WTRU-assisted positioning

Abstract

To provide a system, a method, and means associated with positioning and / or sidelink communications.SOLUTION: A WTRU may track parameters associated with the WTRU or target WTRUs. The parameters may be associated with positioning and / or sidelink communications. The WTRU may receive a configuration for transmission of reference signals to the target WTRUs. The WTRU may transmit one or more reference signals on one or more configured sidelink resources. The WTRU may receive respective measurement report(s) from respective target WTRU(s). The WTRU may be configured to send the received target WTRU measurement(s) to the network entity. The WTRU may send each of the received measurements. The WTRU may send the received measurement(s) if condition(s) are satisfied. For example, if a first measurement associated with a first measurement report from a first target WTRU exceeds a first threshold, the WTRU may send the first measurement to a network entity.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - Reference to Related Applications) This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 887,215, filed on Aug. 15, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Background Art

[0002] The purpose of positioning may be to determine the geographical location of a WTRU. The location can be used to support radio resource management for an operator, subscriber, or third - party service provider, or internal E - UTRAN functions such as location - based services and applications. Examples of these services and applications can include emergency call support (e.g., to support IMS emergency calls via EPS or to meet E - 911 regulatory requirements), Google Maps, targeted advertising, and the like.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] This specification discloses systems, methods, and means associated with positioning and / or sidelink communication. A wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), such as an anchor WTRU, may track one or more parameters associated with the WTRU or other WTRUs (e.g., a target WTRU). One or more parameters may be associated with positioning and / or sidelink communication. The WTRU may receive configurations associated with transmitting reference signals (e.g., sidelink synchronization signals) to the target WTRU. The WTRU may receive configurations from network entities such as gNBs, eNBs, base stations, and positioning servers. The configurations may indicate and / or include one or more of the following: a target WTRU identifier for each target WTRU, a sidelink resource, one or more thresholds, transmit power, or spatial information (e.g., transmit beam information, e.g., number of beams, beam ID, etc.). The WTRU may transmit one or more reference signals on one or more of the sidelink resources. A WTRU may monitor and / or receive measurement reports from each target WTRU (for example, a target WTRU may receive a reference signal transmitted by a WTRU and send a relevant measurement report to the WTRU using the measurement associated with the reference signal). A WTRU may be configured to send received measurement values ​​from target WTRUs to a network entity. A WTRU may send each of the received measurement values; for example, a WTRU may send a group report containing measurement values ​​from multiple target WTRUs (for example, those measurements exceeding a threshold as disclosed herein). A WTRU may send received measurement values ​​if the following conditions are met: If a first measurement value associated with a first measurement report from a first target WTRU exceeds a first threshold, the WTRU may send the first measurement value to the network entity. If a first measurement value associated with a first measurement report from a first target WTRU does not exceed a first threshold, the WTRU does not have to send the first measurement value to the network entity.A WTRU can be determined to have exceeded a first threshold if the first measurement exceeds a previous value associated with the first target WTRU by a certain amount.

[0004] A WTRU may indicate that it is unable or no longer able to function as an anchor WTRU (for example, to a network entity). A WTRU may determine that its location has changed significantly and it can no longer monitor the target WTRU, and / or that it may not be able to listen to a certain threshold number of network devices (e.g., gNBs, eNBs, base stations, etc.). Based on this determination, the WTRU may send an instruction to the network entity indicating that the determined conditions have been met. Based on sending the instruction, the WTRU may cease its function as an anchor WTRU. A WTRU may cease its function as an anchor WTRU based on receiving an instruction from the network entity (for example, in response to an instruction sent by the WTRU).

[0005] A WTRU may be configured to determine whether to send instructions (e.g., to a network entity) indicating a change in the rate and / or periodicity of measurements and / or reports by the relevant target WTRU, and / or monitoring and / or reporting by the WTRU. Instructions (e.g., requests to a network entity) may indicate that a change in the rate and / or periodicity of measurements and / or reports by the target WTRU is required, and / or that a change in the rate and / or periodicity of monitoring and / or reporting by the WTRU is required (e.g., the changed parameters may be referred to as measurements, reports, and / or monitoring). A network entity may send instructions to the WTRU (e.g., in response to receiving instructions from the WTRU) to change the rate and / or periodicity of measurements, reports, and / or monitoring. The WTRU may send such instructions as a notification that it is changing the rate and / or periodicity of measurements, reports, and / or monitoring. The WTRU may change measurements and / or reports via communication with the target WTRU. A WTRU may make decisions to change the rate and / or periodicity of measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring based on how much one or more measurements associated with a target WTRU have changed. If the WTRU determines that one or more measurements associated with the target WTRU have not changed by a first quantity over a certain number of periods, it may send an instruction to decrease the rate or periodicity of measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring. If the WTRU determines that one or more measurements associated with the target WTRU have changed by a second quantity over a certain number of periods, it may send an instruction to increase the rate or periodicity of measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring. A WTRU may also make decisions to change the rate and / or periodicity of measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring based on whether the WTRU's location has changed by more than a threshold. For example, if the WTRU's location has changed by more than a threshold, the WTRU may send an instruction to the network entity to increase the rate or periodicity of measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring.

[0006] A measurement WTRU may perform one or more of the following, which may support the positioning of a neighbor-assisted WTRU: The measurement WTRU may receive a positioning configuration. The positioning configuration may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) pattern and instructions for resource allocation of SRS transmissions for the reference WTRU. The measurement WTRU may receive instructions for the timing advance of the reference WTRU (e.g., as part of the configuration). The measurement WTRU may determine the downlink slot timing by detecting primary synchronization signal / secondary synchronization signal (PSS / SSS) transmissions from a network node (e.g., a serving base station (BS)). The measurement WTRU may determine the uplink slot timing of the reference WTRU by detecting SRS transmissions from the reference WTRU. If the measurement WTRU is configured with the timing advance values ​​of the reference WTRU, the measurement WTRU may adjust the measured uplink slot timing to match the timing advance. A measuring WTRU can determine the reference signal time difference (RSTD) between downlink and uplink transmissions. The measuring WTRU can report the RSTD measurement to a positioning server (e.g., E-SMLC, SUPL SLP, LMF, etc.), which may be a physical or logical network entity.

[0007] Network-initiated WTRU group positioning techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: A WTRU (e.g., an anchor WTRU) may receive one or more PRS transmission and reporting configurations, e.g., sidelink resources, periodicity, target WTRU ID, thresholds, etc. The anchor WTRU may transmit PRS on the configured resources to one or more target WTRUs, e.g., using sidelink channels. The anchor WTRU may collect positioning measurement reports (e.g., RSTDs) on the configured resources, e.g., using sidelink channels from one or more target WTRUs. If the change in the measurement of a target WTRU (e.g., relative to a previous measurement) exceeds a first threshold, the anchor WTRU may report the measurement to the positioning server. If the change in the measurement (e.g., relative to a previous measurement) exceeds a second threshold, the anchor WTRU may send a reconfiguration request to the positioning server to increase the rate of measurement and reporting. If the change in the measurement (e.g., relative to a previous measurement) is less than a third threshold over a certain (e.g., configured) number of periods, the anchor WTRU may send a reconfiguration request to the positioning server to decrease the rate of measurement and reporting. If the anchor WTRU is unable to perform downlink measurements on the specified number of BSs, the anchor WTRU may trigger a notification to the positioning server.

[0008] Positioning techniques for autonomous WTRU groups may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: An out-of-coverage WTRU may perform positioning measurements on a reference signal (RS) received from an in-coverage WTRU or another out-of-coverage WTRU. An out-of-coverage WTRU may send a report containing its measurement results (e.g., angle of arrival (AOA), Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, etc.) to a reference in-coverage or out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., using a pre-configured sidelink resource). An out-of-coverage WTRU may monitor measurement reports from one or more other out-of-coverage WTRUs on a pre-configured sidelink resource. An out-of-coverage WTRU may include measurement results from other out-of-coverage WTRUs in its out-of-coverage WTRU report to the reference WTRU. An out-of-coverage WTRU may derive measurement results from other WTRUs with respect to its own reference (e.g., location, time, etc.) and use the derived values ​​to send the measurement to the reference WTRU.

[0009] A WTRU may be configured to perform positioning measurements (e.g., OTDOA, A-GNSS, E-CID, etc.) in an idle state. One or more of the following may apply: A WTRU may receive configurations for one or more dedicated sidelink resources for one or more WTRUs and relay positioning measurements to the positioning server. The configuration may include one or more of the following: a list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs, a list of DRX cycles for configured sidelink WTRUs, a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, a threshold, a delay reduction factor value, etc. A WTRU may perform positioning measurements on the configured resources. If a positioning measurement differs from a previously reported positioning measurement (e.g., by a certain value greater than a threshold), the WTRU may reduce the maximum positioning measurement delay by the configured reduction factor value. A WTRU may perform one or more of the following to send positioning measurements: If the total reporting delay using one or more sidelink resources is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may send positioning measurements using one of the configured dedicated sidelink resources. If the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the condition that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report using resources from a common sidelink resource pool. The WTRU may select one of the sidelink WTRUs that can use the common resource pool to satisfy the total reporting delay requirement. If any of the sidelink WTRUs in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs satisfy the condition that the total reporting delay using the common resource pool is less than the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report, for example, by first transitioning to the connected state. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] Furthermore, similar reference numbers in the figure indicate similar elements.

[0011] [Figure 1A] This is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary communication system in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented.

[0012] [Figure 1B] This is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU) that may be used in a communication system illustrated in Figure 1A, according to one embodiment.

[0013] [Figure 1C] This is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary radio access network (RAN) and an exemplary core network (CN) that may be used in a communication system illustrated in Figure 1A according to one embodiment.

[0014] [Figure 1D] This is a system diagram illustrating a further exemplary RAN and a further exemplary CN that may be used in the communication system illustrated in Figure 1A according to one embodiment.

[0015] [Figure 2] We will illustrate an example related to the observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA).

[0016] [Figure 3] An example related to interference-based positioning will be illustrated.

[0017] [Figure 4] An example related to time-synchronized positioning measurement will be illustrated.

[0018] [Figure 5] An example related to asynchronous positioning measurement will be illustrated.

[0019] [Figure 6] Let's illustrate with an example related to the anchor WTRU.

[0020] [Figure 7] Illustrate an example associated with the formation of a WTRU group.

[0021] [Figure 8] Illustrate an example associated with the positioning of a WTRU group.

[0022] [Figure 9] Illustrate an example associated with a positioning reference signal.

[0023] [Figure 10] Illustrate an example associated with positioning measurements and reporting.

[0024] [Figure 11] Illustrate an example associated with the positioning of a WTRU group initiated by a WTRU.

[0025] [Figure 12] Illustrate an example associated with multi-level switching of resources by a WTRU.

[0026] [Figure 13] Illustrate an example associated with multi-level switching of positioning reports by a WTRU.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0027] Figure 1A illustrates an exemplary communication system 100 in which one or more disclosed embodiments may be implemented. The communication system 100 may be a multiple access system that provides content such as voice, data, video, messaging, and broadcast to multiple wireless users. The communication system 100 may enable multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth. For example, the communication system 100 may use one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique-word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block filtered OFDM, and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC).

[0028] As shown in Figure 1A, the communication system 100 may include radio transmit / receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d, RAN 104 / 113, CN 106 / 115, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 108, the Internet 110, and other networks 112, but it will be understood that the disclosed embodiments intend any number of WTRUs, base stations, networks, and / or network elements. Each of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d may be any type of device configured to operate and / or communicate in a radio environment. For example, WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may each be referred to as a “station” and / or “STA,” and may be configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals, including user equipment (UE), mobile stations, fixed or mobile subscriber units, subscription-based units, pagers, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, laptops, netbooks, personal computers, wireless sensors, hotspots or Mi-Fi devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearables, head-mounted displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., remote surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and / or other wireless devices operating in industrial and / or automated processing chain situations), consumer electronics devices, and devices operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks. WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d can all be referred to as UE for compatibility purposes.

[0029] Furthermore, the communication system 100 may include base stations 114a and / or base stations 114b. Each of the base stations 114a and 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d to facilitate access to one or more communication networks, such as CN 106 / 115, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. For example, base stations 114a and 114b may be base transceiver stations (BTS), node B, eNodeB, home node B, home eNodeB, gNB, NRNodeB, site controller, access point (AP), wireless router, etc. Although base stations 114a and 114b are each illustrated as single elements, it will be understood that base stations 114a and 114b may include any number of interconnected base stations and / or network elements.

[0030] Base station 114a may be part of RAN 104 / 113, which may also include other base stations and / or network elements (not shown), such as a base station controller (BSC), a radio network controller (RNC), and relay nodes. Base stations 114a and / or base stations 114b may be configured to transmit and / or receive radio signals on one or more carrier frequencies, which may be referred to as cells (not shown). These frequencies may be licensed spectra, unlicensed spectra, or a combination of licensed and unlicensed spectra. Cells may provide coverage for radio services to a particular geographic area that may be relatively fixed or change over time. Cells may be further divided into cell sectors. For example, a cell associated with base station 114a may be divided into three sectors. Thus, in one embodiment, base station 114a may include three transceivers, i.e., one for each sector of the cell. In one embodiment, the base station 114a may employ multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) technology and utilize multiple transceivers for each sector of the cell. For example, beamforming may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in a desired spatial direction.

[0031] Base stations 114a and 114b may communicate with one or more WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d over the air interface 116, which may be any suitable radio communication link (e.g., radio frequency (RF), microwave, centimeter wave, micrometer wave, infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV), visible light, etc.). The air interface 116 may be established using any suitable radio access technology (RAT).

[0032] More specifically, as described above, the communication system 100 may be a multiple access system and may use one or more channel access schemes such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA. For example, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c in RAN 104 / 113 may implement radio technologies such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) that can establish air interfaces 115 / 116 / 117 using wideband CDMA (WCDMA). WCDMA may include communication protocols such as High-Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA) and / or Evolved HSPA (HSPA+). HSPA may include High-Speed ​​Downlink (DL) Packet Access (HSDPA) and / or High-Speed ​​UL Packet Access (HSUPA).

[0033] In one embodiment, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c may implement radio technologies such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), which can establish an air interface 116 using Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and / or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and / or LTE-Advanced Pro (LTE-APro).

[0034] In one embodiment, base station 114a and WTRU 102a, 102b, 102c may implement radio technologies such as NR radio access, which can use New Radio (NR) to establish an air interface 116.

[0035] In one embodiment, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement multiple radio access technologies. For example, base station 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may implement both LTE radio access and NR radio access, for example, using the dual connectivity (DC) principle. Thus, the air interface utilized by WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c may feature multiple types of radio access technologies, and / or transmissions sent to / from multiple types of base stations (e.g., eNB and gNB).

[0036] In other embodiments, base stations 114a and WTRUs 102a, 102b, and 102c may implement radio technologies such as IEEE 802.11 (i.e., Wireless Fidelity, WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (i.e., Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)), CDMA2000, CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO, Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and GSM EDGE (GERAN).

[0037] The base station 114b in Figure 1A may be, for example, a wireless router, home node B, home eNode B, or access point, and any suitable RAT can be used to facilitate wireless connectivity in local areas such as offices, homes, vehicles, campuses, industrial facilities, air corridors (for use by drones), roadways, etc. In one embodiment, the base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d may implement wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.11 to establish a wireless local area network (WLAN). In one embodiment, the base station 114b and WTRU 102c, 102d may implement wireless technologies such as IEEE 802.15 to establish a wireless personal area network (WPAN). In yet another embodiment, base stations 114b and WTRUs 102c, 102d may establish picocells or femtocells using cellular-based RATs (e.g., WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, etc.). As shown in Figure 1A, base station 114b may have a direct connection to the internet 110. Therefore, base station 114b may not need to access the internet 110 via CN 106 / 115.

[0038] RAN104 / 113 may communicate with CN106 / 115, which may be any type of network configured to provide voice, data, applications, and / or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services to one or more of WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d. The data may have various Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as different throughput requirements, latency requirements, error tolerance requirements, reliability requirements, data throughput requirements, and mobility requirements. CN106 / 115 may provide call control, billing services, mobile location-based services, prepaid calling, internet connectivity, video streaming, etc., and / or implement high-level security functions, such as user authentication. Although not shown in Figure 1A, it will be understood that RAN104 / 113 and / or CN106 / 115 may communicate directly or indirectly with other RANs using the same RAT or a different RAT as RAN104 / 113. For example, in addition to being connected to RAN104 / 113, which may utilize NR radio technology, CN106 / 115 may also communicate with another RAN (not shown) using GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX, E-UTRA, or WiFi radio technology.

[0039] Furthermore, CN106 / 115 may serve as a gateway for WTRU102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d to access PSTN108, the Internet 110, and / or other networks 112. PSTN108 may include a circuit-switched telephone network providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 110 may include a global system of interconnected computer networks and devices using common communication protocols such as the transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), and / or Internet protocol (IP) within the TCP / IP Internet Protocol suite. Network 112 may include wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. For example, network 112 may include another CN connected to one or more RANs, which may use the same RAT as RAN104 / 113 or a different RAT.

[0040] Some or all of the WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d in the communication system 100 may include multimode functionality (for example, WTRUs 102a, 102b, 102c, and 102d may include multiple transceivers for communicating with different radio networks on different radio links). For example, WTRU 102c shown in Figure 1A may be configured to communicate with base station 114a which may use cellular-based radio technology and with base station 114b which may use IEEE 802 radio technology.

[0041] Figure 1B is a system diagram illustrating an exemplary WTRU 102. As shown in Figure 1B, the WTRU 102 may include, among other things, a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit / receive element 122, a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, a display / touchpad 128, a non-removable memory 130, a removable memory 132, a power supply 134, a global positioning system (GPS) chipset 136, and / or other peripherals 138. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may include any partial combination of the aforementioned elements while maintaining consistency with the embodiment.

[0042] The processor 118 may be a general-purpose processor, a dedicated processor, a conventional processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors associated with a DSP core, a controller, a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) circuit, any other type of integrated circuit (IC), a state machine, etc. The processor 118 may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, and / or any other functionality that enables the WTRU 102 to operate in a wireless environment. The processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, and the transceiver 120 may be coupled to the transmit / receive element 122. Although Figure 1B illustrates the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 as separate components, it will be understood that the processor 118 and the transceiver 120 may be integrated together in an electronic package or chip.

[0043] The transmit / receive element 122 may be configured on the air interface 116 to transmit a signal to or receive a signal from a base station (e.g., base station 114a). For example, in one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an antenna configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In one embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be an emitter / detector configured to transmit and / or receive, for example, IR, UV, or visible light signals. In yet another embodiment, the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive both RF signals and optical signals. It will be understood that the transmit / receive element 122 may be configured to transmit and / or receive any combination of radio signals.

[0044] Although the transmit / receive element 122 is shown as a single element in Figure 1B, the WTRU 102 may include any number of transmit / receive elements 122. More specifically, the WTRU 102 may utilize MIMO technology. Thus, in one embodiment, the WTRU 102 may include two or more transmit / receive elements 122 (e.g., multiple antennas) for transmitting and receiving radio signals over the air interface 116.

[0045] The transceiver 120 may be configured to modulate the signal to be transmitted by the transmit / receive element 122 and to demodulate the signal received by the transmit / receive element 122. As described above, the WTRU 102 may have multimode capabilities. Therefore, the transceiver 120 may include multiple transceivers to enable the WTRU 102 to communicate via multiple RATs, such as NR and IEEE 802.11.

[0046] The processor 118 of the WTRU102 may be coupled to a speaker / microphone 124, a keypad 126, and / or a display / touchpad 128 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit) and may receive user input data from them. The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker / microphone 124, the keypad 126, and / or the display / touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from any type of suitable memory, such as a non-removable memory 130 and / or a removable memory 132, and may store data therein. The non-removable memory 130 may include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk, or any other type of memory storage device. The removable memory 132 may include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a memory stick, a secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like. In other embodiments, the processor 118 may access information from memory not physically located on the WTRU 102, such as on a server or home computer (not shown), and store data in them.

[0047] The processor 118 may receive power from the power supply 134 and be configured to distribute and / or control power to other components within the WTRU 102. The power supply 134 may be any suitable device for supplying power to the WTRU 102. For example, the power supply 134 may include one or more dry cell batteries (e.g., nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-zinc (NiZn), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion (Li-ion), etc.), a solar cell, a fuel cell, etc.

[0048] The processor 118 may also be coupled to a GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) about the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or instead of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information from base stations (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) on the air interface 116 and / or determine its own location based on the timing of signals received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be understood that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by any preferred location determination method, while maintaining consistency with the embodiments.

[0049] The processor 118 may be further coupled to other peripherals 138, which may include one or more software modules and / or hardware modules that provide additional features, functionality, and / or wired or wireless connectivity. For example, peripherals 138 may include an accelerometer, an electronic compass, a satellite transceiver, a digital camera (for photos and / or videos), a universal serial bus (USB) port, a vibration device, a television transceiver, a hands-free headset, a Bluetooth® module, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a digital music player, a media player, a video game player module, an internet browser, a virtual reality and / or augmented reality (VR / AR) device, an activity tracker, and the like. The peripheral device 138 may include one or more sensors, one or more of which may be a gyroscope, accelerometer, Hall effect sensor, magnetometer, compass sensor, proximity sensor, temperature sensor, time sensor, geolocation sensor, altimeter, light sensor, touch sensor, magnetometer, barometer, gesture sensor, biometric sensor, and / or humidity sensor.

[0050] WTRU102 may include a full-duplex radio in which the transmission and reception of some or all of the signals associated with specific subframes for both UL (for example, for transmission) and downlink (for example, for reception) may be in parallel and / or simultaneous. The full-duplex radio may include an interference management unit to reduce and / or substantially eliminate self-interference via hardware (e.g., chokes) or via signal processing via a processor (e.g., a separate processor (not shown) or processor 118). In one embodiment, WRTU102 may include a half-duplex radio for the transmission and reception of some or all of the signals (e.g., associated with specific subframes for either UL (for example, for transmission) or downlink (for example, for reception).

[0051] Figure 1C is a system diagram illustrating RAN104 and CN106 according to one embodiment. As described above, RAN104 can communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116 using E-UTRA wireless technology. RAN104 can also communicate with CN106.

[0052] RAN104 may include eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c, but it will be understood that RAN104 may include any number of eNode-B while maintaining consistency with the embodiment. Each of eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may implement MIMO technology. Thus, eNode-B160a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit radio signals to and / or receive radio signals from WTRU102a.

[0053] Each of the eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle wireless resource management decisions, handover decisions, user scheduling in UL and / or DL, etc. As shown in Figure 1C, the eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c may communicate with each other over the X2 interface.

[0054] The CN106 shown in Figure 1C may include a mobility management entity (MME) 162, a serving gateway (SGW) 164, and a packet data network (PDN) gateway (or PGW) 166. Although each of the aforementioned elements is illustrated as part of CN106, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by an entity other than the CN operator.

[0055] The MME162 can be connected to each of the eNode-B162a, 162b, and 162c within RAN104 via the S1 interface and can function as a control node. For example, the MME162 may be responsible for authenticating users of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, activating / deactivating bearers, and selecting a specific serving gateway during the initial attachment of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. The MME162 may also provide control plane functionality for exchanges between RAN104 and other RANs (not shown) using other radio technologies such as GSM and / or WCDMA.

[0056] The SGW164 can be connected to each of the eNodeB160a, 160b, and 160c within the RAN104 via the S1 interface. The SGW164 can generally route and forward user data packets to and from WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. The SGW164 can perform other functions, such as anchoring the user plane during inter-eNodeB handovers, triggering paging when DL data is available to WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, and managing and remembering the context of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0057] SGW164 may be connected to PGW166, which can provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to a packet-switched network such as the Internet 110, thereby facilitating communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices.

[0058] CN106 can facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN106 can provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to circuit-switched networks such as PSTN108, thereby facilitating communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and conventional fixed-line communication devices. For example, CN106 may include, or communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) server) acting as an interface between CN106 and PSTN108. In addition, CN106 may provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers.

[0059] Although the WTRU is shown as a wireless terminal in Figures 1A to 1D, in a typical embodiment, such a terminal is intended to be able to use a wired communication interface with a communication network (for example, temporarily or permanently).

[0060] In a typical embodiment, the other network 112 may be a WLAN.

[0061] A WLAN in Infrastructure Basic Service Set (BSS) mode may have an Access Point (AP) for the BSS and one or more stations (STAs) associated with the AP. The AP may have access to or interfaces with a Distribution System (DS) or another type of wired / wireless network that carries traffic within and / or outside the BSS. Traffic originating from outside the BSS to an STA may reach and be delivered to the STA via the AP. Traffic originating from an STA to a destination outside the BSS may be sent to the AP in order to be delivered to its respective destination. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be sent via the AP; for example, a source STA may send traffic to the AP, and the AP may deliver the traffic to the destination STA. Traffic between STAs within the BSS may be considered and / or referred to as peer-to-peer traffic. Peer-to-peer traffic may be sent (e.g., directly) between a source STA and a destination STA using a direct link setup (DLS). In a typical embodiment, the DLS may use 802.11e DLS or 802.11z tunneled DLS (TDLS). A WLAN using Independent BSS (IBSS) mode may not have APs, and STAs within or using IBSS (e.g., all STAs) may communicate directly with one another. Communication in IBSS mode may sometimes be referred to herein as “ad hoc” mode communication.

[0062] When using 802.11ac infrastructure mode operation or a similar mode operation, an AP may transmit beacons on a fixed channel, such as a primary channel. The primary channel may be of a fixed width (e.g., 20 MHz bandwidth) or a width dynamically set via signaling. The primary channel may also be the operating channel of the BSS and may be used by an STA to establish a connection with the AP. In one typical embodiment, Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) may be implemented, for example, in an 802.11 system. In the case of CSMA / CA, an STA, including the AP (e.g., all STAs), may sense the primary channel. If the primary channel is sensed / detected and / or determined to be busy by a particular STA, that particular STA may backoff. A single STA (e.g., just one station) may transmit at any given time within a given BSS.

[0063] A high-throughput (HT) STA may use a 40MHz wide channel for communication, for example, by combining a primary 20MHz channel with adjacent or non-adjacent 20MHz channels to form a 40MHz wide channel.

[0064] Very High Throughput (VHT) STAs can support channels with widths of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, and / or 160 MHz. 40 MHz and / or 80 MHz channels can be formed by combining consecutive 20 MHz channels. 160 MHz channels can be formed by combining eight consecutive 20 MHz channels, or by combining two non-consecutive 80 MHz channels, which may be referred to as an 80+80 configuration. In the 80+80 configuration, after channel encoding, data can be passed through a segment parser that can split the data into two streams. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) processing and time-domain processing can be performed separately for each stream. The streams can be mapped onto two 80 MHz channels, and the data can be transmitted by the transmitting STA. At the receiver of the receiving STA, the above operation for the 80+80 configuration can be reversed, and the combined data can be transmitted to Medium Access Control (MAC).

[0065] Operation in sub-GHz modes is supported by 802.11af and 802.11ah. Channel operating bandwidth and carrier are reduced in 802.11af and 802.11ah compared to those used in 802.11n and 802.11ac. 802.11af supports 5MHz, 10MHz, and 20MHz bandwidths in the TV White Space (TVWS) spectrum, while 802.11ah supports 1MHz, 2MHz, 4MHz, 8MHz, and 16MHz bandwidths using the non-TVWS spectrum. According to a typical embodiment, 802.11ah may support meter-type control / machine-type communications, such as MTC devices in a macro coverage area. The MTC device may have limited functionality, including support for certain bandwidths and / or limited bandwidths (e.g., support only for those). The MTC device may include a battery with a battery life exceeding a threshold (e.g., to maintain a very long battery life).

[0066] WLAN systems that can support multiple channels and channel bandwidths, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11af, and 802.11ah, include a channel that can be designated as the primary channel. The primary channel may have a bandwidth equal to the largest common operating bandwidth supported by all STAs within the BSS. The bandwidth of the primary channel may be set and / or limited by the STA that supports the minimum bandwidth operating mode among all STAs operating within the BSS. In the 802.11ah example, the primary channel may be 1 MHz wide for an STA (e.g., an MTC type device) that supports (e.g., only) the 1 MHz mode, even if APs and other STAs within the BSS support 2 MHz, 4 MHz, 8 MHz, 16 MHz, and / or other channel bandwidth operating modes. Carrier sensing and / or Network Allocation Vector (NAV) settings may depend on the status of the primary channel. For example, if the primary channel is busy because an STA (which only supports 1MHz operating mode) is transmitting to the AP, the entire available frequency band may be considered busy, even though a large portion of the frequency band remains idle and could potentially be available.

[0067] In the United States, the available frequency band that can be used by 802.11ah is 902MHz to 928MHz. In South Korea, the available frequency band is 917.5MHz to 923.5MHz. In Japan, the available frequency band is 916.5MHz to 927.5MHz. The total bandwidth available for 802.11ah is 6MHz to 26MHz, depending on the country code.

[0068] Figure 1D is a system diagram illustrating RAN113 and CN115 according to one embodiment. As described above, RAN113 can communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116 using NR radio technology. RAN113 can also communicate with CN115.

[0069] RAN113 may include gNB180a, 180b, and 180c, but it will be understood that RAN113 may include any number of gNBs while maintaining consistency with the embodiment. Each of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may include one or more transceivers for communicating with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c over the air interface 116. In one embodiment, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may implement MIMO technology. For example, gNB180a and 108b may use beamforming to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from gNB180a, 180b, and 180c. Thus, gNB180a may, for example, use multiple antennas to transmit radio signals to and / or receive radio signals from WTRU102a. In one embodiment, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may implement carrier aggregation technology. For example, gNB180a may transmit multiple component carriers to WTRU102a (not shown). A subset of these component carriers may be on the unlicensed spectrum, while the remaining component carriers may be on the licensed spectrum. In one embodiment, gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may implement coordinated multi-point (CoMP) technology. For example, WTRU102a may receive coordinated transmissions from gNB180a and gNB180b (and / or gNB180c).

[0070] WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using transmissions associated with scalable numerology. For example, OFDM symbol intervals and / or OFDM subcarrier intervals may vary for different transmissions, different cells, and / or different parts of the radio transmission spectrum. WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c may communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using subframes or transmission time intervals (TTIs) of varying or scalable lengths (e.g., containing varying numbers of OFDM symbols and / or lasting for varying absolute times).

[0071] gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can be configured to communicate with WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c in standalone and / or non-standalone configurations. In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c without accessing other RANs (e.g., eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c). In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can utilize one or more of gNB180a, 180b, and 180c as mobility anchor points. In a standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with gNB180a, 180b, and 180c using signals within the unlicensed band. In a non-standalone configuration, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can communicate with and connect to other RANs such as eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c, while also communicating with and connecting to other RANs, as well as gNB180a, 180b, and 180c. For example, WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c can implement the principle to communicate substantially simultaneously with one or more gNB180a, 180b, and 180c, and one or more eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c. In a non-standalone configuration, eNode-B160a, 160b, and 160c can act as mobility anchors for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, while gNB180a, 180b, and 180c can provide additional coverage and / or throughput to service WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c.

[0072] Each of the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may be associated with a specific cell (not shown) and may be configured to handle radio resource management decisions, handover decisions, UL and / or DL ​​user scheduling, network slicing support, dual connectivity, interworking between NR and E-UTRA, routing of user plane data to User Plane Functions (UPFs) 184a and 184b, routing of control plane information to Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs) 182a and 182b, and so on. As shown in Figure 1D, the gNB180a, 180b, and 180c may communicate with each other over the Xn interface.

[0073] The CN115 shown in Figure 1D may include at least one AMF182a, 182b, at least one UPF184a, 184b, at least one Session Management Function (SMF)183a, 183b, and optionally a Data Network (DN)185a, 185b. Although each of the aforementioned elements is illustrated as part of the CN115, it will be understood that any of these elements may be owned and / or operated by entities other than the CN operator.

[0074] AMF182a and 182b can be connected to one or more gNB180a, 180b, and 180c within RAN113 via the N2 interface and can act as control nodes. For example, AMF182a and 182b may be responsible for authenticating users of WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c, supporting network slicing (e.g., handling different PDU sessions with different requirements), selecting specific SMF183a and 183b, managing registration areas, terminating NAS signaling, and mobility management. Network slicing may be used by AMF182a and 182b to customize CN support for WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c based on the type of services utilized by WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c. For example, different network slices may be established for different use cases, such as services that rely on ultra-reliable low latency (URLLC) access, services that rely on enhanced massive mobile broadband (eMBB) access, machine-type communication (MTC) access, and / or similar services. The AMF162 may provide control plane functionality for exchange between RAN113 and other RANs (not shown) using other radio technologies, such as LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, and / or non-3GPP access technologies like WiFi.

[0075] SMF183a and 183b may be connected to AMF182a and 182b in CN115 via the N11 interface. SMF183a and 183b may also be connected to UPF184a and 184b in CN115 via the N4 interface. SMF183a and 183b may select and control UPF184a and 184b and configure traffic routing through UPF184a and 184b. SMF183a and 183b may perform other functions such as managing and allocating WTRU IP addresses, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QoS, and providing downlink data notifications. PDU session types may be IP-based, non-IP-based, Ethernet-based, etc.

[0076] UPF184a and 184b may be connected via the N3 interface to one or more gNB180a, 180b, and 180c within RAN113, which may provide WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c with access to packet-switched networks such as the Internet 110, thereby facilitating communication between WTRU102a, 102b, and 102c and IP-enabled devices. UPF184 and 184b may perform other functions, such as routing and forwarding packets, enforcing user plane policies, supporting multi-homed PDU sessions, handling user plane QoS, buffering downlink packets, and providing mobility anchoring.

[0077] CN115 can facilitate communication with other networks. For example, CN115 may include, or communicate with, an IP gateway (e.g., an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) server) that acts as an interface between CN115 and PSTN108. In addition, CN115 may provide WTRU102a, 102b, 102c with access to other networks 112, which may include other wired and / or wireless networks owned and / or operated by other service providers. In one embodiment, WTRU102a, 102b, 102c may be connected to local data networks (DNs) 185a, 185b via UPF184a, 184b through an N3 interface to UPF184a, 184b, and an N6 interface between UPF184a, 184b and DN185a, 185b.

[0078] As can be seen from Figures 1A to 1D and their corresponding descriptions, one or more of the functions described herein relating to one or more of the WTRU102a to d, base stations 114a to b, eNode-B160a to c, MME162, SGW164, PGW166, gNB180a to c, AMF182a to b, UPF184a to b, SMF183a to b, DN185a to b, and / or any other devices described herein may be implemented by one or more emulation devices (not shown). An emulation device may be one or more devices configured to emulate one or more of the functions described herein. For example, an emulation device may be used to test other devices and / or to simulate network and / or WTRU functions.

[0079] Emulation devices may be designed to implement testing of one or more other devices in a laboratory and / or operator network environment. For example, one or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while being fully or partially implemented and / or deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless network to test other devices in a communications network. One or more emulation devices may perform one or more or all functions while being temporarily implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless network. Emulation devices may be directly coupled to another device for testing purposes and / or may perform testing using terrestrial radio communication.

[0080] One or more emulation devices may perform one or more functions, including all functions, without being implemented / deployed as part of a wired and / or wireless communication network. For example, an emulation device may be used in a test scenario in a test laboratory and / or in an undeployed (e.g., test) wired and / or wireless communication network to implement testing of one or more components. One or more emulation devices may also be test equipment. Wireless communication via direct RF coupling and / or RF circuitry (which may include, for example, one or more antennas) may be used by the emulation device to transmit and / or receive data.

[0081] The processes and methods described herein may be implemented in computer programs, software, and / or firmware embedded in computer-readable media for execution by a computer or processor. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, electronic signals (transmitted via wired and / or wireless connections) and / or computer-readable storage media. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), registers, cache memory, semiconductor memory devices, magnetic media such as internal hard disks and removable disks, magneto-optical media, and / or optical media such as CD-ROM disks and / or digital versatile disks (DVDs). Using software and associated processors, radio frequency transceivers may be implemented for use in WTRUs, terminals, base stations, RNCs, and / or any host computer. In addition, features, elements, and techniques may be described herein in specific combinations, but each feature or element may be used alone or in any combination with other features, elements, and techniques.

[0082] For applications in a specific location, precise positioning can be achieved by combining multiple technologies, including Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based solutions that can be used to provide precise location in outdoor scenarios, wireless technologies (e.g., LTE networks, Wi-Fi networks, Terrestrial Beacon Systems (TBS), Bluetooth, etc., which offer multiple design options for indicating the user's location), inertial measurement units (IMUs), or sensors (e.g., tracking the user's position based on vertical positioning using accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, or atmospheric pressure sensors).

[0083] Support for positioning may be provided. One or more of the following may apply to the description herein: The suffix "~based" may refer to a node responsible for calculating position (for example, the node may also provide measurements). The suffix "~assisted" may refer to a node that provides measurements but does not perform position calculations.

[0084] One or more types of positioning may be supported, which may include WTRU positioning and network positioning.

[0085] One or more of the following may apply to WTRU positioning: A WTRU may actively support or assist in the calculation of its geographical location (e.g., the calculation of the geographical location of a WTRU). For example, WTRU positioning may include WTRU-assisted positioning and WTRU-based positioning. In WTRU-assisted positioning, the WTRU may perform measurements and provide the measurements to the network. The network (e.g., an enhanced serving mobile location center, E-SMLC) may use the measurements to calculate the WTRU's location. In WTRU-based positioning, the WTRU may perform measurements, perform the location calculation itself, and provide its calculated location to the network (e.g., instead of the network performing the location calculation).

[0086] One or more of the following may be applied to network positioning: The network may determine the location of a WTRU by performing measurements and / or receiving signals from the WTRU. Positioning methods for wireless systems (e.g., LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro) may include one or more of the following: WTRU positioning methods may include GNSS, observed time difference of arrival (OTDO) which may be referred to as "downlink positioning," or Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID). Network positioning methods may include time difference of arrival (UTDOA) which may be referred to as "uplink positioning."

[0087] The selection of an anchor WTRU may be performed by a network entity, such as a positioning server. For example, the selection of an anchor WTRU (e.g., initial selection) may include WTRUs whose position (e.g., absolute position) is known. A list of anchor WTRUs, such as WTRU IDs (e.g., IMSI, IMEI, etc.), may be provided to the BS, for example, in a group formation request.

[0088] Technologies associated with GNSS may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: GNSS may be a satellite-based positioning method (e.g., GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, and others). Network-assisted GNSS may be implemented using signaling between a WTRU GNSS receiver (e.g., with reduced complexity) and an operational (e.g., continuously operating) GNSS reference receiver network having clear-sky visibility of the same GNSS population as the assisted WTRU. An assisted mode may be supported.

[0089] WTRU-assisted positioning technology may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: The WTRU may perform GNSS measurements (e.g., pseudo-range, pseudo-Doppler, carrier phase range, etc.), and the WTRU may send the GNSS measurements to a network, thereby enabling position calculations.

[0090] WTRU-based positioning techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: The WTRU may perform GNSS measurements and use additional measurements from other (e.g., non-GNSS) sources and supporting data from the network to calculate the WTRU's position.

[0091] The content of the support data may vary, for example, depending on whether the WTRU operates in WTRU-assisted or WTRU-based mode.

[0092] OTDOA (e.g., downlink positioning) techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: In the case of OTDOA, the WTRU may receive signals from a reference cell (e.g., a serving cell) and several neighboring cells, and measure the observed arrival time difference of the signals (e.g., between each neighboring cell and the reference cell). The WTRU may report a reference signal time difference (RSTD) to the network. Using the cell locations, a given timing difference between them, and other information, the network may derive the position of the WTRU by triangulation (e.g., assuming there are at least three measured cells) and / or other proprietary methods. Figure 2 is an example associated with OTDOA, where each time difference (TDOA) determines a hyperbola. As illustrated in Figure 2, the intersection of the hyperbolas may be the estimated position of the WTRU. The coordinates of the WTRU may be estimated using at least three timing measurements (e.g., a reference measurement and two neighboring cell measurements).

[0093] The time difference can be measured using a known signal. Cell-specific reference symbols (CRS) are candidates for this measurement because they are transmitted by the cell and are known to the WTRU. In some embodiments, the use of CRS may not be sufficient. In some embodiments, other signals, such as positioning reference signals (PRS), may be used. If the cell transmits a PRS, the WTRU may use the CRS and / or PRS to determine the time difference.

[0094] E-CID-based positioning technology may be provided.

[0095] E-CID positioning technology can be constructed using a Cell ID (CID) method. CID may include a network-based positioning method in which the network uses knowledge of which cells are serving cells of a WTRU to determine its location. E-CID technology can improve positional accuracy by combining cell knowledge with measurements performed by the WTRU and the network, such as round-trip time (RTT) measurements that may provide distance information, angle of departure (AOD) measurements that may provide direction, and RSRP measurements that may provide additional information. E-CID positioning can be implemented using one to three base stations. As described herein, measurements may be performed at the WTRU or base stations and reported to a position server (e.g., a positioning server). The calculation of the WTRU's location may be based on calculations of measurements that may be performed within the network.

[0096] UTDOA (e.g., uplink positioning)-based positioning technology may be provided.

[0097] Uplink (e.g., UTDOA) positioning techniques can be implemented using timings measured by multiple network location measurement units (LMUs) based on uplink signals transmitted from the WTRU. The LMUs can measure the timing of the received signals using support data received from a positioning server, and can estimate the position of the WTRU using the resulting measurements.

[0098] The expected use cases and applications of next-generation systems may include stringent positioning requirements compared to existing or previous wireless systems. For example, a system deployment may be configured to support high-precision positioning capabilities of, for example, 0.3 m with a positioning service latency of 10 ms.

[0099] In the realm of sparse network coverage, support for WTRU positioning may be limited, for example, due to a certain number of base stations that can perform measurements that may limit the availability and reliability of relative positioning measurements such as OTDOA. In scenarios where relative mobility within a group of WTRUs is limited, for example, when WTRUs are mounted in a column, performing positioning measurements for each individual WTRU can result in significant network overhead and WTRU power consumption.

[0100] A framework that enables WTRU-to-WTRU positioning measurements can provide robust support for WTRU positioning in environments with sparse network coverage.

[0101] A measurement WTRU may perform one or more of the following, which may support the positioning of a neighbor-assisted WTRU: The measurement WTRU may receive a positioning configuration. The positioning configuration may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) pattern and instructions for resource allocation of the reference WTRU's SRS transmission. The measurement WTRU may receive instructions for the reference WTRU's timing advance (e.g., as part of the configuration). The measurement WTRU may determine the downlink slot timing by detecting, for example, primary synchronization signal / secondary synchronization signal (PSS / SSS) transmissions from a network node (e.g., a serving base station (BS)). The measurement WTRU may determine the uplink slot timing of the reference WTRU by detecting SRS transmissions from the reference WTRU. If the measurement WTRU is configured with the timing advance values ​​of the reference WTRU, the measurement WTRU may adjust the measured uplink slot timing to match the timing advance. The measurement WTRU may determine the reference signal time difference (RSTD) between downlink and uplink transmissions. The measuring WTRU can report the RSTD measurement values ​​to a positioning server, for example, an E-SMLC, SUPL SLP, etc.

[0102] Network-initiated WTRU group positioning techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: A WTRU (e.g., an anchor WTRU) may receive one or more PRS transmission and reporting configurations, e.g., sidelink resources, periodicity, target WTRU ID, thresholds, etc. The anchor WTRU may transmit PRS on the configured resources to one or more target WTRUs, e.g., using sidelink channels. The anchor WTRU may collect positioning measurement reports (e.g., RSTDs) on the configured resources, e.g., using sidelink channels from one or more target WTRUs. If the change in the measurement of a target WTRU (e.g., relative to a previous measurement) exceeds a first threshold, the anchor WTRU may report the measurement to the positioning server. If the change in the measurement (e.g., relative to a previous measurement) exceeds a second threshold, the anchor WTRU may send a reconfiguration request to the positioning server to increase the rate of measurement and reporting. If the change in the measurement (e.g., relative to a previous measurement) is less than a third threshold over a certain (e.g., configured) number of periods, the anchor WTRU may send a reconfiguration request to the positioning server to decrease the rate of measurement and reporting. If the anchor WTRU is unable to perform downlink measurements on the specified number of BSs, the anchor WTRU may trigger a notification to the positioning server.

[0103] Positioning techniques for autonomous WTRU groups may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: An out-of-coverage WTRU may perform positioning measurements on a reference signal (RS) received from an in-coverage WTRU or another out-of-coverage WTRU. An out-of-coverage WTRU may send a report containing its measurement results (e.g., angle of arrival (AOA), Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, etc.) to a reference in-coverage or out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., using a pre-configured sidelink resource). An out-of-coverage WTRU may monitor measurement reports from one or more other out-of-coverage WTRUs on a pre-configured sidelink resource. An out-of-coverage WTRU may include measurement results from other out-of-coverage WTRUs in its out-of-coverage WTRU report to the reference WTRU. An out-of-coverage WTRU may derive measurement results from other WTRUs with respect to its own reference (e.g., location, time, etc.) and use the derived values ​​to send the measurement to the reference WTRU.

[0104] A WTRU may be configured to perform idle positioning measurements (e.g., OTDOA, A-GNSS, E-CID, etc.). One or more of the following may apply: A WTRU may receive configurations for one or more dedicated sidelink resources for one or more WTRUs and relay positioning measurements to the positioning server. The configuration may include one or more of the following: a list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs, a list of DRX cycles for configured sidelink WTRUs, a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, a threshold, a delay reduction factor value, etc. A WTRU may perform positioning measurements on the configured resources. If a positioning measurement differs from a previously reported positioning measurement (e.g., a value greater than the threshold), the WTRU may reduce the maximum positioning measurement delay by the configured reduction factor value. A WTRU may perform one or more of the following to send a positioning measurement: If the total reporting delay using one or more sidelink resources is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may send a positioning measurement using one of the configured dedicated sidelink resources. If the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the condition that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report using resources from a common sidelink resource pool. The WTRU may select one of the sidelink WTRUs that can use the common resource pool to satisfy the total reporting delay requirement. If none of the sidelink WTRUs in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs satisfy the condition that the total reporting delay using the common resource pool is less than the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send and / or send the positioning measurement report, for example, by first transitioning to a connected state.

[0105] Proximity-assisted WTRU positioning techniques can be implemented. One or more of the following may apply: The WTRU may be configured to perform multi-node positioning measurements. For example, the nodes may include base stations (BS), e.g., gNB / eNB / TRP and the WTRU. OTDOA measurements may be performed, and the measurements may include reference signals transmitted by the BS of the nearby WTRU and / or the serving / nearby BS (e.g., not exclusive to the serving / nearby BS). Figure 3 illustrates an example associated with interference-based positioning.

[0106] The WTRU can be configured to perform close-support WTRU positioning.

[0107] A reference WTRU configuration may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: The WTRU (e.g., reference WTRU as used herein) may be configured to transmit a PRS (e.g., SRS, non-conflict / conflict-based RACH preamble, WTRU-specific or non-WTRU-specific pseudorandom sequence, a new reference signal dedicated to positioning purposes, etc.). The WTRU may be configured to generate a reference signal (e.g., a pseudorandom sequence generation algorithm, and seeds, sequence length, etc.). The WTRU may consist of resource allocation for the PRS (e.g., scheduling of PRS transmission, PRS periodicity, PRS offset, repetition, time / frequency allocation of reference signal (RS) symbols, etc.). The WTRU may be configured to transmit the PRS in a specific direction (e.g., angular offset from the serving beam, etc.). The WTRU may be configured to repeat the transmission on a set of beams (e.g., repeat the PRS pattern for each of N consecutive slots on N consecutive beams). A WTRU may be configured to transmit a PRS at a specific power level (e.g., X dB above or below PDSCH EPRE). A reference WTRU may be configured to transmit a PRS at a specific RACH resource (e.g., at a specific RACH opportunity X). A WTRU may consist of a timing advance value specific to the transmission of the PRS.

[0108] One or more of the following may apply to the configuration of a measurement WTRU: A WTRU (e.g., "measurement WTRU" as used herein) may be configured to perform an OTDOA measurement, for example, by signal transmission between a BS and a reference WTRU. A measurement WTRU may be configured via signaling (e.g., dedicated signaling such as RRC signaling). A WTRU may be configured to detect the PRS of the reference WTRU (e.g., a pseudo-random sequence generation algorithm, and seeds, sequence lengths, etc.). A measurement WTRU may consist of scheduled resources for PRS transmissions from the reference WTRU (e.g., time / frequency resources, slot index, subframe index, MBSFN, RACH opportunities, etc.). A measurement WTRU may consist of guard resources, which may be used to limit interference with multiplexed data transmissions. A measurement WTRU may be configured to receive PRS transmissions from the reference WTRU on a beam (e.g., a specific beam or set of beams). A measurement WTRU may be configured to select (e.g., autonomously select) the beam on which the PRS transmissions of the reference WTRU are received.

[0109] Proximity-assisted positioning measurement may be performed.

[0110] Time-synchronous PRS positioning measurements may be performed. One or more of the following may apply: The measuring WTRU may be configured to determine the slot timing of the BS based on the detection of a downlink PRS (e.g., a PSS / SSS transmission) that may be sent by the BS (e.g., serving or nearby). In an embodiment, the measuring WTRU may determine the slot timing of the reference WTRU by receiving a transmission of the uplink PRS transmission of the reference WTRU. The measuring WTRU may determine the OTDOA by comparing the relative offset between the downlink slot timing of the BS and the uplink slot timing of the reference WTRU (e.g., an RSTD measurement). The measuring WTRU may determine the angular difference of PRS arrival based on the received direction of the downlink PRS of the BS and the uplink PRS of the reference WTRU.

[0111] An illustrative diagram of a timing-synchronous PRS positioning measurement is shown in Figure 4. As illustrated in Figure 4, the reference WTRU may be configured to send periodic SRS transmissions, and the measurement WTRU may be used as a PRS transmission for WTRU-assisted positioning measurement. The measurement WTRU may consist of parameters for detecting the SRS transmissions of the reference WTRU. In embodiments, the configuration may include parameters for generating an SRS pattern, parameters for resource allocation of the SRS pattern, and parameters for the periodicity and offset of the SRS transmissions (e.g., within a frame schedule). The measurement WTRU may consist of a timing advance of the reference WTRU, which may limit the search for detecting SRS transmissions by the measurement WTRU. The measurement WTRU may recover downlink slot timing by detecting PSS / SSS transmissions of the serving BS, for example. The measurement WTRU may determine the uplink slot timing of the reference WTRU by detecting the SRS transmissions of the reference WTRU. The WTRU may determine the RSTD between downlink and uplink transmissions. The WTRU can report RSTD measurements to a positioning server (e.g., E-SMLC, SUPL SLP, etc.) via a serving BS, for example.

[0112] Asynchronous positioning measurements may be performed. One or more of the following may apply: A measuring WTRU may be configured to determine the slot timing of a BS by, for example, detecting a downlink PRS transmission of a BS (e.g., a serving or adjacent BS). A reference WTRU may be configured to perform PRS transmissions on random access or competition-based resources (e.g., PRACH resources). The measuring WTRU may determine the slot timing of the reference WTRU by receiving a transmission of the WTRU's uplink PRS transmission on a competition-based resource. If a PRS transmission collides with another random access transmission, the WTRU may indicate to the serving BS that a collision has occurred or that the received PRS was detected with out-of-bounds parameters. If no collision occurs, the WTRU may determine the OTDOA by comparing the relative offset between the BS's downlink slot timing and the WTRU's uplink slot timing (e.g., an RSTD measurement). The WTRU (for example, the WTRU also) may determine the angular difference of PRS arrival based on the received direction of both the BS's downlink PRS and the WTRU's uplink PRS.

[0113] An example of asynchronous PRS positioning measurement is illustrated in Figure 5. As illustrated in Figure 5, the reference WTRU may be configured to perform a non-conflicting PRACH preamble transmission of the configured PRACH resources, and the measurement WTRU may be used as the PRS transmission for WTRU-assisted positioning measurement. The measurement WTRU may consist of parameters for detecting the RACH preamble transmission of the reference WTRU. In embodiments, the configuration may include parameters for generating the RACH preamble, parameters for determining the resource allocation of the PRACH (including, for example, guard bands and cyclic prefixes (CP durations)), and / or parameters for determining the periodicity and offset of the PRACH resources (for example, within a frame schedule). The measurement WTRU may consist of a timing advance of the reference WTRU, which may be used to limit the search for detecting the RACH preamble transmission of the measurement WTRU. The measurement WTRU may recover downlink slot timing by detecting the PSS / SSS transmission of the serving BS. The measuring WTRU may determine the slot timing of the uplink transmission of the reference WTRU, for example, by detecting the RACH preamble transmission. The WTRU may determine the RSTD between the downlink transmission and the uplink transmission. The WTRU may report the RSTD measurement to the positioning server (for example, via the serving BS).

[0114] PRS activation / deactivation techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: The PRS transmission of the reference WTRU may be configured as aperiodic, semiperiodic, or periodic. The configuration of the PRS transmission of the reference WTRU may be carried out by a higher-layer configuration (e.g., RRC, NRPP, etc.). In embodiments, the reference WTRU may be provided with a PRS transmission configuration that is activated / deactivated by higher-layer signaling (e.g., RRC, NRPP, etc.). The reference WTRU may be provided with a PRS transmission configuration that is activated / deactivated by lower-layer control signaling (e.g., MAC-CE, DCI, etc.). The PRS transmission of the reference WTRU may be configured (e.g., exclusively configured) by lower-layer signaling (e.g., DCI, etc.).

[0115] Measurements performed by a measurement WTRU may be reported by the measurement WTRU. One or more of the following may apply: The measurement WTRU may be configured to send a report containing a single WTRU-assisted positioning measurement or multiple positioning measurements. The measurement report configuration may include parameters indicating the reference source (e.g., a node or entity such as a BS or WTRU) used to generate the measurement (e.g., BS(PSSS) / UE(SRS), UE(PRACH) / UE(SRS), etc.). The measurement report may be configured as aperiodic, semi-periodic, or periodic. The measurement report may be configured by higher-level control signaling (e.g., RRC, NRPP, etc.). The measurement report may be activated / deactivated by higher-level control signaling (e.g., RRC, NRPP, etc.). The measurement report may be activated / deactivated by higher-level control signaling and / or by lower-level control signaling (e.g., MAC-CE, DCI, etc.). Measurement reports may be scheduled and configured (e.g., exclusively configured) by lower-layer signaling (e.g., DCI). Measurement reports may include one or more measurements that can be used to calculate WTRU positioning (e.g., received PRS power, RSTD, RTT, BS arrival angle, reference WTRU arrival angle, etc.). Measurement reports may be configured according to a schedule maintained by serving BS (e.g., MBSFN, subframe number, slot number, etc.). Measurement report schedules may be determined based on the occurrence of events (e.g., measurement reports may be scheduled within N slots of RSTD measurements).

[0116] WTRU Group's positioning technology may be provided.

[0117] Network-initiated WTRU group positioning techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply: To perform WTRU group positioning, one or more WTRUs may be configured to send reference signals (e.g., PRS dedicated to WTRU positioning, synchronization signals, DMRS in a broadcast channel, CSI-RS, etc.) on a sidelink. The WTRUs may be referred to herein as anchor WTRUs. Target WTRUs (e.g., WTRUs whose position is estimated, which may be referred to herein as non-anchor WTRUs or target WTRUs) may be configured to perform measurements (e.g., RSRP, Time of Arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA), RSTD, Time of Arrival Difference (TDOA), etc.) on the reference signals, which may be transmitted, for example, on a sidelink channel by one or more anchor WTRUs. The selection and configuration of anchor WTRUs may be performed by a network (e.g., a positioning server / serving BS). For example, the selection of anchor WTRUs (e.g., initial selection) may include WTRUs whose absolute position is known. In embodiments, the position of each WTRU may be updated based on the group formation techniques described herein. The assignment of anchor WTRUs to target WTRUs may be performed by the network (e.g., a positioning server or serving BS). A target WTRU may be assigned one or more anchor WTRUs. An anchor WTRU (e.g., each anchor WTRU) may be assigned to one or more target WTRUs. A group of one or more target WTRUs that share one or more anchor WTRUs and similar (e.g., mutual) assignments or mappings, but do not share similar (e.g., mutual) assignments with other target WTRUs or anchor WTRUs, may be a group.

[0118] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a technique that can be implemented by an anchor WTRU.

[0119] WTRU group formation and management may be performed. One or more of the following may apply: WTRU group formation may be initiated, for example, by a positioning server. In an embodiment, WTRU group formation may be initiated to determine an anchor WTRU for each target WTRU (e.g., each of the target WTRUs). WTRU group formation may be repeated, for example, to constitute a change in the network (e.g., due to the movement of WTRUs). In an embodiment, WTRU group formation may be performed when a positioning measurement from an anchor WTRU changes by a certain amount greater than a threshold. In an embodiment, WTRU group formation may be performed when a positioning measurement from one or more target WTRUs changes by a certain amount greater than another threshold. WTRU group formation may be repeated at time intervals different from the time intervals for positioning measurement and reporting; for example, group formation may be performed at a lower frequency (e.g., repetition rate) than positioning measurement and reporting. Figure 7 illustrates an example associated with WTRU group formation, which may include one or more of the illustrated operations.

[0120] In the embodiment, WTRU group formation may be triggered at the BS, for example, when the BS receives a group formation request from the positioning server. A group formation request may include one or more of the following fields: a list of WTRUs, each having a WTRU ID (e.g., IMSI, IMEI, etc.), the role of each WTRU (e.g., anchor / target WTRU), an instruction for a certain number of transmissions, an instruction for the measurement type (e.g., SL SS RSRP, DMRS, sidelink PRS, etc.), a measurement threshold, an instruction for T (e.g., minimum RSRP, etc.), or a reporting format (e.g., individual, average, N maximum values, value exceeding threshold T, etc.).

[0121] For example, if the BS receives a group formation request, it may constitute an anchor WTRU and a target WTRU.

[0122] A WTRU can be configured as an anchor WTRU (for example, by a network entity such as a gNB, eNB, or base station). One or more of the following may apply:

[0123] A WTRU (e.g., an anchor WTRU) may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a sidelink synchronization signal such as PSSS, SSSS, or DMRS in a PSBCH, or a sidelink CSI-RS or sidelink PRS) on a sidelink (e.g., a sidelink channel) for purposes such as group formation. The configuration for transmitting the reference signal may be provided to the WTRU (e.g., by a network entity). In embodiments, the reference signal transmission configuration may include one or more of the following: a sidelink configuration (e.g., time and / or frequency resources) for transmitting the reference signal (e.g., a sidelink synchronization signal such as PSSS, SSSS, or DMRS in a PSBCH, or a sidelink CSI-RS or sidelink PRS), an indication of a slot, symbol, and / or subframe offset, an indication of periodicity (e.g., transmission may be repeated), an indication of a certain number of transmissions, transmission power, spatial information (e.g., number of beams, beam ID, etc.), or a unique masking or scrambling sequence.

[0124] Configurations for reference signal transmission may be received in a downlink control channel and / or DCI, which may be masked or scrambled (e.g., CRC scrambled) in a sidelink RNTI (e.g., SL-RNTI). For this purpose, identification information (e.g., new identification information) may be distributed by a BS (e.g., serving BS), which may be local to the MME or positioning server, e.g., a sidelink positioning group RNTI (e.g., SL-PG-RNTI). Configurations for reference signal transmission may be received within a downlink shared channel, and the resources of the shared channel may be indicated in the DCI (e.g., scrambled in SL-PG-RNTI or SL-RNTI). Configurations may be included in higher-layer parameters (e.g., RRC) and may be dynamically activated using a downlink MAC-CE or DCI (e.g., scrambled in SL-RNTI or SL-PG-RNTI).

[0125] The selection of an anchor WTRU may be performed by a network entity, such as a positioning server. For example, the selection of an anchor WTRU (e.g., initial selection) may include WTRUs whose position (e.g., absolute position) is known. A list of anchor WTRUs, such as WTRU IDs (e.g., IMSI, IMEI, etc.), may be provided to the BS, for example, in a group formation request.

[0126] A WTRU can be configured as a target WTRU. One or more of the following may apply:

[0127] For the purpose of forming a group, a WTRU (e.g., a target WTRU) may monitor a reference signal on a sidelink channel from one or more anchor WTRUs (which may be sent via, for example, a DMRS in a PSSS, SSSS, or PSBCH, or a sidelink CSI-RS, or a sidelink PRS, etc.). The target WTRU may perform measurements (e.g., RSRP) on the reference signal received via the sidelink. The target WTRU may consist of a measurement configuration, for example, a measurement configuration received from a BS, via the reference signal. The measurement configuration may include one or more of the following: a sidelink configuration for receiving a reference signal from one or more anchor WTRUs (e.g., time and / or frequency resources), indications for slots, symbols, and / or subframe offsets, indications for periodicity in which transmissions may be repeated, indications for a certain number of transmissions, indications for the measurement type (e.g., SL SS RSRP, DMRS, sidelink PRS, etc.), measurement threshold, T (e.g., minimum RSRP, etc.), indications for the reporting format (e.g., individual, average, N maximum values, values ​​exceeding threshold T, etc.), spatial information (e.g., number of beams, beam ID, etc.), a masking or scrambling sequence (e.g., unique) for each anchor WTRU (e.g., each anchor WTRU), or indications for an uplink configuration for reporting the measurement (e.g., time and / or frequency resources on PUCCH or PUSCH).

[0128] A target WTRU may consist of a number of measurements (e.g., N measurements) to be performed and reported over a number of periods. A target WTRU may be configured to perform measurements for each period and to report measurements with the highest RSRP measured over each respective period. A target WTRU may consist of conditional reporting. For example, a target WTRU may consist of an RSRP threshold, and the measurement report may include measurements where the measured RSRP exceeds a given RSRP threshold. A target WTRU may consist of an uplink resource (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) for reporting measurements.

[0129] The measurement configuration (e.g., sidelink configuration for receiving a reference signal, uplink configuration for reporting measurements, number of measurements to be reported, and / or conditional reporting configuration) may be received from a BS (e.g., serving BS) via a downlink control channel or DCI, which may be masked or scrambled (e.g., CRC scrambled) with, for example, SL-RNTI or SL-PG-RNTI. The measurement configuration may be received via a downlink shared channel, for example, resources for a shared channel may be shown in a DCI (e.g., which may be scrambled with, for example, SL-PG-RNTI or SL-RNTI). The measurement configuration of the reference signal may be included in higher-layer parameters (e.g., RRC). The DCI associated with the measurement configuration may be scrambled with SL-RNTI or SL-PG-RNTI and may include (e.g., only) resource identification for activating measurements on the corresponding resource.

[0130] A target WTRU may be selected. The selection of a target WTRU may be performed by the positioning server (for example, the target WTRU may be a WTRU whose position needs to be estimated and / or will be estimated), and may be provided to the BS, for example, in a group formation request.

[0131] If a target WTRU performs a measurement using reference signals from one or more anchor WTRUs, the target WTRU may prepare and / or send a measurement report (e.g., for each configured period). The measurement report may include an indication (e.g., each indication) of each reference signal (e.g., a sequential number if multiple reference signals are composed of multiple anchor WTRUs, etc.) and an estimated RSRP (e.g., the respective RSRP of each reference signal). The target WTRU may prepare a measurement report including an indication (e.g., each indication) of each reference signal (e.g., each indication) (e.g., it may be limited to including an indication (e.g., each indication) of each reference signal from anchor WTRUs having an RSRP greater than a configured threshold). The target WTRU may prepare a measurement report with N (e.g., if configured) reference signal identifiers and corresponding RSRPs, for example, the measurement report may include N reference signals with the highest RSRPs.

[0132] A target WTRU may send measurement reports to a BS (e.g., a serving BS) (e.g., on a configured uplink resource) in relation to the anchor / target WTRU configuration. The BS may forward the reports for each target WTRU (e.g., each target WTRU) to the positioning server. The positioning server may update the list of anchor WTRUs for each of the target WTRUs. For example, in the case of a target WTRU, a WTRU may be considered the anchor WTRU of a target WTRU if the RSRP measured by the target WTRU with respect to the reference signal of the anchor WTRU exceeds a threshold.

[0133] Figures 8, 9, and 10 illustrate examples associated with group positioning (e.g., associated with one or more of the following: reference signal transmission by anchor WTRU, positioning measurement and reporting by target WTRU, and / or monitoring / reporting by anchor WTRU).

[0134] Positioning measurement and reporting techniques may be provided. One or more of the following may apply:

[0135] Positioning measurement and reporting may be initiated by a positioning server, for example, to determine the position of a target WTRU using positioning measurements on a reference signal transmitted by an anchor WTRU. Positioning measurement and reporting may be repeated, for example, to constitute network changes, such as the movement of a WTRU. Positioning measurement and reporting may be repeated at a rate higher than the rate at which group formation is performed (e.g., a low repeating periodicity).

[0136] A WTRU can be configured as an anchor WTRU. One or more of the following may apply:

[0137] An anchor WTRU may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a sidelink synchronization signal such as PSSS, SSSS, or DMRS in PSBCH, or a sidelink CSI-RS, or sidelink PRS) using a sidelink resource associated with performing positioning measurements and reporting. An anchor WTRU may consist of group positioning parameters. A group positioning configuration may include one or more of the following: a sidelink configuration (e.g., time and / or frequency resources) for transmitting a reference signal (e.g., a sidelink synchronization signal such as PSSS, SSSS, or DMRS in PSBCH, or a sidelink CSI-RS, or sidelink PRS), an indication of a slot, symbol, and / or subframe offset, an indication of a periodicity in which transmissions may be repeated, an indication of a certain number of transmissions, transmit power, and a target WTRU ID (e.g., ProSe WTRU). A list of IDs, spatial information (e.g., number of beams, beam IDs, etc.), instructions for (e.g., unique) masking or scrambling sequences, sidelink configurations for receiving measurements from target WTRUs (e.g., time and / or frequency resources), triggered reporting configurations that can be used to send group positioning reports (e.g., definition of an event, threshold values ​​used to detect event triggers, thresholds that can be used to determine whether subsequent measurements have changed compared to previous measurements), triggered notification configurations that can be used to send notifications to the network when an anchor WTRU cannot be configured as an anchor WTRU (e.g., or cannot continue to be configured as an anchor WTRU), or parameters to assist the WTRU in determining whether to change the rate and / or frequency of positioning measurements and reporting, e.g., K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, and K6, as described herein.

[0138] Configurations for transmitting reference signals and / or for collecting measurement reports from anchor WTRUs (e.g., sent by one or more target WTRUs) may be received from the positioning server (e.g., via a group positioning request to the anchor WTRU, as shown in Figures 8 and / or 9). Configurations may be received (by the anchor WTRU) using control plane positioning protocols or data plane positioning protocols (e.g., LTE positioning protocol (LPP), secure user plane location (SUPL), NR positioning protocol (NRPP)). Messages containing configurations (e.g., as described herein) that may be used to enable sidelink-based group positioning may be defined for positioning protocols between the positioning server and each WTRU (e.g., LPP, SUPL, NRPP). The positioning server may communicate with BS (e.g., serving BS associated with the anchor and target UEs) to authorize resources for transmitting reference signals from one or more anchor WTRUs, for example, using positioning protocols between the positioning server and BS, e.g., LPPa, NRPPa. The positioning server may communicate with the serving BS, for example, as shown in Figures 8 and / or 9, to authorize resources for performing measurement reports for one or more anchor WTRUs (e.g., identifying resources on which target WTRUs send measurement reports and on which anchor WTRUs monitor and / or receive measurement reports). The positioning server may send a list of anchor WTRUs and target WTRUs to the BS (e.g., in a group positioning information request, as shown in Figure 8). A message containing the list of anchor WTRUs and target WTRUs may be defined for the positioning protocol between the positioning server and the BS (e.g., LPPa, NRPPa). The BS may allocate sidelink resources to one or more anchor WTRUs for sending reference signals and for receiving measurement reports.The BS may send allocated resource information to the positioning server (e.g., using a positioning protocol, e.g., LPPa, NRPPa). A message containing a list of permitted resources and / or anchor WTRUs and target WTRUs may be defined for the positioning protocol between the positioning server and the BS (e.g., LPPa, NRPPa). The positioning server may communicate with proximity service (ProSe) functions to determine, for example, the ProSe IDs of one or more anchor and target WTRUs.

[0139] Configurations for transmitting a reference signal and / or for monitoring and / or receiving measurement reports to an anchor WTRU (e.g., measurement reports sent by one or more target WTRUs) may be transmitted by a network entity such as a BS (e.g., a serving BS). The configuration may be transmitted in a downlink control channel and / or DCI that can be masked or scrambled (e.g., CRC scrambled) with, for example, an SL-RNTI or SL-PG-RNTI. Identification information (e.g., a sidelink positioning RNTI (e.g., SL-P-RNTI)) may be distributed by a serving BS that may be local to a mobility management entity (MME) or positioning server. An SL-P-RNTI may be distributed to transmit a configuration for transmitting a reference signal and / or for monitoring and / or receiving measurement reports. The configuration may be received from a serving BS via a downlink shared channel, and the resources of the downlink shared channel may be indicated in a DCI that can be scrambled with an SL-P-RNTI. The configuration may be included in higher-level parameters (e.g., RRC) (e.g., signaled through them), and may be dynamically activated using, for example, a medium access control element (MAC-CE) or DCI scrambled with SL-RNTI, SL-PG-RNTI, or SL-P-RNTI.

[0140] The anchor WTRU may, for example, monitor and / or receive measurement report transmissions from one or more target WTRUs after transmitting a reference signal on a configured sidelink resource. A list of sidelink resource configurations and target WTRU IDs (e.g., ProSeWTRU IDs) may be provided to the anchor WTRU, for example, from a positioning server or serving BS, for example, in a group positioning configuration.

[0141] Under conditions that the anchor WTRU receives measurement reports on the configured sidelink resources (e.g., one or more of the following: angular information, RSTD, Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, etc.), the anchor WTRU may prepare a group positioning report that includes measurement results received from one or more target WTRUs (e.g., the anchor WTRU may send a group report that includes measurement results from multiple target WTRUs where the measurement values ​​exceed a threshold, for example, as disclosed herein). The anchor WTRU may include an indication of the WTRU ID (e.g., ProSe ID) of the corresponding target WTRU in the group positioning report of the anchor WTRU. The group positioning report may include, for example, measurement results from one or more target WTRUs in addition to the WTRU ID.

[0142] The anchor WTRU can send group positioning reports to network devices, such as a positioning server. Configurations for sending group positioning reports using positioning protocols (e.g., LPP, SUPL, NRPP) may be provided to the anchor WTRU by the positioning server, for example.

[0143] An anchor WTRU may use an uplink resource (e.g., a PUCCH or PUSCH resource) to send a group positioning report to the serving BS. The configuration of the uplink resource (e.g., on PUCCH or PUSCH) may be provided by the serving BS, for example, as part of the group positioning configuration. If the anchor WTRU is not configured with an uplink resource to send a group positioning report, the anchor WTRU may send a scheduling request to the serving BS to obtain permission for the uplink resource (e.g., on PUSCH) to send a group positioning report to the serving BS.

[0144] An anchor WTRU may be configured to perform triggered reporting for a group of positioning reports. For example, an anchor WTRU may be triggered to report the received measurement report and / or associated measurements to the network (e.g., a positioning server or serving BS) when it receives a measurement report from a configured target WTRU (e.g., some or all target WTRUs from which the anchor WTRU is configured to expect measurement reports). For example, an anchor WTRU may be triggered to send the received measurement report and / or associated measurements if it determines that positioning measurements from one or more target WTRUs have changed significantly from previously measured values ​​(e.g., significantly) (e.g., the change in measurement is greater than a threshold, such as more than K dB from the previously measured value). The anchor WTRU may include (e.g., only) a report for the target WTRU whose measurement has changed more than the threshold. The configuration of a triggered report may include one or more of the following: a threshold value, an event definition, etc. The configuration may be sent to the anchor WTRU by the network (e.g., positioning server or serving BS), for example, via the RRC configuration or in the group positioning configuration. Triggered reports may be sent to the positioning server, for example, using a positioning protocol (e.g., LPP, SUPL, NRPP). Triggered reports may be sent to the network as an RRC uplink message. Triggered reports may be sent to the serving BS using an uplink shared channel (e.g., on PUSCH). The anchor WTRU may send a scheduling request to the serving BS to authorize uplink resources (e.g., to PUSCH).

[0145] (For example, in the case of a periodic / semi-permanent configuration of positioning measurement and reporting), if the anchor WTRU decides to change or request a change in the rate and / or periodicity of positioning measurement and / or reporting by the target WTRU, and / or decides that a change in the rate and / or frequency of monitoring and / or reporting by the WTRU is necessary (e.g., measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring), the anchor WTRU may indicate this decision to the network. The anchor WTRU may send instructions to increase or decrease the rate and / or periodicity of positioning measurement and reporting associated with the target WTRU (e.g., a 2-bit instruction is added (e.g., to the beginning) to the group's positioning report for the allocated resources). The network may reconfigure the positioning measurement and reporting based on the instructions received from the anchor WTRU. The anchor WTRU may determine the rate / periodicity change for measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring. One or more of the following may apply: An anchor WTRU may monitor and / or receive measurement reports from a target WTRU over one or more measurement periods. If the measurement reports of the target WTRUs (e.g., each target WTRU) do not change by more than a threshold, for example, if the change is within K1 dB over the last K2 period, the anchor WTRU may request that the network reduce the rate of measurement and reporting. If the measurement reports of the target WTRUs (e.g., each target WTRU) change by more than a threshold, for example, if the change (e.g., mean change) is more than a certain number of dB over a number of periods, for example, K3 dB over the last K4 period, the anchor WTRU may request that the network increase the rate of measurement and reporting. If the anchor WTRU determines that the location of the target WTRU or anchor WTRU has changed (e.g., more than a threshold, K5) over a number of periods (e.g., the last K6 measurement period), the anchor WTRU may request that the network increase the rate of measurement, reporting, and / or monitoring.The anchor WTRU may determine its own position / position change and / or velocity by GNSS measurements, a gyroscope, accelerometer, IMU, or other means within the device. The anchor WTRU may determine the position change of the target WTRU by measurement reports received from the target WTRU. The values ​​of K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, and K6 may be configured by the network as part of the group's positioning configuration.

[0146] If an anchor WTRU determines that it cannot be configured as a valid anchor WTRU (e.g., can no longer be configured as a valid anchor WTRU) while it is actively performing positioning measurements and reporting, the anchor WTRU may indicate this determination to the network. This indication to the network may be configured as an event-based notification or report, which may be provided by the network. An event may be triggered in one or more of the following scenarios: An event may be triggered if the anchor WTRU determines that it cannot perform accurate measurements to estimate its own position while it is actively performing / monitoring positioning measurements and reporting (e.g., the anchor WTRU does not listen to, or is unable to listen to, a certain threshold number of base stations, e.g., more than one or two BSs) (e.g., this may be determined by the anchor WTRU's ability to monitor downlink measurements from one or more nearby BSs). The anchor WTRU may indicate to the network that it cannot be configured as an anchor WTRU (e.g., cannot continue to be configured). A threshold (e.g., an RSRP threshold) can be used to determine whether an anchor WTRU can listen to a BS (e.g., cannot receive communications from a BS). In an embodiment, the anchor WTRU may compare the threshold with a downlink measurement (e.g., RSRP) received from the BS. The threshold may be received from the network, for example, in a triggered notification configuration. (This may include at least one or more of the following: an RSRP threshold value, a threshold indicating the minimum number of BSs that need to be listened to, an event definition, etc.) The triggered notification configuration may be sent by the network (e.g., a positioning server or serving BS) to the anchor WTRU, for example, in an RRC configuration or a group positioning configuration. The triggered notification sent by the anchor WTRU may be sent to the positioning server using a positioning protocol (e.g., LPP, SUPL, NRPP). The triggered notification may be sent to the network via an RRC uplink message.Triggered notifications can be sent to, for example, the serving BS using the uplink shared channel (e.g., over PUSCH). The anchor WTRU can send a scheduling request to the serving BS to authorize the uplink resource (e.g., over PUSCH). The network can reconfigure positioning measurements and reports based on the triggered notifications received from the anchor WTRU.

[0147] Figure 9 is an illustrative diagram illustrating the relationship between an anchor WTRU that transmits a reference signal and reports group positioning. One or more of the following may apply:

[0148] As shown in Figure 9, the anchor WTRU may receive configurations from the network associated with group positioning (e.g., group positioning configuration, group positioning request, etc.). As shown in Figure 9, the anchor WTRU may transmit a reference signal on the configured SL resource (e.g., as configured in the received configuration). As shown in Figure 9, the anchor WTRU may monitor and / or receive measurement reports from the target WTRU (e.g., including measurements associated with the transmitted reference signal). As shown in Figure 9, the anchor WTRU may store the measurement reports received from the target WTRU (e.g., along with the target WTRU ID). As shown in Figure 9, the anchor WTRU may create and / or send a group positioning report based on the received measurement reports (e.g., the WTRU may send each of the received measurements, the WTRU may send the received measurements if the conditions are met, etc.). As shown in Figure 9, the anchor WTRU may terminate the reference signal transmission, measurement result collection, and group positioning report once a certain number of transmissions given to the group positioning configuration have been completed.

[0149] An anchor WTRU can be reconfigured to terminate or change its configuration (e.g., reference signal transmission and / or measurement result collection and / or group positioning reporting) by a positioning server using a positioning protocol (e.g., LPP, NRPP, SUPL) or by a serving BS (e.g., RRC or DCI).

[0150] A WTRU can be configured as a target WTRU. One or more of the following may apply:

[0151] A target WTRU may monitor a reference signal (e.g., the reference signal may be a sidelink synchronization signal such as PSSS, SSSS, or DMRS in PSBCH, or a sidelink CSI-RS or sidelink PRS) on a sidelink, e.g., an SL channel, from one or more anchor WTRUs (e.g., for the purpose of positioning a group using sidelinks). The target WTRU may perform measurements on the reference signal received on the sidelink (e.g., an SL channel) to estimate one or more configured parameters related to WTRU positioning (e.g., RSRP, time of arrival (TOA), angle of arrival (AOA), RS time difference (RSTD), etc.). The target WTRU may consist of measurement configurations received from, for example, a network entity or an anchor WTRU.The measurement configuration may include one or more of the following: a sidelink configuration (e.g., time and / or frequency resources) that can be used to receive a reference signal from one or more anchor WTRUs; an indication of a reference anchor WTRU (e.g., the ProSe WTRU ID of the reference anchor WTRU or the index of the reference signal of the reference anchor WTRU) that can be used by the target WTRU to determine the relative time difference (e.g., RSTD) between two reference signals (e.g., a reference signal received from a reference anchor WTRU and a measured reference signal from another anchor WTRU); periodicity (e.g., an indication of the period over which measurements and reports may be repeated); an indication of a number of transmissions (e.g., the number of transmissions of a reference signal on the sidelink) (e.g., an indication of slots, symbols, and / or subframe offsets for reference signal transmissions on the sidelink); an indication of the destination anchor WTRU ID (e.g., sidelink L2 IDs such as the ProSe WTRU ID) to which the measurement report will be sent; and the measurement type (SL SS). Instructions for RSRP, TOA, AOA, RSTD, etc., instructions for the reporting format (e.g., individual, average of N values, etc.), spatial information (e.g., number of beams, beam ID, etc.), masking or scrambling sequences (e.g., unique) for anchor WTRUs (e.g., each anchor WTRU), or sidelink configurations (e.g., time and / or frequency resources) for sending measurement reports to destination anchor WTRUs.

[0152] Configurations for performing measurements by the target WTRU may be transmitted by the positioning server (e.g., a group positioning request to the target WTRU, as shown in Figure 8). The configurations may be transmitted to the target WTRU using a control plane positioning protocol or a data plane positioning protocol (e.g., SUPL, LPP, NRPP). Messages containing configurations for performing sidelink-based group positioning (e.g., as described herein) may be defined to position the protocol between the positioning server and the WTRU (e.g., SUPL, LPP, NRPP). Communication between the positioning server and the serving BS may be provided to enable the configuration of the target WTRU.

[0153] The configuration for performing the measurement by the target WTRU may be transmitted by a serving BS in the downlink control channel and / or DCI, masked or scrambled (e.g., CRC scrambled) with SL-RNTI, SL-PG-RNTI, or SL-P-RNTI. The configuration may be received by the serving BS via a downlink shared channel, and the resources of the shared channel may be indicated in the DCI (e.g., the DCI may be scrambled with SL-P-RNTI). The configuration of the reference signal may be contained in a higher-layer parameter (e.g., RRC), which may include one or more resource configurations, each having identification information. For example, the DCI scrambled with SL-RNTI, SL-PG-RNTI, or SL-P-RNTI may include resource identification (e.g., only this) which may be used to activate the measurement on the corresponding resource.

[0154] When a target WTRU performs a measurement using reference signals from one or more anchor WTRUs, the target WTRU may send a measurement report to the configured destination anchor WTRU, including one or more of the following: RS identifier, angle information, RSTD, Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, etc. The configuration of the sidelink resource used to send the measurement report and the WTRU ID of the destination anchor WTRU (e.g., ProSe ID) may be received in the measurement configuration, which may be sent by a positioning server or serving BS as described herein. The target WTRU may send, for example, sidelink control information (e.g., SCI0) to the destination anchor WTRU on a sidelink control channel (e.g., PSCCH). The sidelink control information may include a resource configuration for a sidelink shared channel (e.g., PSSCH), which may be used to send and / or receive the measurement report.

[0155] The target WTRU may send measurement reports to the positioning server using a positioning protocol (e.g., LPP, SUPL, NRPP). In the embodiment, the target WTRU may receive the measurement report configuration from the positioning server.

[0156] The target WTRU may send measurement reports to the serving BS using an uplink resource (e.g., on a PUCCH or PUSCH resource). In the embodiment, the configuration of the uplink resource (e.g., on a PUCCH or PUSCH resource) may be received by the serving BS (e.g., as part of the measurement configuration).

[0157] Figure 10 illustrates an example of positioning measurements being performed and associated with a target WTRU, which are reported using a side link. One or more of the following may apply:

[0158] As shown in Figure 10, the target WTRU may receive sidelink reference signals and / or configurations associated with the associated sidelink resources to be monitored (e.g., group positioning requests) (e.g., configurations may be sent by the network or anchor WTRU). As shown in Figure 10, the target WTRU may monitor and / or receive sidelink reference signals on the sidelink resources for a certain period (e.g., the current period). As shown in Figure 10, the target WTRU may store a timestamp for the received sidelink reference signals. As shown in Figure 10, the target WTRU may calculate measurements (e.g., RSTD measurements) associated with the received sidelink reference signals (e.g., the WTRU may do so if there are no more scheduled sidelink reference signal receptions for the current period). As shown in Figure 10, the target WTRU may send such measurements to a configured anchor WTRU (e.g., using configured sidelink resources such as the sidelink resources configured in the group positioning request). As shown in Figure 10, the target WTRU may repeat one or more functions for the remainder of the period.

[0159] The target WTRU may terminate the measurement report once a certain number of transmissions, as specified in the measurement report configuration, have been completed.

[0160] The target WTRU may be reconfigured to terminate or change its measurement configuration, for example, using a positioning protocol from a positioning server (e.g., LPP, NRPP, SUPL) or by a serving BS (e.g., by RRC or DCI).

[0161] Positioning technology for autonomous WTRU groups may be provided. One or more of the following may apply:

[0162] Reference signal transmission (e.g., sidelink synchronization signal) may be performed on a sidelink from within coverage or from another out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., to enable autonomous positioning estimation of an out-of-coverage WTRU). For example, an out-of-coverage WTRU may be a WTRU that does not have coverage on the frequencies used for sidelink communication. Reference signal transmission may be used to perform positioning measurements by an out-of-coverage WTRU. Positioning measurements of an out-of-coverage WTRU may be sent to a positioning server via an in-coverage WTRU, which can be used to estimate the position of the out-of-coverage WTRU. An example of positioning of an autonomous WTRU group is illustrated in Figure 11. Referring to Figure 11, WTRU1 may be an in-coverage WTRU, and WTRU2 and WTRU3 may be out-of-coverage WTRUs.

[0163] One or more of the following may apply to out-of-coverage WTRUs:

[0164] An out-of-coverage WTRU may perform positioning measurements (e.g., AOA, TOA, RSRP, etc.) on a reference signal received from an in-coverage WTRU or another out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., a side-link synchronization signal such as PSSS, SSSS, or DMRS in PSBCH, or a side-link CSI-RS or side-link PRS, etc.) (for example, to enable positioning estimation of the out-of-coverage WTRU using a side link).

[0165] An out-of-coverage WTRU may send its measurement results (e.g., AOA, Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, etc.) to an in-coverage or out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., a WTRU used by a reference signal to perform positioning measurements) using pre-configured sidelink resources (for example, a set of transmit and receive resource pools for sidelink control / data information when the WTRU is out of coverage for sidelink communication may be pre-configured in the WTRU, e.g., in the USIM of a UICC card). For example, an out-of-coverage WTRU may send sidelink control information (e.g., SCI0) to the reference WTRU on a sidelink control channel (e.g., PSCCH), e.g., on a pre-configured sidelink resource. In an embodiment, the sidelink control information may include resource configuration for a sidelink shared channel (e.g., PSSCH), and the shared channel may include measurement report data in the corresponding sidelink shared channel. A particular SCI may be designed to transmit measurement reports over a sidelink, and as a result, the destination WTRU may recognize the reception of the SCI over the sidelink as an instruction for a measurement report. A set of resources on the sidelink may be dedicated as a sidelink control channel or a sidelink data channel. In an embodiment, a dedicated resource may be used to transmit a measurement report. For out-of-coverage WTRUs, the dedicated resource may be pre-configured. For in-coverage WTRUs, configuration information associated with the dedicated resource may be sent by the serving BS, for example, using RRC.

[0166] The ProSe ID of a reference WTRU that may be used when sending a measurement report may be received in the data following the reference signal transmission from the reference WTRU (e.g., data following the synchronization signal transmission), or may be multiplexed together with the reference signal transmission. In-coverage or out-of-coverage WTRUs may include, for example, the ProSe ID of each WTRU in the PSBCH transmission if the data transmission does not follow the synchronization signal transmission.

[0167] An out-of-coverage WTRU may, for example, monitor measurement reports from one or more other out-of-coverage WTRUs on a pre-configured sidelink resource. For example, an out-of-coverage WTRU may monitor a specific SCI that may be designed for measurement report transmission on a sidelink.

[0168] Out-of-coverage WTRUs may collect measurement results from one or more other out-of-coverage WTRUs.

[0169] An out-of-coverage WTRU may include measurement results from other out-of-coverage WTRUs in its report, directed to the reference WTRU of the out-of-coverage WTRU. For example, if an out-of-coverage WTRU receives measurement results from another WTRU, the out-of-coverage WTRU may include the results in its report (e.g., all results). An out-of-coverage WTRU may derive measurement results from other WTRUs with respect to its reference (e.g., location, time, etc.). In an embodiment, the out-of-coverage WTRU may send the derived measurement to the reference WTRU. For example, if the measurement results of another WTRU (e.g., an out-of-coverage WTRU) include an Rx-Tx time difference, the out-of-coverage WTRU may derive the RTT for the WTRU, for example, as an updated measurement result. Out-of-coverage WTRUs may include updated measurement results for other WTRUs in the out-of-coverage WTRU's report to the reference WTRU of the out-of-coverage WTRU. Out-of-coverage WTRUs may include the WTRU ID (e.g., ProSe ID) of the corresponding WTRU in each report to the reference WTRU of the out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., in addition to the measurement results of other WTRUs).

[0170] One or more of the following may apply to the coverage WTRU:

[0171] An in-coverage WTRU may, for example, monitor measurement reports from one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs on a pre-configured sidelink resource. For example, an in-coverage WTRU may monitor a specific SCI that may be designed for measurement report transmission on a sidelink.

[0172] An in-coverage WTRU may collect positional measurements from one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs.

[0173] An in-coverage WTRU may prepare a group positioning report, for example, upon receiving measurement reports from one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs. In an embodiment, the group positioning report may include measurement results from one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs (e.g., AOA, Rx-Tx time difference, RSRP, etc.) and the corresponding WTRU ID (e.g., ProSe ID) for each out-of-coverage WTRU. An in-coverage WTRU may derive measurement results from one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs with respect to the in-coverage WTRU (e.g., location, time, etc.). For example, if the measurement results of an in-coverage WTRU include the Rx-Tx time difference for each WTRU, the in-coverage WTRU may derive the RTT for that WTRU as an updated measurement result. The in-coverage WTRU may include the updated measurement results in the group positioning report of the in-coverage WTRUs.

[0174] A WTRU within coverage may, for example, use a positioning protocol between the WTRU and the positioning server to send a group positioning report to the positioning server. A WTRU within coverage may send a request to send a group positioning request to the positioning server. A WTRU within coverage may monitor for acknowledgments from the positioning server. Messages for sending group positioning requests and acknowledgments may be designed for the positioning protocol between the WTRU and the positioning server. For example, if an acknowledgment is received, the WTRU within coverage may use the positioning protocol between the WTRU and the positioning server to send a group positioning report to the positioning server.

[0175] An In-Coverage WTRU may use an uplink resource (e.g., a PUCCH or PUSCH resource) to send a group positioning report to the Serving BS. An In-Coverage WTRU may consist of a periodic or semi-persistent uplink resource (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) which may be used to send the group positioning report. If an In-Coverage WTRU does not consist of an uplink resource, it may send a scheduling request to the Serving BS to authorize the uplink resource (e.g., on PUSCH) to send the group positioning report to the Serving BS.

[0176] An in-coverage WTRU may be configured to perform a triggered report, for example, to send a group positioning report. Under conditions where it receives measurement reports from one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs, the in-coverage WTRU may detect one or more of the following situations: The in-coverage WTRU may detect that a positioning measurement received from an out-of-coverage WTRU has not been communicated to the positioning server in the last N1 slot (for example, N1 may be configured in the in-coverage WTRU by the network, for example, as part of a triggered reporting configuration). The in-coverage WTRU may detect that a positioning measurement received from an out-of-coverage WTRU has changed by a value greater than a certain threshold (for example, more than N2 dB compared to a previous measurement), where N2 may be configured by the network (for example, as part of a triggered reporting configuration). If the in-coverage WTRU detects one or more of the following conditions, the in-coverage WTRU may be triggered to report to the network (for example, a positioning server or serving BS). In the embodiment, an in-coverage WTRU may include reporting of an out-of-coverage WTRU where the measured value has changed by a certain amount greater than a threshold (e.g., N2 dB). The triggered reporting configuration may include the values ​​of N1 and N2, a definition of the trigger event, etc. The triggered reporting configuration may be sent to the in-coverage WTRU by the network (e.g., a positioning server or serving BS), for example in an RRC configuration. The triggered report may be sent to the positioning server using a positioning protocol (e.g., LPP, SUPL, NRPP). The message may be designed to send the triggered report using a positioning protocol between the WTRU and the positioning server. The triggered report may be sent to the network as an RRC uplink message. The triggered report may be sent using an uplink shared channel (e.g., over PUSCH), in which case the in-coverage WTRU may send a scheduling request to the serving BS to authorize the uplink resource (e.g., over PUSCH).

[0177] An in-coverage WTRU may calculate the location (e.g., absolute location) of one or more out-of-coverage WTRUs (e.g., WTRUs from which the in-coverage WTRU receives measurement results). The in-coverage WTRU may use a sidelink to send location estimation information to the out-of-coverage WTRU (e.g., the WTRU from which the measurement results were received). The configuration of the sidelink resource may be provided to the in-coverage WTRU from the serving BS via, for example, an RRC or DCI (e.g., scrambled in the SL-RNTI of the coverage WTRU).

[0178] WTRU positioning measurements may be transmitted using sidelinks. One or more of the following may apply:

[0179] A sidelink resource switch may be provided. One or more of the following may apply:

[0180] The WTRU may be configured, for example, to perform positioning measurements while the WTRU is idle. The positioning measurements may be performed using one or more positioning techniques, such as OTDOA, A-GNSS, E-CID, etc.

[0181] A WTRU may be configured with a sidelink interface to one or more other WTRUs. A WTRU may be configured to send positioning measurement reports over the sidelink interface.

[0182] A WTRU may consist of one or more of the following parameters, which may be used to perform positioning measurement reporting on the sidelink interface: a sidelink reporting response instruction, a list of sidelink-responsive WTRUs (e.g., ProSe ID), a list containing DRX cycles for sidelink-responsive WTRUs, an instruction for the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, an instruction for the reporting value threshold (e.g., threshold 1), and an instruction for the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., which may be set or configured to a first quantity).

[0183] In this embodiment, sidelink reporting parameters can be used to determine whether the WTRU can transmit positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface.

[0184] A list of Sidelink-enabled WTRUs can be used to identify nearby WTRUs that may be used to transmit positioning measurement reports on the Sidelink interface. A WTRU may be configured to screen other WTRUs according to the list of Sidelink-enabled WTRUs, for example (e.g., during discovery). If a list of Sidelink-enabled WTRUs is not provided, a WTRU may screen nearby WTRUs based on certain features, for example, that may be announced during discovery.

[0185] A list containing discontinuous reception (DRX) cycles of sidelink-enabled WTRUs may be used to notify a duration WTRU that a neighboring WTRU is connected. The list may include the periodicity and offset values ​​of the WTRUs in the list (e.g., each WTRU). The list may follow the same order as (e.g., the same as) that is used for a list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs.

[0186] The maximum positioning measurement report delay can be used to inform the WTRU of the maximum allowable duration (e.g., the duration from the time the positioning measurement is performed until the positioning measurement report is received by the receiving entity). For example, the maximum positioning measurement report delay may be associated with a BS, positioning server, etc. The maximum positioning measurement report delay may include the time taken for the WTRU to transmit the positioning measurement report over the sidelink interface and for subsequent transmission by the sidelink WTRU to the receiving entity (e.g., BS, positioning server, etc.).

[0187] A reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 1) may refer to a change in the measured value, and when this is exceeded, a reduction in the maximum position reporting delay may be triggered, for example, by a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a first quantity). The change in the measured value may refer to the absolute difference between the current measured value and a previously reported positioning measured value.

[0188] The maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a first quantity) may refer to the amount by which the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay is reduced when the change in the positioning measurement value determined by the WTRU is greater than the reporting value threshold (e.g., threshold 1).

[0189] The reporting threshold and the range of the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction coefficient can be configured. WTRU may activate different maximum positioning delay reduction coefficients depending, for example, the reporting threshold.

[0190] For example, a connected WTRU may be configured to provide positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface. The WTRU may consist of a dedicated resource for providing positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface. This dedicated resource for providing positioning measurement reports may be repeated over time, for example, periodically.

[0191] WTRU may enter an idle state, for example, when the deactivation timer expires.

[0192] The WTRU can perform positioning measurements based on the configuration that can be provided by the network.

[0193] When a positioning measurement is performed, the WTRU may determine which available sidelink WTRU can satisfy the maximum positioning measurement report delay (e.g., currently available). The WTRU transmits the positioning measurement report over the sidelink interface on the configured dedicated resource, and the sidelink WTRU may include instructions for latency to forward the positioning measurement report, including any applicable delays, to the receiving entity (e.g., BS, positioning server, etc.) by, for example, the DRX cycle of the sidelink WTRU.

[0194] If two or more sidelink WTRUs satisfy the requirement that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may select (for example, one) sidelink WTRU to send positioning measurement reports, for example, by random selection, round-robin selection, minimum total reporting delay, etc.

[0195] The WTRU may transmit positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface to a selected sidelink WTRU on a configured dedicated resource. The identification information of the selected sidelink WTRU may be included in the attached control information, for example, sidelink control information - format 0 (SCI0).

[0196] If a positioning measurement obtained by the WTRU (e.g., measured or received) differs from a previously reported positioning measurement by a certain value greater than a reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 1), the WTRU may reduce the maximum positioning measurement delay by a configured value (e.g., a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a first quantity)). The WTRU may use the reduced maximum positioning reporting delay value to determine the sidelink WTRU.

[0197] The maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor can be scaled, for example, according to the difference between the current measurement positioning value and the previous measurement positioning value (for example, by a certain amount greater than the reporting value threshold (e.g., threshold 1)). The WTRU may consist of a scaling factor or threshold range and the corresponding reduction factor.

[0198] WTRU may compare the current measurement to the standard deviation across N past measurements (for example, instead of comparing the difference between the current measurement and a previous measurement to a threshold configured when determining the reduction in maximum reporting delay). The standard deviation window size (N) may be configured for WTRU, and WTRU may reduce the maximum reporting delay if, for example, the current measurement exceeds the standard deviation by a certain value or coefficient.

[0199] If a sidelink WTRU in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot meet the requirement that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report using resources from a common resource pool (e.g., common resource pool transmission).

[0200] In the case of a common resource pool transmission, the WTRU may determine an available sidelink WTRU that can satisfy the maximum positioning measurement report delay. The WTRU transmits the positioning measurement report over the sidelink interface on the common resource pool, and the sidelink WTRU may include latency to forward the positioning measurement report, including any applicable delays, to the receiving entity (e.g., BS, positioning server, etc.) by, for example, the DRX cycle of the sidelink WTRU.

[0201] If two or more sidelink WTRUs meet the requirement that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may select (for example, one) sidelink WTRU to send the positioning measurement reports using a common resource pool, for example, by random selection, round-robin selection, minimum total reporting delay, etc.

[0202] The WTRU may send positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface to a selected sidelink WTRU on a common resource pool. The identification information of the selected sidelink WTRU (e.g., ProSe ID or sidelink UE ID) may be included in the attached control information, e.g., sidelink control information - format 0 (SCI0).

[0203] The WTRU may send positioning measurement reports as broadcast or multicast messages and may indicate whether the measurement reports are broadcast or multicast to the attached SCI0.

[0204] WTRU can be triggered to switch to connected mode. One or more of the following may apply:

[0205] The WTRU may be configured to perform positioning measurements while idle. These positioning measurements may be performed using one or more positioning techniques, such as OTDOA, A-GNSS, or E-CID.

[0206] A WTRU may be configured with a sidelink interface to one or more other WTRUs. A WTRU may be configured to send positioning measurement reports over the sidelink interface.

[0207] A WTRU may consist of one or more of the following parameters for providing positioning measurement reports on a sidelink interface: an indication that sidelink reporting is enabled, a list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs, a list containing DRX cycles for sidelink-enabled WTRUs, an indication of the maximum positioning measurement report delay, an indication of the report value threshold (e.g., threshold 2), or an indication of the maximum positioning measurement report delay reduction factor (e.g., a second amount).

[0208] The reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 2) may refer to the change in the measured value, and if this is exceeded, it may trigger a reduction in the maximum position reporting delay, for example, by a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a second quantity). The change in the measured value may refer to the absolute difference between the current positioning measurement and a previously reported positioning measurement.

[0209] The maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., the second quantity) may refer to the amount by which the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay is reduced when the change in positioning measurement value determined by WTRU exceeds the reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 2).

[0210] While idle, if configured positioning measurements are performed, the WTRU may determine an available sidelink WTRU that can satisfy the maximum positioning measurement report delay. The WTRU transmits the positioning measurement report over the sidelink interface on the configured dedicated resource, and the DRX cycle of the sidelink WTRU may include latency to forward the positioning measurement report to the receiving entity (e.g., BS, positioning server, etc.), including any applicable delays (which may be performed by the sidelink WTRU).

[0211] If a positioning measurement obtained by the WTRU (e.g., measured or received) differs from a previously reported positioning measurement by a certain value greater than the reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 2), the WTRU may reduce the maximum positioning measurement delay by a configured value (e.g., a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a second quantity)). The WTRU may then use the reduced maximum positioning reporting delay value to determine the sidelink WTRU.

[0212] The maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor may be scaled, for example, when the difference between the current positioning measurement and the previous positioning measurement is greater than the reporting value threshold (e.g., threshold 2). The WTRU may consist of a scaling factor or threshold range and the corresponding reduction factor.

[0213] WTRU may compare the current measurement to the standard deviation of the past N measurements (for example, instead of comparing the difference between the current measurement and a previous measurement to a threshold configured to determine the reduction of the maximum reporting delay). In the embodiment, the window size (N) may be configured with respect to the WTRU, and the WTRU may reduce the maximum reporting delay if, for example, the current value exceeds the standard deviation by a certain value or coefficient.

[0214] If a sidelink WTRU in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the condition that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may choose to send the positioning measurement report directly to the receiving entity (e.g., BS, positioning server, etc.). In the embodiment, the WTRU may choose to send the positioning measurement report directly to the receiving entity by transitioning to a connected state (e.g., by performing connection establishment).

[0215] If a positioning measurement obtained by the WTRU (e.g., measured or received) differs from a previously reported positioning measurement by a certain value greater than a reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 2), the WTRU may decide to send a positioning measurement report (e.g., directly) to a receiving entity (e.g., a BS, positioning server, etc.). In the embodiment, the WTRU may send a positioning measurement report to a receiving entity by transitioning to a connected state, for example by establishing a connection.

[0216] Multilevel switching may be performed, for example, to transmit positioning measurement reports. One or more of the following may apply:

[0217] The WTRU may be configured to perform positioning measurements while the WTRU is idle. Positioning measurements may be performed using one or more positioning techniques, such as OTDOA, A-GNSS, E-CID, etc.

[0218] A WTRU may be configured with a sidelink interface to one or more other WTRUs. A WTRU may be configured to send positioning measurement reports over the sidelink interface.

[0219] A WTRU may consist of one or more of the following parameters, which may be used to perform positioning measurement reporting on a sidelink interface: an indication of whether sidelink reporting is enabled, a list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs, a list including an indication of the DRX cycle for sidelink-enabled WTRUs, an indication of the maximum positioning measurement report relay, an indication of the reporting value threshold (e.g., threshold 1), an indication of the reporting value threshold (e.g., threshold 2, which may be greater than threshold 1), an indication of the maximum positioning measurement report delay reduction factor (e.g., which may be set to a first quantity), or an indication of the maximum positioning measurement report delay reduction factor (e.g., a second quantity, which may be greater than a first quantity).

[0220] The WTRU may be configured, for example, to provide positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface when the WTRU is connected. The WTRU may consist of resources (e.g., dedicated resources) for providing positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface. These dedicated resources for providing positioning measurement reports may, for example, be periodic and repeated.

[0221] WTRU may enter an idle state, for example, when the deactivation timer expires.

[0222] The WTRU can perform positioning measurements, for example, according to a configuration that may be provided by a network.

[0223] The WTRU may be an available sidelink WTRU determination that can satisfy the maximum positioning measurement report delay (for example, after performing a positioning measurement). The WTRU may include latency for sending the positioning measurement report over a sidelink interface on a configured (e.g., dedicated) resource and for the sidelink WTRU to forward the positioning measurement report, including applicable DRX cycles, to a receiving entity (e.g., a BS, positioning server, etc.).

[0224] If two or more sidelink WTRUs satisfy the requirement that the total reporting delay is less than the maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may select (for example, one) sidelink WTRU to send positioning measurement reports, for example, by random selection, round-robin selection, minimum total reporting delay, etc.

[0225] The WTRU may transmit positioning measurement reports on the sidelink interface to a selected sidelink WTRU, for example, on a configured (e.g., dedicated) resource. The identification information of the selected sidelink WTRU (e.g., ProSe ID) may be included in the attached control information, for example, sidelink control information - format 0 (SCI0).

[0226] If a positioning measurement obtained by a WTRU (e.g., measured or received) differs from a previously reported positioning measurement by a certain value greater than a reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 1), the WTRU may reduce the maximum positioning measurement delay by a configured value (e.g., a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a first quantity)). The WTRU may use the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay value to select a sidelink WTRU (e.g., select a sidelink WTRU to transmit a positioning measurement report, as described herein).

[0227] If the positioning measurement obtained by the WTRU differs from a previously reported positioning measurement by a certain value greater than the reporting threshold (e.g., threshold 2), the WTRU may reduce the maximum positioning measurement delay by a configured value (e.g., a maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor (e.g., a second quantity)). The WTRU may use the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay value to select a sidelink WTRU (e.g., select a sidelink WTRU to send a positioning measurement report as described herein).

[0228] The maximum positioning measurement reporting delay reduction factor may be scaled, for example, when the difference between the current measurement positioning value and the previous measurement positioning value is greater than the reporting value threshold. The WTRU may consist of a scaling factor or threshold range and the corresponding reduction factor.

[0229] WTRU may compare the current measurement to the standard deviation across N past measurements (for example, instead of comparing the difference between the current measurement and a previous measurement to a threshold configured to determine the reduction in maximum reporting delay). In the embodiment, a window size (N) may be configured with respect to the WTRU, and the WTRU may reduce the maximum reporting delay if the current value exceeds a standard deviation by a certain value or coefficient.

[0230] If the maximum positioning measurement delay is reduced by a first or second amount, and the sidelink WTRUs in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the condition that the total reporting delay using the configured resources is less than the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report using resources from a common resource pool, for example. If the sidelink WTRUs in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the requirement that the total reporting delay using the common resource pool is less than the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay (for example, also less), the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report to a receiving entity (for example, a BS, positioning server, etc.) (for example, directly). In an embodiment, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report directly to a receiving entity by transitioning to a connected state, for example, by establishing a connection.

[0231] If the maximum positioning measurement delay is reduced by a first amount and the sidelink WTRUs in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the requirement that the total reporting delay using configured resources is less than the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report using resources from a common resource pool. If the maximum positioning measurement delay is reduced by a second amount and the sidelink WTRUs in the configured list of sidelink-enabled WTRUs cannot satisfy the requirement that the total reporting delay using configured resources is less than the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report (e.g., directly) to a receiving entity (e.g., a BS, positioning server, etc.). In an embodiment, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report directly to a receiving entity by transitioning to a connected state, for example, by establishing a connection.

[0232] Figure 12 illustrates an example associated with multi-level switching of resources for measurement reporting by a WTRU performing idle state measurements. One or more of the following may apply: As illustrated in Figure 12, the WTRU may decide to send the positioning measurement report using a common resource pool if it determines that it cannot meet the reduced maximum positioning measurement report delay condition by using configured resources (for example, by the difference between observed positioning measurements exceeding a configured threshold). If the difference between measurements exceeds a second threshold (e.g., threshold 2) and the WTRU cannot find a common resource pool that satisfies the reduced maximum positioning report delay, the WTRU may send the positioning report directly to the positioning server (for example, via the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)) by transitioning to a connected state.

[0233] Figure 13 illustrates an example associated with multi-level switching of resources for measurement reporting by a WTRU performing idle state measurement. One or more of the following may apply: As illustrated in Figure 13, a WTRU may be configured to send measurement positioning reports using configured resources. A WTRU may use the resources configured for measurement reporting, for example, as long as the difference in positioning measurements does not exceed a configured threshold. A WTRU may decide to send positioning measurement reports using a common resource pool if it determines that it cannot satisfy the reduced maximum positioning measurement reporting delay condition by using the configured resources (for example, by the difference in observed positioning measurements exceeding a configured first threshold). If the difference in measurements exceeds a second threshold and the WTRU cannot find a common resource pool that satisfies the reduced maximum positioning report reporting delay, the WTRU may send the positioning report directly to the positioning server, for example by transitioning to a connected state (for example, via the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)).

[0234] Features and elements can be described in specific combinations. However, each feature or element can be implemented alone, in combination with any of the other features and / or elements, or in any combination with or without the other features and elements.

[0235] The solutions described herein take into account certain technologies (e.g., New Radio (NR), 5G or LTE, LTE-A specific protocols), but the technologies described herein are not limited to any particular technology and may be applicable to any system.

Claims

1. A measuring wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), Receive positioning configuration information associated with the reference WTRU, Determine the first slot timing associated with the base station, Determine the second slot timing associated with the aforementioned reference WTRU, The reference signal time difference is determined based on the first slot timing and the second slot timing. The reference signal time difference is reported to the positioning server via the base station. Processor configured in such a way A measuring WTRU characterized by having the following features.

2. The aforementioned processor, The first slot timing, which is associated with the base station, receives a synchronization signal from the base station and is determined based on the synchronization signal. The measurement WTRU according to claim 1, further characterized by being configured as follows.

3. The aforementioned processor, A reference signal is received from the reference WTRU, and the second slot timing associated with the reference WTRU is determined based on the received synchronization signal. The measurement WTRU according to claim 1, further characterized by being configured as follows.

4. The aforementioned reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS), and the processor, The PRS receives PRS configuration information, and the PRS receives based on the PRS configuration information. The measurement WTRU according to claim 3, further characterized by being configured as follows.

5. The measurement WTRU according to claim 4, characterized in that the PRS configuration information indicates one or more of the scheduled resources, guard resources, or beams associated with receiving the PRS that are associated with the PRS.

6. The measurement WTRU according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning configuration information includes one or more of a sounding reference signal (SRS) pattern, an SRS resource, or a timing advance (TA) value.

7. Under the condition that the positioning configuration information includes the TA value, the processor A second slot timing is determined, adjusted based on the second slot timing and the TA value, and the reference signal time difference is further determined based on the adjusted second slot timing. The measurement WTRU according to claim 6, further characterized by being configured as follows.

8. The measurement WTRU according to claim 1, characterized in that the reference signal time difference is determined based on a calculation performed by the measurement WTRU.

9. The measurement WTRU according to claim 1, characterized in that the positioning configuration information is received via dedicated wireless resource control (RRC) signaling.

10. Receiving positioning configuration information associated with the reference wireless transceiver unit (WTRU), Determining the first slot timing associated with the base station, Determining a second slot timing associated with the aforementioned reference WTRU, The reference signal time difference is determined based on the first slot timing and the second slot timing, The base station reports the reference signal time difference to the positioning server. A method characterized by comprising:

11. Receiving a synchronization signal from the base station, wherein the first slot timing associated with the base station is determined based on the synchronization signal. The method according to 10, further comprising:

12. Receiving a reference signal from the reference WTRU, wherein the second slot timing associated with the reference WTRU is determined based on the received synchronization signal. The method according to 10, further comprising:

13. The aforementioned reference signal is a positioning reference signal (PRS), and the method is as follows: Receiving PRS configuration information, wherein the PRS is received based on the PRS configuration information. The method according to 12, further comprising:

14. The method according to 13, characterized in that the PRS configuration information indicates one or more of the scheduled resources, guard resources, or beams associated with receiving the PRS that are associated with the PRS.

15. The method according to 10, characterized in that the positioning configuration information includes one or more of a sounding reference signal (SRS) pattern, an SRS resource, or a timing advance (TA) value.

16. Under the condition that the positioning configuration information includes the TA value, Determining a second slot timing adjusted based on the second slot timing and the TA value, wherein the reference signal time difference is further determined based on the adjusted second slot timing. The method according to 15, further comprising:

17. The method according to 10, characterized in that the reference signal time difference is determined based on a calculation performed by the measurement WTRU.

18. The method according to 10, characterized in that the positioning configuration information is received via dedicated wireless resource control (RRC) signaling.

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