Method and apparatus for positioning in wireless communication system

Abstract

Disclosure of this application is related to a method of performing measurement for positioning by a device in a wireless communication system. The method may comprise performing phase measurements for a plurality of antennas of the device; determining, based on the phase measurements, information regarding a phase progression for each of the plurality of antennas; calculating at least one channel quality metric based on the information regarding the phase progression; and transmitting a measurement report based on the at least one channel quality metric.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system, particularly related to a method and an apparatus for a positioning procedure including measurement for positioning.

[0002] Wireless access systems have been widely deployed to provide various types of communication services such as voice or data. In general, a wireless access system is a multiple access system that supports communication of multiple users by sharing available system resources (a bandwidth, transmission power, etc.) among them. For example, multiple access systems include a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) system, a time division multiple access (TDMA) system, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system, and a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) system.

[0003] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method of efficiently and accurately performing a positioning procedure and an apparatus therefor.

[0004] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the objects that could be achieved with the present disclosure are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and the above and other objects that the present disclosure could achieve will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description.

[0005] In an aspect of the present disclosure, a method of performing measurement for positioning by a device in a wireless communication system, may comprise: performing phase measurements for a plurality of antennas of the device; determining, based on the phase measurements, information regarding a phase progression for each of the plurality of antennas; calculating at least one channel quality metric based on the information regarding the phase progression; and transmitting a measurement report based on the at least one channel quality metric.

[0006] Preferably, the information regarding the phase progression may be related to an estimated line for representing the phase progression.

[0007] Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may be calculated based on an estimated phase value related to the phase progression and an actual phase value measured for each of the plurality of antennas. Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may be calculated based on a difference between the estimated phase value and the actual phase value for each of the plurality of antennas.

[0008] Preferably, the measurement report may include the at least one channel quality metric. Preferably, the phase measurements may be performed based on at least one reference signal received from another device, through the plurality of antennas of the device. Preferably, the measurement report may include angle of arrival (AoA) information for the at least one reference signal.

[0009] Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may include each channel quality metric calculated for each of a plurality of signal arrival paths.

[0010] Preferably, the measurement report may be configured based on a channel quality metric exceeding a threshold from the at least one channel quality metric.

[0011] Preferably, the phase measurements may be performed based on a received signal configured for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).

[0012] Preferably, the measurement report may be transmitted to a location management function (LMF) node.

[0013] Preferably, the device may be a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS) or a transmission and reception point (TRP).

[0014] Preferably, the measurement report may be related to a user equipment (UE)-positioning.

[0015] A medium storing instructions, when executed by a processor, that cause the processor to perform the aforementioned method may be provided according to other aspect of the present disclosure.

[0016] A device performing measurement for positioning may be provided according to another aspect of the present disclosure.

[0017] According to the present disclosure, a positioning procedure may be efficiently and accurately performed in a wireless communication system.

[0018] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the effects that can be achieved with the present disclosure are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove and other advantages of the present disclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates physical channels and a general signal transmission method using the physical channels in a 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) system as an exemplary wireless communication system.

[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates architecture of a 5G system applicable to positioning of a UE connected to an NG-RAN or an E-UTRAN.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates an example of setting a positioning protocol.

[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of OTDOA.

[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of Multi RTT.

[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates a 3D signal model and geometry of antenna array.

[0025] FIG. 7 illustrates Perfect phase progression (dash) and its linear approximation (solid).

[0026] FIG. 8 illustrates Horizontal positioning accuracy (URA, M=N=8).

[0027] FIG. 9 illustrates Vertical positioning accuracy (URA, M=N=8).

[0028] FIG. 10 illustrates a method of performing measurement for positioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 11 illustrates a positioning related procedure in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary communication system applied to the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary wireless device applicable to the present disclosure.

[0032] The following technology may be used in various wireless access systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and so on. CDMA may be implemented as a radio technology such as universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA may be implemented as a radio technology such as global system for mobile communications (GSM) / general packet radio service (GPRS) / enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE). OFDMA may be implemented as a radio technology such as institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)), IEEE 802.16 (worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX)), IEEE 802.20, evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), and so on. UTRA is a part of universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). 3rdgeneration partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) is a part of evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using E-UTRA, and LTE-advanced (LTE-A) is an evolution of 3GPP LTE. 3GPP new radio or new radio access technology (NR) is an evolved version of 3GPP LTE / LTE-A.

[0033] As more and more communication devices require larger communication capacities, the need for enhanced mobile broadband communication relative to the legacy radio access technologies (RATs) has emerged. Massive machine type communication (MTC) providing various services to inter-connected multiple devices and things at any time in any place is one of significant issues to be addressed for next-generation communication. A communication system design in which services sensitive to reliability and latency are considered is under discussion as well. As such, the introduction of the next-generation radio access technology (RAT) for enhanced mobile broadband communication (eMBB), massive MTC (mMTC), and ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) is being discussed. For convenience, this technology is called NR or New RAT in the present disclosure.

[0034] While the following description is given in the context of a 3GPP communication system (e.g., NR) for clarity, the technical spirit of the present disclosure is not limited to the 3GPP communication system. For the background art, terms, and abbreviations used in the present disclosure, refer to the technical specifications published before the present disclosure (e.g., 3GPP TS 38.211, 38.212, 38.213, 38.214, 38.300, 38.331, and so on).

[0035] And, following documents are incorporated by references.

[0036] [1] 3GPP TR 38.859 V1.0.0 (2022-12) "Study on expanded and improved NR positioning"

[0037] [2] F. Mogyorósi et al., "Positioning in 5G and 6G Networks-A Survey" Sensors 22, no. 13: 4757. https: / doi.org / 10.3390 / s22134757

[0038] [3] 3GPP TR 38.901 V17.0.0 (2022-04) "Study on channel model for frequencies from 0.5 to 100 GHz"

[0039] [4] J. Shen, A. F. Molisch, "Indirect Path Detection Based on Wireless Propagation Measurements," in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 11, no. 12, pp. 4482-4493, December 2012, https: / doi.org / 10.1109 / TWC.2012.112012.120104.

[0040] [5] A.Xhafa et al. "Evaluation of 5G Positioning Performance Based on UTDoA, AoA and Base-Station Selective Exclusion," Sensors 2022, 22, 101. https: / doi.org / 10.3390 / s22010101

[0041] [6] W. D. Grossman, "Novel Line-of-Sight Three-Dimensional Triangulation Algorithm for Stationary Targets", Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, Vol. 41, No. 12, 2018. https: / doi.org / 10.2514 / 1.G003204.

[0042] [7] H. Dun, C. C. J. M. Tiberius and G. J. M. Janssen, "Positioning in a Multipath Channel Using OFDM Signals With Carrier Phase Tracking," in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 13011-13028, 2020, https: / doi.org / 10.1109 / ACCESS.2020.2966070.

[0043] In a wireless access system, a user equipment (UE) receives information from a base station (BS) on DL and transmits information to the BS on UL. The information transmitted and received between the UE and the BS includes general data and various types of control information. There are many physical channels according to the types / usages of information transmitted and received between the BS and the UE.

[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates physical channels and a general signal transmission method using the physical channels in a 3GPP system.

[0045] When a UE is powered on or enters a new cell, the UE performs initial cell search (S11). The initial cell search involves acquisition of synchronization to a BS. For this purpose, the UE receives a synchronization signal block (SSB) from the BS. The SSB includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The UE synchronizes its timing to the BS and acquires information such as a cell identifier (ID) based on the PSS / SSS. Further, the UE may acquire information broadcast in the cell by receiving the PBCH from the BS. During the initial cell search, the UE may also monitor a DL channel state by receiving a downlink reference signal (DL RS).

[0046] After the initial cell search, the UE may acquire more detailed system information by receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to the PDCCH (S12).

[0047] Subsequently, to complete connection to the BS, the UE may perform a random access procedure with the BS (S13 to S16). Specifically, the UE may transmit a preamble on a physical random access channel (PRACH) (S13) and may receive a PDCCH and a random access response (RAR) for the preamble on a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH (S14). The UE may then transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) by using scheduling information in the RAR (S15), and perform a contention resolution procedure including reception of a PDCCH and a PDSCH signal corresponding to the PDCCH (S16).

[0048] When the random access procedure is performed in two steps, steps S13 and S15 may be performed as one step (in which Message A is transmitted by the UE), and steps S14 and S16 may be performed as one step (in which Message B is transmitted by the BS).

[0049] After the above procedure, the UE may receive a PDCCH and / or a PDSCH from the BS (S17) and transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and / or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to the BS (S18), in a general UL / DL signal transmission procedure. Control information that the UE transmits to the BS is generically called uplink control information (UCI). The UCI includes a hybrid automatic repeat and request acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK / NACK), a scheduling request (SR), channel state information (CSI), and so on. The CSI includes a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix index (PMI), a rank indication (RI), and so on. In general, UCI is transmitted on a PUCCH. However, if control information and data should be transmitted simultaneously, the control information and the data may be transmitted on a PUSCH. In addition, the UE may transmit the UCI aperiodically on the PUSCH, upon receipt of a request / command from a network.

[0050] The UE may perform a network access procedure to perform the described / proposed procedures and / or methods. For example, the UE may receive and store system information and configuration information required to perform the above-described / proposed procedures and / or methods during network (e.g., BS) access. The configuration information required for the present disclosure may be received by higher-layer signaling (e.g., radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) signaling, or the like).

[0051] Positioning

[0052] Positioning may refer to determining the geographical position and / or velocity of the UE based on measurement of radio signals. Location information may be requested by and reported to a client (e.g., an application) associated with to the UE. The location information may also be requested by a client within or connected to a core network. The location information may be reported in standard formats such as formats for cell-based or geographical coordinates, together with estimated errors of the position and velocity of the UE and / or a positioning method used for positioning.

[0053] FIG. 2 illustrates architecture of a 5G system applicable to positioning of a UE connected to an NG-RAN or an E-UTRAN.

[0054] Referring to FIG. 2, an AMF may receive a request for a location service associated with a particular target UE from another entity such as a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) or the AMF itself decides to initiate the location service on behalf of the particular target UE. Then, the AMF transmits a request for a location service to a location management function (LMF). Upon receiving the request for the location service, the LMF may process the request for the location service and then returns the processing result including the estimated position of the UE to the AMF. In the case of a location service requested by an entity such as the GMLC other than the AMF, the AMF may transmit the processing result received from the LMF to this entity.

[0055] A new generation evolved-NB (ng-eNB) and a gNB are network elements of the NG-RAN capable of providing a measurement result for positioning. The ng-eNB and the gNB may measure radio signals for a target UE and transmits a measurement result value to the LMF. The ng-eNB may control several TPs, such as remote radio heads, or PRS-only TPs for support of a PRS-based beacon system for E-UTRA.

[0056] The LMF is connected to an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) which may enable the LMF to access the E-UTRAN. For example, the E-SMLC may enable the LMF to support OTDOA, which is one of positioning methods of the E-UTRAN, using DL measurement obtained by a target UE through signals transmitted by eNBs and / or PRS-only TPs in the E-UTRAN.

[0057] The LMF may be connected to an SUPL location platform (SLP). The LMF may support and manage different location services for target UEs. The LMF may interact with a serving ng-eNB or a serving gNB for a target UE in order to obtain position measurement for the UE. For positioning of the target UE, the LMF may determine positioning methods, based on a location service (LCS) client type, required quality of service (QoS), UE positioning capabilities, gNB positioning capabilities, and ng-eNB positioning capabilities, and then apply these positioning methods to the serving gNB and / or serving ng-eNB. The LMF may determine additional information such as accuracy of the location estimate and velocity of the target UE. The SLP is a secure user plane location (SUPL) entity responsible for positioning over a user plane.

[0058] The UE may measure the position thereof using DL RSs transmitted by the NG-RAN and the E-UTRAN. The DL RSs transmitted by the NG-RAN and the E-UTRAN to the UE may include a SS / PBCH block, a CSI-RS, and / or a PRS. Which DL RS is used to measure the position of the UE may conform to configuration of LMF / E-SMLC / ng-eNB / E-UTRAN etc. The position of the UE may be measured by an RAT-independent scheme using different global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), terrestrial beacon systems (TBSs), WLAN access points, Bluetooth beacons, and sensors (e.g., barometric sensors) installed in the UE. The UE may also contain LCS applications or access an LCS application through communication with a network accessed thereby or through another application contained therein. The LCS application may include measurement and calculation functions needed to determine the position of the UE. For example, the UE may contain an independent positioning function such as a global positioning system (GPS) and report the position thereof, independent of NG-RAN transmission. Such independently obtained positioning information may be used as assistance information of positioning information obtained from the network.

[0059] Positioning methods supported in the NG-RAN may include a GNSS, an OTDOA, an E-CID, barometric sensor positioning, WLAN positioning, Bluetooth positioning, a TBS, uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA) etc. Although any one of the positioning methods may be used for UE positioning, two or more positioning methods may be used for UE positioning.

[0060] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary positioning protocol configuration for positioning a UE, to which various embodiments are applicable.

[0061] Referring to FIG. 3, an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) may be used as a point-to-point protocol between a location server (E-SMLC and / or SLP and / or LMF) and a target device (UE and / or SET), for positioning the target device using position-related measurements obtained from one or more reference resources. The target device and the location server may exchange measurements and / or location information based on signal A and / or signal B over the LPP.

[0062] NRPPa may be used for information exchange between a reference source (access node and / or BS and / or TP and / or NG-RAN node) and the location server.

[0063] The NRPPa protocol may provide the following functions.

[0064] - E-CID Location Information Transfer. This function allows the reference source to exchange location information with the LMF for the purpose of E-CID positioning.

[0065] - OTDOA Information Transfer. This function allows the reference source to exchange information with the LMF for the purpose of OTDOA positioning.

[0066] - Reporting of General Error Situations. This function allows reporting of general error situations, for which function-specific error messages have not been defined.

[0067] Positioning methods supported in the NG-RAN may include a GNSS, an OTDOA, an E-CID, barometric sensor positioning, WLAN positioning, Bluetooth positioning, a TBS, uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA) etc. Although any one of the positioning methods may be used for UE positioning, two or more positioning methods may be used for UE positioning.

[0068] OTDOA (Observed Time Difference Of Arrival)

[0069] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) positioning method, to which various embodiments are applicable;

[0070] The OTDOA positioning method uses time measured for DL signals received from multiple TPs including an eNB, an ng-eNB, and a PRS-only TP by the UE. The UE measures time of received DL signals using location assistance data received from a location server. The position of the UE may be determined based on such a measurement result and geographical coordinates of neighboring TPs.

[0071] The UE connected to the gNB may request measurement gaps to perform OTDOA measurement from a TP. If the UE is not aware of an SFN of at least one TP in OTDOA assistance data, the UE may use autonomous gaps to obtain an SFN of an OTDOA reference cell prior to requesting measurement gaps for performing reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement.

[0072] Here, the RSTD may be defined as the smallest relative time difference between two subframe boundaries received from a reference cell and a measurement cell. That is, the RSTD may be calculated as the relative time difference between the start time of a subframe received from the measurement cell and the start time of a subframe from the reference cell that is closest to the subframe received from the measurement cell. The reference cell may be selected by the UE.

[0073] For accurate OTDOA measurement, it is necessary to measure time of arrival (ToA) of signals received from geographically distributed three or more TPs or BSs. For example, ToA for each of TP 1, TP 2, and TP 3 may be measured, and RSTD for TP 1 and TP 2, RSTD for TP 2 and TP 3, and RSTD for TP 3 and TP 1 are calculated based on three ToA values. A geometric hyperbola is determined based on the calculated RSTD values and a point at which curves of the hyperbola cross may be estimated as the position of the UE. In this case, accuracy and / or uncertainty for each ToA measurement may occur and the estimated position of the UE may be known as a specific range according to measurement uncertainty.

[0074] For example, RSTD for two TPs may be calculated based on Equation A below.

[0075] [Equation A]

[0076]

[0077] In Equation A, c is the speed of light, { } are (unknown) coordinates of a target UE, { } are (known) coordinates of a TP, and { } are coordinates of a reference TP (or another TP). Here, ( ) is a transmission time offset between two TPs, referred to as "real time differences" (RTDs), and and are UE ToA measurement error values.

[0078] E-CID (Enhanced Cell ID)

[0079] In a cell ID (CID) positioning method, the position of the UE may be measured based on geographical information of a serving ng-eNB, a serving gNB, and / or a serving cell of the UE. For example, the geographical information of the serving ng-eNB, the serving gNB, and / or the serving cell may be acquired by paging, registration, etc.

[0080] The E-CID positioning method may use additional UE measurement and / or NG-RAN radio resources in order to improve UE location estimation in addition to the CID positioning method. Although the E-CID positioning method partially may utilize the same measurement methods as a measurement control system on an RRC protocol, additional measurement only for UE location measurement is not generally performed. In other words, an additional measurement configuration or measurement control message may not be provided for UE location measurement. The UE does not expect that an additional measurement operation only for location measurement will be requested and the UE may report a measurement value obtained by generally measurable methods.

[0081] For example, the serving gNB may implement the E-CID positioning method using an E-UTRA measurement value provided by the UE.

[0082] Measurement elements usable for E-CID positioning may be, for example, as follows.

[0083] UE measurement: E-UTRA reference signal received power (RSRP), E-UTRA reference signal received quality (RSRQ), UE E-UTRA reception (Rx)-transmission (Tx) time difference, GERAN / WLAN reference signal strength indication (RSSI), UTRAN common pilot channel (CPICH) received signal code power (RSCP), and / or UTRAN CPICH Ec / Io

[0084] E-UTRAN measurement: ng-eNB Rx-Tx time difference, timing advance (TADV), and / or AoA

[0085] Here, TADVmay be divided into Type 1 and Type 2 as follows.

[0086] TADVType 1 = (ng-eNB Rx-Tx time difference)+(UE E-UTRA Rx-Tx time difference)

[0087] TADVType 2 = ng-eNB Rx-Tx time difference

[0088] AoA may be used to measure the direction of the UE. AoA is defined as the estimated angle of the UE counterclockwise from the eNB / TP. In this case, a geographical reference direction may be north. The eNB / TP may use a UL signal such as an SRS and / or a DMRS for AoA measurement. The accuracy of measurement of AoA increases as the arrangement of an antenna array increases. When antenna arrays are arranged at the same interval, signals received at adjacent antenna elements may have constant phase rotate.

[0089] UTDOA (Uplink Time Difference of Arrival)

[0090] UTDOA is a method of determining the location of a UE by estimating the arrival time of the SRS. When calculating the estimated SRS arrival time, the location of the UE can be estimated through an arrival time difference with another cell (or base station / TP) by using the serving cell as a reference cell. To implement UTDOA, the E-SMLC may indicate a serving cell of the target UE in order to instruct the target UE to transmit SRS. In addition, E-SMLC can provide configuration such as periodic / aperiodic SRS, bandwidth and frequency / group / sequence hopping.

[0091] Multi RTT (round trip time)

[0092] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary multi-round trip time (multi-RTT) positioning method to which various embodiments are applicable.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 5(a), an exemplary RTT procedure is illustrated, in which an initiating device and a responding device perform ToA measurements, and the responding device provides ToA measurements to the initiating device, for RTT measurement (calculation). The initiating device may be a TRP and / or a UE, and the responding device may be a UE and / or a TRP.

[0094] The initiating device may transmit an RTT measurement request, and the responding device may receive the RTT measurement request (1301).

[0095] The initiating device may transmit an RTT measurement signal at t0and the responding device may acquire a ToA measurement t1(1303).

[0096] The responding device may transmit an RTT measurement signal at t2 and the initiating device may acquire a ToA measurement t3 (1305).

[0097] The responding device may transmit information about [t2-t1], and the initiating device may receive the information and calculate an RTT by Equation B (1307). The information may be transmitted and received based on a separate signal or in the RTT measurement signal (1305).

[0098] [Equation B]

[0099]

[0100] Referring to FIG. 5(b), an RTT may correspond to a double-range measurement between two devices. Positioning estimation may be performed from the corresponding information, and multilateration may be used for the positioning estimation, d1, d2, and d3may be determined based on the measured RTT, and the location of a target device may be determined to be the intersection of the circumferences of circles with radiuses of d1, d2, and d3, in which BS1, BS2, and BS3(or TRPs) are centered, respectively.

[0101] Wireless Sensing Techniques

[0102] Wireless sensing technology is a technology for acquiring information about the surrounding environment and objects based on a signal received by a receiving end through a wireless channel from a transmitting end. In order to utilize wireless sensing technology in various wireless communication systems, methods of generating and transmitting signals specifically for wireless sensing and utilizing them are discussed. The generation and transmission of signals dedicated to wireless sensing can have a beneficial effect in improving the performance of wireless sensing. On the other hand, considering various purposes of wireless communication system are considered (e.g., data communication between transmitting and receiving ends), if a terminal for performing wireless communication could support wireless sensing as well, additional components / efforts are required for transmission and reception of wireless sensing dedicated signals, or there may be a decrease in wireless resource efficiency occurs due to sharing wireless communication resources for sensing purpose.

[0103] Recently, fusion of wireless sensing and wireless communication for various purposes (e.g., data communication and / or positioning) is discussed, to simplify the implementation of transceivers and increasing the efficiency of wireless resource utilization. For example, in 3GPP standardization, ISAC (Integrated Sensing And Communication) technology is studied as one of candidate technologies for 6G. Characteristically, fusion of wireless sensing and wireless communication may use a common reference signal for signal transmission and reception for various purposes (e.g. data communication, positioning, and / or sensing), use the same time / frequency band, and / or use common hardware for transmission and reception. There are advantages such as increasing the efficiency of radio frequency resources and simplifying the implementation of base stations / terminals. For example, PRS (Positioning Reference Signal), CSI-RS (Channel State Information RS), DM-RS (DeModulationRS), or SRS (Sounding RS) transmitted by the base station can be used for wireless sensing.

[0104] The use cases of wireless sensing technology for 6G are various, and to support these use cases, the information to be acquired through wireless sensing includes distance (e.g. distance or propagation delay) and angle (e.g. AoA), or AoD), and the moving speed of the object (e.g., velocity or Doppler). In particular, angle information can be used for estimating the position of an object, configuring an appropriate transmission / reception beam direction, or determining whether there is a Line of Sight (LoS).

[0105] The AoA-related information and positioning accuracy improvement techniques in the application can be used in conjunction with wireless sensing technology.

[0106] Link Quality Metric in regard to positioning of UEs (e.g., reduced capability, RedCAP UEs)

[0107] The communication system evolution, from the LTE to the 5G NR and beyond, focuses not only on the primary data and voice traffic, but also on the different side tasks, including the positioning of the users in the network. Currently developing 3GPP Rel-18 aims the positioning support for so called RedCap UEs (Reduced Capabilities User Equipment). The main motivation for RedCap UEs is to lower the device cost and complexity compared to high-end eMBB and URLLC devices of 3GPP Rel-15 / Rel-16.

[0108] However, UE simplifications may lead to the difficulties with the achieving the required level of accuracy, since for the typical correlation-based methods, the accuracy directly depends on the signal bandwidth.

[0109] 3GPP Rel-18 differentiates commercial and industrial IoT RedCap use cases and sets the positioning performance requirements [1]:

[0110] 1) Commercial use cases

[0111] - Horizontal positioning accuracy: < 3 m for 90% of UEs

[0112] - Vertical positioning accuracy: < 3 m for 90% of UEs

[0113] 2) Industrial IoT use cases

[0114] - Horizontal positioning accuracy: < 1 m for 90% of UEs

[0115] - Vertical positioning accuracy: < 3 m for 90% of UEs

[0116] For the RedCap use case, typical considered scenarios are indoor deployments, which have rich multipath environment. For the limited BW of the RedCap users, the performance of time-domain positioning methods (ToA, TDoA) may degrade drastically if the LOS and NLOS paths will not be properly resolved. The attained positioning accuracy may compromise the specified requirements and the alternative approaches are to be considered.

[0117] One of the alternative approaches is based on the angular (AoA, angle of arrival) measurements [2]. The main advantage of the angular approach is its weak dependence on the signal BW, since phase shifts are analyzed on the different antenna elements. Besides that, the angular approach does not require BSs and UE be synchronized. The main drawback of angular methods is a need for the multiple antenna system at the receiving end. However, smart antenna techniques and MIMO in particular are the inherent parts of 5G network. Hence the corresponding hardware is broadly used for the communication purposes. Furthermore, positioning can be performed on the uplink (UL) so this burden can be transferred to the TRPs and for RedCap UEs it is enough to have a single antenna.

[0118] The accuracy of the AoA estimation for each UE to BS link and, in turn, the accuracy of AoA-based positioning degrades in dense multipath signal propagation environment compared the single tap (pure LOS) channel. Therefore, the ability to precisely estimate LOS (i.e. the direct path) AoA and / or to select angular estimates which are more correct than others is of crucial importance. Moreover, indoor scenarios include blockage and fully NLOS propagation [3]. In these cases, a proper way to evaluate the channels state and corresponding position estimate accuracy should be proposed.

[0119] The present application introduces the simple but effective link quality metric which provides AoA-based positioning in the rich multipath environment under constraints on the signal BW.

[0120] It should be noted that various metrics for NLOS paths detection and NLOS BS exclusion are proposed in the [4], [5]. Some of them are based on the TD processing of the signal; some may require several observations to compare.

[0121] In this application, it is proposed that the link quality metric (and BS selection algorithm) based on the angular analysis and the proposed method can ensure the optimal performance of the angular positioning. Such methods can be used for enhancing the RedCap UEs positioning accuracy.

[0122] For many scenarios, the number of BSs (or TRPs) which can be used for positioning is rather large. The properties of some UE to BS links (i.e. the propagation conditions) are quite close to the pure LOS.

[0123] Therefore two positioning strategies are possible.

[0124] (i) One could try to estimate AoAs of all multipath components for all links and next somehow to determine the corresponding direct paths. Such an approach may not be feasible in a dense multipath as there is a high probability that the number of sources will exceed the number of antenna elements and the super resolution methods will not work.

[0125] (ii) Hence, another strategy is to determine the links with the propagation conditions close to the pure LOS channel (i.e. the 'good' links) and next to use them for positioning discarding or diminishing other links (i.e. performing the link selection).

[0126] The proposals in this application deal with the channel quality metric which indicates how harsh the multipath conditions for each UE to BS link is and which can be used for the link selection allowing positioning with the high accuracy.

[0127] The points to be explained in this application can be summarized as below:

[0128] 1) The method of channel quality metric determination under assumption that each BS is equipped with the uniform rectangular antenna array (URA) and the method may comprising at least one of following operations:

[0129] - estimating the spatial covariance matrices for both horizontal and vertical planes;

[0130] - calculating the principal eigenvectors of these matrices;

[0131] - determining the phase progressions of these vectors

[0132] - approximating these phase progressions with the straight lines;

[0133] - taking the residual approximation errors corresponding to the horizontal and vertical planes as the partial channel quality metrics; and / or

[0134] - determining the channel quality metric by adding up the partial channel quality metrics.

[0135] 2) Each BS may perform 2D angular measurements in the same procedure which provides the link quality metric.

[0136] 3) LMF may determine UE position in 3D space based on the weight least squares algorithm using the squared link quality metrics as the weight.

[0137] The details of the invention are described below:

[0138] 1. Method of channel quality metric determination

[0139] Positioning in 3D space requires 2D AoA estimation. This means the azimuth as well as elevation corresponding to the UE are to be estimated. FIG. 6 illustrates a 3D signal model and geometry of antenna array. The 2D AoA estimation problem can be divided into two 1D AoA estimation problems which means azimuths and elevations can be estimated independently.

[0140] Let a BS be equipped with URA consisting ofNidentical isotropic elements with the inter-element spacingdHin the horizontal plane andMidentical isotropic elements with the inter-element spacingdvin the vertical plane (FIG. 6). It is straightforward to understand the URA consists ofMXNelements formingMrows andNcolumns. Each of the rows and columns can be considered as a separate uniform antenna array (ULA) either horizontal or vertical. Hence, the estimates of the spatial covariance matrix corresponding to the horizontal and vertical planes can be obtained by averaging the partial spatial covariance matrices through the rows and the columns, accordingly.

[0141] Taking into account the 5G NR systems operate with OFDM signals, the simple frequency domain sample estimate bases on PRSs / SRSs can be proposed. Thus, the estimate of spatial covariance matrix corresponding to the horizontal plane can be introduced as Equation 1.

[0142] [Equation 1]

[0143]

[0144] In the Equation 1,Lis the number of subcarriers used for channel estimation and is the vector of size representing the set of channel estimates for the antenna row.

[0145] Following the similar way, the estimate of the spatial covariance matrix corresponding to the vertical plane can be written as Equation 2.

[0146] [Equation 2]

[0147]

[0148] In Equation 2, is the vector of size representing the set of channel estimates for the antenna column.

[0149] Having obtained matrices from the equations 1 and 2 one can find the corresponding principal eigenvectors (i.e. the eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue) and approximate the corresponding phase progression with a straight line. This can be done by tackling this task as a simple linear regression problem, i.e. by minimization of the functional dependent on two parameters (which have geometrical mean of a slope and an intercept).

[0150] [Equation 3]

[0151]

[0152] In Equation 3, is the phase of element of the principal eigenvector, denotes theL2-norm andEis the vector consisting of residual approximation errors .

[0153] It should be highlighted before the approximation procedure Equation 3 is applied, unwrapping of phases must be performed. Whereas various approaches to the phase unwrap exists, one can apply a simple numerical algorithm similar to Matlab unwrap() function.

[0154] The Equation 3 is known to reach the minimum for

[0155] [Equation 4]

[0156]

[0157] The matrix C in Equation 4 is defined as Equation 5.

[0158] [Equation 5]

[0159]

[0160] The Equation 3 reaches zero in the case the channel is pure LOS and the spatial covariance matrix is perfectly known. Hence, the value of residual approximation error can be used as an indicator of how the link is close to the pure LOS channel.

[0161] It is straightforward to derive from Equation 4 and 5that vectorEis equal to Equation 6.

[0162] [Equation 6]

[0163]

[0164] Hence, theL2-norm of vector of Equation 6 normalized to the number of antenna elements serves as the link quality metric. This means the link quality metric metrics for the horizontal and vertical planes can be introduced as Equations 7 and 8.

[0165] [Equation 7]

[0166]

[0167] [Equation 8]

[0168]

[0169] To get the single parameter reflecting the link quality, one can combine metrics of Equations 7 and 8 by adding them up yielding

[0170] [Equation 9]

[0171]

[0172] Equation 9 delivers the link quality metric.

[0173] 2. Each BS performs 2D angular measurements in the same procedure which provides the link quality metric.

[0174] In the case the channel is pure LOS and the spatial covariance matrix is perfectly known, the phases of principal eigenvector entries fall in a straight line with a slope equal to as shown in FIG. 7.

[0175] FIG. 7 illustrates Perfect phase progression (dash) and its linear approximation (solid).

[0176] Base on that, by replacing the slope with its approximation taken from Equation 4, one can obtain the estimate of azimuth as Equation 10 and the estimate of elevation as Equation 11.

[0177] [Equation 10]

[0178]

[0179] [Equation 11]

[0180]

[0181] In Equation 11, and are the slopes obtained by approximation of phase progression of principal eigenvectors of matrices and , accordingly.

[0182] Equations 10 and 11 deliver the required 2D AoA estimate.

[0183] 3. LMF determines UE position in 3D space by the weight least squares algorithm using the squared link quality metrics as the weight.

[0184] LetKBSs (used for positioning) be located in the 3D space and their coordinates { } be known. These BSs provides the set of AoA estimates { } which are defined in a common reference system. The task is to estimate UE coordinates in 3D space, i.e. [ ].

[0185] The estimates of UE coordinates [ ] can be found in different ways. One could divide the 3D problem into two 2D problems. It can be performed, e.g., by considering the XY and XZ planes and solving the corresponding systems of equations for [ ] and [ ].Another variation of this approach is, after [ ] has been found, to calculate directly, involving information about the BSs positions and the corresponding elevations.

[0186] 3D positioning problem can be solved by the unified approach based on the generalized parametric slope-intercept representation of a line in R3. Using projective geometry one can get that the UE position in 3D space may be found as [6],

[0187] [Equation 12]

[0188]

[0189] In Equation 12, is the 3x3 weighting matrix for the link and is the 3x3 rank-2 symmetric idempotent projection matrix that projects any vector onto the plane orthogonal to the vector . In Equation 12, vector is a unit vector determined by { }.

[0190] [Equation 13]

[0191]

[0192] Equation 12 can be effectively obtained via a matrix representation as Equation 14.

[0193] [Equation 14]

[0194]

[0195] where

[0196]

[0197] Block diagonal matrix consists ofKsymmetric positive definite matrices . Having defined the link quality metric by Equation 9, one can introduce the weighting matrix for the link as Equation 15.

[0198] [Equation 15]

[0199]

[0200] The accuracy of AoA estimation depends on the angular distance between the true UE position and the orthogonal line to the antenna array plane. In general case, the closer angular position of UE to , the less accurate AoA estimates are obtained. Hence, it is sensible to perform additional selection (pre-filtering) of the metrics used in Equation 15. Having a set ofKmetrics, one can take into account only those of them for which AoA estimates belong to the specified angular interval. Such an approach can be formulated as Equation 16.

[0201] [Equation 16]

[0202]

[0203] In Equation 16,Tris a pre-defined threshold.

[0204] The simulation results showing the performance of the proposed positioning method is presented in FIG. 8 (horizontal positioning accuracy) and FIG. 9 (vertical positioning accuracy). The results correspond to InF-SH scenario, 5 MHz signal BSs. All BSs have the same height equal to 8 m and the UE height is 1.5 m. The 2D AoA estimation is performed on the UL by means of Equations 10 and 11. The positioning is based on WLS estimator (Equation 14) with the link metric provided by Equation 9. The threshold used for pre-filtering is 60°. Each of BSs is assumed to be equipped with URA consisting of M×N identical isotropic elements. UE is assumed to have single isotropic antenna and its Tx power is equal to 23 dBm.

[0205] The proposed link quality metric allows the accurate indoor positioning of UEs with low signal bandwidth.

[0206] The metric is inherently obtained within the same procedure which provides the 2D AoA estimates and enables the standalone AoA-based positioning in 3D space.

[0207] The metric indicates the current multipath conditions and is applicable for the time-domain indoor positioning as well.

[0208] The results of AoA-based positioning can be used as the entry point for the high-precision positioning methods, e.g. carrier phase positioning [7].

[0209] The UL AoA-based positioning requires the antenna arrays to be installed at BSs. Whereas antenna arrays serve the communication purposes above all, the presented results demonstrate one can get additional benefit by using antenna arrays for positioning.

[0210] Examples

[0211] Here, examples of measurement report procedures considering the proposed Channel Quality Metric(s) are described. Specifically, a first device calculating the Channel Quality Metric may perform measurements corresponding to the calculated Channel Quality Metric (e.g. angular measurement such as AoA and timing measurement such as RSTD / RTOA / Rx-Tx time difference, etc. or phase measurement such as RSCP / RSCPD, etc.). And the first device may transmit a measurement report to a second device. As an example of a first device and a second device, it is assumed that a base station receives a signal transmitted by a UE and the base station calculates the Channel Quality Metric and reports it to the LMF, but present application is not limited thereto. The proposed method can be used in other situations in which the calculation of the Channel Quality Metric can be performed, for example, in a side link situation where a UE receives a signal transmitted by a base station, or where transmission and reception occur between UEs. And an entity that receives the report is not limited to LMF.

[0212] [Example 1]

[0213] In a multipath environment, the UE's transmission signal received by the base station can be divided into one or more paths. In this multipath situation, the base station can calculate the Channel Quality Metric for each path individually and report the Channel Quality Metric along with the measurement results for each path. According to Example 1, the LMF can acquire all Channel Quality Metrics for each path thereby the amount of information can be used by the LMF for positioning may be increased. In particular, Example 1 can be useful for AI / ML-based positioning techniques that learn the environment through various raw data and infer conclusions.

[0214] [Example 2]

[0215] In a multipath environment, the UE's transmission signal received by the base station can be divided into one or more paths. In this multipath situation, the base station can calculate the Channel Quality Metric for each path individually and decide to perform a measurement report only for paths for which the calculated Channel Quality Metric satisfies specific conditions. As an example of the specific condition, Channel Quality Metric of the highest quality, or Channel Quality Metric (s) exceeding a specific threshold may be selected. The above specific conditions may be predefined in the standard, or may be detemiined / configured by the upper node (e.g. LMF) and signaled to the base station. The base station can decide to report the corresponding Channel Quality Metric along with the measurement result. Example 2 has an advantage in selecting only paths with a high possibility of utilization among information reported by the base station. Example 2 can reduce the signaling overhead required for reporting by excluding paths that are less likely to be utilized.

[0216] [Example 3]

[0217] If multiple measurements are reported together through a single measurement report, the priority of measurements included in the measurement report can be determined based on Channel Quality Metric. For example, the plurality of measurements may be measurements acquired by the UE based on signals transmitted from different TRPs. The UE may preferentially report measurements with a higher Channel Quality Metric among signals received from different TRPs. If it is a multipath environment and the signal transmitted from each TRP is received by the UE through multiple paths and the Channel Quality Metric size of each path is different, the highest Channel Quality Metric value for the corresponding TRP can be used for determining the priority. According to Example 3, Channel Quality Metric can be used for selecting proper transmitters for positioning in an environment where the location of the receiver is estimated through the signal transmitted by the transmitters. Example 3 can reduce the signaling overhead required for reporting.

[0218] FIG. 10 illustrates a method of performing measurement for positioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0219] Referring to FIG. 10, the device may perform phase measurements for a plurality of antennas of the device (A05).

[0220] The device may determine, based on the phase measurements, information regarding a phase progression for each of the plurality of antennas (A10).

[0221] The device may calculate at least one channel quality metric based on the information regarding the phase progression (A15).

[0222] The device may transmit a measurement report based on the at least one channel quality metric (A20).

[0223] Preferably, the information regarding the phase progression may be related to an estimated line for representing the phase progression.

[0224] Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may be calculated based on an estimated phase value related to the phase progression and an actual phase value measured for each of the plurality of antennas. Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may be calculated based on a difference between the estimated phase value and the actual phase value for each of the plurality of antennas.

[0225] Preferably, the measurement report may include the at least one channel quality metric. Preferably, the phase measurements may be performed based on at least one reference signal received from another device, through the plurality of antennas of the device. Preferably, the measurement report may include angle of arrival (AoA) information for the at least one reference signal.

[0226] Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may include each channel quality metric calculated for each of a plurality of signal arrival paths.

[0227] Preferably, the measurement report may be configured based on a channel quality metric exceeding a threshold from the at least one channel quality metric.

[0228] Preferably, the phase measurements may be performed based on a received signal configured for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).

[0229] Preferably, the measurement report may be transmitted to a location management function (LMF) node.

[0230] Preferably, the device may be a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS) or a transmission and reception point (TRP).

[0231] Preferably, the measurement report may be related to a user equipment (UE)-positioning.

[0232] FIG. 11 illustrates a positioning related procedure in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0233] Referring to FIG.11, the BS / TRPs may receive configuration regarding positioning related measurement from the LMF (B05).

[0234] The BS / TRPs may transmit reference signal (RS) configuration to the UE (B10). The RS configuration may be configured based on the configuration regarding positioning related measurement.

[0235] The UE may perform RS transmission based on the RS configuration (B15).

[0236] The BS / TRPs may perform phase measurements for a plurality of antennas of the BS / TRPs (B20).

[0237] The BS / TRPs may determine, based on the phase measurements, information regarding a phase progression for each of the plurality of antennas (B25).

[0238] The BS / TRPs may calculate at least one channel quality metric based on the information regarding the phase progression (B30).

[0239] The BS / TRPs may transmit a measurement report based on the at least one channel quality metric (B35).

[0240] Preferably, the information regarding the phase progression may be related to an estimated line for representing the phase progression.

[0241] Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may be calculated based on an estimated phase value related to the phase progression and an actual phase value measured for each of the plurality of antennas. Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may be calculated based on a difference between the estimated phase value and the actual phase value for each of the plurality of antennas.

[0242] Preferably, the measurement report may include the at least one channel quality metric. Preferably, the phase measurements may be performed based on at least one RS received from the UE, through the plurality of antennas of the device. Preferably, the measurement report may include angle of arrival (AoA) information for the at least one RS.

[0243] Preferably, the at least one channel quality metric may include each channel quality metric calculated for each of a plurality of RS arrival paths.

[0244] Preferably, the measurement report may be configured based on a channel quality metric exceeding a threshold from the at least one channel quality metric.

[0245] Preferably, the at least one RS may be configured for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).

[0246] Preferably, the measurement report may be related to a user equipment (UE)-positioning.

[0247] FIG. 12 illustrates a communication system 1 can be applied to the present disclosure.

[0248] Referring to FIG. 12, the communication system 1 applied to the present disclosure includes wireless devices, BSs, and a network. A wireless device is a device performing communication using radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G NR (or New RAT) or LTE), also referred to as a communication / radio / 5G device. The wireless devices may include, not limited to, a robot 100a, vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2, an extended reality (XR) device 100c, a hand-held device 100d, a home appliance 100e, an IoT device 100f, and an artificial intelligence (AI) device / server 400. For example, the vehicles may include a vehicle having a wireless communication function, an autonomous driving vehicle, and a vehicle capable of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Herein, the vehicles may include an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR device may include an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) / mixed reality (MR) device and may be implemented in the form of a head-mounted device (HMD), a head-up display (HUD) mounted in a vehicle, a television (TV), a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device, a home appliance, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, and so on. The hand-held device may include a smartphone, a smartpad, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch or smartglasses), and a computer (e.g., a laptop). The home appliance may include a TV, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and so on. The IoT device may include a sensor, a smartmeter, and so on. For example, the BSs and the network may be implemented as wireless devices, and a specific wireless device 200a may operate as a BS / network node for other wireless devices.

[0249] The wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the network 300 via the BSs 200. An AI technology may be applied to the wireless devices 100a to 100f, and the wireless devices 100a to 100f may be connected to the AI server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 may be configured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, or a 5G (e.g., NR) network. Although the wireless devices 100a to 10Of may communicate with each other through the BSs 200 / network 300, the wireless devices 100a to 10Of may perform direct communication (e.g., sidelink communication) with each other without intervention of the BSs / network. For example, the vehicles 100b-1 and 100b-2 may perform direct communication (e.g. V2V / vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). The IoT device (e.g., a sensor) may perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g., sensors) or other wireless devices 100a to 100f.

[0250] Wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b, and 150c may be established between the wireless devices 100a to 100f / BS 200 and between the BSs 200. Herein, the wireless communication / connections may be established through various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as UL / DL communication 150a, sidelink communication 150b (or, D2D communication), or inter-BS communication (e.g. relay or integrated access backhaul(IAB)). Wireless signals may be transmitted and received between the wireless devices, between the wireless devices and the BSs, and between the BSs through the wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b, and 150c. For example, signals may be transmitted and receive don various physical channels through the wireless communication / connections 150a, 150b and 150c. To this end, at least a part of various configuration information configuring processes, various signal processing processes (e.g., channel encoding / decoding, modulation / demodulation, and resource mapping / demapping), and resource allocation processes, for transmitting / receiving wireless signals, may be performed based on the various proposals of the present disclosure.

[0251] FIG. 13 illustrates wireless devices applicable to the present disclosure.

[0252] Referring to FIG. 13, a first wireless device 100 and a second wireless device 200 may transmit wireless signals through a variety of RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). {The first wireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200} may correspond to {the wireless device 100x and the BS 200} and / or {the wireless device 100x and the wireless device 100x} of FIG. 12.

[0253] The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104, and further include one or more transceivers 106 and / or one or more antennas 108. The processor(s) 102 may control the memory(s) 104 and / or the transceiver(s) 106 and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. For example, the processor(s) 102 may process information in the memory(s) 104 to generate first information / signals and then transmit wireless signals including the first information / signals through the transceiver(s) 106. The processor(s) 102 may receive wireless signals including second information / signals through the transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processing the second information / signals in the memory(s) 104. The memory(s) 104 may be connected to the processor(s) 102 and may store various pieces of information related to operations of the processor(s) 102. For example, the memory(s) 104 may store software code including instructions for performing all or a part of processes controlled by the processor(s) 102 or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. The processor(s) 102 and the memory(s) 104 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 106 may be connected to the processor(s) 102 and transmit and / or receive wireless signals through the one or more antennas 108. Each of the transceiver(s) 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 106 may be interchangeably used with radio frequency (RF) unit(s). In the present disclosure, the wireless device may be a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0254] The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202 and one or more memories 204, and further include one or more transceivers 206 and / or one or more antennas 208. The processor(s) 202 may control the memory(s) 204 and / or the transceiver(s) 206 and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. For example, the processor(s) 202 may process information in the memory(s) 204 to generate third information / signals and then transmit wireless signals including the third information / signals through the transceiver(s) 206. The processor(s) 202 may receive wireless signals including fourth information / signals through the transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processing the fourth information / signals in the memory(s) 204. The memory(s) 204 may be connected to the processor(s) 202 and store various pieces of information related to operations of the processor(s) 202. For example, the memory(s) 204 may store software code including instructions for performing all or a part of processes controlled by the processor(s) 202 or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. The processor(s) 202 and the memory(s) 204 may be a part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 206 may be connected to the processor(s) 202 and transmit and / or receive wireless signals through the one or more antennas 208. Each of the transceiver(s) 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 206 may be interchangeably used with RF unit(s). In the present disclosure, the wireless device may be a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0255] Now, hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 will be described in greater detail. One or more protocol layers may be implemented by, not limited to, one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as physical (PHY), medium access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), RRC, and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP)). The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more protocol data units (PDUs) and / or one or more service data Units (SDUs) according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document and provide the messages, control information, data, or information to one or more transceivers 106 and 206. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document and provide the generated signals to the one or more transceivers 106 and 206. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may receive the signals (e.g., baseband signals) from the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 and acquire the PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document.

[0256] The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be configured to include the modules, procedures, or functions. Firmware or software configured to perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be included in the one or more processors 102 and 202 or may be stored in the one or more memories 104 and 204 and executed by the one or more processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document may be implemented using firmware or software in the form of code, an instruction, and / or a set of instructions.

[0257] The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals, messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and / or commands. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured to include read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard drives, registers, cash memories, computer-readable storage media, and / or combinations thereof. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be located at the interior and / or exterior of the one or more processors 102 and 202. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 through various technologies such as wired or wireless connection.

[0258] The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, and / or wireless signals / channels, mentioned in the methods and / or operation flowcharts of this document, to one or more other devices. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, and / or wireless signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document, from one or more other devices. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 and transmit and receive wireless signals. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, or wireless signals to one or more other devices. The one or more processors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receive user data, control information, or wireless signals from one or more other devices. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one or more antennas 108 and 208 and the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, and / or wireless signals / channels, mentioned in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operation flowcharts disclosed in this document, through the one or more antennas 108 and 208. In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received wireless signals / channels from RF band signals into baseband signals in order to process received user data, control information, and wireless signals / channels using the one or more processors 102 and 202. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data, control information, and wireless signals / channels processed using the one or more processors 102 and 202 from the baseband signals into the RF band signals. To this end, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters.

[0259] The embodiments of the present disclosure described above are combinations of elements and features of the present disclosure. The elements or features may be considered selective unless otherwise mentioned. Each element or feature may be practiced without being combined with other elements or features. Further, an embodiment of the present disclosure may be constructed by combining parts of the elements and / or features. Operation orders described in embodiments of the present disclosure may be rearranged. Some constructions of any one embodiment may be included in another embodiment and may be replaced with corresponding constructions of another embodiment. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that claims that are not explicitly cited in each other in the appended claims may be presented in combination as an embodiment of the present disclosure or included as a new claim by a subsequent amendment after the application is filed.

[0260] The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, focusing on the signal transmission and reception relationship between a UE and a BS. The signal transmission and reception relationship is extended to signal transmission and reception between a UE and a relay or between a BS and a relay in the same manner or a similar manner. A specific operation described as performed by a BS may be performed by an upper node of the BS. Namely, it is apparent that, in a network comprised of a plurality of network nodes including a BS, various operations performed for communication with a UE may be performed by the BS, or network nodes other than the BS. The term BS may be replaced with the term fixed station, Node B, enhanced Node B (eNode B or eNB), access point, and so on. Further, the term UE may be replaced with the term terminal, mobile station (MS), mobile subscriber station (MSS), and so on.

[0261] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present disclosure may be carried out in other specific ways than those set forth herein without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the present disclosure. The above embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the disclosure should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, not by the above description, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

[0262] The present disclosure may be used in a UE, a BS, or other devices in a wireless communication system.

Claims

1.A method of performing measurement for positioning by a device in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:performing phase measurements for a plurality of antennas of the device;determining, based on the phase measurements, information regarding a phase progression for each of the plurality of antennas;calculating at least one channel quality metric based on the information regarding the phase progression; andtransmitting a measurement report based on the at least one channel quality metric.2.The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding the phase progression is related to an estimated line for representing the phase progression.3.The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel quality metric is calculated based on an estimated phase value related to the phase progression and an actual phase value measured for each of the plurality of antennas.4.The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one channel quality metric is calculated based on a difference between the estimated phase value and the actual phase value for each of the plurality of antennas.5.The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement report includes the at least one channel quality metric.6.The method of claim 5,wherein the phase measurements are performed based on at least one reference signal received from another device, through the plurality of antennas of the device, andwherein the measurement report includes angle of arrival (AoA) information for the at least one reference signal.7.The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one channel quality metric includes each channel quality metric calculated for each of a plurality of signal arrival paths.8.The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement report is configured based on a channel quality metric exceeding a threshold from the at least one channel quality metric.9.The method of claim 1, wherein the phase measurements are performed based on a received signal configured for integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).10.The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement report is transmitted to a location management function (LMF) node.11.The method of claim 1, wherein the device is a user equipment (UE), a base station (BS) or a transmission and reception point (TRP).12.The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement report is related to a user equipment (UE)-positioning.13.A medium storing instructions, when executed by a processor, that cause the processor to perform the method of claim 1.14.A device for wireless communication, the device comprising:a plurality of antennas;a memory configured to store instructions; anda processor configured to perform operations by executing the instructions,wherein the operations performed by the processor includes:performing phase measurements for the plurality of antennas;determining, based on the phase measurements, information regarding a phase progression for each of the plurality of antennas;calculating at least one channel quality metric based on the information regarding the phase progression; andtransmitting a measurement report based on the at least one channel quality metric.

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