Reporting of Stitching PRS Phase Error

Abstract

In one aspect, a technique for wireless communications is disclosed in which a first network node receives transmitter phase information from a second network node, the transmitter phase information including one or more parameters representative of phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRSs) transmitted by the at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals, and obtains positioning measurements of the plurality of PRSs transmitted by the at least one network node based on the one or more parameters representative of the phases of the plurality of PRSs, to enable a location of a user equipment (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRSs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - reference to Related Applications This patent application claims the priority of Greek Patent Application No. 20200100721, filed on December 11, 2020, entitled "REPORTING PHASE ERROR ACROSS FREQUENCY LAYERS", which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this specification.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication.

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first - generation analog wireless telephone services (1G), second - generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including provisional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third - generation (3G) high - speed data, Internet - enabled wireless services, and fourth - generation (4G) services (e.g., Long - Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, there are many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular systems and Personal Communication Service (PCS) systems. Examples of well - known cellular systems include the Cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0004] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, more connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to offer higher data rates, more accurate positioning (based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technological enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advancements in PRS processes and technology, and high-density deployment for 5G. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The following provides a simplified overview relating to one or more embodiments disclosed herein. Therefore, this overview should not be considered a broad overview relating to all intended embodiments, nor should it be considered to identify any major or significant elements relating to all intended embodiments, or to define the scope relating to any particular embodiment. Accordingly, the following overview has the sole purpose of providing, in a simplified form, some concepts relating to one or more embodiments relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein, prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0006] In one embodiment, a method of wireless communication performed by a first network node includes the steps of: receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; and obtaining positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0007] In one embodiment, the first network node includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive transmitter phase information from a second network node via the at least one transceiver, the transmitter phase information including one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by the at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals, and to obtain positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by the at least one network node based on the one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0008] In one embodiment, a first network node includes means for receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; and means for obtaining positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0009] In one embodiment, a non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein when a computer-executable instruction is executed by a first network node, the first network node receives transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals, and obtains positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on the one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0010] Other purposes and advantages relating to the embodiments disclosed herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and embodiments for carrying out the invention.

[0011] The accompanying drawings are provided to aid in describing various aspects of this disclosure and are provided solely for the purpose of describing the aspects, not as an limitation of those aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1]This figure shows an exemplary wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] This figure shows an exemplary wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] This figure shows an exemplary wireless network structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 3A] This is a simplified block diagram of some exemplary embodiments of a component that may be used in user equipment (UE) and may be configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 3B] This is a simplified block diagram of some exemplary embodiments of components that may be used in a base station and may be configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 3C] This is a simplified block diagram of some exemplary embodiments of components that may be employed in a network entity and may be configured to support communications as taught herein. [Figure 4] This figure shows an exemplary frame structure according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of frequency domain positioning reference signal (PRS) stitching according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] This figure shows an exemplary method of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] The aspects of this disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, which cover various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of this disclosure are not described in detail or are omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0014] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “acting as an example, case, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” should not necessarily be construed as being preferable or advantageous to any other aspect. Similarly, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation described herein.

[0015] Those skilled in the art will understand that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part with the specific application, in part with the desired design, in part with the corresponding technique.

[0016] Furthermore, many embodiments are described, for example, with respect to sequences of actions to be performed by elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that the various actions described herein may be performed by a particular circuit (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. In addition, sequences of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-temporary computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, at runtime, will cause or instruct the relevant processors of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various embodiments of this disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the embodiments described herein, any corresponding form of such embodiment may be described herein, for example, as “logic configured to perform” the actions described.

[0017] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to, or otherwise limited to, any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., a smartwatch, smart glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., a car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE may be mobile or stationary (e.g., at some point in time) and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the terms “UE” may be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT,” “Client Device,” “Wireless Device,” “Subscriber Device,” “Subscriber Terminal,” “Subscriber Station,” “User Terminal” or “UT,” “Mobile Device,” “Mobile Terminal,” “Mobile Station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, UEs can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for UEs, such as via wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (for example, based on the IEEE 802.11 specification), etc.

[0018] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs (Network Address Terminals) through which it communicates with a UE, depending on the network in which the UE is deployed. These RATs may also be called access points (APs), network nodes, node Bs, advanced node Bs (eNBs), next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), or New Radio (NR) node Bs (also known as gNBs or g-node Bs). Base stations may be primarily used to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data connectivity, voice connectivity, and / or signaling connectivity for supported UEs. In some systems, base stations may provide purely edge node signaling functionality, while in others, they may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. A communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station can send signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) channel or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0019] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP), or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be collocated. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, that physical TRP may be the base station's antenna corresponding to the base station's cell (or some cell sectors). When the term "base station" refers to multiple collocated physical TRPs, those physical TRPs may be an array of antennas of the base station (such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-collocated physical TRPs, those physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS: a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium), or a remote radio head (RRH: a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-collocated physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Since the TRP is the point from which the base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmissions from the base station or receptions at the base station used herein should be understood to refer to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0020] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access by the UE (e.g., may not support a data connection, a voice connection, and / or a signaling connection for the UE), but instead may transmit a reference signal to the UE as measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting a signal to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0021] An "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transfers information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. A transmitter as used herein may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of the RF signal through a multipath channel, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. An RF signal as used herein may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" when the context makes it clear that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0022] Figure 1 shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or a gNB where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0023] Base station 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an Advanced Packet Core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a Location Management Function (LMF) or a Secure User Plane Location Platform (SUPL)) via the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be outside the core network 170. The location servers 172 may be integrated with base station 102. UE 104 may communicate with location servers 172 directly or indirectly. For example, UE 104 may communicate with location servers 172 via the base station 102 currently servicing it. UE104 may also communicate with location server 172 via other routes, such as via an application server (not shown), via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP150 described below), or via another network. For signaling purposes, communication between UE104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., via core network 170) or a direct connection (e.g., as illustrated via direct connection 128), and intervening nodes (if any) are omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0024] In addition to other functions, base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: transferring user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, delivery for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0025] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station 102 can provide communication coverage to its respective geographical coverage area 110. In one embodiment, one or more cells may be supported by base stations 102 in each geographical coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (over several frequency resources, e.g., carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCI), enhanced cell identifier (ECI), virtual cell identifier (VCI), cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communications (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may, depending on the context, refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it. In addition, since a TRP is usually the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, insofar as carrier frequencies can be discovered and used for communication within some portion of the geographical coverage area 110.

[0026] While adjacent to macrocell base stations 102, geographical coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (for example, within handover areas), and some of the geographical coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographical coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" instead of "small cell") may have a geographical coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the geographical coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network containing both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations is sometimes called a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that can serve a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0027] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also called reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102, and / or downlink (DL) (also called forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may operate through one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetrical with respect to downlink and uplink (for example, more or fewer carriers may be allocated to downlink than uplink).

[0028] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 communicating with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0029] Small cell base station 102' may operate in licensed frequency spectrum and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and may use the same 5GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by WLAN AP150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed frequency spectrum may expand coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum is sometimes referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum is sometimes referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0030] The wireless communication system 100 communicates with UE 182 and may further include a mmW base station 180 that can operate in millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies and / or quasi-mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has wavelengths between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band are sometimes called millimeter waves. Quasi-mmW may extend down to frequencies up to 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The very high frequency (SHF) band, also called centimeter waves, extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz. Communication using the mmW / quasi-mmW radio frequency bands has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) via the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. Furthermore, in alternative configurations, it will be understood that one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative and should not be interpreted as limiting the various embodiments disclosed herein.

[0031] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby bringing a faster and more powerful RF signal (in terms of data rate) to the receiving device. To change the directivity of an RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal in each of the one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that can create beams of RF waves that can be "steered" to points in different directions without actually moving the antennas. In detail, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to individual antennas with appropriate phase relationships so that the radio waves from separate antennas are added together to increase radiation in the desired direction, while suppressing radiation in undesirable directions.

[0032] A transmit beam can be quasi-co-located, meaning that to a receiver (e.g., a UE), the transmit beam appears to have the same parameters regardless of whether the transmit antenna of the network node itself is physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. In detail, a given type of QCL relationship means that several parameters of a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on the source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, mean delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and mean delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0033] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a received beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify an RF signal received from that direction (for example, to increase the gain level of such an RF signal). Therefore, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is greater than the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the maximum compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal intensity (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference + noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0034] Transmit and receive beams can have a spatial relationship. A spatial relationship means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam to send an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to its base station, based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0035] It should be noted that a “downlink” beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE forms a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station forms an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE forms an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0036] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands are identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is above 6 GHz, it should be understood that FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers. A similar nomenclature issue can arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0037] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as intermediate band frequencies. In recent 5G NR research, the operating band for these intermediate band frequencies is identified as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). The frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit the FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus the features of FR1 and / or FR2 may be effectively extended to the intermediate band frequencies. Furthermore, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0038] With the above aspects in mind, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6GHz" may broadly refer to frequencies that are below 6GHz, within FR1, or that may include intermediate band frequencies when used herein. Furthermore, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" may broadly refer to frequencies that are within intermediate band frequencies, within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or that may be within the EHF band when used herein.

[0039] In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," while the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCells." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE104 / 182 and the cell, where the UE104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in the licensed frequencies (though this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in the unlicensed frequencies. Since both the primary uplink carrier and primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier only needs to contain the necessary signaling information and signals; for example, UE-specific signaling information and signals do not need to be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UE104 / 182s within a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a “serving cell” (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier through which several base stations are communicating, terms such as “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” and “carrier frequency” can be used interchangeably.

[0040] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 may be the anchor carrier (i.e., "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be the secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission rate and / or data reception rate. For example, aggregated two 20MHz carriers in a multicarrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40MHz) compared to what would be achieved with a single 20MHz carrier.

[0041] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164 capable of communicating with a macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 via an mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0042] In some cases, UE164 and UE182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-enabled UEs (SL-UEs) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE164, UE182) may also communicate directly with each other via wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-enabled UEs). Wireless sidelink (or simply “sidelink”) is a conformance of core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standards that enables direct communication between two or more UEs without the need for communication through a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) medium sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of the groups of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communication may be within the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102, or in some cases may not be able to receive transmissions from base station 102. In some cases, a group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to any other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between SL-UEs without the involvement of base station 102.

[0043] In one embodiment, the sidelink 160 may operate on a relevant wireless communication medium, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as with other wireless communications between other RATs. The “medium” may consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) relating to wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one embodiment, the relevant medium may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. While different licensed frequency bands are reserved for some communication systems (e.g., by government agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended their operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band, used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, most notably IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology, commonly known as “Wi-Fi.” This type of exemplary system includes different variations such as CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, and single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems.

[0044] Figure 1 shows only two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UE164 and UE182), but note that any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Furthermore, although it was stated that only UE182 is beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE164, may be beamforming. If an SL-UE is beamforming, it can beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102', access point 150), and so on. Therefore, in some cases, UE164 and UE182 may utilize beamforming via sidelink 160.

[0045] In the example in Figure 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in Figure 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one embodiment, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) arranged to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its location on or above the Earth, at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a set number of repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) codes. While usually located within the SVs 112, the transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. UE104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geolocation information from SV112.

[0046] In satellite positioning systems, the use of signal 124 may be associated with use involving one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, or may be otherwise enabled for such use, and may be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS). For example, an SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation Systems (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation Systems (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS)-assisted Geoaugmented Navigation, or GPS and Geoaugmented Navigation Systems (GAGAN). Accordingly, the satellite positioning systems used herein may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with one or more such satellite positioning systems.

[0047] In one embodiment, SV112 may, as an addition or alternative, be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTN). In an NTN, SV112 is connected to an earth station (also called a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which is then connected to an element in the 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in 5GC. This element then provides access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as internet web servers and other user devices. In this way, UE104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV112 in place of, or in addition to, communication signals from the terrestrial base station 102.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE190, that indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more D2D peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example in Figure 1, UE190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (through which UE190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which UE190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based internet connectivity). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported using any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), or Bluetooth®.

[0049] Figure 2A shows an exemplary wireless network structure 200. For example, 5GC210 (also called Next Generation Core (NGC)) may function as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), working together to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB222 to 5GC210, and more specifically to user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB224 may also be connected to 5GC210 via NG-C215 to control plane functions 214 and NG-U213 to user plane functions 212. Furthermore, ng-eNB224 may communicate directly with gNB222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNB222s, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB224 and gNB222. Either (or both) of the gNB222 or ng-eNB224 may communicate with one or more UE204s (for example, any of the UEs described herein).

[0050] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that may communicate with 5GC210 to provide location assistance to UE204. The location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers), or alternatively, each corresponding to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network 5GC210 and / or via the internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into the core network components, or alternatively, outside the core network (e.g., a third-party server such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0051] Figure 2B shows another exemplary wireless network structure 250. 5GC260 (which may correspond to 5GC210 in Figure 2A) can be functionally seen as control plane functions provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and user plane functions provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262, working together to form the core network (i.e., 5GC260). The functions of AMF264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UE204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and the Session Management Function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access permission, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE204 and the Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF264 also interacts with the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE204, and receives the intermediate key established as a result of the UE204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identification Module (USIM), the AMF264 retrieves the security material from the AUSSF. The functionality of the AMF264 also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives the key from the SEAF that the SCM uses to derive the access network specific key. The functionality of the AMF264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, transport for location service messages between the UE204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (acting as a location server 230), transport for location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interacting with the Advanced Packet System (EPS), and UE204 mobility event notification. In addition, AMF264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0052] The functions of UPF262 include (when applicable) acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility, acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), routing and forwarding packets, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking on the downlink), uplink traffic verification (mapping service data flows (SDFs) to QoS flows), transport-level packet marking on the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. UPF262 may also support the forwarding of location service messages over the user plane between UE204 and location servers such as SLP272.

[0053] The functions of the SMF266 ​​include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering in the UPF262 for routing traffic to appropriate destinations, control of policy enforcement and QoS portions, and downlink data notification. The interface through which the SMF266 ​​communicates with the AMF264 is called the N11 interface.

[0054] Another optional embodiment may include an LMF270 that may communicate with 5GC260 to provide location assistance to UE204. LMF270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. LMF270 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE204 that can connect to LMF270 via the core network 5GC260 and / or via the internet (not shown). The SLP272 may support similar functionality to the LMF270, while the LMF270 may communicate with the AMF264, NG-RAN220, and UE204 via the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to transmit signaling messages rather than voice or data), while the SLP272 may communicate with the UE204 and external clients (e.g., a third-party server 274) via the user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0055] Another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may communicate with the LMF270, SLP272, 5GC260 (e.g., via AMF264 and / or UPF262), NG-RAN220, and / or UE204 to obtain location information about UE204 (e.g., location estimates). Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a Location Services (LCS) client or external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0056] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC260, specifically the UPF262 and AMF264, to one or more gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 in the NG-RAN220, respectively. The interface between the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 and the AMF264 is called the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 and the UPF262 is called the "N3" interface. The gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 in the NG-RAN220 can communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 called the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNB222 and / or ng-eNB224 can communicate with one or more UE204 via a wireless interface called the "Uu" interface.

[0057] The functionality of gNB222 can be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as user data transfer, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, with the exception of those functions that are exclusively allocated to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data conformance protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the gNB222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. A single gNB-DU228 can support one or more cells, and a single cell can be supported by only one gNB-DU228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU226 and one or more gNB-DU228s is called the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RU229s that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU228 and the gNB-RU229 is called the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE204 communicates with the gNB-CU226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU229 via the PHY layer.

[0058] Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C show several exemplary components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively, a private network, which may be independent of the NG-RAN220 and / or 5GC210 / 260 infrastructure shown in Figures 2A and 2B) to support the operations described herein. It will be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementation forms (e.g., in an ASIC, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, the device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0059] Each UE 302 and base station 304 includes one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) for communicating over one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, or a GSM network. Each WWAN transceiver 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), over at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a target wireless communication medium (e.g., several sets of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured in various ways, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, displays, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, displays, information, pilots, etc.). In detail, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358.

[0060] UE 302 and base station 304 each include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and may provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access for Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near-Field Communication (NFC), etc.) on the wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be configured in various ways, respectively, to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, displays, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, displays, information, pilots, etc.). In detail, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. For example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0061] UE302 and base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith satellite system (QZSS), etc. If satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be equipped with any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may, as appropriate, request information and actions from other systems and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using the acquired measurements to determine the locations of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0062] Each base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 for communicating with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 for communicating with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0063] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. Whether wired or wireless, the transceiver includes a transmitter circuit configuration (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit configuration (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying the transmitter and receiver circuit configurations in a single device), in some implementations it may comprise separate transmitter and receiver circuit configurations, or in other implementations they may be embodied in other ways. The transmitter and receiver circuit configurations of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. A wireless transmitter circuit configuration (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include, or be coupled with, multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, enabling each device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit beamforming. Similarly, a wireless receiver circuit configuration (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include, or be coupled with, multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, enabling each device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming. In one embodiment, the transmitter and receiver circuit configurations may share multiple identical antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that each device can either receive or transmit only at a given time, but not both at the same time. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0064] The various wireless transceivers used herein (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360 in some implementations, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” Thus, whether a particular transceiver relates to a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally relates to signaling via wired transceivers, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally relates to signaling via wireless transceivers.

[0065] UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing, for example, functionality related to wireless communication and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 may provide processing means, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, and means for indicating. In one embodiment, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuit configurations, or various combinations thereof.

[0066] UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuit configurations that implement memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively (each including a memory device), for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, retrieving, holding, etc. In some cases, UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that, when executed, cause UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other embodiments, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (for example, they may be part of a modem processing system or integrated with another processing system). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memory 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A shows possible locations for the positioning component 342, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B shows possible locations for the positioning component 388, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or it may be a standalone component.Figure 3C shows possible locations for the positioning component 398, which may be part of, for example, one or more network transceivers 390, a memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or it may be a standalone component.

[0067] UE302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion information and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. For example, the sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and their outputs may be combined to provide motion information. For example, the sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0068] In addition, UE302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing a display to the user (e.g., an audible display and / or a visual display) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when a user activates a sensing device such as a keypad, touchscreen, or microphone). Although not shown, base stations 304 and network entities 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0069] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be served to processor 384. One or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality related to broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality related to header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality related to the transfer of upper-layer PDUs, error correction through automatic retransmission requests (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and sorting of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority processing, and logical channel prioritization.

[0070] The transmitter 354 and receiver 352 may implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality related to various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to a signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., 2-phase shift keying (BPSK), 4-phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-phase quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then synthesized together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel that carries a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by UE302. Each spatial stream may then be supplied to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 may modulate RF carriers using each spatial stream for transmission.

[0071] In UE302, the receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antenna 316. The receiver 312 reconstructs the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and receiver 312 perform Layer 1 functionality related to various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to reconstruct any spatial stream directed to UE302. Multiple spatial streams, if directed to UE302, can be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal has a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are reconstructed and demodulated by determining the signal constellation point most likely to have been transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decision then decodes and deinterleaves the data and control signals initially transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel to recover them. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0072] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 demultiplex between the transport channel and the logical channel, reassemble packets, decode, decompress headers, and process control signals to reconstruct IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0073] Similar to the functionality described for downlink transmission by base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality related to system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality related to header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality related to the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and sorting of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality related to mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic retransmission requests (HARQs), priority processing, and logical channel prioritization.

[0074] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 may be supplied to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate the RF carrier using each spatial stream for transmission.

[0075] Uplink transmissions are processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described for receiver functions in UE302. Receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. Receiver 352 reconstructs the information modulated on the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 384.

[0076] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 demultiplex between the transport channel and the logical channel, reassemble packets, decode, decompress headers, and process control signals to reconstruct IP packets from the UE302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 can then be supplied to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0077] For convenience, the UE302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are shown in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionalities in different designs. In detail, the various components in Figures 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations, and the various embodiments include configurations that may change due to design choices, cost, device usage, or other considerations. For example, in the example of Figure 3A, a particular implementation of the UE302 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities without cellular capabilities), or the short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only), or the satellite signal receiver 330, or the sensor 344, and so on. In another example, in the case of Figure 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only), or the satellite signal receiver 370, and so on. For the sake of brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0078] Various components of UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be coupled to each other in a communicative manner via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one embodiment, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form or be part of a communication interface for UE302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, if various logical entities are embodied within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality integrated within the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0079] The components in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components in Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE302 (for example, by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350-388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (for example, by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390-398 may be performed by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (for example, by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components such as UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., including processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398.

[0080] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be separate from the network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN220 and / or 5GC210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that communicates with UE302 via base station 304, or it may be configured independently of base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0081] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary frame structure according to an aspect of this disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0082] LTE, and sometimes NR, utilize OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, usually also called tones or bins. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. Generally, the modulation symbol is transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing may be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (i.e., 180 kHz). Therefore, the nominal FFT sizes may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0083] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4), or greater, may be available. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For a 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, i.e., 10 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 50 with an FFT size of 4K. For a 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are 2 slots per subframe, i.e., 20 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.5ms, a symbol duration of 33.3μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 100 for an FFT size of 4K. For a 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are 4 slots per subframe, i.e., 40 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.25ms, a symbol duration of 16.7μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 200 for an FFT size of 4K. For a 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are 8 slots per subframe, i.e., 80 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.125ms, a symbol duration of 8.33μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 400 for an FFT size of 4K. For a 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, i.e., 160 slots per frame, with a slot duration of 0.0625ms, a symbol duration of 4.17μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 800 for an FFT size of 4K.

[0084] In the example in Figure 4, a 15 kHz numerology is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 subframes of equal size, each 1 ms long, with each subframe containing one time slot. In Figure 4, time increases from left to right and is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), while frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top and is represented vertically (on the Y-axis).

[0085] A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slot containing one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also called physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of Figure 4, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain to obtain a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain to obtain a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0086] Some of the REs may carry a pilot signal (RS). Depending on whether the shown frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication, the pilot signal may include a positioning reference signal (PRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal block (SSB), sounding reference signal (SRS), etc. Figure 4 shows an exemplary location (labeled "R") of an RE carrying a pilot signal.

[0087] The set of resource elements (REs) used for PRS transmission is called a "PRS resource." This resource set can extend across multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and across "N" (or more, such as one) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0088] The transmission of a PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted within every N subcarriers of the PRB's symbols. For example, for comb 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every four subcarriers (subcarriers 0, 4, 8, etc.) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes comb 2, comb 4, comb 6, and comb 12 are supported for DL-PRS. Figure 4 shows an exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb 4 (spread across four symbols). That is, the location of the shaded RE (labeled "R") indicates the comb 4 PRS resource configuration.

[0089] Currently, DL-PRS resources can spread across 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot, with a staggered pattern across the entire frequency domain. DL-PRS resources can be configured within any downlink or flexible (FL) symbols configured by the upper layer in the slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there can be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 across 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2 Symbol Com 2: {0, 1}, 4 Symbol Com 2: {0, 1, 0, 1}, 6 Symbol Com 2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}, 12 Symbol Com 2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}, 4 Symbol Com 4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (as in the example in Figure 4), 12 Symbol Com 4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}, 6 Symbol Com 6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}, 12 Symbol Com 6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}, and 12 Symbol Com 12: {0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4, 10, 2, 8, 5, 11.

[0090] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, PRS resources within a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by its PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by its TRP ID). In addition, PRS resources within a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across slots. Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from the 2^μ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots, where μ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The iteration coefficient may have a length selected from the {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0091] A PRS resource ID within a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, "PRS resource" or simply "resource" may also be referred to as "beam." Note that this does not imply in any way whether the TRP and the beam transmitted on it by the PRS are known to the UE.

[0092] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive slots) in which PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also be called a "PRS positioning occasion," "PRS positioning instance," "positioning occasion," "positioning instance," "positioning iteration," or simply "occasion," "instance," or "iteration."

[0093] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply called a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets spanning one or more TRPs that have the same values ​​for several parameters. In detail, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all numerologies supported for physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) are also supported for PRS), the same Point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers are defined, and up to two PRS resource sets per TRP may be configured for each frequency layer.

[0094] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but differs in that component carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or macrocell and smallcell base stations) to transmit data channels, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRSs. A UE may indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when it transmits its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support one positioning frequency layer or four positioning frequency layers.

[0095] In one embodiment, the reference signal carried on the RE labeled "R" in Figure 4 may be an SRS. The SRS transmitted by the UE may be used by the base station to obtain channel status information (CSI) for transmission to the UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, and other purposes.

[0096] A set of REs used for SRS transmission is called an "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". A set of resource elements can spread across multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and across "N" (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies one or more consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmitting an SRS signal and is identified by the SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0097] The transmission of an SRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also called "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the SRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size "N", the SRS is transmitted within every N subcarriers of the symbols in the PRB. For example, in the case of comb 4, for each symbol of the SRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every four subcarriers (such as subcarriers 0, 4, and 8) are used to transmit the SRS of the SRS resource. In the example in Figure 4, the illustrated SRS is comb 4 spanning four symbols. That is, the location of the shaded SRS REs indicates a comb 4 SRS resource configuration.

[0098] Currently, SRS resources can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a comb size of comb 2, comb 4, or comb 8. The following are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for currently supported SRS comb patterns. 1 symbolcom2: {0}, 2 symbolcom2: {0, 1}, 2 symbolcom4: {0, 2}, 4 symbolcom2: {0, 1, 0, 1}, 4 symbolcom4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (as in the example in Figure 4), 8 symbolcom4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}, 12 symbolcom4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}, 4 symbolcom8: {0, 4, 2, 6}, 8 symbolcom8: {0, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7}, and 12 symbolcom8: {0, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7, 0, 4, 2, 6}.

[0099] Generally, as described above, a UE transmits an SRS to enable a receiving base station (either a serving base station or an adjacent base station) to measure the channel quality (i.e., CSI) between the UE and the base station. However, an SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures such as uplink arrival time difference (UL-TDOA), round-trip time (RTT), and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). As used herein, the term “SRS” may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as “communication SRS” and / or the latter as “positioning SRS” or “positioning SRS”.

[0100] Several extensions beyond the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for positioning SRS (also known as "UL-PRS"), including new staggered patterns within SRS resources (except for single symbol / comb 2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, more SRS resource sets per component carrier, and more SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" will be configured based on a downlink reference signal or SSB from an adjacent TRP. Still, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside of an active BWP, and one SRS resource may be spread across multiple component carriers. Also, SRS may be configured in an RRC connected state and may only be transmitted within an active BWP. Furthermore, frequency hopping may be absent, repetition coefficients may be absent, there may be a single antenna port, and there may be new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). Furthermore, open-loop power control may be used instead of closed-loop power control, and Com 8 (i.e., SRS is transmitted for every 8 subcarriers within the same symbol) may be used. Finally, a UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources through the same transmit beam for UL-AoA. All of these are features added to the current SRS framework, configured through RRC upper-layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control elements (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI)).

[0101] It should be noted that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” may also refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, and UL-PRS as defined in LTE and NR, but are not limited to these. In addition, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” may refer to downlink positioning reference signals, uplink positioning reference signals, or sidelink positioning reference signals unless otherwise specified by the context. Where necessary to further distinguish between types of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be called “DL-PRS,” uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., positioning SRS, PTRS) may be called “UL-PRS,” and sidelink positioning reference signals may be called “SL-PRS.” In addition, for signals that may be transmitted on the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink (e.g., DMRS), "DL," "UL," or "SL" may be prepended to the signal to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" is different from "DL-DMRS."

[0102] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of a reference signal (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS)) received from a pair of base stations, called reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of the reference base station (e.g., serving base station) and several non-reference base stations in the supporting information. The UE then measures the RSTD between each of the reference base station and the non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity (e.g., the UE in the case of UE-based positioning, or the location server in the case of UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the location of the UE.

[0103] In DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE of received signal intensity measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base station.

[0104] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time-to-arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time of the reference signal (called relative time-to-arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timings of the base stations involved. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reference base station's reported RTOA and each non-reference base station's reported RTOA, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the UE's location.

[0105] In UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from a UE on one or more uplink receiving beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle of the receiving beam to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0106] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include Extended Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multi-Round-Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT" and "Multi-RTT"). In the RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), and the second entity transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., a SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time to arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the time to transmit the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is called the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Next, both entities may send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF270), which calculates the round-trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined from the RTT and the known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). In the case of multi-RTT positioning, the first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to allow the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the distance to the second entity and the known location of the second entity. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve location accuracy.

[0107] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifier, estimated timing, and signal strength of the detected neighboring base station. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0108] To assist positioning operations, location servers (e.g., location servers 230, LMF270, SLP272) may provide support data to the UE. For example, the support data may include the identifier of the base station (or base station cell / TRP) from which the reference signal should be measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots containing the PRS, the periodicity of the consecutive slots containing the PRS, the muting sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the support information may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages). In some cases, the UE may be able to discover the neighboring network node itself without using support information.

[0109] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the supporting data may further include the expected RSTD value and the associated uncertainty around the expected RSTD, i.e., the search window. In some cases, the expected RSTD value range may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the value range for uncertainty in the expected RSTD may be + / -32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the value range for uncertainty in the expected RSTD may be + / -8 μs.

[0110] Location estimates may be referred to by other names such as location estimate, location, position, position fix, or fix. Location estimates may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or urban and comprise a street address, mailing address, or some other linguistic description of the location. Location estimates may further be defined in relation to some other known locations, or may be defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). Location estimates may include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including an area or volume in which the location is expected to be contained, with some specified or default level of confidence).

[0111] NR positioning techniques are expected to provide high accuracy (horizontal and vertical), low latency, network efficiency (scalability, reference signal overhead, etc.), and device efficiency (power consumption, complexity, etc.), particularly for commercial positioning use cases (general commercial use cases, and more specifically, (I) IoT use cases). Regarding accuracy expectations, the accuracy of location estimates depends on the accuracy of the received PRS positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, RSTD, Rx-Tx, etc.), and the larger the bandwidth of the measured PRS, the more accurate the positioning measurement.

[0112] One technique for increasing the bandwidth of a PRS is to aggregate the PRS across the frequency domain (called "frequency domain stitching") and / or the time domain (called "time domain stitching"). In frequency domain PRS stitching, the PRS is transmitted (by a base station or UE) over multiple, preferably consecutive, positioning frequency layers within one or more component carriers, and the receiver (UE or base station) measures the PRS across the (consecutive) component carriers. By spreading across multiple positioning frequency layers, the effective bandwidth of the PRS is increased, and the accuracy of positioning measurement is improved. When implementing time and / or frequency domain PRS stitching, the PRS should preferably be transmitted over multiple slots (or other time periods) and / or positioning frequency layers so that the receiver can make several assumptions about the PRS transmitted within multiple slots and / or positioning frequency layers (e.g., QCL type, same antenna port, etc.).

[0113] Figure 5 is a 500-figure example of frequency domain PRS stitching according to an aspect of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, PRS510-1, 510-2, and 510-3 (labeled “PRS1”, “PRS2”, and “PRS3”, respectively) are transmitted over their respective positioning frequency layers (labeled “PFL1”, “PFL2”, and “PFL3”, respectively) within a given frequency bandwidth (labeled “B1”). The frequency bandwidth “B1” may be a component carrier, a frequency band, or any other interval of the bandwidth. PRS510 may be a DL-PRS transmitted by a base station to one or more UEs, a UL-PRS transmitted by a UE to one or more base stations, or a sidelink PRS transmitted by a UE to one or more other UEs.

[0114] In Figure 5, time is represented horizontally and frequency vertically. Therefore, in the example in Figure 5, the three positioning frequency layers are consecutive in the frequency domain. Although Figure 5 shows a single frequency bandwidth "B1", the positioning frequency layers can instead extend across multiple frequency bandwidth intervals, with or without guard bands between different frequency bandwidth intervals. Furthermore, the positioning frequency layers can extend across one or more component carriers, also extending across one or more frequency bandwidth intervals. In addition, although Figure 5 shows a PRS510 transmitted over three positioning frequency layers, as can be understood, the PRS510 can be transmitted over only two positioning frequency layers, or over four or more positioning frequency layers.

[0115] In the time domain, a PRS510 can be a PRS occasion, a PRS resource, a slot containing a PRS, etc. PRS510s can be similar to one another, except that they may be transmitted on different positioning frequency layers or configured differently. For example, PRS510s may have different PRS sequence identifiers, different symbols per slot, different bandwidths, etc. In addition, although the PRS510s in Figure 5 are shown to start and end simultaneously, this is not always the case, and one PRS510 may start or end differently from another, or have a different length.

[0116] Using different positioning frequency layers (particularly across different component carriers or frequency bands) for PRS510 transmission and reception introduces the problem of phase shift between waveforms carried by different PRS510s. Phase shift is the difference in phase between two waveforms, or phase difference, (also called "phase offset"). Therefore, for example, the phase of the waveform of PRS510-2 may be slightly different from the phase of the waveform of PRS510-1. Mathematically, the channel transmitted on a first PRS (e.g., PRS510-1) can be expressed as h(f,t1), where f is the frequency and t1 is the time, and h represents the channel as a function of frequency f and time t1. The channel transmitted on a related PRS (e.g., PRS510-2, which will be stitched together with the first PRS) is h(f,t1)·e jθ It can be expressed as, however, e jθ This represents the phase shift, or phase difference, between the channel on which the first PRS transmits and the channel on which the related PRS transmits.

[0117] Phase shifts can occur in both in-band and inter-band PRS (i.e., PRS on the same component carrier or positioning frequency layer within the same frequency band, or PRS on multiple component carriers or positioning frequency layers within different frequency bands). Phase shifts are particularly noticeable when two signals (waveforms) are combined by a physical process, such as by the receiver's analog front-end. However, phase shifts can be caused by the architecture of both the transmitter and receiver. For example, any change in the RF chain can cause a discontinuity in the phase of the PRS510.

[0118] Phase shifts between PRS waveforms transmitted over multiple positioning frequency layers can cause additional measurement errors in measurement estimation procedures (e.g., ToA estimation procedures), thereby reducing positioning accuracy. However, if a receiver is aware of a phase shift in the transmitter, it can utilize that information to correct or compensate for the phase shift, thereby reducing measurement errors and improving positioning accuracy. Accordingly, this disclosure proposes a technique for including phase shifts in PRS-assisted information provided to a receiver, or in measurement reports provided to positioning entities (e.g., serving base stations, location servers, positioned UEs, other UEs, remote clients, etc.).

[0119] In one embodiment, phase shift may be reported as a single phase shift value or as a range of phase shift values. In another embodiment, phase shift may be reported using a probability distribution function (PDF), a cumulative distribution function (CDF), or other distributions. The PDF is the integral of the probability density function and represents the probability of an event (e.g., a particular phase shift value) in a given interval. The CDF represents the probability that a random variable X (e.g., phase shift) with a given probability distribution will be found at a value less than or equal to x (e.g., a particular phase shift value). Other statistical properties of phase shift, such as the mean, median, variance, or other higher-order statistics, may also be reported, or alternatively.

[0120] Phase shift can be defined as one phase shift applied to all in-band and inter-band positioning frequency layers, one phase shift for all in-band positioning frequency layers and another phase shift for all inter-band positioning frequency layers, one phase shift for each pair of positioning frequency layers, and so on.

[0121] Phase information (e.g., phase shift reports) may be included in support information exchanged between two nodes, such as between two base stations, between two UEs, between a base station and a UE, between a base station and a location server, or between a location server and a UE. For example, two nodes exchanging PRSs as part of a positioning session may exchange support information (directly or indirectly, for example, through a location server) indicating the configuration of their respective PRSs (i.e., the time and frequency resources on which the PRSs transmit) and the phase shift of their respective PRSs across multiple positioning frequency layers on which those PRSs transmit. Support information may be periodic, semi-persistent, or on-demand (i.e., upon request).

[0122] Phase information (e.g., phase shift reports) may, as an alternative or addition, be included in measurement reports exchanged between two nodes, such as between a base station or UE and a location server (in the case of UE-assisted positioning), or between a base station and a UE (in the case of UE-based positioning). For example, two nodes exchanging PRS as part of a positioning session may exchange measurement reports (directly or indirectly, e.g., through a location server) that show the phase shift caused by their respective RF components. Phase shifts may, as an alternative or addition, be included in a separate message, such as a message dedicated to carrying phase shift parameters.

[0123] The above report may apply to both UE-assisted positioning and UE-based positioning. That is, in the case of UE-assisted positioning (in which case another entity estimates the UE's location based on measurements taken by the UE), the UE may receive assisted information indicating a phase shift in the transmitter and / or provide its receiver phase shift to the positioning entity in the measurement report. In the case of UE-based positioning (in which case the UE estimates its own location), the UE may receive assisted information or a measurement report indicating a phase shift in the transmitter.

[0124] Phase information (e.g., phase shift reports) may be transmitted using signaling protocols between the UE and the location server, such as LPP, or protocols between the base station and the location server, such as LPP Type A (LPPa) or NR Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa), or control messages between the UE and the serving base station, such as RRC. The location server may be, for example, a Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC) or LMF, and the base station may be, for example, an eNB or gNB.

[0125] In the case of DL-PRS (or sidelink PRS from another UE), in detail, the UE switches the RF components used for PRS reception (e.g., low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), power amplifiers (PAs), filters, antenna configurations, etc.), and thus can cause a phase shift in the PRS measurement. There can also be a phase shift on the transmitter side (e.g., in the base station or other UE that transmits the PRS to the UE being positioned). In the case of UE-assisted positioning, with respect to the phase shift at the transmitter, all transmitters may be configured to send their respective phase shifts to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server or serving base station), which can then forward their respective phase shifts to the UE being positioned. Alternatively, transmitters may be configured to send their respective phase shifts directly to the UE, which can then use the transmitter's phase shift to more accurately measure the PRS from that transmitter. In the case of a phase shift on the receiver side (i.e., in the UE being positioned), if the UE is configured to provide a waveform report (e.g., a power delay profile (PDP) or channel impulse response (CIR) report) to the positioning entity, the UE may add its own phase shift and related information to the report to enable the positioning entity to compensate for the UE's phase shift.

[0126] In UE-based positioning using DL-PRS (or Sidelink PRS), the UE should be provided with any phase shifts occurring in the transmitter. This information may be reported by the transmitter to the UE's serving base station or location server, and then reported back to the UE by the serving base station or location server. Alternatively, the transmitters involved may report their respective phase shifts directly to the UE. In UE-based positioning, the UE does not need to report its own phase shifts to another entity because it can estimate its own location and therefore compensate for its own phase shifts.

[0127] In the case of UL-PRS (or sidelink PRS to another UE), the UE may switch the RF components used for PRS transmission, thereby causing a phase shift in the PRS. In the case of UE-assisted positioning, if there is a phase shift on the transmitter side (i.e., the UE being positioned), the UE may send that phase shift to a location server, which will then redistribute the phase shift to all involved receivers (e.g., base stations, other UEs) for phase shift compensation. Alternatively, the UE may send that phase shift to its serving base station, which may then forward the phase shift to the location server for redistribution to involved receivers, or it may redistribute the phase shift directly to adjacent base stations (e.g., via an Xn backhaul interface). In one embodiment, the UE may send that phase shift to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server, a serving base station) if "rich" reporting is enabled. Rich reporting means that the serving base station and any involved adjacent base stations report the received / uplink waveform or PDP to the positioning entity. The positioning entity can then utilize the UE's phase shift information for improved location estimation.

[0128] If a phase shift at the receiver side (e.g., one or more base stations or sidelink UEs) enables waveform reporting (e.g., reporting with detailed channel frequency response (CFR)), the receiver may also choose (or be configured or requested) to report its own phase shift information to the location server for better location estimation. Apart from that, a base station or sidelink UE may report its phase shift to enable outlier rejection, thereby further improving location estimation. More specifically, rather than compensating for phase shift, or in addition to it, a positioning entity may ignore measurement reports from receivers whose phase shift is greater than a certain threshold. The positioning entity will instead use only measurement reports from receivers whose phase shift is less than the threshold when estimating the location of a UE. Alternatively, the positioning entity may expand the threshold, with the understanding that a larger threshold may result in less accurate PRS measurements.

[0129] In UE-based positioning using UL-PRS, the phase shift at the receiver side (e.g., one or more base stations or sidelink UEs) can be collected by a location server or serving base station and then transmitted to the target UE (i.e., the UE being positioned). The target UE can then use the phase shift, and its own phase shift, to improve its location estimate.

[0130] Figure 6 shows an exemplary method 600 of wireless communication according to an aspect of the present disclosure. In one aspect, method 600 may be performed by a first network node. The first network node may be a positioned UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein), a base station serving the positioned UE (e.g., any of the base stations described herein), or a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272, etc.).

[0131] In 610, the first network node receives transmitter phase information from a second network node (e.g., a positioned UE, a sidelink UE, a serving base station, an adjacent base station, a location server), and the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phase (e.g., phase difference or absolute phase) of a plurality of PRSs transmitted by at least one network node (e.g., a positioned UE, a sidelink UE, a serving base station, an adjacent base station) on a plurality of frequency intervals (e.g., a positioning frequency layer). In one embodiment, if the first network node is a UE, operation 610 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In one embodiment, if the first network node is a base station, operation 610 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning components 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In one embodiment, if the first network node is a location server, operation 610 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning components 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0132] In 620, the first network node obtains positioning measurements of multiple PRS transmitted by at least one network node (e.g., ToA, AoD, Rx-Tx, etc.) based on one or more parameters representing the phases of multiple PRS, enabling the location of a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of multiple PRS. In one embodiment, if the first network node is a UE, operation 620 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In one embodiment, if the first network node is a base station, operation 620 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more network transceivers 380, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning components 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In one embodiment, if the first network node is a location server, operation 620 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning components 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0133] As can be understood, the technical advantage of Method 600 is improved positioning accuracy by compensating for the phase shift of the PRS transmitted over multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0134] In embodiments for carrying out the above invention, it can be understood that various features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the exemplary clauses have more features than are explicitly stated in each clause. Rather, the various embodiments of this disclosure may contain fewer features than all features of the individual exemplary clauses disclosed. Accordingly, the following clauses should be considered by this specification as being incorporated into this description, and each clause may be valid on its own as a separate example. Each dependent clause may refer in itself to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, but the embodiments of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be understood that the other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of dependent clause embodiments with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause, or any combination of features with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. The various embodiments disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations unless it is explicitly stated or easily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (for example, contradictory embodiments such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, even if a clause is not directly subordinate to an independent clause, it is intended that the form of the clause may be included in any other independent clause.

[0135] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0136] Clause 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a first network node, comprising the steps of: receiving at least one transmitter phase shift report from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase shift report includes one or more parameters representing the phase shift of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by the at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; and performing positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by the at least one network node based on the one or more parameters representing the phase shift of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0137] Clause 2: The method of Clause 1, further comprising the steps of transmitting a second plurality of PRSs to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals, and transmitting a second transmitter phase shift report, wherein the second transmitter phase shift report includes one or more parameters representing the phase shift of the second plurality of PRSs on the second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0138] Clause 3: The method of Clause 2, wherein the first network node is a UE, and the first network node transmits a second transmitter phase shift report to at least one network node or the second network node, and at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, and the second network node is a serving base station of the UE or a location server.

[0139] Clause 4: The method of Clause 3, wherein the second network node forwards the second transmitter phase shift report to all base stations involved in the positioning session with the UE.

[0140] Clause 5: The method of Clause 2, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, the first network node transmits a second transmitter phase shift report to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is the UE and the second network node is either the UE or the location server.

[0141] Clause 6: The method of Clause 5, wherein the first network node transmits the second transmitter phase shift report to the second network node via the UE's serving base station or location server.

[0142] Clause 7: Any method of Clauses 1 to 6, further comprising the step of transmitting a receiver phase shift report, wherein the receiver phase shift report includes one or more parameters representing a phase shift of a plurality of PRS caused by a first network node switching radio frequency (RF) components during reception, measurement, or both of the plurality of PRSs.

[0143] Clause 8: The method of Clause 7, wherein the receiver phase shift report is included in the waveform report associated with the positioning measurements of multiple PRSs.

[0144] Clause 9: Any method of Clauses 1 to 8, further comprising the step of receiving a second transmitter phase shift report, wherein the second transmitter phase shift report includes one or more parameters representing the phase shifts of a second plurality of PRSs transmitted to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0145] Clause 10: The method of Clause 9, wherein the first network node is a serving base station of a UE, at least one network node and the second network node are UEs, and the second transmitter phase shift report is received from a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0146] Clause 11: Any method of Clauses 1 through 10, further comprising the step of transmitting positioning measurements from multiple PRSs to a positioning entity to enable the positioning entity to calculate the location of the UE.

[0147] Clause 12: The method of Clause 11, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the positioning entity is the UE.

[0148] Clause 13: The method of Clause 11, wherein the first network node is a UE and the positioning entity is a serving base station or location server of the UE.

[0149] Clause 14: Any method from Clauses 1 to 13, further comprising the step of calculating the location of the UE based on at least the positioning measurement of the PRS.

[0150] Clause 15: The method of Clause 1, wherein the first network node is a UE, and the second network node is at least one network node or location server, and at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, an adjacent base station of the UE, or a sidelink UE.

[0151] Clause 16: The method of Clause 1, wherein the first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a location server, and at least one network node is an adjacent base station or UE of a UE.

[0152] Clause 17: The method of Clause 1, wherein the first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a UE, and at least one network node is a UE.

[0153] Clause 18: At least one network node comprises one or more base stations, one or more UEs, or any combination thereof, in any way described in Clauses 1 through 17.

[0154] Clause 19: One or more parameters indicate a change in the phase of multiple PRSs over multiple frequency intervals, in any way from Clauses 1 to 18.

[0155] Clause 20: Any method of Clauses 1 to 19, wherein one or more parameters comprise a phase shift value for each of a plurality of frequency intervals, a range of shift values ​​for a plurality of frequency intervals, a distribution function representing the phase shift across a plurality of frequency intervals, an intermediate phase shift value for a plurality of frequency intervals, a mean phase shift value for a plurality of frequency intervals, a phase shift variance across a plurality of frequency intervals, or any combination thereof.

[0156] Clause 21: The method of Clause 20, wherein the distribution function comprises a probability distribution function (PDF) or a cumulative distribution function (CDF).

[0157] Clause 22: Any method of Clauses 1 to 21, wherein multiple frequency intervals are within a single frequency band.

[0158] Clause 23: Any method of Clauses 1 to 21, wherein multiple frequency intervals extend across multiple frequency bands.

[0159] Clause 24: Any method of Clauses 1 to 23, wherein one or more parameters comprise a first phase shift value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a first frequency band, and a second phase shift value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a second frequency band.

[0160] Clause 25: Any method of Clauses 1 to 24, wherein multiple frequency intervals are consecutive in the frequency domain.

[0161] Clause 26: Any method of Clauses 1 to 25, wherein multiple frequency intervals constitute multiple frequency layers.

[0162] Clause 27: A first network node comprising memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, wherein at least one processor is configured to perform any method according to Clauses 1 to 26.

[0163] Clause 28: User equipment (UE) equipped with means for performing any of the methods under Clauses 1 to 26.

[0164] Clause 29: A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions comprise at least one instruction causing a first network node to perform any of the methods specified in Clauses 1 to 26.

[0165] Additional implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0166] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a first network node, comprising the steps of: receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; and obtaining positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on the one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0167] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, further comprising the steps of transmitting a second plurality of PRSs to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals, and transmitting a second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of the second plurality of PRSs on the second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0168] Clause 3. The method of Clause 2, wherein the first network node is a UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, and the second network node is a serving base station of the UE or a location server.

[0169] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3, wherein the second transmitter phase information is transmitted by the second network node to all base stations involved in the positioning session with the UE.

[0170] Clause 5. The method of Clause 2, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is the UE and the second network node is either the UE or the location server.

[0171] Clause 6. The method of Clause 5, wherein the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to the second network node via the UE's serving base station or location server.

[0172] Clause 7. Any method of Clauses 1 to 6, further comprising the step of transmitting receiver phase information, wherein the receiver phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of PRS caused by a first network node switching radio frequency (RF) components during reception, measurement, or both of the plurality of PRSs.

[0173] Clause 8. The method of Clause 7, wherein receiver phase information is included in the waveform report associated with positioning measurements of multiple PRSs.

[0174] Clause 9. Any method of Clauses 1 to 8, further comprising the step of receiving second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a second plurality of PRSs transmitted to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0175] Clause 10. The method of Clause 9, wherein the first network node is a location server, at least one network node and the second network node are UEs, and the second transmitter phase information is received from a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0176] Clause 11. Any method from Clauses 1 to 10, further comprising the step of transmitting positioning measurements from multiple PRSs to a positioning entity to enable the positioning entity to calculate the location of the UE.

[0177] Clause 12. The method of Clause 11, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the positioning entity is the UE.

[0178] Clause 13. The method of Clause 11, wherein the first network node is a UE and the positioning entity is a serving base station or location server of the UE.

[0179] Any method from Clause 14, further comprising the step of calculating the location of the UE based on at least the positioning measurement of the PRS.

[0180] Clause 15. The first network node is a UE, and the second network node is at least one network node or location server, and at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, in any way of Clauses 1 to 14.

[0181] Clause 16. Any method of Clauses 1 to 14, wherein the first network node is a serving base station of the UE, the second network node is a location server, and at least one network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0182] Clause 17. Any method of Clauses 1 to 14, wherein the first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a UE, and at least one network node is a UE.

[0183] Clause 18. At least one network node comprises one or more base stations, one or more UEs, or any combination thereof, in any way described in Clauses 1 through 17.

[0184] Clause 19. One or more parameters indicate a change in the phase of multiple PRSs over multiple frequency intervals, using any method from Clauses 1 to 18.

[0185] Clause 20. One or more parameters comprising a phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a range of phase difference values ​​for a pair of frequency intervals, a distribution function representing the phase difference across a pair of frequency intervals, an intermediate phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a mean phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a phase difference variance across a pair of frequency intervals, or any combination thereof, in any way of Clauses 1 to 19.

[0186] Clause 21. The method of Clause 20, wherein the distribution function comprises a probability distribution function (PDF) or a cumulative distribution function (CDF).

[0187] Clause 22. Any method of Clauses 1 to 21, wherein the multiple frequency intervals are within a single frequency band or extend across multiple frequency bands.

[0188] Clause 23. Any method of Clauses 1 to 22, wherein one or more parameters comprise a first phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a first frequency band, and a second phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a second frequency band.

[0189] Clause 24. Any method of Clauses 1 to 23, wherein multiple frequency intervals are consecutive in the frequency domain.

[0190] Clause 25. Any method of Clauses 1 to 24, wherein multiple frequency intervals constitute multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0191] Clause 26. A first network node comprising memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive transmitter phase information from a second network node via at least one transceiver, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals, and to obtain positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0192] Clause 27. The first network node of Clause 26, further configured to transmit a second plurality of PRSs to at least one network node over a second plurality of frequency intervals via at least one transceiver, and to transmit a second transmitter phase information via at least one transceiver, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of the second plurality of PRSs over the second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0193] Clause 28. The first network node of Clause 27, wherein the first network node is a UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, and at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, and the second network node is a serving base station of the UE or a location server.

[0194] Clause 29. The second transmitter phase information is forwarded by the second network node to all base stations involved in the positioning session with the UE, as per Clause 28, to the first network node.

[0195] Clause 30. The first network node of Clause 27, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is a UE and the second network node is a UE or a location server.

[0196] Clause 31. The first network node under Clause 30 transmits the second transmitter phase information to the second network node via the UE's serving base station or location server.

[0197] Clause 32. A first network node, any one of Clauses 26 to 31, further configured to transmit receiver phase information via at least one transceiver, wherein the receiver phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of PRS caused by the first network node switching radio frequency (RF) components during the reception, measurement, or both of the plurality of PRSs.

[0198] Clause 33. The first network node of Clause 32, in which receiver phase information is included in the waveform report associated with positioning measurements of multiple PRSs.

[0199] Clause 34. A first network node, any one of Clauses 26 to 33, further configured to receive second transmitter phase information via at least one transceiver, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a second plurality of PRSs transmitted to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0200] Clause 35. The first network node of Clause 34 is a location server, and at least one network node and a second network node are UEs, and the second transmitter phase information is received from a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0201] Clause 36. A first network node of any of Clauses 26-35, further configured to have at least one processor transmit multiple PRS positioning measurements to a positioning entity via at least one transceiver, enabling the positioning entity to calculate the location of a UE.

[0202] Clause 37. The first network node of Clause 36 is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the positioning entity is the UE.

[0203] Clause 38. The first network node of Clause 36 is a UE, and the positioning entity is a UE's serving base station or location server.

[0204] Clause 39. A first network node from any of Clauses 26 to 35, further configured to have at least one processor perform the calculation of the location of the UE based on at least positioning measurements of the PRS.

[0205] Clause 40. The first network node is a UE, and the second network node is at least one network node or location server, and at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, as specified in any of Clauses 26-39.

[0206] Clause 41. A first network node, any of the first network nodes specified in Clauses 26-39, where the first network node is a serving base station of the UE, the second network node is a location server, and at least one network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0207] Clause 42. The first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a UE, and at least one network node is a UE, as specified in any of Clauses 26-39.

[0208] Clause 43. A first network node of any of Clauses 26-42, wherein at least one network node comprises one or more base stations, one or more UEs, or any combination thereof.

[0209] Clause 44.1 or more parameters indicate a change in the phase of multiple PRSs across multiple frequency intervals, a first network node according to any of Clauses 26-43.

[0210] Clause 45. A first network node from any of Clauses 26 to 44, wherein one or more parameters comprise a phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a range of phase difference values ​​for a pair of frequency intervals, a distribution function representing the phase difference across a pair of frequency intervals, an intermediate phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a mean phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a phase difference variance across a pair of frequency intervals, or any combination thereof.

[0211] Clause 46. The first network node of Clause 45, wherein the distribution function comprises a probability distribution function (PDF) or a cumulative distribution function (CDF).

[0212] Clause 47. A first network node under any of Clauses 26-46, where multiple frequency intervals are within a single frequency band or multiple frequency intervals extend across multiple frequency bands.

[0213] A first network node according to any of the clauses 26 to 47, wherein one or more parameters comprise a first phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a first frequency band, and a second phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a second frequency band.

[0214] Clause 49. A first network node of any of Clauses 26 to 48, wherein multiple frequency intervals are contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0215] Clause 50. A first network node of any of Clauses 26-49, wherein multiple frequency intervals constitute multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0216] Clause 51. A first network node comprising means for receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; and means for obtaining positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0217] Clause 52. The first network node of Clause 51, further comprising means for transmitting a second plurality of PRSs to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals, and means for transmitting a second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of the second plurality of PRSs on the second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0218] Clause 53. The first network node of Clause 52, where the first network node is a UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, and the second network node is a serving base station of the UE or a location server.

[0219] Clause 54. The second transmitter phase information is forwarded by the second network node to all base stations involved in the positioning session with the UE, as per Clause 53.

[0220] Clause 55. The first network node of Clause 52, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is a UE and the second network node is a UE or a location server.

[0221] Clause 56. The first network node under Clause 55 transmits the second transmitter phase information to the second network node via the UE's serving base station or location server.

[0222] Clause 57. A first network node from any of Clauses 51 to 56, further comprising means for transmitting receiver phase information, wherein the receiver phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of PRS caused by the first network node switching radio frequency (RF) components during the reception, measurement, or both of the plurality of PRSs.

[0223] Clause 58. The first network node of Clause 57, in which receiver phase information is included in the waveform report associated with positioning measurements of multiple PRSs.

[0224] Clause 59. A first network node, any one of Clauses 51 to 58, further comprising means for receiving second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a second plurality of PRS transmitted to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0225] Clause 60. The first network node of Clause 59 is a location server, and at least one network node and a second network node are UEs, and the second transmitter phase information is received from a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0226] Clause 61. A first network node from any of Clauses 51-60, further comprising means for transmitting positioning measurements from multiple PRSs to a positioning entity, enabling the positioning entity to calculate the location of a UE.

[0227] Clause 62. The first network node of Clause 61 is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the positioning entity is the UE.

[0228] Clause 63. The first network node under Clause 61 is a UE, and the positioning entity is a UE's serving base station or location server.

[0229] Clause 64. A first network node from any of Clauses 51 to 60, further comprising means for calculating the location of a UE based on at least positioning measurements of a PRS.

[0230] Clause 65. The first network node is a UE, and the second network node is at least one network node or location server, and at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, as specified in any of Clauses 51 to 64.

[0231] Clause 66. A first network node, any of the first network nodes in Clauses 51-64, where the first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a location server, and at least one network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with a UE.

[0232] Clause 67. The first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a UE, and at least one network node is a UE, any of the first network nodes specified in Clauses 51-64.

[0233] Clause 68. A first network node of any of Clauses 51 to 67, wherein at least one network node comprises one or more base stations, one or more UEs, or any combination thereof.

[0234] A first network node from any of the clauses 51-68, wherein one or more parameters indicate a change in the phase of multiple PRSs across multiple frequency intervals.

[0235] Clause 70. A first network node from any of Clauses 51 to 69, wherein one or more parameters comprise a phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a range of phase difference values ​​for a pair of frequency intervals, a distribution function representing the phase difference across a pair of frequency intervals, an intermediate phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a mean phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a phase difference variance across a pair of frequency intervals, or any combination thereof.

[0236] Clause 71. The first network node of Clause 70, wherein the distribution function comprises a probability distribution function (PDF) or a cumulative distribution function (CDF).

[0237] Clause 72. A first network node under any of Clauses 51-71, wherein multiple frequency intervals are within a single frequency band, or multiple frequency intervals extend across multiple frequency bands.

[0238] A first network node according to any of the clauses 51 to 72, wherein one or more parameters comprise a first phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a first frequency band, and a second phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a second frequency band.

[0239] Clause 74. A first network node of any of Clauses 51 to 73, wherein multiple frequency intervals are contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0240] Clause 75. A first network node of any of Clauses 51-74, wherein multiple frequency intervals constitute multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0241] Clause 76. A non-temporary computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein when a computer-executable instruction is executed by a first network node, the first network node causes the first network node to receive transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node on a plurality of frequency intervals, and to obtain positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phases of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

[0242] The non-temporary computer-readable medium of Clause 76 further comprises a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the first network node, causes the first network node to transmit a second plurality of PRSs to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals, and to transmit a second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of the second plurality of PRSs on the second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0243] Clause 78. Non-transient computer-readable media of Clause 77, wherein the first network node is a UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is a serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, and the second network node is a serving base station of the UE or a location server.

[0244] Clause 79. The second transmitter phase information is transmitted by the second network node to all base stations involved in the positioning session with the UE in a non-transient computer-readable medium as in Clause 78.

[0245] Clause 80. A non-transient computer-readable medium under Clause 77, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to at least one network node or the second network node, where at least one network node is the UE and the second network node is either the UE or the location server.

[0246] Clause 81. Non-transient computer-readable medium under Clause 80, to which the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to the second network node via the UE's serving base station or location server.

[0247] Clause 82. A non-temporary computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76 to 81, further comprising a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by a first network node, causes the first network node to transmit receiver phase information, wherein the receiver phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of multiple PRSs caused by the first network node switching radio frequency (RF) components during the reception, measurement, or both of the multiple PRSs.

[0248] Clause 83. Non-temporary computer-readable media of Clause 82 in which receiver phase information is included in a waveform report associated with positioning measurements of multiple PRSs.

[0249] Clause 84. A non-temporary computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76 to 83, further comprising a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the first network node, causes the first network node to receive second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a second plurality of PRSs transmitted to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals.

[0250] Clause 85. A non-transient computer-readable medium of Clause 84, wherein the first network node is a location server, and at least one network node and the second network node are UEs, and the second transmitter phase information is received from a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0251] Clause 86. A non-temporary computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76 to 85, further comprising a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by a first network node, causes the first network node to transmit positioning measurements of multiple PRSs to a positioning entity, enabling the positioning entity to calculate the location of a UE.

[0252] Clause 87. A non-transient computer-readable medium of Clause 86 in which the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the positioning entity is the UE.

[0253] Clause 88. Non-transient computer-readable media of Clause 86, where the first network node is a UE and the positioning entity is a serving base station or location server of the UE.

[0254] Clause 89. A non-temporary computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76 to 85, further comprising a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the first network node, causes the first network node to calculate the location of the UE based on at least the positioning measurements of the PRS.

[0255] Clause 90. A non-transient computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76-89, wherein the first network node is a UE, the second network node is at least one network node or location server, and at least one network node is a serving base station of a UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with a UE, or a sidelink UE.

[0256] Clause 91. A non-transient computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76-89, in which the first network node is a serving base station of the UE, the second network node is a location server, and at least one network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

[0257] Clause 92. A non-transient computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76-89, where the first network node is a serving base station of a UE, the second network node is a UE, and at least one network node is a UE.

[0258] Clause 93. A non-transient computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76 to 92, comprising at least one network node comprising one or more base stations, one or more UEs, or any combination thereof.

[0259] Clause 94. A non-temporary computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76-93 in which one or more parameters indicate changes in the phase of multiple PRSs over multiple frequency intervals.

[0260] Non-temporary computer-readable media from any of the clauses 76 to 94, wherein one or more parameters include a phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a range of phase difference values ​​for a pair of frequency intervals, a distribution function representing the phase difference across a pair of frequency intervals, an intermediate phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a mean phase difference value for a pair of frequency intervals, a phase difference variance across a pair of frequency intervals, or any combination thereof.

[0261] Clause 96. Non-temporal computer-readable media of Clause 95, wherein the distribution function comprises a probability distribution function (PDF) or a cumulative distribution function (CDF).

[0262] Clause 97. Non-transient computer-readable media of any of Clauses 76-96, in which multiple frequency intervals are within a single frequency band or multiple frequency intervals extend across multiple frequency bands.

[0263] A non-temporary computer-readable medium from any of the clauses 76 to 97, wherein one or more parameters comprise a first phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a first frequency band, and a second phase difference value for all frequency intervals among a plurality of frequency intervals in a second frequency band.

[0264] Clause 99. A non-temporary computer-readable medium in any of Clauses 76-98, in which multiple frequency intervals are consecutive in the frequency domain.

[0265] Clause 100. A non-transient computer-readable medium from any of Clauses 76-99, in which multiple frequency intervals constitute multiple positioning frequency layers.

[0266] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips, which may be referenced throughout the above description, can be represented by voltage, electric current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0267] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly demonstrate this hardware and software compatibility, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above in general terms with respect to their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or as software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in various ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0268] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or run using general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), ASICs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0269] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in hardware directly, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software modules may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may reside in the user terminal as separate components.

[0270] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via computer-readable media as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitate the transfer of computer programs from one location to another. Storage media may be any available media accessible by a computer. Such computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Any connection is also appropriately referred to as computer-readable media. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of a medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laserdisc (disc), optical disc, digital versatile disc (disc) (DVD), floppy disk (disk), and Blu-ray (disc), where a disk typically reproduces data magnetically and a disc optically reproduces data using a laser. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0271] While the above disclosures illustrate exemplary aspects of the Disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications can be made herein without departing from the scope of the Disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims in the aspects of the Disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, while elements of the Disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is intended unless explicitly stated to limit them to the singular. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0272] 100 Wireless Communication Systems 102 base stations, macrocell base stations, modified base stations, terrestrial base stations 102' Small cell base station 104 User Equipment (UE) 110 Geographic Coverage Areas 112 Earth-orbiting space vehicles (SV) 120 Communication Links 122 Backhaul Link 124 signal 128 Direct connection 134 Backhaul Link 150 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Access Point (AP) 152 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Station (STA) 154 Communication Links 160 Wireless Sidelink, Sidelink 164 User Equipment (UE) 170 Core Network 172 Location Server 180 mmW base station 182 User Equipment (UE) 184 mmW communication link 190 User Equipment (UE) 192, 194 Device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links 200 Wireless Network Structure 204 User Equipment (UE) 210 5G Core (5GC) 212 User Plane (U Plane) Function 213 User Plane Interface (NG-U) 214 Control Plane (C Plane) Function 215 Control Plane Interface (NG-C) 220 Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 222 gNB 223 Backhaul Connection 224 ng-eNB 226 gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 228 gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU) 229 gNB Radio Unit (gNB-RU), Standalone gNB-RU, gNB-RU 230 Location Server 232 Interface 250 Wireless Network Structure 260 5G Core (5GC) 262 User Plane Function (UPF) 263 User Plane Interface 264 Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 265 Control Plane Interface 266 Session Management Function (SMF) 270 Location Management Function (LMF) 272 Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 274 Third Party Server 302 User Equipment (UE) 304 Base Station 306 Network Entity 310 Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) Transceiver 312 Receiver 314 Transmitter 316 Antenna 318 Signal 320 Short - range wireless transceiver 322 Receiver 324 Transmitter 326 Antenna 328 Signal 330 Satellite signal receiver 332 Processor 334 Data bus 336 Antenna 338 Satellite positioning / communication signal 340 Memory 342 Positioning component 344 Sensor 346 User interface 350 Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) transceiver 352 Receiver 354 Transmitter 356 Antenna 358 Signal 360 Short - range wireless transceiver 362 Receiver 364 Transmitter 366 Antenna 368 Signal 370 Satellite signal receiver 376 Antenna 378 Satellite positioning / communication signal 380 Network transceiver 382 Data bus 384 Processor 386 Memory 388 Positioning component 390 Network transceiver 392 Data bus 394 Processor 396 Memory 398 Positioning component 510, 510 - 1, 510 - 2, 510 - 3 PRS

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a first network node, A step of receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phase difference of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; A step of obtaining positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by the at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phase difference of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of the user equipment (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS. A method that includes this.

2. The steps include transmitting a second plurality of PRSs to at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals, A step of transmitting second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of the second plurality of PRSs on the second plurality of frequency intervals. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. The first network node is the UE, the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to the at least one network node or the second network node, the at least one network node is the UE's serving base station, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, and the second network node is the UE's serving base station or a location server, or The method according to claim 2, wherein the first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, the second transmitter phase information is transmitted to the at least one network node or the second network node, the at least one network node is the UE, and the second network node is the UE or a location server.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting receiver phase information, wherein the receiver phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phase of the plurality of PRS caused by the first network node switching radio frequency (RF) components during reception, measurement, or both of the plurality of PRS, and the receiver phase information is included in a waveform report associated with the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving a second transmitter phase information, wherein the second transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phases of a second plurality of PRSs transmitted to the at least one network node on a second plurality of frequency intervals, the first network node being a location server, the at least one network node and the second network node being the UE, and the second transmitter phase information being received from a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE.

6. The step of transmitting the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRSs to a positioning entity so that the positioning entity can calculate the location of the UE. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

7. The first network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, and the positioning entity is the UE, or The method according to claim 6, wherein the first network node is the UE, and the positioning entity is a serving base station or location server of the UE.

8. A step of calculating the location of the UE based on at least the positioning measurement values ​​of the PRS. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

9. The first network node is the UE, the second network node is the at least one network node or location server, and the at least one network node is the serving base station of the UE, a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or a sidelink UE, or The first network node is a serving base station of the UE, the second network node is a location server, and at least one network node is a base station involved in a positioning session with the UE, or The method according to claim 1, wherein the first network node is a serving base station of the UE, the second network node is the UE, and the at least one network node is the UE.

10. The aforementioned at least one network node, One or more base stations, One or more UEs, The method according to claim 1, comprising any combination thereof.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the parameters indicate a change in the phase of the plurality of PRS over the plurality of frequency intervals.

12. The one or more of the above parameters are Phase difference values ​​for the aforementioned pairs of frequency intervals, The range of phase difference values ​​for the plurality of frequency intervals, Distribution function representing the phase difference over the aforementioned multiple frequency intervals, Intermediate phase difference values ​​for the aforementioned multiple frequency intervals, The average phase difference value for the plurality of frequency intervals, Phase difference dispersion over the aforementioned multiple frequency intervals, or The method according to claim 1, comprising any combination thereof, wherein the distribution function comprises a probability distribution function (PDF) or a cumulative distribution function (CDF).

13. The plurality of frequency intervals may be within a single frequency band, or The aforementioned multiple frequency intervals extend across multiple frequency bands, or The plurality of frequency intervals are continuous in the frequency domain, or The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of frequency intervals are a plurality of positioning frequency layers.

14. The one or more of the above parameters are A first phase difference value for all frequency intervals among the plurality of frequency intervals in the first frequency band, and The method according to claim 1, further comprising a second phase difference value for all frequency intervals among the plurality of frequency intervals in a second frequency band.

15. The first network node, Means for receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phase difference of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals; Means for obtaining positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by the at least one network node based on one or more parameters representing the phase difference of the plurality of PRS, thereby enabling the location of a user device (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS, A first network node equipped with [a certain feature].

16. The first network node, Memory and At least one transceiver, The system comprises the memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor Receiving the transmitter phase information from the second network node via the at least one transceiver, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phase difference of the plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by the at least one network node over the plurality of frequency intervals, and Based on one or more parameters representing the phase difference of the plurality of PRSs, the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRSs transmitted by the at least one network node are obtained, enabling the location of the user equipment (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRSs. A first network node according to claim 15, configured to perform the following:

17. A non-temporary computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions, wherein when the computer-executable instructions are executed by a first network node, the first network node, Receiving transmitter phase information from a second network node, wherein the transmitter phase information includes one or more parameters representing the phase difference of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node over a plurality of frequency intervals, and Based on one or more parameters representing the phase difference of the plurality of PRS, positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS transmitted by the at least one network node are obtained, enabling the location of the user equipment (UE) to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS. A non-temporary computer-readable storage medium that enables the following.

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