Ranging method, communication device and storage medium

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure are a ranging method, a communication device and a storage medium. The ranging method comprises: a first network device receiving a first request message, which is sent by a request end, wherein the first request message is used for requesting ranging sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals, n being a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; determining information of a terminal among the n terminals that refuses to expose location information; and on the basis of the information of the terminal that refuses to expose the location information, determining whether to execute ranging SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

Description

Ranging method, communication device and storage medium Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a ranging method, a communication device, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] Ranging / sidelink positioning can be used to measure the location information of the terminal.

[0003] Ranging / SL positioning can be performed based on the sidelink (SL) between terminals. These terminals can also be referred to as user equipment (UE). The ranging and positioning results obtained can be used for one or more services.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a ranging method, a communication device, and a storage medium to protect the privacy and security of terminal location information while responding to service requests related to ranging / SL positioning services with as high a probability as possible.

[0006] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a ranging method is provided, which is performed by a first network device. The method includes:

[0007] Receive a first request message sent by a requesting end, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0008] Determining terminal information of the n terminals that refuses location information exposure;

[0009] Determine whether to execute ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0010] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a ranging method is provided, where the method is performed by a third network device and includes:

[0011] receiving a third request message sent by a first network device, the third request message being used to obtain a verification result of a user instruction; the verification result being used by the first network device to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose their location information among n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning; where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; and sending a fifth request message to the terminal based on the third request message, the fifth request message being used to request the terminal to obtain the user instruction;

[0012] receiving a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message, wherein the fifth response message carries the user instruction;

[0013] According to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, a third response message is returned to the first network device, where the third response message includes the verification result.

[0014] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a ranging method is provided, which is performed by a third network device, wherein the method includes:

[0015] receiving a fourth request message sent by the first network device, wherein the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger execution of ranging / SL positioning;

[0016] Obtaining, according to the fourth request message, a user indication of the terminal; the user indication being used to indicate whether the terminal, which meets the conditions for participating in the ranging / SL positioning, currently refuses to expose its location information;

[0017] A fourth response message is sent to the first network device according to the terminal information that refuses exposure of the location information.

[0018] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a ranging method is provided, wherein the method is performed by a requesting end and includes:

[0019] Sending a first request message to a first network device, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0020] A first response message is received, where the first response message includes: a failure response message of ranging and positioning failure, or a positioning result of executing the first request message.

[0021] According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a first network device is provided, comprising:

[0022] A receiving module is configured to receive a first request message sent by a requesting end, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0023] The processing module is configured to determine the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information; and determine whether to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0024] According to a sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a third network device is provided, comprising:

[0025] A receiving module is configured to receive a third request message sent by a first network device, where the third request message is used to obtain a verification result of a user instruction; the verification result is used by the first network device to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose their location information among n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning; where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; and a sending module is configured to send a fifth request message to the terminal based on the third request message, where the fifth request message is used to request the terminal to obtain the user instruction;

[0026] The receiving module is further configured to receive a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message; the fifth response message carries the user instruction;

[0027] The sending module is further configured to return a third response message to the first network device according to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, where the third response message includes the verification result.

[0028] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a third network device is provided, comprising:

[0029] A receiving module configured to receive a fourth request message sent by the first network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning;

[0030] a processing module configured to obtain, according to the fourth request message, a user indication of the terminal; the user indication being used to indicate whether the terminal, which meets the conditions for participating in the ranging / SL positioning, currently refuses to expose its location information;

[0031] The sending module is configured to send a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0032] According to an eighth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a requesting end is provided, comprising:

[0033] A sending module is configured to send a first request message to a first network device, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0034] The receiving module is configured to receive a first response message, where the first response message includes: a failure response message of ranging and positioning failure, or a positioning result of executing the first request message.

[0035] According to a thirteenth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided, wherein the communication device includes:

[0036] one or more processors;

[0037] The processor is used to call instructions to enable the communication device to execute the ranging method provided by any technical solution of the first to fourth aspects.

[0038] According to a fourteenth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage medium is provided, wherein the storage medium stores instructions, which, when the instructions are executed on a communication device, enable the communication device to execute the ranging method provided by any one of the first to fourth aspects.

[0039] According to the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first network device will determine the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information when requesting n terminals to measure the distance / SL positioning, and determine whether to perform the ranging / SL positioning based on the terminal information, thereby achieving a solution to the problem of one or more terminals refusing to expose the location information during the ranging / SL positioning.

[0040] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the embodiments of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0042] FIG1 is a schematic diagram showing an architecture of a communication system according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0043] FIG2A is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0044] FIG2B is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0045] FIG3A is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0046] FIG3B is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0047] FIG4A is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0048] FIG4B is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0049] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0050] FIG6A is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0051] FIG6B is a schematic flow chart showing a distance measurement method according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0052] FIG7A is a schematic structural diagram of a first network device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0053] FIG7B is a schematic structural diagram of a third network device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0054] FIG7C is a schematic structural diagram of a third network device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0055] FIG7D is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a request end according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0056] FIG8A is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an exemplary embodiment;

[0057] FIG8B is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an exemplary embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a ranging method and apparatus, a communication device, a communication system, and a storage medium.

[0059] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, performed by a first network device, the method including:

[0060] Receive a first request message sent by a requesting end, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals; where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0061] Determine the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose their location information;

[0062] Determine whether to execute ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0063] Based on the above solution, the first network device will determine the terminal information that refuses to expose location information when requesting n terminals to perform ranging / SL positioning, and determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the terminal information, thereby achieving a solution to the problem of one or more terminals refusing to expose location information during ranging / SL positioning.

[0064] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, determining information of terminals among n terminals that refuse to have their location information exposed includes:

[0065] Terminal information of the n terminals whose location information is denied from being exposed is determined according to the privacy configurations of the n terminals.

[0066] Based on the above solution, whether the terminal will refuse location information exposure can be determined according to the privacy configuration, so that the exposure of the ranging / SL positioning location information of n terminals can be further determined, thereby ensuring the security of the terminal's location information.

[0067] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, determining terminal information of n terminals that refuse location information exposure further includes:

[0068] The terminal information of the n terminals whose location information is refused to be exposed is determined according to the verification result indicated by the user.

[0069] Based on the above solution, the verification result based on the terminal user's instruction can reflect whether the terminal is currently willing to disclose its own location information, thereby realizing dynamic determination of whether the terminal's current location information is exposed.

[0070] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0071] A second request message is sent to the second network device according to the first request message, where the second request message is used to obtain the privacy configurations of the n terminals from the second network device.

[0072] In the above embodiment, when the first network device does not have a privacy configuration, it can request a privacy configuration from the second network device, thereby implementing verification based on the privacy configuration to determine whether the terminal refuses location information exposure.

[0073] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0074] If the first indication in the privacy configuration of the mth terminal indicates that the location information is accepted and the privacy configuration includes a second indication, then the verification result of the mth terminal is obtained, where m is a positive integer less than or equal to n.

[0075] Based on the above solution, when the privacy configuration includes a second indication, it is also necessary to dynamically verify whether the terminal currently refuses to expose location information, thereby achieving double verification of whether the terminal's location information can be exposed, thereby further improving the security of the terminal's location information during the ranging / SL positioning process.

[0076] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments,

[0077] If the first indication in the privacy configuration of the mth terminal indicates that the location information is accepted and the privacy configuration includes a second indication, obtaining a verification result of the mth terminal includes:

[0078] If the first indication in the privacy configuration of the mth terminal indicates acceptance of location information and the privacy configuration includes a second indication, sending a third request message to the third network device of the mth terminal, the third request message being used to obtain a verification result;

[0079] A third response message returned by the third network device is received, where the third response message includes a verification result.

[0080] In the above embodiment, a third request message is sent to the third network device of each terminal, the third network device completes the verification, and the first network device receives the verification result from the third network device, so that the first network device can determine the number of terminals that refuse to expose their location information based on the verification results of each terminal.

[0081] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; a success result corresponds to accepting the exposure of the location information; and a failure result corresponds to rejecting the exposure of the location information.

[0082] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the user indication of the mth terminal indicates rejection of location information exposure, the verification result is a failure result, and / or,

[0083] The user indication of the mth terminal indicates that the location information is exposed and the verification result is a successful result, and / or,

[0084] The mth terminal is outside the network coverage, and the verification result is a failure result, and / or,

[0085] If the user instruction of the mth terminal is not obtained within the specified time, the verification result is a failure result, and / or,

[0086] The connection establishment between the third network device and the mth terminal fails, and the verification result is a failure result.

[0087] Based on the above solution, it is defined that when the connection establishment fails or the terminal cannot be contacted, the verification result will be automatically determined as a failure result, thereby reducing the exposure of the terminal's location information that was considered to be successfully verified when the connection was lost.

[0088] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the first request message includes at least one of the following:

[0089] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0090] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0091] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0092] Refer to Terminal Information.

[0093] Based on the above solution, the rules, QoS, type information and reference terminal information are carried by the first request message, which makes it convenient for the requesting end to customize this information and also convenient for the network side to perform the required ranging / SL positioning according to the first request message.

[0094] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, determining whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the terminal information that refuses exposure of the location information includes at least one of the following:

[0095] No terminal refuses to expose the location information, and determines to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0096] Greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information, and determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the rules;

[0097] n terminals or n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information and determine not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0098] The terminal that refuses to expose its location information is not a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rules, and determines to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0099] The terminal that refuses to expose its location information is a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rules, and determines not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0100] Based on the above solution, the situations in which ranging / SL positioning is executed or not are limited, thereby realizing the initiation of ranging / SL positioning under different numbers of terminals that refuse to expose their location information.

[0101] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose location information, and determining whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to a rule further includes:

[0102] If more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information, and the rules allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message shall continue.

[0103] If more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information and the rules do not allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is stopped.

[0104] Based on the above solution, how to determine whether to perform the corresponding ranging / SL positioning according to the rules and the number of terminals that refuse to expose their location information

[0105] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0106] Determine not to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, and send a failure response message to the requesting end, where the failure response message indicates that the ranging and positioning failed.

[0107] Based on the above solution, the ranging / SL positioning is stopped and the terminal is informed through a failure response message, thereby reducing the requesting end from continuing to wait for the ranging positioning result. In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the method further includes:

[0108] Determine to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, and send a success response message to the requesting end; the success response message includes the ranging and positioning result.

[0109] Based on the above solution, if ranging / SL positioning is performed, a success response message will be sent to the requesting end, and the success response message directly includes the ranging and positioning result required by the requesting end.

[0110] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the success response message further includes at least one of the following:

[0111] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0112] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0113] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0114] Based on the above solution, the above information is carried in the successful response message, so that the requesting end can know the execution status of ranging / SL positioning.

[0115] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, when determining to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, the method further includes:

[0116] Sending a fourth request message to the third network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the terminal to perform ranging / SL positioning;

[0117] receiving a fourth response message returned by the third network device;

[0118] According to the fourth response message, a first response message is sent to the requesting end.

[0119] Based on the above solution, if the first network device determines, based on the privacy configuration, that the number of times the terminal refuses to disclose its location information does not exceed the number defined by the rules, it will initiate the ranging and positioning process with the third network device. However, to reduce the possibility that the user temporarily does not want to disclose their location information, the third network device performs verification based on the user's instructions. This approach improves the message flow of the ranging process compared to related technologies, making it more convenient to implement.

[0120] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the fourth response message includes: the third network device determines to return a rejection message based on the user verification result and the rule; or,

[0121] The fourth response message includes: the third network device returns a success message based on the user verification result and the rule, and the success message at least includes the ranging result.

[0122] Based on the above solution, when the third network device performs verification, it will also obtain the result of whether to continue to perform ranging / SL positioning, and then inform the first network device through failure messages and success messages, thereby meeting the ranging / SL positioning in different scenarios.

[0123] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0124] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0125] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0126] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0127] Based on the above solution, the success message carries the above content to facilitate the requesting end to know the ranging / SL positioning status.

[0128] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information; the third information includes the reason why the third network device rejects ranging / SL positioning.

[0129] Based on the above solution, the rejection message carries the third information, which makes it easy for the requesting end to know the reason why the network side rejects ranging.

[0130] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the third information indicates at least one of the following:

[0131] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0132] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0133] Terminal connection failed;

[0134] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0135] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0136] In combination with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments, the fourth request message includes a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the verification result indicated by the user of the third network device.

[0137] Based on the above solution, the third network device can directly obtain the rule from the fourth request message, which facilitates the first network device to dynamically indicate the rule to the third network device.

[0138] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, which is performed by a third network device, and the method includes:

[0139] receiving a third request message sent by the first network device, the third request message being used to obtain a verification result of the user instruction; the verification result being used by the first network device to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose their location information among n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning; where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; and sending a fifth request message to the terminal based on the third request message, the fifth request message being used to request the terminal to obtain the user instruction;

[0140] receiving a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message; the fifth response message carries a user instruction;

[0141] According to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, a third response message is returned to the first network device, where the third response message includes the verification result.

[0142] In conjunction with some embodiments of the first aspect, in some embodiments,

[0143] The verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; a success result corresponds to accepting the exposure of the location information; a failure result corresponds to rejecting the exposure of the location information.

[0144] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, returning a third response message to the first network device according to the fifth response message includes at least one of the following:

[0145] successfully receiving the fifth response message and the user instruction carried in the fifth response message indicating rejection of location information exposure, and sending a third response message carrying a failure result to the first network device;

[0146] Successfully receiving the fifth response message and the user indication carried in the fifth response message indicating acceptance of location information exposure, sending a third response message carrying a success result to the first network device;

[0147] If the connection establishment with the corresponding terminal fails, a third response message carrying a failure result is sent to the first network device; the connection established with the corresponding terminal is used to send a fifth request message to obtain a user instruction;

[0148] If no user instruction from the corresponding terminal is received within the specified time period, a third response message carrying a failure result is sent to the first network device.

[0149] In conjunction with some embodiments of the second aspect, in some embodiments, the reason corresponding to the failure result includes one of the following indications:

[0150] User indication indicating refusal to disclose location information;

[0151] Terminal connection failed;

[0152] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0153] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0154] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, performed by a third network device, the method including:

[0155] Receiving a fourth request message sent by the first network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning;

[0156] Obtaining a user indication of the terminal according to the fourth request message; the user indication is used to indicate whether the terminal that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning currently refuses to expose its location information;

[0157] A fourth response message is sent to the first network device according to the terminal information that refuses exposure of the location information.

[0158] In conjunction with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, the fourth request message includes: information of a terminal that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning; and obtaining a user indication of the terminal according to the fourth request message includes:

[0159] Obtaining the user indication of the terminal whose privacy configuration includes the second indication in the terminal indicated by the terminal information that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0160] In conjunction with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, sending a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal and rule indicating rejection of location information exposure according to the verification result includes:

[0161] When the verification result indicates that more than the number of terminals defined by the rule refuse to expose their location information, a rejection message is sent to the first network device, and / or,

[0162] When the verification result indicates that the terminal for which location information exposure is rejected includes a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rule, a rejection message is sent to the first network device.

[0163] In combination with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information; the third information; the first information is used to indicate the reason for rejecting ranging.

[0164] In conjunction with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0165] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0166] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0167] Terminal connection failed;

[0168] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0169] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0170] In conjunction with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, sending a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal and rule indicating rejection of location information exposure according to the verification result includes:

[0171] Terminals with a number less than that defined by the rule refuse to expose their location information and trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results;

[0172] Terminals with a number less than that defined by the rule refuse to expose their location information, trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results, and / or,

[0173] The rules define that terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning must accept location information exposure and trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results.

[0174] In conjunction with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0175] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0176] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0177] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0178] In combination with some embodiments of the third aspect, in some embodiments, the fourth request message further includes rules.

[0179] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, which is performed by a requesting end and includes:

[0180] Sending a first request message to a first network device, the first request message being used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0181] A first response message is received, where the first response message includes: a failure response message indicating a positioning failure, or a positioning result of executing the first request message.

[0182] In conjunction with some embodiments of the fourth aspect, in some embodiments, the first request message includes at least one of the following:

[0183] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0184] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0185] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0186] Refer to Terminal Information.

[0187] In combination with some embodiments of the fourth aspect, in some embodiments, the failure response message also includes first information; the first information is used to indicate the reason for the ranging and positioning failure.

[0188] In conjunction with some embodiments of the fourth aspect, in some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0189] The terminal refuses to expose its location information;

[0190] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0191] Terminal connection failed;

[0192] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0193] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0194] In combination with some embodiments of the fourth aspect, in some embodiments, the success response message also includes second information; the second information is used to determine the terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0195] In conjunction with some embodiments of the fourth aspect, in some embodiments, the second information includes at least one of the following:

[0196] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0197] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0198] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0199] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a first network device, comprising:

[0200] A receiving module is configured to receive a first request message sent by a requesting end, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0201] The processing module is configured to determine the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information; and determine whether to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0202] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a third network device, comprising:

[0203] A receiving module is configured to receive a third request message sent by the first network device, the third request message being used to obtain a verification result of the user instruction; the verification result is used by the first network device to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose their location information among n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning; n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; and a sending module is configured to send a fifth request message to the terminal based on the third request message, the fifth request message being used to request the terminal to obtain the user instruction;

[0204] The receiving module is further configured to receive a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message; the fifth response message carries a user instruction;

[0205] The sending module is further configured to return a third response message to the first network device according to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, where the third response message includes the verification result.

[0206] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a third network device, comprising:

[0207] A receiving module configured to receive a fourth request message sent by the first network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning;

[0208] The processing module is configured to obtain a user indication of the terminal according to the fourth request message; the user indication is used to indicate whether the terminal that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning currently refuses to expose the location information;

[0209] The sending module is configured to send a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0210] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a requesting end, comprising:

[0211] A sending module is configured to send a first request message to the first network device, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0212] The receiving module is configured to receive a first response message, where the first response message includes: a failure response message indicating a positioning failure, or a positioning result of executing the first request message.

[0213] In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, the communication device including: one or more processors;

[0214] The processor is used to call instructions to enable the communication device to execute the ranging method described in the optional implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0215] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores instructions, which, when the instructions are executed on a communication device, enable the communication device to execute the ranging method described in the optional implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0216] In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a program product. When the program product is executed by a communication device, the communication device executes the ranging method described in the optional implementation of the first to fourth aspects.

[0217] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the ranging method described in the optional implementation manners of the first to fourth aspects.

[0218] It is understandable that the above-mentioned terminals, network devices, communication systems, program products, and computer programs are all used to execute the methods provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the beneficial effects that can be achieved can refer to the beneficial effects of the corresponding methods and will not be repeated here.

[0219] The present disclosure provides a ranging method, communication device, communication system, and storage medium. In some embodiments, the terms ranging method, ranging method, and ranging method are interchangeable; the terms network device, terminal, information processing device, and information transmission device are interchangeable; and the terms communication system, information processing system, and information processing system are interchangeable.

[0220] The embodiments of the present disclosure are not exhaustive and are merely illustrative of some embodiments, and are not intended to be a specific limitation on the scope of protection of the present disclosure. In the absence of contradiction, each step in a certain embodiment can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the steps can be arbitrarily combined. For example, a solution after removing some steps in a certain embodiment can also be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the order of the steps in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily exchanged. In addition, the optional implementation methods in a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined; in addition, the embodiments can be arbitrarily combined. For example, some or all steps of different embodiments can be arbitrarily combined, and a certain embodiment can be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementation methods of other embodiments.

[0221] In each embodiment of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified or provided for by logic, the terms and / or descriptions between the embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form a new embodiment based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0222] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure.

[0223] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified, elements expressed in the singular, such as "a", "an", "the", "above", "the", "the", etc., may mean "one and only one", or "one or more", "at least one", etc. For example, when articles such as "a", "an", "the" in English are used in translation, the noun following the article may be understood as a singular expression or a plural expression.

[0224] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, “plurality” refers to two or more.

[0225] In some embodiments, the terms "at least one," "one or more," "a plurality of," "multiple," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0226] In some embodiments, descriptions such as "at least one of A and B," "A and / or B," "in one case A, in another case B," or "in one case A, in another case B" may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed); and in some embodiments, A and B (both A and B are executed). The same applies when there are more branches such as A, B, and C.

[0227] In some embodiments, "A or B" and other descriptions may include the following technical solutions depending on the situation: in some embodiments, A (A is executed independently of B); in some embodiments, B (B is executed independently of A); in some embodiments, execution is selected from A and B (A and B are selectively executed). The above is also applicable when there are more branches such as A, B, C, etc.

[0228] The prefixes such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of the present disclosure are only used to distinguish different description objects and do not constitute any restriction on the position, order, priority, quantity or content of the description objects. For the statement of the description object, please refer to the description in the context of the claims or embodiments, and no unnecessary restriction should be constituted due to the use of prefixes. For example, if the description object is a "field", the ordinal number before the "field" in the "first field" and the "second field" does not limit the position or order between the "fields". "First" and "second" do not limit whether the "fields" they modify are in the same message, nor do they limit the order of the "first field" and the "second field". For another example, if the description object is a "level", the ordinal number before the "level" in the "first level" and the "second level" does not limit the priority between the "levels". For another example, the number of description objects is not limited by the ordinal number and can be one or more. Taking "first device" as an example, the number of "devices" can be one or more. In addition, the objects modified by different prefixes can be the same or different. For example, if the description object is "device", then the "first device" and the "second device" can be the same device or different devices, and their types can be the same or different; for another example, if the description object is "information", then the "first information" and the "second information" can be the same information or different information, and their contents can be the same or different.

[0229] In some embodiments, “including A,” “comprising A,” “used to indicate A,” and “carrying A” can be interpreted as directly carrying A or indirectly indicating A.

[0230] In some embodiments, terms such as "...", "determine...", "in the case of...", "at the time of...", "when...", "if...", "if...", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0231] In some embodiments, terms such as "greater than", "greater than or equal to", "not less than", "more than", "more than or equal to", "not less than", "higher than", "higher than or equal to", "not less than", and "above" can be replaced with each other, and terms such as "less than", "less than or equal to", "not greater than", "less than", "less than or equal to", "not more than", "lower than", "lower than or equal to", "not higher than", and "below" can be replaced with each other.

[0232] In some embodiments, devices, etc. can be interpreted as physical or virtual, and their names are not limited to the names recorded in the embodiments. Terms such as "device", "equipment", "device", "circuit", "network element", "node", "function", "unit", "section", "system", "network", "chip", "chip system", "entity", and "subject" can be used interchangeably.

[0233] In some embodiments, "network" can be interpreted as devices included in the network (eg, access network equipment, core network equipment, etc.).

[0234] In some embodiments, the terms "access network device (AN device)", "radio access network device (RAN device)", "base station (BS)", "radio base station" "fixed station", "node", "access point", "transmission point (TP)", "reception point (RP)", "transmission / reception point (TRP)", "panel", "antenna panel", "antenna array", "cell", "macro cell", "small cell", "femto cell", "pico cell", "sector", "cell group", "serving cell", "carrier", "component carrier", "bandwidth part (BWP)" and the like may be used interchangeably.

[0235] In some embodiments, the terms "terminal", "terminal device", "user equipment (UE)", "user terminal", "mobile station (MS)", "mobile terminal (MT)", subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0236] In some embodiments, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device can be replaced by a terminal. For example, the various embodiments of the present disclosure can also be applied to a structure in which the communication between the access network device, the core network device, or the network device and the terminal is replaced by communication between multiple terminals (for example, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, it is also possible to set the structure in which the terminal has all or part of the functions of the access network device. In addition, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" can also be replaced by terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, uplink channels, downlink channels, etc. can be replaced by side channels, and uplinks, downlinks, etc. can be replaced by side links.

[0237] In some embodiments, the terminal may be replaced by an access network device, a core network device, or a network device. In this case, the access network device, the core network device, or the network device may have a structure that has all or part of the functions of the terminal.

[0238] In some embodiments, obtaining data, information, etc. may comply with the laws and regulations of the country where the data is obtained.

[0239] In some embodiments, data, information, etc. may be obtained with the user's consent.

[0240] In addition, each element, each row, or each column in the table of the embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented as an independent embodiment, and the combination of any elements, any rows, and any columns can also be implemented as an independent embodiment.

[0241] FIG1 is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0242] As shown in Figure 1, a communication system 100 includes a terminal 101 and a network device 102. The network device 102 may include an access network device and a core network device.

[0243] In some embodiments, the terminal 101 includes, for example, a mobile phone, a wearable device, an Internet of Things device, a car with communication function, a smart car, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, and at least one of a wireless terminal device in a smart home, but is not limited thereto.

[0244] In some embodiments, the terminal is also referred to as User Equipment (UE).

[0245] In some embodiments, the access network device may be, for example, a node or device that accesses a terminal to a wireless network. The access network device may include an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation evolved NodeB (ng-eNB), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a node B (NB), a home node B (HNB), a home evolved nodeB (HeNB), a wireless backhaul device, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a base band unit (BBU), a mobile switching center, a base station in a 6G communication system, an open base station (Open RAN), a cloud base station (Cloud RAN), a base station in other communication systems, and at least one of an access node in a Wi-Fi system, but is not limited thereto.

[0246] In some embodiments, the technical solution of the present disclosure can be applied to the Open RAN architecture. In this case, the interfaces between or within the access network devices involved in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be transformed into internal interfaces of the Open RAN, and the processes and information interactions between these internal interfaces can be implemented through software or programs.

[0247] In some embodiments, the access network device can be composed of a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU), where the CU can also be called a control unit. The CU-DU structure can be used to split the protocol layer of the access network device, with the functions of some protocol layers centrally controlled by the CU, and the functions of the remaining part or all of the protocol layers distributed in the DU, which is centrally controlled by the CU, but is not limited to this.

[0248] In some embodiments, the core network device may be a single device including a first network element, or may be a plurality of devices or a group of devices, each including a first network element. The network element may be virtual or physical. The core network may include, for example, at least one of an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), a 5G Core Network (5GCN), and a Next Generation Core (NGC).

[0249] It can be understood that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of the system architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0250] The following embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to the communication system 100 shown in Figure 1, or a portion thereof, but are not limited thereto. The entities shown in Figure 1 are illustrative only. The communication system may include all or part of the entities shown in Figure 1, or may include other entities outside of Figure 1. The number and form of the entities may be arbitrary. The connection relationship between the entities is illustrative only. The entities may be connected or disconnected, and the connection may be in any manner, including direct or indirect, wired or wireless.

[0251] The embodiments of the present disclosure can be applied to Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LTE-Beyond (LTE-B), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), 5G new radio (NR), future radio access (FRA), new radio access technology (RAT), new radio (NR), new radio access (NX), future generation radio access (FX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM (registered trademark)), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) networks, Device-to-Device (D2D) systems, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) systems, Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), systems utilizing other ranging methods, and next-generation systems based on and extending these methods. Furthermore, multiple systems may be combined (for example, a combination of LTE or LTE-A with 5G).

[0252] During ranging over a mobile communication network, the requesting end can measure the absolute location of a terminal or perform ranging / SL positioning on the relative location of two terminals. If measuring the terminal's location information yields the terminal's location information, in some cases the terminal may refuse to disclose its own location information. Continuing to measure the terminal's location information at this point may compromise the terminal's privacy. Therefore, there are no specific specifications for responding to ranging / SL positioning requests when the terminal refuses to disclose its location information.

[0253] FIG2A is an interactive diagram illustrating a ranging method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG2A , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a ranging method, which is used in a communication system 100 .

[0254] The method shown in Figure 2A is an embodiment of interaction between multiple communication devices. The communication device involves a requesting end and a network device, etc. The ranging method shown in Figure 2A includes: after the first network device receives a ranging / SL positioning request from the requesting end for n terminals, it can determine the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose their location information based on the privacy configuration of the n terminals, and determine whether to initiate ranging / SL positioning based on the information of the terminals that refuse to expose their location information. An embodiment of this scheme is: the first network device determines the terminal information of the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information based on the first indication of the privacy configuration, and when the first network device determines that the privacy configuration of the terminal that accepts the exposure of its location information includes a second indication based on the first indication, it requests a third network device to obtain a user indication. The third network device will obtain the user indication and further determine the verification result of whether the terminal currently refuses information exposure based on the user indication. The verification result will be transmitted to the first network device. After receiving the verification result, the first network device determines whether to execute the ranging / SL positioning request. That is, in the embodiment corresponding to Figure 2A, if it is necessary to determine whether the terminal refuses to expose the location information at the current moment based on the user's instructions, the first network device will determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning after obtaining each verification result that needs to be determined based on the user's instructions whether the location information is refused at the current moment.

[0255] As shown in FIG2A , a ranging method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure may include:

[0256] S2101: The requesting end sends a first request message to the first network device.

[0257] In some embodiments, the requesting end may be an application function (AF) or a location service (LCS) client.

[0258] In some embodiments, the AF and the first network device are in different security domains, and the first request message is forwarded or transparently transmitted to the first network device by a network exposure function (NEF).

[0259] In some embodiments, the AF and the first network device are in the same security domain, and the AF may directly send the first request message to the first network device.

[0260] In some embodiments, the first network device may be a core network device.

[0261] In some embodiments, the first network device may be a Gateway Mobility Location Centre (GMLC). The first network device may be a Home Gateway Mobility Location Centre (GMLC, HGMLC) corresponding to the requesting terminal. When the terminal being measured may be located in a different Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) than the requesting terminal, information is exchanged between the HGML and the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (V-PLMN) GLMC of the visited PLMN.

[0262] In some embodiments, the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals.

[0263] In some embodiments, n can be any positive integer.

[0264] In some embodiments, n may be a positive integer of 2 or greater.

[0265] In some embodiments, n may be the number of terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning.

[0266] In some embodiments, n may be a target terminal for ranging / SL positioning. The target terminal is the terminal being measured.

[0267] In some embodiments, the first request message includes identification information of n terminals.

[0268] In some embodiments, the first request message includes a list of identities of n terminals.

[0269] In some embodiments, the first request message may further include:

[0270] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0271] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0272] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0273] Refer to Terminal Information.

[0274] In some embodiments, the rule information may include at least one of the following:

[0275] A rule identifier, used for querying a rule used by the first network device;

[0276] Rules, the first request message can also carry the rule information itself, so that the first network device directly knows whether to execute the ranging / SL positioning rules according to the first request message.

[0277] In some embodiments, QoS may involve ranging accuracy and / or ranging mode information.

[0278] In some embodiments, the ranging result indicated by the type information may include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0279] Absolute location information, such as latitude and longitude information;

[0280] Relative position information, for example, the relative position information between any two specified terminals;

[0281] distance relative to the reference terminal;

[0282] Direction relative to the reference terminal.

[0283] Of course, the above is merely an example of the type of ranging result, and the specific implementation is not limited to the above example.

[0284] In some embodiments, the reference terminal information may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following:

[0285] identification information of the reference terminal;

[0286] The type information or attribute information of the reference terminal is used. At this time, the network side can dynamically select the reference terminal based on the type information or attribute information.

[0287] In some embodiments, the first request message may further include information about terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning and / or information about terminals that can optionally participate in ranging / SL positioning. This information may be used synchronously with rules for the first network device to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning.

[0288] In some embodiments, the requesting end sends a first request message, and the first network device receives the first request message.

[0289] In the case that the first request message includes a rule, the first network device obtains the rule from the requesting end.

[0290] In some embodiments, the rules used by the first network device may also be local configuration rules of the first network device, or rules requested by other network devices. For example, the first network device may also request rules from an NEF or a Policy Control Function (PCF).

[0291] In summary, there are multiple ways for the first network device to obtain the rule, and the specific implementation is not limited to any of the above.

[0292] S2102: The first network device sends a second request message to the second network device according to the first request message.

[0293] In some embodiments, the second request message is used to obtain privacy configurations of n terminals.

[0294] In some embodiments, after receiving the second request message, the second network device determines terminal information of the n terminals that rejects location information according to the privacy configuration.

[0295] In some embodiments, the second request message may include terminal identifiers of n terminals.

[0296] In some embodiments, the terminal identification may be used by the second network device to query the privacy configurations of n terminals.

[0297] In some embodiments, n terminals share one second network device.

[0298] In some embodiments, the n terminals may use different second network devices.

[0299] In some embodiments, the second network device may be a core network device.

[0300] In some embodiments, the second network device may be a User Data Management (UDM).

[0301] In some embodiments, the first network device and the UDM of a terminal are located in different public land mobile networks (PLMNs). The first network device that receives the first request message may forward the second request message to the first network device of another PLMN to the second network device of the terminal.

[0302] S2103: The second network device sends the privacy configurations of n terminals to the first network device.

[0303] In some embodiments, the second network device sends the terminal identification of n terminals that refuse location information exposure to the first network device. At this time, whether the terminal refuses location information exposure is locally executed by the second network device, and the determination result is returned to the first network device.

[0304] S2104: The first network device determines terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to have their location information exposed.

[0305] In some embodiments, after receiving the first request message, the first network device determines terminal information of the n terminals that refuse location information exposure. The terminal information may include but is not limited to the number of terminals that refuse location information exposure and / or terminal identifiers that refuse location information exposure.

[0306] In some embodiments, the first network device may directly determine, based on the determination result provided by the second network device, terminal information of the n terminals that are denied location information exposure according to the privacy configuration.

[0307] In some embodiments, the first network device determines, based on the privacy configuration, terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to have their location information exposed.

[0308] In some embodiments, the first network device determines whether the corresponding terminal refuses to disclose the location information according to the first indication of the privacy configuration. For example, the two-bit value of the first indication may indicate acceptance or refusal of disclosure of the location information.

[0309] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information according to a user instruction.

[0310] In some embodiments, the first network device determines the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information based on the privacy configuration and the user instruction.

[0311] In some embodiments, the first network device determines, based on the privacy configuration, the number of terminals among the n terminals whose privacy configuration indicates that exposure of location information is refused.

[0312] S2105: The first network device sends a third request message to the third network device.

[0313] In some embodiments, if the privacy configuration indicates that the mth terminal accepts location information exposure, and if the privacy configuration of the mth terminal includes a second indication, it is necessary to obtain a verification result indicating whether the user currently refuses location information exposure. In this case, it is necessary to combine the privacy configuration and the user indication to determine whether the mth terminal refuses location information exposure. In this case, the first network device will send a third request message to the third network device of the mth terminal.

[0314] In the case where the privacy configuration indicates that the mth terminal accepts exposure of location information, and the privacy configuration of the mth terminal does not include a second indication, it is not necessary to obtain the verification result of the user indicating whether the mth terminal currently refuses exposure of location information. At this time, whether the mth terminal refuses exposure of location information is determined based solely on the privacy configuration.

[0315] In some embodiments, the second indication may be a second indication in a privacy configuration. The second indication is used to indicate that if the first indication of the corresponding terminal accepts the exposure of the location information, it is necessary to further determine whether the terminal currently refuses the exposure of the location information based on the user indication.

[0316] In some embodiments, if the privacy configuration of the m-th terminal includes the second indication, the first network device sends a third request message to the third network device of the m-th terminal.

[0317] In some embodiments, the third request message is used to obtain a verification result.

[0318] In some embodiments, the third request message includes an identifier of the mth terminal.

[0319] In some embodiments, any multiple terminals among the n terminals share a third network device. The first network device can carry identification information of the multiple terminals through a third request message, trigger the third network device to perform verification and obtain verification results through a third request message.

[0320] In other embodiments, any multiple terminals among the n terminals correspond to a third network device. The first network device then sends a third request message carrying identification information of a terminal, and triggers the third network device corresponding to the terminal through multiple third request messages to perform verification and obtain verification results. The verification results can be used to initially determine or individually determine the terminal information among the n terminals that refuses location information disclosure.

[0321] In some embodiments, when the privacy configuration includes only the second indication but not the first indication, it is only necessary to determine whether the terminal refuses exposure of the location information according to the user indication.

[0322] In some embodiments, when the privacy configuration includes both the first indication and the second indication, it is necessary to determine whether the terminal currently refuses location information exposure based on the user indication when the first indication indicates that the terminal accepts location information exposure.

[0323] In some embodiments, the third network device may be an Access Management Function (AMF) of the terminal. The AMFs of different terminals may be the same or different.

[0324] If the third network device and the first network device are located in the same PLMN, the first network device may directly send the third request message to the third network device.

[0325] If the third network device and the first network device are located in different PLMNs, the first network device forwards the third request message through the first network device in the PLMN where the third network device is located.

[0326] S2106: The third network device sends a fifth request message to the mth terminal.

[0327] In some embodiments, the fifth request message is used to request the terminal to obtain a user instruction, through which it can be obtained whether the terminal currently allows the exposure of location information.

[0328] In some embodiments, the fifth request message may include identification information of the mth terminal, or may not carry identification information of the mth terminal.

[0329] In some embodiments, the third network device sends a non-access stratum (NAS) message to the mth terminal according to the third request message. In some embodiments, the fifth request message includes query information.

[0330] In some embodiments, the inquiry information is displayed on the terminal and can be used to ask the user whether to agree, refuse or accept the exposure of the location information.

[0331] In some embodiments, the third network device receives a feedback message of the NAS message from the terminal. The feedback message may include the aforementioned user instruction.

[0332] S2107: The terminal sends a fifth response message to the third network device.

[0333] In some embodiments, the fifth response message carries a user instruction.

[0334] In some embodiments, the user indication is used to indicate whether the user allows the terminal location information to be exposed.

[0335] S2108: The third network device returns a third response message to the first network device.

[0336] In some embodiments, the third response message includes a verification result.

[0337] In some embodiments, according to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, a third response message is returned to the first network device, and the third response message includes a verification result.

[0338] In some embodiments, the verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result.

[0339] In some embodiments, a successful result corresponds to accepting the location information exposure; a failed result corresponds to rejecting the location information exposure.

[0340] In some embodiments, the third network device successfully receives the fifth response message within a specified time period and determines the verification result according to the user instruction.

[0341] For example, the third network device successfully receives the fifth response message within the specified time period and the user instruction carried in the fifth response message indicates rejection of location information exposure, and sends a third response message carrying a failure result to the first network device.

[0342] For another example, the third network device successfully receives the fifth response message within the specified time period, and the user indication carried in the fifth response message indicates acceptance of location information exposure, and sends a third response message carrying a success result to the first network device.

[0343] In some embodiments, the third network device fails to establish a connection with the corresponding terminal, and sends a third response message carrying the failure result to the first network device; the connection established with the corresponding terminal is used to send a fifth request message to obtain user instructions.

[0344] For example, if the terminal is in an idle state, it may be necessary to page the terminal first to establish a connection.

[0345] In some embodiments, if no user instruction from the corresponding terminal is received within a specified time period, a third response message carrying a failure result is sent to the first network device.

[0346] In some embodiments, the reason for the verification failure includes one of the following indications:

[0347] User indication indicating refusal to disclose location information;

[0348] Terminal connection failed;

[0349] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0350] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0351] In some embodiments, the third response message carries a reason value or a reason code for each terminal verification failure, and the reason value or reason code is associated with the corresponding terminal. In this way, the first network device can know the reason why each terminal refuses to disclose location information.

[0352] In some embodiments, the third response message may carry all reasons for the existing verification failures, so that the first network device can know that a terminal refuses to expose the location information and the possible reasons, but does not know the specific reasons for refusal of each terminal.

[0353] S2109: The first network device determines whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0354] In one embodiment, a first number of n terminals whose location information is rejected is determined based on the first indication; if the privacy configuration includes a second indication, a second number of n terminals whose location information is rejected is determined based on the user indication; and a third number of n terminals whose location information is rejected is determined based on the first indication and, if the privacy configuration includes the second indication, based on the user indication. Typically, the third number may be the larger of the first and second numbers.

[0355] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of terminals whose location information is denied exposure may be the first number, the second number, or the third number.

[0356] In some embodiments, whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is determined based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0357] In some embodiments, whether to execute ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is determined based on whether the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information exceeds the number defined by the rule.

[0358] In some embodiments, whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is determined based on whether the terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning according to the rules among the n terminals refuses to expose its location information.

[0359] In some embodiments, if the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information exceeds the number defined by the rule, it is determined not to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0360] In some embodiments, if the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information is less than or equal to the number defined by the rule, it is determined to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0361] In some embodiments, if no terminal refuses to disclose the location information, it is determined to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message. In this case, the determination can be made according to a rule, or the ranging / SL positioning can be directly determined;

[0362] In some embodiments, if the terminal that refuses to expose its location information is not a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rules, it is determined to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0363] In some embodiments, if the terminal that refuses to expose its location information is a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rules, it is determined not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0364] In some embodiments, if n terminals or n-1 terminals refuse to disclose their location information, it is determined that the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message will not be performed. In this case, the ranging / SL is considered to be relative ranging, and the ranging / SL positioning must be performed only when two terminals accept the disclosure of their location information.

[0365] In some embodiments, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, whether to perform ranging / SL positioning is determined according to the ranging result indicated by the type information.

[0366] For example, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, it is determined to perform ranging / SL positioning according to the ranging result indicated by the type information as the distance and / or direction relative to the reference terminal.

[0367] For another example, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, it is determined not to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the relative position relationship between designated terminals indicated by the ranging result indicated by the type information. The designated terminals do not include the reference terminal.

[0368] For another example, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, it is determined to continue performing ranging / SL positioning according to the ranging result indicated by the type information being the absolute location information of the terminal.

[0369] In some embodiments, if the rule stipulates that a terminal among the n terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning refuses to expose its location information, it is determined whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0370] In some embodiments, if greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose the location information, determining whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to a rule further includes at least one of the following:

[0371] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information, and the rule allows less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, continue to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0372] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information and the rule does not allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, stop performing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0373] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse location information exposure and the rule specifies that terminals that must participate in ranging accept location information exposure, determine to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0374] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information and the rule specifies that terminals that must participate in ranging refuse to expose their location information, it is determined not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0375] Of course, the above is only an example of determining whether to perform ranging / SL positioning, and the specific implementation is not limited to the above example.

[0376] S2110: The first network device sends a first response message to the requesting end.

[0377] In some embodiments, the first response message may include a success response message and / or a failure response message.

[0378] In some embodiments, it is determined that the ranging / SL positioning request corresponding to the first request message is not to be executed, and the first network device sends a failure response message to the requesting end.

[0379] In some embodiments, the failure response message indicates that ranging / SL positioning failed.

[0380] In some embodiments, the failure response message includes first information.

[0381] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate the reason why ranging and positioning failed.

[0382] In some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0383] The terminal refuses to expose its location information;

[0384] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0385] Terminal connection failed;

[0386] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0387] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0388] In some embodiments, the first information may indicate the reason for the ranging / SL positioning failure for each terminal, that is, the first information will indicate the reason for the ranging / SL positioning failure of each terminal respectively.

[0389] In some embodiments, the first information is not associated with the terminal, but includes various reasons for the failure of this ranging / SL positioning.

[0390] The failure message carries the above information, and the requesting end can determine whether to re-initiate ranging / SL positioning based on the failure cause.

[0391] In some embodiments, if it is determined to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, a success response message is sent to the requesting end.

[0392] In some embodiments, the success response message includes a ranging positioning result.

[0393] In some embodiments, if ranging / SL positioning is not performed for all terminals, the success response message further includes at least one of the following:

[0394] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0395] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0396] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0397] In some embodiments, if ranging / SL positioning is performed on all terminals, the success response message may not include information about terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning, information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, and / or reason information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0398] In some embodiments, when it is necessary to obtain user instructions to determine whether the terminal refuses location information exposure at the current moment, the first network device can send a third request message to the third network device that is determined to accept location information exposure based on the first indication of the privacy configuration to trigger the third network device to obtain the current user indication. At this time, the third network devices of the terminals that are determined to accept location information exposure based on the first indication can be the same or different. For example, the third network devices of some terminals are located in the same PLMN as the first network device, and the third network devices of some terminals are located in a different PLMN than the first network device. After the first network device receives the verification results generated by each third network device based on the user instructions, it finally determines whether to initiate ranging / SL positioning based on the verification results and the rules. Therefore, in this case, there is no need for the third network device to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning, so the third request message does not need to carry rule information.

[0399] FIG2B is an interactive diagram illustrating a ranging method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG2B , the embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a ranging method, which is used in a communication system 100 .

[0400] In the embodiment shown in Figure 2B, the first network device directly determines whether the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met based on the terminal information that refuses location information exposure determined by the first indication of the privacy configuration. If the first network device determines that the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met, it sends a fourth request message to the third network device. The fourth request message can trigger the third network device to initiate ranging / SL positioning. After receiving the fourth request message, the third network device will determine the terminal information that refuses location information exposure at the current moment based on whether the terminal privacy configuration includes the second indication, and further obtain the user indication of the terminal if the privacy configuration of the terminal includes the second indication, and further determine the terminal information that refuses location information exposure at the current moment based on the user indication, and further determine whether to execute the ranging / SL positioning strategy based on the terminal information and rules that refuse location information exposure at the current moment. The embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to scenarios where terminals that meet the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning belong to the same third network device. At this time, the first network device only needs to send a fourth request message to one third network device.

[0401] S2301: The requesting end sends a first request message to the first network device.

[0402] It is worth noting that optional implementation methods of the first request message sent by the requesting end to the first network device can all refer to the relevant step S2101 of the embodiment corresponding to FIG2A .

[0403] S2302: The first network device sends a second request message to the second network device according to the first request message.

[0404] It is worth noting that optional implementations of S2302 may all refer to the relevant step S2102 of the corresponding embodiment in FIG2A .

[0405] S2303: The second network device sends the privacy configurations of n terminals to the first network device.

[0406] It is worth noting that optional implementations of S2303 may all refer to the relevant step S2103 of the corresponding embodiment in FIG2A .

[0407] S2304: The first network device determines, according to the privacy configurations of the n terminals, terminal information of the n terminals that refuses location information exposure.

[0408] In some embodiments, the first network device determines terminal information of the n terminals that refuses location information exposure according to the first indication of the privacy configuration.

[0409] The first network device determining, according to the first instruction of the privacy configuration, terminal information of the n terminals that refuses location information exposure may include:

[0410] The first network device determines terminal information of the n terminals that refuses location information exposure according to the privacy configurations of the n terminals cached locally or the first indication in the privacy configuration requested by the second network device, or,

[0411] The first network device sends a second request message to the second network device; the second request message includes identification information of n terminals; the second network device obtains terminal information of n terminals that refuse to expose location information according to the first indication in the privacy configuration of the n terminals, and the first network device receives the terminal information sent by the first network device from the second network device.

[0412] S2305: The first network device determines whether the conditions for executing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request information are met based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0413] In some embodiments, in some embodiments, based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information, it is determined whether the conditions for performing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request information are met.

[0414] In some embodiments, if the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information exceeds the number defined by the rule, it is determined whether the conditions for executing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request information are met.

[0415] In some embodiments, if the rules among the n terminals stipulate whether the terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning refuses to expose its location information, it is determined whether the conditions for executing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request information are met.

[0416] In some embodiments, if the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information exceeds the number defined by the rule, it is determined that the conditions for executing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are not met.

[0417] In some embodiments, if the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information is less than or equal to the number defined by the rule, it is determined that the conditions for executing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are met.

[0418] In some embodiments, if no terminal refuses to disclose the location information, it is determined that the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are met. In this case, the determination can be made according to a rule, or ranging / SL positioning can be directly determined.

[0419] In some embodiments, if n terminals or n-1 terminals refuse to disclose their location information, it is determined that the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are not met. In this case, ranging / SL is considered to be relative ranging, and ranging / SL positioning must only be performed if two terminals accept the disclosure of their location information.

[0420] In some embodiments, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, it is determined whether the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met based on the ranging result indicated by the type information.

[0421] For example, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, the ranging result indicated by the type information is the distance and / or direction relative to the reference terminal, and it is determined that the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met.

[0422] For another example, if n-1 terminals refuse to disclose their location information, the ranging result indicated by the type information is the relative position relationship between designated terminals, and the condition for not performing ranging / SL positioning is determined to be met. The designated terminals do not include the reference terminal.

[0423] For another example, when n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information, the ranging result indicated by the type information is the absolute location information of the terminal, and it is determined to continue performing ranging / SL positioning.

[0424] In some embodiments, if the rules stipulate that a terminal among the n terminals must participate in ranging / SL positioning, whether to refuse exposure of location information, it is determined whether the conditions for executing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are met.

[0425] In some embodiments, if greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose the location information, determining whether the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are met according to the rules further includes at least one of the following:

[0426] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse location information exposure, and the rule allows less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse location information exposure, it is determined that the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are met;

[0427] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information and the rule does not allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, it is determined that the conditions for performing the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are not met;

[0428] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse location information exposure and the rule specifies that terminals that must participate in ranging accept location information exposure, it is determined that the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are met;

[0429] If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information and the rule specifies that terminals that must participate in ranging refuse to expose their location information, it is determined that the conditions for executing ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message are not met.

[0430] Of course, the above is merely an example of determining whether the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met, and the specific implementation is not limited to the above example.

[0431] S2306: The first network device sends a fourth request message to the third network device.

[0432] In some embodiments, the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the terminal to perform ranging / SL positioning, that is, when the third network device determines that the ranging / SL positioning rules are met, it triggers the execution of ranging / SL positioning.

[0433] In some embodiments, the first network device determines to initiate ranging / SL positioning and sends a fourth request message to the third network device.

[0434] In some embodiments, the fourth request message includes identification information of X terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0435] The X terminals may be terminals whose location information is exposed among the n terminals, and the value of X is a positive integer less than or equal to n.

[0436] In some embodiments, the fourth request message further includes at least one of the following:

[0437] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0438] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0439] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0440] Reference terminal information, used to identify the reference terminal. In some embodiments, the reference terminal is a terminal specified by the requesting terminal. In this case, ranging / SL positioning can be used to measure the distance and / or direction of the terminal under test (or target terminal) relative to the reference terminal. In some cases, the location information of the reference terminal is already known.

[0441] In some embodiments, the fourth request message carries indication information, which is used by the third network device to obtain the terminal indicated by the user. The indication information may be identification information of the terminal that meets the ranging / SL positioning conditions and requires user indication.

[0442] In some embodiments, if the first network device determines that the third network devices corresponding to the X terminals are the same, the first network device directly sends a fourth request message to the third network device instead of the third request message in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2A .

[0443] In some embodiments, the first network device and the third network device may be located in the same PLMN or in different PLMNs. When the first network device and the third network device are located in different PLMNs, the first network device exchanges information with the third network device by forwarding or transparently transmitting information from the first network device in the PLMN where the third network device is located.

[0444] S2307: The third network device obtains a user instruction of the terminal.

[0445] In some embodiments, when the fourth request information indicates that the privacy configurations of m terminals include the second indication, the user indication of the m-th terminal is obtained.

[0446] In some embodiments, when the privacy configuration of the mth terminal includes the second indication, the user indication of the mth terminal is obtained.

[0447] For an optional implementation manner in which the third network device obtains the user instruction of the m-th terminal, reference may be made to step S2106 of the corresponding embodiment in FIG. 2A .

[0448] In some embodiments, when the privacy configuration of the mth terminal does not include the second indication, it can be determined that the mth terminal accepts the exposure of the location information without obtaining a user indication from the mth terminal.

[0449] S2308: The third network device obtains a verification result according to the obtained user instruction.

[0450] In some embodiments, after the third network device obtains the user instructions of the Y terminals, it generates a verification result according to the user instructions of the Y terminals.

[0451] Y is the number of terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning whose privacy configuration includes the second indication. Y can be a positive integer less than or equal to X.

[0452] When Y is equal to 0, step S2306 can be skipped to directly generate a successful result.

[0453] The verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; a success result corresponds to accepting the exposure of the location information; a failure result corresponds to rejecting the exposure of the location information.

[0454] In some embodiments, the user indication of the mth terminal indicates rejection of location information exposure, and the verification result is a failure result, and / or, the user indication of the mth terminal indicates acceptance of location information exposure, and the verification result is a success result, and / or, the mth terminal is outside the network coverage, and the verification result is a failure result, and / or, the user indication of the mth terminal is not obtained within the specified time period, and the verification result is a failure result, and / or, the connection establishment between the third network device and the mth terminal fails, and the verification result is a failure result.

[0455] S2309: The third network device triggers ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain a ranging and positioning result.

[0456] In some embodiments, the third network device may perform ranging / SL positioning using related ranging / SL positioning procedures.

[0457] In some embodiments, the third network device initiates a ranging / SL positioning request message to a Location Management Function (LMF), thereby implementing ranging / SL positioning triggered by the network side.

[0458] S2310: The third network device sends a fourth response message to the first network device.

[0459] In some embodiments, the fourth response message may be a rejection message.

[0460] In some embodiments, the verification result indicates that the number of terminals exceeding the number defined by the rule refuses to expose the location information, and a rejection message is sent to the first network device.

[0461] In other embodiments, the verification result indicates that the rule requires the terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning to refuse exposure of location information and send a rejection message to the first network device.

[0462] In some embodiments, the rejection message indicates rejection of ranging / SL positioning.

[0463] In some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information indicating the reason for rejecting ranging / SL positioning.

[0464] In some embodiments, the third information indicates at least one of the following:

[0465] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0466] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0467] Terminal connection failed;

[0468] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0469] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0470] In some embodiments, the fourth response message may be a success message.

[0471] In some embodiments, the success message includes at least a ranging and positioning result.

[0472] In some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0473] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0474] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0475] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0476] In some embodiments, if all X terminals participate in ranging / SL positioning, the success message may not include information about terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning, information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, and / or reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0477] In some embodiments, if fewer than X terminals participate in ranging / SL positioning, the success message may include information about the terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning, information about the terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, and / or information about the reasons for the terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0478] S2311: The first network device sends a first response message to the requesting end according to the fourth response message.

[0479] If the first response message is a success response message, the success response message may include a positioning result.

[0480] If the first response message is a failure response message, the failure response message may include failure cause information.

[0481] For the specific content of the first response message, please refer to the relevant description of S2110 in the embodiment corresponding to Figure 2A.

[0482] In the disclosed embodiment, if the first network device determines that the conditions for ranging / SL positioning are met based on the first indication of the privacy configuration, it will send a fourth request message to the third network device to trigger the third network device to initiate ranging / SL positioning measurements. Typically, the X terminal whose location information is exposed based on the first indication of the privacy configuration may belong to the same third network device. In this case, the fourth request message may carry rules for the third network device to ultimately determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the verification results, thereby facilitating the third network device's final determination of whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the rules.

[0483] As shown in FIG3A , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, which is executed by a first network device.

[0484] The embodiment shown in FIG3A is related to the embodiment shown in FIG2A . In the case where it is necessary to determine the terminal information for the final rejection of the location information based on the verification result of the user's instruction, the first network device will trigger the third network device through the third request information to obtain the user instruction and verification result. After obtaining the verification results of all terminals, after obtaining all the verification results as required, the first network device will finally determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning according to the rules. Of course, the first network device can also determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the first instruction in the privacy configuration alone, without obtaining the verification result of the user instruction to finally determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning results.

[0485] Specifically, the ranging method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may include:

[0486] S3101: The first network device receives a first request message.

[0487] In some embodiments, the first network device receives a first request message sent by the requesting end.

[0488] In some embodiments, the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals.

[0489] In some embodiments, n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0490] For optional embodiments of the first network device receiving the request end, please refer to the corresponding embodiment S2101 in Figure 2A.

[0491] In some embodiments, the first network device may be a GMLC.

[0492] S3102: The first network device determines terminal information of n terminals that refuses to expose location information.

[0493] In some embodiments, information of terminals among n terminals that refuse to expose their location information is determined. The terminal information may include the number of terminals and / or terminal identifiers.

[0494] In some embodiments, the first network device may determine the number of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information by using at least one of the following methods:

[0495] Method 1: The first network device determines, according to the first indication of the privacy configuration of the n terminals, a terminal that refuses to expose its location information among the n terminals.

[0496] In some embodiments, the first indication separately indicates whether the corresponding terminal refuses to expose the location information.

[0497] In some other embodiments, the first indication indicates a condition for the corresponding terminal to accept the location information. If the condition is not met, it can be considered that the terminal refuses to expose the location information.

[0498] At this time, the first network device may obtain the privacy configuration of each terminal from the second network device. The second network device may be a UDM.

[0499] In some embodiments, the privacy configuration may be a component of the terminal's subscription data.

[0500] In other embodiments, the first network device may also receive a verification indication returned by the second network device based on the privacy configuration, where the verification indication is based at least on a first indication in the privacy configuration to determine whether the corresponding terminal refuses location information exposure.

[0501] Method 2:

[0502] The first network device determines whether the mth terminal refuses location information exposure based on a user instruction of the mth terminal, and counts the terminals that refuse location information exposure among the n terminals.

[0503] In some embodiments, when the privacy configuration of the mth terminal includes the second indication, the first network device determines whether the mth terminal refuses location information exposure based on a user indication of the mth terminal.

[0504] In other embodiments, the first network device may also determine whether the mth terminal refuses location information exposure based on a user instruction of the mth terminal according to local configuration information and / or operator policy, where m is a positive integer less than or equal to n.

[0505] In a case where it is necessary to determine whether the mth terminal refuses location information exposure based on a user instruction of the mth terminal, the first network device sends a third request message to the third network device of the mth terminal.

[0506] In some embodiments, the third request message is used to obtain a verification result. Thus, the first network device receives a third response message returned by the third network device based on the third request message.

[0507] In some embodiments, the third response message includes a verification result, wherein the verification result indicates whether the user of the m-th terminal indicates whether the m-th terminal refuses to expose the location information.

[0508] In some embodiments, the verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; a success result corresponds to accepting the location information exposure; a failure result corresponds to rejecting the location information exposure.

[0509] Method 3:

[0510] The first network device determines a terminal among the n terminals that refuses to expose its location information according to the first indication of the privacy configuration of the n terminals.

[0511] When the privacy configuration of the mth terminal includes a second indication and the mth terminal is allowed to expose privacy according to the first indication of the privacy configuration of the mth terminal, it is determined whether the mth terminal rejects location information exposure based on the user indication of the mth terminal.

[0512] In this manner, there may be n ab terminals that accept location information exposure, where a may be the number of terminals that refuse location information exposure based on the first indication, and b may be the number of terminals that refuse location information exposure based on the user indication when the first indication allows location information exposure. In this case, the number of terminals that refuse location information exposure among the n terminals may be a + b.

[0513] In mode 3, the first network device can obtain the verification result indicated by the mth terminal user through interaction of a third request message and a third response message with the third network device.

[0514] In this embodiment, the first network device may select any of the above methods to determine the number of terminals that refuse location information exposure among the n terminals as needed or according to rules.

[0515] S3103: The first network device determines whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0516] In some embodiments, whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is determined based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0517] In other embodiments, an optional implementation method for determining whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message can refer to the relevant part of the embodiment corresponding to Figure 2A.

[0518] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, an optional implementation of step S3103 can be found in the corresponding embodiment S2109 of FIG. 2A .

[0519] S3104: The first network device sends a first response message.

[0520] In some embodiments, the first network device sends a first response message to the requester.

[0521] In the case of determining not to perform ranging / SL positioning, the first network device sends a failure response message to the requesting end.

[0522] In the case of determining to perform ranging / SL positioning, the first network device sends a success response message to the requesting end.

[0523] In some embodiments, it is determined that the ranging / SL positioning request corresponding to the first request message is not to be executed, and the first network device sends a failure response message to the requesting end.

[0524] In some embodiments, the failure response message indicates that ranging / SL positioning failed.

[0525] In some embodiments, the failure response message includes first information.

[0526] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate the reason why ranging and positioning failed.

[0527] In some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0528] The terminal refuses to expose its location information;

[0529] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0530] Terminal connection failed;

[0531] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0532] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0533] In some embodiments, the first information may be terminal granularity, indicating the reason why ranging / SL positioning of each terminal fails.

[0534] In some embodiments, the first information is not associated with the terminal, but includes various reasons for the failure of this ranging / SL positioning.

[0535] The failure message carries the above information, and the requesting end can determine whether to re-initiate ranging / SL positioning based on the failure cause.

[0536] In some embodiments, the success response message includes a ranging positioning result.

[0537] In some embodiments, if ranging / SL positioning is not performed for all terminals, the success response message further includes at least one of the following:

[0538] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0539] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0540] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0541] In some embodiments, if ranging / SL positioning is performed on all terminals, the success response message may not include information about terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning, information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, and / or reason information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0542] It is worth noting that: when it is determined to perform ranging / SL positioning, the sending of the success response message can be omitted, and the first network device can directly initiate ranging / SL positioning. In this way, after obtaining the ranging and positioning results, the positioning and ranging results are returned to the requesting end, thereby reducing the number of interactive messages between the first network device and the requesting end. If some terminals do not participate in ranging / SL positioning, the terminal information that participates or does not participate in ranging / SL positioning can be returned to the terminal together with the ranging and positioning results.

[0543] In this embodiment, when it is necessary to finally determine whether to execute ranging / SL positioning results based on the verification results indicated by the user, the first network device will determine whether to execute ranging / SL positioning after receiving the verification results from one or more third network devices. Only when it is determined to execute ranging / SL positioning, a request message to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning is sent to the third network device.

[0544] As shown in FIG3B , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, which is executed by a first network device.

[0545] The ranging method shown in FIG3B may correspond to the embodiment shown in FIG2B . The first network device may determine whether the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met based on the first indication in the terminal's privacy configuration. If the conditions for performing ranging / SL positioning are met, the first network device may send a fourth request message to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning. In some embodiments, the fourth request message may include rules for other network devices, such as a third network device, to determine whether to ultimately perform ranging / SL positioning.

[0546] As shown in FIG3B , the ranging method may include:

[0547] S3201: The first network device receives a first request message.

[0548] In some embodiments, the first network device receives a first request message sent by the requesting end.

[0549] In some embodiments, the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals.

[0550] In some embodiments, n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0551] For optional embodiments of the first network device receiving the request end, please refer to the corresponding embodiment S2101 in Figure 2A.

[0552] In some embodiments, the first network device may be a GMLC.

[0553] S3202: The first network device determines, according to the privacy configuration, terminal information of n terminals whose location information is denied to be exposed.

[0554] In some embodiments, according to the first indication of the privacy configuration, information of terminals among the n terminals that refuse to expose their location information is determined.

[0555] In some embodiments, the first network device caches the privacy configurations of one or more terminals, and determines the terminal that rejects the location information among the n terminals based on the locally cached privacy configurations.

[0556] In other embodiments, the first network device may request the privacy configuration of the terminal from the second network device, and then determine the terminal among the n terminals that refuses to expose its location information based on the privacy configuration obtained from the second network device.

[0557] In other embodiments, the first network device may request the second network device to determine whether the corresponding terminal refuses location information exposure based on the privacy configuration of the terminal and obtain a verification indication returned by the second network device. The first network device may count the number of terminals that refuse location information exposure among n terminals based on the verification indication.

[0558] S3203: The first network device sends a fourth request message.

[0559] In some embodiments, a fourth request message is sent to a third network device.

[0560] In some embodiments, whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is determined based on the terminal and / or rules that deny exposure of location information.

[0561] In some embodiments, when the number of terminals that refuse to expose their location information does not exceed the number defined by the rule, a fourth request message is sent to the third network device.

[0562] In some embodiments, when the number of terminals that refuse to expose their location information does not exceed the number defined by the rule, a fourth request message is sent to a third network device of the terminal participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0563] In some embodiments, the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the terminal to perform ranging / SL positioning.

[0564] It is worth noting that optional implementations of S3203 may refer to S2305 of the corresponding embodiment in FIG2B .

[0565] In some embodiments, the fourth request message includes identification information of X terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0566] The X terminals may be terminals whose location information is exposed among the n terminals, and the value of X is a positive integer less than or equal to n.

[0567] In some embodiments, the fourth request message further includes at least one of the following:

[0568] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0569] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0570] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0571] Refer to Terminal Information.

[0572] In some embodiments, if the first network device determines that the third network devices of the X terminals are the same, the first network device directly sends a fourth request message to the third network device instead of the third request message in the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2A .

[0573] In some embodiments, the first network device and the third network device may be located in the same PLMN or in different PLMNs. When the first network device and the third network device are located in different PLMNs, the first network device exchanges information with the third network device by forwarding or transparently transmitting information from the first network device in the PLMN where the third network device is located.

[0574] S3204: The first network device receives the fourth response message.

[0575] In some embodiments, the fourth response message may include a rejection message.

[0576] The first network device receiving the rejection message from the third network device indicates that the verification result indicated by the user of the third network device determines that more than the number of terminals defined by the rules refuse to expose their location information and / or the rules require that terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning refuse to expose their location information.

[0577] In some embodiments, the rejection message indicates rejection of ranging / SL positioning.

[0578] In some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information indicating the reason for rejecting ranging / SL positioning.

[0579] In some embodiments, the third information indicates at least one of the following:

[0580] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0581] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0582] Terminal connection failed;

[0583] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0584] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0585] In some embodiments, the fourth response message may be a success message.

[0586] The success message may be returned after the third network device triggers ranging / SL positioning.

[0587] In some embodiments, the success message includes at least a ranging and positioning result.

[0588] In some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0589] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0590] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0591] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0592] In some embodiments, if all X terminals participate in ranging / SL positioning, the success message may not include information about terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning, information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, and / or reason information about terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0593] In some embodiments, if fewer than X terminals participate in ranging / SL positioning, the success message may include information about the terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning, information about the terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, and / or information about the reasons for the terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0594] S3205: The first network device sends a first response message.

[0595] In some embodiments, the first network device sends the first response message in response to the fourth response message.

[0596] For the specific content of the first message, please refer to the relevant description of S2311 in the corresponding embodiment of Figure 2B.

[0597] In this embodiment, the first network device sends the fourth request message when it determines that the conditions for ranging / SL positioning are met. If user-directed verification is required, it is performed by another network device, such as a third network device. In this case, the fourth request message may include rules for the other network device to determine whether to ultimately perform ranging / SL positioning.

[0598] As shown in Figure 4A, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method, which is executed by a third network device. The ranging method provided in this embodiment may correspond to the embodiments shown in Figures 2B and 3B.

[0599] The ranging method may include a third network device receiving a third request message. The third request message is a message for requesting a verification result. The third network device exchanges information with the terminal based on the third request message to obtain a user instruction and generates a verification result. The verification result is returned to the first network device.

[0600] The method may include:

[0601] S4101: The third network device receives a third request message.

[0602] In some embodiments, the third network device receives the third request message sent by the first network device.

[0603] In some embodiments, the third request message is used to obtain a verification result indicated by the user.

[0604] In some embodiments, the verification result is used by the first network device to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose their location information among the n terminals that request ranging / sidelink SL positioning.

[0605] In some embodiments, n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0606] Terminal information for refusing location information exposure is used for the first network device to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message; the first request message is used to request ranging / SL positioning of n terminals;

[0607] In some embodiments, the first request message is used to request ranging / SL positioning of n terminals.

[0608] In some embodiments, the information content included in the third request message can be found in the relevant part of the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2A .

[0609] S4102: The third network device sends a fifth request message.

[0610] In some embodiments, based on the third request message, the third network device sends a fifth request message to the terminal.

[0611] In some embodiments, the fifth request message is used to request the terminal to obtain a user instruction.

[0612] The fifth request message may be a non-access stratum (NAS) message. In some embodiments, the fifth request message includes a query message. In some embodiments, the query message is displayed on the terminal and may be used to inquire whether the user agrees, rejects, or accepts the disclosure of the location information.

[0613] In some embodiments, the third network device receives a feedback message of the NAS message from the terminal. The feedback message may include the aforementioned user instruction.

[0614] S4103: The third network device receives the fifth response message.

[0615] In some embodiments, the third network device receives a fifth response message returned by the terminal.

[0616] In some embodiments, in some embodiments, the fifth response message carries a user instruction.

[0617] In some embodiments, the user indication is used to indicate whether the user allows the terminal location information to be exposed.

[0618] S4104: The third network device sends a third response message.

[0619] In some embodiments, the third network device sends a third response message to the first network device based on the fifth response message.

[0620] In some embodiments, the third response message includes a verification result.

[0621] In some embodiments, the third network device returns a third response message to the first network device according to a user instruction, where the third response message includes a verification result.

[0622] In some embodiments, the third network device sends a third response message to the first network device according to the acquisition status indicated by the user.

[0623] For example, the third network device fails to obtain the user instruction and sends a third response message indicating that the verification has failed to the first network device.

[0624] For another example, when the third network device obtains the user instruction, it sends a third response message to the first network device according to the instruction content of the user instruction.

[0625] In some embodiments, the verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result.

[0626] In some embodiments, a successful result corresponds to accepting the location information exposure; a failed result corresponds to rejecting the location information exposure.

[0627] In some embodiments, the third network device successfully receives the fifth response message within a specified time period and determines the verification result according to the user instruction.

[0628] For example, the third network device successfully receives the fifth response message within the specified time period and the user instruction carried in the fifth response message indicates rejection of location information exposure, and sends a third response message carrying a failure result to the first network device.

[0629] For another example, the third network device successfully receives the fifth response message within the specified time period, and the user indication carried in the fifth response message indicates acceptance of location information exposure, and sends a third response message carrying a success result to the first network device.

[0630] In some embodiments, the third network device fails to establish a connection with the corresponding terminal, and sends a third response message carrying the failure result to the first network device; the connection established with the corresponding terminal is used to send a fifth request message to obtain user instructions.

[0631] For example, if the terminal is in an idle state, it may be necessary to page the terminal first to establish a connection.

[0632] In some embodiments, if no user instruction from the corresponding terminal is received within a specified time period, a third response message carrying a failure result is sent to the first network device.

[0633] In some embodiments, the reason for the verification failure includes one of the following indications:

[0634] User indication indicating refusal to disclose location information;

[0635] Terminal connection failed;

[0636] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0637] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0638] In some embodiments, the third response message carries a reason value or a reason code for each terminal verification failure, and the reason value or reason code is associated with the corresponding terminal. In this way, the first network device can know the reason why each terminal refuses to disclose location information.

[0639] In some embodiments, the third response message may carry all reasons for the existing verification failures, so that the first network device can know that a terminal refuses to expose the location information and the possible reasons, but does not know the specific reasons for refusal of each terminal.

[0640] As shown in Figure 4B, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method performed by a third network device. This method may correspond to the embodiments shown in Figures 2B and 3B. In this ranging method, upon receiving a fourth request message, the third network device does not directly perform ranging / SL positioning based on the fourth request message. Instead, the third network device first determines whether the terminal's privacy configuration includes a second indication, and if so, obtains a verification result based on the user indication, and ultimately determines whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the verification result.

[0641] The method may include: (S4201: The third network device receives a fourth request message.

[0642] In some embodiments, the third network device receives the fourth request message sent by the first network device.

[0643] In some embodiments, the fourth request message is used to trigger the third network device to initiate ranging / SL positioning. In some embodiments, the fourth request message is sent by the first network device after determining that the conditions for initiating ranging / SL positioning are met based on the first indication in the privacy configuration of the n terminals.

[0644] In some embodiments, the fourth request message includes: information of a terminal that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning. The terminal information may include but is not limited to a terminal identifier.

[0645] It is worth noting that the message content of the fourth request message here can be found in the relevant part of the embodiment corresponding to FIG2B .

[0646] S4202: The third network device obtains a user instruction of the terminal.

[0647] In some embodiments, the user indication is used to indicate whether the corresponding terminal refuses location information exposure.

[0648] In some embodiments, the third network device sends a fifth message to the terminal, which may be a non-access stratum (NAS) message. In some embodiments, the fifth request message includes query information. In some embodiments, the query information is displayed on the terminal and may be used to inquire whether the user agrees, rejects, or accepts the disclosure of the location information. In some embodiments, the third network device receives a feedback message from the terminal regarding the NAS message. The feedback message may include the aforementioned user instructions.

[0649] In some embodiments, the third network device generates a verification result according to a user instruction. The verification result may indicate at least one of the following:

[0650] The number of terminals whose location information is exposed;

[0651] The number of terminals whose location information is refused to be exposed;

[0652] The terminal identification to which the location information is exposed;

[0653] The terminal identification that refuses to expose location information.

[0654] S4203: The third network device sends a fourth response message. In some embodiments, the fourth response message is sent to the first network device based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information. In some embodiments, the fourth response message is sent to the first network device based on the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information, including:

[0655] When the verification result shows that more than the number of terminals defined by the rule refuse to expose their location information, a rejection message is sent to the first network device, and / or

[0656] When the verification result indicates that the terminal for which location information exposure is rejected includes a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rule, a rejection message is sent to the first network device.

[0657] In some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information.

[0658] In some embodiments, the third information is used to indicate the reason for rejecting the ranging.

[0659] In some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0660] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0661] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0662] Terminal connection failed;

[0663] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0664] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0665] In some embodiments, a fourth response message is sent to the first network device based on the terminal and rules indicating rejection of location information exposure as indicated by the verification result.

[0666] In some embodiments, terminals whose number is less than that defined by the rule refuse to expose their location information, trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results, and / or,

[0667] The rules define that terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning must accept location information exposure and trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results.

[0668] In some embodiments, a success message is sent to the first network device.

[0669] In some embodiments, the success message includes at least a ranging and positioning result.

[0670] In some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0671] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0672] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0673] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0674] In some embodiments, the fourth request message further includes rules.

[0675] In some embodiments, the rule may be pre-configured on the third network device.

[0676] In some embodiments, the rule may be requested by the third network device from other network devices. For example, the third network device may request the rule from NEF, PCF, or AF.

[0677] In this embodiment, after receiving the fourth request message, the third network device will obtain the verification result based on the fourth request message, and finally determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the verification result and the rules contained in the fourth request message or the locally stored rules or the rules requested from other network devices.

[0678] As shown in Figure 5, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method performed by a requesting end. This method may correspond to the embodiments shown in Figures 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, and 4B. The method includes: the requesting end requests the network side to perform ranging / SL positioning of n terminals. The network side has multiple ways to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on the privacy configuration. If the network side determines not to perform ranging / SL positioning, the requesting end will receive a failure response message indicating failure. If the network side performs ranging / SL positioning, the requesting end will receive a success response message indicating success.

[0679] Specifically, the ranging method may include:

[0680] S5101: The requesting end sends a first request message.

[0681] In some embodiments, a first request message is sent to a first network device.

[0682] In some embodiments, the requesting end may be an application function (AF) or a location service (LCS) client.

[0683] In some embodiments, the AF and the first network device are in different security domains, and the first request message is forwarded or transparently transmitted by a network exposure function (NEF).

[0684] In some embodiments, the AF and the first network device are in the same security domain, and the AF may directly send the first request message to the first network device.

[0685] It is worth noting that: for the related description of the first request message, please refer to S2101 of the embodiment corresponding to FIG. 2A .

[0686] In some embodiments, the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals.

[0687] In some embodiments, n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0688] In some embodiments, the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals.

[0689] S5102: The requesting end receives the first response message.

[0690] In some embodiments, the first response message includes a failure response message for positioning failure.

[0691] In some embodiments, the first response message may include a positioning result of executing the first request message.

[0692] In some embodiments, the failure response message further includes first information.

[0693] In some embodiments, the first information is used to indicate the reason why ranging and positioning failed.

[0694] In some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0695] The terminal refuses to expose its location information;

[0696] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0697] Terminal connection failed;

[0698] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0699] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0700] In some embodiments, the first response message may include a success response message.

[0701] In some embodiments, the success response message further includes second information.

[0702] In some embodiments, the second information is used to determine the terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0703] In some embodiments, the reason for the verification failure includes one of the following indications:

[0704] User indication indicating refusal to disclose location information;

[0705] Terminal connection failed;

[0706] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0707] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0708] In summary, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the requesting end can request the network side to perform ranging / SL positioning of multiple terminals, and ultimately receive a first response message from the network side. If the network side performs ranging / SL positioning, the result of the ranging / SL positioning will be obtained. If the network side does not perform ranging / SL positioning, the reason for the failure will be notified.

[0709] The disclosed embodiments enable the GMLC to decide whether to accept or reject a service request based on business requirements.

[0710] The GMLC can inform the service requesting end (eg AF / NF) of the terminals participating in ranging that are accepted or rejected.

[0711] When a service is rejected, the GMLC can inform the service requester (such as AF / NF) of the actual reason.

[0712] During the SL-MT-LR process, the LCS client or AF / NF is allowed to obtain ranging / SL positioning results for more than two terminals. The GLMC determines the roles of these terminals, which may include target terminal and reference terminal. The ranging / SL positioning results may include absolute position, relative position, distance between terminals, and / or direction.

[0713] Option 1:

[0714] As shown in FIG6A , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method that may include:

[0715] Step 1: The LCS client or AF (via NEF) sends an LCS service request to the (H)GMLC to obtain the ranging / SL positioning results of n terminals. The request may include the required QoS, the required positioning result type information, and the reference terminal information.

[0716] Positioning result type information may include, but is not limited to, absolute position, relative position, distance, and / or direction relative to the terminal. This requirement may also include rules for handling n terminals, such as requiring all n terminals to participate in ranging / SL positioning, or allowing some of the n terminals to be excluded from ranging / SL positioning. Specific rules may vary based on service requirements.

[0717] In some embodiments, the LCS service request may also include rules. For example, the rules may specify that all n terminals must participate in ranging, or that some terminals may participate in ranging. The specific rules may vary based on service requirements. The UE in Figure 6A is a terminal, and UE1 to UEn in Figure 6A are terminals 1 to n.

[0718] Step 2: GMLC sends the Nudm-SDM-Get service operation to UDM to obtain the privacy settings of multiple terminals simultaneously. UDM returns the terminal's privacy settings to GMLC. GMLC verifies the terminal's LCS privacy configuration.

[0719] If n or n-1 terminals are not authorized to disclose their location information, the GMLC will terminate the service and return a rejection message to the LCS client or AF. This rejection message carries the reason for the failure, which may include, but is not limited to, a location rejection. These n or n-1 terminals are not authorized to disclose their location information, meaning they refuse to disclose their location information.

[0720] If n-2 or fewer terminals are not authorized to disclose their location information, the GMLC determines whether to continue the process based on local rules. If the rules allow, the GMLC proceeds to step 3. If the rules do not allow, the GMLC stops the process and sends a rejection message to the LCS client or AF. The rejection message includes the reason for the failure, which may include, but is not limited to, a rejection of the location information.

[0721] Local rules can be provided or defined by the ranging / SL positioning application or the operator. If provided by the ranging / SL positioning application, the GMLC can obtain these rules from the PCF or NEF. These rules can be configured by the operator on the PCF or NEF. Of course, the PCF or NEF can also receive the rules from the AF. These rules can be received in step 1 or through other steps.

[0722] Step 3: If the privacy configuration has an indicator of privacy notification or privacy verification, the GMLC will initiate a Nudm-UECM_Get service operation to the UDM corresponding to each terminal participating in the ranging.

[0723] Step 4: The GMLC initiates a Namf-Location-Notification service operation to the serving AMF of the terminals participating in ranging to request the notification results of m terminals.

[0724] Step 5: The serving AMF initiates a NAS notification to the terminal.

[0725] Step 6: If some of the m terminals do not obtain authorization to disclose their location information, or if some terminals are outside the network coverage area and the serving AMF cannot establish a NAS connection with the terminal, the serving AMF will return a notification result to the GMLC. The notification result may indicate the reason for the failure. The failure reason may include but is not limited to: location rejection or signaling connection failure.

[0726] If the signaling connection between the serving AMF and the terminal fails to be established, or some terminals do not respond within a preset time, the serving AMF will indicate the failure to the GMLC. The failure reason may include no response.

[0727] After receiving the notification results from all service AMFs, GMLC will check whether to continue the process according to the rules.

[0728] If the rules allow, the GMLC performs step 7;

[0729] If the rules disallow it, the GMLC will stop the process and return a failure message to the LCS client or AF. The rejection message may include the reason for the failure. This may include, but is not limited to, rejection of location exposure, rejection by rules, etc. In some embodiments, the rejection message may also include a list of terminals that refuse to disclose their location information, terminals within network coverage, etc. Optionally, the rejection message may include multiple reasons for failure. For example, the failure reason may include rejection messages from each terminal. For example, terminal 1 refuses location exposure, terminal 2 fails to connect, and terminal 3 has no user response.

[0730] Step 7: GMLC selects the terminal that initiates ranging / SL positioning and initiates the Namf-Location-ProvidePositioningInfo service operation to the terminal's serving AMF to request the location information of ni terminals, where i is the number of terminals excluded due to lack of authorization or privacy confirmation response.

[0731] Step 8: If the terminal is in the Connected Management (CM) idle state, the AMF initiates a network-triggered service request to establish a signaling connection with the terminal.

[0732] If the signaling connection establishment fails, the AMF notifies the GMLC of the failure and informs the GMLC of the failure reason, which may be a signaling connection failure. The (V)GMLC may send an Ngmlc-Location-Provide Location response to the (H)GMLC. This response may include the failure reason. Based on the failure reason, the GMLC may reselect two terminals for mutual ranging and repeat step 8, or return a rejection message to the LCS client or AF. The rejection message may include the rejection reason. The rejection reason may include: connection failure.

[0733] Steps 9-19 may be a conventional ranging / SL positioning process, and the steps involved can be seen in Figure 6A, AMF, access network (e.g., next generation access network (NG-RAN)).

[0734] Step 20: When the ranging / SL ranging result is exposed in the LCF service response, the GMLC will inform the LCS client or AF of the information of the terminals actually participating in the ranging, which may include indicating the terminals participating in the ranging and / or the terminals not participating in the ranging in the response.

[0735] Option 2:

[0736] As shown in FIG6B , an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ranging method that may include:

[0737] Step S1: The LCS client or AF (via NEF) sends an LCS service request to the (H)GMLC to obtain ranging / SL positioning results of n terminals. The request may include the required QoS, required positioning result type information, and reference terminal information.

[0738] Positioning result type information may include, but is not limited to, the absolute position, relative position, or distance and / or direction relative to a reference terminal associated with the terminal. The requirements may also include rules for handling n terminals. For example, all n terminals must participate in ranging / SL positioning, or some of the n terminals may be excluded from ranging / SL positioning. Specific rules may vary based on service requirements. The UE in Figure 6B is a terminal, and UE1 to UEn in Figure 6B are terminals 1 to n.

[0739] In some embodiments, the LCS service request may further include a rule, which may also be referred to as a processing rule.

[0740] For example, the rule may stipulate that all N terminals must participate in ranging, or some terminals may participate in ranging. The specific rule may vary according to service requirements.

[0741] Step S2: GMLC sends a Nudm-SDM-Get service operation to UDM to retrieve the privacy settings of multiple terminals simultaneously. UDM returns the terminal's privacy settings to GMLC. GMLC verifies the terminal's LCS privacy configuration.

[0742] If n or n-1 terminals are not authorized to disclose tail cone information, the GMLC will determine to terminate the service and return a rejection message to the LCS client or AF. The rejection message carries the failure reason, which may include but is not limited to location rejection.

[0743] If n+2 or fewer terminals are not authorized to disclose their location information, the GMLC determines whether to continue the process based on local rules. If the rules allow, the GMLC proceeds to step 3. If the rules do not allow, the GMLC stops the process and sends a rejection message to the LCS client or AF. The rejection message includes the reason for the failure, which may include but is not limited to the terminal's refusal to disclose its location information.

[0744] Local rules can be provided or defined by the ranging / SL positioning application or the operator. If provided by the ranging / SL positioning application, the GMLC can obtain these rules from the PCF or NEF. These rules can be configured by the operator on the PCF or NEF. Of course, the PCF or NEF can also receive the rules from the AF. These rules can be received in step 1 or through other steps.

[0745] Step S3: The GMLC initiates the Nudm-UECM-Get service operation to the UDMs of n terminals to select the initiating terminal as the ranging / SL positioning operation and the serving AMF of the initiating terminal.

[0746] Step S4: In the roaming scenario, the (H)GMLC will send a positioning request to the (V)GMLC.

[0747] Step S5: The H)GMLC and (V)GMLC initiate a Namf-Location-ProvidePositioningInfo service operation to the serving AMF of the initiating terminal, requesting ranging results for na terminals, where a represents the number of terminals that are not authorized to participate in ranging. The terminals that are not authorized to participate in ranging are determined based on the verification of the privacy configuration. The GMLC also sends the rules to the serving AMF of the terminal.

[0748] Step S6: If the initiating terminal is in the CM-idle state, the AMF initiates a network triggered service request process to establish a signaling connection with the initiating terminal.

[0749] If the signaling connection establishment fails, the AMF will send a Namf-Location-ProvidePositioningInfo response to the GMLC. The Namf-Location-ProvidePositioningInfo response may include the failure reason. The failure reason may be a signaling connection failure. The (V)GMLC may send a Ngmlc-location_ProvideLocation response to the (H)GMLC. The response may include the failure reason. Based on the failure reason, the (H)GMLC may reselect the initiating terminal and re-execute step S3, or return a rejection message to the LCS client or AF. The rejection message may include the failure reason. The failure reason may include, but is not limited to, connection failure.

[0750] Steps S7-S8: If the privacy configuration includes the second indication or the second indication indicates that interaction with the user is required, the AMF interacts with the terminal through NAS-Location_Notification Invoke Request and NAS-Location_Notification return result to obtain the user indication.

[0751] Among the m terminals, if the user of a terminal refuses to disclose the location information, or if a terminal does not respond within the specified time, or if some terminals are out of network coverage, the serving AMF cannot establish a NAS connection with the terminal. The AMF can determine whether to continue the process based on the rules.

[0752] If the rule allows, the AMF proceeds to step S9;

[0753] If the rules do not allow, the AMF will stop executing the process and return a rejection message to the (H)GMLC. The rejection message can be returned to the (H)GMLC via the (V)GMLC. The rejection message may include the reason for the failure. The failure reason may include: rejection of location information exposure, no response, rule not allowed, etc. The rejection message may also include: rejection of the terminal grabbing the order for location information exposure, a list of terminals outside the network coverage, etc. Optionally, the rejection message may include multiple reasons for failure. Exemplarily, the failure reason may include but is not limited to: the failure reason of each terminal. For example, terminal 1 rejects location exposure, terminal 2 fails to connect, and terminal 3 has no user response.

[0754] Step S9: The serving AMF selects the initiating terminal to initiate ranging / SL positioning and sends the NLmf_Location_Determine_Location service operation to the LMF of the initiating terminal to request the ranging result. The ranging result may include the ranging results of the nab terminals determined in step 5, where b indicates the number of terminals that do not participate in ranging based on privacy devices.

[0755] Steps S10-S19 may be conventional steps for performing ranging / SL positioning.

[0756] Step S20: When the ranging / SL ranging result is exposed in the LCF service response, the GMLC will notify the LCS client or AF of the information of the terminals actually participating in the ranging, which may specifically include indicating the terminals participating in the ranging and / or the terminals not participating in the ranging in the response.

[0757] In some embodiments, the GMLC will be able to receive and understand the rules for handling n terminals.

[0758] In some embodiments, after completing the verification of the privacy configurations of n terminals, the GMLC will be able to process service requests based on the rules of the n terminals.

[0759] In some embodiments, if the privacy configuration of the terminal includes an indicator, the GMLC can send a request to the terminal's serving AMF to verify the privacy of the terminal. The indicator here can be one of the aforementioned second indications.

[0760] In some embodiments, the GMLC is able to receive privacy verification results from the serving AMF.

[0761] In some embodiments, the GMLC is able to process service requests based on rules based on the verification results of the privacy provided by the serving AMF.

[0762] In some embodiments, the GMLC will be able to indicate to the AMF information about the terminals that are actually and allowed to be located.

[0763] In some embodiments, the GMLC may send the rules to the serving AMF.

[0764] The GMLC should be able to indicate to the service requester the actual terminal involved in ranging / SL positioning.

[0765] The GMLC shall be able to indicate the reason for the failure to the requester in the rejection message.

[0766] The GMLC shall be able to include a list of terminals whose locations are rejected or a list of UEs out of coverage in the rejection message sent to the requesting end.

[0767] The GMLC shall be able to include multiple failure reasons (one for each terminal) in the rejection message sent to the requesting terminal.

[0768] The AMF shall be able to receive requests from the GMLC specifically for privacy verification to the UE.

[0769] AMF should be able to send the privacy verification result to GMLC.

[0770] AMF should be able to receive the rules of GMLC on handling n terminals.

[0771] When the privacy configuration contains indicators, the AMF needs to determine how to process the service request after verification based on the privacy configuration.

[0772] The AMF shall be able to indicate the terminals whose location information is allowed to be exposed for ranging / SL positioning in the sidelink mobile terminated location request (SL-MT) request sent to the LMF.

[0773] The AMF shall be able to inform the GMLC of the failure reason in the reject message.

[0774] The AMF shall be able to include a list of rejected terminals whose locations are exposed or out of coverage in the rejection message sent to the GMLC.

[0775] The AMF shall be able to include multiple failure causes (per UE failure cause) in the reject message sent to the GMLC.

[0776] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, some or all of the steps and their optional implementations may be arbitrarily combined with some or all of the steps in other embodiments, or may be arbitrarily combined with the optional implementations of other embodiments.

[0777] The embodiments of the present disclosure also provide an apparatus for implementing any of the above methods. For example, an apparatus is provided, comprising units or modules for implementing each step performed by a terminal in any of the above methods. For another example, another apparatus is provided, comprising units or modules for implementing each step performed by a network device (e.g., an access network device or a core network device) in any of the above methods.

[0778] It should be understood that the division of the various units or modules in the above devices is merely a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, they may be fully or partially integrated into a physical entity, or they may be physically separated. In addition, the units or modules in the device may be implemented in the form of a processor calling software: for example, the device includes a processor, the processor is connected to a memory, and the memory stores instructions. The processor calls the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or implement the functions of the various units or modules of the above devices, wherein the processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a microprocessor, and the memory is a memory within the device or a memory outside the device. Alternatively, the units or modules in the device can be implemented in the form of hardware circuits, and the functions of some or all of the units or modules can be realized by designing the hardware circuits. The above-mentioned hardware circuits can be understood as one or more processors; for example, in one implementation, the above-mentioned hardware circuit is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which realizes the functions of some or all of the above units or modules by designing the logical relationship of the components in the circuit; for example, in another implementation, the above-mentioned hardware circuit can be realized by a programmable logic device (PLD). Taking a field programmable gate array (FPGA) as an example, it can include a large number of logic gate circuits, and the connection relationship between the logic gate circuits is configured by configuring the configuration file, thereby realizing the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. All units or modules of the above devices can be realized in the form of software called by the processor, or in the form of hardware circuits, or in part by the form of software called by the processor, and the rest by hardware circuits.

[0779] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a processor is a circuit with signal processing capabilities. In one implementation, the processor can be a circuit with instruction reading and execution capabilities, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU) (which can be understood as a microprocessor), or a digital signal processor (DSP). In another implementation, the processor can implement certain functions through the logical relationship of a hardware circuit. The logical relationship of the above-mentioned hardware circuit is fixed or reconfigurable. For example, the processor is a hardware circuit implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (PLD), such as an FPGA. In a reconfigurable hardware circuit, the process of the processor loading a configuration document to implement the hardware circuit configuration can be understood as the process of the processor loading instructions to implement the functions of some or all of the above units or modules. In addition, it can also be a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence, which can be understood as an ASIC, such as a neural network processing unit (NPU), a tensor processing unit (TPU), a deep learning processing unit (DPU), etc.

[0780] FIG7A is a first network device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure, comprising: a receiving module 110, configured to receive a first request message sent by a requesting end, the first request message being used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0781] The processing module 120 is configured to determine the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information; and determine whether to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0782] In some embodiments, the first network device further includes a sending module. In some embodiments, the receiving module and / or the sending module may correspond to specific structures such as an antenna or a network interface of the terminal.

[0783] It is worth noting that the processing module of the first network device can perform any steps related to information processing in the ranging method performed by the first network device. The receiving module can be used for any steps related to reception in the ranging method performed by the first network device. The sending module can be used for any steps related to transmission in the ranging method performed by the first network device.

[0784] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is configured to determine information of terminals among the n terminals that refuse exposure of location information according to privacy configurations of the n terminals.

[0785] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose location information among the n terminals according to the verification result indicated by the user.

[0786] In some embodiments, in some embodiments, the first network device further includes:

[0787] The receiving module is configured to send a second request message to the second network device according to the first request message, where the second request message is used to obtain the privacy configurations of n terminals from the second network device.

[0788] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to obtain the verification result of the mth terminal if the first indication in the privacy configuration of the mth terminal indicates accepting location information and the privacy configuration includes a second indication, where m is a positive integer less than or equal to n.

[0789] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to send a third request message to a third network device of the mth terminal if the first indication in the privacy configuration of the mth terminal indicates acceptance of location information and the privacy configuration includes the second indication, the third request message being used to obtain a verification result;

[0790] A third response message returned by the third network device is received, where the third response message includes a verification result.

[0791] In some embodiments, the verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; a success result corresponds to accepting the location information exposure; a failure result corresponds to rejecting the location information exposure.

[0792] In some embodiments, the user instruction of the mth terminal indicates rejection of location information exposure, the verification result is a failure result, and / or,

[0793] The user indication of the mth terminal indicates that the location information is exposed and the verification result is a successful result, and / or,

[0794] The mth terminal is outside the network coverage, and the verification result is a failure result, and / or,

[0795] If the user instruction of the mth terminal is not obtained within the specified time, the verification result is a failure result, and / or,

[0796] The connection establishment between the third network device and the mth terminal fails, and the verification result is a failure result.

[0797] In some embodiments, the first request message includes at least one of the following:

[0798] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0799] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0800] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0801] Refer to Terminal Information.

[0802] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

[0803] No terminal refuses to expose the location information, and determines to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0804] Greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information, and determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the rules;

[0805] n terminals or n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information and determine not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0806] The terminal that refuses to expose its location information is not a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rules, and determines to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message;

[0807] The terminal that refuses to expose its location information is a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rules, and determines not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0808] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

[0809] If more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse exposure of location information, and the rules allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse exposure of location information, it is determined that the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message is executed; if more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse exposure of location information and the rules do not allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse exposure of location information, it is determined not to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

[0810] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to determine not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, and send a failure response message to the requesting end, where the failure response message indicates that ranging positioning has failed.

[0811] In some embodiments, the failure response message includes first information; the first information is used to indicate the reason for the ranging and positioning failure.

[0812] In some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0813] The terminal refuses to expose its location information;

[0814] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0815] Terminal connection failed;

[0816] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0817] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0818] In some embodiments, the processing module 120 is further configured to determine to execute ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, and send a success response message to the requesting end; the success response message includes a ranging and positioning result.

[0819] In some embodiments, the successful response message further includes at least one of the following:

[0820] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0821] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0822] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0823] In some embodiments, the sending module is further configured to, when determining to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message,

[0824] Sending a fourth request message to the third network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning;

[0825] The receiving module is further configured to receive a fourth response message returned by the third network device; and send a first response message to the requesting end according to the fourth response message.

[0826] In some embodiments, the fourth response message includes: a rejection message returned by the third network device based on the user verification result; or

[0827] The fourth response message includes: a success message returned by the third network device based on the user verification result, where the success message at least includes the ranging result.

[0828] In some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0829] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0830] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0831] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0832] In some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information; the third information includes the reason why the third network device rejects ranging / SL positioning.

[0833] In some embodiments, the third information indicates at least one of the following:

[0834] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0835] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0836] Terminal connection failed;

[0837] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0838] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0839] In some embodiments, the fourth request message includes a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning based on a verification result indicated by a user of the third network device.

[0840] FIG7B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a third network device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG7B , the third network device includes:

[0841] The receiving module 210 is configured to receive a third request message sent by the first network device, where the third request message is used to obtain a verification result of the user instruction; the verification result is used by the first network device to determine information of terminals that refuse to expose their location information among n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink SL positioning; n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; the sending module 220 is configured to send a fifth request message to the terminal based on the third request message, where the fifth request message is used to request the terminal to obtain the user instruction;

[0842] The receiving module 230 is further configured to receive a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message; the fifth response message carries a user instruction;

[0843] The sending module 220 is further configured to return a third response message to the first network device according to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, where the third response message includes the verification result.

[0844] In some embodiments, the receiving module and the sending module may correspond to specific structures such as an antenna or a network interface of a network device.

[0845] Optionally, the third network device further includes a storage module and / or a processing module, wherein the storage module may be configured to store information, and the processing module may be configured to execute steps related to information processing in the ranging method executed by the third network device.

[0846] In some embodiments, the verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; a success result corresponds to accepting the location information exposure; a failure result corresponds to rejecting the location information exposure.

[0847] In some embodiments, the sending module is further configured to perform at least one of the following:

[0848] successfully receiving the fifth response message within the specified time period and the user instruction carried in the fifth response message indicating rejection of location information exposure, sending a third response message carrying a failure result to the first network device;

[0849] successfully receiving the fifth response message within the specified time period and the user indication carried in the fifth response message indicating acceptance of location information exposure, sending a third response message carrying a success result to the first network device;

[0850] If the connection establishment with the corresponding terminal fails, a third response message carrying a failure result is sent to the first network device; the connection established with the corresponding terminal is used to send a fifth request message to obtain a user instruction;

[0851] If no user instruction from the corresponding terminal is received within the specified time period, a third response message carrying a failure result is sent to the first network device.

[0852] In some embodiments, the reason corresponding to the failure result includes one of the following indications:

[0853] User indication indicating refusal to disclose location information;

[0854] Terminal connection failed;

[0855] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0856] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0857] FIG7C is a schematic diagram of the structure of a third network device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG7C , the third network device includes:

[0858] The receiving module 310 is configured to receive a fourth request message sent by the first network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning;

[0859] The processing module 320 is configured to obtain a user indication of the terminal according to the fourth request message; the user indication is used to indicate whether the terminal that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning currently refuses to expose its location information;

[0860] The sending module 330 is configured to send a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

[0861] In some embodiments, the receiving module and the sending module may correspond to specific structures such as an antenna or a network interface of a network device.

[0862] Optionally, the third network device further includes a storage module and / or a processing module, wherein the storage module may be configured to store information, and the processing module may be configured to execute steps related to information processing in the ranging method executed by the third network device.

[0863] In some embodiments, the fourth request message is sent by the first network device after determining that the conditions for initiating ranging / SL positioning are met based on the first indication in the privacy configuration of n terminals; the fourth request message includes: terminal information that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0864] In some embodiments, the processing module 320 is further configured to obtain a user indication of a terminal whose privacy configuration includes the second indication from among the terminals whose terminal information indication meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0865] In some embodiments, the sending module 330 is further configured to send a rejection message to the first network device when the user indicates that the number of terminals exceeding the number defined by the rule refuses exposure of location information, and / or when the user indicates that the terminals that refuse exposure of location information include terminals that are defined by the rule to participate in ranging / SL positioning, send a rejection message to the first network device.

[0866] In some embodiments, the rejection message further includes third information; the third information is used to indicate the reason for rejecting the ranging.

[0867] In some embodiments, the third information indicates at least one of the following:

[0868] The user indicates that they refuse to disclose their location information;

[0869] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0870] Terminal connection failed;

[0871] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0872] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0873] In some embodiments, the processing module 320 is configured to reject location information exposure for terminals whose number is less than that defined by the rule, trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results, and / or accept location information exposure for terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rule, trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results;

[0874] The sending module 330 is further configured to send a success message to the first network device; the success message at least includes a ranging and positioning result.

[0875] In some embodiments, the success message further includes at least one of the following:

[0876] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0877] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0878] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0879] FIG7D is a schematic diagram of the structure of a request end provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. The request end may include:

[0880] The sending module 410 is configured to send a first request message to the first network device, where the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink (SL) positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2;

[0881] The receiving module 420 is configured to receive a first response message, where the first response message includes: a failure response message indicating a positioning failure, or a positioning result of executing the first request message.

[0882] In some embodiments, the receiving module and the sending module may correspond to specific structures such as an antenna or a network interface of the requesting end.

[0883] Optionally, the requesting end further includes a storage module and / or a processing module, wherein the storage module may be configured to store information and the processing module may be configured to execute steps related to information processing in the ranging method executed by the requesting end.

[0884] In some embodiments, the first request message includes at least one of the following:

[0885] Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message based on the number of terminals that reject the location information;

[0886] Required quality of service (QoS) for ranging / SL positioning;

[0887] Type information for the desired ranging result;

[0888] Refer to Terminal Information.

[0889] In some embodiments, the failure response message further includes first information; the first information is used to indicate the reason for the ranging and positioning failure.

[0890] In some embodiments, the first information indicates at least one of the following:

[0891] The terminal refuses to expose its location information;

[0892] The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning;

[0893] Terminal connection failed;

[0894] The terminal is unresponsive;

[0895] The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

[0896] In some embodiments, the success response message further includes second information; the second information is used to determine the terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0897] In some embodiments, the second information includes one of the following indications:

[0898] Information about terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning;

[0899] Information about terminals that do not participate in ranging / SL positioning;

[0900] Reason information for terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

[0901] The present disclosure also provides a communication device, which may include one or more processors configured to invoke instructions to cause the communication device to execute a ranging method implemented in any of the aforementioned embodiments. In some embodiments, the communication device may be a terminal and / or a network device. The network device may include a first network device and / or a third network device.

[0902] 8A and / or 8B , the communication device 8100 further includes one or more memories 8102 for storing instructions. Alternatively, all or part of the memories 8102 may be located outside the communication device 8100.

[0903] The communication device may be the aforementioned terminal and network device. In some embodiments, the network device may be a master node and / or an auxiliary node.

[0904] In some embodiments, the communication device 8100 further includes one or more transceivers 8103. When the communication device 8100 includes one or more transceivers 8103, the communication steps such as sending and receiving in the above method are performed by the transceiver 8103, and the other steps are performed by the processor 8101.

[0905] In some embodiments, a transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, which may be separate or integrated. Optionally, the terms transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver, and transceiver circuit may be used interchangeably; the terms transmitter, transmitting unit, transmitter, and transmitting circuit may be used interchangeably; and the terms receiver, receiving unit, receiver, and receiving circuit may be used interchangeably.

[0906] Optionally, the communication device 8100 further includes one or more interface circuits 8104, which are connected to the memory 8102. The interface circuits 8104 can be used to receive signals from the memory 8102 or other devices, and can be used to send signals to the memory 8102 or other devices. For example, the interface circuits 8104 can read instructions stored in the memory 8102 and send the instructions to the processor 8101.

[0907] The communication device 8100 described in the above embodiment may be a network device or a terminal, but the scope of the communication device 8100 described in the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device 8100 may not be limited by FIG. 8A. The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) an independent integrated circuit IC, or a chip, or a chip system or subsystem; (2) a collection of one or more ICs, optionally, the above IC collection may also include a storage component for storing data or programs; (3) an ASIC, such as a modem; (4) a module that can be embedded in other devices; (5) a receiver, a terminal device, an intelligent terminal device, a cellular phone, a wireless device, a handheld device, a mobile unit, an in-vehicle device, a network device, a cloud device, an artificial intelligence device, etc.; (6) others, etc.

[0908] FIG8B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip 8200 provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. If the communication device 8100 can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of the structure of the chip 8200 shown in FIG8B , but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0909] The chip 8200 includes one or more processors 8201 , and the processor 8201 is used to call instructions to enable the chip 8200 to execute any of the above ranging methods.

[0910] In some embodiments, chip 8200 further includes one or more interface circuits 8202, which are connected to memory 8203. Interface circuit 8202 can be used to receive signals from memory 8203 or other devices, and can be used to send signals to memory 8203 or other devices. For example, interface circuit 8202 can read instructions stored in memory 8203 and send the instructions to processor 8201. Optionally, the terms interface circuit, interface, transceiver pin, and transceiver are interchangeable.

[0911] In some embodiments, the chip 8200 further includes one or more memories 8203 for storing instructions. Alternatively, all or part of the memories 8203 may be outside the chip 8200.

[0912] The present disclosure also provides a storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which, when executed on the communication device 8100, causes the communication device 8100 to execute any of the above methods. Optionally, the storage medium is an electronic storage medium. Optionally, the storage medium is a computer-readable storage medium, but may also be a storage medium readable by other devices. Optionally, the storage medium may be a non-transitory storage medium, but may also be a transient storage medium.

[0913] The present disclosure further provides a program product, which, when executed by the communication device 8100, enables the communication device 8100 to perform any of the above ranging methods. Optionally, the program product is a computer program product.

[0914] The present disclosure also provides a computer program, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute any one of the above distance measurement methods.

[0915] Other embodiments of the present invention will readily occur to those skilled in the art after considering the specification and practicing the invention disclosed herein. This disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention that follow from the general principles of the invention and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The description and examples are to be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

[0916] It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the exact construction described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A distance measurement method, wherein: Executed by a first network device, the method comprises: receiving a first request message sent by a requesting end, the first request message being used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; Determining terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose location information; According to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information, determine whether to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The determining the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information includes: Terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to have their location information exposed is determined according to the privacy configurations of the n terminals.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The determining of the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information also includes: The terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information is determined according to the verification result indicated by the user.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The method further comprises: A second request message is sent to a second network device according to the first request message, where the second request message is used to obtain the privacy configurations of the n terminals from the second network device.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The determining, according to the verification result indicated by the user, the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information includes: If the first indication in the privacy configuration of the m-th terminal indicates that the location information is accepted and the privacy configuration includes a second indication, then the verification result of the m-th terminal is obtained, where m is a positive integer less than or equal to n.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The first indication in the privacy configuration of the m-th terminal indicates that the location information is accepted and the privacy configuration includes a second indication, then obtaining the verification result of the m-th terminal includes: If the first indication in the privacy configuration of the m-th terminal indicates that the location information is accepted and the privacy configuration includes the second indication, sending a third request message to the third network device of the m-th terminal, wherein the third request message is used to obtain the verification result; A third response message returned by the third network device is received, where the third response message includes the verification result.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; the success result corresponds to accepting the exposure of the location information; the failure result corresponds to rejecting the exposure of the location information.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The user indication of the m-th terminal indicates rejection of location information exposure, the verification result is the failure result, and / or, The user indication of the m-th terminal indicates acceptance of location information exposure, the verification result is the success result, and / or, The mth terminal is located outside the network coverage, the verification result is the failure result, and / or, If the user instruction of the mth terminal is not obtained within the specified time period, the verification result is the failure result, and / or, The connection establishment between the third network device and the mth terminal fails, and the verification result is the failure result.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein: The first request message includes at least one of the following: Rule information, used to determine the rule; the rule is used to determine whether to execute the first The ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the request message; The required quality of service QoS of the ranging / SL positioning; Type information for the desired ranging result; See Terminal Information.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: The determining, according to the terminal information for refusing exposure of the location information, whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message includes at least one of the following: No terminal refuses to expose the location information, and determines to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message; Terminals greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 refuse to expose their location information, and determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the rules; n terminals or n-1 terminals refuse to expose their location information and determine not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message; The terminal that refuses to expose the location information is not a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rule, and determines to execute ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message; The terminal that refuses to expose its location information is a terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rule, and determines not to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The number of terminals greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 that refuse to expose the location information, and determining whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to a rule, further comprising: If more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information, and the rule allows less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, it is determined to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message; If greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n-2 terminals refuse to expose their location information and the rule does not allow less than or equal to n-2 terminals to refuse to expose their location information, it is determined that the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message will not be performed.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein: The method further comprises: Determine not to perform the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, and send a failure response message to the requesting end, where the failure response message indicates that the ranging positioning failed.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The failure response message includes first information; the first information is used to indicate the reason for the ranging and positioning failure.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: The first information indicates at least one of the following: The terminal refuses to expose its location information; The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning; Terminal connection failed; The terminal is unresponsive; The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein: The method further comprises: Determine to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, and send a success response message to the requesting end; the success response message includes the ranging and positioning result.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The successful response message also includes at least one of the following: Information of terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning; Information of terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning; Reason information for the terminal not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

17. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: When determining to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message, the method further includes: Sending a fourth request message to the third network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning; Receiving a fourth response message returned by the third network device; According to the fourth response message, a first response message is sent to the requesting end.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The fourth response message includes: a rejection message returned by the third network device based on the user verification result; or, The fourth response message includes: a success message returned by the third network device based on the user verification result, and the success message at least includes a ranging result.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the success message further comprises at least one of the following: Information of terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning; Information of terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning; Reason information for the terminal not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein: The rejection message also includes third information; the third information includes the reason why the third network device rejects ranging / SL positioning.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The third information indicates at least one of the following: The user indicates that he refuses to disclose his location information; The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning; Terminal connection failed; The terminal is unresponsive; The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

22. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein: The fourth request message includes a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform the ranging / SL positioning based on the verification result indicated by the user of the third network device.

23. A distance measurement method, wherein: The method is performed by a third network device, and includes: receiving a third request message sent by a first network device, wherein the third request message is used to obtain a verification result indicated by a user; the verification result is used by the first network device to determine terminal information of n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink SL positioning that refuses to expose location information; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; Based on the third request message, sending a fifth request message to the terminal, where the fifth request message is used to request the terminal to obtain the user indication; receiving a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message; the fifth response message carries the user instruction; According to the user instruction and / or the acquisition status of the user instruction, a third response message is returned to the first network device, where the third response message includes the verification result.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein: The verification result includes a success result and / or a failure result; the success result corresponds to accepting the exposure of the location information; the failure result corresponds to rejecting the exposure of the location information.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein: The returning a third response message to the first network device according to the fifth response message includes at least one of the following: successfully receiving the fifth response message within the specified time period and the user instruction carried in the fifth response message indicates rejection of location information exposure, sending the third response message carrying the failure result to the first network device; successfully receiving the fifth response message within the specified time period and the user indication carried by the fifth response message indicating acceptance of location information exposure, sending the third response message carrying the success result to the first network device; If the connection establishment with the corresponding terminal fails, the third response message carrying the failure result is sent to the first network device; A connection established with a corresponding terminal, used to send the fifth request message to obtain the user instruction; If no user instruction of the corresponding terminal is received within the specified time period, the third response message carrying the failure result is sent to the first network device.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein: The reason for the failure result includes one of the following indications: The user indication indicates a refusal to expose the location information; Terminal connection failed; The terminal is unresponsive; The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

27. A distance measurement method, wherein: Executed by a third network device, the method includes: receiving a fourth request message sent by the first network device; the fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning; Acquire a user indication of the terminal according to the fourth request message; the user indication is used to indicate whether the terminal that meets the conditions for participating in the ranging / SL positioning currently refuses to expose the location information; According to the user instruction of the terminal, a fourth response message is sent to the first network device.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein: The fourth request message is sent by the first network device after determining that the condition for initiating ranging / SL positioning is met according to the first indication in the privacy configuration of the n terminals; The fourth request message includes: information of a terminal that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning; and obtaining a user instruction of the terminal according to the fourth request message includes: Obtain the user indication of the terminal whose privacy configuration includes the second indication in the terminal indicated by the terminal information that meets the conditions for participating in ranging / SL positioning.

29. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein: The sending a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal information of the rejected location information exposure includes: When the user indicates that the number of terminals exceeding the number defined by the rule refuses to expose the location information, sending a rejection message to the first network device, and / or, When the user indicates that the terminals that refuse to expose their location information include the terminals that must participate in ranging / SL positioning as defined by the rule, a rejection message is sent to the first network device.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: The rejection message further includes third information; the third information is used to indicate the reason for rejecting the ranging.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein: The third information indicates at least one of the following: The user indicates that he refuses to disclose his location information; The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning; Terminal connection failed; The terminal is unresponsive; The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein: The sending a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal information of the rejected location information exposure includes: The terminals whose number is less than that defined by the rule refuse to expose their location information, trigger ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results, and / or, The rule defines that the terminal that must participate in ranging / SL positioning accepts location information exposure, triggers ranging / SL positioning ranging to obtain ranging and positioning results; A success message is sent to the first network device; the success message at least includes a ranging and positioning result.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: The success message also includes at least one of the following: Information of terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning; Information of terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning; Reason information for the terminal not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

34. The method according to claim 29 or 32, wherein: The fourth request message also includes the rule.

35. A distance measurement method, wherein: Executed by the requesting end, the method includes: Sending a first request message to a first network device, wherein the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; A first response message is received, where the first response message includes a failure response message of ranging and positioning failure, or a success response message; the success response message includes a ranging and positioning result of executing the ranging / SL positioning.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein: The first request message includes at least one of the following: Rule information, used to determine a rule; the rule is used to determine whether to perform ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the number of terminals that reject the location information; The required quality of service QoS of the ranging / SL positioning; Type information for the desired ranging result; See Terminal Information.

37. The method according to claim 35 or 36, wherein: The failure response message also includes first information; the first information is used to indicate the reason for the failure of the ranging and positioning.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein: The first information indicates at least one of the following: The terminal refuses to expose its location information; The rules do not allow ranging / SL positioning; Terminal connection failed; The terminal is unresponsive; The terminal is outside the network coverage area.

39. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 38, wherein: The success response message also includes second information; the second information is used to determine the terminals participating in ranging / SL positioning.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein: The second information includes one of the following instructions: Information of terminals involved in ranging / SL positioning; Information of terminals not participating in ranging / SL positioning; Reason information for the terminal not participating in ranging / SL positioning.

41. A first network device, wherein: include: A receiving module is configured to receive a first request message sent by a requesting end, wherein the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; The processing module is configured to determine the terminal information of the n terminals that refuses to expose the location information; and determine whether to execute the ranging / SL positioning corresponding to the first request message according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

42. A third network device, wherein: include: A receiving module, configured to receive a third request message sent by the first network device, wherein the third request message is used to obtain a verification result indicated by a user; The verification result is used by the first network device to determine the terminal information of the n terminals requesting ranging / sidelink SL positioning that refuses to expose the location information; n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; a sending module, configured to send a fifth request message to the terminal based on the third request message, wherein the fifth request message is used to request the terminal to obtain the user instruction; The receiving module is further configured to receive a fifth response message returned by the terminal based on the fifth request message; The fifth response message carries the user instruction; The sending module is further configured to return a third response message to the first network device according to the user instruction or the acquisition status of the user instruction, wherein the third response message includes the verification result.

43. A third network device, wherein: include: A receiving module, configured to receive a fourth request message sent by the first network device; The fourth request message is used by the third network device to trigger the execution of ranging / SL positioning; A processing module is configured to obtain a user indication of the terminal according to the fourth request message; the user indication is used to indicate whether the terminal that meets the conditions for participating in the ranging / SL positioning currently refuses to expose the location information; The sending module is configured to send a fourth response message to the first network device according to the terminal information that refuses to expose the location information.

44. A requester, wherein: include: A sending module is configured to send a first request message to a first network device, wherein the first request message is used to request ranging / sidelink SL positioning of n terminals; wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; The receiving module is configured to receive a first response message, wherein the first response message includes: a failure response message of a ranging and positioning failure, or a positioning result of executing the first request message.

45. A communication device, wherein: The communication device comprises: one or more processors; The processor is used to call instructions to enable the communication device to execute the ranging method described in any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 26, 27 to 34, and / or claims 35 to 40.

46. ​​A storage medium, wherein: The storage medium stores instructions, and when the instructions are executed on a communication device, the communication device executes the ranging method described in any one of claims 1 to 22, 23 to 26, 27 to 34, and / or claims 35 to 40.

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