Methods and apparatuses for enabling user equipment positioning over an unlicensed band

Abstract

A method performed in a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) includes providing (801), by a UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information regarding the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), to a location server (630, 740, 1100), wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) utilizes the positioning assistance information to determine one or more transmission-reception points, TRPs, and at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band. The method further includes receiving (802), from the location server (630, 740, 1100), the at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band and utilizing (803), by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), the at least one positioning configuration to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) on the unlicensed frequency band.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ENABLING USER EQUIPMENT POSITIONING OVER AN UNLICENSED BANDTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and more particularly to communication methods and related devices and nodes supporting location positioning over unlicensed bands.BACKGROUND

[0002] Positioning has been a topic in LTE standardization since 3 GPP Release 9. The primary objective of positioning in LTE was to fulfill regulatory requirements for emergency call localization where the target was to achieve less than 50m horizontal accuracy.

[0003] Starting from the Release 15 specification, positioning is also supported in New Radio (NR). Positioning in NR is supported by the architecture shown in Figure 1. Notably, Figure 1 shows the interfaces existing between a number of elements in the NR architecture, including the user equipment (UE) 102, an NG-RAN node 103 (including a gNodeB (gNB) 104), the access and mobility function (AMF) 106, and the location management function (LMF) 108. Notably, the interactions between the gNodeB 104 and the device / UE 102 is supported via the Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, while the location node interfaces with the UE 102 via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP). LPP is a common protocol to both NR and LTE. The LMF 108 is the location node utilized in NR systems. There are also interactions between the location node / LMF 108 and the gNodeB 104 via the NRPPa protocol.

[0004] As described in TS 38.305, the overall sequence of events applicable to the UE 102, NG-RAN 103, and LMF 108 for supporting a location service by an NG-RAN is shown in Figure 2. When the AMF 106 receives a Location Service Request when the UE 102 is operating in CM- IDLE state, the AMF 106 performs a network triggered service request in order to establish a signaling connection with the UE 102 and assign a specific serving gNB (or ng-eNodeB). The UE 102 is assumed to be operating in a connected mode before the beginning of the flow diagram shown in Figure 2. That is, any signaling that might be required to bring the UE 102 to a connected mode prior to step la (i.e., signal message 201) is not shown. The signaling connection may,however, be later released (e.g., by the NG-RAN node 103 as a result of signaling and data inactivity) while positioning is still ongoing.

[0005] Referring to Figure 2, the following procedure(s) may be executed.

[0006] In some instances, some entity in the 5G core (5GC) (e.g., GMLC) requests some location positioning service for a target UE to the serving AMF (201). Alternatively, the serving AMF for a target UE determines the need for some location service (202), such as the need to locate the UE for an emergency call. In yet another example, UE may instead request some location service (e.g., positioning or delivery of assistance data) to the serving AMF at the NAS level (203)

[0007] Regardless as to how the location service request is initiated, the AMF transfers the location service request to an LMF (204). The LMF subsequently initiates location procedures with the serving, and possibly neighboring, ng-eNB or gNB in the NG-RAN in order to obtain positioning measurements or assistance data (205).

[0008] In addition to step 205 or instead of step 205, the LMF instigates location procedures with the UE (206), e.g., to obtain a location estimate or positioning measurements or to transfer location assistance data to the UE. The LMF next provides a location service response (207) to the AMF and includes any needed results, e.g., success or failure indication and, if requested and obtained, a location estimate for the UE.

[0009] If step 201 was performed, then the AMF returns a location service response (208) to the 5GC entity in step 201 and includes any needed results, e.g., a location estimate for the UE.

[0010] If step 202 occurred, then the AMF uses the location service response received in step 207 to assist the service that triggered this in step 202 (e.g., may provide a location estimate associated with an emergency call to a GMLC) (209).

[0011] If step 203 was performed, the AMF returns a location service response 210 to the UE and includes any needed results, e.g., a location estimate for the UE.

[0012] Location procedures applicable to NG-RAN that occur in steps 205 and 206 can involve the use of different position methods to obtain location related measurements for a target UE and from these compute a location estimate and possibly additional information like velocity.SUMMARY

[0013] There currently exist certain challenge(s). NR based positioning has been introduced in 3GPP to primarily enable positioning functions for the UE in licensed frequency bands. Specifically,for many positioning methods, the downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) and / or uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) is configured for the UE to perform DL measurement and / or UL transmission based on which UE and / or gNB can provide positioning measurements to the LMF for positioning the UE. However, as indicated above, the positioning framework described above was designed for the licensed frequency band(s).

[0014] Given that there are unlicensed frequency bands for NR based access, it would be beneficial to also support positioning on an unlicensed band, which can provide compensational positioning information and / or assistance. This would be beneficial to improve positioning accuracy especially in areas where the licensed band has limited resources and where the unlicensed band is available for NR based access.

[0015] In order to support positioning in the unlicensed band, the following questions / issues need to be addressed: i) how to select transmission-reception points (TRPs) and gNBs in a positioning procedure, regardless of the procedure is initiated by the LMF or UE, and ii) whether / how the knowledge of a gNB deployment in the unlicensed band can be considered in the positioning procedure. Such considerations serve to compel the development of a system that can support positioning in an unlicensed frequency band.

[0016] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. The various embodiments solve one or more of the drawbacks of current specifications. The various embodiments provide options to enable UE positioning functionality in an unlicensed frequency band.

[0017] According to one embodiment, a method performed in a user equipment (UE) includes providing, by a UE, operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information regarding the UE, to a location server, wherein the location server utilizes the positioning assistance information to determine one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs) and at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band. The method further includes receiving, from the location server, the at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band, and utilizing, by the UE, the at least one positioning configuration to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0018] According to a further embodiment, a method performed in a network node includes providing, by a serving network node supporting a UE, operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information with one or more neighbor network nodes. The method alsoincludes sending, by the serving network node, a request message to the one or more neighbor network nodes requesting positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes, and receiving, by the serving network node, the positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes. The method further includes forwarding, by the serving network node, the positioning assistance information related to the serving network node and / or the one or more neighbor network nodes to a location server, wherein the location server utilizes the forwarded positioning assistance information to generate at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band.

[0019] As used herein, a ‘network node’ may comprise a radio access network node (e.g., base station (BS), gNB, gNB-DU, gNB-CU, relay or IAB node, radio network controller, TRP, etc.) or a core network node (e.g., MSC, MME, O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node, etc.).

[0020] Further, the terms location server, positioning server, LMF, and E-SMLC can be used interchangeably, at least in some examples.

[0021] The terms gNB, eNB, base station, or TRP can be used interchangeably, at least in some examples.

[0022] The terms carrier, frequency, carrier range, frequency range, frequency band, etc. can be used interchangeably, at least in some examples.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain nonlimiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

[0024] Figure 1 is a block diagram depicting the positioning architecture in a 5G New Radio (NR) system;

[0025] Figure 2 is a signaling diagram depicting location service support by a next-generation radio access network;

[0026] Figure 3 is a signaling diagram depicting a round trip time (RTT) calculation;

[0027] Figure 4 is a diagram depicting an example of cellular network deployment and user equipment positioning;

[0028] Figure 5 is a diagram depicting a semi-static channel occupancy operation;

[0029] Figure 6 is a signaling diagram of a user equipment (UE) utilizing positioning assistance information while operating on an unlicensed carrier according to some embodiments;

[0030] Figure 7 is a signaling diagram of a gNodeB utilizing positioning assistance information according to some embodiments;

[0031] Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a user equipment according to some embodiments;

[0032] Figure 9 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a network node according to some embodiments;

[0033] Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating operations of a location server according to some embodiments;

[0034] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a location server in accordance with some embodiments;

[0035] Figure 12 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0036] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0037] Figure 14 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0038] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0039] Figure 16 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0040] Figure 17 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments in accordance with some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present / used in another embodiment.

[0042] The present disclosure largely pertains to enabling geographic positioning of a user equipment (UE) operating on an unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, the disclosed subject matter may utilize, and is compatible with, one or more radio access technology (RAT) positioning methods. For example, the disclosed subject matter may utilize a number of positioning methods supported by LTE including, but not limited to, i) Enhanced cell ID, ii) Assisted GNSS, iii) Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), and / or iv) uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA). Likewise, example positioning methods supported by NR that are compatible with the disclosed subject matter include, but not limited to, i) downlink (DL)-TDAO, ii) Multi-Round Trip Time (RTT), iii) UL- TDOA, iv) DL-AoD, v) UL-AoA, and / or vi) NR Enhanced Cell ID (NRE-CID).

[0043] The present disclosure can also be configured to utilize multi-RTT positioning techniques. Notably, multi-RTT positioning is introduced to determine the round trip time (RTT) from measurements in downlink and uplink for positioning purpose. Since 3GPP Release 16, NR provides DL-PRS and UL-SRS signals. The DL-PRS signal is a permuted and staggered comb- QPSK signal carrying a PN sequence, while the UL-SRS signal is a regular comb signal carrying Zadoff-Chu sequence. Both types of signals can be correlated against at the respective end point with a corresponding replica signal. The time instance where the correlation peak occurs allows to determine the delay between transmitter and receiver.

[0044] The multi-RTT positioning method is illustrated in Figure 3 and Figure 4. Notably, Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary RTT calculation and Figure 4 depicts an example cellular network deployment and UE positioning. For example, for each pair of gNB and UE (e.g., see Figure 4 for ‘pairs’ UE 401 with gNB 410, UE 401 with gNB 420, UE 401 with gNB 430, and UE 401 with gNB 440), RTT is calculated by determining the difference from (gNB Rx - gNB Tx) - (UE Rx - UE Tx) (see Figure 3 and example UE 302 and example gNB 304). After RTTs of all pairs of gNB and UE are determined, the LMF is able to estimate the distance between the UE and each gNB, and in turn the UE position provided gNB position is known.

[0045] Next generation systems are expected to support a wide range of use cases with varying requirements ranging from fully mobile devices to stationary Internet of Things (loT) or fixed wireless broadband devices. The traffic pattern associated with many use cases is expected toinclude short or long bursts of data traffic with varying lengths of waiting periods in between (e.g., “inactive states”). In NR, both license assisted access and standalone unlicensed operation are to be supported in 3GPP. Hence, the procedure of PRACH transmission and / or SR transmission in the unlicensed spectrum shall be investigated in 3 GPP. In the following, NR-U and channel access procedure for an unlicensed channel based on listen-before-talk (LBT) is introduced (i.e., NR based access to the unlicensed spectrum)

[0046] In order to address the ever increasing data demands, NR is supported on both the licensed and unlicensed spectrum (i.e., referred to as NR-U). Compared to the LTE license assisted access (LAA), NR-U supports DC and standalone scenarios, where the MAC procedures (including Random Access Channel (RACH)) and the scheduling procedure on the unlicensed spectrum are subject to the LBT failures. While there was no such restriction in LTE LAA since there was the licensed spectrum in LAA scenario, so the RACH and scheduling related signaling can be transmitted on the licensed spectrum instead of the unlicensed spectrum.

[0047] For discovery reference signal (DRS) transmissions such as PSS / SSS, PBCH, CSI-RS, control channel transmissions such as Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)ZPhysical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), physical data channel such as physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) / physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and uplink sounding reference signal such as SRS transmission, channel sensing should be applied to determine the channel availability before the physical signal is transmitted using the channel.

[0048] The RRM procedures in NR-U would generally be similar as in LAA, since NR-U can be adapted to reuse LAA / eLAA / feLAA technologies as much as possible to handle the coexistence between NR-U and other legacy RATs. RRM measurements and reports may comprise special configuration procedures with respect to the channel sensing and channel availability.

[0049] Hence, channel access / selection for LAA was one of the important aspects for coexistence with other RATs such as Wi-Fi. For instance, LAA has aimed to use carriers that are congested with Wi-Fi.

[0050] In the licensed spectrum, the UE measures the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and the Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of the downlink radio channel (e.g., Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), CSI-RS), and provides the measurement reports to its serving eNB / gNB. However, these measurements do not reflect the interference strength on the carrier. Another metric called Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) can be used to serve such apurpose. At the eNB / gNB side, it is possible to derive the RS SI based on the received RSRP and RSRQ reports. However, this requires that the RSRP and RSRQ reports are available. Due to the LBT failure, some reports in terms of RSRP or RSRP may be blocked (e.g., can be due to either i) the reference signal transmission (DRS) is blocked in the downlink or ii) the measurement report is blocked in the uplink). Hence, the measurements in terms of RSSI are very useful. The RSSI measurements together with the time information concerning when and how long time that UEs have made the measurements can assist the gNB / eNB to detect the hidden node. Additionally, the gNB / eNB can measure the load situation of the carrier which is useful for the network to prioritize some channels for load balance and channel access failure avoidance purposes.

[0051] LTE LAA is defined to support measurements of averaged RSSI and channel occupancy for measurement reports. The channel occupancy is defined as a percentage of time that the RSSI was measured above a configured threshold. For this purpose, a RSSI measurement timing configuration (RMTC) includes a measurement duration (e.g., 1-5 milliseconds (ms)) and a period between measurements (e.g., {40, 80, 160, 320, 640} ms).

[0052] Release 16 WI NR-U specifies a dynamic channel access mechanism for a load based equipment (LBE) type device. This procedure is designed to randomize the start of transmissions from different nodes that want to access the channel at the same time. This procedure is commonly known as category 4 (CAT4) LBT. The detailed procedure for category 4 LBT (also named as Type 1 channel access in 3GPP TS 37.213 V 17.0.0 ) is described below.

[0053] A UE may transmit the transmission using Type 1 channel access procedure after first sensing the channel to be idle during the slot durations of a defer duration Td, and after the counter N is zero in step 4. The counter N is adjusted by sensing the channel for additional slot duration(s) according to the steps described below.1) set N = Ninit, where Ninitis a random number uniformly distributed between 0 and CWp, and go to step 4;2) if N > 0 and the UE chooses to decrement the counter, set A = N — 1;3) sense the channel for an additional slot duration, and if the additional slot duration is idle, go to step 4; else, go to step 5;4) if N = 0, stop; else, go to step 2.5) sense the channel until either a busy slot is detected within an additional defer duration Tdor all the slots of the additional defer duration Tdare detected to be idle;6) if the channel is sensed to be idle during all the slot durations of the additional defer duration Td, go to step 4; else, go to step 5.

[0054] If a UE has not transmitted a UL transmission on a channel on which the UL transmission(s) are performed after step 4 (in the procedure detailed above), the UE may transmit a transmission on the channel if the channel is sensed to be idle at least in a sensing slot duration Tsiwhen the UE is ready to transmit the transmission and if the channel has been sensed to be idle during all the slot durations of a deferred duration Tdimmediately before the transmission. If the channel has not been sensed to be idle in a sensing slot duration Tsiwhen the UE first senses the channel after it is ready to transmit, or if the channel has not been sensed to be idle during any of the sensing slot durations of a deferred duration Tdimmediately before the intended transmission, the UE proceeds to step 1 after sensing the channel to be idle during the slot durations of a deferred duration Td.

[0055] The deferred duration Tdconsists of duration Tf = 16ps immediately followed by mpconsecutive slot durations where each slot duration is Tsi= 9ps, and Tf includes an idle slot duration Tstat start of T .

[0056] As described herein, CWmin p< CWp< CWmax pis the contention window. Notably, CWmin pand Cmax pare selected before step 1 of the procedure above.

[0057] Further, the elements mp, CWmin p, and Clmax pare based on a channel access priority class p.

[0058] Table 1 below indicates the channel access priority class (CAPC) for uplink. Referencing Table 1, for p = 3, 4, Tuim cot,p = 10 ms, if the higher layer parameter absenceOfAnyOtherTechnology-rl4 or absenceOfAnyOtherTechnology-x\6 is provided, otherwise, Tuim cot,p = 6 ms (where Tuim cot,Prepresents the maximum uplink channel occupancy time). When Tuimcot,P= 6 ms, it may be increased to 8 ms by inserting one or more gaps. The minimum duration of a gap shall be 100 us. The maximum duration before including any such gap shall be 6 ms.TABLE 1

[0059] The Semi-static channel occupancy allows a frame based equipment (FBE) to perform a clear channel assessment per fixed frame period for a duration of single 9 ps observation slot. If the channel is found to be busy after clear channel assessment (CCA) operation, the equipment shall not transmit during this fixed frame period. The fixed frame period can be set to a value between 1 and 10 ms and can be adjusted once every 200 ms. If the channel is found to be idle, the equipment can immediately transmit up to a duration referred to as channel occupancy time, after which the equipment shall remain silent for at least 5% of the channel occupancy time. At the end of the required idle period, the equipment can resume CCA for channel access. An example of the FBE based channel occupancy operation is shown in Figure 5 (see diagram 500).

[0060] The Semi-static channel occupancy generally has difficulty competing with devices that use dynamic channel occupancy (such as LAA or NR-U) for channel access. Dynamic channel occupancy device has the flexibility to access the channel at any time after a successful LBT procedure, while the semi-static channel occupancy devices has one chance for grabbing the channel every fixed frame period. The problems become more exacerbated with a longer fixed frame period and an increased traffic load. Secondly, the frame based LBT can be rather inflexible for coordinating channel access between networks. If all the nodes are synchronized, then all nodes will find the channel available and transmit simultaneously and cause interference. If the nodes are not synchronized, then some nodes may have definitive advantages in getting access to the channel over some other nodes. Nonetheless, semi-static channel occupancy can be a good choice for controlled environments where a network owner can guarantee absence of dynamic channel occupancy devices and is in control of the behavior of all devices competing to access the channel. In such deployment, semi-static channel occupancy is an attractive solution because access latencies can be reduced tothe minimum and lower complexity is required for channel access due to lack of necessity to perform random backoff.

[0061] It has been identified that FBE operation for the scenario where it is guaranteed that LBE nodes are absent on a long-term basis (e.g., by level of regulation) and FBE gNBs are synchronized can achieve i) the ability to use frequency reuse factor 1 and ii) lower complexity for channel access due to lack of necessity to perform random backoff.

[0062] In order to deploy a single operator FBE system, the gNBs need to be time aligned. All gNBs will perform the one-shot 9ps LBT at the same time. If the gNB indicates an FBE operation, for an indication of LBT type of Cat2 25 ps or Cat4 the UE follows the mechanism whereby one 9 microsecond slot is measured within a 25-microsecond interval.

[0063] The fixed frame period (FFP) is restricted to values of {1ms, 2ms, 2.5ms, 4ms, 5ms, 10ms} (this includes the idle period). The starting positions of the FFPs within every two radio frames starts from an even radio frame and are given by i*P, where i={0,l ,.., 20 / P-l} and where P is the fixed frame period in ms.

[0064] The idle period for a given SCS = ceil(Minimum idle period allowed by regulations / Ts) where the minimum idle period allowed = max(5% of FFP, lOOps), and Ts is the symbol duration for the given SCS.

[0065] For FBE, channel sensing is performed at fixed time instants. If the channel is determined to be busy, the base station adopts a fixed back-off and performs LBT again after the fixed backoff. For LBE, channel sensing can be performed at any time instance, and random backoff is adopted when the channel is determined to be busy.

[0066] As described in 3GPP TR 38.889, it has been identified that FBE operation for the scenario where it is guaranteed that LBE nodes are absent on a long term basis (e.g., by level of regulation) and FBE gNBs are synchronized can achieve the following: i) Ability to use frequency reuse factor 1 and ii) lower complexity for channel access due to lack of necessity to perform random backoff. It is noted that this does not imply that LBE does not have benefits in similar scenarios although there are differences between the two modes of operation. It is also noted that FBE may also have some disadvantages compared to other modes of operation such as LBE, e.g., a fixed overhead for idle time during a frame.

[0067] In NR Release 16, only gNB channel occupancy time (COT) sharing is supported in the case of semi-static channel access by FBE. A UE may transmit UL transmission burst(s) after DLtransmission within a gNB initiated COT. UE transmissions within a fixed frame period can occur if DL transmission for the serving gNB within the fixed frame period are detected. The detection of any DL transmission confirms that the gNB has initiated the COT. For this to work, the UE should be aware of the start and end of every FFP cycle. Such UE behaviors are not optimum for ultrareliable, low-latency communications (URLLC) like services which require critical latency requirements. UE initiated COT by FBE would be a complementary solution for URLLC.

[0068] Various aspects are disclosed herein to enable communication device positioning (e.g., Uu positioning) in an unlicensed band. In order to involve an unlicensed carrier in a positioning procedure, the communication device (e.g., UE) needs to provide corresponding assistance information regarding the unlicensed band to the LMF. Notably, the LMF may utilize the assistance information (i.e., “positioning assistance information”) to determine the TRPs and relevant positioning configurations, considering the assistance information on the unlicensed band that is provided by the gNB. Afterwards, the LMF may send the determined positioning configurations on the unlicensed band to the UE and / or the gNB.

[0069] As described herein, the assistance information used to enable Uu positioning in an unlicensed band may include a variety of different types of data. For example, the positioning assistance information may include i) detailed assistance information on the unlicensed band that is exchanged between the UE and the LMF, ii) detailed assistance information on the unlicensed band that is exchanged between the gNB and the LMF, and iii) detailed assistance information on the unlicensed band that is exchanged between the serving gNB and neighbor gNBs. The disclosed subject matter is also configured to determine whether unlicensed carriers and / or licensed carriers should be involved in the positioning procedure conducted by the gNB and / or the LMF.

[0070] The mechanism(s) and method(s) disclosed herein are applicable to NR unlicensed operations. The term LBT may also be interchangeable with clear channel assessment (CCA) or shared spectrum access procedure. The carrier on which the LBT is applied may belong to a shared spectrum, an unlicensed band, and / or a band with contention-based access. Notably, the CCA based operation is more generally referred to as a contention-based operation. The transmission of signals on a carrier subjected to CCA is also called a contention-based transmission. Typically, the contention-based operation is used for transmission on carriers associated with an unlicensed frequency band. Moreover, this mechanism may also be applied for operating on carriers belonging to a licensed band (e.g., to reduce interference). The transmission of signals on a carrier that is notsubjected to CCA is also called a contention free transmission. A LBT or CCA procedure can be performed by a UE prior to a transmission and / or by a network node (e.g., a TRP, gNB, or some other base station) prior to a transmission.

[0071] The LBE based channel access schemes (e.g., also referred to as dynamic channel access) and FBE based channel access schemes (e.g., also referred to as semi static channel access) are both covered in the following embodiments.

[0072] In some instances, the UE can be configured by the higher layer with a set of bandwidth parts (BWPs) for signal receptions (e.g., PDCCH, PDSCH, etc.) by the UE (i.e., DL BWP set e.g. up to 4 DL BWPs) and a set of BWPs for signal transmissions (e.g., PUCCH, PUSCH) by the UE (UL BWP set e.g., up to 4 UL BWPs) in a serving cell, e.g., SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell), SCell, and the like). Each BWP can be associated with multiple parameters including, but not limited to, BW (e.g., number of time-frequency resources such as resource blocks), location of BWP in frequency (e.g., starting RB index of BWP or center frequency, etc.), subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic prefix (CP) length, any other baseband parameter (e.g., MIMO layer, receivers, transmitters, and / or HARQ related parameters) or the like.

[0073] For a BWP configured to the UE, the BWP may contain multiple bandwidth segments, each of which is referred to as a channel, subband, or BWP segment. Each segment may be configured with the different parameters including, but not limited to, SCS, symbol duration, and / or cyclic prefix (CP) length. In this case, the UE may perform an LBT operation for each channel / subband / BWP segment.

[0074] The term “LBT subband” or “subband” used herein may broadly refer to a set of physical radio resources or a physical radio resource set within a CCA BW covered by or within a BWP (e.g., a BW over which the CCA is applied by the UE to access any physical radio resource within that BW). Examples of physical radio resources are time-frequency radio resources. Likewise, examples of time-frequency radio resources are resource blocks (RBs) and resource elements. The embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to any term. Any other similar term, such as channel or BWP segment, can be used inter-changeably without departing from the scope of the disclosed subject matter.

[0075] In the embodiments described herein, DL PRS and / or UL SRS can be configured for a UE to perform a DL measurement and / or a UL transmission, based on which UE and / or gNB can provide positioning measurements to the LMF for positioning the UE. However, the embodimentsare not limited by any particular positioning method. A positioning method may also operate based on measurements of any other transmission or reception of NR radio signals provided by UE and / or gNB. Examples of such measurements include i) a transmission or reception of a NR reference signal (e.g., SS / PBCH blocks or CSI-RS), ii) a transmission or reception of NR L1 / L2 control signaling (e.g., PRACH, PUCCH, and / or PDCCH), iii) a transmission or reception of data or upper layer control signaling (e.g., data transmission, MAC CE or RRC signaling).

[0076] Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may be deployed on either the UE or on a network node. For example, a UE operating on an unlicensed carrier may provide various positioning assistance information (and / or measurement data) concerning an unlicensed operation to the LMF for UE positioning purposes. Notably, the positioning assistance information can include an identifier of the UE and the UE’s capabilities on unlicensed operation including, but not limited to a) whether the UE supports UL channel access for dynamic channel access mode (i.e., LBE), b) whether the UE supports UL channel access for semi-static channel access mode (i.e., FBE), c) whether the UE supports initiating a channel occupancy (e.g., semi-static channel occupancy) to be shared with the gNB and / or TRP, d) whether the UE supports UL type 1 channel access procedure, e) whether the UE supports UL type 2 channel access procedure, and f) whether the UE supports transmitting UL (SRS, PUCCH, CG-PUSCH, etc.) when SFI field in DCI 2 0 is configured but DCI 2_0 is not detected.

[0077] In some embodiments, the assistance information can also include the UE’s capability information on positioning, i.e., what positioning methods are supported by the UE.

[0078] In some embodiments, the assistance information may include the unlicensed carriers and / or unlicensed frequency bands and / or ranges (e.g., subbands) and information regarding whether LBT is mandatory or not. The assistance information may also include data regarding whether CCA / LBT is enabled or not for the UE to perform UL transmissions.

[0079] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes RS SI measurement data and channel occupancy data. The assistance information may further include LBT statistical information that indicates LBT statistics, such as the LBT success rate and the LBT failure rate.

[0080] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes data that indicates whether the UE has experienced and / or is experiencing an absence of SSBs in SSB measurements for various purposes, such as LI, L3, or beam management. For example, this data may indicate the SSB indices or positions where the SSBs were absent. The UE may also indicate whether the absence ofSSBs is due to LBT failure or due to bad radio channel quality. In some embodiments, the UE may also counter the amount of absent SSBs (e.g., SSB occasions or samples). Further, for a beam sweeping-capable UE, the UE may also indicate the SSB index of the absence of SSBs or a spatial relation of the absence of SSBs.

[0081] The assistance information may also include whether the UE has experienced and / or is experiencing LBT failures for an SRS transmission and corresponding SRS resources (in frequency and time) for which the UE has experienced / is experiencing LBT failures.

[0082] Moreover, the assistance information may be sent by the UE to the LMF (or other network node) in an unsolicited manner. Alternatively, the UE may send the assistance information to the LMF after receiving a request message from the LMF.

[0083] In some embodiments, when the UE provides positioning measurement results to the LMF, the UE also provides / includes information regarding whether the UE has experienced any LBT failures during the measurement period. Notably, the measurement results are different depending on the positioning method used. For example, the positioning measurement results associated with a multi -RTT positioning method (i.e., measurement results that may be transferred from the UE to the LMF) are provided in Table 2 below.TABLE 2

[0084] Referring to Table 2, the LBT failure data comprises at least one of i) whether the UE has experienced LBT failures during the measurement period, ii) the time when the LBT failures occur, and iii) an identifier of SRS resources that have been subject to LBT failures.

[0085] In some embodiments, for a measurement / location information request received from the LMF, the UE conducts UL SRS transmissions towards one or multiple gNBs and / or TRPs in the unlicensed band according to the configured time occasions (e.g., positioning configuration). In order to contend with LBT failures, the UE may be configured with additional SRS transmission opportunities or additional SRS resources (i.e., such additional opportunities or additional resources are not available for licensed bands). For example, the UE may transmit SRS on transmission opportunities or the SRS resources that have passed LBT operation(s). As an additional information, the UE may be configured with additional SRS transmission opportunities (in frequency or domain) or SRS resources on the unlicensed band by the gNB and / or the LMF.

[0086] As an additional information, the number of additional SRS transmission opportunities or SRS resources in the unlicensed band may be configured to the UE depending on the measured congestion status. More specifically, the higher the measured congestion level is, the more additional SRS transmission opportunities or SRS resources can be configured to the UE.

[0087] For any one of the above embodiments, the UE may be configured to send unlicensed operation related assistance information to the LMF for positioning via an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) message (TS 37.355), a Non-access stratum (NAS) message, or some other signaling alternative.

[0088] Figure 6 depicts a non-limiting example signaling diagram of a UE providing positioning assistance information to a location server according to some of the examples described above. In some embodiments, the UE 610 may conduct positioning measurements corresponding to one or more positioning methods (601). Subsequent to conducting the positioning measurements and obtaining measurement data, UE 610 may receive a request message for positioning assistance information from LMF 630 (602). In some embodiments, UE 610 may conduct the positioning methods in response to the request message from LMF 630 (i.e., step 602 may precede step 601).

[0089] In response to receiving the request message, UE 610 sends positioning assistance information (e.g., UE identification data, positioning measurement data, etc.) to the requesting LMF 630 (603). In some alternate embodiments, UE 610 may send the positioning assistance information to LMF 630 via message (602) in an unsolicited manner (i.e., without receiving request message 601).

[0090] In some embodiments, one or more gNBs and / or TRPs (e.g., gNB 620) may be configured to send their own positioning assistance information to LMF 630 (604). In someembodiments, a serving gNB may be configured to obtain positioning assistance information form a plurality of neighbor gNBs and TRPs and subsequently provide the collective positioning assistance information to LMF 630 (i.e., instead of each gNB / TRP providing positioning assistance information individually).

[0091] After receiving the positioning assistance information from the UE 610 and / or gNB 620, LMF 630 is configured to determine one or more TRPs and at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band (605). In some embodiments, the LMF 630 may select / designate a TRP to operate as a positioning TRP to position the UE on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0092] LMF 630 may then send the determined positioning configuration(s) to the UE 610 (606) and to the determined TRPs. In some embodiments, the positioning configuration(s) may include cell identifiers, identifiers associated with TRPs operating on the unlicensed frequency band, SSB information, DL-PRS configurations, and other information related to TRPs capable of supporting the positioning of the UE 610 on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0093] After receiving the positioning configuration data, the UE 610 is configured to utilize the positioning configurations to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE on the unlicensed frequency band (607).

[0094] As indicated above, the disclosed subject matter may be implemented on a radio network node, such as a gNodeB (gNB), enhanced node B (eNB), or some other base station. In some embodiments, a gNB serving a UE may exchange one or more types of information with a neighbor gNB regarding positioning in an unlicensed band for the UE. For example, the positioning information may include data related to whether the UE supports positioning in the unlicensed band. The information may further include the center frequency of each unlicensed carrier (e.g., ARCFN) on which the gNB operates and / or supports NR.

[0095] In some embodiments, the positioning information includes one or more unlicensed frequency ranges on which the gNB operates NR (e.g., one or multiple ranges in MHz or kHz, one or multiple PRB ranges, one or multiple subbands, one or multiple BWPs, etc.) and / or one or more unlicensed cells on which the gNB operates and / or supports NR.

[0096] In some embodiments, the positioning information includes information pertaining to whether CCA / LBT is mandatory for each unlicensed carrier, each unlicensed frequency range, or each unlicensed cell. The positioning information may also include information related to whetherCCA / LBT is supported on each unlicensed carrier, unlicensed frequency range, and / or unlicensed cell.

[0097] In some embodiments, the positioning information includes information related to the CCA / LBT categories that are supported on each unlicensed carrier, unlicensed frequency range, and / or each unlicensed cell if required (e.g., dynamic or semi-static channel accesses, LBT category 1, 2, 3, or 4, and / or LBT type 1 or 2).

[0098] In some embodiments, the serving gNB of the UE sends a request message to a neighbor gNB and / or TRP to request assistance information for positioning purposes. The request message may be carried over an X2 or Xn interface. The request message may comprise one or multiple information elements (IES) including, but not limited to, i) the identity of the UE, ii) the UE’s capabilities on unlicensed operation (e.g., the information content is the same as described in the UE embodiment described above), and iii) whether the neighbor gNB / TRP prefers to provide a positioning service to the UE (i.e., operate as positioning gNB / TRP).

[0099] In some embodiments, the neighbor gNB and / or TRP can determine whether it prefers to be involved in a positioning procedure, e.g., operate as a positioning gNB and / or TRP for a specific UE.

[0100] In some embodiments, a neighbor gNB and / or TRP can determine whether it wants to be involved in a positioning procedure e.g., operate as a positioning gNB and / or TRP for a specific UE based on one or more information / triggers, such as, 1) upon receiving a request message from the serving gNB of the UE, wherein the request message may comprise information corresponding to the UE (as described in the above embodiment), and / or 2) upon receiving positioning information provided by the serving gNB (or other base station) of the UE.

[0101] In some embodiments, a neighbor gNB and / or TRP may determine that it is not to be involved in a positioning procedure (e.g., determining not to operate as a positioning gNB / TRP for a specific UE even when that neighbor gNB and / or TRP has received a request message from the serving gNB of the UE).

[0102] In an alternate embodiment, a gNB serving a UE that needs to be positioned may send a message carrying positioning assistance information concerning one or multiple TRPs on the unlicensed band to the LMF. The assistance information comprises at least one of i) the UE’s assistance information concerning positioning in the unlicensed band (i.e., the information content is the same as described above with respect to the embodiments where the UE is operating on anunlicensed carrier and provides one or more positioning assistance information concerning the unlicensed operation to the LMF for positioning purposes), 2) the gNB’s assistance information concerning positioning in the unlicensed band (i.e., the information content is the same as described above with respect to the embodiments where the gNB serving a UE may exchange one or more of the listed information with a neighbor gNB regarding positioning in an unlicensed band for the UE), and / or 3) one or more neighbor gNBs’ assistance information concerning positioning in the unlicensed band.

[0103] In another alternate embodiment, a serving gNB of a UE (that needs to be positioned) may be involved in a selection of neighbor gNBs and / or TRPs. The serving gNB may make the decision with regard to one or more conditions including: 1) whether the serving gNB itself operates on the licensed and / or unlicensed carriers, 2) whether the licensed carriers and / or unlicensed carriers on which the serving gNB itself would like to support positioning for the UE, 3) whether a gNB neighbor and / or TRP supports on licensed and / or unlicensed carriers, and / or 4) whether the licensed carriers and / or unlicensed carriers on which a neighbor gNB and / or TRP would like to support positioning for the UE.

[0104] In some embodiments, the serving gNB may only select licensed carriers from a group including both itself and neighbor gNBs / TRPs in the positioning procedure for the UE. This may be desired when the UE needs to be positioned in a limited time period. The serving gNB may prefer to avoid involving unlicensed carriers in the positioning procedure in order to avoid unnecessary latency caused by LBT failures.

[0105] In some embodiments, the serving gNB selects only unlicensed carriers from a group including both itself and neighbor gNBs / TRPs in the positioning procedure for the UE. This may be desired when there is no strict delay requirement for the positioning procedure for the UE. The additional delay due to LBT operation in unlicensed carriers is acceptable for the positioning procedure.

[0106] In some embodiments, the serving gNB selects both licensed carriers and unlicensed carriers from a group including both itself and neighbor gNBs / TRPs in the positioning procedure for the UE. In such scenarios, there may be additional delay due to involvement and / or consideration of the unlicensed carriers in the positioning procedure. However, such an additional delay is acceptable for the positioning procedure. Meanwhile, unlicensed carriers may provide assistance to improvepositioning accuracy especially when there is an insufficient number of gNBs / TRPs deployed in the licensed carriers in a nearby area, which can be selected for the positioning procedure.

[0107] In some embodiments, for unlicensed carriers where CCA / LBT is not mandatory, the serving gNB may be configured to select unlicensed carriers according to whether LBT is enabled or disabled. Specifically, during the selection procedure, the serving gNB treats the unlicensed carriers without LBT (i.e., LBT disabled) in the same manner as the licensed carriers.

[0108] In some embodiments, for unlicensed carriers where CCA / LBT is not mandatory, the serving gNB may request or command itself and neighbor gNBs and / or TRPs to enable or disable LBT. For example, during the selection procedure, the serving gNB may be configured to request or command all gNBs and / or TRPs to disable LBT on the unlicensed carriers for the positioning procedure. After the positioning procedure is completed, all gNBs and / or TRPs may resume their operations with or without LBT, comparable to those before the positioning procedure.

[0109] In some embodiments, for unlicensed carriers where CCA / LBT is not mandatory, the serving gNB may request, command, deny, or approve neighbor gNBs’ and / or TRPs’ involvement in the positioning procedure with respect to the configuration of enabling or disabling LBT in those neighbor gNBs / TRPs.

[0110] In some embodiments, for unlicensed carriers where CCA / LBT is not mandatory, the serving gNB may request, command, deny, or approve neighbor gNBs’ and / or TRPs’ involvement in the positioning procedure with respect to UE’s feedback or reporting (e.g., absence of SSBs, LBT statistics, etc. in those neighbor gNBs / TRPs).

[0111] In some embodiments, the gNB may send assistance information concerning the unlicensed band to the LMF. The assistance information may include data related to the center frequency of each unlicensed carrier (e.g., ARCFN) on which the gNB operates and / or supports NR.

[0112] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes one or more unlicensed frequency ranges on which the gNB operates NR (e.g., one or multiple ranges in MHz or kHz, one or multiple PRB ranges, one or multiple subbands, one or multiple BWPs, etc.) and / or one or more unlicensed cells on which the gNB operates and / or supports NR.

[0113] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes information pertaining to whether CCA / LBT is mandatory for each unlicensed carrier, each unlicensed frequency range, or each unlicensed cell. The assistance information may also include information related to whetherCCA / LBT is supported on each unlicensed carrier, unlicensed frequency range, and / or unlicensed cell.

[0114] In some embodiments, the assistance information includes information related to the CCA / LBT categories that are supported on each unlicensed carrier, unlicensed frequency range, and / or each unlicensed cell if required (e.g., dynamic or semi-static channel accesses, LBT category 1, 2, 3, or 4, and / or LBT type 1 or 2 information).

[0115] The assistance information may also include TRP IDs of the TRPs on the unlicensed band served by the gNB and / or the DL-PRS configuration of the TRPs on the unlicensed band served by the gNB.

[0116] In some instances, for any one of the above embodiments, the gNB may be configured to send assistance information to the LMF for positioning in unlicensed band via a NR positioning protocol A (NRPPa) message (per 3GPP TS 38.455) and / or a NG application protocol (NGAP) message.

[0117] In some embodiments, upon reception of a request from the positioning server (e.g., LMF), the TRP may be configured to send its capabilities for supporting positioning in unlicensed bands over a NRPPa message. An example of such a TRP information request message (per 3 GPP TS 38.455) is depicted below in Table 3. In some embodiments, the request message is sent by an LMF to request TRP information hosted by an NG-RAN node.TABLE 3

[0118] In some embodiments, the TRP information IE contains information for one TRP within an NG-RAN node. An example of a TRP information IE is depicted below in Table 4.TABLE 4

[0119] In some embodiments, information about TRP positioning capability in unlicensed bands with time frequency of unlicensed bands is signaled over Fl signaling, e.g., via a TRP INFORMATION RESPONSE message (e.g., per 3GPP TS 38.473) in case of CU-DU split.

[0120] In some embodiments, an on-demand PRS transmission is conducted over unlicensed bands. For instance, the procedures in a NRPPa and Fl AP PRS CONFIGURATION REQUEST, RESPONSE message(s) carry the DL PRS with a new indication that the positioning operation is done in unlicensed bands.

[0121] Figure 7 depicts a non-limiting example signaling diagram of a gNB utilizing positioning assistance information according to some examples described above. In some embodiments, the UE 710 sends positioning assistance data (e.g., measurement data, capability data, identification data, etc.) to a serving gNB 720 (701). After receiving the UE information, the serving gNB 720 may provide and / or exchange positioning assistance information with a neighbor gNB 730 regarding positioning of the UE 710 in an unlicensed band (702). The serving gNB 720 may also send a request message to a neighbor gNB 730 (and / or TRP) for requesting positioning assistance information for purposes of positioning UE 710 (703). As indicated above, the request message may include one or more of: the identifier of UE 710, the unlicensed operation capabilities of UE 710, and / or an inquiry as to whether neighbor gNB 730 wants to operate as a positioning gNB for UE 710.

[0122] In some embodiments, the neighbor gNB 730 is configured to determine whether it wants to be involved in the positioning procedure, i.e., to operate as a positioning gNB and / or TRP for UE 710 (704). Notably, the neighbor gNB 730 can conduct this determination autonomously or in response to a trigger (i.e., upon receiving a request message from the serving gNB or upon receiving positioning information provided by the serving gNB). In some information, the serving gNB 720 may be configured to select / designate the gNB (e.g., itself or a neighbor gNB) that is to operate as the positioning gNB for UE 710.

[0123] In some embodiments, the neighbor gNB 730 is configured to provide / send its positioning assistance information to the serving gNB 720 (e.g., a response to request 703). At some point after receiving the positioning information from the neighbor gNB 730, the serving gNB 720 may send to a location server (e.g., LMF 740) a message carrying positioning assistance information related to itself, one or more neighbor TRPs (e.g., neighbor gNB 730), and / or the UE 710 operating on the unlicensed band (706).

[0124] In some embodiments, the positioning assistance information may be utilized by an LMF or other location server to determine the geographic position of a UE operating on an unlicensed frequency band. For example, the LMF may provide one or more assistance information items concerning positioning to a UE. Notably, the assistance information may include i) physical cell IDs (PCIs), global cell IDs (GCIs), and PRS IDs, ARFCNs of candidate NR TRPs for measurement which are on the unlicensed band, ii) timing relative to the serving (reference) TRP of candidate NR TRPs that are on the unlicensed band, iii) SSB information of the TRPs (e.g., the time / frequency occupancy of SSBs) that are on the unlicensed band, iv) an indication of a PRS-only transmission point (TP) that is in the unlicensed band, v) on-demand DL-PRS -configurations associated with TRPs on the unlicensed band, and / or vi) relaxed latency or accuracy requirement(s) for the measurements that the UE needs to fulfill.

[0125] In some embodiments, the LMF may provide one or more assistance information concerning positioning in the unlicensed band to the gNB. For example, the assistance information may include i) the selected TRPs on the unlicensed band for the positioning, ii) relaxed latency (response time) or accuracy requirement for the measurements that the UE needs to fulfill, iii) relaxed measurement periodicity and quantities, iv) relaxed search window, v) the SRS configuration associated with TRPs on the unlicensed band for the positioning, and vi) the relaxed UL timing information together with timing uncertainty, for reception of SRS by candidate TRPs.

[0126] In some embodiments, the LMF may be involved in a selection of gNBs and / or TRPs in order to position a UE. The LMF may make the decision considering one or more of the same conditions as described above (i.e., embodiments pertaining to a serving gNB that is involved in a selection for a neighbor gNB and / or TRP; the examples described in these embodiments are similarly applicable to the LMF). Notably, for any one of the above embodiments, the LMF may send the information / signaling to a UE for positioning in the unlicensed band via a LPP message (per 3GPP TS 37.555) and / or a NGAP message. In some embodiments, the LMF indicates in the Requested SRS transmission IE (per 3GPP TS 38.455) signaled in the POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message that the UL SRS shall be configured for the UE in unlicensed bands via a new indication. For example, an example IE containing the requested SRS configuration (e.g., transmission characteristics) for the UE is indicated below in Table 5. Likewise, Table 6 depicted below indicates that an ‘ifResourceTypePeriodic’ condition exists when the value of the Resource Type IE in Table 5 is set to a value of “Periodic”. Further, Table 7 indicates a plurality ofIE parameter values representative of the maximum number of requested SRS Resource Sets and maximum number of SRS Resources per set for one or more IES indicated in Table 5.TABLE 5TABLE 6TABLE 7

[0127] In some embodiments, the CU signals to the DU via the Fl POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message that the UL SRS configuration shall be done in unlicensed bands with a new indication. This is valid also for an RRC INACTIVE SRS configuration.

[0128] Figure 8 is a flow chart depicting a process 800 that illustrates the operation of a user equipment according to some embodiments. Process 800 may be executed by one or more wireless communication devices (e.g., UEs). In some embodiments, process 800 may represent a software algorithm that is stored in memory and executed by one or more processors (and / or processing circuitry) of a UE. For example, process 800 may be stored in memory 1310 and executed by processing circuitry 1302 as shown in Figure 13 and described below. In process 800, block 801 includes providing, by a UE operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information regarding the UE to a location server. Notably, the location server (e.g., an LMF) may utilize the positioning assistance information to determine one or more TRPs and at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, the location server may also utilize positioning assistance information received from a serving gNB and / or one or more neighbor gNBs that may be designated to operate as a positioning gNB / TRP for the UE.

[0129] In block 802, the process 800 includes receiving, from the location server, the at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, the UE operating on an unlicensed frequency band may receive a positioning configuration from an LMF. Notably, the positioning configuration(s) from the LMF may include cell identifiers, identifiers associated with TRPs operating on the unlicensed frequency band, SSB information, DL- PRS configurations, and other information related to TRPs capable of supporting the positioning of the UE 610 on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0130] In block 803, the process 800 includes utilizing the at least one positioning configuration to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0131] Figure 9 is a flow chart depicting a process 900 that illustrates the operation of a network node according to some embodiments. Process 900 may be executed by one or more network nodes (e.g., a gNB, eNB, TRP, or any other radio access network node that can establish a wireless / cellular connection). In some embodiments, process 900 may represent a software algorithm that is stored in memory and executed by one or more processors (and / or processing circuitry) of a radio access network node. For example, process 900 may be stored in memory 1404 and executed by processing circuitry 1402 as shown in Figure 14 and described below.

[0132] For example, block 901 of process 900 includes providing, by a serving network node supporting a UE operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information with one or more neighbor network nodes. In some embodiments, a serving network node is configured to exchange and / or send positioning assistance information to each of one or more neighbor gNBs and / or TRPs. The positioning assistance information may include information regarding the serviced UE (e.g., whether the UE supports positioning in the unlicensed band), one or more unlicensed frequency ranges on which the serving gNB operates NR communications, one or more unlicensed cells on which the serving gNB operates NR communications, and the like.

[0133] In block 902, the process 900 includes sending, by the serving network node, a request message to the one or more neighbor network nodes requesting positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes. In some embodiments, the serving gNB of the UE sends a request message to a neighbor gNB and / or TRP for requesting assistance information for positioning purposes. The request message information may include an identifier of the UE, the UE’s capabilities on unlicensed operation, and an inquiry as to whether the neighbor gNB / TRP would like to operate as a positioning gNB / TRP (i.e., provide positioning server to the UE).

[0134] In block 903, the process 900 includes receiving, by the serving network node, the positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes. In some embodiments, the serving network node receives the requested positioning assistance information originally requested from each of the neighbor gNBs and / or TRPs.

[0135] In block 904, the process 900 includes forwarding, by the serving network node, positioning assistance information related to the serving network node and / or the one or more neighbor network nodes to a location server, wherein the location server utilizes the positioning assistance information to generate at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, the serving gNB forwards its positioning assistanceinformation along with the positioning assistance information requested and received from the neighbor gNBs / TRPs. In some embodiments, the gNB is also configured to send positioning assistance information related to the supported UE operating in the unlicensed frequency band. Upon receiving the forwarded positioning assistance information (i.e., the collective positioning assistance information) from the servicing gNB, the LMF may generate positioning configuration(s) that are related to the unlicensed frequency band and that may be used by the UE to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0136] Figure 10 is a flow chart depicting a process 1000 that illustrates the operation of a location server according to some embodiments. Process 1000 may be executed by one or more location servers (e.g., a LMF). In some embodiments, process 1000 may represent a software algorithm that is stored in memory and executed by one or more processors (and / or processing circuitry) of a location server (e.g., a computing device hosting the LMF). For example, process 1000 may be stored in memory 1160 (e.g., as location services module 1170) and executed by processing circuitry 1130 as shown in Figure 11 and described below.

[0137] In block 1001, the process 1000 includes receiving, by a location server from a user equipment, UE, operating on an unlicensed frequency band, a first set of positioning assistance information regarding the unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, an LMF sends a request message to the UE to request positioning assistance information regarding the UE and its operation in the unlicensed frequency band. In other embodiments, the UE may provide the positioning assistance information without prompting from the LMF.

[0138] In block 1002, the process 1000 includes receiving, by the location server from one or more network nodes operating on the unlicensed frequency band, a second set of positioning assistance information regarding the unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, the LMF may receive positioning assistance information from one or more gNBs and / or TRPs operating on unlicensed frequency bands.

[0139] In block 1003, the process 1000 includes utilizing the first and second sets of positioning assistance information to determine at least one positioning configuration and one or more network nodes related to the unlicensed frequency band. In some embodiments, the LMF processes the positioning assistance information received from the UE, gNBs, and / or TRPs to derive one or more positioning configurations (e.g., cell identifiers of candidate gNBs / TRPs on unlicensed frequency bands, a DL-PRS configuration of candidate NR gNBs and / or TRPs that are operating on the sameunlicensed frequency band as the UE, timing information of candidate NR gNBs / TRPs on unlicensed frequency band(s) relative to the serving gNB / TRP, etc.). In some embodiments, the LMF may also use the received positioning assistance information from the UE, gNBs, and / or TRPs to select the gNB and / or TRP that will operate as the positioning server for the UE on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0140] In block 1004, the process 1000 includes sending, by the location server, the at least one determined positioning configuration regarding the unlicensed frequency band to the UE. In some embodiments, the LMF is configured to send the positioning configuration(s) derived in block 1003 to the UE. Notably, such positioning configuration information may be utilized by the UE to operate on the unlicensed frequency band.

[0141] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a location server 1100 according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The location server 1100 is suitable for implementing the disclosed embodiments as described herein. In some embodiments, the location server 1100 may be a LMF as described herein. The location server 1100 may comprise processing circuitry 1130 (e.g., a processor, logic unit, or central processing unit (CPU), etc.) to process the data; a communication interface 1180 (e.g., transmitter and receiving units and egress and ingress ports for transmitting and receiving the data); and a memory 1160 for storing the data.

[0142] The processing circuitry 1130 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other location server 1100 components, such as the memory 1160, to provide location server functionality.

[0143] The memory 1160 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or nonvolatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1130. The memory 1160 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1130 and utilized by the location server 1100. The memory 1160 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1130 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1180. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1130 and memory 1160 is integrated.

[0144] The memory 1160 may also include and / or host a location services module 1170. The location services module 1170 implements the disclosed embodiments described above with regard to the LMF. For instance, the location services module (LSM) 1170 implements, processes, prepares, or provides the various location services operations, such as process 1000 of Figure 10. The inclusion of the location services module 1170 therefore provides a substantial improvement to the functionality of the location server 1100 and effects a transformation of the location server 1100 to a different state. In some embodiments, locations services module may be implemented as programming instructions and / or software code that can be stored in memory. More specifically, the location services module 1170 may be implemented as instructions stored in the memory 1160 and executed by the processing circuitry 1130.

[0145] Figure 12 shows an example of a communication system 1200 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0146] In the example, the communication system 1200 includes a telecommunication network 1202 that includes an access network 1204, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 1206, which includes one or more core network nodes 1208. The access network 1204 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1210a and 1210b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1210), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 1202 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1202 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in thetelecommunication network 1202, including one or more network nodes 1210 and / or core network nodes 1208.

[0147] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 1210 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 1212a, 1212b, 1212c, and 1212d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1212) to the core network 1206 over one or more wireless connections.

[0148] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 1200 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 1200 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0149] The UEs 1212 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 1210 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1210 are arranged,capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1212 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1202 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 1202.

[0150] In the depicted example, the core network 1206 connects the network nodes 1210 to one or more hosts, such as host 1216. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 1206 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1208) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 1208. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0151] The host 1216 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1204 and / or the telecommunication network 1202, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 1216 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0152] As a whole, the communication system 1200 of Figure 12 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LIE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0153] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1202 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 1202 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1202. For example, the telecommunications network 1202 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0154] In some examples, the UEs 1212 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 1204 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1204. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0155] In the example, the hub 1214 communicates with the access network 1204 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1212c and / or 1212d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1210b). In some examples, the hub 1214 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1214 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 1206 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1214 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 1210, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1214. As another example, the hub 1214 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 1214 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset,display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 1214 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1214 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1214 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0156] The hub 1214 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1210b. The hub 1214 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1214 and UEs (e.g., UE 1212c and / or 1212d), and between the hub 1214 and the core network 1206. In other examples, the hub 1214 is connected to the core network 1206 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1214 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1204 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1210 while still connected via the hub 1214 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1214 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 1210b. In other embodiments, the hub 1214 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1210b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0157] Figure 13 shows a UE 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0158] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication(DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0159] The UE 1300 includes processing circuitry 1302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1304 to an input / output interface 1306, a power source 1308, a memory 1310, a communication interface 1312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 13. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0160] The processing circuitry 1302 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 1310. The processing circuitry 1302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 1302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0161] In the example, the input / output interface 1306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 1300. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0162] In some embodiments, the power source 1308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 1308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1308. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1308 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1300 to which power is supplied.

[0163] The memory 1310 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1310 includes one or more application programs 1314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1316. The memory 1310 may store, for use by the UE 1300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0164] The memory 1310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘ SIM card. ’ The memory 1310 may allow theUE 1300 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non- transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0165] The processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1312. The communication interface 1312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1322. The communication interface 1312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1318 and / or a receiver 1320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1318 and receiver 1320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0166] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0167] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1312, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), inresponse to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0168] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0169] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or itemtracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 1300 shown in Figure 13.

[0170] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0171] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0172] Figure 14 shows a network node 1400 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g., 0-RU, 0-DU, O-CU).

[0173] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0174] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSRBSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, SelfOrganizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0175] The network node 1400 includes a processing circuitry 1402, a memory 1404, a communication interface 1406, and a power source 1408. The network node 1400 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1400 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1400.

[0176] The processing circuitry 1402 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1400 components, such as the memory 1404, to provide network node 1400 functionality.

[0177] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1412 and baseband processing circuitry 1414. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1412 and the baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1412 and baseband processing circuitry 1414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0178] The memory 1404 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or nonvolatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1402. The memory 1404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1402 and utilized by the network node 1400. The memory 1404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1402 and memory 1404 is integrated.

[0179] The communication interface 1406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1406 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1410. Radio front-end circuitry 1418 comprises filters 1420 and amplifiers 1422. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may be connected to an antenna 1410 and processing circuitry 1402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1410 and processing circuitry 1402. The radio front-end circuitry 1418 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio frontend circuitry 1418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1420 and / or amplifiers 1422. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0180] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1400 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1418, instead, the processing circuitry 1402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1412 is part of the communication interface 1406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1406 includes one or more ports or terminals 1416, the radio front-end circuitry 1418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0181] The antenna 1410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1410 is separate from the network node 1400 and connectable to the network node 1400 through an interface or port.

[0182] The antenna 1410, communication interface 1406, and / or the processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1410, the communication interface 1406, and / or the processing circuitry 1402 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0183] The power source 1408 provides power to the various components of network node 1400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1408. As a further example, the power source 1408 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, orintegrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0184] Embodiments of the network node 1400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 14 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1400 and to allow output of information from the network node 1400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1400.

[0185] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a host 1500, which may be an embodiment of the host 1216 of Figure 12, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1500 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1500 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0186] The host 1500 includes processing circuitry 1502 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1504 to an input / output interface 1506, a network interface 1508, a power source 1510, and a memory 1512. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 13 and 14, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1500.

[0187] The memory 1512 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1514 and data 1516, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1500 or data generated by the host 1500 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1500 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1514 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (WC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1514 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and mayperiodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1500 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1514 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0188] Figure 16 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1600 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1600 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1600 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0189] Applications 1602 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0190] Hardware 1604 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1606 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1608a and 1608b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1608), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualizationlayer 1606 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to theVMs 1608.

[0191] The VMs 1608 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1606. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1602 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1608, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0192] In the context of NFV, a VM 1608 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1608, and that part of hardware 1604 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1608 on top of the hardware 1604 and corresponds to the application 1602.

[0193] Hardware 1604 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1604 may implement some functions via virtualization.Alternatively, hardware 1604 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1610, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1602. In some embodiments, hardware 1604 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1612 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0194] Figure 17 shows a communication diagram of a host 1702 communicating via a network node 1704 with a UE 1706 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with someembodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 1212a of Figure 12 and / or UE 1300 of Figure 13), network node (such as network node 1210a of Figure 12 and / or network node 1400 of Figure 14), and host (such as host 1216 of Figure 12 and / or host 1500 of Figure 15) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 17.

[0195] Like host 1500, embodiments of host 1702 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1702 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1702 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1706 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1750 extending between the UE 1706 and host 1702. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1750.

[0196] The network node 1704 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1702 and UE 1706. The connection 1760 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 1206 of Figure 12) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0197] The UE 1706 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1706 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1706 with the support of the host 1702. In the host 1702, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1750 terminating at the UE 1706 and host 1702. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1750 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1750.

[0198] The OTT connection 1750 may extend via a connection 1760 between the host 1702 and the network node 1704 and via a wireless connection 1770 between the network node 1704 and the UE 1706 to provide the connection between the host 1702 and the UE 1706. The connection 1760 and wireless connection 1770, over which the OTT connection 1750 may be provided, have beendrawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1702 and the UE 1706 via the network node 1704, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0199] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1750, in step 1708, the host 1702 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1706. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1706 that shares data with the host 1702 without explicit human interaction. In step 1710, the host 1702 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1706. The host 1702 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1706. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1706 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1706. The transmission may pass via the network node 1704, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1712, the network node 1704 transmits to the UE 1706 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1702 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1714, the UE 1706 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1706 associated with the host application executed by the host 1702.

[0200] In some examples, the UE 1706 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1702. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1702. Accordingly, in step 1716, the UE 1706 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1706. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1706 initiates, in step 1718, transmission of the user data towards the host 1702 via the network node 1704. In step 1720, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1704 receives user data from the UE 1706 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1702. In step 1722, the host 1702 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1706.

[0201] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1702. As another example, the host 1702 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1702 may collectand analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1702 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1702 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1702 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0202] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1750 between the host 1702 and UE 1706, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1702 and / or UE 1706. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1750 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1750 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1704. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1702. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1750 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0203] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, whichmay process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non- computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0204] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device- readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.EMBODIMENTS1. A method performed in a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), the method comprising: providing (801), by a UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information regarding the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), to a location server (630, 740, 1100), wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) utilizes the positioning assistance information to determine one or more transmission-reception points, TRPs,and at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band; receiving (802), from the location server (630, 740, 1100), the at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band; and utilizing (803), by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), the at least one positioning configuration to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) on the unlicensed frequency band.2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the positioning assistance information is provided by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to the location server (630, 740, 1100) in an unsolicited manner.3. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the positioning assistance information is provided by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to the location server (630, 740, 1100) in response to a request message previously sent by the location server (630, 740, 1100).4. The method of any of embodiments 1-3, wherein the positioning assistance information includes one or more of: an identifier of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), UE capability data regarding operation on the unlicensed frequency band, positioning methods supported by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), frequency range(s) and / or subbands of the unlicensed frequency band, received signal strength indicator, RS SI, measurement data, channel occupancy measurement data, listen-before-talk (LBT) statistical data, and / or synchronization signal block, SSB, measurement data.5. The method of any of embodiments 1-4, wherein the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) provides positioning measurement results to the location server (630, 740, 1100).6. The method of any of embodiments 1-5, wherein the positioning measurement results includes LBT failures associated with the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) during a measurement period, times when the LBT failures occurred, and / or identifier(s) of sounding reference signal, SRS, resources that have been subject to the LBT failures.7. The method of any of embodiments 1-6, wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) is a location management function, LMF.8. A method performed in a network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), the method comprising: providing (901), by a serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) supporting a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information with one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704); sending (902), by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), a request message to the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) requesting positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704); receiving (903), by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), the positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704); and forwarding (904), by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), the positioning assistance information related to the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) and / or the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) to a location server (630, 740, 1100), wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) utilizes the forwarded positioning assistance information to generate at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band.9. The method of embodiment 8 wherein the request message is carried over an X2 or Xn interface.10. The method of any one of embodiments 8-9 wherein the neighbor network node is configured to determine whether to operate as a positioning network node for the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) in response to receiving the request message.11. The method of any one of embodiments 8-10 wherein the request message includes information related to the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) and / or positioning information provided by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704).12. The method of any one of embodiments 8-11 wherein the serving network node (620, 720,1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) is involved in a selection of neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704).13. The method of any one of embodiments 8-12 wherein each of the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) and the neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) includes a gNodeB, gNB, a transmission-reception point, TRP, and / or a base station.14. The method of any one of embodiments 8-13 wherein the request message includes an identifier of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), unlicensed operation capabilities of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), and an inquiry as to whether the receiving neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704)wants to operate as a positioning gNB and / or TRP for the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706).15. The method of any one of embodiments 8-14 further comprising, providing, by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), instructions to the neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) to disable a listen-before-talk, LBT, function during a selection procedure.16. The method of any one of embodiments 8-15 wherein the positioning assistance information is forwarded to the location server (630, 740, 1100) via a NR positioning protocol A (NRPPa) message or a NG application protocol (NGAP) message.17. A user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) comprising: processing circuitry (1302); and memory (1310) coupled with the processing circuitry (1102), wherein the memory (1310) includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry (1302) causes the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 1-7.18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1102) of a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), whereby execution of the program code causes the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 1-7.19. A network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) comprising:processing circuitry (1402); and memory (1404) coupled with the processing circuitry (1402), wherein the memory (1404) includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry (1402) causes the network node (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 8-16.20. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1402) of a network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 8-16.21. A method performed in a location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), the method comprising: receiving (1001), by a location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) from a user equipment, UE, operating on an unlicensed frequency band, a first set of positioning assistance information regarding the unlicensed frequency band; receiving (1002), by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) from one or more network nodes operating on the unlicensed frequency band, a second set of positioning assistance information regarding the unlicensed frequency band; utilizing (1003) the first and second sets of positioning assistance information to determine at least one positioning configuration and one or more network nodes related to the unlicensed frequency band; and sending (1004), by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) the at least one determined positioning configuration regarding the unlicensed frequency band to the UE.22. The method of embodiment 21, wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) is a location management function, LMF.23. The method of any of embodiments 21-22 wherein each of the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) is a gNodeB, an eNodeB, a transmission-reception point, TRP, or a base station.24. The method of embodiments 21-23 wherein the first set of positioning assistance information is provided by the UE to the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) in an unsolicited manner.25. The method of any of embodiments 21-23 further comprising sending, by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), a request message to the UE for the first set of positioning assistance information.26. The method of embodiments 21-25 further comprising selecting a network node from among a plurality of network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band to operate as a positioning network node (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704).27. The method of any of embodiments 21-26 wherein the positioning configuration includes a downlink positioning reference signal, DL-PRS, configuration of candidate network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) that are on the unlicensed frequency band, synchronization signal block, SSB, information of the network nodes that are operating on the unlicensed frequency band, an indication of a PRS-only transmission point that is operating on the unlicensed frequency band, an on-demand DL-PRS configuration associated with the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band, and / or relaxed latency or accuracy requirements for measurements that the UE needs to fulfill.28. The method of any of embodiments 21-27 further comprising providing, by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), positioning information to the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704).29. The method of embodiment 28 wherein the positioning information includes one or more of a network node selected to operate as a positioning server on the unlicensed frequency band, a relaxed latency or accuracy requirement for measurements the UE needs to fulfill, relaxed measurement periodicity and quantities, a relaxed search window, a sounding reference signal, SRS, configuration associated with the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band, and / or relaxed uplink timing information for reception of an SRS by a plurality of candidate network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704).30. A location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) comprising:processing circuitry (1130); and memory (1160) coupled with the processing circuitry (1130), wherein the memory (1160) includes instructions (1170) that when executed by the processing circuitry (1130) causes the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 21- 29.31. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1130) of a location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), whereby execution of the program code (1170) causes the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 21-29.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed in a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), the method comprising: providing (801), by a UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information regarding the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), to a location server (630, 740, 1100), wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) utilizes the positioning assistance information to determine one or more transmission-reception points, TRPs, and at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band; receiving (802), from the location server (630, 740, 1100), the at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band; and utilizing (803), by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), the at least one positioning configuration to operate in a manner that allows positioning of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) on the unlicensed frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning assistance information is provided by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to the location server (630, 740, 1100) in an unsolicited manner.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning assistance information is provided by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to the location server (630, 740, 1100) in response to a request message previously sent by the location server (630, 740, 1100).

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein the positioning assistance information includes one or more of: an identifier of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), UE capability data regarding operation on the unlicensed frequency band, positioning methods supported by the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), frequency range(s) and / or subbands of the unlicensed frequency band, received signal strength indicator, RS SI, measurement data, channel occupancy measurement data, listen-before-talk (LBT) statistical data, and / or synchronization signal block, SSB, measurement data.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, wherein the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) provides positioning measurement results to the location server (630, 740, 1100).

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the positioning measurement results includes LBTfailures associated with the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) during a measurement period, times when the LBT failures occurred, and / or identifier(s) of sounding reference signal, SRS, resources that have been subject to the LBT failures.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) is a location management function, LMF.

8. A method performed in a network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), the method comprising: providing (901), by a serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) supporting a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), operating on an unlicensed frequency band, positioning assistance information with one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704); sending (902), by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), a request message to the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) requesting positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704); receiving (903), by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), the positioning assistance information from the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704); and forwarding (904), by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), the positioning assistance information related to the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) and / or the one or more neighbor network nodes (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) to a location server (630, 740, 1100), wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100) utilizes the forwarded positioning assistance information to generate at least one positioning configuration related to the unlicensed frequency band.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the request message is carried over an X2 or Xn interface.

10. The method of any one of claims 8-9 wherein the neighbor network node is configured to determine whether to operate as a positioning network node for the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) in response to receiving the request message.

11. The method of any one of claims 8-10 wherein the request message includes information related to the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) and / or positioning information provided by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704).

12. The method of any one of claims 8-11 wherein the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) is involved in a selection of neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704).

13. The method of any one of claims 8-12 wherein each of the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) and the neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) includes a gNodeB, gNB, a transmission-reception point, TRP, and / or a base station.

14. The method of any one of claims 8-13 wherein the request message includes an identifier of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), unlicensed operation capabilities of the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), and an inquiry as to whether the receiving neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704)wants to operate as a positioning gNB and / or TRP for the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706).

15. The method of any one of claims 8-14 further comprising, providing, by the serving network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), instructions to the neighbor network node (730, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) to disable a listen-before-talk, LBT, function during a selection procedure.

16. The method of any one of claims 8-15 wherein the positioning assistance information is forwarded to the location server (630, 740, 1100) via a NR positioning protocol A (NRPPa) message or a NG application protocol (NGAP) message.

17. A user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) comprising: processing circuitry (1102); and memory (1110) coupled with the processing circuitry (1102), wherein the memory (1110) includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry (1102) causes the UE (610, 710, 1012A-D, 1100, 1402, 1506) to perform operations according to any of claims 1-7.

18. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including programcode to be executed by processing circuitry (1102) of a user equipment, UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706), whereby execution of the program code causes the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) to perform operations according to any of claims 1-7.

19. A network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) comprising: processing circuitry (1402); and memory (1204) coupled with the processing circuitry (1402), wherein the memory (1404) includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry (1402) causes the network node (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) to perform operations according to any of claims 8-16.

20. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1402) of a network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node (620, 720, 1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1602, 1704) to perform operations according to any of claims 8-16.

21. A method performed in a location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), the method comprising: receiving (1001), by a location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) from a user equipment, UE, (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) operating on an unlicensed frequency band, a first set of positioning assistance information regarding the unlicensed frequency band; receiving (1002), by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) from one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band, a second set of positioning assistance information regarding the unlicensed frequency band; utilizing (1003) the first and second sets of positioning assistance information to determine at least one positioning configuration and one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) related to the unlicensed frequency band; and sending (1004), by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) the at least one determined positioning configuration regarding the unlicensed frequency band to the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706).

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) is a location management function, LMF.

23. The method of any of claims 21-22 wherein each of the one or more network nodes (121 OA, 1210B, 1400, 1704) is a gNodeB, an eNodeB, a transmission-reception point, TRP, or a base station.

24. The method of claims 21-23 wherein the first set of positioning assistance information is provided by the UE to the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) in an unsolicited manner.

25. The method of any of claims 21-23 further comprising sending, by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), a request message to the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) for the first set of positioning assistance information.

26. The method of claims 21-25 further comprising selecting a network node from among a plurality of network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band to operate as a positioning network node (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704).

27. The method of any of claims 21-26 wherein the positioning configuration includes a downlink positioning reference signal, DL-PRS, configuration of candidate network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) that are on the unlicensed frequency band, synchronization signal block, SSB, information of the network nodes that are operating on the unlicensed frequency band, an indication of a PRS-only transmission point that is operating on the unlicensed frequency band, an on-demand DL-PRS configuration associated with the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band, and / or relaxed latency or accuracy requirements for measurements that the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) needs to fulfill.

28. The method of any of claims 21-27 further comprising providing, by the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), positioning information to the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704).

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the positioning information includes one or more of a network node selected to operate as a positioning server on the unlicensed frequency band, a relaxed latency or accuracy requirement for measurements the UE (610, 710, 1212A-D, 1300, 1706) needs to fulfill, relaxed measurement periodicity and quantities, a relaxed search window, a soundingreference signal, SRS, configuration associated with the one or more network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704) operating on the unlicensed frequency band, and / or relaxed uplink timing information for reception of an SRS by a plurality of candidate network nodes (1210A, 1210B, 1400, 1704).

30. A location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) comprising: processing circuitry (1130); and memory (1160) coupled with the processing circuitry (1130), wherein the memory (1160) includes instructions (1170) that when executed by the processing circuitry (1130) causes the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) to perform operations according to any of claims 21-29.

31. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1130) of a location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100), whereby execution of the program code (1170) causes the location server (630, 740, 1100, 1100) to perform operations according to any of claims 21-29.

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