Positioning peer selection in cooperative sidelink positioning

Abstract

In one scenario, a target user equipment (UE) receives exploration messages from peer UEs. Each exploration message indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the peer UE for participation in a sidelink positioning communication period. The target UE sends an interest message to the peer UE indicating its intention to allow the peer UE to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period, and receives capability messages from the peer UE indicating additional capabilities associated with each peer UE. Based on the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with at least one peer UE, the target UE sends a selection message to at least one peer UE to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period. This selection message requests at least one peer UE to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target UE.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of GR application No. 20210100245, filed on April 9, 2021, entitled "POSITIONING PEER SELECTION IN COOPERATIVE SIDELINK POSITIONING", which is assigned to the assignee and whose entire contents are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0003] This case involves a wide range of systems related to wireless communication. Prior Technology

[0004] Wireless communication systems have evolved through different generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephony (1G), second-generation (2G) digital wireless telephony (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, wireless traffic supporting the Internet, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., LTE, WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS) systems. Known examples of cellular systems include Advanced Cellular Analog Telephone Systems (AMPS) and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0005] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), demands higher data transmission speeds, more connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGC), the 5G standard aims to provide tens of megabits per second (Mbps) of data to each of tens of thousands of users, and gigabits per second (Gbps) of data to dozens of employees in an office. To support large-scale sensor deployments, it should support hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signal transmission efficiency should be improved, and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following is a simplified summary relating to one or more states disclosed herein. Therefore, this summary should not be considered a broad overview relating to all anticipated states, nor should it be considered a key or critical element determining the relation to all anticipated states, or an indication of the scope relating to any particular state. Thus, the sole purpose of this summary is to present, in a simplified form, certain concepts of one or more states relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein before the detailed descriptions presented below.

[0007] In a first state, a method for selecting a peer location is performed by a target user equipment. The method includes receiving one or more exploration messages. Each of the one or more exploration messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipment. Each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink location communication period. The method includes sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipment indicating that the target user equipment intends to allow the one or more peer user equipments to participate in the sidelink location communication period. The method includes receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipment. Each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period. The method includes sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period and the additional capabilities. The selection message requests at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0008] In the second embodiment, the target user equipment includes memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more exploration messages. Each of the one or more exploration messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. Each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink location communication period. The at least one processor is configured to send an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments, indicating that the target user equipment intends to allow the one or more peer user equipments to participate in the sidelink location communication period. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments. Each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink location communication period. The at least one processor is configured to send a selection message to at least one peer user equipment (PUE) based on a subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with at least one PUE among one or more peer PUEs for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period. The selection message requests at least one PUE to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE.

[0009] In a third embodiment, an apparatus includes means for receiving one or more exploration messages. Each of the one or more exploration messages is received from a corresponding peer user device among one or more peer user devices. Each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period. The apparatus includes means for sending an interest message to one or more peer user devices indicating that a target user device intends to allow one or more peer user devices to participate in a sidelink location communication period. The apparatus includes means for receiving one or more capability messages from one or more peer user devices. Each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period. The apparatus includes means for sending a selection message to at least one peer user device based on a subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with at least one peer user device among one or more peer user devices for participating in a sidelink location communication period. The selection message requests at least one peer user device to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user device.

[0010] In the fourth state, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to receive one or more exploration messages. Each of the one or more exploration messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment (PUE) among one or more peer PUEs. Each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding PUE for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period. These instructions can also be executed by one or more processors to send an interest message to one or more PUEs, indicating that the target PUE intends to allow one or more PUEs to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period. These instructions can also be executed by one or more processors to receive one or more capability messages from one or more PUEs. Each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding PUE for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period. The instruction can also be executed by one or more processors to send a selection message to at least one peer user equipment (PUE) based on a subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with at least one PUE among one or more peer PUEs for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period. The selection message requests at least one PUE to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE.

[0011] In the fifth state, the target user equipment performs a method for selecting a peer location. This method includes sending a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink location communication period. The sidelink request message includes a subset of capabilities. The method includes receiving one or more exploration request messages. Each of the one or more exploration request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. Each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability from the subset of capabilities. The method includes sending a second message indicating additional capabilities to the one or more peer user equipments. The method includes receiving one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. The method includes sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment based on at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period. The selection message requests the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0012] In the sixth state, the target user equipment includes memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to send a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period. The sidelink request message includes a subset of capabilities. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more exploration request messages. Each of the one or more exploration request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. Each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability from the subset of capabilities. The at least one processor is configured to send a second message to the one or more peer user equipments. The second message identifies an additional capability. The at least one processor is configured to receive one or more acknowledgment messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. The at least one processor is configured to send a selection message to at least one peer user equipment (PUE) based on at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with at least one peer PUE for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE. The selection message requests at least one peer PUE to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE.

[0013] In a seventh embodiment, an apparatus includes means for transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period. The sidelink request message includes a subset of capabilities. The apparatus includes means for receiving one or more exploration request messages. Each of the one or more exploration request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments. Each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability from the subset of capabilities. The apparatus includes means for transmitting a second message indicating additional capabilities to the one or more peer user equipments. The apparatus includes means for receiving one or more acknowledgment messages from at least one of the one or more peer user equipments. The apparatus includes means for transmitting a selection message to at least one peer user equipment based on at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period. The selection message requests at least one peer user device to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user device.

[0014] In the eighth embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to send a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period. The sidelink request message includes a subset of capabilities. These instructions can be executed by one or more processors to receive one or more exploration request messages. Each of the one or more exploration request messages is received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. Each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability from the capability subset. These instructions can be executed by one or more processors to send a second message to the one or more peer user equipments. The second message identifies an additional capability. These instructions can be executed by one or more processors to receive one or more acknowledgment messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments. These instructions can be executed by one or more processors to send a selection message to at least one peer user equipment (PUE) based on at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with participating in a sidelink positioning communication period with at least one peer user equipment. The selection message requests at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE.

[0015] In the ninth state, a method for participating in a sidelink location communication period is performed by a peer user equipment (PUE). The method includes receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a serving cell. The authorization message authorizes the PUE to participate in the sidelink location communication period with at least one role. The method includes the PUE sending a message including capabilities associated with the PUE. These capabilities indicate at least one role. The method includes the PUE receiving a location message from a target user equipment (User Equipment). This location message requests the PUE to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target User Equipment. The method includes the PUE participating in a sidelink location communication period with the target User Equipment.

[0016] In the tenth example, the peer user equipment includes memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive an authorization message from a network entity of the serving cell. The authorization message authorizes the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role. The at least one processor is configured to send a message including capabilities associated with the peer user equipment. The capability indicates at least one role. The at least one processor is configured to receive a location message from a target user equipment. The location message requests the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment. The at least one processor is configured to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0017] In the eleventh embodiment, an apparatus includes means for receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a service cell. The authorization message authorizes a peer user equipment (PUE) to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role. The apparatus includes means for the PUE to send a message including capabilities associated with the PUE. The capability indicates at least one role. The apparatus includes means for the PUE to receive a location message from a target user equipment (User Equipment). The location message requests the PUE to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target User Equipment. The apparatus includes means for the PUE to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target User Equipment.

[0018] In the twelfth state, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to receive authorization messages from a network entity of a service cell. The authorization messages authorize peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role. The instructions are executable to send messages including capabilities associated with the peer user equipment. These capabilities indicate at least one role. The instructions are executable to receive location messages from a target user equipment. The location messages request the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment. These instructions are executable to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0019] In the thirteenth state, a method for authorizing a peer user equipment (PUE) performed by a network entity is disclosed. The method includes receiving an authorization request from the PUE. The authorization request requests permission to participate in a location communication period. The authorization request includes information associated with the PUE. The method includes determining, based on the information associated with the PUE, that the PUE cannot perform a role during the location communication period, and sending a response message indicating that the PUE is not authorized to participate in the location communication period. Alternatively, the method includes determining, based on the information associated with the PUE, that the PUE can perform a role during the location communication period, and sending an authorization message indicating that the PUE is authorized to participate in the location communication period with that role.

[0020] In the fourteenth state, the network entity includes memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor is configured to receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests permission to participate in a location communication period. The authorization request includes data associated with the peer user equipment. The at least one processor is configured to, based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role during the location communication period, send a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the location communication period. The at least one processor is also configured to, based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment can perform a role during the location communication period, send an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the location communication period with that role.

[0021] In the fifteenth embodiment, an apparatus includes a component for receiving an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests permission to participate in a location communication period. The authorization request includes data associated with the peer user equipment. The apparatus includes a component for sending a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the location communication period, based on a determination made according to the data associated with the peer user equipment. The apparatus also includes a component for sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the location communication period in that role, based on a determination made according to the data associated with the peer user equipment.

[0022] In the sixteenth embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests permission to participate in a location communication period. The authorization request includes data associated with the peer user equipment. The instructions are executable to send a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the location communication period, based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and a determination that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role during the location communication period. The instructions are also executable to send an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the location communication period in that role, based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and a determination that the peer user equipment can perform a role during the location communication period.

[0023] Based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the morphology disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0024] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe the various aspects of this case, and are provided solely for illustrative purposes and not for limiting the scope of these aspects.

[0025] Figure 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system according to the various forms described in this case.

[0026] Figures 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures according to various configurations in this case.

[0027] Figures 3A to 3C are simplified block diagrams of several example states of components that can be used in user equipment (UE), base stations, and network entities and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0028] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system that supports unicast-side crosslink establishment according to the various states of this case.

[0029] Figures 5A to 5D are diagrams illustrating example frame structures and channels within the frame structures according to various states of this case.

[0030] Figure 6 illustrates example scenarios of various states according to this case, where a UE with a known location can be used to improve the location estimation of the target UE.

[0031] Figure 7 illustrates an example scenario of various states according to this case, in which the location of a target UE without cellular connectivity is determined with the assistance of multiple UEs with cellular connectivity.

[0032] Figure 8 illustrates example scenarios of various states according to this case, in which the relay UE assists the remote UE in positioning.

[0033] Figure 9 is a diagram of the slot structure for various states without feedback resources in this case.

[0034] Figure 10 is an example of the overlap between the resource pools for various types according to this case and the resource pools used for positioning.

[0035] Figure 11 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system that reserves a resource pool for positioning according to the various states of this case.

[0036] Figure 12 illustrates examples of wireless communication systems including device-to-device (D2D) relays according to various aspects of this case.

[0037] Figure 13 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system that a peer point user equipment (UE) declares can be used to perform positioning according to the various forms of this case.

[0038] Figure 14 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system in which a target UE requests a peer UE to perform location services according to various states in this case.

[0039] Figure 15 illustrates an example diagram for establishing connections based on the various states in this case.

[0040] Figure 16 illustrates example programs for receiving one or more exploration messages, according to various aspects of this case.

[0041] Figure 17 illustrates example procedures for sending sidelink request messages according to various aspects of this case.

[0042] Figure 18 illustrates example procedures for receiving authorization messages according to various aspects of this case.

[0043] Figure 19 illustrates example procedures for receiving authorization requests according to various aspects of this case. Implementation

[0044] The following description and accompanying drawings provide various embodiments of this invention, which are provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative embodiments may be designed without departing from the scope of this invention. Furthermore, well-known elements of this invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this invention.

[0045] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance or illustration.” Any manner described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or superior to other manners. Similarly, the term “manner of this case” does not require that all manner of this case include the features, advantages or modes of operation discussed.

[0046] Those skilled in the art will understand that any of a variety of different techniques and skills can be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the required design, and in part on the appropriate technology, etc.

[0047] Furthermore, many states are described based on sequences of actions to be performed by elements of, for example, computing devices. It should be understood that the various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), program instructions executed by one or more processors, or a combination of both. Moreover, the sequences of actions described herein can be considered fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Therefore, the various states of this application can be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each state of the various states described herein, the corresponding form of any such state can be described herein as, for example, "logically configured" to perform the described actions.

[0048] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT). Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate on a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet, laptop, consumer asset positioning device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” is interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT”, “Client Equipment”, “Wireless Equipment”, “User Equipment”, “User Terminal”, “Subscriber Station”, “User Terminal” or “UT”, “Mobile Equipment”, “Mobile Terminal”, “Mobile Station”, or variations thereof. Generally, the UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and via the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, such as via wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.).

[0049] A base station can operate based on one of several RATs used to communicate with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an Access Point (AP), Network Node, NodeB, Evolved NodeB (eNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) NodeB (also known as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station is primarily used to support the UE's radio access, including supporting the data, voice, and / or signaling transport connections of the supported UE. In some systems, the base station can provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in others, it can provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can send signals to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse transport channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can send signals to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward transport channel, etc.). As used in this article, the term Transport Channel (TCH) can refer to either uplink / reverse or downlink / forward transport channel.

[0050] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be located in the same location. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be the antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs located in the same location, the physical TRP can be the antenna array of the base station (e.g., in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where beamforming is used at the base station). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs not located in the same location, the physical TRPs can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected via a transmission medium to a common source) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, physical TRPs not located in the same location can be the serving base station receiving measurement reports from the UE and an adjacent base station where the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal. Since the TRP is the point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of the base station.

[0051] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support the UE's data, voice, and / or signal transmission connections), but may instead send reference signals to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0052] An "RF signal" comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information across space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the multipath propagation characteristics of RF signals, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0053] Figure 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system 100 according to various embodiments of this invention. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. Base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one embodiment, the macrocell base station 102 may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or a gNB where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0054] Base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with core network 174 (e.g., Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or 5G Core (5GC)) via backhaul link 122, and connect with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., Location Management Function (LMF) or Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP)) via core network 174. Location server 172 can be part of core network 174 or external to core network 174. Among other functions, base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual-linkage), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of Non-Access Layer (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), user and device tracking, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, location, and warning message delivery. Base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via backhaul link 134, which can be wired or wireless.

[0055] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for its respective geographic coverage area 110. In one configuration, one or more cells can be supported by base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via certain frequency resources, referred to as carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Enhanced Cell Identifier (ECI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), etc.). In some cases, different cells can be configured based on different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others). Because cells are supported by specific base stations, the term "cell" can refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, provided that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within certain parts of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0056] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in delivery zones), some geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that can provide services to restricted groups called Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0057] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be transmitted via one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetrical relative to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0058] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150, which communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform an idle channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0059] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum as the WLAN AP 150. Employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can enhance coverage and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0060] The wireless communication system 100 may also include an mmW base station 180, which can operate at millimeter-wave and / or near-millimeter-wave frequencies when communicating with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a radio frequency segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF frequencies range from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-millimeter waves can extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 mm. The ultra-high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also known as centimeter waves. Communication using millimeter-wave / near-millimeter-wave radio bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The millimeter-wave base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the millimeter-wave communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use millimeter-wave or near-millimeter-wave frequencies and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the aforementioned illustrations are merely examples and should not be interpreted as limiting the various forms disclosed in this article.

[0061] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectional). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines the location of a given target device (e.g., a UE) relative to the transmitting network node and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing the receiving device with a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an antenna array (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves that can be "guided" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship, such that the radio waves from the individual antennas are phased to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in undesired directions.

[0062] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to have the same parameters at the receiver (e.g., UE), regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-located (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0063] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses the receive beam to amplify the RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of the RF signal) the RF signal received from that direction. Therefore, when it is said that the receiver beamforms in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0064] Transmit and receive beams can be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation means that the parameters of the second beam (e.g., transmit or receive beam) of the second reference signal can be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., receive or transmit beam) of the first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0065] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit or receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, then it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit or receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, then it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, then it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0066] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into several frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW band generally encompasses the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequency ranges. Therefore, the terms "mmW" and "FR2" or "FR3" or "FR4" are generally used interchangeably.

[0067] In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCell." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which UE 104 / 182 performs the initial Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, not always). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. Secondary carriers may contain only the necessary signal transmission information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific, UE-specific signal transmission information and signals may not exist in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 within a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Because a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station is communicating, the terms "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" can be used interchangeably.

[0068] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or millimeter-wave base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, compared to the rate achieved by a single 20MHz carrier, two aggregated 20MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40MHz).

[0069] In the example of Figure 1, one or more Earth-orbiting Satellite Positioning System (SPS) spacecraft (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites) can be used as independent sources of location information for any of the UEs shown (shown as a single UE 104 in Figure 1 for simplicity). UE 104 may include one or more dedicated SPS receivers specifically designed to receive SPS signals 124 used to export geographic location information from SV 112. The SPS typically includes a transmitter system (e.g., SV 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UE 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based at least in part on signals received from the transmitter (e.g., SPS signals 124). Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a set number of repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) codes. While transmitters are typically located in SV 112, they may sometimes be located at ground control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104.

[0070] The use of SPS signal 124 can be enhanced via various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that can be associated with or otherwise enabled to be used with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential correction, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geosynchronous Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS-assisted geo-augmented navigation, or GPS and Geo-augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Therefore, as used herein, SPS may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and SPS signal 124 may include SPS, SPS classes, and / or other signals associated with such one or more SPS.

[0071] Leveraging the increased data rates and reduced latency of NR (Radio Frequency I / O), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication technology is being implemented to support Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications, such as wireless communication between vehicles (V2V), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (V2I), and between vehicles and pedestrians (V2P). The goal is to enable vehicles to perceive their surroundings and communicate this information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobility devices. This vehicle communication will deliver advancements in safety, mobility, and the environment that current technologies cannot provide. Once fully implemented, this technology is expected to reduce undamaged vehicle collisions by 80%.

[0072] Referring again to Figure 1, the wireless communication system 100 may include multiple V-UEs 160, which can communicate with the base station 102 via communication link 120 (e.g., using a Uu interface). V-UEs 160 can also communicate directly with each other via wireless sidelink 162, directly with roadside access point 164 (also called a "roadside unit") via wireless sidelink 166, or directly with UE 104 via wireless sidelink 168. The wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard, allowing direct communication between two or more UEs without the need for communication via a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, V2V communication, V2X communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of the V-UEs 160 in a group using sidelink communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of base station 102 or may not be able to receive or transmit from base station 102. In some cases, the group of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each V-UE 160 transmits to each of the other V-UEs 160 in the group. In some cases, base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between V-UEs 160 without involving base station 102.

[0073] In one configuration, side links 162, 166, and 168 can operate on a wireless communication medium of interest that can be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as with other RATs. The "medium" can consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs.

[0074] In one example, sidelinks 162, 166, and 168 can be cV2X links. First-generation cV2X has been standardized in LTE, and the next generation is expected to be defined in NR. cV2X is a cellular technology that also supports device-to-device communication. In the US and Europe, cV2X is expected to operate in licensed ITS bands below 6 GHz. Other bands may be allocated in other countries. Therefore, as a specific example, the media of interest used by sidelinks 162, 166, and 168 can correspond to at least a portion of licensed ITS bands below 6 GHz. However, this application is not limited to this band or cellular technology.

[0075] In one configuration, side links 162, 166, and 168 can be Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) links. DSRC is a one-way or two-way short-to-medium-range wireless communication protocol that uses the WAVE (Wave Access in Vehicle Environment) protocol, also known as IEEE 802.11p, for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.11p is an approved revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard, operating in the licensed ITS band (5.85-5.925 GHz) in the United States. In Europe, IEEE 802.11p operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875-5.905 MHz). Other bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on a secret channel, which in the United States is typically a 10 MHz channel dedicated to security purposes. The remainder of the DSRC band (total bandwidth of 75 MHz) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road rules, toll collection, parking automation, etc. Therefore, as a specific example, the media of interest used by sidelinks 162, 166, and 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the 5.9 GHz authorized ITS band.

[0076] Alternatively, the media of interest may correspond to at least a portion of the unlicensed frequency bands shared among various RATs. While different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently expanded their operation to unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies, most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi." Example systems of this type include various variants of CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), and Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems.

[0077] Communication between V-UE 160 is referred to as V2V communication; communication between V-UE 160 and one or more roadside access points 164 is referred to as V2I communication; and communication between V-UE 160 and one or more UEs 104 (where UE 104 is a P-UE) is referred to as V2P communication. V2V communication between V-UE 160 may include information such as the position, speed, acceleration, heading, and other vehicle data of V-UE 160. V2I information received at V-UE 160 from one or more roadside access points 164 may include, for example, road rules, parking automation information, etc. V2P communication between V-UE 160 and UE 104 may include information such as the position, speed, acceleration, and heading of V-UE 160, and the position, speed (e.g., when a user is riding a bicycle carrying UE 104), and heading of UE 104.

[0078] Note that although only two of the UEs shown in Figure 1 are designated as V-UEs (V-UE 160), any of the UEs shown (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190) could be V-UEs. Furthermore, while only V-UE 160 and a single UE 104 are shown as connected via a side link, any UE shown in Figure 1, whether V-UE, P-UE, etc., could be capable of side link communication. Additionally, although only UE 182 is described as capable of beamforming, any UE shown, including V-UE 160, could be beamformed. When V-UE 160 is capable of beamforming, it can beam towards each other (i.e., towards other V-UEs 160), towards roadside access point 164, towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Therefore, in some cases, V-UE 160 can utilize beamforming on side links 162, 166 and 168.

[0079] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). In the example of Figure 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192, through which one of UEs 104 is connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194, through which a WLAN STA 152 is connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based internet connectivity). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported by any well-known D2D RAT (e.g., LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.). As another example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be sidelinks, as described above with reference to sidelinks 162, 166 and 168.

[0080] Figure 2A illustrates an example wireless network architecture 200. For example, the 5GC 210 (also known as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane function (C-plane) 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function (U-plane) 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, data network access, IP routing, etc.), which work together to form the core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the eNB 224 can also connect to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Furthermore, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 (or both) can communicate with UE 204 (e.g., any UE described herein). In one configuration, two or more UEs 204 can communicate with each other via radio-side walkway 242, which may correspond to radio-side walkway 162 in Figure 1.

[0081] Another alternative configuration may include a location server 230, which can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each server may correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may connect to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be located outside the core network.

[0082] Figure 2B illustrates another example wireless network architecture 250. The 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in Figure 2A) can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which cooperate to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260 and specifically to the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 can also connect to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Furthermore, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223, with or without a direct gNB connection to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the NG-RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. The base station of the NG-RAN 220 communicates with the AMF 264 via the N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via the N3 interface. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 (or both) can communicate with UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein). In one configuration, two or more UEs 204 can communicate with each other via a sidelink 242, which may correspond to sidelink 162 in Figure 1.

[0083] The AMF 264's functions include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of Period Management (SM) messages between UE 204 and the Period Management Function (SMF), transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of Short Message Service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and the Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and the Security Anchor Function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives the intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) User Identity Module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AAUSF. The AMF 264's functions also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which is used to export network-specific keys for access. The AMF 264 also includes functions for location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and LMF 270 (which acts as location server 230), transmission of location service messages between NG-RAN 220 and LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Furthermore, the AMF 264 supports non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) network access functions.

[0084] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable); acting as an external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) communication point for interconnection to a data network (not shown); providing packet routing and forwarding; packet inspection; user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., strobing, redirection, flow control); lawful interception (user plane collection); traffic usage reporting; user plane Quality of Service (QoS) processing (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflected QoS marking in downlink); uplink traffic verification (Service Data Stream (SDF) to QoS stream mapping); transport-level packet marking in uplink and downlink; downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering; and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the transmission of location service messages on the user plane between UE 204 and a location server (e.g., SLP 272).

[0085] The functions of SMF 266 include communication period management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of flow control at UPF 262 to route traffic to appropriate destinations, partial policy enforcement and QoS control, and downlink information notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0086] Another alternative configuration may include an LMF 270, which can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each server may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). SLP 272 can support functions similar to LMF 270. However, while LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220 and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to transmit signals to deliver messages rather than voice or data), SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients (not shown in Figure 2B) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0087] Figures 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that can be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support the file transfer operations taught herein. It should be understood that these elements can be implemented in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-a-chip (SoC), etc.) in different types of devices. The elements shown can also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include elements similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Additionally, a given device may contain one or more elements. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver elements that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0088] UE 302 and base station 304 each include at least one wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, providing means (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for avoiding transmission, etc.) for communication via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (e.g., NR network, LTE network, GSM network, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communication with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) on a radio communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured differently according to a specified RAT to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, boot signals, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0089] UE 302 and base station 304, at least in some cases, each include at least one short-range radio transceiver 320 and 360. The short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for avoiding transmission, etc.) for communicating over a radio communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.) with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc. Short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured, depending on the specified RAT, to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, boot signals, etc.). Specifically, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, ZigBee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0090] Transceiver circuitry including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may, in some embodiments, include integrated devices (e.g., transmitter and receiver circuitry embodied in a single communication device), in some embodiments, include separate transmitter and separate receiver devices, or may be embodied in other ways in other embodiments. In one embodiment, the transmitter may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one embodiment, the transmitter and receiver may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than simultaneously receiving or transmitting both. The wireless communication equipment of UE 302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also include network eavesdropping modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0091] UE 302 and base station 304, at least in some cases, also include Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may each provide components for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. SPS receivers 330 and 370 request appropriate information and operations from other systems and perform calculations required to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0092] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390, providing components for communicating with other network entities (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, etc.). For example, network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) can be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. In some embodiments, network interfaces 380 and 390 can be implemented as transceivers supporting wired or wireless signal communication. For example, such communication may involve sending and receiving: messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0093] In one configuration, at least one WWAN transceiver 310 and / or at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320 can form the (wireless) communication interface of UE 302. Similarly, at least one WWAN transceiver 350, at least one short-range wireless transceiver 360, and / or at least one network interface 380 can form the (wireless) communication interface of base station 304. Likewise, at least one network interface 390 can form the (wireless) communication interface of network entity 306. Various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360) and wired transceivers (e.g., network interfaces 380 and 390) can generally be characterized as at least one transceiver, or alternatively as at least one communication interface. Therefore, one can infer from the type of communication performed whether a particular transceiver or communication interface involves wired or wireless transceivers or communication interfaces (e.g., backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally involve signal transmission via at least one wired transceiver).

[0094] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other elements that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include at least one processor 332, 384, and 394 for providing functions such as those related to wireless positioning and for providing other processing functions. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can therefore provide components for processing, such as components for decision-making, components for calculation, components for receiving, components for transmitting, components for indicating, etc. In one embodiment, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, at least one general-purpose processor, multi-core processor, central processing unit (CPU), ASIC, digital signal processor (DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0095] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry that implements memory elements 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Therefore, memory elements 340, 386, and 396 can provide components for storage, components for retrieval, components for maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning elements 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning elements 342, 388, and 398 may be part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, and when these hardware circuits are executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other configurations, positioning elements 342, 388, and 398 may be located external to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning elements 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memory elements 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A illustrates possible locations of positioning element 342, which may be part of at least one WWAN transceiver 310, memory element 340, at least one processor 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone element. Figure 3B illustrates the possible locations of positioning element 388. Positioning element 388 may be part of at least one WWAN transceiver 350, memory element 386, at least one processor 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone element. Figure 3C illustrates the possible locations of positioning element 398. Positioning element 398 may be part of at least one network interface 390, memory element 396, at least one processor 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone element.

[0096] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to at least one processor 332 to provide components for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by at least one WWAN transceiver 310, at least one short-range wireless transceiver 320, and / or SPS receiver 330. As an example, the sensors (multiple) 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensors 344 may include a plurality of devices of different types and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, the sensors (multiple) 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0097] In addition, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides components for providing instructions to the user (e.g., auditory and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keyboard, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0098] Referring more specifically to at least one processor 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 can be provided to at least one processor 384. At least one processor 384 can implement functions for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. At least one processor 384 can provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and delivery support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper-layer PDUs, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority processing, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0099] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 can implement Layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, can include error correction on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal cluster based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded / decoded symbols and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot frequency) in the time and / or frequency domains, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-coded and decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator are used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be fed back from the reference signal and / or channel conditions transmitted by UE 302. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 can modulate the RF carrier with its respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0100] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its respective antennas(multiple) 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to at least one processor 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal clustering point transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decision is then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to at least one processor 332, which implements layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0101] In the uplink, at least one processor 332 provides demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. At least one processor 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0102] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with the downlink transmissions of base station 304, at least one processor 332 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connectivity, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with upper-layer PDU transmission, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs on transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), priority processing, and logical channel priority.

[0103] The channel estimate obtained by the channel estimator from the reference signal transmitted by base station 304 or the feedback output can be used by transmitter 314 to select an appropriate encoding / decoding and modulation scheme and facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas (multiple) 316. Transmitter 314 can modulate the RF carrier with its respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0104] Uplink transmissions are processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides that information to at least one processor 384.

[0105] In the uplink, at least one processor 384 provides demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from at least one processor 384 can be provided to the core network. At least one processor 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0106] For convenience, in Figures 3A-3C, UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are shown as including various elements that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the blocks shown may have different functions in different designs.

[0107] Various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one configuration, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form the communication interface or part of the communication interface for UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., combining gNB and location server functions into the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0108] The elements in Figures 3A-3C can be implemented in various ways. In some embodiments, the elements in Figures 3A-3C can be implemented in one or more circuits (e.g., one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs, which may include one or more processors)). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory element for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide that function. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 can be implemented by the processor and memory elements of UE 302 (e.g., via executing appropriate code and / or via appropriate configuration of the processor elements). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 can be implemented by the processor and memory elements of base station 304 (e.g., via executing appropriate code and / or via appropriate configuration of the processor elements). Furthermore, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 can be implemented by the processor and memory elements of network entity 306 (e.g., via executing appropriate code and / or via appropriate configuration of the processor elements). For simplicity, this document describes various operations, actions, and / or functions as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions can actually be performed by specific elements or combinations of elements (e.g., processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.) of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc.

[0109] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 400 supporting wireless unicast side link establishment according to various forms of this invention. In some examples, wireless communication system 400 may implement various forms of wireless communication systems 100, 200, and 250. Wireless communication system 400 may include a first UE 402 and a second UE 404, which may be examples of any UE described herein. As specific examples, UEs 402 and 404 may correspond to V-UE 160 in Figure 1, UEs 190 and 104 in Figure 1 connected via D2D P2P link 192, or UE 204 in Figures 2A and 2B.

[0110] In the example of Figure 4, UE 402 may attempt to establish a unicast connection via a sidelink with UE 404, which may be a V2X sidelink between UE 402 and UE 404. As a specific example, the established sidelink connection may correspond to sidelink 162 and / or 168 in Figure 1 or sidelink 242 in Figures 2A and 2B. The sidelink connection may be established in an omnidirectional frequency range (e.g., FR1) and / or a mmW frequency range (e.g., FR2). In some cases, UE 402 may be referred to as the initiating UE initiating the sidelink connection procedure, and UE 404 may be referred to as the target UE being targeted by the initiating UE as the object of the sidelink connection procedure.

[0111] To establish a unicast connection, Access Layer (AS) parameters (a functional layer in the UMTS and LTE protocol stack between the RAN and UE, responsible for transmitting data and managing radio resources via the radio link, and part of Layer 2) can be configured and negotiated between UE 402 and UE 404. For example, transmit and receive capability matching can be negotiated between UE 402 and UE 404. Each UE can have different capabilities (e.g., transmit and receive, 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), transmit diversity, carrier aggregation (CA), supported communication bands (multiple), etc.). In some cases, different services can be supported at the upper layer of the corresponding protocol stack used for UE 402 and UE 404. Additionally, a security association can be established between UE 402 and UE 404 for the unicast connection. Unicast traffic can benefit from link-level security protection (e.g., integrity protection). Security requirements may differ for different radio communication systems. For example, V2X and Uu systems may have different security requirements (e.g., Uu security does not include confidentiality protection). In addition, IP configuration (e.g., IP version, address, etc.) can be negotiated for the unicast connection between UE 402 and UE 404.

[0112] In some cases, UE 404 may establish service announcements (e.g., service capability messages) to be sent over a cellular network (e.g., CV2X) to assist in establishing sidelink connections. Conventional UE 402 may identify and locate candidates for sidelink communication based on unencrypted Basic Service Messages (BSMs) broadcast by nearby UEs (e.g., UE 404). BSMs may include the corresponding UE's location information, security and identity information, and vehicle information (e.g., speed, mobility, size, etc.). However, for different radio communication systems (e.g., D2D or V2X communication), the exploration channel may not be configured to enable UE 402 to detect multiple BSMs. Therefore, service announcements (e.g., exploration signals) sent by UE 404 and other nearby UEs may be upper-layer signals and broadcast (e.g., in NR sidelink broadcasts). In some cases, UE 404 may include one or more parameters for itself in its service announcements, including its connectivity parameters and / or capabilities. Then, UE 402 can monitor and receive broadcast service announcements to identify potential UEs for corresponding sidelink connections. In some cases, UE 402 can identify potential UEs based on the capabilities indicated by each UE in its respective service announcement.

[0113] Service announcements may include information that helps UE 402 (e.g., or any initiating UE) identify the UE sending the service announcement (UE 404 in the example of Figure 4). For example, a service announcement may include channel information on which a direct communication request can be sent. In some cases, the channel information may be RAT-specific (e.g., LTE or NR-specific) and may include a resource pool in which UE 402 sends the communication request. Additionally, if the destination address is different from the current address (e.g., the address of the streaming provider or UE sending the service announcement), the service announcement may include the UE's specific destination address (e.g., a Layer 2 destination address). Service announcements may also include the network or transport layer on which UE 402 sends the communication request. For example, the network layer (also referred to as "Layer 4" or "L3") or transport layer (also referred to as "Layer 4" or "L4") may indicate the port number of the application used by the UE sending the service announcement. In some cases, if the signal delivery (e.g., PC5 signal delivery) directly carries a protocol (e.g., Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)) or provides a locally generated random protocol, IP addressing may not be required. Additionally, service announcements may include the protocol type used for certificate establishment and QoS-related parameters.

[0114] After identifying a potential sidelink connection target (UE 404 in the example of Figure 4), the initiating UE (UE 402 in the example of Figure 4) can send a connection request 415 to the identified target UE 404. In some cases, the connection request 415 may be a first RRC message (e.g., an "RRCDirectConnectionSetupRequest" message) sent by UE 402 to request a unicast connection with UE 404. For example, the unicast connection may utilize the PC5 interface for the sidelink, and the connection request 415 may be an RRC connection establishment request message. Alternatively, UE 402 may use the sidelink signal transmission radio bearer 405 to transmit the connection request 415.

[0115] Upon receiving connection request 415, UE 404 can decide whether to accept or reject connection request 415. UE 404 can make this decision based on transmission / reception capabilities, the ability to accommodate unicast connections on the sidelink, the specific service indicated for the unicast connection, the content to be sent on the unicast connection, or a combination thereof. For example, if UE 402 wishes to use the first RAT to send or receive data, but UE 404 does not support the first RAT, then UE 404 can reject connection request 415. Additionally or alternatively, UE 404 can reject connection request 415 based on the inability to accommodate a unicast connection on the sidelink due to limited radio resources, scheduling issues, etc. Therefore, UE 404 can send an indication in connection response 420 whether the request is accepted or rejected. Similar to UE 402 and connection request 415, UE 404 can use sidelink signaling radio bearer 410 to transmit connection response 420. In addition, the connection response 420 may be a second RRC message (e.g., "RRCDirectConnectionResponse" message) sent by the UE 404 in response to the connection request 415.

[0116] In some cases, sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 can be the same sidelink signaling radio bearer, or they can be separate sidelink signaling radio bearers. Therefore, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer Acknowledgment Mode (AM) can be used for sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. UEs supporting unicast connections can listen on the logical channel associated with the sidelink signaling radio bearer. In some cases, the AS layer (i.e., Layer 2) can transmit information directly via RRC signaling (e.g., the control plane) instead of the V2X layer (e.g., the data plane).

[0117] If Connection Response 420 indicates that UE 404 has accepted Connection Request 415, UE 402 may subsequently send a Connection Establishment 425 message on the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to indicate that the unicast connection establishment is complete. In some cases, Connection Establishment 425 may be a third RRC message (e.g., an "RRCDirectConnectionSetupComplete" message). Each of Connection Request 415, Connection Response 420, and Connection Establishment 425 may use basic capabilities when transmitted from one UE to another, enabling each UE to receive and decode the corresponding transmission (e.g., an RRC message).

[0118] Additionally, the identifier can be used in each of the connection request 415, connection response 420, and connection establishment 425. For example, the identifier can indicate which UE 402 / 304 is sending which message and / or which UE 402 / 304 the message is intended for. For physical (PHY) layer channels, the same identifier (e.g., Layer 2 ID) can be used for RRC signaling and any subsequent data transmissions. However, for logical channels, the identifier can be separate for RRC signaling and data transmissions. For example, on a logical channel, RRC signaling and data transmissions can be handled differently and have different acknowledgment (ACK) feedback messages. In some cases, for RRC message transmission, physical layer ACKs can be used to ensure that the corresponding messages are sent and received correctly.

[0119] One or more information elements may be included in the connection request 415 and / or connection response 420 for UE 402 and / or UE 404, respectively, to enable negotiation of the corresponding AS layer parameters for the unicast connection. For example, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) parameters in the corresponding unicast connection establishment message to set the PDCP context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the PDCP context may indicate whether PDCP replication is used for the unicast connection. Furthermore, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include RLC parameters when establishing the unicast connection to set the RLC context for the unicast connection. For example, the RLC context may indicate whether AM (e.g., using a reordering timer) or Unacknowledged Mode (UM) is used for the RLC layer of the unicast communication.

[0120] Additionally, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include Media Access Control (MAC) parameters to set the MAC context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the MAC context may enable resource selection algorithms, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback schemes (e.g., ACK or Negative ACK (NACK) feedback), HARQ feedback scheme parameters, carrier aggregation, or combinations thereof, for the unicast connection. Furthermore, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include PHY layer parameters when establishing the unicast connection to set the PHY layer context for the unicast connection. For example, the PHY layer context may indicate the transmission format used for the unicast connection (unless a transmission profile is included for each UE 402 / 304) and radio resource configurations (e.g., bandwidth portion (BWP), digits, etc.). These information elements may be supported for different frequency range configurations (e.g., FR1 and FR2).

[0121] In some cases, a security context can also be set for the unicast connection (e.g., after sending the Connection Establishment 425 message). Before establishing a security association (e.g., a security context) between UE 402 and UE 404, sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may not be protected. After establishing the security association, sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 can be protected. Therefore, the security context allows secure data transmission over the unicast connection and sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. Additionally, IP layer parameters (e.g., link-local IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) can be negotiated. In some cases, IP layer parameters can be negotiated by the upper-layer control protocol that operates after the establishment of RRC signaling (e.g., the establishment of a unicast connection). As mentioned above, UE 404 can decide whether to accept or reject the connection request 415 based on the specific service indicated for the unicast connection and / or the content to be sent via the unicast connection (e.g., upper-layer information). Specific services and / or content can also be indicated by a higher-level control protocol that operates after the establishment of the RRC signal transmission.

[0122] After establishing a unicast connection, UE 402 and UE 404 can communicate via sidelink 430 using the unicast connection, where sidelink data 435 is transmitted between the two UEs 402 and 404. Sidelink 430 may correspond to sidelink 162 and / or 168 in FIG. 1 and / or sidelink 242 in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B. In some cases, sidelink data 435 may include RRC messages transmitted between the two UEs 402 and 404. To maintain the unicast connection on sidelink 430, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may send keep-alive messages (e.g., "RRCDirectLinkAlive" messages, fourth RRC messages, etc.). In some cases, keep-alive messages may be triggered periodically or on demand (e.g., event-triggered). Therefore, the triggering and transmission of keep-alive messages may be invoked by UE 402 or by both UE 402 and UE 404. Additionally or alternatively, a MAC control element (CE) (e.g., defined on sidelink 430) may be used to monitor the status of the unicast connection on sidelink 430 and maintain that connection. When the unicast connection is no longer needed (e.g., UE 402 moves far enough away from UE 404), UE 402 and / or UE 404 may initiate a release procedure to disconnect the unicast connection on sidelink 430. Therefore, subsequent RRC messages may not be sent between UE 402 and UE 404 on the unicast connection.

[0123] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 5A is Figure 500, illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to this invention. Figure 5B is Figure 530, illustrating an example of a channel within a downlink frame structure according to this invention. Figure 5C is Figure 550, illustrating an example of an uplink frame structure according to this invention. Figure 5D is Figure 580, illustrating an example of a channel within an uplink frame structure according to this invention. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0124] LTE, sometimes NR, uses OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR can also choose to use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are often referred to as tones, frequency bands, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted using OFDM in the frequency domain and SC-FDM in the time domain. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into sub-bands. For example, a sub-band can cover 1.8 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 sub-bands, respectively.

[0125] LTE supports a single set of parameters (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (μ), for example, using subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or larger. Within each subcarrier spacing, each time slot has 14 symbols. For a 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one time slot per subframe, 10 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) 4K FFT size of 50. For a 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), each sub-frame has 2 time slots, each frame has 20 time slots, the time slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 μs, and the 4K FFT size for the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 100. For a 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), each sub-frame has 4 time slots, each frame has 40 time slots, the time slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 μs, and the 4K FFT size for the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 200. For a 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), each sub-frame has 8 time slots, each frame has 80 time slots, the time slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 μs, and the 4K FFT size for the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 400. For a 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), each subframe has 16 time slots, each frame has 160 time slots, the time slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of the 4K FFT size is 800.

[0126] In the examples of Figures 5A to 5D, a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized sub-frames, each 1 ms long, and each sub-frame includes a time slot. In Figures 5A to 5D, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis) as time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis) as frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0127] A resource grid can be used to represent time slots, each of which includes one or more concurrent time resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE can correspond to a symbol length in the time domain and a subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerical values ​​of Figures 5A to 5D, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0128] Some REs carry downlink reference (pilot frequency) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 5A shows an example location of an RE carrying a PRS (labeled "R").

[0129] The set of resource elements (REs) used for transmitting PRS is called a "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols (multiple) within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies a consecutive PRB in the frequency domain.

[0130] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also known as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every N subcarriers of a symbol in the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the PRS of the PRS resource is transmitted using the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 8). Currently, DL-PRS supports comb sizes for comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12. Figure 5A illustrates an example PRS resource configuration for comb-6 (which spans six symbols). That is, the location of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicates the comb-6 PRS resource configuration.

[0131] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within time slots with a fully frequency-domain interleaved pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in flexible (FL) symbols of downlinks or time slots in any higher-level configuration. For a given DL-PRS resource, all REs can exist at a constant energy (EPRE) per resource element. Below are the inter-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 across 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol comb-2:{0,1}; 4-symbol comb-2:{0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol comb-2:{0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol comb-2:{0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb-4:{0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb-4:{0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-symbol comb-6:{0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-symbol comb-12:{0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0132] A "PRS resource set" is a collection of PRS resources used to transmit PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by a TRP ID). Additionally, PRS resources in a PRS resource set share the same period, a common silence mode configuration, and the same repetition factor (e.g., "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across time slots. The period is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The period can have the length of 2^µ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have the length of a time slot selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32}.

[0133] In a PRS resource set, a PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where the TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam; therefore, a "PRS resource," or simply a "resource," can also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this has no impact on whether the UE knows the TRP and the beam transmitting the PRS.

[0134] A "PRS instance" or "PRS timing" is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive time slots) where a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS timing may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning timing," "PRS positioning instance," "positioning timing," "positioning instance," "positioning repetition," or simply as a "timing," "instance," or "repetition."

[0135] A "frequency layer" (also simply "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets spanning one or more TRPs, where these resource sets share the same values ​​for certain parameters. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all numbers supported by the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported by the PRS), the same point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth value, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter is taken from the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" represents the "absolute radio channel number") and is the identifier / code specifying the physical radio channel pair used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and each frequency layer can be configured with up to two PRS resource sets per TRP.

[0136] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWP), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or macrocell and smallcell base stations) to transmit data channels, while a frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRS. A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when transmitting its positioning capabilities to the network, such as during LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) communications. For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0137] Figure 5B illustrates examples of various channels within a downlink time slot in a radio communication frame. In NR, channel bandwidth, or system bandwidth, is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a consecutive set of PRBs selected from a consecutive subset of shared RBs with a given set of parameters on a given carrier. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in both the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs in the downlink and up to four BWPs in the uplink. At any given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, meaning the UE can only receive or transmit via one BWP at a time. In the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain an SSB.

[0138] Referring to Figure 5B, the UE uses the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) to determine the subframe / symbol timing and entity layer identifier. The UE uses the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) to determine the entity layer cell identifier group number and radio frame timing. Based on the entity layer identifier and entity layer cell identifier group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The Entity Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also known as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs and the System Frame Number (SFN) in the downlink system bandwidth. The PDSCH carries user data and broadcast system information not transmitted by the PBCH (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs) and paging messages).

[0139] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs). Each CCE includes one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle includes one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The physical resource set used to carry PDCCH / DCI is called a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted along with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming of the PDCCH.

[0140] In the example of Figure 5B, each BWP has a CORESET, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it can be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Therefore, the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in Figure 5B are shown as smaller than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the CORESET shown is continuous in the frequency domain, it does not have to be. Furthermore, the CORESET can span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0141] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource configuration (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of downlink data sent to the UE, referred to as uplink grant and downlink grant, respectively. More specifically, the DCI indicates resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to 8) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of several formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or encoding / decoding rates.

[0142] As shown in Figure 5C, some REs (labeled "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at the receiver (e.g., base station, another UE, etc.). The UE can additionally transmit SRS in, for example, the last symbol of a time slot. The SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can transmit the SRS on one of the comb structures. In the example of Figure 5C, the SRS shown is a comb-2 on a symbol. The base station can use the SRS to obtain Channel State Information (CSI) for each UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system utilizes the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0143] Currently, SRS resources can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within time slots with comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, or comb-8. The following are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for currently supported SRS comb patterns. 1-symbol comb-2:{0}; 2-symbol comb-2:{0,1}; 4-symbol comb-2:{0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb-4:{0,2,1,3}; 8-symbol comb-4:{0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb-4:{0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-symbol comb-8:{0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0144] The set of resource elements used for transmitting SRS is called an "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols (multiple) within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, SRS resources occupy consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is the set of SRS resources used for transmitting SRS signals and is identified by the SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0145] Generally, the UE transmits an SRS to enable the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS can also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round-trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" can refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. The former may be referred to herein as "SRS for communication" and / or, when it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the latter may be referred to as "SRS for positioning".

[0146] For the SRS used for positioning (also known as "UL-PRS"), several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed, such as new interleaving patterns within SRS resources (in addition to single-symbol / comb-2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, more SRS resource sets per component carrier, and more SRS resources per component carrier. Furthermore, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" will be configured based on the downlink reference signal or SSB from the adjacent TRP. Additionally, an SRS resource can be transmitted outside the active BWP, and an SRS resource can span multiple component carriers. Moreover, the SRS can be configured in RRC connected state and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, frequency hopping, repetition factors, a single antenna port, and new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols) can be absent. Open-loop power control instead of closed-loop power control is also possible, and comb-8 (i.e., one SRS transmitted every eight subcarriers in the same symbol) can be used. Finally, the UE can transmit for UL-AoA from multiple SRS resources via the same transmit beam. All of these are additional features of the current SRS framework, which is configured via higher-level RRC signals (and may be triggered or initiated via the MAC control element (CE) or DCI).

[0147] Figure 5D illustrates examples of various channels within the uplink time slots of a frame according to the present case. The Random Access Channel (RACH), also known as the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), can be configured in one or more time slots within the frame. A PRACH can comprise six consecutive RB pairs within a single time slot. The PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. The Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) can be located at the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) carries data and can also be used to carry Buffer Status Reports (BSR), Power Headroom Reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0148] Note that the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, the PRS defined in LTE and NR, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. Furthermore, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless the context otherwise indicates. If further differentiation of PRS type is required, downlink positioning reference signals can be referred to as "DL-PRS," uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS, PTRS used for positioning) can be referred to as "UL-PRS," and sidelink positioning reference signals can be referred to as "SL-PRS." Furthermore, for signals that can be transmitted in the uplink, downlink, and sidelink directions (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, etc.), "UL", "DL", or "SL" can be added before the signal to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be distinguished from "SL-DMRS".

[0149] NR supports various cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Departure Angle (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the UE measures the difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of a received reference signal (e.g., PRS, TRS, CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) from the base station, referred to as the Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurement, and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., the serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurement, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location.

[0150] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses beam reports, which measure the received signal strength of multiple downlink transmitted beams from the UE, to determine the angle (multiple) between the UE and multiple transmitting base stations (multiple). The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location based on the determined angle (multiple) and the known locations (multiple) of the transmitting base stations (multiple).

[0151] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angles (multiple) of the receive beams (multiple) to determine the angles (multiple) between the UE and the base stations (multiple). Based on the determined angles (multiple) and the known locations (multiple) of the base stations (multiple), the positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location.

[0152] Downlink and uplink-based localization methods include Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) localization and Multiple Round Trip Time (RTT) localization (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT"). In an RTT procedure, the initiator (base station or UE) sends an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), and the responder sends an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, called the receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, called the send-to-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference. The propagation time (also known as "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs RTT procedures with multiple base stations to enable it to determine its location based on the known locations of the base stations (e.g., using multi-point positioning). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve location accuracy.

[0153] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports its serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timings, and signal strengths of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations (multiple).

[0154] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) can provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, the auxiliary data may include identifiers of the base station (or a cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., number of consecutive positioning subframes, period of positioning subframes, silence sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the auxiliary data may come directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast management burden messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes themselves without using auxiliary data.

[0155] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, auxiliary data may also include the expected RSTD value and the associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value may range from + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resource used for positioning measurements is in FR1, the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may range from + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements (multiple) are in FR2, the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may range from + / - 8 µs.

[0156] Location estimation can be represented by other names, such as positional estimation, location, orientation, fixed location, etc. Location estimation can be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possible altitude), or it can be civil and include street addresses, postal addresses, or some other verbal description of the location. Location estimation can also be defined relative to another known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possible altitude). Location estimation may include anticipated errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included at a specified or predetermined confidence level).

[0157] In addition to downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods, NR also supports various sidelink positioning techniques. For example, a sidelink round-trip time (SL-RTT) positioning procedure for UEs has been introduced, which is similar to the RTT positioning procedure between a base station and a UE. In the SL-RTT positioning procedure, the initiating UE (e.g., the target UE to be located) transmits a sidelink reference signal (e.g., SL-PRS) on sidelink resources allocated by the serving base station of the initiating UE or negotiated with other UEs with sidelink capabilities. Upon receiving the sidelink reference signal, the responding UE (e.g., another UE with sidelink capabilities) transmits a response sidelink reference signal (e.g., SL-PRS), which includes a measurement of the difference between the reception time of the sidelink reference signal and the transmission time of the response sidelink reference signal (referred to as the responder's receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement).

[0158] Upon receiving a response-side crosslink reference signal, the initiating UE (or other positioning entity) can calculate the RTT between the initiating UE and the responding UE based on the received Rx-Tx time difference measurement and the measurement of the difference between the transmission time of the first-side crosslink reference signal and the reception time of the response-side crosslink reference signal (referred to as the initiating UE's transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference measurement). The initiating UE (or other positioning entity) uses the RTT and the speed of light to estimate the distance between the initiating UE and the responding UE. If one or both of the initiating UE and the responding UE are capable of beamforming, the angle between the UEs can also be determined, further refining the relative position of the initiating UE relative to the responding UE. Furthermore, if the responding UE provides its geographic location in the response-side crosslink reference signal, the initiating UE (or other positioning entity) can determine the absolute geographic location of the initiating UE, rather than its relative position to the responding UE.

[0159] As shown and described below with reference to Figures 6 through 8, there are various scenarios and use cases of interest for sidelink localization technology. Figure 6 illustrates an example scenario 600 according to the present invention, in which a UE with a known location can be used to improve the location estimation of a target UE 604. In the example of Figure 6, the target UE 604 is performing a multi-cell RTT localization procedure with three base stations 602, specifically, a first RTT localization procedure (labeled "RTT1") with a first base station 602-1 (labeled "gNB1"), a second RTT localization procedure (labeled "RTT2") with a second base station 602-2 (labeled "gNB2"), and a third RTT localization procedure (labeled "RTT3") with a third base station 602-3 (labeled "gNB3"). As mentioned above, the empty interfacing between the UE (e.g., target UE 604) and the base station (e.g., base station 602) is referred to as the "Uu" interface. Therefore, in the context of sidelink positioning, the positioning procedure between the UE and the base station can be referred to as the Uu positioning procedure. Thus, for example, the multi-RTT positioning procedure shown in Figure 6 can be referred to as the Uu multi-RTT positioning procedure.

[0160] In the example of Figure 6, the target UE 604 can also utilize an auxiliary UE 606 with a known location (e.g., via GPS, cellular positioning technology, etc.) to perform an SL-RTT positioning procedure (labeled "SL-RTT"). Because the auxiliary UE 606 has a known location, it can serve as an additional anchor point for the multi-RTT positioning procedure between the target UE 604 and the base station 602. That is, the auxiliary UE 606 can provide additional RTT estimates about the known geographical location, thereby improving the final location estimate.

[0161] Note that although Figure 6 illustrates three base stations 602 and one auxiliary UE 606, there may be more or fewer base stations 602 and more auxiliary UEs 606.

[0162] Figure 7 illustrates an example scenario 700 according to various aspects of this case, in which the location of a target UE 704 without cellular connectivity is determined with the assistance of a plurality of UEs having cellular connections. In the example of Figure 7, the target UE 704 is performing an SL-RTT location procedure with each of three auxiliary UEs 706, specifically, a first SL-RTT location procedure with a first auxiliary UE 706-1 (labeled "RTT1"), a second SL-RTT location procedure with a second auxiliary UE 706-2 (labeled "RTT2"), and a third SL-RTT location procedure with a third auxiliary UE 706-3 (labeled "RTT3"). Each auxiliary UE 706 may be connected to one or more base stations 702 (labeled "gNB") and has a known location. Based on the determined RTT between the target UE 704 and the auxiliary UEs 706 and the known location of the auxiliary UEs 706, the location of the target UE 704 can be estimated using known RTT techniques.

[0163] Figure 8 illustrates an example scenario 800 according to the various states of this case, where a relay UE 806 assists in the localization of a remote UE. In the example of Figure 8, the remote UE 804 cannot transmit a UL-PRS to the base station 802 (e.g., because the remote UE's transmission power is too low to be heard by the base station 802). In this case, the relay 806, with a known location, can participate in the localization estimation of the remote UE 804.

[0164] Sidelink communication occurs during transmission or reception within a resource pool. In the frequency domain, the smallest unit of resource allocation is a subchannel (e.g., a set of consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain). In the time domain, resource allocation is spaced at one time slot. However, some time slots cannot be used for sidelinks, and some time slots contain feedback resources. Furthermore, sidelinks can be (pre-)configured to occupy fewer than 14 time slots of symbols.

[0165] Sidelink resource configuration is performed at the RRC layer. RRC configuration can be performed via pre-configuration (e.g., pre-loaded on the UE) or configuration (e.g., from the serving base station).

[0166] Figure 9 is a diagram of an example time slot structure without feedback resources according to the various forms of this case. In the example of Figure 9, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one OFDM symbol, and 14 symbols make up one time slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one subchannel. Currently, the (pre)configured subchannel size can be selected from a set of {10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} PRBs.

[0167] For the sidelink time slot, the first symbol is a repetition of the preceding symbol and is used for Automatic Gain Control (AGC) settings. This is illustrated in Figure 9 via vertical and horizontal hashes. As shown in Figure 9, for the sidelink, the Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) and the Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) are transmitted in the same time slot. Similar to the PDCCH, the PSCCH carries control information about the sidelink resource configuration and a description of the sidelink data sent to the UE. Likewise, similar to the PDSCH, the PSSCH carries user data for the UE. In the example of Figure 9, the PSCCH occupies half the subchannel bandwidth and only three symbols. Finally, a gap symbol appears after the PSSCH.

[0168] Another form of positioning is the configuration of a resource pool (RP-P) for positioning purposes, which can be used for downlink and / or sidelink positioning. The 12 symbols between the first symbol (for AGC) and the last symbol (gap) form a resource pool for transmission and / or reception. RP-Ps can be configured within the resource pool specifically for positioning purposes. Each RP-P includes an offset, periodicity, the number of consecutive symbols within a time slot (e.g., as few as one symbol), and / or bandwidth within a component carrier (or bandwidth across multiple component carriers). Furthermore, each RP-P can be associated with a region or a distance from a reference location.

[0169] A base station (or UE) may allocate one or more resource configurations from RP-P to another UE. Additionally or alternatively, a UE (e.g., a relay or remote UE) may request one or more RP-P configurations, and may include one or more of the following in the request: (1) its location information (or area ID), (2) periodicity, (3) bandwidth, (4) offset, (5) number of symbols, and (6) whether a "low interference" configuration is required (which may be determined by the assigned QoS or priority).

[0170] Base stations or UEs can configure / allocate rate matching resources or RP-P to rate matching and / or mute to sidelink UEs, such that when the allocated resources conflict with another resource pool containing data (PSSCH) and / or control (PSCCH), the sidelink UE is expected to rate match, mute, and / or censor the data, DMRS, and / or CSI-RS within the conflicting resources. This will achieve orthogonality between positioning and data transmission, thereby increasing the coverage of PRS signals.

[0171] Figure 10 is a 1000 example of the overlap between the resource pool and the resource pool used for positioning according to the present case. In the example of Figure 10, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one OFDM symbol, and 14 symbols make up one time slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one sub-channel.

[0172] In the example of Figure 10, the entire time slot (except for the first and last symbols) can be a resource pool for transmission and / or reception. That is, any symbol other than the first and last symbols can be allocated for transmission and / or reception. However, RP-Ps for sidelink transmission / reception are allocated in the last four pre-gap symbols of the time slot. Therefore, non-sidelink data, such as user data, CSI-RS, and control information, can only be transmitted in the first eight post-AGC symbols and not in the last four pre-gap symbols to prevent conflicts with the configured RP-Ps. Otherwise, non-sidelink data that would otherwise be transmitted in the last four pre-gap symbols can be censored or muted, or non-sidelink data that would typically span more than eight post-AGC symbols can be rate-matched to fit the eight post-AGC symbols.

[0173] Figure 11 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system that reserves a resource pool (RP-P) for location according to various configurations of this case. Two or more UEs (relay UEs or target UEs), such as UEs 104(1) to 104(6), are configured with one or more resource pools available for location. When a target UE (e.g., UEs 104(1), 104(2)) wishes to transmit within the configured RP-P, the target UE (or associated relay UE) transmits a reservation request 1202 in a broadcast manner (e.g., broadcast / multicast PSCCH or PSCCH and PSSSH). The reservation request 1202 is an indication that the target UE (e.g., UE 104(1) or UE 104(2)) or one of the target UEs associated with the relay intends to transmit an SL-PRS within the RP-P. The reservation request 1202 may be intended for the entire resource pool, or in some configurations, the reservation request 1202 may be intended for a subset of the time / frequency resources of the resource pool. Any one or both of the relay UE and the target UE that receive reservation request 1202 will be rate matched, pruned and / or avoided in the reserved resource pool.

[0174] Figure 12 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system including device-to-device (D2D) relay according to various embodiments of this invention. For example, the D2D relay may utilize Layer 3 (L3) forwarding functionality. The target UE 1204 may communicate with multiple remote UEs 1206. For example, as shown in Figure 12B, at least one remote UE 1206 may be within the serving cell 1208, and at least one remote UE 1206 may be outside the serving cell 1208. The serving cell 1208 may be associated with an eNB 1210. The ProSe UE-to-network relay may be within coverage. The target UE may be within coverage (e.g., for service continuity) or outside coverage. Relay selection may be based on SD-RSRP (e.g., RSRP for relay discovery messages) and upper-layer standards. The eNB 1210 may provide transmit and receive resources. eNB 1210 can provide (or enforce) minimum and maximum thresholds for the quality (e.g., RSRP) of cellular link 1212 to the D2D relay UE. eNB 1210 can provide (or enforce) a maximum threshold for the cellular link quality (e.g., RSRP), which the target UE 1204 must meet before it can send a relay exploration request message. eNB 1210 can provide (or enforce) a threshold for the quality of D2D link 1214 for reselection.

[0175] Figure 13 illustrates an example of a peer user equipment (UE) wireless communication system 1300 that can be used to perform positioning according to various forms of this case. System 1300 includes a target UE 104(T) and one or more peer UEs 104(1) to 104(N>0) (collectively referred to as peer UEs 104). Each UE 104 may have an identifier 1302 that uniquely identifies each UE. For example, in Figure 13, the target UE 104(T) has an identifier 1302(T), the peer UE 104(1) has an identifier 1302(1), and the peer UE 104(N) has an identifier 1302(N). System 1300 illustrates how peer UE 104 can use a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) and a target UE 104(T) to select at least a portion of peer UE 104 to participate in peer positioning communication sessions in a manner that identifies (e.g., announces) their ability to participate in peer positioning communication sessions.

[0176] Each peer UE 104 may have associated capabilities 1304, including one or more roles 1306. Capabilities 1304 may include, for example, the maximum duration for which each peer UE 104 can participate in peer location communication sessions; response times indicating how quickly each peer UE 104 can provide location measurements; frequency parameters indicating how often each peer UE 104 can send location reference signals during peer location communication sessions; technical parameters indicating one or more types of location technologies that each peer UE 104 can perform during peer location communication sessions; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer UE 104 is authorized to perform; and the mobility status of the amount of movement experienced by each peer UE 104, or any combination thereof. Roles 1306 may include, for example, anchoring UEs, measurement aggregators, location engines, sidelink relay providers, PRS transmitters, or any combination thereof.

[0177] Network entity (e.g., base station) 1350 may authorize each peer UE 104 to perform a role 1306 during peer location communication. For example, each peer UE 104 may send an authorization request 1308 to network entity 1350. The authorization request 1308 may include information 1309 associated with the peer UE 104 that sent the authorization request 1308, such as one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of the peer UE 104, the memory capacity of the peer UE 104 (e.g., random access memory (RAM) capacity), the processing capabilities of the peer UE 104 (e.g., processor type, number of cores, clock speed, etc.), an activity status indicating the amount of mobility the peer UE 104 is experiencing, or any combination thereof. Based on information 1309, network entity 1350 can determine which roles 1306 peer UE 104 can perform and send an authorization response 1310 (e.g., to peer UE 104 that sent authorization request 1308), authorizing peer UE 1304 to perform zero or more roles 1306 during peer location communication.

[0178] One or more peer UEs 104 can identify their ability to participate in peer location communication via broadcast announcement message 1312. The peer UE 104 can broadcast announcement message 1312 periodically (e.g., at fixed time intervals). In some cases, announcement message 1312 can be a sidelink (SL) exploration message with flag 1314. Flag 1314 indicates that the peer UE 104 can be used as a location peer, SL relay, or both. Peer UE 104 may include location-related Quality of Service (QoS) information in announcement message 1312. This information indicates at least a subset of capabilities 1304, which indicate the types of location services(s) that peer UE 104 can provide. For example, the duration for which peer UE 104 can remain as a location peer during peer location communication, which location technologies(s) peer UE 104 can perform, whether peer UE 104 can send SL-PRS, receive SL-PRS, or both, what SL-location capabilities peer UE 104 has, and whether peer UE 104 can participate in peer location communication as a measurement aggregator, location engine, send SL-PRS, or any combination thereof. Announcement message 1312 may include an identifier 1302 associated with peer UE 104 broadcasting announcement message 1312.

[0179] In some configurations, the target UE 104(T) can respond to the announcement message 1312 with an interest message 1316, which is sent to each peer UE 104. This interest message 1316 indicates that the target UE 104(T) is interested in enabling a single peer UE 104 to participate in peer location communications. A single peer UE 104 can respond to the interest message 1316 by sending additional capabilities 1318 indicating the additional capabilities (or additional details about those capabilities) and additional configurations that the peer UE 104 can support.

[0180] The target UE 104(T) may store an identifier 1302 associated with each peer UE 104 that sent the announcement message 1312, and a quality 1320 associated with each peer UE 104 that sent the announcement message 1312. Quality 1320 may include, for example, capabilities 1304 and additional capabilities 1318. Furthermore, quality 1320 may include measurements performed by the target UE 104(T) on the announcement message 1312. For example, measurements may include signal strength, time of arrival (ToA), and other measurements of the signal used to send the announcement message 1312. The target UE 104(T) may use quality 1320 and criteria 1322 to select peer UEs 104 to perform one or more roles during peer location communication. Criteria 1322 may include various criteria used by the target UE 104(T) to sort and select peer UEs 104 to participate in peer location communication. Target UE 104(T) can determine whether each peer UE 104 can provide a specific location service. Target UE 104(T) can determine the known quality of the location of each peer UE 104 (e.g., deciding whether to use peer UE 104 as an anchor UE). Target UE 104(T) can determine how quickly candidate peer UE 104 can send back measurements or location estimates (e.g., target UE 104(T) determines whether peer UE 104 meets response time criteria). Target UE 104(T) can determine the sidelink radio quality of peer UE 104 (e.g., target UE 104(T) determines whether peer UE 104 meets channel quality criteria). Target UE 104(T) can determine whether the channel strength (e.g., RSRP) measurement is greater than a channel strength threshold. Target UE 104(T) can determine signal quality metrics based on the ToA measured using announcement message 1312. For example, after the target UE 104(T) sends a message (e.g., interest message 1316), the candidate peer UE 104 can determine the ToA (To-A) and whether there is a large amount of multipath, and output quality metrics. The candidate peer UE 104 uses additional capability 1318 to send the quality metrics back to the target UE 104(T). When selecting a peer UE 104 to participate in peer location communication, the target UE 104(T) can use multiple metrics such as signal strength (e.g., RSRP) and ToA quality. If the candidate peer UE 104 is vehicle-based and moving rapidly, the target UE 104(T) may not select the rapidly moving candidate peer UE 104 (e.g., the target UE 104(T) determines whether the peer UE 104 meets the mobility status criteria).

[0181] For example, target UE 104(T) can use quality 1320 and standard 1322 to select first peer UE 104 as anchor UE, second peer UE 104 as measurement aggregator, third peer UE as positioning engine, fourth UE as side link relay provider, fifth peer UE 104 as PRS transmitter, and so on.

[0182] After selecting a peer UE 104 to perform one or more roles during the peer positioning communication period, the target UE 104(T) sends a setup message 1324 to the selected peer UE 104, requesting the selected peer UE 104 to join the PRS peer positioning communication period with the target UE 104(T). The setup message 1324 can specify the role that each selected peer UE 104 will perform during the peer positioning communication period. The target UE 104(T) and the selected peer UE 104 send a positioning reference signal 1326 during the peer positioning communication period.

[0183] If one of the peer UEs 104 is selected to perform a role including forwarding measurements to network 1328 during the peer location communication period, for example, if peer UE 104 is selected as a relay for location purposes, then in order to participate in the peer location communication period, the selected peer UE 104 has previously been authorized to participate in the peer location communication period, and the channel quality toward the serving cell 1330 (e.g., measured via Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP)) is better than a signal quality threshold. In some cases, the signal quality threshold may be specific to the peer location communication period (e.g., the opposite of the RSRP threshold generally used in the relay selection procedure). In some cases, a minimum signal quality threshold may be used by the peer UE 104 to autonomously determine whether the peer UE 104 can participate in the peer location communication period.

[0184] In some configurations, the message passing between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 may include four messages, while in other configurations, the message passing between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 may include two messages. For example, when using four messages, the peer UE 104 sends an announcement message 1312 (e.g., "Exploration Message A"), the target UE 104(T) sends an interest message 1316 (e.g., "Exploration Response A"), the peer UE 104 sends an additional capability message 1318 (e.g., "Exploration Message B"), and the target UE 104(T) sends a setup message 1324 (e.g., "Exploration Response B") to complete the SL location setup. When using two messages, the peer UE 104 sends an announcement message 1312 (e.g., "Exploration Message A"), and the target UE 104(T) sends a setup message 1324 (e.g., "Exploration Response A"). For example, these four messages can be used when the target UE 104(T) has the criteria of the participants in the peer location communication period and that criterion is used to analyze additional capability 1318. For example, these two messages can be used when the target UE 104(T) has fewer criteria for the participants in the peer location communication period, or in order to establish the peer location communication period more quickly (e.g., compared to using four messages).

[0185] Therefore, peer UEs can periodically broadcast announcement messages to self-identify their ability to participate in peer location communication sessions. These announcement messages can be SL exploration messages with one or more flags to indicate the various capabilities of the peer UE to participate in peer location communication sessions. For example, flags may indicate that the peer UE can be used as a location peer, as an SL relay, or both. The announcement messages may include location-related QoS information, the type of location service the peer UE can provide as a location peer UE, the duration for which the peer UE can be used as a location peer UE, which location methods the peer UE can perform (e.g., whether the peer UE can send SL-PRS, receive SL-PRS, or both), what SL location capabilities the peer UE possesses, whether the peer UE can act as a measurement aggregator (e.g., collecting measurements and forwarding them to the network), whether the peer UE can act as a location engine (e.g., collecting and processing measurements to determine location), or any combination thereof.

[0186] The advantages of this technology include enabling the target UE to identify and select peer UEs to participate in peer location communication sessions without using network components to determine the target UE's location. Therefore, another advantage is that a target UE without network access can use peer UEs to obtain accurate location information. At least one of the peer UEs has network access and can relay information to and from the network. A further advantage could be the use of four messaging technologies when the target UE has specific criteria, and the use of two messaging technologies when the target UE desires to quickly establish a peer location communication session.

[0187] Figure 14 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 1400, according to various embodiments of the present invention, in which a target user equipment (UE) sends a request message to request a peer UE to perform location services. System 1400 includes a target UE 104(T) and peer UEs 104(1) to 104(N>0) (collectively referred to as peer UEs 104). System 1400 illustrates how the target UE 104(T) can use a PRS to request the peer UE 104 to participate in a peer location communication session. The peer UEs 104 can respond to the request message via their ability to indicate their participation in the peer location communication session. The target UE 104(T) can select at least a portion of the peer UEs 104 that respond to the request message.

[0188] To explore peer UEs 104 that can be used to participate in peer location communication sessions, the target UE 104(T) sends a request message 1402. For example, the request message 1402 may be an SL exploration request message with fields 1404 providing details associated with the peer location communication session. The target UE 104(T) may broadcast or unicast the request message 1402. If unicast, the response 1406 from the peer UE 104 may include an identifier 1302 associated with the responding peer UE 104. Field 1404 may include, for example: the duration for which the target UE 104(T) requests a peer UE to act as a positioning peer, the frequency at which the positioning peer sends the positioning reference signal 1326, the frequency band used when sending the positioning reference signal 1326, the bandwidth used, the specific positioning method used, whether the target UE 104(T) is requesting a positioning peer UE that can perform positioning calculations, a quality metric associated with the degree to which peer UEs know their own location so that the target UE 104(T) can determine the ability of the peer UE to act as an anchor point during peer positioning communications, or any combination thereof.

[0189] Request message 1402 may indicate that target UE 104(T) is requesting a peer UE to perform sidelink (SL) coordinated positioning (e.g., participate in peer positioning communication). Field 1404 may indicate a set of capabilities associated with the positioning method that target UE 104(T) is interested in performing, one or more Quality of Service (QoS) metrics that target UE 104(T) is requesting, the minimum positioning capability that target UE 104(T) is requesting, or any combination thereof. For example, QoS metrics may include a quality metric associated with (e.g., time of arrival (TOA) of request message 1402), signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP)), or either of both.

[0190] In response to receiving a request message 1402 (e.g., an SL location peer exploration request message), one or more of the peer UEs 104 may send a response 1406, which includes a subset 1407 of the capabilities 1304 of each responding peer UE 104. In some cases, after receiving a response 1406, the target UE 104(T) may send a detail message 1414 to each of the responding peer UEs 104. The detail message 1414 may include details (e.g., capabilities, configuration, positioning technology, etc.) associated with the peer location communication period being established by the target UE 104(T). In response, each peer UE 104 having the capabilities to satisfy the details provided in the detail message 1414 may send an acknowledgment 1410 via a location reference signal 1326, indicating that the respective peer UE 104 is interested in and able to participate in the peer location communication period.

[0191] In some configurations, the target UE 104(T) may send detail message 1414 to select one of the peer UEs 104. For example, the target UE 104(T) may use quality 1320 (e.g., associated with the responding peer UE 104) and criteria 1322 to select individual peer UEs 104 among the peer UEs 104. For illustration, the target UE 104(T) may use quality 1320 and criteria 1322 to select a first peer UE 104 as an anchor UE, a second peer UE 104 as a measurement aggregator, a third peer UE as a positioning engine, a fourth UE as a sidelink relay provider, a fifth peer UE 104 as a PRS transmitter, and so on. The target UE 104(T) may indicate in detail message 1308 which peer UEs 104 have been selected to participate in the peer positioning communication period, what role (multiple) each peer UE 104 will perform in the peer positioning communication period, what positioning method is used in the peer positioning communication period, the duration of the peer positioning communication period, the start time of the peer positioning communication period, how often the positioning reference signal 1326 is sent, other details associated with the peer positioning communication period, or any combination thereof.

[0192] In some configurations, the message exchange between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 may include four messages, while in other configurations, the message exchange between the target UE 104(T) and the peer UE 104 may include two messages. For example, when using four messages, the target UE 104(T) sends a request message 1402 (e.g., "Request Message A"), the peer UE 104 sends a response message 1406 (e.g., "Request Response A"), the target UE 104(T) sends a detail message 1414 (e.g., "Request Message B"), and the peer UE 104 sends an acknowledgment message 1410 (e.g., "Request Response B") to complete the SL positioning setup. When using two messages, the target UE 104(T) sends a request message 1402 (e.g., "Request Message A"), and the peer UE 104 sends a response message 1406 (e.g., "Request Response A"). For example, these four messages can be used when the target UE 104(T) has the criteria of the participants in the peer location communication period and that criterion is used for analysis capability 1304. For example, these two messages can be used when the target UE 104(T) has fewer criteria for the participants in the peer location communication period, or in order to establish the peer location communication period more quickly.

[0193] The technological advantages include enabling the target UE to request and select peer UEs to participate in peer location communication sessions without using network components to determine the target UE's location. Therefore, another technological advantage is that a target UE without network access can use peer UEs to obtain accurate location information. At least one of the peer UEs has network access and can relay information to and from the network. A further technological advantage could be the use of a four-message technique when the target UE has specific criteria, and a two-message technique when the target UE desires to quickly establish a peer location communication session.

[0194] Figure 15 illustrates an example diagram 1500 for performing selection according to various states of this case. The procedure diagram 1500 includes a relay UE 1502 (e.g., a target UE, such as target UE 104(T) of Figures 13 and 14), an evolved Node B (eNB) 1504, a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 1506, and a Packet / Service Gateway (P / S GW) 1508.

[0195] At 1510, relay UE 1502 is attached to the network and authorized and provisioned (e.g., by eNB 1504, MME 1506, or both) to perform network relay operations. At 1512, relay UE 1502 establishes a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection by sending a request 1514 to eNB 1504, receiving a response 1516 from eNB 1504, and establishing an RRC at 1518.

[0196] The remote UE 1520 (e.g., the target UE, such as target UE 104(T) in Figures 13 and 14) sends a request 1522 to the relay UE 1502, requesting the relay UE 1502 to act as a relay for the remote UE 1520, because the relay UE 1502 is connected to the network via eNB 1504, while the remote UE 1520 is not connected. The remote UE 1520 receives a response 1524 from the relay UE 1502. If the response 1524 indicates that the relay UE 1502 agrees to act as a relay for the remote UE 1520, then at 1526, a direct connection is established between the remote UE 1520 and the relay UE 1502.

[0197] Using the direct connection 1527 between the remote UE 1520 and the relay UE 1502, the remote UE 1520 can communicate with the P / S GW 1508 via messages 1528 and 1530, using the MME 1506 as an intermediary. The remote UE 1520 can also receive responses from the P / S GW 1508 via messages 1532 and 1534, also using the MME 1506 as an intermediary. Therefore, the remote UE 1520 can communicate with the eNB 1504, the MME 1506, and the P / S GW 1508 via messages 1540 and 1542.

[0198] The target UE (e.g., remote UE 1520) identifies the presence of at least one suitable relay UE (e.g., relay UE 1502) to request relay service in its vicinity. To achieve identification, (1) relay UE 1502 may announce its presence by periodically sending SL exploration messages, or (2) remote UE 1520 may send SL exploration request messages, expecting a response from the nearby relay UE 1502. During relay exploration, remote UE 1520 obtains the UE identifier of relay UE 1502 (e.g., identifier 1302(T) of target UE 104(T) in Figures 13 and 14) for use in SL transmission and reception of relayed data.

[0199] In the flowcharts of Figures 16, 17, 18, and 19, each block represents one or more operations that can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, a block represents a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the processor to perform the operation. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, modules, elements, data structures, etc., that perform a particular function or implement a particular type of abstract data. The order in which the blocks are described is not intended to be construed as limiting, and any number of the described operations can be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement the program. For the purposes of discussion, programs 1600, 1700, 1800, and 1900 are described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 as described above, although other models, frameworks, systems, and environments may be used to implement these programs.

[0200] Figure 16 illustrates an example procedure 1600 for receiving one or more exploration messages according to various states of this case. In one state, procedure 1600 can be executed by a UE (e.g., target UE 104(T) of Figure 13).

[0201] At 1602, the target UE receives one or more exploration messages. Each of the exploration messages is received from a corresponding peer UE among the one or more peer UEs. Each of the exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer UE for participating in sidelink positioning communication. For example, in FIG13, the target UE 104(T) may receive announcement message 1312, including a subset of capabilities 1304 associated with a single peer UE 104 among peer UEs 104 that provide positioning assistance to the target UE 104(T). In one configuration, 1602 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, wherein any one or all of them may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0202] At 1604, the target UE sends an interest message to at least one of one or more peer UEs. The interest message indicates that the target UE intends to allow one or more of each UE to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period. For example, in Figure 13, the target UE 104(T) may send an interest message 1316 to at least one of the peer UEs 104(1) to 104(N). In one configuration, 1604 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614 and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0203] At 1606, the target UE receives one or more capability messages from one or more peer UEs. Each capability message indicates additional capabilities (e.g., more details associated with a subset of capabilities, additional capabilities beyond the subset of capabilities, or both) associated with the corresponding peer UE participating in the side-link positioning communication period. For example, in FIG13, the target UE 104(T) receives additional capability 1318 from peer UE 104, where additional capability 1318(1) includes more details associated with capability 1304(1) of peer UE 104(1), additional capabilities, or both, and additional capability 1318(N) includes more details associated with capability 1304(N) of peer UE 104(N), additional capabilities, or both. In one configuration, 1606 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or side-link manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0204] At 1608, the target UE sends a selection message to at least one peer UE among one or more peer UEs based on a subset of its capabilities and additional capabilities (associated with at least one peer UE) for participating in the location communication period with the target UE. This selection message requests at least one peer UE to participate in the location communication period with the target UE. For example, in Figure 13, the target UE 104(T) can use standard 1322 to select a peer UE 104 based on its respective quality 1320 and send a setting message 1324 to the selected peer UE 104. In one configuration, 1608 can be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which can be considered components for performing this operation.

[0205] Therefore, the target UE can receive one or more messages. Each of these messages can be received from a corresponding peer UE among the one or more peer UEs. Each of these messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer UE for participating in the location communication period. The target UE can request additional details about the capability subset, additional capabilities, or both, and receive additional capability messages from the peer UE. The target UE can send a selection message to at least one peer UE among the one or more peer UEs to provide location assistance based on the capability subset, additional capabilities, or both associated with at least one peer UE. The selection message can request at least one peer UE to participate in the location communication period with the target UE. Each of these messages can be a sidelink exploration message including a location field indicating whether the corresponding peer UE is authorized to participate in the location communication period. At least one of these messages can indicate that the corresponding peer UE is authorized to perform a sidelink relay function. The target UE can broadcast a sidelink request message, requesting one or more peer UEs to participate in the location communication period. The capabilities associated with at least one peer UE can indicate: the maximum duration for which at least one peer UE can participate in peer location communication, how often at least one peer UE can send location reference signals, one or more types of location techniques that at least one peer UE can perform, whether at least one peer UE is authorized to perform location calculations, whether at least one peer UE is authorized to aggregate location data, quality metrics associated with the accuracy of the current location of at least one peer UE (e.g., one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of one or more messages), indicating whether at least one peer UE is experiencing a mobility state with less than a threshold amount of movement, indicating how quickly at least one peer UE can provide a response time for location measurements, role parameters indicating at least one role that at least one peer UE is authorized to perform, or any combination thereof. For example, aggregating location data may include aggregating location data corresponding to: location measurements from other devices, capabilities of other devices, or statistics related to the use / request of location measurements and reference signals from other devices. The target UE may broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target UE, at least one peer UE, or both will participate in the location communication. In some cases, reservation requests are broadcast via the physical side link control channel.

[0206] As will be understood, the technical advantages of procedure 1600 include enabling the target UE to select peer UEs to participate in peer location communication sessions without using network components to determine the target UE's location. Therefore, the target UE can obtain accurate location information using peer UEs. In some configurations, the target UE can receive announcement messages from peer UEs that automatically identify the capability of each peer UE to participate in peer location communication sessions. In other configurations, after the target UE sends a request message requesting UEs to participate in peer location communication sessions, the target UE can receive response messages from peer UEs indicating the capability of each peer UE to participate in peer location communication sessions.

[0207] Figure 17 illustrates an example procedure 1700 for sending a side-link request message according to various states of this case. In one state, procedure 1700 can be executed by a UE (e.g., target UE 104(T) of Figure 14).

[0208] At 1702, the target UE sends a sidelink request message, requesting one or more peer UEs to participate in the sidelink location communication period. This request message includes a subset of capabilities (e.g., capabilities that the target UE seeks among peer UEs). For example, in Figure 14, the target UE 104(T) may send request message 1402 requesting one or more peer UEs 104 to participate in the sidelink location communication period. In one configuration, 1702 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which can be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0209] At 1704, the UE receives one or more exploration request messages. Each of the one or more exploration request messages is received from a corresponding peer UE among the one or more peer UEs. Each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer UE includes at least one capability in a subset of capabilities. For example, in FIG14, the target UE 104(T) may receive a response 1406 (e.g., an exploration request message) including at least a subset of the capabilities 1304 associated with a single peer UE 104 among the peer UEs 104 that provide location assistance to the target UE 104(T). In one configuration, 1704 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, wherein any one or all of them may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0210] At 1706, the target UE sends a second message to at least one of one or more peer UEs. The interest message indicates that the target UE is requesting additional capabilities to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period. For example, in FIG14, the target UE 104(T) may send a detail message 1414 to at least one of the peer UEs 104(1) to 104(N). The detail message 1414 indicates that the target UE is requesting additional capabilities to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period. In one configuration, 1706 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614 and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0211] At 1708, the target UE receives one or more acknowledgment messages from one or more peer UEs. For example, in Figure 14, the target UE 104(T) receives an acknowledgment 1410 from peer UE 104 including additional capability 1318. Additional capability 1318(1) includes further details, additional capabilities, or both associated with capability 1304(1) of peer UE 104(1), and additional capability 1318(N) includes further details, additional capabilities, or both associated with capability 1304(N) of peer UE 104(N). In one configuration, 1708 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0212] At 1710, the UE sends a selection message to at least one peer user equipment (PUE) among one or more peer UEs based on a subset of capabilities and additional capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment (PUE) for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE. This selection message requests at least one PUE to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target PUE. For example, in Figure 14, the target UE 104(T) can use standard 1322 to select a peer UE 104 based on its respective quality 1320 and send a setting message 1324 to the selected peer UE 104. In one configuration, 1710 can be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which can be considered components for performing this operation.

[0213] Therefore, the target UE can request a peer UE to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period. In response, the target UE can receive a response message from a peer UE interested in participating. Each of the one or more response messages can be received from the corresponding peer UE among the one or more peer UEs. Each response message indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer UE for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period. The target UE can request additional details about the capability subset, additional capabilities, or both, and receive additional capability information from the peer UE. The target UE can send a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer UEs to provide positioning assistance based on the capability subset, additional capabilities, or both associated with at least one peer UE. The selection message can request at least one peer UE to participate in the positioning communication period with the target UE. Each of the one or more messages can be a sidelink exploration message including a positioning field indicating whether the corresponding peer UE is authorized to participate in the positioning communication period. At least one of the one or more messages can indicate that the corresponding peer UE is authorized to perform sidelink relay functions. The target UE can broadcast a sidelink request message, requesting one or more peer UEs to participate in the location communication period. The capabilities associated with at least one peer UE can indicate: the maximum duration for which the at least one peer UE can participate in the peer location communication period; how often the at least one peer UE can send location reference signals; one or more types of location techniques that the at least one peer UE can perform; whether the at least one peer UE is authorized to perform location calculations; whether the at least one peer UE is authorized to aggregate location data; quality metrics associated with the accuracy of the at least one peer UE's current location (e.g., one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of one or more messages); whether the at least one peer UE is experiencing a mobility state with less than a threshold amount of movement; how quickly the at least one peer UE can provide a response time for location measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that the at least one peer UE is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof. For example, aggregated location data may include location data aggregated with location measurements from other devices, the capabilities of other devices, or statistics related to the use / request of location measurements and reference signals from other devices. The target UE may broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target UE, at least one peer UE, or both will participate in the location communication period. In some cases, the reservation request is broadcast via the physical-side walkie-link control channel.

[0214] As will be understood, the technical advantages of procedure 1700 include enabling the target UE to select peer UEs to participate in peer location communication sessions without using network components to determine the target UE's location. Therefore, the target UE can obtain accurate location information using peer UEs. In some configurations, the target UE can receive announcement messages from peer UEs that automatically identify the capability of each peer UE to participate in peer location communication sessions. In other configurations, after the target UE sends a request message requesting UEs to participate in peer location communication sessions, the target UE can receive response messages from peer UEs indicating the capability of each peer UE to participate in peer location communication sessions.

[0215] Figure 18 illustrates an example procedure 1800 for receiving an authorization message from a network entity according to various states of this case. In one state, procedure 1600 may be executed by a peer UE (e.g., one or more peer UEs 104(1)-104(N) in Figures 13 and 14).

[0216] At 1802, the peer UE receives an authorization message from the network entity associated with the serving cell. The authorization message authorizes the peer UE to participate in the sidelink location communication period in at least one role. For example, in Figures 13 and 14, one or more peer UEs 104 may request and receive authorization (e.g., in authorization response 1310) to perform one or more of roles 1306 during the peer location communication period. In one configuration, 1802 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0217] At 1804, the peer UE sends a message including capabilities associated with the peer UE. This capability indicates at least one role. For example, in Figure 13, the peer UE 104 may send a self-identification announcement message 1312 including capability 1304, which includes roles 1306 that each peer UE 104 can perform during peer location communication. As another example, in Figure 14, in response to receiving a request message 1402 from the target UE 104(T), one or more peer UEs 104 may send a response 1406 including capability 1304, which includes roles 1306 that each peer UE 104 can perform during peer location communication. In one configuration, 1804 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or sidelink manager 670, where any one or all of these can be considered components for performing this operation.

[0218] At 1806, the peer UE receives a selection message (e.g., also called a location message) from the target user equipment. This selection message requests the peer UE to participate in a location communication period with the target user equipment. For example, in Figures 13 and 14, one or more peer UEs 104 may receive a setting message 1324 requesting a single peer UE 104 (e.g., a peer UE 104 that has selected target 104(T)) to participate in the peer location communication period. In one configuration, 1806 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or side link manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered components for performing this operation.

[0219] At 1808, the peer UE participates in the location communication period with the target user equipment. For example, in Figures 13 and 14, one or more of the peer UE 104 and the target UE 104(T) may each send a location reference signal 726 during the side link location communication period. In one configuration, 1608 may be performed by transceiver 604, processing system 610, memory 614, and / or side link manager 670, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0220] Therefore, a peer UE can send an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell (e.g., a base station). The authorization request may request the network entity to authorize the peer UE to participate in the location communication period in at least one role. In response, the peer UE can receive an authorization message from the network entity of the serving cell. The authorization request may include: one or more measurements associated with signal strength, the peer UE's memory capacity, the peer UE's processing power, or any combination thereof. The authorization message may authorize the peer UE to participate in the location communication period in at least one role. The peer UE may send a message including capabilities associated with the peer UE. In some cases, this message may be a sidelink (SL) exploration message including a location field indicating that the peer UE is authorized to participate in the location communication period. In some cases, the peer UE may receive an SL request message from a target UE. The SL request message may include a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the UE to participate in the location communication period. For example, the message may self-identify each peer UE and indicate their capabilities. As another example, the message (e.g., a message sent in response to a request from a target UE) may indicate the capabilities associated with each responding peer UE. The capabilities associated with a peer UE may include at least one of the following: the maximum duration for which the peer UE can participate in a positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer UE can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer UE can transmit positioning reference signals during the positioning communication period; a technical parameter indicating one or more types of positioning technologies that the peer UE can perform during the positioning communication period; a role parameter indicating at least one role that the peer UE is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer UE (e.g., a quality metric may include one or more metrics associated with signal strength, message arrival time from the target UE, or both); a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer UE is experiencing; or any combination thereof. The capability may indicate the role (multiple) that each peer UE is authorized to perform during the peer positioning communication period. The at least one role may include: an anchor UE, a measurement aggregator, a positioning engine, a sidelink relay provider, a positioning reference signal transmitter, or any combination thereof. A peer UE can receive a location message (e.g., an establishment message) from the target UE requesting the peer UE to participate in a peer location communication period with the target UE. In response, one or more peer UEs can participate in the location communication period with the target UE.

[0221] As will be understood, the technical advantages of procedure 1800 include enabling the target UE to determine its location during peer-to-peer (e.g., SL) positioning communication using a peer-to-peer UE (e.g., without using network components). Therefore, the target UE can use the peer-to-peer UE to obtain accurate positioning information without direct network access.

[0222] Figure 19 illustrates an example program 1900 according to various configurations of this case, including receiving an authorization request from a peer user device. In one configuration, program 1900 may be executed by a network entity, such as base station 102 of Figure 1 or network entity 1350 of Figures 13 and 14.

[0223] At 1902, the network entity receives an authorization request from a peer user equipment. The authorization request requests permission to participate in the location communication period. The authorization request includes information associated with the peer user equipment (e.g., one or more capabilities). For example, in Figures 13 and 14, network entity 1350 receives authorization request 1308 from each peer UE 104 in the peer UE 104. In one configuration, 1902 can be performed by receivers 312, 322, 352, 362, processors 332, 384, 394, and / or memories 340, 386, 396, any one or all of which can be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0224] At 1904, the network entity, based on data associated with peer user equipment, determines that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role during the location communication period and sends an authorization response 1310 indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the peer (e.g., SL) location communication period. For example, in Figures 13 and 14, in response to receiving authorization requests 1308 from various peer UEs 104 among peer UEs 104, the network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310. If the network entity 1350 determines based on data 1309 that the peer UE cannot perform a role during the location communication period, then the network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310 indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the peer (e.g., SL) location communication period. In one state, 1904 can be executed by receivers 312, 322, 352, 362, processors 332, 384, 394 and / or memory 340, 386, 396, any one or all of which can be regarded as a component for performing the operation.

[0225] In 1906, the network entity determines, based on data associated with peer user equipment, that a peer user equipment can perform a role during the location communication period, and sends an authorization message instructing the peer user equipment to participate in the location communication period in that role. For example, in Figures 13 and 14, in response to receiving authorization requests 1308 from various peer UEs 104, network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310. If network entity 1350 determines, based on data 1309, that a peer UE can perform one or more roles during the location communication period, then network entity 1350 sends an authorization response 1310, which instructs the peer user equipment to perform the role specified in the authorization response 1310 during the peer (e.g., SL) location communication period. In one state, 1702 can be performed by receivers 312, 322, 352, 362, processors 332, 384, 394, and / or memories 340, 386, 396, any one or all of which can be considered as components for performing the operation. Role 706 includes at least one of anchored user equipment, measurement aggregator, positioning engine, sidelink relay provider, transmitter of positioning reference signal, or any combination thereof. The information in the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of peer user equipment, memory capacity of peer user equipment, processing power of peer user equipment, movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing, or any combination thereof.

[0226] As will be understood, the technical advantages of procedure 1900 include enabling the BS to determine which roles (multiple) a peer UE can perform during a peer location communication period based on data associated with the peer UE. Therefore, each peer UE is pre-authorized to perform certain roles, allowing the target UE to quickly establish a peer location communication period that includes peer UEs with appropriate roles. For example, the target UE 104(T) can select a first peer UE 104 authorized to perform the role of anchor UE, a second peer UE 104 to 104 authorized to perform the role of measurement aggregator, a third peer UE to 104 authorized to perform the role of location engine, a fourth peer UE to 104 authorized to perform the role of sidelink relay provider, a fifth peer UE 104 to 104 authorized to perform the role of PRS transmitter, and so on.

[0227] As can be seen in the detailed description above, different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention to include more features than are expressly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various forms of this document may include fewer features than those of the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered as included in the specification, where each clause may serve as a separate example on its own. Although each dependent clause may refer in the clause to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the form of that dependent clause is not limited to that specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include combinations of dependent clause forms with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or combinations of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various forms of this document expressly include these combinations unless it is expressly stated or can be readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., in contradictory forms, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, it is intended that various forms of clauses be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause does not directly depend on the independent clause. Examples of implementation are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0228] Article 1. A method for selecting a location peer point, performed by a target user equipment, the method comprising: receiving one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink location communication period; sending an interest message to one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to allow one or more peer user equipments to participate in the sidelink location communication period; receiving one or more capability messages from one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period; and sending a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer user equipments based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period and the additional capabilities, the selection message requesting at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0229] Article 2. According to the method of Article 1, the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state with a movement amount less than a threshold; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0230] Article 3. The method according to Article 2, wherein the quality measure includes one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the capability messages.

[0231] Article 4. The method according to any one of Articles 1 to 3, wherein the method further includes: broadcasting a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, one or more peer point user equipment, or both will participate in the sidelink positioning communication period.

[0232] Article 5. According to the method of Article 4, wherein: the reservation request is broadcast via the entity-side link control channel.

[0233] Article 6. A method for selecting a location peer point, performed by a target user equipment, the method comprising: sending a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink location communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; receiving one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability of the subset of capabilities; sending a second message indicating additional capabilities to the one or more peer user equipments; receiving one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments; and sending a selection message to at least one peer user equipment based on at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0234] Article 7. The method of Article 6, wherein sending a sidelink request message includes one of the following: broadcasting a sidelink request message; multicasting a sidelink request message; or unicasting a sidelink request message.

[0235] Article 8. According to the method of any one of Articles 6 to 7, the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state with a movement amount less than a threshold; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0236] Article 9. The method according to Article 8, wherein the quality measure includes one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

[0237] Article 10. A method for participating in a sidelink location communication period, the method comprising: receiving an authorization message from a peer user equipment (PUE) to a network entity associated with a serving cell, the authorization message authorizing the PUE to participate in the sidelink location communication period with at least one role; sending a message from the PUE including capabilities associated with the PUE, the capabilities indicating at least one role; receiving a location message from a target user equipment (PUE) requesting the PUE to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment; and the PUE participating in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0238] Article 11. According to the method of Article 10, at least one role includes at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal or any combination thereof.

[0239] Article 12. The method according to any one of Articles 10 to 11, wherein: the message includes a sidelink exploration message, the sidelink exploration message including a location field indicating that the peer point user equipment is authorized to participate in the sidelink location communication period.

[0240] Article 13. The method pursuant to any one of Articles 10 to 12 further includes: receiving a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0241] Article 14. The method pursuant to any of Articles 10 to 13 further includes: sending an authorization request to the network entity of the service cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer point user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period in at least one role.

[0242] Clause 15. The method of Clause 14, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with signal strength; memory capacity of peer user equipment; processing power of peer user equipment; or any combination thereof.

[0243] Article 16. According to the method of any one of Articles 10 to 15, the capabilities associated with a peer user equipment include at least one of the following: the maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in a sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can transmit a positioning reference signal during a sidelink positioning communication period; technical parameters indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment can perform during a sidelink positioning communication period; role parameters indicating at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, including one or more measurements related to signal strength, message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0244] Article 17. A method for authorizing a peer user device, the method comprising: receiving, by a network entity, an authorization request from the peer user device, the authorization request requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the peer user device; based on a determination by the network entity and according to the data associated with the peer user device that the peer user device cannot perform a role during the location communication period, sending a response message indicating that the peer user device is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on a determination by the network entity and according to the data associated with the peer user device that the peer user device can perform a role during the location communication period, sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user device is authorized to participate in the location communication period with that role.

[0245] Article 18. The method pursuant to Article 17, wherein the role includes at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal or any combination thereof.

[0246] Article 19. The method pursuant to any of Articles 17 to 18, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of the peer user equipment; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0247] Article 20. A target user equipment, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities for participating side-link location communication associated with the corresponding peer user equipment; and send to the one or more peer user equipment an indication that the target user equipment intends to allow the one or more peers to use... The user device (UGC) receives an interest message for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period; receives one or more capability messages from one or more peer point UGCs, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer point UGC for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period; and sends a selection message to at least one peer point UGC among the one or more peer point UGCs based on a subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer point UGC for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target UGC.

[0248] Clause 21. The target user equipment pursuant to Clause 20, wherein the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state with a movement amount less than a threshold; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0249] Clause 22. Target user equipment pursuant to Clause 21, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the one or more capability messages.

[0250] Clause 23. Target user equipment pursuant to any of Clauses 20 to 22, wherein the processor is further configured to: broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, one or more peer point user equipment, or both will participate in the sidelink positioning communication period.

[0251] Clause 24. Target user equipment according to Clause 23, wherein the reservation request is broadcast via the physical side link control channel.

[0252] Clause 25. A target user device, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: send a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user devices to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; receive one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user device among the one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages contains an exploration request... The message indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability in the capability subset; sends a second message to one or more peer user equipments, the second message identifying an additional capability; receives one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment among one or more peer user equipments; and sends a selection message to at least one peer user equipment based on at least one capability and an additional capability associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in a sidelink positioning communication period with a target user equipment.

[0253] Clause 26. Target user equipment under Clause 25, wherein sending a sidelink request message includes one of the following: broadcast sidelink request message; multicast sidelink request message; or unicast sidelink request message.

[0254] Clause 27. A target user equipment pursuant to any of Clauses 25 to 26, wherein the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state with a movement amount less than a threshold; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0255] Clause 28. Target user device according to Clause 27, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

[0256] Article 29. A peer user equipment (PUE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an authorization message from a network entity of a serving cell, the authorization message authorizing the PUE to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role; send a message including capabilities associated with the PUE, the capabilities indicating at least one role; receive a location message from a target user equipment (DUE), the location message requesting the PUE to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target DUE; and participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target DUE.

[0257] Clause 30. A peer point user equipment under Clause 29, wherein at least one role includes at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

[0258] Clause 31. Peer user equipment pursuant to any of Clauses 29 to 30, wherein: the message includes a sidelink exploration message, the sidelink exploration message including a location field indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the sidelink location communication period.

[0259] Clause 32. For peer user equipment pursuant to any of Clauses 29 to 31, the processor is further configured to: receive a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0260] Clause 33. For peer user equipment pursuant to any of Clauses 29 to 32, the processor is further configured to: send an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period in at least one role, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with signal strength; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; or any combination thereof.

[0261] Clause 34. Peer user equipment under Clause 33, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with signal strength; memory capacity of the peer user equipment; processing power of the peer user equipment; or any combination thereof.

[0262] Clause 35. A peer user equipment under any of Clauses 29 to 34, wherein the capabilities associated with the peer user equipment include at least one of the following: the maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in a sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can transmit a positioning reference signal during a sidelink positioning communication period; a technical parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment can perform during a sidelink positioning communication period; a role parameter indicating at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, which includes one or more measurements associated with signal strength, message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0263] Article 36. A network entity comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment (PUE) requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the PUE; based on the data associated with the PUE and based on a determination that the PUE cannot perform a role during the location communication period, send a response message indicating that the PUE is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on the data associated with the PUE and based on a determination that the PUE can perform a role during the location communication period, send an authorization message indicating that the PUE is authorized to participate in the location communication period with that role.

[0264] Clause 37. Network entities under Clause 36, wherein the roles include at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal or any combination thereof.

[0265] Article 38. A network entity pursuant to any of Articles 36 to 37, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of a peer user equipment; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; a motion state indicating the amount of motion the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0266] Article 39. An apparatus for selecting a peer location, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user device among one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period; means for sending an interest message to one or more peer user devices indicating that a target user device intends to allow one or more peer user devices to participate in a sidelink location communication period; means for receiving one or more capability messages from one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period; and means for sending a selection message to at least one peer user device among one or more peer user devices based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period and the additional capabilities, the selection message requesting at least one peer user device to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user device.

[0267] Article 40. The apparatus pursuant to Article 39, wherein the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0268] Clause 41. A device pursuant to Clause 40, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the capability messages.

[0269] Clause 42. An apparatus pursuant to any of Clauses 39 to 41, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a component for broadcasting a reservation request indicating that a target user equipment, one or more peer point user equipment, or both will participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0270] Clause 43. A device pursuant to any of Clauses 41 to 42, wherein: the reservation request is broadcast via the physical-side walkway control channel.

[0271] Clause 44. An apparatus for selecting a peer location, the apparatus comprising: means for transmitting a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink location communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; means for receiving one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability in the subset of capabilities; means for transmitting a second message indicating additional capabilities to the one or more peer user equipments; means for receiving one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments; and means for transmitting a selection message to at least one peer user equipment based on at least one capability and additional capabilities associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink location communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with a target user equipment.

[0272] Article 45. The apparatus according to Article 44, wherein the component for transmitting a side link request message includes one of the following: a component for broadcasting a side link request message; a component for multicasting a side link request message; or a component for unicasting a side link request message.

[0273] Clause 46. A device pursuant to any of Clauses 44 to 45, wherein the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0274] Clause 47. A device pursuant to Clause 46, wherein the quality measure includes one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

[0275] Article 48. An apparatus for participating in a sidelink location communication period, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a serving cell by a peer user equipment, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with at least one role; means for sending a message by the peer user equipment including a capability associated with the peer user equipment, the capability indicating at least one role; means for receiving a location message from a target user equipment by the peer user equipment, the location message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment; and means for participating in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment by the peer user equipment.

[0276] Clause 49. An apparatus pursuant to Clause 48, wherein at least one role comprises at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

[0277] Article 50. A device pursuant to any of Articles 48 to 49, wherein: the message includes a sidelink exploration message, the sidelink exploration message including a location field indicating that a peer user device is authorized to participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0278] Article 51. The apparatus pursuant to any one of Articles 48 to 50 further includes: a component for receiving a sidelink request message from a target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0279] Article 52. The apparatus pursuant to any one of Articles 48 to 51 further includes: a component for sending an authorization request to a network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize peer point user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period in at least one role.

[0280] Clause 53. A device pursuant to Clause 52, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with signal strength; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; or any combination thereof.

[0281] Clause 54. A device pursuant to any of Clauses 48 to 53, wherein the capabilities associated with a peer user equipment include at least one of the following: the maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in a sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can transmit a positioning reference signal during a sidelink positioning communication period; technical parameters indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment can perform during a sidelink positioning communication period; role parameters indicating at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, including one or more measurements associated with signal strength, message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0282] Article 55. An apparatus for authorizing a peer user device, the apparatus comprising: receiving, by a network entity, an authorization request from the peer user device, the authorization request requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the peer user device; based on a determination by the network entity and according to the data associated with the peer user device that the peer user device cannot perform a role during the location communication period, sending a response message indicating that the peer user device is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on a determination by the network entity and according to the data associated with the peer user device that the peer user device can perform a role during the location communication period, sending an authorization message indicating that the peer user device is authorized to participate in the location communication period with that role.

[0283] Clause 56. An apparatus pursuant to Clause 55, wherein the role includes at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal or any combination thereof.

[0284] Clause 57. A device pursuant to any of Clauses 55 to 56, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of the peer user equipment; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0285] Article 58. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: receive one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user device among one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period; send an interest message to one or more peer user devices indicating that a target user device intends to allow one or more peer user devices to participate in a sidelink location communication period; receive one or more capability messages from one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period; and send a selection message to at least one of the one or more peer user devices based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user device for participating in a sidelink location communication period and the additional capabilities, the selection message requesting at least one peer user device to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user device.

[0286] Clause 59. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to Clause 58, wherein the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communications; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0287] Clause 60. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 59, wherein quality measures include one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the one or more capability messages.

[0288] Clause 61. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to any of Clauses 58 to 60, wherein instructions may also be executed to: broadcast a reservation request indicating that a target user device, one or more peer point user devices, or both will participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0289] Clause 62. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 61, wherein reservation requests are broadcast via the physical-side crosslink control channel.

[0290] Clause 63. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: send a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user devices to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; receive one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user device of the one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user device includes at least one capability in the subset of capabilities; send a second message to the one or more peer user devices, the second message identifying an additional capability; receive one or more confirmation messages from at least one of the one or more peer user devices; and send a selection message to at least one peer user device based on at least one capability and an additional capability associated with the at least one peer user device for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user device to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period with a target user device.

[0291] Clause 64. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 63, wherein the transmission of a sidelink request message includes one of the following: a broadcast sidelink request message; a multicast sidelink request message; or a unicast sidelink request message.

[0292] Clause 65. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to Clause 64, wherein the subset of capabilities and additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: the ability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; the maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communications; authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with the accuracy of the current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a response time for positioning measurements; role parameters indicating at least one role that each peer user equipment is authorized to perform; or any combination thereof.

[0293] Clause 66. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 65, wherein quality measures include one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

[0294] Clause 67. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors, comprising: memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an authorization message from a network entity of a service cell authorizing a peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role; send a message including a capability associated with the peer user equipment indicating at least one role; receive a location message from a target user equipment requesting the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment; and participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment.

[0295] Clause 68. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 67, wherein at least one role includes at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal or any combination thereof.

[0296] Clause 69. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 68, wherein: messages include sidelink exploration messages, the sidelink exploration messages including a location field indicating that a peer user device is authorized to participate in a sidelink location communication period.

[0297] Article 70. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to any of Articles 67 to 69, wherein instructions are also executable to: receive a sidelink request message from a target user device, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user device to participate in a sidelink location communication.

[0298] Article 71. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to any one of Articles 67 to 70, wherein instructions are also executable to: send an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period in at least one role, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with signal strength; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; or any combination thereof.

[0299] Clause 72. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media pursuant to Clause 71, wherein the authorized request includes: one or more measurements associated with signal strength; memory capacity of peer user equipment; processing power of peer user equipment; or any combination thereof.

[0300] Article 73. A peer user equipment under any of Articles 67 to 72, wherein the capabilities associated with the peer user equipment include at least one of the following: the maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in a sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can transmit a positioning reference signal during a sidelink positioning communication period; a technical parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment can perform during a sidelink positioning communication period; a role parameter indicating at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, which includes one or more measurements associated with signal strength, message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0301] Article 74. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment, the authorization request requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the peer user equipment; based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment cannot perform a role during the location communication period, send a response message indicating that the peer user equipment is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on the data associated with the peer user equipment and based on a determination that the peer user equipment can perform a role during the location communication period, send an authorization message indicating that the peer user equipment is authorized to participate in the location communication period in that role.

[0302] Clause 75. A network entity under Clause 74, wherein the role includes at least one of the following: anchoring user equipment; measurement aggregator; positioning engine; sidelink relay provider; transmitter of positioning reference signal or any combination thereof.

[0303] Article 76. A network entity pursuant to any of Articles 74 to 75, wherein the authorization request includes: one or more measurements associated with the signal strength of a peer user equipment; the memory capacity of the peer user equipment; the processing power of the peer user equipment; a motion state indicating the amount of motion the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

[0304] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0305] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the forms disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative elements, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether these functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application; however, such implementation decisions should not be construed as deviating from the scope of this document.

[0306] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described herein can be implemented or executed using general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), ASICs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, individual gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any known processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0307] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described herein can be directly embodied in hardware, a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software module can reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage media known in the art. Example storage media is coupled to a processor, allowing the processor to read information from and write information to the storage media. Alternatively, the storage media can be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage media can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage media can reside as separate components in the user terminal.

[0308] In one or more example formats, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, these functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, with communication media including any media that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that a computer can access. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store required program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as computer-readable media. For example, if software is reflected from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio, and microwave), then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio, and microwave) are included in the definition of media. The magnetic disks and optical disks used herein include CDs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0309] While the foregoing disclosure provides an illustrative description of the subject matter, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims based on the disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this subject matter may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural form may be considered unless explicitly stated otherwise.

[0310] 102:Base station 102': Small cell base 104:UE 104(1):UE 104(N):UE 104(T):UE 110: Geographical coverage area 110': Geographical coverage area 112: Satellite Positioning System (SPS) Spacecraft (SV) 120: Communication Link 122: Backload Link 124: SPS signal 134: Backload Link 152: WLAN Station (STA) 154: Communication Link 160:V-UE 162: Wireless sidelink 164: Roadside access point 166: Side Link 168: Side Link 172: Server 174: Core Network 180:mmW base station 182:UE 184: Millimeter-wave communication link 190:UE 192: D2D P2P Link 194: D2D P2P Link 200: Example Wireless Network Architecture 204:UE 210:5GC 212: User Plane Function (U-plane) 213: User-defined interface (NG-U) 214: Control Plane Functions 215: Control Plane Interface (NG-C) 220: Next-Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 222:gNB 223: Reload Link 224:ng-eNB 230: Location Server 242: Side Link 250: Another example of a wireless network architecture 260:5GC 262:UPF 263: User Interface 264:AMF 265: Control Plane Interface 266:SMF 270:LMF 272:SLP 302:UE 304:Base station 306: Network Entity 310: At least one Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) transceiver 312: Receiver 314: Transmitter 316: Antenna 318: Signal 320: Short-range wireless transceiver 322: Receiver 324: Transmitter 326: Antenna 328: Signal 330: SPS Receiver 332: At least one processor 334: Data Bus 336: Antenna 338: SPS signal 340: Memory Components 342: Positioning component 344: Sensor 346: User Interface 350: Square 352: Receiver 354: Transmitter 356: Antenna 358: Signal 360: Short-Range Wireless Transceiver 362: Receiver 364: Transmitter 366: Antenna 368: Signal 370: SPS Receiver 376: Antenna 378: SPS signal 380: At least one network interface 382: Data Bus 384: Processor 386: Memory Components 388: Positioning component 390: At least one network interface 392: Data Bus 394: Processor 396: Memory Components 398: Positioning component 400: Wireless Communication System 402: First UE 404: Second UE 405: Side Link Signal Transmission Radio Bearer 410: Side Link Signal Transmission Radio Bearer 415: Connection Request 420: Connection Response 425: Connection Established 430: Side Link 435: Side Link Data 500: Figure 530: Picture 550: Image 580: Image 600: Example Scenario 602-1: First Base Station 602-2: Second Base Station 602-3: Third Base Station 604: Target UE 606: Auxiliary UE 700: Example Scenario 702:Base station 704: Target UE 706-1: First Auxiliary UE 706-2: Second Auxiliary 706-3: Third Auxiliary UE 800: Example Scenario 802:Base station 804: Remote UE 806: Relay UE 900: Image 1000: Figure 1204: Target UE 1206: Remote UE 1208: Service Cells 1210:eNB 1212: Cellular Link 1214: D2D Link 1300: System 1302: Identifier 1302(1): Identifier 1302(N): Identifier 1302(T): Identifier 1304(1): Identifier 1304(N): Ability 1306(1): Character 1306(N): Role 1308: Authorization Request 1309: Data 1310: Authorized Response 1312(1): Announcement Message 1312(N): Announcement Message 1314(1): Mark 1314(N): Marker 1316: Interest Messages 1318(1): Additional Abilities 1318(N): Additional Abilities 1320(1): Quality 1320(T): Quality 1322: Standard 1324: Settings Message 1326(1): Positioning reference signal 1326(N): Positioning reference signal 1326(T): Positioning reference signal 1328: Internet 1330: Service Cells 1350: Network Entity 1402: Message of Request 1404: Field 1406(1): Response 1406(N): Response 1407(1): Subset 1407(N): Subset 1410(1): Confirmed 1410(N): Confirmed 1414: Detailed Information 1500: Example Image 1502: Relay UE 1504: Evolution Node B (eNB) 1506: Management Entity (MME) 1508: Packet / Service Gateway (P / S GW) 1510: Square 1512: Square 1514: Request 1516: Response 1518: Square 1520: Remote UE 1522: Request 1524: Response 1526: Square 1527: Direct connection 1528: Message 1530: Message 1532: Message 1534: Message 1540: Message 1542: Message 1600: Program 1602: Square 1604: Square 1606: Square 1608: Square 1700: Program 1702: Square 1704: Square 1706: Square 1708: Square 1710: Square 1800: Program 1802: Square 1804: Square 1806: Square 1808: Square 1900: Program 1902: Square 1904: Square 1906: Square

[0311] Domestic storage information (please note in order of storage institution, date, and number) none Overseas storage information (please note in the order of storage country, institution, date, and number) none

Claims

1. A method for selecting location peers, performed by a target user equipment, the method comprising the steps of: receiving one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a side-link location communication period; sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to allow the one or more peer user equipments to participate in the side-link location communication period; Receive one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period; and based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period and the additional capabilities, send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate a role parameter, the role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in sidelink positioning communication; an authorization to perform a sidelink communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; a response time indicating how quickly each peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; or any combination thereof.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the capability messages.

4. The method according to request item 1, wherein the method further comprises the step of: broadcasting a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer point user equipment, or both will participate in the sidelink positioning communication period.

5. According to the method of request item 4, wherein: The reservation request is broadcast via an entity-side link control channel.

6. A method for selecting location peers, performed by a target user equipment, the method comprising the steps of: sending a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink location communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; receiving one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment of the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability in the subset of capabilities; and sending a second message indicating additional capabilities to the one or more peer user equipments. Receive one or more acknowledgment messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments; and send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capability indicate a role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

7. According to the method of request item 6, sending the side link request message includes one of the following: broadcasting the side link request message; multicasting the side link request message; or unicasting the side link request message.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; an authorization to perform a sidelink communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a positioning measurement response time; or any combination thereof.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

10. A method for participating in a sidelink location communication period, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a service cell by a peer user equipment, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role; sending a message by the peer user equipment including a capability associated with the peer user equipment, the capability indicating the at least one role; receiving a location message from a target user equipment by the peer user equipment, the location message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment; and participating in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment by the peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role comprises at least one of: an anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

11. According to the method of request item 10, wherein: The message includes a side walkway exploration message, which includes a location field indicating that the peer user device is authorized to participate in the side walkway location communication period.

12. The method according to request item 10 further includes the following steps: receiving a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period.

13. The method according to request item 10 further includes the following steps: sending an authorization request to the network entity of the service cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer point user equipment to participate in the side link location communication period as the at least one role.

14. The method according to request item 13, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; The processing capacity of the user equipment at the same level; Or any combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the capability associated with the peer user equipment includes at least one of the following: a maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can send a positioning reference signal during the sidelink positioning communication period; technical parameters indicating one or more types of positioning technologies that the peer user equipment can perform during the sidelink positioning communication period; role parameters indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, the quality metric including one or more measurements associated with a signal strength, a message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

16. A method for authorizing a peer user equipment (PUE), the method comprising the steps of: receiving an authorization request from the PUE by a network entity, the authorization request requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the PUE; based on a determination by the network entity and according to the data associated with the PUE that the PUE cannot perform a role in the location communication period, sending a response message indicating that the PUE is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on a determination by the network entity and according to the data associated with the PUE that the PUE can perform the role in the location communication period, sending an authorization message indicating that the PUE is authorized to participate in the location communication period with the role, wherein the role includes at least one of: an anchored user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a sideline relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

17. The method according to request item 16, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength of a user device at the same level; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; A processing capability of the peer user equipment; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

18. A target user device, comprising: One memory; At least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment to participate in the side link location communication period; and send an interest message to the one or more peer user equipment indicating that the target user equipment intends to allow the one or more peer user equipments to participate in the side link location communication period; Receive one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period; and based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period and the additional capabilities, send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate a role parameter, the role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

19. The target user equipment according to request item 18, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support lateral walkway positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the lateral walkway positioning communication period; an authorization to perform a lateral walkway communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a lateral walkway positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; a response time indicating how quickly each peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; or any combination thereof.

20. The target user device according to claim 19, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the one or more capability messages.

21. The target user equipment according to request item 18, wherein the processor is further configured to: broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer point user equipment, or both will participate in the side link location communication period.

22. The target user equipment according to request item 21, wherein the reservation request is broadcast via a physical-side link control channel.

23. A target user device, comprising: One memory; At least one transceiver; The system includes at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: send a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink location communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; receive one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability in the subset of capabilities; and send a second message to the one or more peer user equipments, the second message identifying an additional capability; Receive one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments; and send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capability indicate a role parameter, the role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

24. The target user equipment according to request item 23, wherein sending the sidelink request message includes one of the following: broadcasting the sidelink request message; multicasting the sidelink request message; or unicasting the sidelink request message.

25. The target user equipment according to request item 23, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; an authorization to perform a sidelink communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a positioning measurement response time; or any combination thereof.

26. The target user device according to claim 25, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

27. A peer-to-peer user equipment, comprising: One memory; At least one transceiver; The system includes at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an authorization message from a network entity of a service cell, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in a side link location communication period with at least one role; send a message including a capability associated with the peer user equipment, the capability indicating the at least one role; receive a location message from a target user equipment, the location message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in the side link location communication period with the target user equipment; and participate in the side link location communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a side link relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

28. According to request item 27, the peer user equipment, wherein: The message includes a side walkway exploration message, which includes a location field indicating that the peer user device is authorized to participate in the side walkway location communication period.

29. The processor is further configured to: receive a sidelink request message from the target user equipment according to request item 27, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period.

30. According to the peer user equipment in request item 27, the processor is further configured to: send an authorization request to the network entity of the serving cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the at least one role, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; The processing capacity of the user equipment at the same level; Or any combination thereof.

31. The peer user equipment according to request item 30, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; The processing capacity of the user equipment at the same level; Or any combination thereof.

32. The peer user equipment according to claim 27, wherein the capability associated with the peer user equipment includes at least one of the following: a maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can send a positioning reference signal during the sidelink positioning communication period; a technical parameter indicating one or more types of positioning technologies that the peer user equipment can perform during the sidelink positioning communication period; a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, the quality metric including one or more measurements associated with a signal strength, a message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

33. A network entity, comprising: One memory; At least one transceiver; The system includes at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment (PUE) requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the PUE; based on the data associated with the PUE and based on a determination that the PUE cannot perform a role in the location communication period, send a response message indicating that the PUE is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on the data associated with the PUE and based on a determination that the PUE can perform the role in the location communication period, send an authorization message indicating that the PUE is authorized to participate in the location communication period with the role, wherein the role includes at least one of the following: an anchored user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a side-link relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

34. The network entity pursuant to request item 33, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength of a user device at the same level; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; A processing capability of the peer user equipment; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

35. An apparatus for selecting and positioning peer points, the apparatus comprising: A component for receiving one or more exploration messages, each of which is received from a corresponding peer user equipment among one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in a side link location communication period; and a component for sending an interest message to the one or more peer user equipments indicating that the target user equipment intends to allow the one or more peer user equipments to participate in the side link location communication period. A component for receiving one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates an additional capability associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period; and a component for sending a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period and the additional capabilities, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate a role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

36. The apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support lateral link positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the lateral link positioning communication period; an authorization to perform a lateral link communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a lateral link positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide a positioning measurement response time; or any combination thereof.

37. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the capability messages.

38. The apparatus according to claim 35, wherein the apparatus further comprises: A component for broadcasting a reservation request indicating that the target user device, one or more peer point user devices, or both will participate in the side link location communication period.

39. The apparatus according to claim 37, wherein: The reservation request is broadcast via an entity-side link control channel.

40. An apparatus for selecting and positioning peer points, the apparatus comprising: The device includes components for sending a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user devices to participate in a sidelink positioning communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; components for receiving one or more exploration request messages, each of which is received from a corresponding peer user device among the one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user device includes at least one capability in the subset of capabilities; components for sending a second message indicating additional capabilities to the one or more peer user devices; components for receiving one or more confirmation messages from at least one peer user device among the one or more peer user devices; and components for sending a selection message to the at least one peer user device based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user device for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user device to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user device. The subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate a role parameter that indicates at least one role that each peer point user equipment is authorized to perform, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchored user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sideline relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

41. The apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the component for sending the sidelink request message includes one of the following: a component for broadcasting the sidelink request message; a component for multicasting the sidelink request message; or a component for unicasting the sidelink request message.

42. The apparatus according to claim 40, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support sidelink positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; an authorization to perform sidelink communication relay functions; how often each peer user equipment can send a sidelink positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state less than a threshold amount of movement; an indication of how quickly each peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; or any combination thereof.

43. The apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the quality metric includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

44. An apparatus for participating in a location communication session on one side of a cross link, the apparatus comprising: The components include: a component for receiving an authorization message from a network entity associated with a service cell by a peer user equipment (PUE), the authorization message authorizing the PUE to participate in a side-link location communication period with at least one role; a component for sending a message by the PUE including a capability associated with the PUE, the capability indicating the at least one role; a component for receiving a location message from a target user equipment (PUE) requesting the PUE to participate in the side-link location communication period with the target user equipment; and a component for participating in the side-link location communication period with the target user equipment by the PUE, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchored user equipment (AUE); a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a side-link relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

45. The apparatus according to claim 44, wherein: The message includes a side walkway exploration message, which includes a location field indicating that the peer user device is authorized to participate in the side walkway location communication period.

46. ​​The apparatus according to claim 44 further includes: A component for receiving a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period.

47. The apparatus according to claim 44 further includes: A component for sending an authorization request to the network entity of the service cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer point user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period in the at least one role.

48. The apparatus according to claim 47, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; The processing capacity of the user equipment at the same level; Or any combination thereof.

49. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the capability associated with the peer user equipment includes at least one of the following: a maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can transmit a positioning reference signal during the sidelink positioning communication period; a technical parameter indicating one or more types of positioning technologies that the peer user equipment can perform during the sidelink positioning communication period; a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, the quality metric including one or more measurements associated with a signal strength, a message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

50. An apparatus for authorizing a user device at the same level, the apparatus comprising: A network entity receives an authorization request from a peer user equipment (PUE) requesting permission to participate in a location communication period. The authorization request includes information associated with the PUE. Based on a determination by the network entity and the information associated with the PUE that the PUE cannot perform a role during the location communication period, a response message indicating that the PUE is not authorized to participate in the location communication period is sent. Based on a determination by the network entity and the information associated with the PUE that the PUE can perform the role during the location communication period, an authorization message indicating that the PUE is authorized to participate in the location communication period with that role is sent. The role includes at least one of the following: an anchored user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

51. The apparatus according to claim 50, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength of a user device at the same level; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; A processing capability of the peer user equipment; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

52. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: receive one or more exploration messages, each of the one or more exploration messages being received from a corresponding peer user device among one or more peer user devices, wherein each of the one or more exploration messages indicates a subset of capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user device to participate in a sidelink location communication period; and send an interest message to the one or more peer user devices instructing the target user device to allow the one or more peer user devices to participate in the sidelink location communication period. Receive one or more capability messages from the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more capability messages indicates additional capabilities associated with the corresponding peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period; and based on the subset of capabilities associated with at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period and the additional capabilities, send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate a role parameter, the role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

53. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to claim 52, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support lateral walkway positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the lateral walkway positioning communication period; an authorization to perform a lateral walkway communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a lateral walkway positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; a response time indicating how quickly each peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; or any combination thereof.

54. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 53, wherein the quality measure includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the capability messages.

55. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to request item 52, wherein the instructions may also be executed to: broadcast a reservation request indicating that the target user equipment, the one or more peer point user equipment, or both will participate in the side link location communication period.

56. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to request item 55, wherein the reservation request is broadcast via a physical-side link control channel.

57. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: send a sidelink request message requesting one or more peer user equipments to participate in a sidelink location communication period, the sidelink request message including a subset of capabilities; receive one or more exploration request messages, each of the one or more exploration request messages being received from a corresponding peer user equipment among the one or more peer user equipments, wherein each of the one or more exploration request messages indicates that the corresponding peer user equipment includes at least one capability in the subset of capabilities; and send a second message to the one or more peer user equipments, the second message identifying an additional capability; Receive one or more acknowledgment messages from at least one peer user equipment (PUE) of the one or more peer user equipment; and send a selection message to the at least one peer user equipment based on the at least one capability and the additional capability associated with the at least one peer user equipment for participating in the sidelink positioning communication period, the selection message requesting the at least one peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink positioning communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capability indicate a role parameter indicating at least one role authorized to be performed by each peer user equipment, wherein the at least one role includes at least one of the following: an anchoring user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a positioning reference signal; or any combination thereof.

58. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to request item 57, wherein sending the sidelink request message includes one of the following: broadcasting the sidelink request message; multicasting the sidelink request message; or unicasting the sidelink request message.

59. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to claim 58, wherein the subset of capabilities and the additional capabilities indicate one or more of the following: a capability of each peer user equipment to support lateral link positioning; a maximum duration for which each peer user equipment can participate in the lateral link positioning communication period; an authorization to perform a lateral link communication relay function; how often each peer user equipment can send a lateral link positioning reference signal; one or more types of positioning techniques that each peer user equipment can perform; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to perform positioning calculations; whether each peer user equipment is authorized to aggregate positioning data; a quality metric associated with an accuracy of a current location of each peer user equipment; an indication of whether each peer user equipment is experiencing a movement state of less than a threshold amount of movement; a response time indicating how quickly each peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; or any combination thereof.

60. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 59, wherein the quality measure includes one or more measurements associated with a signal strength of each of the one or more exploration request messages.

61. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive an authorization message from a network entity of a service cell, the authorization message authorizing the peer user equipment to participate in a sidelink location communication period with at least one role; send a message including a capability associated with the peer user equipment, the capability indicating the at least one role; receive a location message from a target user equipment, the location message requesting the peer user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment; and participate in the sidelink location communication period with the target user equipment, wherein the at least one role comprises at least one of: an anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a location engine; a sidelink relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

62. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to claim 61, wherein: The message includes a side walkway exploration message, which includes a location field indicating that the peer user device is authorized to participate in the side walkway location communication period.

63. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to request item 61, wherein the instructions are also operable to: receive a sidelink request message from the target user equipment, the sidelink request message including a location field indicating that the sidelink request message is requesting the user equipment to participate in the sidelink location communication period.

64. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to request item 61, wherein the instructions may also be executed to: send an authorization request to the network entity of the service cell, the authorization request requesting the network entity to authorize the peer user device to participate in the sidelink location communication period with the at least one role, wherein the authorization request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; The processing capacity of the user equipment at the same level; Or any combination thereof.

65. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to claim 64, wherein the license request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; The processing capacity of the user equipment at the same level; Or any combination thereof.

66. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to claim 61, wherein the capability associated with the peer user equipment includes at least one of the following: a maximum duration for which the peer user equipment can participate in the sidelink positioning communication period; a response time indicating how quickly the peer user equipment can provide positioning measurements; a frequency parameter indicating how often the peer user equipment can transmit positioning reference signals during the sidelink positioning communication period; a technical parameter indicating one or more types of positioning techniques that the peer user equipment can perform during the sidelink positioning communication period; a role parameter indicating the at least one role that the peer user equipment is authorized to perform; a quality metric associated with the peer user equipment, the quality metric including one or more measurements associated with a signal strength, a message arrival time, or both; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

67. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions executable by one or more processors to: receive an authorization request from a peer user equipment (PUE) requesting permission to participate in a location communication period, the authorization request including data associated with the PUE; based on the data associated with the PUE and based on a determination that the PUE cannot perform a role in the location communication period, send a response message indicating that the PUE is not authorized to participate in the location communication period; and based on the data associated with the PUE and based on a determination that the PUE can perform the role in the location communication period, send an authorization message indicating that the PUE is authorized to participate in the location communication period with the role, wherein the role includes at least one of: an anchor user equipment; a measurement aggregator; a positioning engine; a sideline relay provider; a transmitter of a location reference signal; or any combination thereof.

68. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium pursuant to claim 67, wherein the license request includes: One or more measurements associated with a signal strength of a user device at the same level; The memory capacity of the user's device at the same level; A processing capability of the peer user equipment; a movement state indicating the amount of movement the peer user equipment is experiencing; or any combination thereof.

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