A method for location services performed in a wireless network and a wireless network for performing the method

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for a wireless communication network comprising at least one user device (1), at least one RAN side (2) which comprises at least one RAN node (2a) being able to communicate with the user device (1) and at least one CN side (3) which is able to communicate with the RAN side (2) The method ensures the transmitting information related with the location services and performing calculations for the user device (1) and comprises the steps of; initiating at least one location service by the RAN side (2) itself and / or after the receipt of at least one request related with the location service sent from the user device (1), sent from the CN side (3), and / or sent from a third entity of LCS client of the CN side (3) by the RAN side (2); after location service initiation, providing positioning related information or measurements on MAC CE from user device (1) to the RAN side (2); processing the position related information by the RAN side (2) to perform the related location service request.

Description

[0001] A METHOD FOR LOCATION SERVICES PERFORMED IN A WIRELESS NETWORK AND A WIRELESS NETWORK FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to a method for transmitting information related with the location services (LCS) and performing calculations for position of a user device in a wireless communication network, especially to enable sensing-assisted communication and a wireless network to perform the method.

[0004] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In the communication area, several position related services that belong to a user device (such as mobile phones, loT devices etc.) can be performed. For these services, besides user device, a third entity and / or the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) of the CN (core network) may request data related with location information of the user device. This requested data can comprise user device information data, relevant assistance data, time to execute positioning measurements and data, etc. In the state of the art, when a position related request is received, this request is transmitted by the AMF to LMF (Location Management Function) which belong to CN side (Core Network side) of the communication network. Then, LMF initiates the positioning procedures, including both RAN (Radio Access Network) (such as NG-RAN) and user device side operations. The RAN operations ordered by the LMF may be scheduling and transmitting relevant reference signals for the user device to perform positioning-related measurements, scheduling resources for the user device to send measurement reports to the LMF, performing RAN side positioning measurements, reporting measurements to the LMF. Furthermore, the user device may perform positioning measurements and report requested data or measurements to LMF in a NAS (Non-Access Stratum) message that is transparent to the RAN node. After receiving requested information, LMF computes the position estimation and returns the result to the AMF and AMF transmits the outcome to the initiating position related request entity.

[0006] The state-of-the architecture briefly disclosed above (which can be referred as “centralized architecture”) may be deemed inefficient for the next generation networks especially for the 6G, sensing-assisted networks (such as RADAR-based information network), etc. This is because, in the state of the art, all the positioning-related information (e.g., measurements) is sent to a node of CN (such as 5GC node, etc.), where position calculation and measurement are evaluated. When the potential excessive use of the sensing information for the next generation networks is considered, this may cause overload in the present CN nodes. In addition, since positioning calculations are performed based on the measurements taken at the user device and RAN (for instance at the base station) side, position calculation at the CN side adds an extra latency. This prolongs the response to the position related service requests and waste time and signalling resources for both RAN and CN. In addition, this latency is an unwanted situation for the position-based scheduling and beamforming processes which are nearly real-time processes. Furthermore, the state-of- the-art architecture also does not allow an early determination of the position of the user device, which may be already calculated with reasonable accuracy at the user device by using other means of positioning procedures (GNSS, sensors, etc.).

[0007] All the problems mentioned above have made it necessary to develop an alternative to the current location service architecture and to make an innovation in the relevant technical field as a result.

[0008] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention relates to a method for transmitting information related with the location services (LCS) and performing calculations for position of a user device in a wireless communication network especially to enable sensing-assisted communication and a wireless network to perform the method by eliminating the above-mentioned disadvantages and bringing new advantages to the relevant technical field.

[0010] An object of the invention is to develop a method for transmitting information related with the location services for a user device in a wireless communication network especially to enable sensing-assisted communication and a wireless network to perform the method.

[0011] Another object of the invention is to develop a method for transmitting information related with the location services for a user device in a wireless communication network and a wireless network to perform the method which ensure a significant amount of reduction in overall location service latency. Yet another object of the invention is to develop a method for transmitting information related with the location services for a user device in a wireless communication network especially to enable sensing-assisted communication and a wireless network to perform the method without need of high power consumption.

[0012] The other object of the invention is to develop a method for transmitting information related with the location services for a user device in a wireless communication network and a wireless network to perform the method which use the resources much more efficient ensures performing the location related services much more effectively.

[0013] Another object of the invention is to develop a method for transmitting information related with the location services for a user device in a wireless communication network and a wireless network to perform the method which ensure use of the location based information for real-time and / or near real-time processes.

[0014] To achieve all the objects mentioned above and that will emerge from the following detailed description, the present invention relates to a method which is suitable for being used with a wireless communication network comprising

[0015] §at least one user device,

[0016] §at least one RAN side which comprises at least one RAN node being able to communicate with the user device and

[0017] §at least one CN side which is able to communicate with the RAN side, and which ensures the transmitting information related with the location services and performing calculations for the user device. The method comprises the steps of:

[0018] • initiating for the user device at least one location service by the RAN side itself and / or initiating by the RAN side for the user device at least one location service after the receipt of o at least one request related with the location service sent from the user device, and / or o at least one request related with the location service sent from the CN side, and / or o at least one request related with the location service sent from a third entity of LCS client of the CN side; • after location service initiation, providing positioning related information or measurements on Medium Access Control (MAC) control elements from user device to the RAN side;

[0019] • processing the position related information by the RAN side to perform the related location service request.

[0020] In addition, within the present invention provides a wireless network which is configured to perform the above-mentioned method and which comprises at least one user device, at least one RAN side which comprises at least one RAN node being able to communicate with the user device and at least one CN side which is able to communicate with the RAN side. The wireless network also comprises at least one control unit which is configured to perform the above-mentioned steps of the method.

[0021] Thanks to the method and the wireless network of the present invention, a location service related with a user device is able to be additionally initiated by the RAN side. The user device provides positioning related information on MAC CE (Medium Access Control control elements) to RAN side. Ran side is able to directly use the information in its inner operation such as scheduling and / or use the information to calculate the position / location of the user device necessary to perform the initiated location service. Therefore, time required for providing response to the request related with the initiated location service is able to be decreased. Furthermore, the resources to perform the related location service is able to be used effectively. Therefore, efficient, time-saving and power saving method and wireless network to perform the process required from the initiated location service is able to be provided.

[0022] DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] An exemplary embodiment of the method developed according to the present invention is illustrated in the attached drawing, wherein:

[0024] Figure 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment communication network with which the method developed by the invention is suitable for use.

[0025] All the parts illustrated in the drawing are individually assigned a reference numeral and the corresponding terms of these numbers are listed as follows: 1 User device

[0026] 2 RAN side

[0027] 2a RAN node a1 gNB a2 eNB

[0028] 3 CN side 3a AMF 3b LMF

[0029] DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] Within the wireless communication networks, position related information of the user devices (such as mobile phones, loT devices etc.) can be requested for performing position services such as determining location of the user device, estimating the position of the user device for a future time, etc. In the state of the art, as mentioned above, the user device, a third entity and / or the CN (i.e. AMF) can initiate a position service by requesting a location related data of the user device. If the user device and / or the third entity initiate the service, the request and the assistance data related with the position of the user device are sent to the AMF and AMF sent those to the LMF, if AMF initiates the service, the request and the assistance data related with the position of the user device are directly sent to the LMF. Then LMF initiates the positioning procedures including the RAN side operations, computes the position estimation and returns the result to the AMF, which then returns the outcome to the initiating entity. However, this complex data transmission and calculations require time and waste the resources. In addition, by the developing technology, this architecture can be inefficient for the next generation networks such as 6G, sensing-assisted communications etc. For that reason, the present invention provides a method for transmitting information related with the location services (LCS) and performing calculations for a user device in a wireless communication network.

[0031] The method developed by the invention is suitable for use with a wireless communication network, exemplary embodiment of which is given in figure 1 , comprising at least one user device (1 ), at least one RAN side (2) which comprises at least one RAN node (2a) (such as a base station having at least one gNB (Next-Generation Node B) (a1 ) and / or at least one eNB (Evolved Node B) (a2) wherein the user device (1 ) can communicate with the gNB (a1 ) over NR-Uu signal, the user device (1 ) can communicate with the eNB (a2) over LTE-Uu signal and the eNB (a2) and the gNB (a1 ) can communicate with each other over Xn signal) being able to communicate with the user device (1 ) and at least one CN side (3) which is able to communicate with the RAN side (2) (such as the eNB (a2) and the gNB (a1 ) can communicate with an AMF (3a) of CN side over NG-C signal), wherein the method comprises the steps of:

[0032] • initiating for the user device (1 ) at least one location service by the RAN side (2) itself (such as by the RAN node (2a)) and / or initiating by the RAN side (2) for the user device (1 ) at least one location service after the receipt of o at least one request (this request may contain the user device (1 ) information, relevant assistance data and time to execute positioning measurements and calculations, etc.) related with the location service sent from the user device (1 ), and / or o at least one request (this request may contain the user device (1 ) information, relevant assistance data and time to execute positioning measurements and calculations, etc.) related with the location service sent from the CN side (3) (for instance from an AMF (3a) of the CN side (3)), and / or o at least one request (this request may contain the user device (1 ) information, relevant assistance data and time to execute positioning measurements and calculations, etc.) related with the location service sent from a third entity of LCS (location service) client of the CN side (3);

[0033] • after location service initiation, providing positioning related information or measurements on MAC (Medium Access Control) control elements from user device (1 ) to the RAN side (2) (the messages transmitting the information are similar to e.g., already standardized buffer status or power headroom reports which facilitates efficient scheduling since they are all transferred on the MAC CE and used for scheduling);

[0034] • processing the position related information by RAN side (2) (for instance by a control unit in connection with the RAN node (2a)) to perform the related location service request.

[0035] In the method of the present invention, when a location service related with the user device (1 ) is initiated, the user device provides its positioning related information or measurements on MAC control elements to the RAN side (2). Similar to the state-of-the-art, the initiation can be performed by the user device (1 ) and / or by the CN side (3). In addition, different from the state-of-the-art, in the method of the present invention, the RAN side (2) is also able to perform the initiation without sending its intention first to the CN side (3) (i.e. to the AMF (3a)). For example, RAN side (2) may set frequent user device (1 ) measurement by RRC (Radio Resource Control) signalling. User device (1 ) may also request from the network to be configured to report for decentralized position calculation by e.g., an RRC signalling. The positioning related information can have position data, various measurements comprising RSDT (Reference Signal Time Difference) and user device (1 ) Rx-Tx time (Reception-Transmission time) difference measurements, AoA (Angle of Arrival) measurements, velocity data of the user device (1 ), various sensor (such as gyroscope, accelerometer, position sensor, proximity sensor, lidar, sonar, motion sensor, barometric pressure sensor, etc.) data information of the user device (1 ), direction of the movement of the user device (1 ) etc. The positioning related information can alternatively be carried in physical layer uplink control information or in RRC messages, depending on their size, features, frequency / trigger type, or user device’s operation mode (e.g., connected, idle, etc.). After the receipt of the position related information, the RAN side (2) process this information and perform the related location service (e.g., calculating position of the user device (1 )). In the state of the art, although the measurements are either performed at the RAN side (2) or reported by user device (1 ) over the RAN side (2) to the CN side (3), the RAN side (2) is not allowed to perform any positioning calculation. The user device (1 ) positioning measurements are sent over NAS signalling in a transparent way to the RAN side (2), not allowing the RAN side (2) to neither access nor use. The method of the present invention not only let the RAN side (2) initiate the location service, but also let the positioning related information visible to the RAN side (2). Accordingly, RAN side (2) is able to access the information and perform necessary calculations to respond to the request of initiated location service. Thanks to the method of the present invention, the time required to respond to the request is significantly decreased. Furthermore, the method of the present invention enables performing of the location services within new generation networks such as sensing-assisted networks efficiently and effectively.

[0036] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, if the positioning related information is the position data of the user device (1 ), the RAN side (2) directly use the information in its inner operation such as scheduling. In another preferred embodiment, if the positioning related information provides positioning measurements, sensor data, and other relevant information related with the user device (1 ), the position of the user device (1 ) is calculated. For this calculation, preferably, the RAN side (2) accesses this information and directly calculates the position of the user device (1 ). After positioning calculation, the RAN side (2) (such as the gNB (a1 )) may update AMF (3a) and LMF (3b) with some process which can be initiated by RAN side (2) and / or or CN side (3) (such as AMF (3a), LMF (3b)). In another alternative embodiment, it could be also possible for the RAN side (2) to delegate positioning calculation, signalling and other procedures from one RAN node (2a) to other RAN nodes (2a) or to CN side (3) in case it suffers from shortage of compute or signalling resources momentarily by transmitting the accessed information.

[0037] In the other preferable embodiment, the RAN side (2) (such as RAN node (2a)) handles time-stringent requests only and delegates not-so-time-stringent localization tasks to legacy methods.

[0038] By the present invention, a wireless network configured to perform the above-mentioned method of the present invention is also provided. The wireless network comprises at least one user device (1 ), at least one RAN side (2) which comprises at least one RAN node (2a) (such as a base station having at least one gNB (a1 ) and / or at least one eNB (a2)) being able to communicate with the user device (1 ) and at least one CN side (3) which is able to communicate with the RAN side (2). The wireless network also comprises at least one control unit which is configured to perform the above-mentioned method of the present invention. In a preferable embodiment, the control unit can be an LMC (Location Management Center) located in a single gNB (a1 ), can be an external LMC within the RAN side (2) and connected with multiple RAN nodes (2a), can be implemented in a centralized unit of a split gNB (a1 ), can be implemented as a MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) node connected to multiple RAN nodes (2a) and providing them fast computation, and / or can be included in a baseband pool that handles possibly multiple RAN nodes (2a). The control unit is configured to receive instantaneous assistance information from multiple other entities such as RAN nodes (2) (such as base stations), databases and / or other computing elements (such as edge computing servers) that have access to measurements or positioning relevant information. That way the coordination is able to be established in a distributed way without requiring sending all the information to the CN side (3). Preferably the control unit is also configured to pre-fetch the required information from CN side (3) (for instance 5GC) before its operation and save it in the user device (1 ) context which also contain policy control and authorization info. This way authentication, policy enforcement, subscription, billing and positioning calculation may be mapped to each other at the RAN side (2). Thanks to the method and the wireless network of the present invention, a location service related with a user device (1 ) is able to be additionally initiated by the RAN side (2). The user device (1 ) provides positioning related information on MAC CE to RAN side (2). Ran side (2) is able to directly use the information in its inner operation such as scheduling and / or use the information to calculate the position / location of the user device (1 ) necessary to perform the initiated location service. Therefore, time required for providing response to the request related with the initiated location service is able to be decreased. Furthermore, the resources to perform the related location service is able to be used effectively. Therefore, efficient, time-saving and power saving method and wireless network to perform the process required from the initiated location service is able to be provided.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method which is suitable for being used with a wireless communication network comprising§at least one user device (1 ),§at least one Radio Access Network (RAN) side (2) which comprises at least one RAN node (2a) being able to communicate with the user device (1 ) and§at least one Core Network (CN) side (3) which is able to communicate with the RAN side (2), and which ensures the transmitting information related with the location services and performing calculations for the user device (1 ) characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:• initiating for the user device (1 ) at least one location service by the RAN side(2) itself and / or initiating by the RAN side (2) for the user device (1 ) at least one location service after the receipt of o at least one request related with the location service sent from the user device (1 ), and / or o at least one request related with the location service sent from the CN side (3), and / or o at least one request related with the location service sent from a third entity of Location Service (LCS) client of the CN side (3);• after location service initiation, providing positioning related information or measurements on Medium Access Control (MAC) control elements by the user device (1 ) to the RAN side (2);• processing the position related information by the RAN side (2) to perform the related location service request.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein; said request comprises the user device (1 ) information, relevant assistance data and / or time to execute positioning measurements and calculations.

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein; the messages transmitting the information is able to be carried in Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein; the positioning related information comprises position data, measurements comprising Reference Signal Time Difference (RSDT) and user device (1 ) Reception-Transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurements, Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurements, velocity data of the user device (1 ), sensor data information, and / or direction of the movement of the user device (1 ).

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein; if the positioning related information is the position data of the user device (1 ), the information is directly used by the RAN side (2) for its inner operation.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein; if the positioning related information comprises positioning measurements, sensor data related with the user device (1 ), the position of the user device (1 ) is calculated.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein; the method comprises accessing positioning related information of the user device (1 ) by the RAN side (2) and directly calculating the position of the user device (1 ) in the RAN side (2).

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein; after positioning calculation, updating an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (3a) and / or a Location Management Function (LMF) (3b) of the CN side (3) by the RAN side (2) with process which can be initiated by the RAN side (2) and / or by the CN side (3).

9. The method according to claim 6 wherein; the method comprises delegating the positioning calculation, signalling and procedures from one RAN node (2a) to other RAN nodes (2a) or to the CN side (3) by transmitting the accessed information to other RAN nodes (2a) or to the CN side (3).

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims wherein; handling timestringent requests only by the RAN side (2) and delegating not-so-time-stringent localization tasks to legacy methods.

11. A wireless network being configured to perform the method according to any one of the preceding claims and comprises at least one user device (1 ), at least one RAN side (2) which comprises at least one RAN node (2a) being able to communicate with the userdevice (1 ) and at least one CN side (3) which is able to communicate with the RAN side (2) characterized in that; the wireless network also comprises at least one control unit which is configured to perform the method according to any one of the preceding claims.

12. The wireless network according to claim 1 1 wherein; the RAN node (2a) is a base station having at least one Next-Generation Node B (gNB) (a1 ) and / or at least one Evolved Node B (eNB) (a2).

13. The wireless network according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein; the control unit is a Location Management Center (LMC) located in a single gNB (a1 ) of the RAN node (2a).

14. The wireless network according to any one of the claims 1 1 -13 wherein; the control unit is an external LMC within the RAN side (2) and connected with multiple RAN nodes (2a).

15. The wireless network according to any one of the claims 1 1 -14 wherein; the control unit is implemented in a centralized unit of a split gNB (a1 ).

16. The wireless network according to any one of the claims 1 1 -15 wherein; the control unit is implemented as a Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) node connected to multiple RAN nodes (2a) and providing them computation.

17. The wireless network according to any one of the claims 1 1 -16 wherein; the control unit is included in a baseband pool that handles multiple RAN nodes (2a).

18. The wireless network according to any one of the claims 1 1 -17 wherein; the control unit is configured to receive instantaneous assistance information from multiple entities that have access to measurements or positioning relevant information.

19. The wireless network according to claim 18 wherein; multiple entities are selected from RAN nodes (2), databases and / or computing elements.

20. The wireless network according to any one of the claims 1 1 -18 wherein; the control unit is configured to pre-fetch the required information before its operation from the CN side(3) and save the pre-fetched required information in the user device (1) context which also contain policy control and authorization info.

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