or error is due to UE and gNB hardware group delay for position location. FIG. 10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station (gNB) (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) and a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is similar in some respects to FIG. 9. However, in FIG. 10, UE and gNB hardware group delay (primarily due to internal hardware delays between baseband (BB) components and antennas (ANTs) in the UE and gNB) is illustrated by aspects 1002-1008. As will be appreciated, both Tx-side path- or beam-specific delays and Rx-side path- or beam-specific delays affect RTT measurements. Hardware group delays such as 1002-1008 can contribute to timing and / or calibration errors that can affect RTT as well as other measurements such as TDOA and RSTD, which can affect positioning performance. For example, in some designs, an error of 10 nanoseconds will result in an error of 3 meters in the final fix.

[0238]

[0243] FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system 1100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 11, a UE 1104 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein) is attempting to calculate an estimate of its location, or to assist another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.), in calculating an estimate of its location via a multi-RTT positioning scheme. The UE 1104 may wirelessly communicate with multiple base stations 1102-1, 1102-2, and 1102-3 (which may collectively correspond to base station 1102 and any of the base stations described herein) using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulation of RF signals and exchange of information packets. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 1100 (i.e., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 1104 may determine, or assist in determining, its location in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 1104 may specify its location using a two-dimensional coordinate system, although the aspects disclosed herein are not so limited and may be applicable to determining location using a three-dimensional coordinate system if additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, while FIG. 11 shows one UE 1104 and three base stations 1102, it will be appreciated that there may be more UEs 1104 and more base stations 1102.

[0239]

[0244] To support position estimation, base stations 1102 may be configured to broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, TRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, etc.) to UEs 1104 in their coverage areas to allow the UEs 1104 to measure characteristics of such reference RF signals. For example, the UE 1104 may measure the ToAs of particular reference RF signals (e.g., PRS, NRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by at least three different base stations 1102 and may use an RTT positioning method to report these ToAs (and additional information) back to the serving base station 1102 or another positioning entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270).

[0240]

[0245] In one aspect, although the UE 1104 is described as measuring a reference RF signal from the base station 1102, the UE 1104 may measure a reference RF signal from one of multiple cells supported by the base station 1102. If the UE 1104 measures a reference RF signal transmitted by a cell supported by the base station 1102, at least two other reference RF signals measured by the UE 1104 to perform the RTT procedure may be from cells supported by a base station 1102 different from the first base station 1102 and may have good or poor signal strength at the UE 1104.

[0241]

[0246] To determine the position (x,y) of the UE 1104, the entity that determines the position of the UE 1104 calculates (x k ,y k), where k=1, 2, 3 in the example of FIG. 11 . When one of the base stations 1102 (e.g., the serving base station) or the UE 1104 determines the location of the UE 1104, the location of the involved base station 1102 may be provided to the serving base station 1102 or UE 1104 by a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270) with knowledge of the network geometry. Alternatively, the location server may determine the location of the UE 1104 using the known network geometry.

[0242]

[0247] Either the UE 1104 or the respective base station 1102 determines the distance (d k , where k=1, 2, 3). In one aspect, determining the RTT 1110 of signals exchanged between the UE 1104 and any base station 1102 is performed, and the distance (d k ) As described further below, RTT techniques can measure the time between sending a signaling message (e.g., a reference RF signal) and receiving a response. These methods may utilize calibration to remove processing delays. In some environments, it may be assumed that the processing delay for the UE 1104 and the processing delay for the base station 1102 are the same. However, such an assumption may not be true in practice.

[0243]

[0248] each distance d k Once determined, the UE 1104, the base station 1102, or a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270) can determine the position (x,y) of the UE 1104 by using various known geometric techniques, such as, for example, trilateration. From FIG. 11, it can be seen that the position of the UE 1104 is ideally at the common intersection of three semicircles, each with a radius d k and center (x k ,y k ) where k=1, 2, 3.

[0244]

[0249] In some instances, 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 1104 from the location of the base station 1102). The intersection of the two directions at or near the point (x, y) may provide another estimate of the location for the UE 1104.

[0245]

[0250] A position estimate (e.g., for the UE 1104) may be called a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or other names. 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).

[0246]

[0251] 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating example timing of RTT measurement signals exchanged between a base station (e.g., any of the base stations described herein) and a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) in accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure. In particular, 1202-1204 in FIG. 12 illustrate portions of frame delay associated with the Rx-Tx difference measured at the gNB and the UE, respectively.

[0247]

[0252] As can be appreciated from the above disclosure, NR native positioning techniques supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning schemes (e.g., DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, etc.), UL-only positioning schemes (e.g., UL-TDOA, UL-AoA), and DL+UL positioning schemes (e.g., RTT with one or more neighboring base stations, or multi-RTT). Furthermore, Extended Cell ID (E-CID) based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements is supported in 5G NR Rel-16.

[0248]

[0253] As mentioned above, PRS is defined for NR positioning to enable the UE to detect and measure more neighbor TRPs. Several PRS configurations are supported to enable various PRS deployments (e.g., indoor, outdoor, sub-6 GHz, mmW). Beam sweeping is supported for the PRS to support PRS beam operation. Both UE-assisted and UE-based position calculations are supported in Rel. 16 and Rel. 17. Furthermore, positioning is supported in RRC connected, RRC idle, and RRC inactive modes. An example configuration for a reference signal for positioning is shown in Table 3 as follows:

[0249] [Table 3]

[0250]

[0254] In NR, a frequency layer refers to a collection of frequency domain resources on the same bandwidth with shared characteristics, such as a common SCS, cyclic prefix (CP), etc. For TDOA, a single TRP reference is defined across multiple frequency layers. The single TRP reference may be specified in positioning assistance data (AD) communicated from the network to the UE.

[0251]

[0255] As mentioned above, in the current NR specifications, DL-PRS and SRS-P (e.g., UL-PRS or sidelink PRS (SL-PRS)) are hierarchically defined with parameters such as resource sets, resources within each resource set, and multiple instances or repetitions of each resource. In Rel. 16, after DL-PRS resources are configured, they do not change over time, but SRS-P resources can be configured and turned off by the gNB as needed. In Rel. 18, DL-PRS or SRS-P configurations can be modified in various ways. For example, DL-PRS or SRS-P configurations can be turned on and off, and parameters of DL-PRS or SRS-P configurations can be changed based on dynamic requests from an application or location server (e.g., LMF). In another example, the UE can recommend to the gNB and / or LMF an extended parameter set that can be used (e.g., to improve accuracy, reduce latency, etc.). In yet another example, two or more DL-PRS or SRS-P configurations may be configured in the UE, with a particular DL-PRS or SRS-P configuration(s) being activated or deactivated as needed via signaling from the gNB.

[0252]

[0256] Aspects of the present disclosure are therefore directed to time-varying RS-P (e.g., DL-PRS or SRS-P such as UL-SRS-P or SL-SRS-P) configurations comprising multiple RS-P configurations, each associated with a different time period. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improving positioning and / or positioning-related latency for UE position estimation, particularly in scenarios where the positioning environment at different times can be reliably predicted.

[0253]

[0257] 13 illustrates an example process 1300 for wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1300 may be performed by a UE 302.

[0254]

[0258] At 1310, the UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a first time-varying RS-P configuration from a network component (e.g., a serving base station, an LMF, a location server, or a combination thereof, e.g., an LMF in a RAN), the first time-varying RS-P configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period.

[0255]

[0259] At 1320, the UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, transmitter 314 or 324, etc.) communicates with at least one base station (e.g., a serving base station and one or more neighbor base stations, one or more TRPs associated with each respective base station, etc.) a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to a first RS-P configuration.

[0256]

[0260] At 1330, the UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, transmitter 314 or 324, etc.) communicates with at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration.

[0257]

[0261] 14 illustrates an example process 1400 for wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1400 may be performed by a network component (e.g., a serving base station such as the BS 304, an LMF, a location server, or a combination thereof, e.g., an LMF in the RAN).

[0258]

[0262] At 1405, a network component (e.g., processing system 384 or 394, RS-P module 388 or 398, etc.) determines a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period.

[0259]

[0263] At 1410, a network component (eg, network interface(s) 380 or 390, data bus 382, ​​transmitter 354 or 364, etc.) transmits a first time-varying RS-P configuration to the UE.

[0260]

[0264] At 1420, a network component (e.g., receiver 352 or 362, transmitter 354 or 364, etc.) optionally communicates with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to the first RS-P configuration. The communication at 1420 is optional and may be performed in a scenario where the network component corresponds to a base station.

[0261]

[0265] At 1430, a network component (e.g., receiver 352 or 362, transmitter 354 or 364, etc.) optionally communicates with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration. The communication at 1430 is optional and may be performed in a scenario where the network component corresponds to a base station.

[0262]

[0266] 13-14 , in some designs, a first set of RS-Ps may correspond to a first set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station, and a second set of RS-Ps may correspond to a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station. In other designs, the first set of RS-Ps may correspond to a first set of DL-PRSs received at the UE from at least one base station, and the second set of RS-Ps may correspond to a second set of DL-PRSs received at the UE from the at least one base station. In one example specific to a DL-PRS scenario, the UE may transmit a first measurement report (e.g., to a serving gNB) based on measurements by the UE of the first set of DL-PRSs after a first time period, and the UE may further transmit a second measurement report based on measurements by the UE of the second set of DL-PRSs after a second time period.

[0263]

[0267] 13-14 , in some designs, the time-varying RS-P configurations may further include a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period. In other words, the number of RS-P configurations per time-varying RS-P configuration is not limited to two and may include any number of RS-P configurations. In some designs, two or more of the RS-P configurations may be the same except for being associated with different time periods (e.g., the time-varying RS-P configurations may alternate between RS-P configurations such as RS-P#1 followed by RS-P#2 followed by RSP#1). In some designs, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration may differ with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, such as RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0264]

[0268] 13-14 , in some designs, a network (e.g., an LMF) may configure time-varying RS-P parameters based on predictive information indicating that a first RS-P configuration will provide superior positioning performance (e.g., accuracy, latency, etc.) during a first time period and that a second RS-P configuration will provide superior positioning performance (e.g., accuracy, latency, etc.) during a second time period. In some cases, periodic and / or predictable motion in an environment (e.g., an industrial environment such as a factory) may change the best parameter set of DL-PRS or SRS-P parameters. For example, if a UE moves on a conveyor belt that takes 30 seconds to complete a loop / cycle, the UE may periodically change its preferred parameters to match the environment. In the context of at least one aspect of the present disclosure, the network may be able to learn such behavior and predict and optimize the UE configuration to match such an environment. In another scenario, the UE may be on a train, and different points on the train route may have different best DL-PRS or SRS-P configurations. In the context of at least one aspect of the present disclosure, the network may provision a UE with a time-varying configuration based on its experience with previous UEs on the same train route. In another scenario, a car on the road may be provided with a time-varying configuration that is largely route-dependent (e.g., the network may optimize searches for distant cells, etc.). In another scenario, a mega-satellite constellation may be moving rapidly relative to the UE. In one example, the UE may be instructed to monitor signals corresponding to patterns from the satellites (e.g., such satellites generally move much faster than GPS satellites from the UE's perspective). Depending on the size of the constellations involved, the UE may be instructed via the time-varying RS-P configuration to monitor in a time-varying manner rather than presenting an exhaustive list.

[0265]

[0269] 13-14 , in some designs, the network (e.g., LMF) may initially be unaware of the optimized RS-P configuration. At this stage, the network may configure the UE to report according to multiple RS-P configurations (or the densest RS-P configuration) and then modify (e.g., optimize) the time-varying RS-P configuration over time. In some designs, the network may also learn from multiple UEs (e.g., federated learning) and pool this information together. In some designs, even after the network configures the time-varying RS-P configuration, the network may update the time-varying RS-P configuration to match changed surroundings (e.g., over many cycles of a train route).

[0266]

[0270] 13-14 particularly relate to a time-varying RS-P configuration, in other designs, a varying RS-P configuration may be established whereby the RS-P configuration transitions in an event-triggered manner rather than a time-triggered manner. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improving positioning and / or positioning-related latency for UE position estimation, particularly in scenarios where the positioning environment at different times cannot be predicted with certainty.

[0267]

[0271] 15 illustrates an example process 1500 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1500 may be performed by the UE 302.

[0268]

[0272] At 1510, the UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a first varying SRS-P configuration from a network component (e.g., a serving base station, an LMF, a location server, or a combination thereof, e.g., an LMF in a RAN), the first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration.

[0269]

[0273] At 1520, the UE 302 (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324, etc.) transmits a first set of SRS-Ps to at least one base station (e.g., a serving base station and one or more neighbor base stations, one or more TRPs associated with each respective base station, etc.) during a first time period according to a first SRS-P configuration.

[0270]

[0274] At 1530, the UE 302 (e.g., the processing system 332, the RS-P module 342, etc.) determines to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition. This aspect may contrast with some legacy approaches in which the network (rather than the UE) decides to initiate the switch from one SRS-P configuration to another SRS-P configuration.

[0271]

[0275] At 1540, the UE 302 (eg, transmitter 314 or 324) transmits an indication of the transition to at least one base station.

[0272]

[0276] At 1550, the UE 302 (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324), after transmitting the transition indication, transmits a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0273]

[0277] 16 illustrates an example process 1600 for wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the process 1400 may be performed by a network component (e.g., a serving base station such as the BS 304, an LMF, a location server, or a combination thereof, e.g., an LMF in the RAN).

[0274]

[0278] At 1605, a network component (e.g., processing system 384 or 394, RS-P module 388 or 398, etc.) determines a first varying sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration.

[0275]

[0279] At 1610, a network component (eg, network interface(s) 380 or 390, data bus 382, ​​transmitter 354 or 364, etc.) transmits the first varying SRS-P configuration to the UE.

[0276]

[0280] At 1620, a network component (e.g., receiver 352 or 362) optionally receives from the UE a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration. The receiving at 1620 is optional and may be performed in a scenario where the network component corresponds to a base station.

[0277]

[0281] At 1630, a network component (e.g., receiver 352 or 362, etc.) optionally receives from the UE an indication of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration. The receiving at 1630 is optional and may be performed in a scenario where the network component corresponds to a base station.

[0278]

[0282] At 1640, the BS 304 (e.g., receiver 352 or 362, etc.) optionally receives, after receiving the transition indication, from the UE a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period according to a second SRS-P configuration. The receiving at 1640 is optional and may be performed in a scenario where the network component corresponds to a base station.

[0279]

[0283] 15-16 , in some designs, the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE motion condition (e.g., if the UE motion exceeds a threshold, a denser SRS-P configuration is used, and if the UE motion does not exceed the threshold, a less dense SRS-P configuration is used), a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE (e.g., if the UE is in a high noise area, a denser SRS-P configuration is used, and if the UE is in a low noise area, a less dense SRS-P configuration is used), a navigation route condition associated with the UE (e.g., some portions of the route may be configured with a denser SRS-P configuration than other portions), a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0280]

[0284] 15-16 , in some designs, the BS may transmit a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof. In some designs, the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0281]

[0285] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This mode of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are expressly set forth in each clause. Rather, various embodiments of the present disclosure may include fewer than all features of each disclosed exemplary clause. Accordingly, the following clauses should be considered incorporated herein, with each clause standing as a separate example by itself. While each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination with one of the other clauses in the clause, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be appreciated that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of the dependent clause(s) aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or any combination of features with other dependent and independent clauses. The various embodiments disclosed herein expressly include combinations of specific combinations (e.g., inconsistent aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor) unless these combinations are expressly expressed or can be readily inferred to be unintended. Furthermore, it is also contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly dependent on that independent clause.

[0282]

[0286] Example implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0283]

[0287] Clause 1. A method of wireless communications implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving from a network component a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period in accordance with the first RS-P configuration; and communicating with at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period in accordance with the second RS-P configuration.

[0284]

[0288] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning transmitted by the UE to at least one base station, and the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to at least one base station.

[0285]

[0289] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) received at the UE from at least one base station, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS received at the UE from at least one base station.

[0286]

[0290] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 2 to 3, further comprising transmitting, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and transmitting, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0287]

[0291] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0288]

[0292] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising receiving, from the network element, a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0289]

[0293] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0290]

[0294] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0291]

[0295] Clause 9. A method of wireless communications implemented by a network component, the method comprising: determining a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; and transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0292]

[0296] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0293]

[0297] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 9 to 10, further comprising communicating with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during a first time period according to a first RS-P configuration, and communicating with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during a second time period according to a second RS-P configuration.

[0294]

[0298] Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of sounding reference signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning received at the base station from the UE, and the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps received at the serving base station from the UE.

[0295]

[0299] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 11 to 12, wherein the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRS) transmitted by the base station to the UE, and the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS transmitted by the base station to the UE.

[0296]

[0300] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, further comprising receiving, after a first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a first set of DL-PRSs, and receiving, after a second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of a second set of DL-PRSs.

[0297]

[0301] Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 9 to 14, wherein the time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

[0298]

[0302] Clause 16. The method of clause 15, further comprising transmitting to the UE a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0299]

[0303] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 9 to 16, wherein the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0300]

[0304] Clause 18. A method of wireless communications implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving from a network component a first changing Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting a first set of SRS-Ps to at least one base station during a first time period in accordance with the first SRS-P configuration; determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition; transmitting an indication of the transition to the at least one base station; and, after transmitting the transition indication, transmitting a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period in accordance with the second SRS-P configuration.

[0301]

[0305] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0302]

[0306] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 18 to 19, wherein the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0303]

[0307] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 18 to 20, further comprising receiving, from the network element, a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0304]

[0308] Clause 22. The method of any of clauses 18 to 21, wherein the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0305]

[0309] Clause 23. A method of wireless communications implemented by a network component, the method comprising: determining a first varying Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; and transmitting the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE).

[0306]

[0310] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

[0307]

[0311] Clause 25. The method of any of clauses 23 to 24, further comprising receiving from the UE a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to a first SRS-P configuration, receiving from the UE an indication of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to a second SRS-P configuration, and, after receiving the transition indication, receiving from the UE a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration.

[0308]

[0312] Clause 26. The method of any of clauses 23 to 25, wherein the at least one event trigger condition comprises a UE movement condition, a UE location, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof.

[0309]

[0313] Clause 27. The method of any of clauses 23 to 26, further comprising transmitting to the UE a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof.

[0310]

[0314] Clause 28. The method of clause 27, wherein the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof.

[0311]

[0315] Clause 29. An apparatus comprising a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the memory and the at least one processor are configured to perform the method of any of clauses 1 to 28.

[0312]

[0316] Clause 30. An apparatus comprising means for carrying out the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 28.

[0313]

[0317] Clause 31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any of clauses 1 to 28.

[0314]

[0318] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0315]

[0319] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0316]

[0320] The various example logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0317]

[0321] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0318]

[0322] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy discs, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0319]

[0323] While the above disclosure sets forth exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. The inventions described in the claims of the present application as originally filed are set forth below. [C1] 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; A method comprising: [C2] the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station. The method described in C1. [C3] the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of Downlink Positioning Reference Signals (DL-PRS) received at the UE from the at least one base station; the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS received at the UE from the at least one base station. The method described in C1. [C4] transmitting, after the first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of the first set of DL-PRSs; transmitting, after the second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of the second set of DL-PRSs; and The method of C3, further comprising: [C5] The method of C1, wherein the first time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period. [C6] receiving, from the network element, a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof; The method of C1, further comprising: [C7] The method of C1, wherein the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to an RS-P resource set, an RS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof. [C8] The method of C1, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C9] 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a network element, comprising: determining a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); A method comprising: [C10] The method of C9, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C11] communicating with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; The method of C9, further comprising: [C12] the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals (SRS-Ps) for uplink or sidelink positioning received at a base station from the UE; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps received at the base station from the UE. The method described in C11. [C13] the first set of RS-P comprises a first set of Downlink Positioning Reference Signals (DL-PRS) transmitted by a base station to the UE; the second set of RS-P comprises a second set of DL-PRS transmitted by the base station to the UE. The method described in C11. [C14] receiving, after the first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of the first set of DL-PRSs; receiving, after the second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of the second set of DL-PRSs; The method of C13, further comprising: [C15] The method of C9, wherein the first time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period. [C16] transmitting to the UE a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof; The method of C15, further comprising: [C17] The method of C9, wherein the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factor, or a combination thereof. [C18] 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network element, a first changing Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting, to at least one base station, a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition; transmitting an indication of the transition to the at least one base station; transmitting, after transmitting the transition indication, a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration; A method comprising: [C19] The method of C18, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C20] The method of C18, wherein the at least one event trigger condition comprises a movement condition of the UE, a location of the UE, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof. [C21] receiving, from the network element, a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof; The method of C18, further comprising: [C22] The method of C18, wherein the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof. [C23] 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a network element, comprising: determining a first varying sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); A method comprising: [C24] The method of C23, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C25] receiving a first set of SRS-Ps from the UE during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; receiving an indication from the UE of a transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration; receiving, after receiving the transition indication, a second set of SRS-Ps from the UE during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration; The method further comprises: [C26] The method of C23, wherein the at least one event trigger condition comprises a movement condition of the UE, a location of the UE, a channel characteristic associated with the UE, a navigation route condition associated with the UE, a satellite constellation condition associated with the UE, or a combination thereof. [C27] transmitting to the UE a second varying SRS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first varying SRS-P configuration with respect to one or more SRS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof; The method of C23, further comprising: [C28] The method of C27, wherein the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration differ with respect to an SRS-P resource set, an SRS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof. [C29] A user equipment (UE), Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor: receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; A user equipment (UE) configured to perform the following: [C30] The UE of C29, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C31] 1. A network element comprising: Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor: determining a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); 2. A network component configured to: [C32] The UE of C31, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C33] A user equipment (UE), Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor: receiving, from a network element, a first changing Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting, to at least one base station, a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition; transmitting an indication of the transition to the at least one base station; transmitting, after transmitting the transition indication, a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration; A user equipment (UE) configured to perform the following: [C34] The UE of C33, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C35] 1. A network element comprising: Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor: determining a first varying sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first varying SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); 2. A network component configured to: [C36] The network element of C35, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C37] means for receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration, the RS-P configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; means for communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; means for communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; A user equipment (UE) comprising: [C38] The UE of C37, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C39] means for determining a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; means for transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); A network element comprising: [C40] The network element of C39, wherein the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to an RS-P resource set, an RS-P resource, a periodicity, a repetition factor, or a combination thereof. [C41] means for receiving, from a network element, a first changing Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; means for transmitting, to at least one base station, a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period in accordance with the first SRS-P configuration; means for determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition; means for transmitting an indication of said transition to said at least one base station; means for transmitting, after transmitting the transition indication, to the at least one base station a second set of SRS-Ps during a second time period in accordance with the second SRS-P configuration; A user equipment (UE) comprising: [C42] The UE of C42, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C43] means for determining a first changing Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising: a first SRS-P configuration; a second SRS-P configuration; and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; means for transmitting the first varying SRS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE). [C44] The network element of C43, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C45] 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; A non-transitory computer-readable medium for causing [C46] The non-transitory computer-readable medium of C45, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C47] 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network element, cause the network element to: determine a first time-varying Reference Signal for Positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); A non-transitory computer-readable medium for causing [C48] The non-transitory computer-readable medium of C47, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof. [C49] 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a UE, cause the UE to: receiving, from a network element, a first changing Sounding Reference Signal for Positioning (SRS-P) configuration, the first changing SRS-P configuration comprising a first SRS-P configuration, a second SRS-P configuration, and at least one event trigger condition for transitioning between the first SRS-P configuration and the second SRS-P configuration; transmitting, to at least one base station, a first set of SRS-Ps during a first time period according to the first SRS-P configuration; determining to transition from the first SRS-P configuration to the second SRS-P configuration based on monitoring the event trigger condition; transmitting an indication of the transition to the at least one base station; transmitting, after transmitting the transition indication, a second set of SRS-Ps to the at least one base station during a second time period according to the second SRS-P configuration; A non-transitory computer-readable medium for causing [C50] The non-transitory computer-readable medium of C49, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

Claims

1. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; Equipped with the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station. method.

2. the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of downlink positioning reference signals (DL-PRSs) received at the UE from the at least one base station; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of DL-PRSs received at the UE from the at least one base station. The method of claim 1.

3. transmitting, after the first time period, a first measurement report by the UE based on measurements of the first set of DL-PRS; transmitting, after the second time period, a second measurement report by the UE based on measurements of the second set of DL-PRS; The method of claim 2 further comprising:

4. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first time-varying RS-P configuration further comprises a third RS-P configuration associated with a third time period.

5. receiving, from the network element, a second time-varying RS-P configuration that differs as compared to the first time-varying RS-P configuration with respect to one or more RS-P configuration parameters, one or more associated time periods, or a combination thereof; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

6. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RS-P configuration and the second RS-P configuration differ with respect to RS-P resource sets, RS-P resources, periodicity, repetition factors, or combinations thereof.

7. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

8. 1. A method of wireless communication implemented by a network element, comprising: determining a first time-varying reference signal (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); communicating with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; Equipped with the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE. method.

9. A user equipment (UE), Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; configured to: the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station. User Equipment (UE).

10. 10. The UE of claim 9, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

11. 1. A network element comprising: Memory and at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor determining a first time-varying reference signal (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); communicating with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; configured to: the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE. Network components.

12. 12. The network element of claim 11, wherein the network element comprises a serving base station, a location management function (LMF), a location server, or a combination thereof.

13. 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receiving, from a network element, a first time-varying reference signal for positioning (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; communicating with at least one base station a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the at least one base station a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; Let them do this, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE to the at least one base station. Non-transitory computer-readable medium.

14. 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network component, cause the network component to: determining a first time-varying reference signal (RS-P) configuration comprising a first RS-P configuration associated with a first time period and a second RS-P configuration associated with a second time period; transmitting the first time-varying RS-P configuration to a user equipment (UE); communicating with the UE a first set of RS-Ps during the first time period according to the first RS-P configuration; communicating with the UE a second set of RS-Ps during the second time period according to the second RS-P configuration; Let them do this, the first set of RS-Ps comprises a first set of Sounding Reference Signals for uplink or sidelink positioning (SRS-Ps) transmitted by the UE; the second set of RS-Ps comprises a second set of uplink or sidelink SRS-Ps transmitted by the UE. Non-transitory computer-readable medium.

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