Positioning method and apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a positioning method and apparatus. The method comprises: a first apparatus firstly acquiring path measurement information of at least one target channel, wherein the at least one target channel is a channel for respectively transmitting signals between the first apparatus and at least one second apparatus; then on the basis of the path measurement information of the at least one target channel, determining measurement information of a first path respectively corresponding to the at least one target channel, wherein the first path is a direct connection path between the first apparatus and the second apparatus; and sending the measurement information of the first path respectively corresponding to the at least one target channel to a positioning apparatus for positioning calculation. By means of the method, accurate measurement information or data (such as time of arrival) of a channel path between the first apparatus and the second apparatus can be obtained for positioning calculation, thus effectively improving the precision of overall positioning.

Description

Positioning method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on November 3, 2023, with application number 202311464480.2 and application name “A Positioning Method and Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of positioning technology, and in particular to a positioning method and device. Background Art

[0004] With the rapid development of communications technology, high-precision positioning has been gradually identified as a key research project in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for fifth-generation mobile networks or wireless systems (5G). The 3GPP standard supports a variety of positioning technologies, such as carrier phase positioning, time of arrival (TOA), angle of departure (AOD), time difference of arrival (TDOA), angle of arrival (AOA), and round-trip time (RTT).

[0005] To achieve high-precision positioning, precise measurements are required. Whether using time, angle, or carrier phase-based positioning techniques, accurate measurements of the first path delay, angle, or carrier phase are required. However, in channels with multipath interference, the large number of reflection paths leads to a high number of multipath paths near the first path, making them difficult to separate in time. This can cause errors in the estimated arrival time or angle of the first path, thus affecting positioning accuracy. Therefore, accurately obtaining first path positioning measurement data is a pressing issue.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application proposes a positioning method and device, which can accurately obtain positioning measurement data of the first path to improve positioning accuracy.

[0008] The solutions provided in the following first and second aspects can be applied to the current downlink positioning process to effectively determine the location information of the first device (such as a terminal device).

[0009] In the first aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, which can be executed by a first device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the first device, without limitation. Taking the first device as an example, the method may include: the first device obtains path measurement information of at least one target channel; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device; the first device determines the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; and then the first device sends the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel to the positioning device.

[0010] In an embodiment of the present application, the first device may be a terminal device to be located, the second device may be an access network device (such as a base station), and the positioning device may be a location management function (LMF) or a location management device.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present application, when a signal is transmitted between the first device and the second device through the target channel, there may be multiple transmission paths due to reflection and / or scattering. The first path in the present application may refer to the actual path when the first device and the second device transmit signals through the target channel, that is, the signal is directly transmitted to the receiving end without reflection and / or scattering. The transmission distance and time corresponding to the first path are the shortest, and the signal transmitted by the first path arrives at the receiving end first compared with other paths in the target channel. In the present application, the first path may be referred to as a direct path, and may also be referred to as a line of sight (LOS) path or a first-reaching path (or first-reaching path), without specific limitation.

[0012] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this application, a single channel (referred to as the target channel) for signal transmission between a first device and a second device is used as an example to illustrate the solution. In actual applications, there may be multiple channels for signal transmission between the first and second devices, and each channel can obtain measurement information for the first path therein by referring to the method of the target channel. Similarly, within a single channel (referred to as the target channel) between the first and second devices, there may be one or more first paths. In the case of multiple first paths, the processing method corresponding to a single first path can also be used.

[0013] In the present application scheme, the first device first obtains the measurement information of the target channel for transmitting signals between itself and the second device. Since there may be multi-path transmission when the signal is transmitted through the channel, the first device then obtains the measurement information of the first path based on the measurement information of the target channel. The first path is the direct connection path between the first device and the second device. Similarly, for other second devices, the first device performs the same process to obtain the measurement information of the first path in the corresponding target channel. Finally, the first device sends the measurement information of these first paths to the positioning device for subsequent positioning calculations of the positioning device. Therefore, through this method, accurate measurement information of the path between the first device and the second device can be obtained, thereby effectively improving the accuracy of the overall positioning.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the first device obtains path measurement information of at least one target channel, which may include: the first device receives a reference signal sent by at least one second device through the at least one target channel, and measures to obtain information of the corresponding target channel; and then obtains the path measurement information of the at least one target channel based on the information of the at least one target channel.

[0015] Through this implementation, the first device can effectively obtain measurement information of the channels between the first device and each second device.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the target channel information is frequency domain information of the target channel, and the target channel path measurement information is channel impulse response (CIR) information of the target channel. The first device, based on the at least one target channel information, obtains the path measurement information of the at least one target channel, which may include: first performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) on the frequency domain information of the at least one target channel to obtain CIR information of the at least one target channel. With this implementation, the first device can effectively measure the CIR information of the channel through which signals are transmitted between the first device and each second device.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the path measurement information of the target channel is the impulse response CIR information of the target channel; then the first device determines the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel, which may include: first obtaining the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel; and then determining the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path corresponding to each target channel.

[0018] Through the above implementation, the first device can effectively determine the more accurate measurement information of the first path through the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to each target channel.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the first device obtains the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel, which may include: performing angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present application, the first device performs angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle, which may specifically include: multiplying the CIR information of each target channel by at least one rotation vector, and then performing real part projection to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle.

[0021] Through this implementation, the first device can effectively obtain the CIR information of each path in each target channel based on the CIR information of each target channel, so as to subsequently determine the measurement information corresponding to the first path (such as the arrival time corresponding to the first path).

[0022] In one possible implementation, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; then the first device determines the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to each target channel, which may include: obtaining preset single-path CIR information; performing sliding correlation processing on the CIR information of the at least one path and the preset single-path CIR information, and obtaining first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; the first relationship information is used to characterize the correspondence between the rotation angle and delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; then, based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, determining the target delay; and using the target delay as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

[0023] In the embodiment of the present application, the first relationship information may also be used to characterize: the correspondence between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and / or the correspondence between the rotation angle and the time delay.

[0024] Through this implementation, the first device can effectively obtain the arrival time corresponding to the first path based on the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to each target channel; in this way, the arrival time corresponding to the first path in each target channel is used in the calculation of the positioning device, which can improve the accuracy of the positioning calculation.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the first device determines the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, which may include: determining one or more delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path using a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold; if one delay is determined, using that delay as the target delay; if multiple delays are determined, using an average or cluster value of the multiple delays as the target delay. Through this implementation, the first device can effectively determine the target delay (i.e., the arrival time between the first device and the second device).

[0026] In one possible embodiment, the method also includes: the first device sends information of the first path corresponding to the at least one second device to the positioning device; the information of the first path may include but is not limited to any one or more of the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time, the relevant information corresponding to the arrival time, and the second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time; wherein the relevant information can be used to characterize one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; wherein the second relationship information can also be used to characterize any one or more of the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

[0027] In the embodiments of the present application, a single-path channel may refer to a channel with only one single path (i.e., the LOS path) and no other multipaths, or a channel with other multipaths but a distance from the multipath to the LOS path greater than a certain threshold that does not affect the parameter estimation (delay, phase, etc.) of the LOS path. The single-path arrival time may refer to the arrival delay of the LOS path, i.e., the time corresponding to the straight-line distance from the transmitter to the receiver.

[0028] In the above, the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than the preset threshold, etc. can be determined by the first device itself and reported to the positioning device. The correlation coefficient value corresponding to the above arrival time and each information in the second relationship information can be determined through the above first relationship information.

[0029] Through this implementation, the positioning device can also use the information of the first path (such as the above-mentioned related information, relationship information, etc.) to perform positioning calculations, which can further improve the accuracy of positioning.

[0030] In a second aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, which can be executed by a positioning device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the positioning device, without limitation. Taking a positioning device as an example, the method may include: the positioning device receives measurement information of a first path corresponding to at least one target channel of a first device; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; the positioning device determines the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel.

[0031] In an embodiment of the present application, the first device may be a terminal device to be located, the second device may be an access network device (such as a base station), and the positioning device may be a positioning management function LMF or a positioning management device.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present application, when a signal is transmitted between the first device and the second device through the target channel, there may be multiple transmission paths due to reflection and / or scattering. In the present application, the first path may refer to the actual path when the first device and the second device transmit signals through the target channel, that is, the signal is directly transmitted to the receiving end without reflection and / or scattering. The transmission distance and time corresponding to the first path are the shortest. Compared with other paths in the target channel, the signal transmitted by the first path arrives at the receiving end first. The present application may refer to the first path as a direct path, and may also refer to it as a line-of-sight path (LOS path) or a first-reach path (or first-reach path), without specific limitation.

[0033] In the embodiments of this application, a single channel (referred to as the target channel) for signal transmission between a first device and a second device is used as an example to illustrate the solution. In actual applications, there may be multiple channels for signal transmission between the first and second devices, and each channel can obtain measurement information for the first path therein by referring to the method of the target channel. Similarly, within a single channel (referred to as the target channel) between the first and second devices, there may be one or more first paths. In the case of multiple first paths, the processing method corresponding to a single first path can also be used.

[0034] In this application, a positioning device receives measurement information for a first path of at least one target channel sent from a first device; each target channel corresponds to a transmission channel between the first device and a second device; and the first path refers to a direct path between the first and second devices. The positioning device performs positioning calculations based on the measurement information for the first paths of these target channels, obtaining relatively accurate position information for the first device, thereby improving overall positioning accuracy.

[0035] In an embodiment of the present application, the positioning device may also obtain corresponding location information (such as geographic location coordinate information) from the at least one second device, or may store or record the location information (such as geographic location coordinate information) of each second device itself.

[0036] In one possible implementation, when the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time of the first path, the positioning device determining the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel may include: the positioning device determining the location information of the first device based on the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device. Through this embodiment, the positioning device can effectively obtain the location information (e.g., geographic coordinates) of the first device.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the positioning device further receives, from the first device, information related to the arrival time corresponding to each of the at least one target channel; wherein the relevant information can be used to characterize one or more of the following: the degree of matching between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; further, the positioning device can determine a weight value corresponding to the arrival time based on the relevant information corresponding to each of the at least one target channel.

[0038] Through this implementation, the positioning device can also determine the weight value of the arrival time of the first path in each target channel for use in subsequent positioning calculations, thereby obtaining a more accurate positioning calculation result.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the positioning device determining the location information of the first device based on measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel may include: the positioning device determining the location coordinate information of the first device based on the arrival time corresponding to the at least one target channel and the weight value of the arrival time, and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device. Through this embodiment, the positioning device can determine more accurate location coordinate information of the first device.

[0040] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the steps or contents described in the second aspect above can be used as subordinate steps or contents in the scheme described in the first aspect above.

[0041] This application also provides another solution, which is described in detail in the third and fourth aspects below. The solutions provided in the third and fourth aspects can be applied to the current uplink positioning process to effectively determine the location information of the first device (such as a terminal device).

[0042] In a third aspect, the present application provides a positioning method, which can be executed by a second device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the second device, without limitation. Taking the second device as an example, the method may include: the second device obtains path measurement information of a target channel; the target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device; the second device determines measurement information of a first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; and the second device sends the measurement information of the first path to the positioning device.

[0043] In an embodiment of the present application, the first device may be a terminal device to be located, the second device may be an access network device (such as a base station), and the positioning device may be a positioning management function LMF or a positioning management device.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present application, when a signal is transmitted between the first device and the second device through the target channel, there may be multiple transmission paths due to reflection and / or scattering. In the present application, the first path may refer to the actual path when the first device and the second device transmit signals through the target channel, that is, the signal is directly transmitted to the receiving end without reflection and / or scattering. The transmission distance and time corresponding to the first path are the shortest. Compared with other paths in the target channel, the signal transmitted by the first path arrives at the receiving end first. The present application may refer to the first path as a direct path, and may also refer to it as a line-of-sight path (LOS path) or a first-reach path (or first-reach path), without specific limitation.

[0045] Furthermore, in the embodiments of this application, a single channel (referred to as the target channel) for signal transmission between a first device and a second device is used as an example to illustrate the solution. In actual applications, there may be multiple channels for signal transmission between the first and second devices, and each channel can obtain measurement information for the first path therein by referring to the method of the target channel. Similarly, within a single channel (referred to as the target channel) between the first and second devices, there may be one or more first paths. In the case of multiple first paths, the processing method corresponding to a single first path can also be used.

[0046] In the present application, the second device first obtains the measurement information of the target channel for transmitting signals between itself and the first device. Since there may be multi-path transmission when the signal is transmitted through the channel, the second device then obtains the measurement information of the first path based on the measurement information of the target channel. The first path is the direct path between the first device and the second device. Finally, the second device sends the measurement information of the first path to the positioning device for subsequent positioning calculations by the positioning device. Similarly, for other second devices, the above method can also be used. Therefore, through this method, the positioning device can obtain accurate measurement information of the path between the first device and the second device for subsequent positioning calculations, thereby obtaining a more accurate positioning result, thereby improving the accuracy of the overall positioning.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the second device acquiring the path measurement information of the target channel may include: receiving a reference signal transmitted by the second device via the target channel and measuring information about the target channel; and then obtaining the path measurement information of the target channel based on the information about the target channel. With this implementation, the second device can effectively obtain measurement information about the channel between the first and second devices.

[0048] In one possible implementation, the target channel information is frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response (CIR) information of the target channel. The second device, based on the target channel information, obtains the path measurement information of the target channel, which may include: first performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) on the frequency domain information of the target channel to obtain the CIR information of the target channel. With this implementation, the second device can effectively measure the CIR information of the channel used to transmit signals between the first and second devices.

[0049] In one possible implementation, the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response (CIR) information of the target channel; and the second device determining the measurement information of a first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel may include: obtaining CIR information of at least one path in the target channel based on the CIR information of the target channel; and then determining the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path. Through the above implementation, the second device can effectively determine the more accurate measurement information of the first path in each target channel based on the CIR information of at least one path in the target channel.

[0050] In one possible implementation, the second device obtains the CIR information of at least one path in the target channel based on the CIR information of the target channel, which may include: performing angle rotation processing on the impulse response CIR information of the target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

[0051] In an embodiment of the present application, the second device performs angle rotation processing on the impulse response CIR information of the target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle. Specifically, this may include: multiplying the impulse response CIR information of the target channel by at least one rotation vector, and then performing real part projection to obtain the CIR information corresponding to the at least one rotation angle. Through this embodiment, the second device can effectively obtain CIR information for each path in each target channel based on the CIR information of each target channel, so as to facilitate subsequent determination of measurement information corresponding to the first path (such as the arrival time corresponding to the first path).

[0052] In one possible implementation, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; then the second device determines the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path, which may specifically include: obtaining preset single-path CIR information; performing sliding correlation processing on the CIR information of the at least one path and the preset single-path CIR information, and obtaining first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; the first relationship information is used to characterize the correspondence between the rotation angle and delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; then, based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, determining the target delay; and using the target delay as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

[0053] In an embodiment of the present application, the first relationship information may also be used to characterize any one or more of the following: a corresponding relationship between a time delay and a correlation coefficient value, and / or a corresponding relationship between a rotation angle and a time delay.

[0054] Through this implementation, the second device can effectively obtain the arrival time corresponding to the first path based on the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the target channel; in this way, the arrival time corresponding to the first path in the target channel is used in the calculation of the positioning device, which can improve the accuracy of the positioning calculation.

[0055] In one possible implementation, the second device determines the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, which may include: determining one or more delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path using a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold; if one delay is determined, using that delay as the target delay; if multiple delays are determined, using an average or cluster value of the multiple delays as the target delay. Through this implementation, the first device can effectively determine the target delay (i.e., the arrival time between the first device and the second device).

[0056] In one possible embodiment, the method also includes: a second device sends information about the first path to the positioning device; the information about the first path includes one or more of the following: a rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, relevant information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, and second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path; wherein the relevant information is used to characterize one or more of the following: a matching degree between a target channel and a single-path channel, a likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, a probability that a correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and a correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; the second relationship information is used to characterize any one of the following: a correspondence between the arrival time, the corresponding rotation angle, and the correlation coefficient value, a correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and a correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

[0057] In the embodiments of the present application, a single-path channel may refer to a channel with only one single path (i.e., the LOS path) and no other multipaths, or a channel with other multipaths but a distance from the multipath to the LOS path greater than a certain threshold that does not affect the parameter estimation (delay, phase, etc.) of the LOS path. The single-path arrival time may refer to the arrival delay of the LOS path, i.e., the time corresponding to the straight-line distance from the transmitter to the receiver.

[0058] In the above, the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than the preset threshold, etc. can be determined by the second device itself and reported to the positioning device; the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the above arrival time and each information in the second relationship information can be determined through the above first relationship information.

[0059] Through this implementation, the positioning device can also use the information of the first path (such as the above-mentioned related information, relationship information, etc.) to perform positioning calculations, which can further improve the accuracy of positioning.

[0060] The third aspect described above uses a single second device as an example. In actual positioning procedures, one or more second devices may be included. When multiple second devices are included, the methods of the third aspect can be applied to the other second devices. Accordingly, the positioning device receives measurement information of the first path from at least one second device.

[0061] Fourthly, the present application provides a positioning method, which can be performed by a positioning device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the positioning device, without limitation. Taking a positioning device as an example, the method may include: the positioning device receiving measurement information of a first path of at least one second device; the first path being a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; and then determining the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path of the at least one second device.

[0062] In an embodiment of the present application, the first device may be a terminal device to be located, the second device may be an access network device (such as a base station), and the positioning device may be a positioning management function LMF or a positioning management device.

[0063] In an embodiment of the present application, when a signal is transmitted between the first device and the second device through the target channel, there may be multiple transmission paths due to reflection and / or scattering. In an embodiment of the present application, the first path may refer to the actual path when the first device and the second device transmit signals through the target channel, that is, the signal is directly transmitted to the receiving end without reflection and / or scattering. The transmission distance and time corresponding to the first path are the shortest, and the signal transmitted by the first path arrives at the receiving end first compared with other paths in the target channel. In this application, the first path can be referred to as a direct path, and can also be referred to as a line-of-sight path (LOS path) or a first-reach path (or first-reach path), without specific limitation.

[0064] In the embodiments of this application, a single channel (referred to as the target channel) for signal transmission between a first device and a second device is used as an example to illustrate the solution. In actual applications, there may be multiple channels for signal transmission between the first and second devices, and each channel can obtain measurement information for the first path therein by referring to the method of the target channel. Similarly, within a single channel (referred to as the target channel) between the first and second devices, there may be one or more first paths. In the case of multiple first paths, the processing method corresponding to a single first path can also be used.

[0065] In this application, a positioning device receives measurement information about a first path of a target channel from at least one second device. The target channel corresponds to the transmission channel between the first device and a second device, and the first path refers to the direct path between the first device and the second device. The positioning device performs positioning calculations based on the measurement information about the first path of these target channels, thereby obtaining more accurate position information for the first device and improving overall positioning accuracy.

[0066] In an embodiment of the present application, the positioning device may also obtain corresponding location information (such as geographic location coordinate information) from the second device, or may store or record the location information (such as geographic location coordinate information) of the second device itself.

[0067] In one possible implementation, when the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time of the first path, the positioning device determining the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path of the at least one second device may include: determining the location information of the first device based on the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one second device and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device. Through this implementation, the positioning device can effectively obtain the location information (e.g., geographic coordinates) of the first device.

[0068] In one possible embodiment, the method further includes: the positioning device receiving relevant information corresponding to the arrival time sent by the at least one second device; wherein the relevant information is used to represent one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time to the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; further, the positioning device determines a weight value corresponding to the arrival time based on the relevant information corresponding to each second device. Through this embodiment, the positioning device can also determine the weight value corresponding to the arrival time of the first path in the target channel for subsequent positioning calculations, thereby obtaining more accurate positioning calculation results.

[0069] In one possible implementation, the positioning device determines the location information of the first device based on the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one second device and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device. This may include calculating the location coordinate information of the first device based on the arrival time and corresponding weight value corresponding to the at least one second device, as well as the location coordinate information of the at least one second device. Through this implementation, the positioning device can determine more accurate location coordinate information of the first device.

[0070] In an embodiment of the present application, the positioning device may also receive the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the at least one second device, and / or second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time; the second relationship information is used to represent any of the following: the correspondence between the arrival time of the first path and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time of the first path and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path and the correlation coefficient value; wherein the correlation coefficient value is used to represent the degree of similarity between the CIR information corresponding to the rotation angle and the preset single-path CIR information. The positioning device may also use the aforementioned information to perform positioning calculations, which may further improve the accuracy of the positioning calculation results.

[0071] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, the steps or contents described in the fourth aspect above can be used as subordinate steps or contents in the scheme described in the third aspect above.

[0072] In the fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the first aspect. The device can be a first device (terminal device), or the device can be a component in the first device (terminal device) (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with the first device (terminal device).

[0073] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the first aspect, and the module or unit may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit is used to obtain path measurement information of at least one target channel; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device; the processing unit is used to determine the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; the communication unit is also used to send the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel to the positioning device.

[0074] In one possible implementation, when obtaining the path measurement information of at least one target channel, the communication unit is specifically used to: receive the reference signal sent by the at least one second device through the at least one target channel, and measure and obtain the corresponding information of the target channel; and obtain the path measurement information of the at least one target channel based on the information of the at least one target channel.

[0075] In one possible implementation, the information of the target channel is the frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is the impulse response CIR information of the target channel; when the processing unit obtains the path measurement information of the at least one target channel based on the information of the at least one target channel, it is specifically used to: perform inverse fast Fourier transform IFFT processing on the frequency domain information of the at least one target channel to obtain the CIR information of the at least one target channel.

[0076] In one possible implementation, the path measurement information of the target channel is the impulse response CIR information of the target channel; when the processing unit determines the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel, it is specifically used to: obtain the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel; and determine the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path corresponding to each of the target channels.

[0077] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit obtains the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel, it is specifically used to: perform angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the processing unit, when performing angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each of the target channels to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle, is specifically used to: after multiplying the CIR information of each of the target channels by at least one rotation vector, perform real part projection to obtain the CIR information corresponding to the at least one rotation angle.

[0079] In one possible implementation, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; the processing unit, when determining the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path corresponding to each of the target channels, is specifically used to: obtain the preset single-path CIR information through the communication unit; perform sliding correlation processing on the CIR information of the at least one path and the preset single-path CIR information, and obtain the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; the first relationship information is used to characterize the correspondence between the rotation angle and delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; determine the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; and use the target delay as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

[0080] In a possible implementation manner, the first relationship information is further used to represent any one or more of the following: a corresponding relationship between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and a corresponding relationship between the rotation angle and the time delay.

[0081] In one possible implementation, the processing unit determines the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, and is specifically used to: determine one or more delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path through a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold; if one delay is determined, use the delay as the target delay; if multiple delays are determined, use the average value or cluster value of the multiple delays as the target delay.

[0082] In one possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to: send information of the first path corresponding to the at least one second device to the positioning device; the information of the first path includes one or more of the following: the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time, the relevant information corresponding to the arrival time, and the second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time; wherein the relevant information is used to characterize one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; the second relationship information is used to characterize any one of the following: the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

[0083] In one possible implementation, the first device is a terminal device, and the second device is an access network device.

[0084] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the second aspect. The device can be a positioning device, or the device can be a component in the positioning device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or it can be a device that can be used in conjunction with the positioning device.

[0085] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the second aspect, and the module or unit may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit is used to: receive measurement information of a first path corresponding to at least one target channel of the first device; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; the processing unit is used to determine the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the first device may be a terminal device to be located, the second device may be an access network device (such as a base station), and the positioning device may be a positioning management function LMF or a positioning management device.

[0087] In a possible implementation, the communication unit is further configured to obtain location information (such as geographic location coordinate information) corresponding to the at least one second device.

[0088] In one possible implementation, when the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time of the first path, the processing unit, when determining the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel, is specifically used to: determine the location information of the first device based on the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0089] In one possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to receive relevant information of the arrival time corresponding to the at least one target channel sent from the first device; wherein the relevant information can be used to characterize one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; further, the processing unit is also used to determine the weight value of the arrival time based on the relevant information corresponding to each second device.

[0090] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit determines the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel, it is specifically used to: determine the location coordinate information of the first device based on the arrival time corresponding to the at least one target channel and the weight value of the arrival time, and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0091] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the third aspect. The device can be a second device (access network device), or the device can be a component in the second device (access network device) (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or it can be a device that can be used in combination with the second device (access network device).

[0092] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the third aspect, and the module or unit may be a hardware circuit, or software, or a combination of a hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module), wherein the communication unit is used to obtain path measurement information of a target channel; the target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device; the processing unit is used to determine measurement information of a first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel; the first path is a direct path between the first device and the second device; and the communication unit is further used to send measurement information of the first path to a positioning device.

[0093] In one possible implementation, when the communication unit obtains the path measurement information of the target channel, it is specifically used to: receive the reference signal sent by the second device through the target channel, and measure and obtain the information of the target channel; and obtain the path measurement information of the target channel based on the information of the target channel.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the target channel information is frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response (CIR) information of the target channel.

[0095] When obtaining the path measurement information of the target channel based on the information of the target channel, the processing unit is specifically configured to: perform inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing on the frequency domain information of the target channel to obtain CIR information of the target channel.

[0096] In one possible implementation, the path measurement information of the target channel is the impulse response CIR information of the target channel; when the processing unit determines the measurement information of the first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel, it is specifically used to: obtain the CIR information of at least one path in the target channel based on the CIR information of the target channel; and determine the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path.

[0097] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit obtains the CIR information of at least one path in the target channel based on the CIR information of the target channel, it is specifically used to: perform angle rotation processing on the impulse response CIR information of the target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

[0098] In one possible implementation, the processing unit, when performing angle rotation processing on the impulse response CIR information of the target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle, is specifically used to: multiply the impulse response CIR information of the target channel by at least one rotation vector, and then perform real part projection to obtain the CIR information corresponding to the at least one rotation angle.

[0099] In one possible implementation, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; when the processing unit determines the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path, it is specifically used to: obtain the preset single-path CIR information through the communication unit; perform sliding correlation processing on the CIR information of the at least one path and the preset single-path CIR information, and obtain the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; the first relationship information is used to characterize the correspondence between the rotation angle and delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; determine the target delay based on the first relationship information of the at least one path; and use the target delay as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

[0100] In a possible implementation manner, the first relationship information is further used to represent any one or more of the following: a corresponding relationship between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and a corresponding relationship between the rotation angle and the time delay.

[0101] In one possible implementation, the processing unit determines the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, and is specifically used to: determine one or more delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path through a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold; if one delay is determined, use the delay as the target delay; if multiple delays are determined, use the average value or cluster value of the multiple delays as the target delay.

[0102] In one possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to: send information of the first path to the positioning device; the information of the first path includes one or more of the following: the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, the relevant information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, and the second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path; wherein the relevant information is used to characterize one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; the second relationship information is used to characterize any one of the following: the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

[0103] In one possible implementation, the first device is a terminal device, and the second device is an access network device.

[0104] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which can be used to execute the method of the fourth aspect. The device may be a positioning device, or the device may be a component in a positioning device (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or may be a device that can be used in conjunction with the positioning device.

[0105] In one possible implementation, the device may include a module or unit corresponding to each of the methods / operations / steps / actions described in the fourth aspect. The module or unit may be a hardware circuit, software, or a combination of hardware circuit and software. In one possible implementation, the device may include a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (also referred to as a communication module); wherein the communication unit is used to receive measurement information of a first path of at least one second device; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; and the processing unit is used to determine the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path of the at least one second device.

[0106] In one possible implementation, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time of the first path; when the processing unit determines the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path of the at least one second device, it is specifically used to: determine the location information of the first device according to the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one second device and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0107] In one possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to: receive relevant information corresponding to the arrival time sent by the at least one second device; wherein the relevant information is used to characterize one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; the processing unit is further used to determine the weight value corresponding to the arrival time based on the relevant information corresponding to each second device.

[0108] In one possible implementation, when the processing unit determines the location information of the first device based on the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one second device and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device, it is specifically used to: calculate the location coordinate information of the first device based on the arrival time and corresponding weight value corresponding to the at least one second device, and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0109] In one possible implementation, the communication unit is further used to: receive the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the at least one second device, and / or second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time; the second relationship information is used to characterize any one of the following: the correspondence between the arrival time of the first path and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time of the first path and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path and the correlation coefficient value; wherein the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the degree of similarity between the CIR information corresponding to the rotation angle and the preset single-path CIR information.

[0110] In one possible implementation, the first device is a terminal device, and the second device is an access network device.

[0111] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, which includes: at least one processor and a communication interface; wherein the communication interface is used to communicate with other devices; the processor is used to run a set of programs so that the device can implement the method provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the device also includes a memory, and the memory is used to store a set of computer programs or instructions.

[0112] In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, which includes a processor; wherein the processor is used to run a set of programs in a memory so that the device can implement the method provided in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided in the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations thereof, or so that the device can implement the method provided in the fourth aspect or any one of the possible implementations thereof. Optionally, the device also includes a memory, and the memory is used to store a set of computer programs or instructions.

[0113] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer storage medium, which stores a software program. When the software program is read and executed by one or more processors, it can implement the method provided by the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the above-mentioned third aspect or any possible implementation method thereof, or implement the method provided by the above-mentioned fourth aspect or any possible implementation method thereof.

[0114] In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the execution of the method provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or enables the execution of the method provided in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or enables the execution of the method provided in the third aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or enables the execution of the method provided in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0115] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising a first device capable of implementing the method provided in the first aspect, a positioning device capable of implementing the method provided in the second aspect, and optionally, a second device.

[0116] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, comprising a second device capable of implementing the method provided in the third aspect, a positioning device capable of implementing the method provided in the fourth aspect, and optionally, a first device.

[0117] In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a first device to implement the functions involved in the first aspect above; or for supporting a positioning device to implement the functions involved in the second aspect above.

[0118] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data for execution by the device. The chip system may be composed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0119] In the sixteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting the second device to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned third aspect; or for supporting the positioning device to implement the functions involved in the above-mentioned fourth aspect.

[0120] In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary program instructions and data for execution by the device. The chip system may be composed of a chip or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0121] It should be noted that the technical effects that can be achieved by any possible implementation method of the above-mentioned fifth to sixteenth aspects or the fifth to sixteenth aspects can be correspondingly described with reference to the technical effects that can be achieved by any possible implementation method of the above-mentioned first to fourth aspects or the first to fourth aspects; they will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0122] FIG1A is a schematic diagram of a downlink positioning measurement process applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0123] FIG1B is a schematic diagram of an uplink positioning measurement process applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0124] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of an uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) positioning technology;

[0125] FIG3A is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0126] FIG3B is a schematic diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application may be applied;

[0127] FIG3C is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application;

[0128] FIG3D is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application;

[0129] FIG3E is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application;

[0130] FIG3F is a schematic diagram of a communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application;

[0131] FIG4 is a flow chart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of another positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] FIG6A is a schematic diagram of a CIR corresponding to a rotation angle and a CIR corresponding to a single-path basis provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] FIG6B is a schematic diagram of a relationship diagram among a rotation angle, a time delay, and a correlation coefficient provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another chip device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0138] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The terms used in the following embodiments are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in the specification and appended claims of the present application, the singular expressions "one", "a kind of", "said", "above", "the" and "this" are intended to also include expressions such as "one or more", unless there is a clear contrary indication in the context. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, "one or more" refers to one, two or more; "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist; for example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the related objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0139] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" described in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in other embodiments", etc. that appear in different places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways, and the "implementation methods" in this specification are the same as those mentioned above. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways. Words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete way for easy understanding. In addition, in the drawings of the embodiments of the present application, the steps in the dotted lines or dotted boxes are optional steps.

[0140] The multiple involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to greater than or equal to two. It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, words such as "first" and "second", or specific numbers "1", "2", "3", etc., are only used to distinguish the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order. In addition, the term "used for indication" mentioned in the description of the embodiments of the present application can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing a certain indication information used to indicate A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0141] This application provides a positioning method. To better understand the embodiments of this application, the following first explains the names and related technical features involved in the embodiments of this application. It should be noted that these explanations are intended to make the embodiments of this application easier to understand and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of protection claimed by this application.

[0142] 1. Multipath channel:

[0143] Multipath refers to the phenomenon in which wireless signals propagate along multiple paths from the transmitter to the receiver due to obstacles, reflections, and refraction. Signals along these paths arrive at the receiver at different times and phases. The superposition of these signals at different times and phases creates a complex signal waveform, known as a multipath channel. Multipath channels can cause problems such as signal attenuation, delay spread, and phase mismatch, which can affect wireless signal transmission quality and reliability. To overcome the effects of multipath channels, various technologies, such as equalization, diversity filtering, and coding, are commonly used to improve signal transmission quality and reliability.

[0144] 2. Channel Impulse Response (CIR):

[0145] In a communication system, a channel refers to the medium through which signals are transmitted. The CIR represents the energy of a signal arriving at the receiver at varying times (due to varying propagation paths). The CIR (Channel Impulse Response) is commonly used to describe the multipath effects of wireless channels. Under the assumption of linear time invariance, the CIR can be expressed as follows:

[0146] Among them, a i represents the amplitude attenuation of the i-th path, θ i represents the phase offset of the i-th path, τ i represents the time delay of the i-th path, N represents the total number of transmission paths, and δ(τ) is the Dirichlet impulse function.

[0147] Multipath signal propagation manifests as delay spread in the time domain and selective fading in the frequency domain. Therefore, the channel frequency response (CFR) of a wireless channel can be used to describe multipath signal propagation in terms of both amplitude-frequency and phase-frequency characteristics. Specifically, the CFR represents the response of a signal across different frequency ranges, typically encompassing both amplitude / frequency and phase / frequency responses. Under infinite bandwidth conditions, the CFR and CIR are Fourier transforms of each other.

[0148] 3. Reference signal:

[0149] A reference signal (SR) is a pilot signal, which is a known signal provided by a transmitter to a receiver for channel estimation or channel detection.

[0150] In an embodiment of the present application, the reference signal may be, for example, a dual-subband reference signal (DS-RS), a synchronization signal-physical sidelink broadcast channel block (SSB), a positioning reference signal (PRS) (such as a sidelink (SL)-PRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or at least one of a phase-tracking reference signal (PTRS).

[0151] The sidelink in the embodiment of the present application can also be referred to as a sidelink, a sidelink, a direct link, an edge link or an auxiliary link, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the above terms all refer to links established between devices of the same type, and their meanings are the same. The so-called devices of the same type may be links between terminals, etc. For links between terminals, there are device-to-device (D2D) links defined in version (Rel)-12 / 13 of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), and there are also vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-mobile phone, or vehicle-to-any entity's vehicle-to-everything (V2X) links defined by 3GPP for the Internet of Vehicles, including Rel-14 / 15. It also includes V2X links based on NR systems in Rel-16 and subsequent versions that are currently being studied by 3GPP.

[0152] The present embodiments involve the concept of a reference signal. For example, a first reference signal and a second reference signal may be the same reference signal. When two reference signals are the same reference signal, it can be understood that the resource identifiers (IDs) and resource set IDs corresponding to the two reference signals are the same. It can also be understood that the reference signal transmitter sends a reference signal. This reference signal can be referred to as a first reference signal or a second reference signal.

[0153] 4. Positioning technology:

[0154] Positioning is a critical function in mobile communication systems, requiring them to provide real-time user location information. 5G communication systems place high-precision demands on positioning, requiring an error of less than 10 meters outdoors and less than 1 meter indoors.

[0155] Positioning technologies include uplink positioning, downlink positioning, and uplink / downlink positioning. In uplink positioning, the base station measures the SRS signal sent by the terminal, while in downlink positioning, the terminal measures the PRS signal sent by the base station. In uplink / downlink positioning, the terminal is required to measure both the PRS signal sent by the base station and the SRS signal sent by the terminal.

[0156] Related technical solutions support multiple positioning technologies, including downlink-time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) positioning technology, downlink-angle of departure (DL-AOD) positioning technology, uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) positioning technology, uplink angle of arrival (UL-AOA) positioning technology, and multi-round trip time (multi-RTT) positioning technology. DL-TDOA, UL-TDOA, and multi-RTT are positioning technologies based on time of arrival, meaning the receiver needs to measure the time of arrival of the signal sent by the transmitter, and then convert it into distance information between the two, ultimately obtaining the location of the target to be located. DL-AOD and UL-AOA are angle-based positioning technologies, meaning the receiver measures the angle of arrival of the reference signal sent by the transmitter, and then infers the receiver's location based on the angle information between the receiver and multiple transmitters with known locations.

[0157] The following uses the time difference of arrival (TDOA) as an example to introduce the uplink positioning and downlink positioning processes applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0158] Figure 1A shows a downlink DL-TDOA positioning measurement process applicable to an embodiment of the present application, taking three base stations to assist in determining the location information of the UE to be located as an example, where base station 1 is the service base station of the UE to be located, and base station 2 and base station 3 are adjacent base stations.

[0159] As shown in FIG1A , the downlink positioning process includes the following:

[0160] S101A: The LMF obtains capability information of the UE to be located.

[0161] Exemplarily, the LMF may obtain capability information of the UE to be located (such as the UE's ability to receive signals, computing capabilities, etc.) through the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) capability transfer process.

[0162] S102A: The LMF sends base station information requests to the serving base station 1 and the neighboring base stations (base station 2 and base station 3) respectively to request to obtain base station information.

[0163] Base station information may include cell information, coordinates, ID, PRS configuration, etc.

[0164] S103A: Serving base station 1 and neighboring base stations (base station 2 and base station 3) send base station information responses to the LMF respectively.

[0165] The base station information response returned by each base station includes cell information, coordinates, ID, PRS configuration, etc.

[0166] S104A: The LMF sends assistance information to the UE to be located. The assistance information includes PRS configuration, gNB / TRP coordinates, etc. Correspondingly, the UE receives the assistance information.

[0167] S105A: The LMF sends a positioning request message to the UE to be located, where the positioning request message is used to request the UE to measure the PRS. Correspondingly, the UE receives the positioning request message.

[0168] S106A: The UE to be located performs downlink PRS measurement to obtain a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement result.

[0169] That is, the UE receives the PRS signal sent by base station 1 and obtains PRS measurement result 1; the UE receives the PRS signal sent by base station 2 and obtains PRS measurement result 2; and the UE receives the PRS signal sent by base station 3 and obtains PRS measurement result 3. The RSTD measurement results include the PRS measurement result of base station 1, the PRS measurement report of base station 2, and the PRS measurement report of base station 3.

[0170] S107A: The UE to be located reports the RSTD measurement result to the LMF.

[0171] S108A: The LMF performs positioning calculation based on the RSTD measurement results and the position coordinates of base stations 1, 2, and 3 to determine the location information of the UE to be located.

[0172] FIG1B illustrates an uplink UL-TDOA positioning measurement process applicable to an embodiment of the present application, taking three base stations as an example to assist in determining the location information of a UE to be located, where base station 1 is the serving base station for the UE to be located, and base stations 2 and 3 are adjacent base stations (neighboring base stations). Referring to FIG1B , the uplink positioning process includes the following:

[0173] S101B: The LMF sends a positioning information request to the serving base station 1, where the positioning information request is used to request configuration of an SRS for the UE to be located.

[0174] That is, the LMF can request the serving gNB 1 (Serving gNB) to configure the SRS for the UE to be located through the NR positioning protocol annex (NRPPa). Accordingly, the serving gNB 1 receives the positioning information request.

[0175] S102B: Serving base station 1 determines available SRS resources and obtains SRS configuration information.

[0176] S103B: Serving base station 1 sends SRS configuration information to the UE to be located.

[0177] S104B: Serving base station 1 reports the SRS configuration information to the LMF.

[0178] That is, the serving base station 1 can report the SRS configuration information to the LMF through NRPPa.

[0179] The above S103B and S104B may be performed synchronously or asynchronously, and the execution order is not specifically limited.

[0180] S105B: LMF sends SRS configuration information to base station 2 and base station 3 respectively.

[0181] That is, the LMF can send SRS configuration information to base station 2 and base station 3 respectively through the NR positioning protocol annex (NR positioning protocol annex, NRPPa).

[0182] The embodiment of the present application does not impose any specific limitation on the order in which the LMF sends SRS configuration information to base station 2 and base station 3.

[0183] S106B: LMF sends measurement requests to base station 1, base station 2, and base station 3 respectively.

[0184] In a possible implementation, the LMF may also carry the SRS configuration information in two measurement requests respectively, and send them to base station 2 and base station 3 respectively.

[0185] For example, the LMF may send SRS configuration information to each base station involved in positioning through NRPPa and request measurement.

[0186] S107B: Serving base station 1 and each of the neighboring base stations (base station 2 and base station 3) perform uplink SRS measurement based on the SRS configuration information.

[0187] After receiving the measurement request from the LMF, the serving base station 1 and the neighboring base stations (base station 2 and base station 3) respectively receive the SRS sent by the UE to be located and respectively measure the arrival time of the SRS.

[0188] That is, the SRS measurement report obtained by each base station includes the arrival time of the SRS.

[0189] S108B: Serving base station 1 and each of the neighboring base stations (base station 2 and base station 3) send an SRS measurement report to the LMF.

[0190] That is, base station 1 sends SRS measurement report 1 measured by base station 1 to LMF, base station 2 sends SRS measurement report 2 measured by base station 2 to LMF, and base station 3 sends SRS measurement report 3 measured by base station 3 to LMF.

[0191] S109B: LMF performs positioning solution based on the SRS measurement reports of serving base station 1, base station 2 and base station 3 to determine the location information of the UE to be located.

[0192] That is, the LMF uses the arrival times in the SRS measurement reports of the three base stations to estimate the position and determine the location information of the UE to be located.

[0193] In the above description, serving base station 1 is the base station located in the cell where the UE to be located is located. Serving base station 1 provides communication connectivity services for the UE to be located. There are at least two neighboring base stations (such as base stations 2 and 3 mentioned above). Neighboring base stations can be the base station of the cell where the UE to be located is located, or they can be base stations of other cells. They can also be partly the base station of the cell where the UE to be located and partly the base station of other cells. LMF can calculate the position of the UE to be located based on the measurement information of the serving base station and the measurement information of neighboring base stations. The following describes the positioning principle and calculation process.

[0194] UL-TDOA positioning works by measuring the time difference between SRS arrival times at different base stations to locate the source of radio signals. Specifically, LMF calculates the time difference between SRS arrival times at two base stations, deriving the distance difference from this time difference, and thus generating a hyperbola. The LMF then uses the time differences measured by three or more base stations to generate two or more hyperbolas. The LMF then locates the source based on the intersection of these two or more hyperbolas.

[0195] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the UL-TDOA positioning technology. The UE to be located in Figure 2 can send an SRS. Base stations 1, 2, and 3 in Figure 2 correspond to the serving base station and neighboring base stations that measure the SRS in the above-mentioned UL-TDOA positioning technology. Among base stations 1, 2, and 3, one base station is the serving base station for the terminal device, and the other two base stations are neighboring base stations for the terminal device. Referring to Figure 2, the UE to be located sends an SRS, and base stations 1, 2, and 3 each measure the SRS sent by the UE to be located.

[0196] The following is a brief introduction to how LMF calculates the position of the target based on the measurement results of UL-TDOA technology. That is, how to estimate the position of the target by calculating the intersection of the hyperbola. Assuming that the positions of the three base stations are known, the coordinates of the i-th base station are defined as (x i ,y i ), the coordinates of the target to be located are (xUE ,y UE ), and the first base station is used as the reference base station, and the arrival time of the SRS measured by the other two base stations is t i , then the arrival time difference between base station 2 and base station 3 and reference base station 1 is Δt i1 According to the definition of a hyperbola (the distance from two fixed points is constant), the UE to be located is located on the hyperbola with base stations 2 and 3 as foci, and the following set of equations can be listed:

[0197] In the above two equations, c is the speed of light, because there are only two unknowns (X UE ,y UE ), the position coordinates of the UE to be located can be obtained by solving equations (1) and (2) together. In practice, due to the existence of measurement errors, the above equations generally do not have analytical solutions. In engineering, classic optimization algorithms such as the least squares algorithm or the particle swarm filter algorithm are often used to estimate the solution of the above equations.

[0198] To describe it from another perspective, the arrival time difference between the SRS sent by the UE to be located and the arrival time at base station 1 and base station 2 is Δt 21 The arrival time difference between the SRS sent by the UE to be located and the base station 1 and base station 3 is Δt 31 . The arrival time difference Δt 21 Multiply by the speed of light to get the distance difference L1, and the arrival time difference Δt 21 Multiplying by the speed of light yields the distance difference L2. LMF can generate the hyperbola MN shown in Figure 2 based on the functional relationship between the positions of base stations 1 and 2 and the distance difference L1. It also generates the hyperbola RS shown in Figure 2 based on the functional relationship between the positions of base stations 1 and 3 and the distance difference L2. Furthermore, LMF can locate the UE to be located based on the intersection of hyperbola MN and hyperbola RS.

[0199] It should be noted that in Figure 2, three base stations are used to locate the terminal device, but this application does not limit this. In actual applications, more than three base stations can also be used to locate the terminal device.

[0200] Based on the above introduction to positioning technologies, high-precision positioning requires accurate measurements. Whether using time, angle, or carrier phase-based measurement methods, accurate first-path measurement information or data (such as delay, angle, or carrier phase) is required. In channels with multipath interference, the large number of reflection paths leads to a large number of multipath paths near the first path, making them difficult to separate in time. This can cause errors in the estimation of first-path measurement information or data (such as delay or angle), thus affecting overall positioning accuracy.

[0201] Therefore, the present application proposes a positioning method, which can obtain accurate measurement information of the first path during positioning measurement, thereby improving the accuracy of the overall positioning.

[0202] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: fifth generation (5G) or new radio (NR) systems, long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, etc. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to future communication systems. The technical solutions provided in this application can also be applied to device to device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and Internet of Things (IoT) communication systems. Of course, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other communication systems, as long as the communication system has a positioning requirement for the terminal. In addition, the communication system can also be applied to future-oriented communication technologies. The system described in the embodiment of the present application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0203] FIG3A exemplarily illustrates an architectural diagram of a communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3A , the communication system 3000 includes a radio access network 100 and a core network 200. Optionally, the communication system 3000 may also include the Internet 300. The radio access network 100 may include at least one radio access network device (such as 110a and 110b in FIG3A ) and may also include at least one terminal (such as 120a-120j in FIG3A ). The terminal is connected to the radio access network device wirelessly, and the radio access network device is connected to the core network via wireless or wired connections. The core network device and the radio access network device may be independent and distinct physical devices, or the functions of the core network device and the logical functions of the radio access network device may be integrated into the same physical device, or a physical device may integrate some of the functions of the core network device and some of the functions of the radio access network device. Terminals and radio access network devices may be connected to each other via wired or wireless connections. FIG3A is only a schematic diagram. The communication system 3000 may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices, which are not shown in FIG3A .

[0204] The network devices involved in the embodiments of the present application include, for example, radio access network (RAN) devices. The RAN devices may be base stations, evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs), transmission reception points (TRPs), transmission nodes (TPs), next generation NodeBs (gNBs) in 5G mobile communication systems, base stations in future mobile communication systems, or access nodes in WiFi systems.

[0205] In another possible scenario, multiple RAN nodes collaborate to assist terminals in achieving wireless access, with different RAN nodes implementing portions of the base station's functionality. For example, a RAN node can be a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a CU-control plane (CP), a CU-user plane (UP), or a radio unit (RU).

[0206] The CU and DU can be set up separately, or they can also be included in the same network element, such as the baseband unit (BBU). The CU here completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete the functions of part or all of the physical layer. For detailed descriptions of the above-mentioned protocol layers, please refer to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or radio frequency unit, such as a remote radio unit (RRU), an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0207] In different systems, CU (or CU-CP and CU-UP), DU or RU may also have different names, but those skilled in the art can understand their meanings. For example, in an open radio access network (ORAN) system, CU may also be called an open CU (open-CU, O-CU), DU may also be called an open DU (open-DU, O-DU), CU-CP may also be called an open CU-CP (open-CU-CP, O-CU-CP), CU-UP may also be called O-CU-UP, and RU may also be called an open RU (open-RU, O-RU). For the convenience of description, this application takes CU, CU-CP, CU-UP, DU and RU as examples for description. Any unit of CU (or CU-CP, CU-UP), DU and RU in this application can be implemented by a software module, a hardware module, or a combination of a software module and a hardware module.

[0208] In an embodiment of the present application, when the second device is a network device or a chip system inside the network device, the steps performed by the second device (such as one of S501, S502, S503, etc. in the scheme described in Figure 5 below) can be performed by a module inside the network device, such as one or more of CU, DU, O-RU, O-DU, O-CU-UP or O-CU-CP.

[0209] The wireless access network device can be a macro base station (such as 110a in Figure 3A), a micro base station or an indoor station (such as 110b in Figure 3A), a relay node, a donor node, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technology and device form used by the wireless access network device. For ease of description, the following description uses a base station as an example of a wireless access network device.

[0210] Terminal devices may also be referred to as terminals, user equipment (UE), mobile stations, mobile terminals, etc. Terminals can be widely used in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), Internet of Things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, telemedicine, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wearable, smart transportation, smart city, etc. The terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer with wireless transceiver function, wearable device, vehicle, drone, helicopter, airplane, ship, robot, robotic arm, smart home device, sensor, road side unit (RSU), etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0211] The above-mentioned terminal can establish a connection with the operator network through the interface provided by the operator network (such as N1, etc.) and use the data and / or voice services provided by the operator network. The terminal can also access the domain name system (DNS) through the operator network and use the operator services deployed on the DNS and / or services provided by a third party. The above-mentioned third party can be a service provider outside the operator network and the terminal, and can provide other data and / or voice services to the terminal. The specific form of the above-mentioned third party can be determined according to the actual application scenario and is not limited here.

[0212] Base stations and terminals can be fixed or mobile. They can be deployed on land, indoors or outdoors, handheld or vehicle-mounted; on water; or in the air on aircraft, balloons, and satellites. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminals.

[0213] The roles of base stations and terminals can be relative. For example, the helicopter or drone 120i in Figure 3A can be configured as a mobile base station. For terminals 120j accessing the wireless access network 100 via 120i, terminal 120i is a base station. However, for base station 110a, 120i is a terminal, meaning that communication between 110a and 120i occurs via a wireless air interface protocol. Of course, communication between 110a and 120i can also occur via a base station-to-base station interface protocol. In this case, 120i is also a base station relative to 110a. Therefore, base stations and terminals can be collectively referred to as communication devices. 110a and 110b in Figure 3A can be referred to as communication devices with base station functionality, while 120a-120j in Figure 3A can be referred to as communication devices with terminal functionality.

[0214] Communication between base stations and terminals, between base stations, and between terminals can be carried out through authorized spectrum, unauthorized spectrum, or both; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), spectrum above 6 GHz, or spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0215] In the embodiments of the present application, the functions of the base station may also be performed by a module (such as a chip) in the base station, or by a control subsystem that includes the base station functions. The control subsystem that includes the base station functions here may be a control center in the above-mentioned application scenarios such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the terminal may also be performed by a module (such as a chip or modem) in the terminal, or by a device that includes the terminal functions.

[0216] In this application, a base station sends downlink signals or downlink information to a terminal, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel. The terminal sends uplink signals or uplink information to the base station, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the base station, the terminal needs to establish a wireless connection with the cell controlled by the base station. The cell with which the terminal has established a wireless connection is called the serving cell of the terminal.

[0217] The core network involved in the embodiments of the present application may include network equipment that processes and forwards user signaling and data. For example, it includes access and mobility management function (AMF), session management function (SMF), user plane gateway, positioning management equipment and other core network equipment. Among them, the user plane gateway can be a server with functions such as mobility management, routing, and forwarding of user plane data, generally located on the network side, such as a serving gateway (SGW) or a packet data network gateway (PGW) or a user plane network element function entity (UPF). AMF and SMF are equivalent to the mobility management entity (MME) in the long term evolution (LTE) system. AMF is mainly responsible for access, and SMF is mainly responsible for session management. Of course, the core network can also include other network elements, which are not listed here one by one.

[0218] The positioning management device has a positioning function. The positioning management device involved in the embodiments of the present application may include a positioning management function (LMF) or a positioning management component (LMC), or may be a local location management function (LLMF) located in a network device, or a positioning server, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For ease of description, the following embodiments are all introduced using the positioning device as an LMF as an example.

[0219] Based on the content shown in Figure 3A, Figure 3B exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture applicable to embodiments of the present application. This communication system uses the positioning architecture in LTE and NR Rel-16 as an example. As shown in Figure 3B, the network elements / modules involved mainly include the next generation radio access network (NG-RAN), terminals, and the core network. NG is the abbreviation for next generation (NG).

[0220] The core network includes the location management function (LMF), access and mobility management function (AMF), service location protocol (SLP), and evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). The LMF is connected to the AMF, and the two LMFs are connected via the NLs interface. Terminal devices communicate with the serving base station via the Uu link. Ng-eNBs are LTE base stations, and gNBs are NR base stations. Base stations communicate with each other via the Xn interface. The base station and the AMF communicate via the NG control plane (NG-C) interface, with the AMF acting as a router for communication between the gNB and the LMF. The LMF estimates the location of the terminal device, and the AMFs communicate with each other via the network layer signaling (NLs) interface. The LMF is responsible for supporting various types of location services for the terminal, including positioning the terminal and delivering assistance data to the terminal. The LMF can calculate the terminal's location based on measurement results from other network elements. The AMF can receive location service requests related to the terminal from the 5th generation core network location services (5GC LCS) entity, or the AMF itself can start some location services on behalf of a specific terminal and forward the location service request to the LMF. After obtaining the location information returned by the terminal, the relevant location information is returned to the 5GC LCS entity.

[0221] The NG RAN may include the next generation node B (gNB) and the next generation evolved node B (ng-eNB). The gNB and ng-eNB are connected via the Xn interface, and the LMF is connected to the ng-eNB / gNB via the NG-C interface.

[0222] One or more network devices on the NG RAN side configure resources for sending reference signals and send the reference signals to the terminal. The terminal measures the reference signals and other downlink signals and feeds the measurement results back to the LMF to support positioning. It should be understood that this reference signal is used for positioning and can also be called a positioning reference signal. Therefore, the positioning reference signal can be a PRS, a common reference signal (CRS), a channel state information (CSI)-RS, etc.

[0223] FIG3C shows the network architecture of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application, which includes a core network, an NG-RAN, and a terminal. The core network includes network elements / modules such as the LMF, AMF, secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP), and enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). The NG-RAN includes network elements / modules such as the gNB and ng-eNB. The specific functions of the LMF, AMF, SLP, E-SMLC, gNB, and ng-eNB network elements / modules and the connection relationships between the network elements / modules can be found in the description of the relevant part of FIG3B above and will not be repeated here.

[0224] Unlike Figure 3B, the network architecture shown in Figure 3C adds a LMC to the NG-RAN. The LMC is deployed within the base station, such as in the gNB or ng-ENB. In this network architecture, the LMC is a function within the base station, eliminating the need for new interfaces. The LMC can also assume some of the functionality of the LMF. In this architecture, the gNB does not need to report positioning signal measurement results to the LMF in the core network, thereby reducing signaling overhead and positioning latency.

[0225] Figure 3D illustrates the network architecture of another communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 3D , the communication system also includes a core network, NG-RAN, and terminals. Unlike Figure 3C , the LMC in the network architecture shown in Figure 3D operates as an independent logical node in the NG-RAN and connects to the base station via a new interface. For example, in Figure 3D , the LMC connects to the gNB-CU via the Itf interface. In Figure 3D , the gNB-DU can connect to the gNB-CU via the F1 interface.

[0226] Figure 3E shows the network architecture of another communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application. As shown in Figure 3E , the communication system also includes a core network, NG-RAN, and terminals. The LMC is an independent logical node in the NG-RAN. Unlike Figure 3D , the LMC can be connected to multiple base stations simultaneously via a new interface. Figure 3E uses the example of the LMC being connected to two base stations simultaneously. In specific implementations, the LMC can also be connected to more base stations.

[0227] Figure 3F shows the network architecture of another communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3F, the communication system includes (R)AN, AMF and LMF, and multiple terminals. Multiple terminals can be connected through PC5, and reference signals can be transmitted between two terminals. One terminal can be regarded as a transmitter of the reference signal, and one or more terminals can be regarded as a receiver of the reference signal. The receiver of the reference signal can measure the received reference signal to obtain measurement information, which can be used for positioning. In another possible implementation, an LMC can be integrated into the terminal.

[0228] It should be understood that Figures 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, and 3F are exemplary illustrations of communication systems applicable to embodiments of the present application, and do not specifically limit the type, quantity, connection method, etc. of network elements included in the communication systems applicable to the present application. Furthermore, the network elements / modules indicated by dashed lines in Figures 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, and 3F are not essential but optional, for example, an E-SMLC or SLP is not essential; or, the network elements / modules indicated by dashed lines represent another form of existence, for example, a gNB or ng-eNB is also referred to as a transmission reception point (TRP) in some embodiments, and a terminal is referred to as a SUPL-enabled terminal (SET) in some embodiments, where SUPL is an abbreviation for secure user plane location (SUPL).

[0229] For ease of understanding, Figures 4-5 are introduced from the perspective of interaction. The first device in Figures 4-5 can be the terminal in Figure 3A, Figure 3B, Figure 3C, Figure 3D, Figure 3E or Figure 3F, the chip system of the terminal, the network device or the chip system corresponding to the network device. The second device in Figures 4 and 5 can be the base station in Figure 3A, Figure 3B, Figure 3C, Figure 3D, Figure 3E or Figure 3F, the chip system of the base station, the network device or the chip system of the network device. The positioning device in Figures 4-5 can be the positioning management device or the chip system of the positioning management device in Figure 3A, Figure 3B, Figure 3C, Figure 3D, Figure 3E or Figure 3F. The first device (or the second device) reports the measurement information to the positioning device so that the positioning device can locate the first device.

[0230] Based on the embodiments shown in Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, and 3F and the other contents described above, Figure 4 exemplarily shows a flow chart of a downlink positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to Figure 4 , the method includes:

[0231] S401: A first device obtains path measurement information of at least one target channel; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device.

[0232] Exemplarily, the first device is a terminal device to be located, and the second device is a base station.

[0233] In the embodiments of the present application, the measurement information includes time measurement information and / or carrier phase measurement information. The time measurement information may include at least one of the following: TOA, relative time of arrival (RTOA), RSTD, or transmit / receive time difference. The solution described in the embodiments of the present application uses TOA as an example. Other measurement information measured in other scenarios can also be implemented in accordance with this solution and will not be described in detail here.

[0234] In one possible implementation, the first device obtains the path measurement information of at least one target channel, which may include: the first device receives a reference signal sent by at least one second device through at least one target channel, and measures and obtains information of the corresponding target channel; and then obtains the path measurement information of the at least one target channel based on the information of the at least one target channel.

[0235] In one possible implementation, when the information of the target channel is the frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is the impulse response CIR information of the target channel; the first device obtains the path measurement information of the at least one target channel based on the information of the at least one target channel, which may include: first performing inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) on the frequency domain information of the at least one target channel to obtain the CIR information of the at least one target channel.

[0236] For example, three second devices are base station 1, base station 2, and base station 3; base station 1 sends PRS signal 1 to the UE, base station 2 sends PRS signal 2 to the UE, and base station 3 sends PRS signal 3 to the UE; the UE obtains frequency domain information of channel 1 between the UE and base station 1 based on measurement of PRS signal 1; the UE obtains frequency domain information of channel 2 between the UE and base station 2 based on measurement of PRS signal 2; and the UE obtains frequency domain information of channel 3 between the UE and base station 3 based on measurement of PRS signal 3. Further, the UE performs IFFT processing on the frequency domain information of channel 1 to obtain the CIR of channel 1; the UE performs IFFT processing on the frequency domain information of channel 2 to obtain the CIR of channel 2; and the UE performs IFFT processing on the frequency domain information of channel 3 to obtain the CIR of channel 3.

[0237] In the embodiment of the present application, the channel impulse response (CIR) may represent a collection of attenuation, delay, and phase response in the transmission path of a signal from a transmitting end to a receiving end.

[0238] S402: The first device determines measurement information of a first path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device.

[0239] In an embodiment of the present application, when a signal is transmitted between the first device and the second device through the target channel, there may be multiple transmission paths due to reflection or scattering. The first path in the present application may refer to the actual path when the first device and the second device transmit signals through the target channel, that is, the signal is directly transmitted to the receiving end without reflection or scattering. The transmission distance and time corresponding to the first path are the shortest. Compared with other paths in the target channel, the signal transmitted by the first path arrives at the receiving end first. The present application may refer to the first path as a direct path, and may also refer to it as a line-of-sight LOS path or a first-reach path (or first-reach path), without specific limitation.

[0240] In a possible implementation, the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response (CIR) information of the target channel; when the first device executes S402, the following steps may be included:

[0241] Step 1: The first device obtains CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel. Step 2: The first device determines measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of at least one path corresponding to each target channel.

[0242] For step 1, in one possible implementation, it can include: the first device performs angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle can be used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

[0243] In one possible implementation, the first device performs angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle. Specifically, it may include: multiplying the CIR information of each target channel by at least one rotation vector, and then projecting the real part to obtain the CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle.

[0244] For example, through the example method in S401 above, the UE obtains the CIR of channel 1 corresponding to base station 1, the CIR of channel 2 corresponding to base station 2, and the CIR of channel 3 corresponding to base station 3. The UE multiplies the CIR of channel 1 by the vector of rotation angles traversing from (0, 2π) (i.e., the CIR of channel 1 is sequentially multiplied by the rotation vectors corresponding to 0 to 360 degrees), and then performs real part projection on each of them to obtain the real CIRs corresponding to multiple angles. The real CIRs corresponding to these multiple angles are the CIRs of multiple paths in channel 1. Similarly, the CIRs of channel 2 and channel 3 are processed in the same manner as above to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one corresponding angle.

[0245] If channels 1, 2, and 3 are single-path channels, the CIRs for channel 1, channel 2, and channel 3 correspond to the CIRs for the path of channel 1, channel 2, and channel 3, respectively.

[0246] With respect to step 2, in one possible implementation, when the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path: the first device determines, for each target channel (or any target channel), the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the target channel (i.e., the arrival time corresponding to the first path), which may include the following steps:

[0247] a. The first device obtains preset single-path CIR information.

[0248] In the embodiment of the present application, the above-mentioned preset single-path CIR information may also be referred to as single-path base CIR information. The preset single-path CIR information may be obtained through simulation experiments.

[0249] For example, see Figure 6A (a), which shows the real part of the CIR of a target channel after rotating it by 10 degrees. Figure 6A (b) shows the CIR of a single-path basis. The horizontal axis represents the delay, and the vertical axis represents the energy value.

[0250] b. The first device performs sliding correlation processing on the CIR information of at least one path of the target channel and the preset single-path CIR information, and obtains first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; the first relationship information of each path is used to characterize the correspondence between the rotation angle and delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; wherein the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the degree of similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information.

[0251] In the embodiment of the present application, the first relationship information of each path may also be used to represent, but not limited to, the corresponding relationship between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and / or the corresponding relationship between the rotation angle and the time delay.

[0252] c. The first device determines a target delay based on the first relationship information of the at least one path; and uses the target delay as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

[0253] In one possible implementation, the first device determines the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, which may include: first determining one or more delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path through a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold; if one delay is determined, then the delay is used as the target delay; if multiple delays are determined, then the average value or cluster value of the multiple delays is used as the target delay.

[0254] Exemplarily, the first device determines one or more time delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, using a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold, which may include but is not limited to the following implementations:

[0255] Method 1: Based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path, determine the number of delays corresponding to correlation coefficient values ​​greater than a certain threshold; if the number of delays is greater than another set threshold, determine one or more delays by averaging, clustering, or taking the maximum value of these delays.

[0256] Method 2: Determine the number of delays corresponding to correlation coefficient values ​​greater than a certain threshold based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; if the number of delays is less than another set threshold, determine one or more delays based on a traditional algorithm.

[0257] Method three: Determine the number of delays corresponding to the correlation coefficient value greater than a certain threshold based on the first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; if the number of delays is greater than another set threshold, then one or more delays can be determined based on the characteristics of these delays, such as the standard deviation of these delays being greater than a preset threshold, using clustering or other methods.

[0258] For example, see (a) in FIG. 6B , which shows a relationship diagram for multiple rotation angles. Each continuous curve corresponds to a relationship diagram for one rotation angle (which may be equivalent to the first relationship information corresponding to each path described above). The horizontal axis represents the delay, and the vertical axis represents the correlation coefficient value. Assuming the correlation coefficient threshold is 1, a delay, namely T0, can be determined based on the relationship diagram for multiple rotation angles. This T0 is used as the target delay, namely the arrival time TOA of the first path.

[0259] As shown in Figure 6B (b), assuming the correlation coefficient threshold is 1, two delays, T1 and T2, can be determined based on the relationship diagram of multiple rotation angles. The average or cluster value of T1 and T2 can be used as the target delay, i.e., the time of arrival (TOA) of the first path. Alternatively, both T1 and T2 can be used as the target delay, i.e., the time of arrival (TOA) of the first path.

[0260] In the embodiment of the present application, through the above method, one or more TOAs of a first-reach path (i.e., a first path) may be determined, or TOAs of multiple first-reach paths (i.e., multiple first paths) may be determined. In the case of multiple TOAs of first-reach paths, in the following S403, the first device may report the TOAs of the multiple first-reach paths and the corresponding relationship information (i.e., the first relationship information) to the positioning management device LMF.

[0261] S403: The first device sends measurement information of the first path corresponding to at least one target channel to the positioning device. Correspondingly, the positioning device receives the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel.

[0262] In the embodiments of the present application, the positioning device may be a positioning management device LMF or a chip corresponding to the positioning management device LMF, without limitation. Furthermore, the actual location of the positioning device may be on the core network side, or on the terminal side, or on the base station side, without specific limitation.

[0263] In one possible implementation, the first device further sends information about a first path corresponding to at least one second device to the positioning device; the information about the first path includes, but is not limited to, any one or more of a rotation angle corresponding to an arrival time, relevant information corresponding to the arrival time, and second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time;

[0264] The relevant information may be used to characterize, but is not limited to, any one or more of the following: the degree of matching between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time.

[0265] The second relationship information can be used to characterize but is not limited to any one or more of the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value.

[0266] In the embodiments of the present application, a single-path channel may refer to a channel with only a single path (i.e., the LOS path) and no other multipaths, or may refer to a channel with other multipaths but the distance from the LOS path to the multipath is greater than a certain threshold and does not affect the parameter estimation (delay, phase, etc.) of the LOS path. The single-path arrival time may refer to the arrival delay of the LOS path, that is, the time corresponding to the straight-line distance from the transmitter to the receiver.

[0267] In the above, the degree of matching between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, and the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold can be independently determined by the first device. The rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the content included in the second relationship information can be obtained by referring to the first relationship information.

[0268] S404: The positioning device determines the location information of the first device according to the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel.

[0269] In a possible implementation, the positioning device further obtains the location information of the at least one second device, such as the geographic coordinates of a base station.

[0270] In a possible implementation, when the positioning device executes S404, the process includes: the positioning device determining the location information of the first device according to the arrival time of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0271] In one possible implementation, the positioning device also receives relevant information about the arrival time corresponding to the at least one target channel sent from the first device; wherein the relevant information can be used to characterize one or more of the following: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio of the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; the method may also include: the positioning device determines the weight value of the arrival time based on the relevant information of each arrival time.

[0272] Therefore, when the positioning device executes S404, it may specifically include: the positioning device determines the position coordinate information of the first device according to the arrival time and the weight value of the arrival time corresponding to the at least one target channel, and the position coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0273] In the embodiment of the present application, the specific solution formula of the positioning device can refer to the existing positioning solution formula, but the measurement quantity of the arrival time TOA in the embodiment of the present application is different (that is, the arrival time corresponding to the first path can also be multiplied by the corresponding weight value). The embodiment of the present application improves the accuracy of the time measurement quantity, thereby effectively improving the accuracy of the positioning calculation result. For other measurement quantities in the positioning process (such as angle, carrier phase, etc.), the same can be implemented with reference to the embodiment of the present application, and will not be described in detail here.

[0274] For example, the positioning device receives TOA1 of the first arrival path in channel 1 corresponding to base station 1, TOA2 of the first arrival path in channel 2 corresponding to base station 2, and TOA3 of the first arrival path in channel 3 corresponding to base station 3, sent from the UE; the positioning device also receives relevant information 1 corresponding to TOA1, relevant information 2 corresponding to TOA2, and relevant information 3 corresponding to TOA3 sent from the UE; the UE determines the weight value 1 of TOA1 based on the relevant information 1 corresponding to TOA1, determines the weight value 2 of TOA2 based on the relevant information 2 corresponding to TOA2, and determines the weight value 3 of TOA3 based on the relevant information 3 corresponding to TOA3.

[0275] The positioning device can calculate the location coordinates of the UE based on TOA1, TOA2, TOA3, weight values ​​1, 2, 3, and the location coordinates of base station 1, base station 2, and base station 3.

[0276] For example, the UE's location may satisfy the following formula:

[0277] in, represents the distance corresponding to the two arrival times TOA of base station n (such as base station 1 or base station 2 or base station 3), represents the weight value corresponding to the two arrival times TOA. x may represent the longitude or latitude of the UE's geographical location (or the horizontal coordinate value or vertical coordinate value of the UE's location).

[0278] In an embodiment of the present application, the scheme described in Figure 4 can be applied to the downlink positioning measurement process shown in Figure 1A above, and the steps of the scheme described in Figure 4 correspond to S106A-S107A and S108A; that is, S401-S402 can be applied in S106A, S403 can be applied in S107A, and S404 can be applied in S108A.

[0279] Exemplarily, the first device is the terminal device UE in Figure 1A, and the second device is the base station 1, or base station 2, or base station 3 in Figure 1A; when the UE performs measurement, the TOA measurement results and corresponding correlation coefficients of the first path between the terminal device and each base station (base station 1 or base station 2 or base station 3) can be obtained through the implementation in S401-S402 above. Through the implementation in S403, the UE reports the TOA measurement results and corresponding related information of the first path corresponding to base station 1, the TOA measurement results and corresponding related information of the first path corresponding to base station 2, and the TOA measurement results and corresponding related information of the first path corresponding to base station 3 to the LMF (an example of the above-mentioned positioning device). The LMF performs positioning calculation (solution) through the implementation in S404 above to determine the location information of the UE.

[0280] In summary, the present application provides a downlink positioning method, which includes: a first device first obtains path measurement information of at least one target channel; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device; then, based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel, the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel is determined; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; finally, the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel is sent to the positioning device for positioning calculation; through this method, more accurate channel measurement information or data (such as arrival time) between the first device and the second device can be obtained for positioning calculation, which can effectively improve the overall positioning accuracy.

[0281] Based on the embodiments shown in Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, and 3F and the above-mentioned other contents, Figure 5 exemplarily shows a flow chart of an uplink positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application. Referring to Figure 5, the method includes:

[0282] S501: The second device obtains path measurement information of a target channel; the target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device.

[0283] In an embodiment of the present application, the first device is a terminal device or a chip system of a terminal device, and the second device is an access network device (such as a base station) or a chip system of an access network device.

[0284] In one possible implementation, the second device obtains the path measurement information of the target channel, which may include: first receiving a reference signal (such as SRS) sent by the second device through the target channel, and measuring and obtaining information of the target channel; and then obtaining the path measurement information of the target channel based on the information of the target channel.

[0285] In one possible implementation, the information of the target channel is the frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is the impulse response CIR information of the target channel; then the second device obtains the path measurement information of the target channel based on the information of the target channel, which may include: performing inverse fast Fourier transform IFFT processing on the frequency domain information of the target channel to obtain the CIR information of the target channel.

[0286] The specific implementation of S501 can refer to the specific implementation of S401 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0287] S502: The second device determines measurement information of a first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device.

[0288] In an embodiment of the present application, when a signal is transmitted between the first device and the second device through the target channel, there may be multiple transmission paths due to reflection and / or scattering. In an embodiment of the present application, the first path may refer to the actual path when the first device and the second device transmit signals through the target channel, that is, the signal is directly transmitted to the receiving end without reflection and / or scattering. The transmission distance and time corresponding to the first path are the shortest, and the signal transmitted by the first path arrives at the receiving end first compared with other paths in the target channel. In this application, the first path can be referred to as a direct path, and can also be referred to as a line-of-sight path (LOS path) or a first-reach path (or first-reach path), without specific limitation.

[0289] In a possible implementation, the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response (CIR) information of the target channel; then the second apparatus executing S502 may include the following steps:

[0290] Step 1: The second device obtains CIR information of at least one path in the target channel based on the CIR information of the target channel;

[0291] Step 2: The second device determines measurement information of the first path based on CIR information of at least one path.

[0292] For the above step one, in one possible implementation method, the second device performs angle rotation processing on the impulse response CIR information of the target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to represent the CIR information corresponding to a path.

[0293] Exemplarily, the second device multiplies the impulse response CIR information of the target channel by at least one rotation vector, and then projects the real part to obtain CIR information corresponding to the at least one rotation angle.

[0294] For the above-mentioned step 2, in one possible implementation method, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; then the second device determines the measurement information of the first path based on the CIR information of the at least one path, including: first obtaining preset single-path CIR information; then performing sliding correlation processing on the CIR information of the at least one path and the preset single-path CIR information, and obtaining first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path; the first relationship information is used to characterize the correspondence between the rotation angle and delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; then, based on the first relationship information of the at least one path, determining the target delay; and using the target delay as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

[0295] In the embodiment of the present application, the first relationship information may also be used to represent but not limited to: the correspondence between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and / or the correspondence between the rotation angle and the time delay.

[0296] In one possible implementation, the second device determines the target delay based on the first relationship information corresponding to at least one path, which may include: determining one or more delays based on the first relationship information corresponding to at least one path through a discrimination algorithm with at least one preset correlation coefficient threshold; if one delay is determined, using the delay as the target delay; if multiple delays are determined, using the average value or cluster value of the multiple delays as the target delay.

[0297] The specific implementation of S502 can refer to the specific implementation of S402 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0298] S503: The second device sends measurement information of the first path to the positioning device.

[0299] In one possible implementation, the second device further sends information about the first path to the positioning device; the information about the first path includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, the relevant information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, and the second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path; wherein the relevant information can be used to represent, but is not limited to, one or more of: the matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time. The second relationship information can be used to represent, but is not limited to, one or more of the following:

[0300] (1) The correspondence between the arrival time, the corresponding rotation angle, and the correlation coefficient value; (2) The correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle; (3) The correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

[0301] The specific implementation of S503 can refer to the specific implementation of S403 above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0302] The above steps S501 to S503 are described using a single second device as an example. In actual positioning, one or more second devices may assist in positioning calculation. If there are multiple second devices, each second device can perform the same steps S501 to S503 as described above, and will not be described here one by one.

[0303] Correspondingly, the positioning device receives measurement information of a first path of at least one second device; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device.

[0304] S504: The positioning device determines the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path of the at least one second device.

[0305] In one possible implementation, the measurement information of the first path is the arrival time of the first path; the positioning device executes S504, which may include: determining the location information of the first device based on the arrival time of the first path corresponding to at least one second device and the location coordinate information of at least one second device.

[0306] In one possible implementation, the positioning device may further determine a weight value corresponding to the arrival time based on the relevant information corresponding to each second device. The positioning device may then calculate the location coordinate information of the first device based on the arrival time and weight value corresponding to the at least one second device, as well as the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

[0307] The specific implementation of S504 can refer to the specific implementation of S404 described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0308] The solution described in Figure 5 can be applied to the uplink positioning measurement process shown in Figure 1B above, and the steps of the solution described in Figure 5 can be applied to S107B-S108B and S109B respectively; that is, S501-S502 can be applied in S107B, S503 can be applied in S108B, and S504 can be applied in S109B.

[0309] Exemplarily, the first device is the terminal device UE in Figure 1A, and the second device is the base station 1, or base station 2, or base station 3 in Figure 1B; when any base station (i.e., the second device) performs measurement, it can obtain the TOA measurement result of the first path between itself and the terminal device UE to be located and the corresponding correlation coefficient through the implementation in S501-S502 above. Through the implementation in S503, each base station can report the TOA measurement result of the corresponding first path and the corresponding related information to the LMF. The LMF performs positioning calculation (solution) through the implementation in S504 above to determine the location information of the UE.

[0310] In summary, an embodiment of the present application provides an uplink positioning method, which includes: the second device first obtains the path measurement information of the target channel; the target channel is the channel for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device; then based on the path measurement information of the target channel, the measurement information of the first path in the target channel is determined; the first path is a direct path between the first device and the second device; finally, the measurement information of the first path in the target channel is sent to the positioning device for positioning calculation; through this method, more accurate measurement information or data (such as arrival time) of the channel between the first device and the second device can be obtained for positioning calculation, which can effectively improve the overall positioning accuracy.

[0311] In the embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspective of interaction between various devices. In order to implement the various functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the first device or the positioning device or the second device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module to implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether a function of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0312] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0313] Similar to the above concept, as shown in FIG7 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 700 for implementing the functions of the first device, the positioning device, or the second device in the above method. For example, the communication device 700 may be a software module or a chip system. In the embodiment of the present application, the chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices. The communication device 700 may include: a communication unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

[0314] In the embodiments of the present application, the communication unit 701 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit and may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, respectively configured to execute the steps of transmitting and receiving by the first device, the positioning device, or the second device in the above method embodiments or implementations. The processing unit 702 may be configured to read instructions and / or data from the storage module to enable the communication device 700 to implement the above method embodiments.

[0315] Optionally, the communication device 700 may further include a storage unit 703 , which is equivalent to a storage module and may be used to store instructions and / or data.

[0316] The communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with Figures 7 and 8. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, reference can be made to the method implementation described in Figures 4 and 5 above. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0317] Communication unit 701 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver device. A processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, or processing device. Alternatively, the device in communication unit 701 that implements the receiving function may be considered a receiving unit, and the device in communication unit 701 that implements the transmitting function may be considered a transmitting unit. That is, communication unit 701 includes both a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. A communication unit may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver, or transceiver circuit. A receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, receiver, or receiving circuit. A transmitting unit may also be referred to as a transmitter, transmitter, or transmitting circuit.

[0318] When the communication device 700 executes the first device in the process shown in Figure 4 of the above embodiment: the communication unit 701 is used to obtain path measurement information of at least one target channel; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device; the processing unit 702 is used to determine the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; the communication unit 701 is also used to send the measurement information of the first path corresponding to the at least one target channel to the positioning device.

[0319] When the communication device 700 executes the second device (base station) of the process shown in Figure 5 of the above embodiment: the communication unit 701 and the processing unit 702 are both located in the second device; or the communication unit 701 is located in the DU of the second device, and the processing unit 702 is located in the CU of the second device; or in the ORAN architecture, the communication unit 701 is located in the O-DU and / or O-RU of the second device, and the processing unit 702 is located in the O-CU and / or O-DU of the second device.

[0320] Among them, the communication unit 701 is used to obtain path measurement information of the target channel; the target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device; the processing unit 702 is used to determine the measurement information of the first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel; the first path is a direct path between the first device and the second device; the communication unit 701 is also used to send the measurement information of the first path to the positioning device.

[0321] When the communication device 700 executes the positioning device shown in Figure 5 of the above embodiment: the communication unit 701 is used to receive measurement information of a first path of at least one second device; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; the processing unit 702 is used to determine the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path of the at least one second device.

[0322] The above is just an example. The processing unit 702 and the communication unit 701 can also perform other functions. For more detailed descriptions, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 4 and 5, which are not repeated here.

[0323] FIG8 shows a communication device 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in FIG8 may be a hardware circuit implementation of the communication device shown in FIG7 . The communication device 800 can be used in the flowcharts shown above to perform the functions of the first device, the positioning device, or the second device in the above-described method embodiments or implementations. For ease of illustration, FIG8 only shows the main components of the communication device.

[0324] As shown in Figure 8, communication device 800 includes a communication interface 801 and a processor 802. Communication interface 801 and processor 802 are coupled to each other. It is understood that communication interface 801 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, communication device 800 can also include a memory 803 for storing instructions executed by processor 802, input data required by processor 802 to execute instructions, or data generated by processor 802 after executing instructions.

[0325] When the communication device 800 is used to implement the method shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , the communication interface 801 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned communication unit 701 , and the processor 802 is used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 702 .

[0326] The specific connection medium between the communication interface 801, processor 802, and memory 803 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 8, the embodiment of the present application shows that the memory 803, processor 802, and communication interface 801 are connected via a communication bus 804. The communication bus 804 is represented by a bold line in Figure 8. The connection methods between other components are only for schematic illustration and are not limiting. The communication bus 804 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 8, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0327] When the communication device is a chip, FIG9 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the chip structure, wherein the chip 900 includes an interface circuit 901 and one or more processors 902. Optionally, the chip 900 may further include a bus.

[0328] The processor 902 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above-mentioned positioning method can be completed by the hardware integrated logic circuit or software instructions in the processor 902. The above-mentioned processor 902 can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. It can implement or execute the various methods and steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0329] The interface circuit 901 can be used to send or receive data, instructions or information. The processor 902 can use the data, instructions or other information received by the interface circuit 901 to process it, and can send the processing completion information through the interface circuit 901.

[0330] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 903, which may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and provides operation instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory 903 may also include a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0331] Optionally, the memory stores an executable software module or a data structure, and the processor can perform corresponding operations by calling an operation instruction stored in the memory (the operation instruction may be stored in an operating system).

[0332] Optionally, the chip can be used in the first device, positioning device, or second device involved in the embodiments or implementations of the present application. Optionally, the interface circuit 901 can be used to output the execution result of the processor 902. For the positioning method provided in one or more embodiments of the present application, reference can be made to the aforementioned embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0333] It should be noted that the corresponding functions of the interface circuit 901 and the processor 902 can be implemented through hardware design, software design, or a combination of hardware and software, which is not limited here.

[0334] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the first device, the positioning device, or the second device in the above method embodiment or implementation.

[0335] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the first device, the positioning device, or the second device in the above method embodiment or implementation.

[0336] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by the first device, the positioning device, or the second device in the above method embodiment or implementation.

[0337] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, including a processor, configured to call a computer program or computer instruction stored in the memory so that the processor executes the positioning method of the embodiments shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 .

[0338] In one possible implementation, the input of the chip corresponds to the receiving operation in the implementation shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , and the output of the chip corresponds to the sending operation in the implementation shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 .

[0339] Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory via an interface.

[0340] Optionally, the chip further includes a memory in which computer programs or computer instructions are stored.

[0341] The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general-purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program in the embodiments shown in Figures 4 and 5. The memory mentioned in any of the above may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0342] It should be noted that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the explanation and beneficial effects of the relevant contents in any of the communication devices provided above may refer to the corresponding positioning method embodiments provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0343] In the present application, the communication devices may further include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also known as main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as the Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system, or Windows operating system. The application layer may include applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0344] The division of modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative and is merely a logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processor, or may exist physically separately, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The aforementioned integrated modules may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

[0345] Through the description of the above embodiments, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, the above functions can be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, wherein the communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. For example, but not limited to: a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection can be appropriately a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used in the embodiments of the present application, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs use lasers to reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of protection of computer-readable media.

[0346] In short, the above description is only an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made based on the disclosure of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A positioning method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a first device or a chip of the first device, and includes: Acquire path measurement information of at least one target channel; the at least one target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and at least one second device respectively; Based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel, determining measurement information of a first path respectively corresponding to the at least one target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; The measurement information of the first paths respectively corresponding to the at least one target channel is sent to the positioning device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The acquiring path measurement information of at least one target channel includes: receiving a reference signal sent by the at least one second device through the at least one target channel, and measuring and obtaining corresponding information of the target channel; Based on the information of the at least one target channel, path measurement information of the at least one target channel is obtained.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The information of the target channel is frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response CIR information of the target channel; Obtaining path measurement information of the at least one target channel based on the information of the at least one target channel includes: The frequency domain information of the at least one target channel is respectively subjected to inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing to obtain CIR information of the at least one target channel.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response CIR information of the target channel; Determining measurement information of first paths respectively corresponding to the at least one target channel based on the path measurement information of the at least one target channel includes: Based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel, obtaining CIR information of at least one path corresponding to the at least one target channel; Based on the CIR information of the at least one path corresponding to each of the target channels, the measurement information of the first path is determined.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The obtaining, based on the CIR information of the at least one target channel, CIR information of at least one path respectively corresponding to the at least one target channel includes: The CIR information of each target channel is subjected to angle rotation processing to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The step of performing angle rotation processing on the CIR information of each target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one corresponding rotation angle includes: After the CIR information of each target channel is multiplied by at least one rotation vector, a real part projection is performed to obtain CIR information corresponding to the at least one rotation angle.

7. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; The determining, based on the CIR information of the at least one path corresponding to each of the target channels, the measurement information of the first path includes: Get the preset single-path CIR information; The CIR information of the at least one path is respectively subjected to sliding correlation processing with the preset single-path CIR information, and first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path is obtained; the first relationship information is used to characterize the corresponding relationship between the rotation angle and the delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; Based on the first relationship information respectively corresponding to the at least one path, a target delay is determined; and the target delay is used as the arrival time corresponding to the first path.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first relationship information is further used to represent any one or more of the following: The correspondence between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and the correspondence between the rotation angle and the time delay.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The determining the target delay based on the first relationship information respectively corresponding to the at least one path includes: Based on the first relationship information respectively corresponding to the at least one path, through at least one discrimination algorithm with a preset correlation coefficient threshold, determining Specify one or more delays; If a delay is determined, the delay is used as the target delay; If multiple time delays are determined, an average value or a cluster value of the multiple time delays is used as the target time delay.

10. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending information of the first path respectively corresponding to the at least one second device to the positioning device; The information of the first path includes one or more of the following: The rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time, the relevant information corresponding to the arrival time, and the second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time; The relevant information is used to represent one or more of the following: The matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; The second relationship information is used to represent any of the following: The correspondence between the arrival time, the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

11. A positioning method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a second device or a chip of the second device, and includes: Acquire path measurement information of a target channel; the target channel is a channel for transmitting signals between the first device and the second device; Determine measurement information of a first path in the target channel based on the path measurement information of the target channel; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; The measurement information of the first path is sent to a positioning device.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The acquiring the path measurement information of the target channel includes: receiving a reference signal sent by the second device through the target channel, and obtaining information of the target channel by measurement; Based on the information of the target channel, path measurement information of the target channel is obtained.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The information of the target channel is frequency domain information of the target channel, and the path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response CIR information of the target channel; The obtaining, based on the information of the target channel, path measurement information of the target channel includes: The frequency domain information of the target channel is processed by inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to obtain CIR information of the target channel.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that The path measurement information of the target channel is impulse response CIR information of the target channel; The determining, based on the path measurement information of the target channel, measurement information of a first path in the target channel includes: Based on the CIR information of the target channel, obtaining CIR information of at least one path in the target channel; Based on the CIR information of the at least one path, measurement information of the first path is determined.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The obtaining, based on the CIR information of the target channel, CIR information of at least one path in the target channel includes: The impulse response CIR information of the target channel is subjected to angle rotation processing to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle; the CIR information corresponding to each rotation angle is used to characterize the CIR information corresponding to a path.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The step of performing angle rotation processing on the impulse response CIR information of the target channel to obtain CIR information corresponding to at least one rotation angle includes: After the impulse response CIR information of the target channel is multiplied by at least one rotation vector, a real part projection is performed to obtain CIR information corresponding to the at least one rotation angle.

17. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The measurement information of the first path is the arrival time corresponding to the first path; The determining, based on the CIR information of the at least one path, the measurement information of the first path includes: Get the preset single-path CIR information; The CIR information of the at least one path is respectively subjected to sliding correlation processing with the preset single-path CIR information, and first relationship information corresponding to the at least one path is obtained; the first relationship information is used to characterize the corresponding relationship between the rotation angle and the delay corresponding to the path and the correlation coefficient value; the correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the similarity between the CIR information of the path and the preset single-path CIR information; Determine a target delay based on the first relationship information respectively corresponding to the at least one path; and use the target delay as the first The arrival time corresponding to the route.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The first relationship information is further used to represent any one or more of the following: The correspondence between the time delay and the correlation coefficient value, and the correspondence between the rotation angle and the time delay.

19. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The determining the target delay based on the first relationship information respectively corresponding to the at least one path includes: Based on the first relationship information respectively corresponding to the at least one path, determine one or more time delays through at least one discrimination algorithm with a preset correlation coefficient threshold; If a delay is determined, the delay is used as the target delay; If multiple time delays are determined, an average value or a cluster value of the multiple time delays is used as the target time delay.

20. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending information of the first path to the positioning device; The information of the first path includes one or more of the following: The rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, the related information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path, and the second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time of the first path; The relevant information is used to represent one or more of the following: The matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; The second relationship information is used to represent any of the following: The correspondence between the arrival time, the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and the correlation coefficient value.

21. A positioning method, characterized in that: The method is applied to a positioning device or a chip of the positioning device, and comprises: receiving measurement information of a first path respectively corresponding to at least one second device; the first path is a direct connection path between the first device and the second device; The location information of the first device is determined based on the measurement information of the first path respectively corresponding to the at least one second device.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The measurement information of the first path is the arrival time of the first path; and determining the location information of the first device based on the measurement information of the first path respectively corresponding to the at least one second device includes: The location information of the first device is determined according to the arrival time of the first path respectively corresponding to the at least one second device and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receiving relevant information corresponding to the arrival time sent by the at least one second device; wherein the relevant information is used to represent one or more of the following: The matching degree between the target channel and the single-path channel, the likelihood ratio between the arrival time and the single-path arrival time, the probability that the correlation coefficient value is greater than a preset threshold, and the correlation coefficient value corresponding to the arrival time; A weight value of the arrival time is determined according to the relevant information corresponding to each of the second devices.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The determining the location information of the first device according to the arrival time of the first path respectively corresponding to the at least one second device and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device includes: The location coordinate information of the first device is determined according to the arrival time and the weight value of the arrival time respectively corresponding to the at least one second device, and the location coordinate information of the at least one second device.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time and / or second relationship information corresponding to the arrival time sent by each of the at least one second device; The second relationship information is used to represent any of the following: the correspondence between the arrival time of the first path and the corresponding rotation angle and the correlation coefficient value, the correspondence between the arrival time of the first path and the corresponding rotation angle, and the correspondence between the rotation angle corresponding to the arrival time of the first path and the correlation coefficient value; The correlation coefficient value is used to characterize the correlation between the CIR information corresponding to the rotation angle and the preset single-path CIR information. Degree of similarity.

26. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 25, characterized in that The first device is a terminal device, and the second device is an access network device.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: A module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 and 26, or a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 20 and 26, or a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 21 to 26.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: Comprising a processor; the processor is used to execute one or more computer programs or instructions stored in the memory so that the communication device performs the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 10, 26, or performs the method as described in any one of claims 11 to 20, 26, or performs the method as described in any one of claims 21 to 26.

29. A communication system, characterized in that: It comprises a first device and a positioning device and at least one second device; the first device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 10 and 26, the second device is used to indicate the method as described in any one of claims 11 to 20 and 26, and the positioning device is used to execute the method as described in any one of claims 21 to 26.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: A computer program or instructions are stored, wherein the computer program or instructions are used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 26.

Images