Distribution of the receive chain for parallel processing of reference signals from multiple sources

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for processing positioning reference signals (PRS) or other reference signals usable to determine a location of a user equipment (UE). In some aspects, a UE is configured to report information to a network entity indicating a number of receive (Rx) chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurements, and thus a magnitude of uncertainty in the positioning-related measurements and an accuracy of a resulting location estimate. In some aspects, a UE is configured to receive multiple PRS signals that at least partially overlap in time and process each PRS using a separate set of Rx chains to obtain positioning-related measurements. As part of the processing of the PRS, the UE may align a search interval to the PRS. In this manner, different search intervals may be maintained for different PRS signals to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of each PRS.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications in general, and more particularly to the processing of reference signals received by a user device (UE) from multiple sources, such as positioning reference signals (PRS) from multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs). [Background technology]

[0002] Determining the location of a UE can be useful. For example, a software application running on a UE might use the UE's location (e.g., a pair of latitude and longitude) to calculate a route from the UE to another location. The UE's location can be determined using various positioning methods. Some positioning methods involve communication between the UE and one or more satellites (e.g., satellites of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) and / or one or more ground entities (e.g., a TRP or base station). For example, a positioning reference signal (PRS) might be broadcast by different TRPs and processed by the receiving UE to estimate the UE's location based on measurements performed by the UE, such as the difference in arrival times of PRS signals from different TRPs.

[0003] When a PRS is received by an UE, it is decoded to extract information that will assist the UE in performing measurements. Each PRS is typically decoded using a pair of receiving (Rx) chains associated with a first Rx antenna and a second Rx antenna. Depending on the environment in which the UE is located, it may be impossible for the UE to successfully decode the PRS using one or both Rx chains. For example, deep fading of the PRS can occur when the PRS received by the first Rx antenna is attenuated by weather conditions, physical obstacles, or multipath propagation of the PRS due to the lack of a direct line of sight. When the PRS cannot be decoded, this can negatively affect the accuracy of the resulting positioning results, as the UE may have fewer measurement results to rely on.

[0004] In addition, the timing of PRS decoding may be determined by the serving or reference cell with which the UE is communicating. If the PRS is transmitted from a source located far from the serving / reference cell (for example, a TRP related to a neighboring cell), there may be a delay between when the UE expects to receive the PRS and when it is actually received. If the UE attempts to decode the PRS according to the timing of the serving / reference cell, this may lower the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the PRS to a point where decoding may not be successful. Alternatively, the UE can align the search interval for each PRS so that the PRS signals are decoded sequentially and at a higher SNR, but this increases processing time. [Overview of the Initiative] [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] This disclosure relates to techniques for processing reference signals received by a user device (UE) from multiple sources, such as positioning reference signals (PRS) from multiple transmit / receive points (TRPs). Techniques are described for determining the number of receive (Rx) chains used by the UE to perform one or more positioning-related measurements, such as one or more time of arrival (TOA) measurements and / or one or more reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements.

[0006] In some embodiments, a UE is configured to report, via communications sent from the UE to entities that calculate the UE's location using the results of the positioning measurements, or perform downstream processing based on the UE's location as determined by the UE according to the positioning measurements, how many Rx chains were used to perform one or more positioning-related measurements. For example, a UE may report the number of Rx chains used to a base station, a location server, or another network entity that determines the degree of degradation (DOP) or other measure indicating the degree of uncertainty of the UE's location. In some cases, the network entity to which the UE is reporting is another UE.

[0007] In some embodiments, the UE is configured to determine the DOP or other measure indicating the degree of uncertainty of the UE's position. The UE may consider the DOP or other measure when using its position, for example, when updating the display to indicate the UE's current position. The UE may also reconfigure itself to receive additional reference signals or to perform other activities depending on the value of the DOP or other measure.

[0008] In some embodiments, the UE is configured to process PRS signals transmitted from different sources. PRS signals may be received between PRS opportunities that overlap at least partially in time, so that they are received simultaneously. As a result, the UE may perform parallel processing of PRS signals while maintaining a positioning session between the UE and a location server, LMF, or other network entity with which the UE is communicating. During a positioning session, the UE may receive and process other signals not used for positioning. Such other signals may include, for example, voice or data signals communicated to the UE via a serving cell. Generally, processing of such other signals is based on timing parameters (e.g., symbol boundaries) associated with the serving cell or reference cell. However, processing of PRS signals may be performed based on other timing parameters. For example, the UE may define a search interval for decoding PRS from a TRP or other PRS source, and that search interval may not coincide with any of the symbol boundaries of the serving / reference cell. Specifically, separate search intervals may be defined for each TRP or PRS resource so as to align with the actual reception time of the PRS from the TRP / source, thereby maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio of the PRS. In addition, processing of PRS signals may involve allocating another set of Rx chains for each PRS signal. For example, a UE might have four Rx chains, using two Rx chains to decode the PRS signal from the first TRP and the other two Rx chains to decode the PRS signal from the second TRP. Receiving and processing PRS signals simultaneously can significantly reduce the time spent calculating the UE's location (sometimes called establishing a location fix). [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a diagram of a positioning system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2]This is a diagram of a 5G NR positioning system, illustrating one embodiment of a positioning system implemented within a fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) communication system (for example, the positioning system in Figure 1). [Figure 3] This is a simplified block diagram of a positioning system that can be implemented in the positioning system shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of a frame structure for NR and an example of related terminology. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a wireless frame sequence involving a positioning reference signal (PRS) positioning opportunity. [Figure 6] This is a simplified block diagram showing a receiving component of a UE according to one embodiment. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a resource block pattern for transmitting a PRS signal. [Figure 8] This figure shows the round-robin method for PRS processing. [Figure 9] This figure shows a method for processing a PRS signal according to one embodiment. [Figure 10] This is a flowchart of a method for reporting positioning-related measurement results according to one embodiment. [Figure 11] This is a flowchart of a method for performing positioning-related measurements using multiple Rx chains, according to one embodiment. [Figure 12] This is a flowchart of a method for allocating an Rx chain according to one embodiment. [Figure 13] This figure shows an embodiment of the UE that may be used in the embodiments described herein. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] According to some exemplary implementations, like reference numerals in the various drawings indicate like elements. Additionally, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by following the first digit of that element with a letter or a hyphen and a second digit. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc., or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When using only the first digit to refer to such an element, any instance of that element should be understood (e.g., element 110 in the previous example refers to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3, or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c).

[0011] Here, with respect to the accompanying drawings that form a part of this specification, some exemplary embodiments are described. Although several embodiments in which one or more aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented are described below, other embodiments may be used and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0012] As used herein, an "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave that carries information through space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). 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 the RF signal through a multipath channel. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver may sometimes be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0013] The RF signals received by the UE may be reference signals that can be used to determine the location of the UE, and this determination is based on, for example, positioning-related measurement results derived using such reference signals and additional reference signals from a plurality of sources at different positions relative to the UE. Such reference signals are also referred to herein as "positioning signals". Embodiments where the reference signal is a PRS signal (or simply "PRS") are described. However, the embodiments described herein may be applied to other types of reference signals that can be used to determine location, such as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), tracking reference signals (TRSs), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), and / or demodulation reference signals (DMRSs).

[0014] In some embodiments, the reference signal may be received using a plurality of antenna elements, and each antenna element is associated with a receive (Rx) chain. The UE may be equipped with a plurality of antenna elements and a plurality of Rx chains. Each Rx chain may include hardware and / or software components (e.g., a processing pipeline including digital and / or analog circuits) configured to perform signal processing on the Rx signal corresponding to the PRS or other reference signals received by a single antenna element. Alternatively, in some cases, the Rx chain may be configured to process a combined Rx signal corresponding to the PRS / reference signal received by a group of antenna elements. For example, two or more antenna elements may form a receive panel configured to receive PRS from a particular source. Each antenna element within the panel may generate a separate Rx signal that is combined with the Rx signals of other antenna elements within the panel to produce a combined Rx signal that is subsequently processed using the Rx chain associated with the panel. Thus, a UE that can be used to implement one or more of the embodiments described herein may include Rx chains associated with a single antenna element, Rx chains associated with a group of antenna elements, or both.

[0015] The embodiments described herein can be implemented using any positioning system such that the UE is communicatively coupled to one or more sources of reference signals. Examples of positioning systems suitable for implementing one or more embodiments are shown in Figure 1. The positioning system in Figure 1 is given only as an example to illustrate how different entities can interact with the UE in relation to determining its location. In practice, positioning systems implemented according to the embodiments described herein may include more or fewer components than those illustrated in Figure 1.

[0016] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of a positioning system 100 according to one embodiment, in which a UE 105, a location server (LS) 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 can use techniques provided herein for determining the estimated position of the UE 105. The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 may include a UE 105, one or more satellites 110 (also called space vehicles (SV)) for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as a Global Positioning System (GPS), a base station 120, an access point (AP) 130, an LS 160, a network 170, and an external client 180. In general, the positioning system 100 can estimate the position of UE105 based on the RF signals received by and / or transmitted from UE105, as well as the known positions of other components that transmit and / or receive RF signals (e.g., GNSS satellite 110, base station 120, AP130). Further details regarding specific position estimation techniques are discussed below with reference to Figure 2.

[0017] Figure 1 provides only a generalized illustration of various components, and it should be noted that any or all of the components may be used as appropriate, and each component may be duplicated as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more or fewer base stations 120 and / or AP 130 than those shown in Figure 1. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired function. In some embodiments, for example, an external client 180 may be directly connected to the LS 160. Those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0018] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may comprise any of various wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may comprise any combination, for example, public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks. Furthermore, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may comprise, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the internet. Examples of network 170 include Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also known as New Radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). Network 170 may also comprise two or more networks and / or two or more types of networks.

[0019] The base station 120 and access point (AP) 130 are communicably coupled to the network 170. In some embodiments, the base station 120 may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may utilize any of the various wireless technologies described herein below. Depending on the technology of the network 170, the base station 120 may comprise node B, Evolved Node B (eNodeB or eNB), Base Station Transceiver Station (BTS), Radio Base Station (RBS), NR NodeB (gNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. A base station 120 that is a gNB or ng-eNB may be part of a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) that can connect to the 5G Core Network (5GC) when the network 170 is a 5G network. The AP 130 may include, for example, a Wi-Fi AP or a Bluetooth® AP. Therefore, UE105 can transmit and receive information with network-connected devices such as LS160 by accessing the network 170 via base station 120 using the first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, AP130 may also be coupled to the network 170 so that UE105 can communicate with internet-connected devices, including LS160, using the second communication link 135.

[0020] As used herein, the term “base station” can generally refer to a single physical transmission point that may be located at base station 120, or to multiple physical transmission points at the same location. A physical transmission point may comprise an array of base station antennas (for example, in the case of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or when the base station utilizes beamforming). In addition, the term “base station” may refer to multiple physical transmission points that are not at the same location, and a 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, a physical transmission point that is not at the same location may be a serving base station from which UE105 and UE105 receive measurement reports from a neighboring base station from which its reference RF signal is being measured.

[0021] As used herein, the term “cell” may generally refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with base station 120 and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing neighboring cells operating over the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., Machine-Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), etc.) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term “cell” may refer to a portion of a geographical coverage area (e.g., a sector) over which a logical entity operates.

[0022] The LS160 may include a server and / or other computing devices configured to determine the estimated location of the UE105 and / or provide data (e.g., “support data”) to the UE105 to facilitate location determination. According to some embodiments, the LS160 may include a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support SUPL user plane (UP) location methods as defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and support location services for the UE105 based on contract information for the UE105 stored in the LS160. In some embodiments, the LS160 may include a Discovered SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The LS160 may also include an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) that supports location determination of the UE105 using control plane (CP) location methods for LTE radio access by the UE105. The LS160 may further include a Location Management Function (LMF) that supports the localization of the UE105 using a control plane (CP) localization method for NR radio access by the UE105. In the CP localization method, signaling for controlling and managing the localization of the UE105 may be exchanged between elements of network 170 and the UE105 using existing network interfaces and protocols, and as signaling from the perspective of network 170. In the UP localization method, signaling for controlling and managing the localization of the UE105 may be exchanged between the LS160 and the UE105 as data from the perspective of network 170 (for example, data transported using Internet Protocol (IP) and / or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0023] As stated above (and as will be explained in more detail below), the estimated position of UE105 may be based on the measurement results of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by UE105. Specifically, these measurement results can provide information about the relative distance and / or angle of UE105 from one or more components of the positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellite 110, AP130, base station 120). The estimated position of UE105 may be geometrically estimated (e.g., using polygonal surveying and / or multilateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurement results along with the known locations of one or more components.

[0024] Ground components such as AP130 and base station 120 may be fixed, but embodiments are not limited thereto. Mobile components may be used. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the location of UE105 is estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals communicated between UE105 and one or more other UEs (not shown in Figure 1) that may be mobile. Direct communication between UEs in this scheme may involve sidelink and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication techniques. Sidelink, as defined by 3GPP®, is a form of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards.

[0025] The estimated location of UE105 may be used for a variety of purposes, for example, to assist in direction finding or navigation for the user of UE105, or to assist another user (for example, in relation to an external client 180) in locating UE105. “Location” is also referred to herein as “location estimate,” “estimated location,” “location,” “place,” “location estimate,” “place fix,” “estimated place,” “location fix,” or “fix.” The location of UE105 may consist of the absolute location of UE105 (e.g., latitude and longitude and possibly altitude), or the relative location of UE105 (e.g., a location expressed as a north-south, east-west, and possibly up-down distance from some other known fixed location or some known previous location of UE105). Location may also be specified as a geodetic location (as latitude and longitude) or as a civic location (e.g., by street address or using other location-related names and signs). The location may further include indications of uncertainties or errors, such as horizontal and possibly vertical distances, where the location is expected to be incorrect, or indications of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) where UE105 is expected to be located with a certain level of confidence (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0026] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with UE105 (for example, one that can be accessed by a user of UE105), or it may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to some other user, which may include obtaining and providing the location of UE105 (for example, to enable services such as finding a friend or relative, tracking assets, or locating a child or pet). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain the location of UE105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0027] As previously stated, the exemplary positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network such as an LTE-based or 5G NR-based network. Figure 2 shows a diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200, which illustrates one embodiment of a positioning system implementing 5G NR (e.g., positioning system 100). The 5G NR positioning system 200 may be configured to determine the location of UE 105 by using access nodes 210, 214, 216 (which may correspond to base stations 120 and access point 130 in Figure 1) and (optionally) an LMF 220 (which may correspond to LS 160) to implement one or more positioning methods. Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 comprises UE 105 and a 5G NR network comprising a next-generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G core network (5G CN) 240. 5G networks are sometimes also called NR networks, NG-RAN235 is sometimes called 5G RAN or NG RAN, and 5G CN240 is sometimes called NG core network. Standardization of NG-RAN and 5G CN is underway at 3GPP®. Therefore, NG-RAN235 and 5G CN240 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP®. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may further utilize information from GNSS satellites 110 of a GNSS system such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or a similar system. Additional components of the 5G NR positioning system 200 are described below. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may include additional or alternative components.

[0028] Figure 2 provides only a generalized description of the various components, and it should be noted that any or all of the components may be used as appropriate, and each component may be duplicated or omitted as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a larger (or smaller) number of GNSS satellites 110, gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, wireless local area network (WLAN) 216, access and mobility functions (AMF) 215, external clients 230, and / or other components. The illustrated connections that connect the various components within the 5G NR positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0029] The UE105 comprises and / or is referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), Secure User Plane Location (SUPL)-Enabled Terminal (SET), or may be referred to by any other name. Furthermore, the UE105 may correspond to a mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA), Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or removable device. While not required, the UE105 typically supports wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA®), Long-Term Evolution (LTE), High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX®), and 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN235 and 5G CN240). UE105 may also support wireless communication using WLAN216 (such as one or more RATs as previously described with respect to Figure 1) which can connect to other networks such as the Internet. The use of one or more of these RATs may enable UE105 to communicate with an external client 230 (for example, via an element of 5G CN240 not shown in Figure 2, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC)225) and / or enable the external client 230 to receive location information about UE105 (for example, via GMLC225).

[0030] UE105 may include a single entity or multiple entities, such as a personal area network where the user can utilize audio, video, and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimation of the location of UE105 may be called location, location estimate, location fix, fix, place, location estimate, or location fix, and may be geodetic, so providing the location coordinates of UE105 (e.g., latitude and longitude) which may or may not include an elevation component (e.g., elevation, ground, floor, or height or depth from underground). Alternatively, the location of UE105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as the address or designation of some point or small area within a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of UE105 may also be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geodetic or in civic form) in which UE105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of UE105 may also be a relative location comprising distance and direction, or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates, defined with respect to some origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geodetically, in civic form, or by reference to a point, area, or volume shown on a map, blueprint, or building plan. In the descriptions contained herein, the use of the term location may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to determine the local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinate values, and then, if necessary, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (for example, latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0031] The base station within NG-RAN235 shown in Figure 2 corresponds to base station 120 in Figure 1 and may be equipped with a transmit / receive point (TRP) and NR NodeB (gNB) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively and generally referred to herein as gNB210) and / or antennas for the gNBs. Pairs of gNB210 within NG-RAN235 may be connected to each other (for example, directly as shown in Figure 2 or indirectly via other gNB210s). Access to the 5G network is provided to UE105 via wireless communication between UE105 and one or more of the gNB210s, which may provide wireless communication access to 5G CN240 on behalf of UE105 using 5G NR. 5G NR radio access is sometimes referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. In Figure 2, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE105 is gNB210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB210-2) may become the serving gNB if UE105 moves to a different location, or they may become secondary gNBs to provide UE105 with additional throughput and bandwidth.

[0032] The base stations in NG-RAN235 shown in Figure 2 may further include, or instead include, a next-generation advanced Node B, also known as ng-eNB214. The ng-eNB214 may be connected to one or more gNB210s in NG-RAN235, for example, directly or indirectly via other gNB210s and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB214 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE105. Some of the gNB210s in Figure 2 (e.g., gNB210-2) and / or the ng-eNB214 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons, which may transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or broadcast support data to assist in positioning the UE105, but may not receive signals from the UE105 or other UEs. Although only one ng-eNB214 is shown in Figure 2, it should be noted that some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNB214s.

[0033] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216 that can connect to a Non-3GPP InterWorking Function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5G CN 240 (for example, in the case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, a WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more Wi-Fi APs (for example, AP 130 in Figure 1). Here, the N3IWF 250 may connect to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as an AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may support secure access by the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLANs 216 and the UE 105 to one or more protocols used by other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as an AMF 215. For example, the N3IWF250 may support establishing an IPSec tunnel with the UE105, terminating the IKEv2 / IPSec protocol with the UE105, terminating the N2 and N3 interfaces to the 5G CN240 for the control plane and user plane, respectively, and relaying uplink and downlink control plane non-access layer (NAS) signaling between the UE105 and AMF215 across the N1 interface. In some other embodiments, the WLAN216 may connect directly to an element within the 5G CN240 (e.g., the AMF215 shown in Figure 2) without going through the N3IWF250, for example, if the WLAN216 is a trusted WLAN for the 5G CN240. Note that although only one WLAN216 is shown in Figure 2, some embodiments may include multiple WLAN216s.

[0034] An access node may comprise any of various network entities that enable communication between the UE105 and the AMF215. This may include a gNB210, ng-eNB214, WLAN216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, an access node providing the functionality described herein may, in addition or alternatively, include entities that enable communication to any of various RATs not shown in Figure 2, which may include non-cellular technologies. Therefore, the term “access node” as used in the embodiments described below herein may include, but is not limited to, a gNB210, ng-eNB214, or WLAN216.

[0035] In some embodiments, an access node such as gNB210, ng-eNB214, or WLAN216 (either alone or in combination with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to perform a measurement of one of the multiple RATs (e.g., a measurement of UE105) and / or to obtain the measurement result from UE105, which is then forwarded to the access node using one or more of the multiple RATs, in response to receiving a request for location information for multiple RATs from LMF220. As stated, Figure 2 shows access nodes 210, 214, and 216 configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, but access nodes may be used that are configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as Node B using the WCDMA® protocol for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using the LTE protocol for Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or a Bluetooth beacon using the Bluetooth® protocol for WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to UE105, the RAN may comprise E-UTRAN, which may comprise base stations equipped with eNBs that support LTE wireless access. The core network for the EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In that case, the EPS may comprise E-UTRAN plus EPC, where in Figure 2, E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN235 and EPC corresponds to 5G CN240. The methods and techniques described herein for positioning UE105 using common or general-purpose positioning procedures may also be applicable to other such networks.

[0036] The gNB210 and ng-eNB214 can communicate with the AMF215, which in turn communicates with the LMF220 for positioning functions. The AMF215 may support the mobility of the UE105, including cell changes and handovers of the UE105 from access nodes 210, 214, or 216 of a first RAT to access nodes 210, 214, or 216 of a second RAT. The AMF215 may also be involved in supporting signaling connections to the UE105 and, optionally, data bearers and voice bearers for the UE105. The LMF220 may support the positioning of UE105 when UE105 accesses NG-RAN235 or WLAN216, and may support positioning procedures and methods including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), ECID, Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), WLAN positioning, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF220 may also process location service requests for UE105 received, for example, from AMF215 or GMLC225. The LMF220 may be connected to AMF215 and / or GMLC225. The LMF220 may be referred to by other names, such as Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), Commercial LMF (CLMF), or Value-Added LMF (VLMF). In some embodiments, a node / system implementing the LMF220 may implement other types of location support modules, such as Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or Service Location Protocol (SLP), as an addition or alternative.It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least part of the positioning function (including determining the location of the UE) may be performed in the UE105 (for example, by processing downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNB210, ng-eNB214 and / or WLAN216, and / or by using support data provided to the UE105 by LMF220, for example).

[0037] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230, and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 for forwarding to the LMF 220 by the AMF 215, or it may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 220. The location response from the LMF 220 (including, for example, the location estimation of the UE 105) may similarly be returned to the GMLC 225 either directly or via the AMF 215, and the GMLC 225 may then return the location response (including, for example, the location estimation) to the external client 230. Although the GMLC 225 is shown in Figure 2 as connected to both the AMF 215 and the LMF 220, in some implementations only one of these connections may be supported by the 5G CN 240.

[0038] As further shown in Figure 2, the LMF220 may communicate with the gNB210 and / or ng-eNB214 using the LPPa protocol (sometimes called NRPPa or NPPa). The LPPa protocol in NR may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of, the LPPa protocol in LTE (referring to the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)), and LPPa messages are transmitted between the gNB210 and the LMF220 and / or between the ng-eNB214 and the LMF220 via the AMF215. As further shown in Figure 2, the LMF220 and UE105 may communicate using the LPP protocol. The LMF220 and UE105 may also, or instead, communicate using the LPP protocol (which may also be called NRPP or NPP in NR). Here, LPP messages may be transmitted between the UE105 and the LMF220 via serving gNB210-1 or serving ng-eNB214 for the AMF215 and UE105. For example, LPP and / or LPP messages may be transmitted between LMF220 and AMF215 using messages for service-based operation (e.g., based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)), and between AMF215 and UE105 using the 5G NAS protocol. The LPP and / or LPP protocol may be used to support the positioning of UE105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA and / or Enhanced Cell ID (ECID). The LPP protocol may also be used to support the positioning of UE105 using network-based positioning methods such as ECID (e.g., when used with measurement results obtained by gNB210 or ng-eNB214), and / or may be used by LMF220 to obtain location-related information from gNB210 and / or ng-eNB214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmissions from gNB210 and / or ng-eNB214.

[0039] In the case of UE105 accessing WLAN216, LMF220 may obtain the location of UE105 using LPPa and / or LPP in a manner similar to that described immediately before for UE105 accessing gNB210 or ng-eNB214. Thus, LPPa messages may be transferred between WLAN216 and LMF220 via AMF215 and N3IWF250 to support network-based positioning of UE105 and / or transfer of other location information from WLAN216 to LMF220. Alternatively, LPPa messages may be transferred between N3IWF250 and LMF220 via AMF215 to support network-based positioning of UE105 based on location-related information and / or positioning-related measurement results that are known to or accessible to N3IWF250 and transferred from N3IWF250 to LMF220 using LPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be forwarded between UE105 and LMF220 via AMF215, N3IWF250, and serving WLAN216 so that UE105 can support or be supported by positioning of UE105 by LMF220.

[0040] In a UE-assisted positioning method, UE105 may acquire positioning-related measurement results and transmit these results to a location server (e.g., LMF220) for the calculation of UE105's position estimation. Positioning-related measurement results may include, for example, one or more of the following for one or more access points for gNB210, ng-eNB214, and / or WLAN216: Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Round-Trip Time (RTT), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Time of Arrival (TOA), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), AOA, Differential AOA (DAOA), AOD, or Timing Advance (TA). Furthermore, or alternatively, positioning-related measurement results may include measurement results from RAT-independent positioning methods such as GNSS (e.g., GNSS pseudodistance, GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase of GNSS satellite 110), WLAN, etc.

[0041] In a UE-based positioning method, UE105 may acquire positioning-related measurement results (which may be the same as or similar to the positioning-related measurement results for a UE-assisted positioning method, for example), and may further calculate the position of UE105 (with the help of support data received from a location server such as LMF220 or broadcast by gNB210, ng-eNB214, or WLAN216, for example). Furthermore, in some cases, a UE-based positioning method may involve side-link communication with another UE.

[0042] In a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB210 and / or ng-eNB214), one or more APs (e.g., in WLAN216), or N3IWF250 may acquire positioning-related measurement results (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or TOA measurement results) for signals transmitted by UE105, and / or, in the case of N3IWF250, may receive measurement results acquired by UE105 or APs in WLAN216, and may transmit the measurement results to a location server (e.g., LMF220) for the calculation of the UE105's position estimation.

[0043] In the 5G NR positioning system 200, some positioning-related measurements performed by UE105 (e.g., AOA, AOD, TOA) may use RF reference signals received from base stations 210 and 214. These signals may include PRS signals, which may be used, for example, to perform positioning based on UE105's OTDOA, AOD, and RTT. Other reference signals that may be used for positioning may include cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel status information reference signals (CSI-RS), and synchronization signals. Furthermore, signals may be transmitted in the transmit (Tx) beam (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which may affect the results of angle measurements such as AOD.

[0044] Figure 3 is a simplified block diagram of a positioning system 300 that can embody the positioning system 100 of Figure 1 or the positioning system 200 of Figure 2. As shown in Figure 3, UE 305 may access a wireless network 370 via a communication link 335 that connects UE 305 to base station 320-1. The wireless network 370 may correspond to, for example, network 170 in Figure 1 or WLAN 216 in Figure 2. In the example in Figure 3, base station 320-1 is associated with a serving cell, and communication link 335 represents the connection to the serving cell. UE 305 may establish different types of sessions with any number of entities. For example, UE 305 may establish a session with a serving cell to access cellular voice and / or data services. The session between UE 305 and the serving cell may be initiated by either the serving cell or UE 305, and in some cases may be migrated as a result of a handover procedure from a previous serving cell. UE305 can also establish sessions with entities related to location services, such as positioning sessions. For example, UE305 may periodically establish an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session with location server 360. During the LPP session, UE305 may transmit PRS-based measurement results to location server 360, enabling location server 360 to use those results to calculate UE305's location. Location server 360 may then communicate the calculated location to UE305 and / or take some action based on the calculated location.

[0045] As illustrated in Figure 3, UE305 may also be in wireless communication with other base stations 320 (for example, base stations 320-2 and 320-3). These additional base stations 320 may be associated with neighboring cells that cover different geographical areas. Therefore, base stations 320-2 and 320-3 may be located far from the serving cell associated with base station 320-1. In some cases, multiple base stations that are not in the same location as each other may be associated with the same cell. However, for illustrative purposes, it can be assumed that each of the base stations 320 in Figure 3 is in a different location and associated with a different cell.

[0046] UE305 may receive one or more wireless positioning signals 350 from each of the base stations 320. For example, the wireless positioning signals 350 may include DL-PRS signals that are broadcast or transmitted by the base stations 320 upon request from UE305. Base stations 320-1, 320-2, and 320-3 may each transmit their own unique wireless positioning signals 350-1, 350-2, and 350-3, respectively. In some embodiments, such as the embodiment in Figure 2, each of base stations 320-1, 320-2, and 320-3 may correspond to a different TRP. Base station 320 may transmit wireless positioning signals using specific time or frequency resources so as not to interfere with wireless positioning signals from other base stations 320. In some embodiments, the wireless positioning signals 350 are time-multiplexed and / or frequency-multiplexed. Although not shown in Figure 3, the wireless positioning signal may optionally include uplink signals transmitted from the UE305 to one or more base stations 320.

[0047] The UE305 may be configured to assist in the positioning procedure by performing positioning-related measurements using the wireless positioning signals 350. For example, the UE305 may use a local clock to obtain the TOA of each wireless positioning signal 350, measure the RSTD of the wireless positioning signals 350, and / or perform other types of positioning-related measurements depending on the positioning method used for the positioning procedure. The following is a non-exhaustive list of positioning-related measurements based on downlink or uplink reference signals and the corresponding positioning methods supported by those positioning-related measurements. - DL-RSTD: Supports DL-TDOA. - DL-PRS RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power): Supports DL-TDOA, DL-AoD (Ankle of Departure), and Multi-RTT (Multiple Round-Trip Times). - UE Rx-Tx time difference: Supports Multi-RTT. - SS-RSRP (Synchronization Signal RSRP), SS-RSRQ (Synchronization Signal Reference Signal Received Quality), CSI-RSRP (Channel Status Information RSRP), and CSI-RSRQ: Each supports E-CID (Enhanced Cell ID).

[0048] As previously discussed, UE-based positioning and / or network-based positioning may be supported. Therefore, positioning-related measurement results obtained by UE305 may be processed by UE305 to locally calculate the UE's location. Alternatively, positioning-related measurement results may be communicated to another device configured to calculate the UE's location based on the positioning-related measurement results. For example, in some implementations, the UE's location is calculated by a location server 360 based on positioning-related measurement results obtained by UE305 from a wireless positioning signal 350. In 5G implementations, the location server 360 may correspond to an LMF such as LMF220 in Figure 2. Furthermore, the location server 360 may be integrated into a base station (e.g., gNB210-1, gnB210-2, ng-eNB214) or a standalone server.

[0049] In addition to receiving the wireless positioning signal 350, the UE 305 can transmit and / or receive other types of signals, such as synchronization signals or signals carrying voice or data. For example, the UE 305 may use the communication link 335 to make a call or download a web page while simultaneously performing positioning-related measurements based on the wireless positioning signal 350. Generally, the wireless positioning signal 350 and other signals communicated between the UE 305 and the base station 320 may be communicated using radio frames, for example, radio frames constructed as shown in Figure 4.

[0050] Figure 4 shows an example of an NR frame structure 400 and related terminology that can form the basis for physical layer communication between a UE and a base station (for example, between UE 305 and base station 320 in Figure 3). The transmission timelines for downlink and uplink communication, respectively, may be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predetermined time length (e.g., 10 ms) and may be divided into 10 subframes, each 1 ms long and having indices from 0 to 9. Each subframe may contain a variable number of slots depending on the subcarrier interval. Each slot may contain a variable number of symbol periods depending on the subcarrier interval (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols). The symbol periods within each slot may be assigned indices. Minislots may comprise a subslot structure (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). In addition, a complete orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) of a subframe is shown in Figure 4, illustrating how a subframe may be divided into multiple resource blocks (RBs) in both time and frequency. A single RB can have a grid of resource elements (REs) spanning 14 symbols and 12 subcarriers.

[0051] Each symbol within a slot may indicate a link direction (e.g., downlink (DL), uplink (UL), or flexible) or data transmission, and the link direction of each subframe may be dynamically switched. The link direction may be based on the slot format. Each slot may contain DL / UL data and DL / UL control information. In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS block includes a primary SS (PSS), a secondary SS (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of two symbols. The SS block may be transmitted at fixed slot locations, such as symbols 0-3 as shown in Figure 4. PSS and SSS may be used by the UE for cell discovery and cell acquisition. PSS may provide half-frame timing, and SS may provide cyclic prefix (CP) length and frame timing. PSS and SSS may provide cell identification information. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information in the radio frame, SS burst set period, and system frame number.

[0052] Figure 5 shows an example of a radio frame sequence 500 with a PRS positioning opportunity. A “PRS instance” or “PRS opportunity” is one instance of a regularly repeating time frame (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS opportunity may also be called a “PRS positioning opportunity,” “PRS positioning instance,” “positioning opportunity,” “positioning instance,” “positioning iteration,” or simply “opportunity,” “instance,” or “iteration.” The subframe sequence 500 may be applicable to broadcasts of PRS (DL-PRS signals) from base station 120 in positioning system 100 or base station 320 in positioning system 300. The radio frame sequence 500 may be used in 5G NR (e.g., 5G NR positioning system 200) and / or LTE. As in Figure 4, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis) in Figure 5, and time increases from left to right. Frequency is represented vertically (for example, on the Y-axis), and frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0053] Figure 5 shows PRS opportunities 510-1, 510-2, and 510-3 (collectively and comprehensively referred to as positioning opportunities 510 in this specification), with the system frame number (SFN) and cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS )515, and PRS period (T PRS This shows how it is determined by 520. The cell-specific PRS subframe configuration is determined by the "PRS configuration index" I included in the supporting data (e.g., OTDOA supporting data). PRS It may also be defined by the compliant 3GPP® standard. Cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS )515 may be defined with respect to the number of subframes transmitted from system frame number (SFN) 0 to the start of the first (subsequent) PRS positioning opportunity.

[0054] After proper configuration, the PRS can be transmitted by a wireless node (e.g., base station 120), such as by an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) server. The PRS can be transmitted in special positioning subframes or slots grouped into positioning opportunities 510. For example, the PRS positioning opportunity 510-1 can comprise N PRS consecutive positioning subframes, where the number N PRS can be between 1 and 160 (e.g., can include values 1, 2, 4, and 6, as well as other values). The PRS opportunities 510 can be grouped into one or more PRS opportunity groups. As described, the PRS opportunities 510 can regularly occur at intervals of milliseconds (or subframes) indicated by the number T PRS , where T PRS can be equal to 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 (or any other suitable value). In some embodiments, T PRS can be measured in terms of the number of subframes between the start of consecutive positioning opportunities.

[0055] In some embodiments, when the UE receives the PRS configuration index I PRS in the assistance data for a particular cell (e.g., base station), the UE can use the stored indexed data to determine the PRS period T PRS 520 and the cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) 515. Then, when the PRS is scheduled in the cell, the UE can determine the radio frame, subframe, and slot. The assistance data can be determined, for example, by a location server (e.g., LS160 of FIG. 1 and / or LMF220 of FIG. 2), and includes assistance data for a reference cell and several neighboring cells supported by various wireless nodes.

[0056] Typically, PRS opportunities from all cells in a network using the same frequency are aligned in time, relative to other cells in a network using different frequencies, with a fixed, known time offset (e.g., cell-specific subframe offset (Δ)). PRS )515) may have. In an SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (e.g., base station 120) may be aligned for 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 any particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in an SFN asynchronous network, various wireless nodes may have aligned frame boundaries but not system frame numbers. Thus, in an SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be configured separately by the network so that PRS opportunities are aligned in time. If UE 105 can obtain the cell timing (e.g., SFN or frame number) of at least one of the cells, e.g., a reference cell or a serving cell, then UE 105 can determine the timing of PRS opportunities 510 for the reference cell and neighboring cells for OTDOA positioning. Then, based on the assumption that PRS opportunities from different cells overlap, for example, the timing of other cells can be derived by UE 105.

[0057] In the 5G NR positioning system 200 shown in Figure 2, the TRPs (e.g., gNB210, ng-eNB214, WLAN216) may transmit frames or other physical layer signaling sequences that support PRS signals (i.e., DL-PRS) according to the frame configuration described above, which may be measured and used for the location determination of UE105. As stated, other types of wireless network nodes, including other UEs, may also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in a similar (or the same) manner as described above. Since the transmission of PRS by a wireless network node may be directed to all UEs within radio range, a wireless network node may be considered to transmit (or broadcast) a PRS.

[0058] In some embodiments, OTDOA-assisted data may be provided to the UE by a location server (e.g., LS160) for a “reference cell” (sometimes also called a “reference resource”) and one or more “neighbor cells” or “neighboring cells” (sometimes also called “target cells” or “target resources”) relative to the reference cell. For example, the assisting data may include the center channel frequency of each cell, various PRS configuration parameters (e.g., N PRS , T PRS This may provide muting sequences, frequency hopping sequences, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth, cell global ID, PRS signal characteristics related to directional PRS, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to OTDOA or any other positioning method. PRS-based positioning by UE105 can be facilitated by indicating the serving cell for UE105 in the OTDOA-assisted data (for example, the reference cell is indicated as the serving cell).

[0059] In some embodiments, OTDOA-supported data may also include a “Expected Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD)” parameter, which provides the UE with information about the expected RSTD value that the UE is expected to measure at its current position between a reference cell and each neighboring cell, along with the uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter. The expected RSTD, along with the associated uncertainty, can define the search interval of the UE in which the UE is expected to measure the RSTD value. The OTDOA-supported information may also include a PRS configuration information parameter, which enables the UE to determine when PRS positioning opportunities arise on signals received from various neighboring cells relative to PRS positioning opportunities for the reference cell, and to determine the PRS sequences transmitted from various cells to measure the signal ToA or RSTD.

[0060] The location of the UE can be calculated (for example, by UE105 or LS160) using RSTD measurement results, known absolute or relative transmit timings for each cell, and known positions of the wireless node physical transmit antennas of the reference cell and neighboring cells. More specifically, the RSTD of neighboring cell "k" relative to reference cell "Ref" is (ToA k -ToA Ref ) may be given as, where the ToA value may be measured modulo the time length (1 ms) of one subframe to eliminate the effect of measuring different subframes at different times. The ToA measurement results for different cells may then be converted to RSTD measurement results and transmitted by UE 105 to location server 101. The location of the UE may be determined using (i) the RSTD measurement results, (ii) known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, (iii) known locations of the physical transmit antennas of the reference cell and neighboring cells, and / or (iv) directional PRS characteristics such as the direction of transmission.

[0061] Figure 6 is a simplified block diagram showing the receiving components of a UE600 according to one embodiment. The UE600 includes multiple Rx chains 610-1, 610-2, and 610-3. Although only three Rx chains are shown, the UE may have more or fewer Rx chains, e.g., four, eight, or more. When multiple Rx chains are available, they may be used for MIMO communication. Another application of multiple Rx chains is to enhance signal diversity by receiving and processing the same signal through different Rx chains to achieve signal gain through diversity (e.g., spatial diversity, temporal diversity, or other forms of diversity). Spatial diversity is achieved when a signal is transmitted and received through different propagation paths, such as in multipath propagation scenarios. When a signal propagates along different paths, separated antennas may be used to receive and decode the signal. The results of decoding the signal using multiple antennas may be combined to improve signal reception. Time diversity may involve transmitting multiple instances of the same signal at different times, which helps mitigate time-varying signal attenuation due to changes in environmental conditions, such as when the UE is moving relative to the signal source, when there are obstacles, or when there is intermittent interference. As discussed below, multiple Rx chains can also be used to reduce processing time and increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) when determining the UE's position based on a DL-PRS or other type of reference signal.

[0062] Generally, an Rx chain comprises processing components configured to perform signal processing on Rx signals (e.g., Rx signal 614) from one or more antennas. In the example in Figure 6, the processing components are arranged in a processing pipeline. For example, each Rx chain 610 may include an antenna 612 and a processing pipeline 620 associated with antenna 612. Antenna 612 may form an antenna array together and, in some cases, may also be used for transmission purposes. The processing pipeline 620 may include hardware and / or software components configured to perform signal processing on Rx signals corresponding to a reference signal (e.g., PRS) received by the antennas associated with the Rx chain. For example, each processing pipeline 620 may include an analog-to-digital converter configured to convert an analog Rx signal (e.g., Rx signal 614) into a digital signal, and a demodulation circuit configured to restore a baseband signal by demodulating the Rx signal using the reference carrier signal. Generally, the processing in a processing pipeline involves a series of operations performed sequentially or stepwise (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, followed by demodulation, as discussed above). In some cases, the processes within an Rx chain may involve actions that run concurrently, for example, with some stages overlapping.

[0063] In the example in Figure 6, each Rx chain is associated with a different antenna. Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, the antennas associated with an Rx chain can be considered part of the Rx chain itself. However, this is not necessarily the case in all instances. For example, in some embodiments, the UE may include two or more panels, each panel including two or more receiving antennas, whose respective Rx signals are combined into a combined Rx signal (for example, in the analog domain using addition) for processing by the Rx chain associated with the panel. The combined Rx signal may be generated for input to the Rx chain or as part of the signal processing performed by the Rx chain. For example, the Rx chain may include an analog summing circuit, along with other signal processing components such as an analog-to-digital converter, and components for converting the Rx signal or combined Rx signal to a baseband signal.

[0064] Furthermore, each processing pipeline 620 may include one or more processing units (e.g., a general-purpose processor or a digital signal processor (DSP)) configured to decode a received signal (e.g., a single Rx signal or a composite Rx signal) or a signal derived therefrom by applying a search interval (e.g., a baseband signal). As discussed above in the context of RSTD measurement, a search interval can be defined as an interval in which the UE is expected to measure an RSTD value, based on the expected RSTD parameters and the uncertainty of those parameters. More generally, a search interval can be any interval in which the UE is expected to perform a measurement using a reference signal received therein. Thus, it is understood that a search interval is not limited to RSTD, but instead may correspond to a period in which a PRS or other reference signal is expected to be processed using one or more Rx chains.

[0065] In some embodiments, the search interval is the period over which a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is applied to a sample of the reference signal being decoded by one or more processing units in the Rx chain. Thus, according to some embodiments, the search interval can be an FFT window. For example, if the reference signal is transmitted using OFDM, the reference signal may be converted to the frequency domain by time sampling and then applying an FFT after the reference signal has been downconverted from its RF carrier frequency to its baseband frequency. The result of the FFT can be used to identify the center frequencies of individual subcarriers and to reconstruct the original data stream corresponding to the reference signal.

[0066] The measurement engine 630 is configured to generate one or more measurement results 650 based on the output of the processing pipeline 620. For example, the measurement engine 630 may include one or more processors configured to calculate TOA or RSTD values ​​based on the time of reception (for example, according to the UE's local clock). For example, to measure TOA, the measurement engine 630 may reconstruct a PRS signal sequence based on the FFT results obtained for a PRS opportunity, where the PRS opportunity comprises multiple subframes, multiple slots per subframe, and multiple symbols per slot. After reconstructing the PRS signal sequence, the measurement engine 630 may perform a correlation operation by multiplying the reconstructed PRS signal sequence by the complex conjugate of a reference PRS signal sequence related to the cell ID of the cell from which the PRS signal was transmitted, thereby producing a set of correlation values. TOA may be determined based on the timing of the peak of the correlation value. RSTD may be calculated as the difference between the TOA of the PRS signal from the reference cell / base station and the TOA of the PRS signal from a neighboring cell / base station. The measurement engine 630 can perform similar measurements for other types of reference signals. The measurement result 650 may include measurement results from multiple reference signals of the same type (for example, a set of measurement results 650 derived from two or more PRS signals). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the measurement engine 630 may be configured to generate a set of measurement results 650 from multiple types of reference signals used to determine the location of the UE 600 (for example, PRS in combination with TRS or DMRS). In some embodiments, one or more measurement results may be performed locally within the Rx chain 610 (positioning-related measurement results with only one reference signal) and transmitted from the Rx chain to the measurement engine 630.

[0067] The measurement engine 630 and / or Rx chain 610 may also perform other types of positioning-related measurements, such as signal power and / or signal quality measurements as described above in relation to Figure 3. In some embodiments, the measurement engine 630 and / or Rx chain 610 may be configured to perform any combination (e.g., two or more) of TOA measurements, RSTD measurements, RSRP measurements, quality measures (e.g., signal-to-interference-to-noise ratio (SINR) or RSSI), receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements (e.g., the time difference between when a PRS is transmitted and when a PRS is received), angle measurements (e.g., AOA or AOD), velocity measurements, Doppler measurements, etc. When performing positioning based on the UE, the measurement results 650 generated by the measurement engine 630 may be input to a local positioning engine (not shown) on the UE. The positioning engine may include hardware and / or software configured to calculate the position of the UE according to one or more positioning methods (e.g., DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, Multi-RTT, etc.). The positioning engine may be implemented using one or more processors, which in some implementations may be shared with the measurement engine 630 and / or components of the UE. When performing network-based positioning, the UE may transmit the measurement results 650 generated by the measurement engine 630 to a location server, such as the location server 360 in Figure 3 or the LMF220 in Figure 2. Thus, the positioning engine may be local to the location server rather than the UE.

[0068] Depending on environmental factors such as the movement of the UE600, the movement of the base station (in the case of a mobile base station), weather, and physical obstacles, the UE600 may not be able to use all of its Rx chain 610 to perform measurements based on the received reference signal. Returning to the example in Figure 3, assume that each antenna 612 of the UE600 in Figure 6 receives a separate PRS corresponding to one of the wireless positioning signals 350-1, 350-2, or 350-3. At time T1, the UE may be located in a relatively unobstructed environment outdoors, closest to the base station 320-1, so each of the wireless positioning signals 350 is received with little or no attenuation. At time T2, the UE may have moved indoors, so wireless positioning signal 350-2 or wireless positioning signal 350-3 is degraded to the point of deep fading, while wireless positioning signal 350-1 is only slightly attenuated. In this situation, at time T2, the UE may not be able to successfully decode using the Rx chain receiving the signal in the deep fading state. As a result, the measurement engine 630 may produce fewer measurement results than time T1, which reduces the accuracy of position determination at time T2 compared to time T1. Therefore, which Rx chain can be used to perform the measurement may vary depending on the PRS opportunity.

[0069] In LTE, an UE is typically configured to use two Rx chains to perform measurements. However, the accuracy requirements for UE localization in LTE are lower compared to 5G NR (hundreds of meters in LTE compared to several meters in 5G). This increased accuracy requirement in 5G means that, in some cases, two Rx chains may not be sufficient to obtain a sufficiently accurate estimate of the UE's location. This can be true even if the signals from both Rx chains are not in a deep-fading state. Therefore, for the UE or any other device calculating the UE's location, it can be useful to know how many Rx chains were used to determine the positioning-related measurement results for any given location calculation, since the number of Rx chains used indicates the accuracy of the location fix obtained.

[0070] The hardware capabilities of a UE may be reported to other entities such as location servers and / or base stations, and such reports may include the total number of Rx antennas available to the UE. For example, 3GPP® TS (Technical Specification) 37.355 specifies an optional information element, “numberOfRXantennas-r14,” which may be used to report the total number of Rx antennas, which is the same as the total number of Rx chains when there is a one-to-one association between antennas and Rx chains, as in the example in Figure 6. If used, this optional information element is sent at the beginning of a positioning session to inform the entity receiving the report about the UE's capabilities. The reported capabilities may include, for example, a list of positioning methods supported by the UE. However, the number of Rx chains used to perform positioning-related measurements is not traditionally reported. Therefore, in legacy implementations, the UE may initially report that it has four Rx antennas (suggesting a total of four Rx chains), but the UE may be configured to use only two of the four Rx chains to obtain positioning-related measurement results, and in some cases, the PRS signal received using one of those two Rx chains may be in a deep-fading state, so the measurement results are obtained from only one of the two Rx chains.

[0071] Therefore, in some embodiments, the UE may be configured to determine that a reference signal processed through an Rx chain is in a deep-fading state, and based on this determination, prevent the reference signal from being used for location measurement or exclude the positioning-related measurement results obtained from that reference signal from being used to calculate the location. For example, the UE may decide not to forward the measurement results derived from the reference signal to the location server. The determination that the reference signal is in a deep-fading state may be accompanied by the determination that the SNR or other indicator of the quality of the reference signal is below a threshold. Furthermore, the UE may be configured to report the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results (e.g., the number of Rx chains used to obtain TOA and RSTD measurement results). This report is illustrated in Figure 6 as an additional output 660 from the measurement engine 630. The UE may transmit this report to a location server (e.g., LMF), a base station (e.g., gnB), or any other entity with which the UE is communicating (e.g., using a wireless transmitter). In some embodiments, this report may be performed for each PRS / positioning opportunity to show how many Rx chains were used to determine positioning-related measurement results during the PRS / positioning opportunity.

[0072] The number of Rx chains used may be reported for each measurement and / or for a set of measurements (the set comprising one or more types of positioning-related measurements). For example, the report may include information indicating the total number of Rx chains used for a given measurement result or across multiple measurement results, the average number of Rx chains used across measurement results, the minimum number of Rx chains used for any individual measurement result among multiple measurement results, etc. As an example, the UE may report a single number (total, minimum, average, etc.) related to 20 RSTD or Rx-Tx measurement results. As an addition or alternative, the UE may report a different number for each individual measurement result of the 20 measurement results. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the report may include a qualitative indication of how many Rx chains were used. For example, instead of a single number, the UE may indicate that the number of Rx chains used falls within a certain range (e.g., 0 to 4 Rx chains, 5 to 10 Rx chains, etc.). As another example, the UE may indicate whether the number of Rx chains used across different measurement results is the same. Therefore, any information regarding how many Rx chains were used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results can be reported.

[0073] Knowledge of the number of Rx chains used to determine positioning-related measurement results can be applied in various ways. As shown above, the number of Rx chains used indicates the accuracy of the resulting location fix (assuming that sufficient positioning-related measurement results have been obtained to obtain the location fix). Thus, in some embodiments, a location server or other entity that calculates the UE's position (in some cases, the UE itself) may be configured to calculate a Degradation of Geometric Precision (DOP) value, or other measure indicating the accuracy of the resulting location fix or the uncertainty of the measurement error, based on the number of Rx chains used to determine the positioning-related measurement results. The DOP value or other measure may be communicated to the UE along with the resulting location fix to enable the UE to respond accordingly. For example, the UE may determine, based on the DOP value, that the location fix is ​​sufficiently accurate. Alternatively, the UE may determine, based on the DOP value, that the location fix is ​​not sufficiently accurate, in which case the UE may switch to a different positioning method (e.g., a positioning method with a different type of reference signal). Other activities may be taken by the UE and / or entity receiving reports on the number of Rx chains used. For example, a UE might request a TRP, base station, or other reference signal source to increase the number of reference signals sent to compensate for a reference signal that is in a deep-fading state.

[0074] Figure 7 shows an example of a resource block (RB) pattern 700 for transmitting a PRS signal. The RB pattern 700 can correspond to subframes as discussed above with reference to Figure 4. Resource elements for other types of signals are not shown in Figure 7. However, it is understood that the RBs in Figure 7 may include resource elements (REs) that do not correspond to a PRS signal. With respect to the frame structure of Figure 4, the set of REs used for transmitting a PRS signal is called a "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple RBs in the frequency domain and one or more consecutive symbols in a slot in the time domain, within which a pseudo-random quadruple phase-shifted modulation (QPSK) sequence is transmitted from the TRP or base station antenna port. Within a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource may occupy consecutive RBs in the frequency domain.

[0075] The transmission of a PRS resource within a given RB has a specific comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier interval (or frequency / tone interval) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, and the configuration uses every N subcarriers of a given symbol in the RB. For example, in comb-4, the REs corresponding to every 4 subcarriers (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, and 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. In addition, the transmission of a PRS resource within a given RB has a specific symbol length corresponding to the number of symbols that the PRS resource spans. As shown in Figure 7, two PRS signals are transmitted between symbol period 2 and symbol period 3 using the comb2-symbol2 option. The two PRS signals are labeled PRS ID1 and PRS ID2 and referred to below by their respective PRS IDs.

[0076] Figure 7 also shows the timing of two PRS signals relative to a serving cell boundary 710. The serving cell boundary 710 may correspond to frame boundaries and / or subframe boundaries related to the signals transmitted from the serving cell. For example, as shown in Figure 7, the serving cell boundary 710 may include a symbol boundary. As discussed above with respect to Figure 5, the UE may determine the timing of PRS opportunities for a reference cell (the serving cell in the example of Figure 7) and neighboring cells for OTDOA positioning, for example, based on the assumption that PRS opportunities from different cells overlap. As further discussed above, for each cell, the UE may determine the PRS ID, cell global ID, and cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS Support data can be received that includes PRS configuration parameters, which may include 515.

[0077] In practice, a UE may not receive PRS signals from different cells simultaneously, even if those PRS signals are likely to be transmitted substantially at the same time. This may be a result of the cells being at different distances from the UE (and therefore offset 515). For example, returning to Figure 3, UE 305 may receive a PRS signal from base station 320-1 (e.g., PRS ID1 in Figure 7) earlier than a PRS signal from base station 320-2 (e.g., PRS ID2) because base station 320-1 is associated with a serving cell and is therefore likely closer to the UE than base stations associated with neighboring cells (offset 0 or close to 0). As shown in Figure 7, PRS ID1 is time-aligned with the serving cell boundary 710 such that the beginning and end of the symbol for PRS ID1 align with symbol 0 at the serving cell boundary 710. In contrast, PRS ID2 is not aligned with any symbol at the serving cell boundary 710 and is delayed by offset 720 with symbol 0.

[0078] A UE receiving PRS ID1 and PRS ID2 may be configured to process the signals (voice, data, PRS, etc.) according to the serving cell boundary 710, and the signals may be provided to the UE through supporting data from the location server, or in some cases directly from the serving cell. The timing at which the signals are processed (e.g., decoded) by the UE may be determined by the serving cell boundary 710, and in this sense, the UE can be considered synchronized to the timing of the serving cell. Thus, the UE may expect that the symbols of PRS ID1 and PRS ID2 are aligned with the same symbols (symbol 0) in the serving cell boundary 710. However, as described above, not all PRS signals can be aligned with the serving cell boundary or reference cell boundary.

[0079] If the UE attempts to process PRS ID1 and PRS ID2 using the timing of the serving cell, there is a decrease in the SNR of PRS ID2, which is directly proportional to the amount of time that PRS ID2 is not aligned with the serving cell boundary. As a result, it may not be possible for the UE to completely decode PRS ID2. This decrease in SNR degrades the performance of the measurement report and, consequently, reduces the accuracy of the obtained location fix. In contrast, since PRS ID1 is aligned with symbol 0, the SNR of PRS ID1 is maximized, and therefore, measurement results obtained using PRS ID1 are less likely to contribute to a less accurate location fix. Thus, it may be beneficial for the UE to process at least some of the PRS signals according to a timing different from that of the UE's serving cell or reference cell.

[0080] In one embodiment, the UE may support one or more methods for configuring the timing at which PRS signals are processed by the UE such that the timing is not constrained by the timing of the serving cell or reference cell. Such methods can be used as an alternative to the PRS processing based on serving cell timing described above. In some embodiments, as will be discussed below in relation to Figure 9, the UE may process multiple PRS signals using different sets of Rx chains, where the PRS signals are received simultaneously (e.g., during at least partially overlapping PRS opportunities). Before beginning the discussion of this processing method, an alternative method for processing PRS signals is described in relation to Figure 8. Furthermore, as will be discussed below, the method illustrated in Figure 8 has drawbacks that make the processing method in Figure 9 more suitable in some situations.

[0081] Figure 8 illustrates a round-robin method for PRS processing. According to the method in Figure 8, PRS signals are processed sequentially, one at a time, using the same Rx chain each time (for example, a set of Rx chains associated with two or more antennas). In a simple example of two PRS signals (for example, PRS ID1 and PRS ID2 as in Figure 7), the PRS signals are processed in an alternative manner. For example, as shown in Figure 8, during PRS opportunity 1, the UE may decode PRS ID1 by aligning the search interval (e.g., FFT window) 810 to PRS ID1. This alignment works to maximize the energy of the received PRS signal. The UE may align the search interval based on the expected delay of PRS ID1 (in this example, the delay is 0) and / or the expected RSTD of PRS ID1. The expected delay and / or expected RSTD of the PRS signal may be provided to the UE, for example, using PRS configuration information supplied by a location server or other entity along with knowledge of these expected values. Similarly, in PRS opportunity 2, the UE may decode PRS ID2 by aligning the search interval 820 with PRS ID2, thereby maximizing the energy of PRS ID2. The decoding in PRS opportunity 1 may be performed using the same Rx chain as the decoding in PRS opportunity 2. This process may be repeated between subsequent opportunities to decode both PRS signals in a round-robin manner.

[0082] The method in Figure 8 tends to maximize the SNR of the received PRS signal for all PRS opportunities, particularly the SNR measured after performing a correlation procedure against a reference PRS signal. However, because the processing of PRS signals is performed in a round-robin manner, the total length of time required to obtain measurement results from all PRS signals (e.g., both PRS ID1 and PRS ID2) is significantly longer compared to processing based on serving cell boundaries. Therefore, the method in Figure 8 can result in significant latency in reporting measurement results, depending, for example, on the total number of PRS signals to be measured. As a result, the time required to obtain a location fix may increase. In extreme cases, the reporting of measurement results may be delayed to a point where the measurement results become outdated (e.g., because the UE has moved to a different location), so the resulting location fix does not represent the current location of the UE.

[0083] Figure 9 shows a method for processing a PRS signal according to one embodiment. The method in Figure 9 involves distributing an Rx chain into different sets, where each set of Rx chain is used to process another PRS signal among several PRS signals received during PRS opportunities that overlap at least partially in time. In this way, multiple PRS signals can be processed simultaneously to reduce processing time. In addition, each PRS may be processed within its own search interval to enable the maximum SNR of the PRS. For example, as illustrated in Figure 8, search interval 910 may be applied to PRS ID 1, and another search interval 920 may be applied to PRS ID 2. Search interval 910 may be aligned to PRS ID 1 in order to decode PRS ID 1 during its respective opportunity. Similarly, search interval 920 may be aligned to decode PRS ID 2 during its respective opportunity. As described above with respect to Figure 8, alignment may be performed based on expected delay (e.g., based on expected RSTD).

[0084] In contrast to the round-robin method in Figure 8, where the same set of Rx chains is used for different PRS occasions to process one PRS signal at a time, the method in Figure 9 allocates different sets of Rx chains to each PRS signal to be processed. The total number of PRS signals that can be processed simultaneously depends on how many Rx chains are available in the UE. As previously mentioned, a UE may be equipped with more UEs than are needed for PRS processing according to the conventional method (for example, a UE may have four or more Rx chains). Thus, as shown in Figure 9, PRS ID 1 may be processed using a first set of Rx chains (Rx chain set 1) comprising receiving chains Rx1 and Rx2, while PRS ID 2 may be processed using a second set of Rx chains (Rx chain set 2) comprising receiving chains Rx3 and Rx4. For example, Rx1 and Rx2 may each be configured to process their respective Rx signals corresponding to PRS ID 1, such that they are received by the corresponding antenna elements. Similarly, Rx3 and Rx4 may each be configured to process their respective Rx signals corresponding to PRS ID2, such that they are received by the corresponding antenna elements. In one embodiment, each set of Rx chains includes at least two Rx chains. However, in some cases, such as when the PRS signal is transmitted using the Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB-IoT) protocol, a set consisting of a single Rx chain may be used for PRS processing. Furthermore, as discussed above, an Rx chain may be configured to process a composite Rx signal corresponding to the PRS received by a group of antenna elements. Thus, Rx chain set 1 may comprise Rx chains associated with antennas forming a first panel. Similarly, Rx chain set 2 may comprise Rx chains associated with antennas forming a second panel separate from the first panel. In addition, the total number of Rx chains in a set does not have to be the same across all sets; that is, some sets may have more Rx chains than others.

[0085] The way in which Rx chains are assigned to different sets can vary depending on the implementation. In some embodiments, Rx chains are pre-assigned. For example, a UE configured for the simultaneous processing of three PRS signals may be configured to use a first pair of Rx chains for processing the first PRS, a second pair of Rx chains for processing the second PRS, and a third pair of Rx chains for processing the third PRS, with the members of each pair of Rx chains being fixed. In another embodiment, each set of Rx chains is formed dynamically by selecting from a pool of available Rx chains. Rx chains may be assigned based on the spatial position of their Rx antennas to minimize interference from PRS signals received by adjacent Rx antennas of other Rx chains, for example. In the example in Figure 9, the Rx chains are numbered according to the relative location of the corresponding antennas in the antenna array, for example, the antenna of Rx1 is adjacent to the antenna of Rx2, the antenna of Rx2 is adjacent to the antenna of Rx3, and so on. Thus, as shown in Figure 9, each set of Rx chains may be associated with a contiguous group of antennas. However, this is not always true. In addition, when the PRS that will be processed using a certain set is weak, for example, as indicated by the measured SNR being below a threshold, a larger number of Rx chains may be assigned to that set. Other methods are possible for assigning Rx chains to different sets.

[0086] At least until sufficient measurements are obtained to perform position estimation or other PRS-based calculations, the same set of Rx chains may be used to process every opportunity of the same PRS. For example, Rx chain set 1 may be configured to process the Rx signal corresponding to each opportunity of PRS ID 1. Similarly, Rx chain set 2 may be configured to process the Rx signal corresponding to each opportunity of PRS ID 2. Thus, each set of Rx chains may be dedicated to processing a specific PRS. This ensures that different opportunities of the same PRS are processed in a consistent manner, because different Rx chains may have different processing delays or other characteristics that can affect the resulting measurement. This also facilitates measurements performed across multiple opportunities of the same PRS.

[0087] In addition, another benefit of using the same set of Rx chains to handle all occasions for the same PRS is that each PRS can be tracked independently using its respective set of Rx chains by maintaining a different search interval (e.g., an FFT window) for the PRS. For example, by allocating a first set of Rx chains to a first PRS and a second set of Rx chains to a second PRS having a similar center channel frequency to the first PRS (e.g., frequencies with a difference of 50 MHz or less from each other), the first and second PRS can be tracked more accurately compared to using the same Rx chains for both the first and second PRS. While each set of Rx chains can maintain its own search interval, in some cases, different sets of Rx chains may be tuned to the same center channel frequency. Rx chains may be tuned to the same center frequency to constitute an Rx chain for handling the Rx signal corresponding to the same PRS. Rx chains may be tuned to different center frequencies to constitute different Rx chains for handling the Rx signal corresponding to different PRS. The same center frequency adjustment may also be used when multiple TRP or PRS sources are configured to provide PRS resources that collectively form a positioning frequency layer (PFL). A TRP or PRS source can provide PRS resources for multiple PFLs and therefore can transmit using different center frequencies, but PRS resources within the same PFL generally transmit using the same center frequency.

[0088] To ensure that different opportunities for the same PRS signal are handled by the same set of Rx chains, each set of Rx chains may be allocated to different PRSs based on the apparent distance from the PRS source (e.g., TRP or base station). For example, the actual delay Δ for each opportunity. PRS Signals whose measured delays can be measured and whose measured delays are within a certain range of each other, and / or within a certain range of the expected delay specified for a particular PRS (e.g., expected RSTD), can be processed using the same set of Rx chains.

[0089] In the method shown in Figure 9, processing of other types of signals that may depend on synchronization with the serving cell boundary or reference cell boundary can still proceed normally, assuming that a sufficient Rx chain is available for such additional processing. Thus, PRS signals can be conveniently processed without negatively impacting the decoding throughput of non-PRS signals, while maximizing the SNR of each PRS signal.

[0090] Figure 10 is a flowchart of a method 1000 for reporting positioning-related measurement results according to one embodiment. The means for performing the functions shown in Figure 10 may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE (e.g., one or more processors including at least one Rx chain processor in the UE, a processor implementing the measurement engine, or both). In addition to the UE, other functions shown in Figure 10 may be performed by network entities located away from the UE (e.g., a location server or LMF, or another UE), and one or more reference signal transmitters (e.g., TRPs associated with a serving cell and one or more neighboring cells). Exemplary components of the UE are shown in Figure 13, and they are described in more detail below.

[0091] In 1002, the UE establishes a positioning session with a network entity, i.e., a session aimed at estimating the UE's location / position based on positioning-related measurement results derived using a reference signal. A positioning session can be initiated by the UE or a network entity. For example, as part of establishing a positioning session in 1002, the UE may send a message indicating that the UE wishes to initiate a positioning session (e.g., an LPP session). In general, communication between communication sessions, such as positioning sessions, may involve one or more transactions, each transaction including a message sent from a first endpoint (e.g., the UE) to a second endpoint (e.g., a network entity) and an acknowledgment sent back from the second endpoint to the first endpoint after the second endpoint has successfully decoded the message from the first endpoint. If the second endpoint cannot decode the message, it may not send an acknowledgment, which may cause the first endpoint to retransmit the message. For brevity, acknowledgments and retransmissions are omitted in Figure 10.

[0092] In 1004, a network entity may send a capability request message to the UE. A capability request message is a message requesting the UE to enumerate its capabilities. Such capabilities may include hardware resources, software resources, and supported positioning methods.

[0093] In 1006, the UE provides its capabilities to the network entity. For example, the UE may send a capability offering message (e.g., an OTDOA capability offering message) which includes one or more informational elements that enumerate the UE's capabilities, such as the total number of Rx antennas / chains available to the UE. However, as discussed above, the total number of available Rx chains may differ from the total number of Rx chains actually used to perform positioning-related measurements, for example, because the UE is configured to use fewer Rx chains than the total number of available Rx chains, and / or because deep phasing of the reference signal makes it impossible to use the Rx chains allocated to process a particular reference signal.

[0094] In 1008, the network entity requests location information. The requested location information may include positioning-related measurements that the UE can provide, as indicated by the capabilities listed in the capability offering message of 1006.

[0095] In 1010, a reference signal (e.g., a PRS signal) that can be used to determine the location of the UE is a positioning-related measurement result that can be calculated therefrom according to one or more positioning methods is transmitted from multiple sources. As illustrated in Figure 3, such reference signals may be transmitted, for example, from a TRP associated with a serving cell and a TRP associated with a neighboring cell. The reference signals may be broadcast simultaneously, and the length of time it takes for the UE to receive the reference signal after it has been transmitted indicates the distance between the UE and the transmitter of the reference signal. The reference signals transmitted in 1010 may be transmitted repeatedly at regular intervals, for example, each reference signal may be repeated at fixed intervals.

[0096] At 1012, the UE receives at least one of the reference signals transmitted at 1010 during a positioning session. The UE then determines one or more positioning-related measurements by processing at least one reference signal using one or more Rx chains. One or more positioning-related measurements may include, for example, a TOA measurement, an RSTD measurement, an RSRP measurement, a quality measure (e.g., SINR or RSSI), an Rx-Tx measurement, an angle measurement, a velocity measurement, a Doppler measurement, or any combination thereof. Generally, positioning-related measurements derived from multiple reference signals are used together to calculate a location (e.g., through triangulation). Therefore, whether a location can be calculated depends on how many positioning-related measurements are determined. As shown above, an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a particular reference signal may be processed using a different set of Rx chains. Therefore, if multiple reference signals are received at 1012, each of the reference signals may be processed using a different set of Rx chains. In some cases, the processing of at least one reference signal in 1012 may involve the use of support data. Therefore, at some point in the previous positioning session of 1012, the UE may send a support data request message to the network entity, and the network entity may respond with a support data provision message. The content of the support data provision message may include, for example, one or more expected RSTD values.

[0097] In 1014, the UE provides location information to the network entity. The location information provided by the UE may be in the form of a location information message that contains a report containing one or more positioning-related measurement results determined in 1012. The report may also contain information about how many Rx chains were used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results. This information may be used to determine the level of confidence in the correctness of the positioning-related measurement results. The more Rx chains used, the higher the confidence, and therefore the greater the accuracy of the obtained location calculated using the positioning-related measurement results. Examples of information that may be included in the report include, but are not limited to, the total number of Rx chains used to determine multiple positioning-related measurement results, the total number of Rx chains used to determine individual positioning-related measurement results among multiple positioning-related measurement results, the average number of Rx chains used across multiple positioning-related measurement results, and / or the minimum number of Rx chains used to determine any individual positioning-related measurement result among multiple positioning-related measurement results. Furthermore, in some cases, the report may identify which particular Rx chains and / or associated antenna elements were used. Therefore, the report may include, instead of, or in addition to, the types of information mentioned above, information that identifies which Rx chains in the UE were used to determine the positioning-related measurement results of the first PRS (each Rx chain may be assigned a number or other unique identifier), which antenna elements supplied the processed Rx signals or composite Rx signals used to determine the positioning-related measurement results of the first PRS, and / or other information indicating the actual use of the Rx chains and their associated components in determining the positioning-related measurement results.

[0098] In 1016, the network entity calculates the location of the UE using the location information provided in 1014, assuming that a sufficient number of positioning-related measurements have been provided as part of the location information. The calculation by the network entity may take into account information about how many Rx chains were used, as reported in 1014. For example, the network entity may determine a geometric depreciation (GDOP) measure or other measures indicating the degree of uncertainty of the calculated location. Alternatively, in some cases, the location and / or uncertainty measures may be calculated by the UE itself.

[0099] After calculating the UE's location in 1016, the network entity may communicate the calculated location to the UE, along with the GDOP or other measures indicating the degree of uncertainty of the calculated location, if applicable. Furthermore, the UE and / or network entity may take action based on the information regarding the calculated location, the GDOP / other measures, and / or how many Rx chains were used. For example, the UE may, in response to the GDOP being below a threshold, switch to a different positioning method, reconfigure itself to process additional reference signals (e.g., by allocating additional Rx chains to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results in relation to another instance of receiving at least one reference signal), or request additional reference signals from the reference signal transmitter.

[0100] Figure 11 is a flowchart of a method 1100 for performing positioning-related measurements using multiple Rx chains, according to one embodiment. The means for performing the functions shown in Figure 11 may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE (e.g., processors for at least two Rx chains in the UE, processors implementing the measurement engine, or both). Although described with respect to PRS signals, the method in Figure 11 may be used to generate positioning-related measurement results from other types of reference signals that overlap in time.

[0101] In 1102, a first PRS is received from a first transmitter device using a first set of antenna elements of the UE during a first PRS opportunity. The first set of antenna elements generally includes at least two Rx antennas, but in some cases it may include only one Rx antenna. The first transmitter device can be any PRS source (e.g., a base station or TRP) within range of the first set of antenna elements. For example, the first PRS could be a signal periodically broadcast by a TRP associated with the UE's current serving cell.

[0102] In 1104, a second PRS is received from the second transmitter device using a second set of antenna elements of the UE during the second PRS opportunity. The first set of antenna elements is separate from the second set of antenna elements. Each antenna element in both the first and second sets of antenna elements is associated with an Rx chain. An Rx chain associated with any particular antenna element is configured to process an Rx signal corresponding to a PRS received by a single antenna element (for example, as shown in the example in Figure 6), or to process a composite Rx signal corresponding to a PRS received by a group of antenna elements (for example, when the first set or the second set of antenna elements form a receiving panel).

[0103] The source of the first PRS in 1102 and the source of the second PRS in 1104 could be two transmitter devices located in different locations. For example, if the source of the first PRS is a TRP associated with a serving cell, the source of the second TRP could be a TRP associated with a neighboring cell. Both PRS sources can be configured to transmit their respective PRSs around the same time, i.e., substantially simultaneously. Because the PRS sources are in different locations, the first PRS and the second PRS may arrive at the UE at different times. However, the first PRS and the second PRS may be received simultaneously, by at least partially overlapping the first PRS opportunity with the second PRS opportunity.

[0104] In 1106, the UE may process a first PRS using one or more Rx chains associated with a first set of antenna elements. Specifically, the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS may be processed using one or more Rx chains associated with the first set of antenna elements (e.g., Rx1 and Rx2 in the example of Figure 9). Similarly, in 1106, the UE may process the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS using one or more Rx chains associated with a second set of antenna elements (e.g., Rx3 and Rx4). The processing in 1106 may involve aligning another search interval with each PRS. As discussed above, the alignment may be based on the expected delay (e.g., expected RSTD) of each PRS. In some embodiments, the search interval is an FFT window that determines which time samples of the PRS signal undergo a Fourier transform. When the first PRS and the second PRS are received simultaneously and processed using different sets of Rx chains, the processing of the first PRS and the processing of the second PRS can occur in parallel. However, the Rx chain processing the first PRS may output its result at a different time than the Rx chain processing the second PRS.

[0105] In 1108, positioning-related measurement results are determined using (i) the results of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS, and (ii) the results of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS. The positioning-related measurement results determined in 1108 may include any of the measurement-related measurement results of the types described above, such as TOA measurement results, RSTD measurement results, RSRP measurement results, quality measures (e.g., SINR or RSSI), Rx-Tx measurement results, angle measurement results, velocity measurement results, Doppler measurement results, or any combination thereof. For example, the positioning-related measurement results determined in 1108 may include TOA measurement results and RSTD measurement results for the first and second PRS, respectively. Once the positioning-related measurement results are determined, they may be reported to the network entity (e.g., a location server) for the calculation of the UE's location. Alternatively, the positioning-related measurement results may be processed locally using one or more processing units of the UE to calculate the UE's location. Therefore, the method shown in Figure 11 is applicable to both UE-based positioning methods and UE-assisted positioning methods.

[0106] Figure 12 is a flowchart of a method 1200 for allocating Rx chains according to one embodiment. The means for performing the function shown in Figure 12 may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE (e.g., processors for at least two Rx chains in the UE, processors implementing the measurement engine, or both). Although described with respect to PRS, the method in Figure 12 may be used to generate positioning-related measurement results from other types of reference signals that overlap in time. The method in Figure 12 may be performed to allocate Rx chains for use when performing any of the Rx chain-related operations described herein, including the operations described above with respect to Figures 10 and 11.

[0107] In 1202, the UE's Rx chains are allocated to process Rx signals or combined Rx signals corresponding to PRSs transmitted by one or more sources (e.g., a first PRS and a second PRS). In typical use, at least two Rx chains are initially allocated. However, depending on the UE configuration, only one Rx chain may be initially allocated. For example, some UEs may be configured to perform processing using a single Rx chain to conserve power or reduce computing resources during certain operating conditions (e.g., low power or sleep mode). Furthermore, the number of Rx chains allocated in 1202 may depend on the usage scenario and may vary among different types of UEs. For example, an IoT device may be configured to use fewer Rx chains than a smartphone or car navigation system.

[0108] Each Rx chain allocated in 1202 may be configured to process either an Rx signal corresponding to a PRS or a combined Rx signal. As discussed above, antennas may be arranged to form a receiving panel such that Rx signals from multiple antennas in the receiving panel are combined for processing by the Rx chain. Alternatively, an Rx chain may be configured to process an Rx signal from a single antenna. Thus, each allocated Rx chain is associated with one or more antennas. As part of the allocation in 1202, individual Rx chains may be allocated to each PRS. For example, if a UE has eight Rx chains and there are two PRSs to be processed, the UE may select two Rx chains to use when processing the Rx signal corresponding to a first PRS and another two Rx chains to use when processing the Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS. In some cases, the UE may be configured to allocate the same set of Rx chains to process different PRSs, so there may be partial or complete overlap between the Rx chains allocated for use when processing the Rx signals of the first PRS and the Rx chains allocated for use when processing the Rx signals of the second PRS.

[0109] In 1204, the Rx signal is processed using the Rx chain allocated in 1202 to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results for each PRS. This processing may involve any of the various operations described earlier, including the application of baseband conversion, analog-to-digital conversion, and Fourier transform. Generally, the same type of measurement result is determined for each PRS (e.g., an RSTD or RSRP measurement result for the first PRS, and another RSTD or RSTP measurement result for the second PRS). However, in some cases, the UE may determine different types of measurement results for different PRSs.

[0110] In 1206, the UE may optionally generate a report indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results in 1204. The report may be performed, for example, according to the method shown in Figure 10.

[0111] In 1208, a decision is made that the number of Rx chains allocated to one or more PRSs should be adjusted (increased or decreased) based on the satisfaction of one or more conditions. The conditions may be defined in the UE's configuration, for example, programmed into the UE's memory or hardwired to a processing component such as the measurement engine 630 in Figure 6. In some cases, the conditions may be provided to the UE via wireless communication, for example, from a network entity that receives a report in 1206, or from some other entity configured to estimate the UE's location using the measurement results determined in 1204. Thus, the conditions may be either fixed or reconfigurable. The conditions may include performance-related conditions, such as the accuracy of the location estimation obtained using the measurement results determined in 1204. The conditions may also relate to the UE's current operating state. For example, the UE may be configured to reduce the total number of Rx chains allocated when the UE's battery level falls below a certain value. As another example, the UE may be configured to increase the total number of Rx chains allocated when higher positioning accuracy is required. For example, the UE might determine that location accuracy is improved by using a different Rx chain for the first PRS than the one used for the second PRS, because the center channel frequency of the first PRS is close to or similar to the center channel frequency of the second PRS (for example, it is within a threshold frequency range).

[0112] The decision at 1208 leads to a decision to reallocate the Rx chains that the UE possesses. For example, if the same set of Rx chains was initially assigned to both the first and second PRS at 1202, one possible outcome of the decision at 1208 is that another set of Rx chains should be assigned to the second PRS so that the Rx signals corresponding to subsequent opportunities for the second PRS are processed using a different set of Rx chains (e.g., two Rx chains not currently in use), while the initial set of Rx chains is used to process the Rx signals corresponding to subsequent opportunities for the first PRS. Thus, the UE can switch between using a different set of Rx chains for different PRS and using the same set of Rx chains. Alternatively, the UE may be configured to always use a different set of Rx chains for different PRS, but the number of Rx chains assigned to a given PRS may change during the course of the UE's operation. For example, the decision in 1208 could result in a decision to allocate more Rx chains to the first PRS while keeping the number of Rx chains for the second PRS the same.

[0113] In step 1210, the UE's Rx chains are redistributed according to the result of the decision in step 1208. The redistribution in step 1210 may involve changing which Rx chains are assigned to at least one of the PRSs. As part of redistributing the RX chains, the UE may configure or reconfigure Rx chains for use with a particular PRS. For example, the search space used by the Rx chain newly assigned to the first PRS may be updated to correspond to an interval aligned with the next opportunity of the first PRS. As another example, the UE may update the center channel frequency used by the Rx chain so that it matches the center channel frequency of the PRS to which the Rx chain is assigned.

[0114] In 1212, Rx signals corresponding to subsequent opportunities of a PRS are processed using a redistributed Rx chain. Thus, an Rx chain now assigned to the first PRS may process one or more Rx signals or a composite Rx signal corresponding to subsequent opportunities of the first PRS. Similarly, an Rx chain now assigned to the second PRS may process one or more Rx signals or a composite Rx signal corresponding to subsequent opportunities of the second PRS, the subsequent opportunities of the second PRS overlap at least partially with those of the first PRS (for example, the scenario illustrated in Figure 7). The resulting positioning-related measurement results may then be used by the UE to estimate its location, or transmitted to another entity that estimates the UE's location based on the positioning-related measurement results.

[0115] Figure 13 shows embodiments of UE1302 that may be used as described above herein. For example, UE1302 can perform one or more functions of the methods shown in Figure 10 or Figure 11. UE1302 may also implement one or more of the UEs described above (e.g., UE105 in Figure 1, UE305 in Figure 3, and / or UE600 in Figure 6). It should be noted that Figure 13 is intended only to provide generalized examples of various components, and any or all of those components may be used as appropriate. It should be noted that in some cases, the components shown by Figure 13 may be localized in a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located in different physical locations. Furthermore, as previously stated, the functions of the UEs discussed in the embodiments described above may be performed by one or more of the hardware and / or software components shown in Figure 13.

[0116] A UE 1302 is shown, comprising hardware elements that can be electrically coupled (or, as appropriate, communicate) via bus 1305. The hardware elements may include a processing unit 1310, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more dedicated processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), and / or other processing structures or means. As shown in Figure 13, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1320 depending on the desired functionality. Location determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be performed in the processing unit 1310 and / or the wireless communication interface 1330 (discussed below). The UE 1302 may also include, but is not limited to, one or more input devices 1370, which may include one or more keyboards, touchscreens, touchpads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc., and one or more output devices 1315, which may include one or more displays (e.g., touchscreens), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0117] UE1302 may also include, but is not limited to, a wireless communication interface 1330 which may comprise a modem, network card, infrared communication device, wireless communication device, and / or chipset (such as a Bluetooth® device, IEEE 802.11 device, IEEE 802.15.4 device, Wi-Fi device, WiMAX device, WAN device, and / or various cellular devices), which may enable UE1302 to communicate with other devices as described above in this embodiment. As described herein, the wireless communication interface 1330 may enable data and signaling to be communicated (e.g., transmitted and received) with the TRP of the network via, for example, eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations, and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices coupled to communicate with the TRP. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1332 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1334. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1332 may comprise a plurality of individual antennas, an antenna array, or any combination thereof.

[0118] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1330 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers, for communication with base stations (e.g., ng-eNB and gNB) and other terrestrial transceivers such as wireless devices and access points. The UE 1302 may communicate with different data networks, which may comprise various network types. For example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and the like. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as CDMA2000, WCDMA®, etc. CDMA2000 includes the IS-95 standard, the IS-2000 standard, and / or the IS-856 standard. TDMA networks may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or any other RAT. OFDMA networks may employ LTE, LTE Advanced, 5G NR, etc. 5G NR, LTE, LTE Advanced, GSM, and WCDMA® are documented from 3GPP®. CDMA2000 is documented from an organization called "Third Generation Partnership Project IV" (3GPP2). 3GPP® and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) may also be IEEE 802.11x networks, and Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) may be Bluetooth networks, IEEE 802.15x, or any other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWANs, WLANs, and / or WPANs.

[0119] UE1302 may further include a sensor 1340. The sensor 1340 may comprise, but is not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to acquire location-related measurement results and / or other information.

[0120] Embodiments of UE1302 may also include a GNSS receiver 1380 capable of receiving signals 1384 from one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites using antenna 1382 (which may be the same as antenna 1332). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to complement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 1380 can use conventional techniques to extract the location of UE1302 from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) over India, and the Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China. Furthermore, the GNSS receiver 1380 may be associated with, or may be made possible with, use in conjunction with, one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), or with various augmentation systems (e.g., Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS)).

[0121] Although the GNSS receiver 1380 is shown as a separate component in Figure 13, it should be noted that embodiments are not so limited. As used herein, the term “GNSS receiver” may comprise hardware and / or software components configured to acquire GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Thus, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may comprise a measurement engine that is run (as software) by one or more processing units, such as a processing unit 1310, a DSP 1320, and / or a processing unit within a wireless communication interface 1330 (e.g., in a modem). The GNSS receiver may optionally also include a positioning engine, which can use the GNSS measurement results from the measurement engine to determine the location of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, and the like. The positioning engine may also be run by one or more processing units, such as a processing unit 1310 or a DSP 1320.

[0122] UE1302 may further include and / or communicate with memory 1360. Memory 1360 may include, but is not limited to, local storage and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, programmable, flash-updatable, and / or read-only memory (ROM) solid-state storage devices such as random-access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM). Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data store, including, but is not limited to, various file systems, database structures, and the like.

[0123] Memory 1360 of UE1302 may also comprise software elements (not shown in Figure 13), including other code such as an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or one or more application programs, which may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments as described herein and / or be designed to perform methods provided by other embodiments and / or constitute a system. As merely an example, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1360 that can be executed by UE1302 (and / or processing unit 1310 or DSP 1320 within UE1302). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the methods described.

[0124] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial modifications may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may be used, and / or certain elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may be utilized.

[0125] Referring to the attached diagram, components that may include memory may include non-temporary machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable media” and “computer-readable media” refer to any storage medium involved in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / code for execution to processing units and / or other devices. As an addition or alternative, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code. In many implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including, but are not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic media and / or optical media, any other physical media having a pattern of holes, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, carrier waves as described below, or any other media from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0126] The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described in relation to some embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of embodiments may be combined in similar ways. Various components in the figures provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Furthermore, technology evolves, and therefore many elements are examples that do not limit the scope of this disclosure to their specific examples.

[0127] For reasons of common usage, it is sometimes convenient to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, numerical values, etc. However, it should be understood that all of these terms, or similar terms, should be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient designations. Unless otherwise specified, as is evident from the above description, descriptions throughout this specification using terms such as “process,” “calculate,” “compute,” “determine,” “confirm,” “identify,” “associate,” “measure,” and “execute” are understood to refer to actions or processes of a particular device, such as a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or converting signals that are typically expressed as physical electronic, electric, or magnetic quantities in the memory, registers, or other information storage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device.

[0128] As used herein, the terms “and” and “or” may have a variety of meanings, which are also expected to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, when “or” is used to relate an enumeration such as A, B, or C, it is intended to mean A, B, and C as used here in an inclusive sense, as well as A, B, or C as used here in an exclusive sense. In addition, as used herein, the term “one or more” may be used in the singular to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic, or to describe any combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and the claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, when the term “at least one of” is used to relate an enumeration such as A, B, or C, it may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC.

[0129] While several embodiments have been described, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. For example, the elements described above may simply be components of a larger system, other rules may take precedence over the applications of the various embodiments, or the applications of the various embodiments may be modified in a different way. Furthermore, several steps may be undertaken before, during, or after the consideration of the elements described above. Therefore, the above description does not limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0130] In light of this description, embodiments may include combinations of different features. Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses. Clause 1. A method for reporting resources used to determine positioning-related measurement results, comprising the steps of: having a user device (UE) determine one or more positioning-related measurement results of a reference signal using one or more receiving (Rx) chains, wherein each Rx chain processes and determines an Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a single antenna element, or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a group of antenna elements; and reporting to a network entity one or more positioning-related measurement results and information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein one or more positioning-related measurement results include time of arrival (TOA) measurement results, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement results, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results, signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR) measurement results, received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurement results, quality measure, receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement results, angle measurement results, velocity measurement results, Doppler measurement results, or a combination thereof. Clause 3. The method of Clause 1 or 2, wherein information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results includes at least one indication of the total number of Rx chains used to determine multiple positioning-related measurement results, the total number of Rx chains used to determine each individual positioning-related measurement result among multiple positioning-related measurement results, the average number of Rx chains used across multiple positioning-related measurement results, or the minimum number of Rx chains used to determine any individual positioning-related measurement result among multiple positioning-related measurement results. Clause 4. Any method of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results identifies at least one of the following: which Rx chains were used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results, or which antenna element supplied the processed Rx signal or the combined Rx signal. Clause 5. Any method of Clauses 1 to 4, further comprising the step of determining the accuracy of one or more positioning-related measurement results based on information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 6. The method of Clause 5, further comprising the step of requesting the transmission of an additional reference signal based on the accuracy being below a threshold. Clause 7. The method of Clause 5 or 6, further comprising the steps of calculating the location of a UE using one or more positioning-related measurement results in combination with positioning-related measurement results of an additional reference signal, according to a first positioning method, and switching to a second positioning method based on the accuracy being below a threshold. Clause 8. Any method of Clauses 1 to 7, further comprising the steps of allocating a first Rx chain to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal, and allocating a second Rx chain to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a second reference signal, wherein the second Rx chain is separate from the first Rx chain. Clause 9. The method of Clause 8, wherein the first Rx chain and the second Rx chain are allocated based on the determination that the reference signal and the second reference signal have similar center channel frequencies. Clause 10. The method of Clause 8 or 9, further comprising the steps of processing an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a second reference signal using a second Rx chain, and determining one or more positioning-related measurement results of the second reference signal using the output of the second Rx chain. Clause 11. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 10, further comprising the step of the UE reporting the total number of available Rx chains before receiving a reference signal, the total number of Rx chains being used by the UE to determine that one or more positioning-related measurement results are less than the total number of available Rx chains. The method of Clause 12, wherein the UE reports the total number of available Rx chains, the UE sends a capability message to a network entity, and the UE reports information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results, the UE sends a location information message to a network entity. Clause 13. Any method of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the step of determining one or more positioning-related measurement results comprises the steps of converting an Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a first antenna element into a baseband signal, and performing digital signal processing on the baseband signal using an Rx chain associated with the first antenna element, wherein the digital signal processing includes a Fast Fourier Transform. Clause 14. Any method of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the step of determining one or more positioning-related measurement results comprises the steps of converting a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a first group of antenna elements into a baseband signal, and performing digital signal processing on the baseband signal using an Rx chain associated with the first group of antenna elements, wherein the digital signal processing includes a Fast Fourier Transform. Clause 15. A device comprising: a plurality of antenna elements; a plurality of Rx chains, each comprising one or more Rx chains configured to process a received (Rx) signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a single antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements, or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a group of antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements; one or more processors configured to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results of a reference signal using the outputs from one or more Rx chains; and a wireless transmitter configured to report to a network entity one or more positioning-related measurement results and information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 16. A device according to Clause 15, in which one or more positioning-related measurement results include time of arrival (TOA) measurement results, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement results, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement results, signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR) measurement results, received signal strength indication (RSSI) measurement results, quality measure, receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement results, angle measurement results, velocity measurement results, Doppler measurement results, or a combination thereof. Clause 17. A device according to Clause 15 or 16, wherein information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results includes at least one indication of the total number of Rx chains used to determine multiple positioning-related measurement results, the total number of Rx chains used to determine each individual positioning-related measurement result among multiple positioning-related measurement results, the average number of Rx chains used across multiple positioning-related measurement results, or the minimum number of Rx chains used to determine any individual positioning-related measurement result among multiple positioning-related measurement results. Clause 18. Any device according to Clauses 15 to 17, wherein information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results identifies at least one of the following: which Rx chains were used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results, or which antenna element supplied the processed Rx signal or the combined Rx signal. Clause 19. Any device according to Clauses 15 to 18, wherein one or more processors are configured to determine the accuracy of one or more positioning-related measurement results based on information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 20. A device of Clause 19, configured to request the transmission of an additional reference signal based on the accuracy being below a threshold. Clause 21. A device according to Clause 19 or 20, in which one or more processors are configured to calculate the location of a device using one or more positioning-related measurement results in combination with the positioning-related measurement results of an additional reference signal according to a first positioning method, and to switch to a second positioning method based on whether the accuracy is below a threshold. Clause 22. A device according to any of Clauses 15 to 21, wherein one or more processors are configured to allocate a first Rx chain to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal, and a second Rx chain to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a second reference signal, wherein the second Rx chain is separate from the first Rx chain. Clause 23. The device of Clause 22, wherein one or more processors are configured to allocate a first Rx chain and a second Rx chain based on the determination that a reference signal and a second reference signal have similar center channel frequencies. Clause 24. A device according to Clause 22 or 23, wherein one or more processors are configured to process an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a second reference signal using a second Rx chain, and to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results of the second reference signal using the output of the second Rx chain. Clause 25. A wireless transmitter configured to report the total number of Rx chains available to the device before a reference signal is received, and the total number of Rx chains is used to determine that one or more positioning-related measurement results are less than the total number of Rx chains available to the device, as per any of the devices in Clauses 15 to 24. Clause 26. The device of Clause 25, wherein the wireless transmitter is configured to send capability messages to a network entity to report the total number of Rx chains available, and the wireless transmitter is configured to send location messages to a network entity to report information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 27. A device according to any of Clauses 15 to 26, comprising a first Rx chain configured to convert Rx signals corresponding to a reference signal received by a first antenna element into baseband signals, and to perform digital signal processing on the baseband signals, wherein the digital signal processing includes a Fast Fourier Transform. Clause 28. A device according to any of Clauses 15 to 26, comprising a first Rx chain configured to convert a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a first group of antenna elements into a baseband signal, and to perform digital signal processing on the baseband signal, wherein the digital signal processing includes a Fast Fourier Transform. Clause 29. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing instructions, wherein, when an instruction is executed by one or more processors, the instruction causes one or more processors to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results of a reference signal using one or more receive (Rx) chains, each Rx chain being configured to process an Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a single antenna element and a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a group of antenna elements, and causes the medium to report to a network entity one or more positioning-related measurement results and information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 30. A device comprising: a plurality of antenna elements; a plurality of Rx chains, each comprising one or more receiving (Rx) chains configured to process an Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a single antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements, or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a group of antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements; means for determining one or more positioning-related measurement results of a reference signal using the outputs from one or more Rx chains; and means for reporting to a network entity one or more positioning-related measurement results and information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results. Clause 31. A method for determining positioning-related measurement results using multiple receiving (Rx) chains of a user device (UE), the method comprising the steps of: processing an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a first positioning reference signal (PRS) using an Rx chain associated with a first set of antenna elements; processing an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS using an Rx chain associated with a second set of antenna elements other than the first set of antenna elements, wherein the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS is generated during a first PRS opportunity and the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS is generated during a second PRS opportunity that at least partially overlaps with the first PRS opportunity; and determining positioning-related measurement results using the results of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS and (ii) processing the results of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS. Clause 32. The method of Clause 31, further comprising: receiving timing information relating to a serving cell or reference cell, wherein the timing information indicates a symbol boundary; aligning a first Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) window to a first PRS opportunity using an Rx chain relating to a first set of antenna elements; aligning a second FFT window to a second PRS opportunity using an Rx chain relating to a second set of antenna elements, wherein the first and second FFT windows are aligned independently of a symbol boundary; and performing a first FFT using the first FFT window in parallel with performing a second FFT using the second FFT window. Clause 33. The method of Clause 31 or 32, wherein the first PRS opportunity aligns with the boundary of the first symbol, and the second PRS opportunity partially overlaps in time with the first PRS opportunity and does not align with either symbol boundary. Clause 34. The method of Clause 32 or 33, wherein the step of aligning a first FFT window to a first PRS opportunity comprises the steps of receiving supporting data indicating the expected time delay of the first PRS opportunity relative to the symbol boundary, and determining the starting point of the first FFT window based on the expected time delay indicated by the supporting data. Clause 35. The method of Clause 34, by which support data is received from a gNodeB base station or a location management function (LMF). Clause 36. The method of Clause 34 or 35, wherein the expected time delay is received as an expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) related to the transmitter device transmitting the first PRS. Clause 37. Any method of Clauses 31 to 36, further comprising the step of configuring an Rx chain such that an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a subsequent opportunity of a first PRS is processed by an Rx chain associated with a first set of antenna elements and not by an Rx chain associated with a second set of antenna elements. Clause 38. The first PRS and the second PRS are from transmit / receive points (TRPs) located at different distances from the UE, in any manner described in Clauses 31 to 37. Clause 39. Any method of Clauses 31 to 38, wherein the first PRS is from the serving cell and the second PRS is from a neighboring cell. Clause 40. Any method of Clauses 31 to 39, further comprising the steps of processing another Rx signal or a combined Rx signal corresponding to a first PRS using an additional Rx chain associated with a first set of antenna elements, and processing another Rx signal or a combined Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS using an additional Rx chain associated with a second set of antenna elements. Clause 41. Any method of Clauses 31 to 40, further comprising the steps of determining that a first PRS and a second PRS have similar center channel frequencies, and allocating another Rx chain to the first PRS and the second PRS in response to the determination that the first PRS and the second PRS have similar center channel frequencies. Clause 42. A device comprising: a first set of antenna elements configured to generate an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a first PRS during a first positioning reference signal (PRS) opportunity; a second set of antenna elements configured to generate an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS during a second PRS opportunity that at least partially overlaps with the first PRS opportunity; a plurality of Rx chains, including a receiving (Rx) chain associated with the first set of antenna elements and configured to process the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS, and an Rx chain associated with the second set of antenna elements and configured to process the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS; and one or more processors configured to determine positioning-related measurement results using (i) results generated by the Rx chain associated with the first set of antenna elements based on processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS, and (ii) results generated by the Rx chain associated with the second set of antenna elements based on processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS. Clause 43. The device of Clause 42, configured to receive timing information relating to a serving cell or reference cell, the timing information indicating a symbol boundary, and an Rx chain relating to a first set of antenna elements is configured, independently of the symbol boundary, to align a first Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) window to a first PRS opportunity, and further configured to perform a first FFT using the first FFT window; and an Rx chain relating to a second set of antenna elements is configured, independently of the symbol boundary, to align a second FFT window to a second PRS opportunity, and further configured to perform a second FFT using the second FFT window in parallel with the performance of the first FFT by the Rx chain relating to the first set of antenna elements. Clause 44. A device of Clause 42 or 43 in which the first PRS opportunity aligns with the boundary of the first symbol, and the second PRS opportunity partially overlaps in time with the first PRS opportunity and does not align with either symbol boundary. Clause 45. A device according to Clause 43 or 44, configured to receive support data indicating the expected time delay of a first PRS opportunity relative to a symbol boundary, and configured to determine the starting point of the first FFT window based on the expected time delay indicated by the support data in order to align the first FFT window with the first PRS opportunity. Clause 46. A device under Clause 45 that receives support data from a gNodeB base station or a Location Management Function (LMF). Clause 47. A device according to Clause 45 or 46, configured to receive an expected time delay as an expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) associated with a transmitter device transmitting a first PRS. Clause 48. A device according to any of Clauses 42 to 47, wherein one or more processors are configured such that the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a subsequent opportunity of a first PRS is processed by an Rx chain associated with a first set of antenna elements and not by an Rx chain associated with a second set of antenna elements. Clause 49. A transmitter device is a transmit / receive point (TRP) located at a different distance from the device, as per any of the devices in Clauses 42 through 48. Clause 50. Any device according to Clauses 42 to 49, in which a first PRS is received from a serving cell and a second PRS is received from a neighboring cell. Clause 51. Any device according to Clauses 42 to 50, wherein multiple Rx chains are associated with a first set of antenna elements and each is configured to process another Rx signal or a combined Rx signal corresponding to a first PRS, and multiple Rx chains are associated with a second set of antenna elements and each is configured to process another Rx signal or a combined Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS. Clause 52. A device according to any of Clauses 42 to 51, wherein one or more processors are configured to determine that a first PRS and a second PRS have similar center channel frequencies and to allocate another Rx chain to the first PRS and the second PRS in response to the determination that the first PRS and the second PRS have similar center channel frequencies. Clause 53. A first set of antenna elements configured to generate an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a first PRS during a first positioning reference signal (PRS) opportunity; a second set of antenna elements configured to generate an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS during a second PRS opportunity that at least partially overlaps with the first PRS opportunity; a plurality of Rx chains including a receive (Rx) chain associated with the first set of antenna elements and an Rx chain associated with the second set of antenna elements; and an antenna element associated with the first set of antenna elements to process the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS. A device comprising: means for configuring an Rx chain; means for configuring an Rx chain associated with a second set of antenna elements to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS; and means for determining positioning-related measurement results using (i) results generated by the Rx chain associated with the first set of antenna elements based on processing an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a first PRS, and (ii) results generated by the Rx chain associated with the second set of antenna elements based on processing an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS. Clause 54. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing instructions, wherein, when an instruction is executed by one or more processors, the instructions cause one or more processors to process an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a first positioning reference signal (PRS) using an Rx chain associated with a first set of antenna elements, and to process an Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to a second PRS using an Rx chain associated with a second set of antenna elements other than the first set of antenna elements, the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS being generated during a first PRS opportunity, the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS being generated during a second PRS opportunity that at least partially overlaps with the first PRS opportunity, and the results of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the first PRS and (ii) the results of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second PRS being used to determine positioning-related measurement results. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0131] 100 positioning systems 105 User Equipment 110 GNSS satellites 120 base station 130 access points 133 First communication link 135 Second communication link 160 Location Servers 170 Networks 180 External Clients 200 5G NR positioning system 210 gNB 214 ng-eNB 215 AMF 220 LMF 225 GMLC 230 External Clients 240 5G core network 250 N3IWF 300 positioning systems 305 UE 320 base station 335 Communication Link 350 Wireless positioning signals 360 Location Server 370 Wireless Networks 500 frame sequence 510 Positioning opportunities 515 Cell-specific subframe offset 520 PRS period 600 UE 610 Rx Chain 612 Antenna 614 Rx signal 620 Processing Pipelines 630 Measuring Engine 650 measurement results 660 Number of Rx chains used to determine the measurement result 700 RB pattern 710 Serving cell boundary 720 offset 810 Search interval 820 Search interval 910 Search section 920 Search interval 1302 UE 1305 Bus 1310 Processing Unit 1315 Output Device 1320 DSP 1330 Wireless Communication Interface 1332 Wireless Communication Antenna 1334 Wireless Signal 1340 Sensor 1360 memory 1370 Input Devices 1380 GNSS receiver 1382 Antenna 1384 Signal

Claims

1. A method for reporting resources used to determine positioning-related measurement results, provided by a user device (UE), Determining one or more positioning-related measurement results of a reference signal using one or more receiving (Rx) chains, wherein each Rx chain processes and determines an Rx signal corresponding to the reference signal received by a single antenna element, or a composite Rx signal corresponding to the reference signal received by a group of antenna elements. To report to the network entity the one or more positioning-related measurement results and information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results. A method comprising steps to perform an action.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the one or more positioning-related measurement results include a time-of-arrival (TOA) measurement result, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement result, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement result, a signal-to-interference and noise ratio (SINR) measurement result, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement result, a quality scale, a receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement result, an angle measurement result, a velocity measurement result, a Doppler measurement result, or a combination thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results comprises at least one of the following indications: the total number of Rx chains used to determine a plurality of positioning-related measurement results; the total number of Rx chains used to determine each individual positioning-related measurement result among the plurality of positioning-related measurement results; the average number of Rx chains used across the plurality of positioning-related measurement results; or the minimum number of Rx chains used to determine any individual positioning-related measurement result among the plurality of positioning-related measurement results.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results identifies at least one of which Rx chains were used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results, or which antenna element supplied the processed Rx signal or the synthesized Rx signal.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of determining the accuracy of the one or more positioning-related measurement results based on the information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of requesting the transmission of an additional reference signal based on the accuracy being below a threshold.

7. A step of calculating the location of the UE using one or more positioning-related measurement results in combination with positioning-related measurement results of an additional reference signal, according to a first positioning method, The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of switching to a second positioning method based on the accuracy being below a threshold.

8. The steps include allocating a first Rx chain to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to the aforementioned reference signal, The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of allocating a second Rx chain to process an Rx signal or a composite Rx signal corresponding to a second reference signal, wherein the second Rx chain is separate from the first Rx chain.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the first Rx chain and the second Rx chain are allocated based on the determination that the reference signal and the second reference signal have similar center channel frequencies.

10. The steps of processing the Rx signal or composite Rx signal corresponding to the second reference signal using the second Rx chain, The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of determining one or more positioning-related measurement results of the second reference signal using the output of the second Rx chain.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of the UE reporting the total number of available Rx chains before receiving the reference signal, the total number of Rx chains being used to determine that the one or more positioning-related measurement results are less than the total number of Rx chains available to the UE, the step of the UE reporting the total number of available Rx chains comprising the step of transmitting a capability message to the network entity, and the step of reporting the information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results comprising the step of transmitting a location information message to the network entity.

12. The step of determining one or more positioning-related measurement results is, A step of converting an Rx signal corresponding to the reference signal received by a first antenna element or a first group of antenna elements into a baseband signal, The method according to claim 1, comprising the step of performing digital signal processing on the baseband signal using the first antenna element or an Rx chain associated with the first group of antenna elements, wherein the digital signal processing includes a Fast Fourier Transform.

13. Multiple antenna elements, A plurality of Rx chains, each comprising one or more Rx chains configured to process a received (Rx) signal corresponding to a reference signal received by a single antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements, or a combined Rx signal corresponding to the reference signal received by a group of antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements, One or more processors configured to determine one or more positioning-related measurement results of the reference signal using the outputs from one or more Rx chains, A device comprising a wireless transmitter configured to report to a network entity one or more positioning-related measurement results and information indicating the number of Rx chains used to determine the one or more positioning-related measurement results.

14. The device according to claim 13, configured to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A non-temporary computer-readable medium that, when executed by one or more processors, includes instructions causing one or more processors to perform the method described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

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