Sidelink congestion control metrics for sidelink positioning for reduced capability user equipments

Abstract

A user equipment (UE) receives a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool, determines one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, determines one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop, and transmits the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

Description

SIDELINK CONGESTION CONTROL METRICS FOR SIDELINK POSITIONING FOR REDUCED CAPABILITY USER EQUIPMENTSBACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE1. Field of the Disclosure

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.2. Description of the Related Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide higher data rates as compared to previous standards, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)) and other technical enhancements.

[0004] Leveraging the increased data rates and decreased latency of 5G, among other things, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technologies are being implemented to support autonomous driving applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles, between vehicles and the roadside infrastructure, between vehicles and pedestrians, etc.SUMMARY

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0006] In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determining one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; determining one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmitting the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0007] In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determine one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops;determine one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0008] In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; means for determining one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; means for determining one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and means for transmitting the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0009] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determine one or more congestion control metrics for each SL- PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops; determine one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmit the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops accordingto the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0010] Other obj ects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0013] FIGS. 2 A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0014] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0015] FIGS. 4 A and 4B illustrate various scenarios of interest for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example sidelink ranging and positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams of example sidelink slot structures with and without feedback resources, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0018] FIGS. 7A to 7D are diagrams illustrating examples of resource pools for positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate example sets of aggregated sidelink resource pools for positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overlapping bandwidth between hops, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the switching gap between hops, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0022] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example where a UE is performing six frequency hops for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) positioning use case, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of single-hop-based SL-PRS congestion control metric calculations, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of multi-hop-based SL-PRS congestion control metric calculations, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0025] FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate examples of SL-PRS resource transmission based on multi- hop-based SL-PRS congestion control metric calculations, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 15 illustrates an example method of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0028] Various aspects relate generally to wireless communications. Some aspects more specifically relate to sidelink positioning using frequency hopping. In some examples, a user equipment (UE) performs sensing on only a subset of frequency hops within a plurality of frequency hops for sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) positioning. The UE may further perform channel busy ratio (CBR) and channel occupancy ratio (CR) calculations on only the subset of frequency hops. In some cases, the CBR and CR calculations are performed independently for each sidelink resource pool.

[0029] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by performing sensing on only a subset of frequency hops, the described techniques can be used to reduces the number of frequency hops the UE will need to sense (e.g., tune into and out of) in order to transmit SL-PRS.

[0030] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0031] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0032] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non- transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

[0033] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE), “vehicle UE” (V-UE), “pedestrian UE” (P-UE), and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., vehicle on-board computer, vehicle navigation device, mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things(loT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as a “mobile device,” an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or UT, a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof.

[0034] A V-UE is a type of UE and may be any in-vehicle wireless communication device, such as a navigation system, a warning system, a heads-up display (HUD), an on-board computer, an in-vehicle infotainment system, an automated driving system (ADS), an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), etc. Alternatively, a V-UE may be a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a cell phone, tablet computer, etc.) that is carried by the driver of the vehicle or a passenger in the vehicle. The term “V-UE” may refer to the in-vehicle wireless communication device or the vehicle itself, depending on the context. A P-UE is a type of UE and may be a portable wireless communication device that is carried by a pedestrian (i.e., a user that is not driving or riding in a vehicle). Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc.) and so on.

[0035] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs including supporting data, voice and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an accesschannel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an UL / reverse or DL / forward traffic channel.

[0036] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0037] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference RF signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such base stations may be referred to as positioning beacons (e.g., when transmitting RF signals to UEs) and / or as location measurement units (e.g., when receiving and measuring RF signals from UEs).

[0038] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals throughmultipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labelled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base stations 102 may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0040] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0041] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dualconnectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0042] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband loT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0043] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labelled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneousnetwork may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0044] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0045] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

[0046] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0047] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0048] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0049] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi -co-1 ocati on (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source referenceRF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0050] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal -to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.

[0051] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0052] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming theuplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0053] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency / wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) which is identified by the INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION® as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0054] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0055] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0056] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondaryserving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0057] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0058] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the S Vs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that aUE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positionedto enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0059] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and / or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0060] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more nonterrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0061] Leveraging the increased data rates and decreased latency of NR, among other things, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technologies are being implemented to support intelligent transportation systems (ITS) applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles (vehi cl e-to- vehicle (V2V)), between vehicles and the roadside infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)), and between vehicles andpedestrians (vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)). The goal is for vehicles to be able to sense the environment around them and communicate that information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobile devices. Such vehicle communication will enable safety, mobility, and environmental advancements that current technologies are unable to provide. Once fully implemented, the technology is expected to reduce unimpaired vehicle crashes by 80%.

[0062] Still referring to FIG. 1, the wireless communications system 100 may include multiple V-UEs 160 that may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). V-UEs 160 may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 162, with a roadside unit (RSU) 164 (a roadside access point) over a wireless sidelink 166, or with sidelink-capable UEs 104 over a wireless sidelink 168 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device- to-device (D2D) media-sharing, V2V communication, V2X communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of V-UEs 160 utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each V-UE 160 transmits to every other V- UE 160 in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between V-UEs 160 without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0063] In an aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources(e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs.

[0064] In an aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be cV2X links. A first generation of cV2X has been standardized in LTE, and the next generation is expected to be defined in NR. cV2X is a cellular technology that also enables device-to-device communications. In the U.S. and Europe, cV2X is expected to operate in the licensed ITS band in sub-6GHz. Other bands may be allocated in other countries. Thus, as a particular example, the medium of interest utilized by sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS frequency band of sub-6GHz. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this frequency band or cellular technology.

[0065] In an aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) links. DSRC is a one-way or two-way short-range to medium-range wireless communication protocol that uses the wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE) protocol, also known as IEEE 802. l ip, for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.1 Ip is an approved amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band of 5.9 GHz (5.85-5.925 GHz) in the U.S. In Europe, IEEE 802.1 Ip operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875 - 5.905 MHz). Other bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on the Safety Channel, which in the U.S. is typically a 10 MHz channel that is dedicated to the purpose of safety. The remainder of the DSRC band (the total bandwidth is 75 MHz) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road rules, tolling, parking automation, etc. Thus, as a particular example, the mediums of interest utilized by sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS frequency band of 5.9 GHz.

[0066] Alternatively, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.1 lx WLAN technologies generally referred to as“Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0067] Communications between the V-UEs 160 are referred to as V2V communications, communications between the V-UEs 160 and the one or more RSUs 164 are referred to as V2I communications, and communications between the V-UEs 160 and one or more UEs 104 (where the UEs 104 are P-UEs) are referred to as V2P communications. The V2V communications between V-UEs 160 may include, for example, information about the position, speed, acceleration, heading, and other vehicle data of the V-UEs 160. The V2I information received at a V-UE 160 from the one or more RSUs 164 may include, for example, road rules, parking automation information, etc. The V2P communications between a V-UE 160 and a UE 104 may include information about, for example, the position, speed, acceleration, and heading of the V-UE 160 and the position, speed (e.g., where the UE 104 is carried by a user on a bicycle), and heading of the UE 104.

[0068] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as V-UEs (V-UEs 160), any of the illustrated UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs. In addition, while only the V-UEs 160 and a single UE 104 have been illustrated as being connected over a sidelink, any of the UEs illustrated in FIG. 1, whether V-UEs, P-UEs, etc., may be capable of sidelink communication. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beam forming, any of the illustrated UEs, including V-UEs 160, may be capable of beam forming. Where V-UEs 160 are capable of beam forming, they may beam form towards each other (i.e., towards other V-UEs 160), towards RSUs 164, towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, V-UEs 160 may utilize beamforming over sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0069] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct(LTE-D), WI-FI DIRECT®, BLUETOOTH®, and so on. As another example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be sidelinks, as described above with reference to sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0070] FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0071] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0072] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and userplane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0073] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending andforwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0074] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the Ni l interface.

[0075] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0076] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third- party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0077] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0078] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “Fl” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0079] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality,may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0080] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0081] Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (0-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the 0-RAN ALLIANCE®)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C- RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0082] FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both). A CU 280 may communicate with oneor more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an Fl interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 287 may communicate with respective UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 287.

[0083] Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 280, the DUs 285, the RUs 287, as well as the Near-RT RICs 259, the Non-RT RICs 257 and the SMO Framework 255, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a RF transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0084] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include RRC, PDCP, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU- UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the El interface when implemented in an 0-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0085] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers(such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0086] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, an RU 287, controlled by a DU 285, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 287 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 285 and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0087] The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an 01 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an 02 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an 01 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an 01 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0088] The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non- real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 259. The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an Al interface) the Near- RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

[0089] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as Al policies).

[0090] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2 A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in anASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0091] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means fortuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and / or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0092] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, BLUETOOTH®, ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wirelessaccess for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra- wideband (UWB), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short- range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, BLUETOOTH® transceivers, ZIGBEE® and / or Z-WAVE® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to- everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0093] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and / or other space vehicles.

[0094] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are nonterrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data)originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0095] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS® signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

[0096] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0097] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmittercircuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0098] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0099] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. TheUE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0100] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning component 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning component 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning component 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combinationthereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0101] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0102] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0103] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0104] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer- 1 (LI) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer- 1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0105] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Lay er- 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Thereceiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0106] In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

[0107] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); REC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0108] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. Thespatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0109] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0110] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0111] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or BLUETOOTH® capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short- range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

[0112] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0113] The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0114] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a privatenetwork that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi).

[0115] Note that the UE 302 illustrated in FIG. 3A may represent a “reduced capability” (“RedCap”) UE or a “premium” UE. As described further below, while RedCap and premium UEs may have the same types of components (e.g., both may have one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, satellite signal interface 330, one or more processors 342, memory 340, etc.), the components may have different degrees of functionality (e.g., increased or decreased performance, more or fewer capabilities, etc.) depending on whether the UE 302 corresponds to a RedCap UE or a premium UE.

[0116] NR supports, or enables, various sidelink positioning techniques. FIG. 4A illustrates various scenarios of interest for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In scenario 410, at least one peer UE with a known location can improve the Uu-based positioning (e.g., multi-cell round-trip-time (RTT), downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), etc.) of a target UE by providing an additional anchor (e.g., using sidelink RTT (SL-RTT)). In scenario 420, a low-end (e.g., reduced capacity, or “RedCap”) target UE may obtain the assistance of premium UEs to determine its location using, e.g., sidelink positioning and ranging procedures with the premium UEs. Compared to the low-end UE, the premium UEs may have more capabilities, such as more sensors, a faster processor, more memory, more antenna elements, higher transmit power capability, access to additional frequency bands, or any combination thereof. In scenario 430, a relay UE (e.g., with a known location) participates in the positioning estimation of a remote UE without performing uplink positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission over the Uu interface. Scenario 440 illustrates the joint positioning of multiple UEs. Specifically, in scenario 440, two UEs with unknown positions can be jointly located in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions by utilizing constraints from nearby UEs.

[0117] FIG. 4B illustrates additional scenarios of interest for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In scenario 450, UEs used for public safety (e.g., by police, firefighters, and / or the like) may perform peer-to-peer (P2P) positioning and ranging for public safety and other uses. For example, in scenario450, the public safety UEs may be out of coverage of a network and determine a location or a relative distance and a relative position among the public safety UEs using sidelink positioning techniques. Similarly, scenario 460 shows multiple UEs that are out of coverage and determine a location or a relative distance and a relative position using sidelink positioning techniques, such as SL-RTT.

[0118] NR supports various sidelink ranging techniques. Sidelink-based ranging and positioning (SLRP) enables the determination of the relative distance(s) between UEs and optionally their absolute position(s), where the absolute position of at least one involved UE is known. This technique is valuable in situations where global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning is degraded or unavailable (e.g., tunnels, urban canyons, etc.) and can also enhance range and positioning accuracy when GNSS is available.

[0119] SLRP is based on calculating an inter-UE round-trip-time (RTT) measurement, as determined from the transmit and receive times of sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS) (a wideband positioning signal defined for sidelink-based positioning and described further below). Each UE reports an RTT measurement to all other participating UEs, along with its location (if known). For UEs having zero or inaccurate knowledge of their location, the RTT procedure yields an inter-UE range between the involved UEs. For UEs having accurate knowledge of their location, the range yields an absolute position.

[0120] FIG. 5 illustrates an example sidelink-based ranging and positioning (SLRP) procedure 500, according to aspects of the disclosure. An SLRP procedure 500 is established using the Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) to identify participating UEs, perform session establishment, and exchange measurements and measurement results. SLPP reuses the basic Long-Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) message constructs of Request / Provide Capabilities, Request / Provide Assistance Data, and Request / Provide Location Information.

[0121] An SLRP procedure 500 (or session) begins with a target UE 204-2 (a UE with an unknown or inaccurate location that is attempting to be located) transmitting, at stage 505, an SLPP Request Capabilities message requesting capability information from one or more peer UEs. As shown in FIG. 5, at least one of the peer UEs, UE 204-1, is capable of being an anchor UE for the SLRP procedure 500. As such, at stage 510, the anchor UE 204-1 responds with an SLPP Provide Capabilities message that includes anindication that it is capable of being an anchor UE for the SLRP procedure 500. The SLPP Provide Capabilities message may also include the location of the anchor UE 204- 1, or this may be provided later.

[0122] At stage 515, after the initial capability exchange, the anchor UE 204- 1 transmits an SLPP Request Assistance Data message to the target UE 204-2. At stage 520, the target UE 204-2 transmits an SLPP Provide Assistance Data message to the anchor UE 204-1, which may include the configuration of one or more SL-PRS resources to be transmitted by the anchor UE 204-1 for measurement by the target UE 204-2 for the SLRP procedure 500. Alternatively or additionally, the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message may include configuration information for one or more SL-PRS resources to be transmitted by the target UE 204-2 for measurement by the anchor UE 204-1. In some cases (not shown), the target UE 204-2 may transmit an SLPP Request Assistance Data message to the anchor UE 204-1 to obtain configuration information for the one or more SL-PRS resources transmitted by the anchor UE 204-1 for measurement by the target UE 204-2. The target UE 204-2 provides the requested configuration information in an SLPP Provide Assistance Data message. In some cases, the respective UE 204 may not transmit an SLPP Request Assistance Data message, but instead, only the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message.

[0123] At stages 525 and 530, the involved peer UEs 204 transmit the configured SL-PRS resources to each other. Alternatively, only the anchor UE 204-1 of the target UE 204-2 may transmit SL-PRS resources (e.g., in the case of a sidelink time-difference of arrival (SL-TDOA) procedure). The resources on which the SL-PRS are transmitted may be configured during the assistance data exchange(s) at stages 515 and 520. The anchor UE 204-1 measures the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference between the transmission time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 525 and the reception time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 530. Likewise, the target UE 204-2 measures the Rx-Tx time difference between the reception time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 525 and the transmission time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 530. Note that although FIG. 5 illustrates the anchor UE 204-1 transmitting SL-PRS first, the target UE 204-2 may instead transmit PRS first.

[0124] At stage 535, the target UE 204-2 transmits an SLPP Request Location Information message to the anchor UE 204-1. At stage 540, the anchor UE 204-1 responds with anSLPP Provide Location Information message that includes the Rx-Tx time difference measurement(s) obtained by the anchor UE 204-1. Alternatively or additionally (not shown), the anchor UE 204-1 may transmit an SLPP Request Location Information message to the target UE 204-2 and the target UE 204-2 may respond with an SLPP Provide Location Information message including the Rx-Tx time difference measurement(s) obtained by the target UE 204-2. If the anchor UE 204-1 has not yet provided its location to the target UE 204-2, it does so at this point.

[0125] The target UE 204-2 is then able to determine the RTT between itself and the anchor UE 204-1 based on the Rx-Tx time difference measurements. Based on the RTT measurement and the speed of light, the target UE 204-2 can then estimate the distance (or range) between the two UEs 204. If the target UE 204-2 also has the absolute location (e.g., geographic coordinates) of the anchor UE 204-1 and two or more additional anchor UEs 204-1, the target UE 204-2 can use that location and the distance to the anchor UEs 204-1 to determine its own absolute location (e.g., based on trilateration).

[0126] Note that while FIG. 5 illustrates one anchor UE 204-1, a target UE 204-2 may perform, or attempt to perform, the SLRP procedure 500 with multiple anchor UEs 204-1. Further, while FIG. 5 illustrates the SLPP Request Location Information being transmitted after the SL-PRS resources are transmitted, it may be transmitted before SL-PRS transmission.

[0127] Sidelink communication takes place in transmission or reception resource pools. In the frequency domain, the minimum resource allocation unit is a sub-channel (e.g., a collection of consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain). In the time domain, resource allocation is in one slot intervals. However, some slots are not available for sidelink, and some slots contain feedback resources. In addition, sidelink resources can be (pre)configured to occupy fewer than the 14 symbols of a slot.

[0128] Sidelink resources are configured at the radio resource control (RRC) layer. The RRC configuration can be by pre-configuration (e.g., preloaded on the UE) or configuration (e.g., from a serving base station).

[0129] NR sidelinks support hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission. FIG. 6A is a diagram 600 of an example slot structure without feedback resources, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 6A, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, and the 14 symbols makeup a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one sub-channel. Currently, the (pre)configured sub-channel size can be selected from the set of { 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0130] For a sidelink slot, the first symbol is a repetition of the preceding symbol and is used for automatic gain control (AGC) setting. This is illustrated in FIG. 6A by the vertical and horizontal hashing. As shown in FIG. 6A, for sidelink, the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) are transmitted in the same slot. Similar to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the PSCCH carries control information about sidelink resource allocation and descriptions about sidelink data transmitted to the UE. Likewise, similar to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), the PSSCH carries user data for the UE. In the example of FIG. 6A, the PSCCH occupies half the bandwidth of the sub-channel and only three symbols. Finally, a gap symbol is present after the PSSCH.

[0131] FIG. 6B is a diagram 650 of an example slot structure with feedback resources, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 6B, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one OFDM symbol, and the 14 symbols make up a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one sub-channel.

[0132] The slot structure illustrated in FIG. 6B is similar to the slot structure illustrated in FIG. 6A, except that the slot structure illustrated in FIG. 6B includes feedback resources. Specifically, two symbols at the end of the slot have been dedicated to the physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH). The first PSFCH symbol is a repetition of the second PSFCH symbol for AGC setting. In addition to the gap symbol after the PSSCH, there is a gap symbol after the two PSFCH symbols. Currently, resources for the PSFCH can be configured with a periodicity selected from the set of {0, 1, 2, 4} slots.

[0133] FIG. 7A is a diagram 700 illustrating an example of a resource pool for positioning configured within a sidelink resource pool for communication (i.e., a shared resource pool), according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 7A, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, and the 14 symbols make up a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is a sub-channel.

[0134] In the example of FIG. 7 A, the entire slot (except for the first and last symbols) can be a resource pool for sidelink communication. That is, any of the symbols other than the first and last can be allocated for sidelink communication. However, a resource pool for positioning (RP-P) is allocated in the last four pre-gap symbols of the slot. As such, nonsidelink positioning data, such as user data (PSSCH), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and control information, can only be transmitted in the first eight postautomatic gain control (AGC) symbols and not in the last four pre-gap symbols to prevent a collision with the configured RP-P. The non-sidelink positioning data that would otherwise be transmitted in the last four pre-gap symbols can be punctured or muted, or the non-sidelink data that would normally span more than the eight post-AGC symbols can be rate matched to fit into the eight post-AGC symbols.

[0135] Sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS) have been defined to enable sidelink positioning procedures among UEs. Like a downlink PRS (DL-PRS), a SL-PRS resource is composed of one or more resource elements (i.e., one OFDM symbol in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain). SL-PRS resources have been designed with a comb-based pattern to enable fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based processing at the receiver. SL-PRS resources are composed of unstaggered, or only partially staggered, resource elements in the frequency domain to provide small time of arrival (TO A) uncertainty and reduced overhead of each SL-PRS resource. SL-PRS may also be associated with specific RP-Ps (e.g., certain SL-PRS may be allocated in certain RP-Ps). SL-PRS have also been defined with intra-slot repetition (not shown in FIG. 7A) to allow for combining gains (if needed). There may also be inter-UE coordination of RP- Ps to provide for dynamic SL-PRS and data multiplexing while minimizing SL-PRS collisions.

[0136] FIGS. 7B and 7C are diagrams 730 and 750, respectively, illustrating additional examples of resource pools for positioning configured within sidelink resource pools for communication. Similar to FIG. 7, the examples of FIGS. 7B and 7C illustrate shared resource pool structures. With respect to FIGS. 7B and 7C, in some designs, the following parameters may be defined, for example: physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and SL-PRS are only time-division multiplexed, PSSCH and SL-PRS are only time-division multiplexed (e.g., the maximum comb size is 4), PSSCH carries both type 2 sidelink control information (SCL2) and a sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH) (e.g., a new SCL2format is introduced), SL-PRS is mapped on consecutive symbols, SL-PRS is not mapped on symbols with PSSCH demodulation reference signals (DMRS), and / or SL-PRS transmit power is the same as the transmit power of the PSSCH (e.g., this implies perresource element power boosting will be applied for comb-2 and comb-4).

[0137] FIG. 7D is a diagram 770 illustrating another example of a resource pool for positioning configured within a sidelink resource pool for communication. In the example of FIG. 7D, a dedicated resource pool structure is depicted. With respect to FIG. 7D, in some designs, the following parameters may be defined, for example: SL-PRS is immediately preceded by an AGC symbol, SL-PRS is immediately followed by a gap symbol (at least when the gap symbol is the last sidelink symbol in a slot), PSCCH and SL-PRS can only be time-division multiplexed, different comb sizes (N) and SL-PRS durations (M) can be supported in the same resource pool (e.g., one set of SL-PRS resources can only have a single (M, N) combination), PSSCH is mapped to the first sidelink symbols in a slot, the number of PSCCH symbols is (pre-)configured to 1, 2, or 3, the number of physical resource blocks is (pre-)configured using sidelink communications values, and / or there is a one-to-one implicit mapping between PSCCH and SL-PRS.

[0138] In some designs, in a shared resource pool, with regards to the fields in SCI format 2-D, the following fields may be included, for example: a SL-PRS resource information indication of the current slot (ceiling(log2(#SL-PRS resources (pre-)configured in the resource pool) bits)), SL-PRS request (0 or 1 bit), and / or embedded SCI format ([X] bit(s)). If the “embedded SCI format” field is set to [0], the SCI 2- A fields are included with necessary padding. If the “embedded SCI format” field is set to [1], the SCI 2-B fields are included.

[0139] In some designs, for a shared resource pool, there may be an explicit (pre-)configuration of SL-PRS resources in a slot, applicable for an indicated frequency domain allocation, which includes, for example: SL-PRS Resource ID, (M, N) pattern, and / or comb offset. In some designs, for a given value of ‘M,’ a SL-PRS resource is mapped to the last consecutive ‘M’ sidelink symbol(s) in the slot that can be used for SL-PRS, taking into consideration multiplexing with PSSCH DMRS, phase tracking reference signals (PT- RS), CSI-RS, PSFCH, gap symbols, AGC symbols, and / or PSCCH in the slot. In some designs, the maximum number of SL-PRS resources in a slot of a shared resource pool may be (pre-)configured.

[0140] In some designs, in dedicated resource pools, with regards to the procedure for determining the subset of resources to be reported to higher layers, when triggering the resource (re-)selection procedure, the higher layers provide the following parameters for candidate SL-PRS transmission(s), for example: resource pool from which to report SL- PRS resources, priority, delay budget, reservation period, list of resources for pre-emption and re-evaluation, and / or the set of SL-PRS resource identifiers that can include all (pre- )configured SL-PRS resource identifiers.

[0141] FIG. 8A illustrates an example set of aggregated sidelink RP-Ps 800, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example depicted in FIG. 8A, the set of aggregated sidelink RP- Ps 800 includes a first shared sidelink RP-P on a first carrier (e.g., a first component carrier (CC), denoted as “CC1”) and a second shared sidelink RP-P on a second carrier (e.g., a second CC, denoted as “CC2”), each of which is configured as described above with respect to FIG. 7B. In this example, the aggregated SL-PRS resources are indicated by reference 810. In an aspect, CC1 and CC2 may be separated (in the frequency-domain) by one or more CC guard bands. Note that the aggregated SL-PRS resources 810 may be scheduled jointly or separately, and may (optionally) share certain common properties (e.g., the same comb-pattern, same transmission power, etc.).

[0142] FIG. 8B illustrates an example set of aggregated sidelink RP-Ps 850, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example depicted in FIG. 8B, the set of aggregated sidelink RP- Ps 850 includes a first dedicated sidelink RP-P on a first carrier (e.g., a first CC, denoted as “CC1”) and a second dedicated sidelink RP-P on a second carrier (e.g., a second CC, denoted as “CC2”), each of which is configured as described above with respect to FIG. 7D. In this example, the aggregated SL-PRS resources are indicated by reference 860. In an aspect, CC1 and CC2 may be separated (in the frequency-domain) by one or more CC guard bands. In an aspect, the CC guard bands (which do not carry SL-PRS) may be configured such that a comb-pattern for SL-PRS 1 and SL-PRS 2 across CC1 and CC2 is maintained as if the CC guard bands carried SL-PRS 1 and SL-PRS 2. Note that the aggregated SL-PRS resources 860 may be scheduled jointly or separately, and may (optionally) share certain common properties (e.g., the same comb-pattern, same transmission power, etc.).

[0143] A channel busy ratio (CBR) parameter has been defined for sidelink to keep track of channel resource utilization at each given node (e.g., UE, RSU, gNB, etc.). A sidelinkCBR measured in slot n is defined as the portion of sub-channels in the resource pool whose sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI) measured by the UE exceed a (pre-)configured threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window \n-a, n-1}, where a is equal to 100 or 100-2^ slots, according to the higher layer parameter “sl- TimeWindowSizeCBR ” Sidelink CBR is applicable for RRC IDLE intra-frequency, RRC IDLE inter-frequency, RRC CONNECTED intra-frequency, and RRC CONNECTED inter-frequency.

[0144] SL-RSSI is defined as the linear average of the total received power (e.g., in Watts) observed in the configured sub-channel in OFDM symbols of a slot configured for PSCCH and PSSCH, starting from the second OFDM symbol. For FR1, the reference point for the SL RSSI is the antenna connector of the UE. For FR2, SL RSSI is measured based on the combined signal from antenna elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. For FR1 and FR2, if receiver diversity is in use by the UE, the reported SL RSSI value should not be lower than the corresponding SL RSSI of any of the individual receiver branches.

[0145] Sidelink CBR may be configured per sidelink resource pool. Specifically, the RRC parameter “sl-ThreshS-RSSI-CBR” in the resource pool configuration indicates the SL RSSI threshold for determining the contribution of a sub-channel to the CBR measurement. A value of “0” corresponds to -112 dBm, a value “1” corresponds to -110 dBm, a value of n corresponds to (-112 +dBm, and so on. The RRC parameter “sl- TimeWindowSizeCBR” in the resource pool configuration indicates the time window size for the CBR measurement.

[0146] Currently, up to sixteen CBR ranges have been defined. For each range, a channel occupancy ratio (CR) limit is specified that cannot be surpassed by a transmitting UE and that can take different values as a function of the priority of the transmission(s). When a UE wants to transmit a SL-PRS, it measures the CBR and maps it to one of the ranges to determine the CR limit. The UE also estimates its CR, and if it is higher than the CR limit, it adjusts its transmission parameters.

[0147] In Scheme 2 SL-PRS resource allocation (where the involved UEs reserve resources for SL-PRS transmission without network involvement), for a dedicated resource pool for positioning, congestion control may restrict at least the following range of parameters for SL-PRS configuration per resource pool by CBR and priority: the maximum SL-PRStransmission power and the maximum number of SL-PRS (re-)transmissions. For sidelink congestion control similar to legacy congestion control, the CR limits may be (pre-)configured per priority in a resource pool (how to achieve the CR limit is left to UE implementation). For a shared resource pool for positioning, the SL-PRS can share the same restriction of the PSSCH without specific enhancements in addition to what is currently specified.

[0148] For Scheme 2 SL-PRS resource allocation, with regards to the congestion control for a dedicated resource pool, various modifications are supported. As a first modification, for the definition of SL-PRS CR and CBR, the CBR / CR is redefined by considering the SL- PRS resource allocation / configuration. As a second modification, for the evaluation of RSSI used in the CBR definition, SL-RSSI is measured on a slot configured for transmission of PSCCH and SL-PRS and a single SL-RSSI is measured on symbols with both SL-PRS and PSCCH. As a third modification, the CR and CBR measurement time window size can be separately configured for a dedicated resource pool and could take the legacy / current values.

[0149] The SL-PRS CR for a dedicated resource pool for positioning is defined as follows. The SL-PRS CR evaluated at slot n is defined as the total number of SL-PRS resource subchannels (i.e., sub-channels in which the SL-PRS resource is transmitted) used for its transmissions in slots \n-a, n-1] and granted in slots [n, n+b\ divided by the total number of configured SL-PRS resource sub-channels in the transmission pool over \n-a, n+b\.

[0150] The SL-PRS CBR for a dedicated resource pool for positioning is defined as follows. The SL-PRS CBR measured in slot n is defined as the portion of SL-PRS resource subchannels in the resource pool whose SL-PRS RSSI measured by the UE exceed a (pre- )configured threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window of \n-a, n-1], where a is equal to 100 or 100-2^ slots, according to the higher layer (e.g., RRC, SLPP) parameter “sl-TimeWindowSizeCBR.”

[0151] The SL-PRS RSSI for a dedicated resource pool for positioning is defined as follows. The SL-PRS RSSI of a SL-PRS resource is defined as the linear average of the total received power (e.g., in Watts) observed in the configured sub-channel resource elements in OFDM symbols of a slot configured for the SL-PRS resource, starting from the second OFDM symbol, and observed in the configured sub-channel in OFDM symbols of a slotconfigured for the associated PSCCH, starting from the second OFDM symbol, and the PSSCH, starting from the second OFDM symbol.

[0152] The present disclosure considers a modified CBR definition to accommodate SL-PRS frequency hopping for reduced capability (RedCap) UEs. UEs may be classified as RedCap UEs (e.g., loT devices, wearable devices, such as smart watches, glasses, rings, etc.) and premium UEs (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc.). RedCap UEs may alternatively be referred to as low-tier UEs, light UEs, or super light UEs. Premium UEs may alternatively be referred to as full -capability UEs or simply UEs. RedCap UEs generally have lower baseband processing capability, fewer antennas (e.g., one receiver antenna as baseline in FR1 or FR2, two receiver antennas optionally), lower operational bandwidth capabilities (e.g., 20 MHz for FR1 with no supplemental uplink or carrier aggregation, or 50 or 100 MHz for FR2), only half duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) capability, smaller HARQ buffer, reduced physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring, restricted modulation (e.g., 64 QAM for downlink and 16 QAM for uplink), relaxed processing timeline requirements, and / or lower uplink transmission power compared to premium UEs. Different UE tiers can be differentiated by UE category and / or by UE capability. For example, certain types of UEs may be assigned a classification (e.g., by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the applicable wireless communications standards, or the like) of “RedCap” and other types of UEs may be assigned a classification of “premium.” Certain tiers of UEs may also report their type (e.g., “RedCap” or “premium”) to the network. Additionally, certain resources and / or channels may be dedicated to certain types of UEs.

[0153] As will be appreciated, the accuracy of RedCap UE positioning may be limited. For example, a RedCap UE may operate on a reduced bandwidth, such as 5 to 20 MHz for wearable devices and “relaxed” loT devices (i.e., loT devices with relaxed, or lower, capability parameters, such as lower throughput, relaxed delay requirements, lower energy consumption, etc.), which results in lower positioning accuracy. As another example, a RedCap UE’s receive processing capability may be limited due to its lower costRF / baseband. As such, the reliability of measurements and positioning computations would be reduced. In addition, such a RedCap UE may not be able to receive multiple PRS from multiple TRPs, further reducing positioning accuracy. As yet another example,the transmit power of a RedCap UE may be reduced, meaning there would be a lower quality of uplink measurements for RedCap UE positioning.

[0154] Premium UEs generally have a larger form factor and are costlier than RedCap UEs, and have more features and capabilities than RedCap UEs. For example, with respect to positioning, a premium UE may operate on the full PRS bandwidth, such as 100 MHz, and measure PRS from more TRPs than RedCap UEs, both of which result in higher positioning accuracy. As another example, a premium UE’s receive processing capability may be higher (e.g., faster) due to its higher-capability RF / baseband. In addition, the transmit power of a premium UE may be higher than that of a RedCap UE. As such, the reliability of measurements and positioning computations would be increased.

[0155] It has been agreed to introduce SL-PRS frequency hopping for RedCap UEs. For SL- PRS frequency hopping, a UE may be configured with multiple SL-PRS resources hopped on multiple frequencies. More specifically, in frequency hopping (also referred to as “bandwidth hopping,” “frequency stitching,” “bandwidth stitching,” or the like), a signal (e.g., a SL-PRS) is transmitted over a plurality of “hops,” where each hop is one or more symbols / slots in the time domain and one or more PRBs in the frequency domain. A receiving UE “stitches” together the measurement of the SL-PRS resource in each hop to determine a final measurement of the SL-PRS resource.

[0156] FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of the overlapping bandwidth between hops, according to aspects of the disclosure. Diagram 900 illustrates two 24-PRB SL- PRS hops in the frequency domain. Each SL-PRS hop may span one or two symbols of the same slot in the time domain. FIG. 10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating an example of the switching gap between hops, according to aspects of the disclosure. Diagram 1000 illustrates two 24-PRB SL-PRS hops in the frequency domain. Each SL-PRS hop may span one or two symbols of the same slot in the time domain.

[0157] FIG. 11 is a diagram 1100 illustrating an example where a UE is performing six frequency hops for a SL-PRS positioning use case, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 11, the SL-PRS resource includes six frequency hops, but as will be appreciated, there may be more or fewer than six hops. The six hops of the SL-PRS resource are referred to as aggregated SL-PRS resource frequency hops.

[0158] For every hop, the UE will have to frequency tune away from the current hop and tune to the next hop, which makes each hop a costly operation. However, for positioning usecases, each hop will be used (measured) in full by the receiver, as it will increase the positioning performance (e.g., ToA resolution) at the receiver. With respect to channel congestion concerns, however, it may not be necessary to perform channel sensing (e.g., RSSI) on every hop. It may also not be necessary to perform CBR and CR calculations on every hop.

[0159] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides techniques for per-hop sidelink congestion control estimation while determining across-hop SL-PRS transmission properties. At a first stage, a UE receives a (pre-)configuration for SL-PRS resource transmission within a sidelink resource pool, where the configuration indicates a plurality of N SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and where each frequency hop has a bandwidth smaller than the total bandwidth of the resource pool . At a second stage, the UE calculates the CBR, CR, and SL-RSSI (which may collectively be referred to as SL-PRS congestion control metrics) independently for each frequency hop of at least a subset of the N SL- PRS frequency hops. At a third stage, the UE determines the SL-PRS transmission properties of each frequency hop of the subset of the N SL-PRS frequency hops, at least based on the SL-PRS congestion control metrics computed for that frequency hop. At a fourth stage, the UE transmits the SL-PRS resource over the N SL-PRS frequency hops according to the SL-PRS transmission properties of each frequency hop that were determined in the third stage.

[0160] In some cases, the SL-PRS congestion control metrics (CBR, CR, and SL-RSSI) may be determined for a single hop, and the UE will use (transmit on) the remaining hops based on that determination. More specifically, when the SL-PRS transmission properties for one of the aggregated SL-PRS resource hops (i.e., the N hops over which the SL-PRS resource is transmitted) is adjusted, the transmission properties of the other aggregated SL-PRS resource hops are also adjusted. For example, if one of the SL-PRS resource hops is determined to be busy, and the SL-PRS resource of that hop is expected to reduce the transmission power, then the transmission power of the other SL-PRS resource hops will also be reduced (even if the measurements in that resource hop do not require such a transmission power reduction).

[0161] The same technique may be used for the maximum number of SL-PRS hop (retransmissions, the minimum periodicity of SL-PRS resource hops, the maximum number of SL-PRS resource hops in a slot, the maximum comb-size of a SL-PRS resource hop ina slot, and / or the maximum number of OFDM symbols of a SL-PRS resource hop in a slot. That is, for example, when the maximum number of SL-PRS hop (re-)transmissions for one of the aggregated SL-PRS resource hops is adjusted, the maximum number of SL- PRS hop (re-)transmissions of the other aggregated SL-PRS resource hops is also adjusted.

[0162] FIG. 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating an example of single-hop-based SL-PRS congestion control metric (e.g., RSSI, CBR, and CR) calculations, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 12, a UE is performing six frequency hops for a SL-PRS resource transmission (i.e., the number of aggregated SL-PRS resource hops is six). That is, the SL-PRS resource spans six frequency hops in the frequency domain. However, as will be appreciated, there may be more or fewer than six hops. The hops may be configured by a location server through assistance data (e.g., an LPP Provide Assistance Data message), by a base station (e.g., via RRC), or a sidelink anchor UE (e.g., via SLPP).

[0163] In the example of FIG. 12, the UE determines the SL-PRS congestion control metrics (e.g., RSSI, CBR, and CR) for a single hop (e.g., Hop 1). When the single-hop check passes, the UE may blindly use the other hops for transmission of the SL-PRS resource. This is similar to random selection and transmission. If the receiver UE is able to measure the SL-PRS on all of the hops based on the transmitter UE using the same transmission properties for all hops, then there is no issue. Otherwise, the receiver UE can request the transmitter UE to include other hops in the congestion control metric calculations.

[0164] In some cases, the SL-PRS congestion control metrics (CBR, CR, and SL-RSSI) may be determined for multiple hops, and the UE will use (transmit on) the remaining hops based on those determinations. FIG. 13 is a diagram 1300 illustrating an example of multi-hop- based SL-PRS congestion control metric (e.g., RSSI, CBR, and CR) calculations, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 13, a UE is performing six frequency hops for a SL-PRS resource transmission. That is, the SL-PRS resource spans six frequency hops in the frequency domain. However, as will be appreciated, there may be more or fewer than six hops. The hops may be configured by a location server through assistance data (e.g., an LPP Provide Assistance Data message), by a base station (e.g., via RRC), or a sidelink anchor UE (e.g., via SLPP).

[0165] In this case, every hop used for calculation of the congestion control metrics will have one or more other hops associated with it for joint hop transmission. In the example of FIG. 13, the UE performs the CBR calculation on Hop 1 and uses the transmission properties determined for Hop 1 for joint transmission of the SL-PRS resource on Hop 1 and Hop 2. Similarly, the UE performs the CBR calculation on Hop 3 and uses the transmission properties determined for Hop 3 for joint transmission of the SL-PRS resource on Hop 3 and Hop 4. Finally, the UE performs the CBR calculation on Hop 5 and uses the transmission properties determined for Hop 5 for joint transmission of the SL-PRS resource on Hop 5 and Hop 6.

[0166] If every hop check passes, the UE will perform joint hop transmission (i.e., SL-PRS resource transmission using the same transmission properties) on each hop in the hop set (e.g., Hop 1 and Hop 2, Hop 3 and Hop 4, Hop 5 and Hop 6). This is similar to random selection and transmission with a hop set. If the receiver UE is able to measure the SL- PRS resource on all hops of the hop sets based on the transmitter UE using the same transmission properties for all hops in each set, then there is no issue. Otherwise, the receiver UE can request the transmitter UE to include other hop sets in the CBR and transmission calculations.

[0167] FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate examples of SL-PRS resource transmission based on multi- hop-based SL-PRS congestion control metric (e.g., RSSI, CBR, and CR) calculations, according to aspects of the disclosure. As in the examples of FIGS. 12 and 13, in the example of FIGS. 14A and 14B, a UE is performing six frequency hops for a SL-PRS resource transmission. That is, the SL-PRS resource spans six frequency hops in the frequency domain. However, as will be appreciated, there may be more or fewer than six hops. The hops may be configured by a location server through assistance data (e.g., an LPP Provide Assistance Data message), by a base station (e.g., via RRC), or a sidelink anchor UE (e.g., via SLPP).

[0168] As in the example of FIG. 13, in the example of FIGS. 14A and 14B, the UE calculates the SL-PRS congestion control metric (e.g., RSSI, CBR, and CR) for the first hop of sets of two hops (e.g., Hop 1 and Hop 2, Hop 3 and Hop 4, Hop 5 and Hop 6). In diagram 1410, each of the three hop checks pass, and thus, the UE transmits the SL-PRS resource on all six hops. In diagram 1430, the hop check for Hop 3 does not pass, and therefore, the UE does not transmit the SL-PRS resource on Hop 3 and Hop 4. In diagram 1450,the hop check for Hop 5 does not pass, and therefore, the UE does not transmit the SL- PRS resource on Hop 5 and Hop 6. In diagram 1470, the hop checks for Hop 1 and Hop 5 do not pass, and therefore, the UE does not transmit the SL-PRS resource on Hop 1, Hop 2, Hop 5, and Hop 6.

[0169] In the case of multi-hop sets, as illustrated in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the UE may be configured by the upper layer with the following parameters: (1) the minimum hop set (i.e., the minimum number of hops) needed to pass the CBR requirement before the UE can use the slot / occasion for hop transmission, (2) the minimum hop set needed to pass the CR requirement before the UE can use the slot / occasion for hop transmission, and / or (3) the minimum hop set needed to pass the RSSI requirement before the UE can use the slot / occasion for hop transmission. For example, in the examples of diagrams 1430 and 1450, the minimum hop set is four hops, while in the example of diagram 1470, the minimum hop set is two hops.

[0170] Note that while FIGS. 13 to 14B illustrate sets of two hops, as will be appreciated, there may be more than two hops per hop set.

[0171] In some cases, for a UE configured with N SL-PRS resource hops (e.g., N=6 as in the examples of FIGS. 11-14B)), the CBR and SL-RSSI may be calculated independently for each sidelink resource pool. However, for the SL-PRS transmission properties of one of the aggregated SL-PRS resources to be adjusted, both the across-hop CBR measurements and the per-hop CBR measurements should indicate that such a transmission property adjustment should occur.

[0172] For example, if all of the SL-PRS resource hops are determined to be busy based on the per-hop CBR estimation, then the transmission properties of all of the SL-PRS resource hops will be adjusted. However, if one of the N hops is not busy, then the transmission properties are not adjusted. The same technique may be used for the maximum number of SL-PRS (re-)transmissions, the minimum periodicity of SL-PRS, the maximum number of SL-PRS resources in a slot, the maximum comb-size of a SL-PRS resource in a slot, and / or the maximum number of OFDM symbols of a SL-PRS resource in a slot.

[0173] In some cases, the SL-RSSI measurement definition and the SL-CBR definition may be redefined for frequency -hopped SL-PRS resources, such that the occupied OFDM symbols and / or occupied bandwidth / resource element across the aggregated SL-PRS resource hops are considered for the derivation of the measurement.

[0174] For example, the SL-PRS CBR for at least N SL-PRS frequency hops for positioning may be defined as follows. The SL-PRS CBR for a hop measured in slot n may be defined as the portion of SL-PRS resources associated with a given frequency hop whose SL-PRS hop RS SI measured by the UE exceed a (pre-)configured threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window \n-a, n-1], where a is equal to 100 or 100-2^ slots, according to the higher layer parameter “sl-TimeWindowSizeCBR.”

[0175] The SL-PRS hop RSSI for a SL-PRS resource hop may be defined as follows. The SL- PRS hop RSSI of a frequency hop of a SL-PRS resource may be defined as the linear average of the total received power (e.g., in Watts) observed in the configured resource elements in OFDM symbols of a slot configured for a SL-PRS resource hop, starting from the second OFDM symbol, and observed in the configured sub-channel in OFDM symbols of a slot configured for the associated PSCCH, starting from the second OFDM symbol, and the PSSCH starting from the second OFDM symbol.

[0176] The SL-PRS CR for a SL-PRS resource hop may be defined as follows. The SL-PRS hop CR evaluated at slot n may be defined as the total number of SL-PRS resources that used a given hop for its transmissions in slots \n-a, n-1] and granted in slots [n, n+b] divided by the total number of configured SL-PRS resources in the transmission pool over slots \n-a, n+b],

[0177] In some cases, there may be a separate CBR calculation for each frequency hop. In this case, the higher layer configures the independent CBR configuration for each sidelink resource pool. As a first option, all of the frequency hops have the same CBR parameters, specifically, the RSSI threshold (given by the higher layer parameter “sl-ThreshS-RSSI- CBR-rl6”) and the CBR time window (given by the higher layer parameter “sl- TimeWindowSizeCBR-rl6”). The UE start the sidelink positioning aggregation if all the CBR parameters are the same for all the positioning resource pools. As a second option, all of the frequency hops have different CBR parameters, specifically, the RSSI threshold (given by the higher layer parameter “sl-ThreshS-RSSI-CBR-rl6”) and the CBR time window (given by the higher layer parameter “sl-TimeWindowSizeCBR-rl6”).

[0178] The UE may be (pre-)configured in the resource pool with whether to perform a single (i.e., across-hop) CBR calculation or a per-hop CBR calculation. The higher layer configures the set of the frequency hops for which the UE needs to perform the CBR, CR, and RSSI calculations.

[0179] FIG. 15 illustrates an example method 1500 of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1500 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0180] At 1510, the UE receives a configuration for a SL-PRS resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL- PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool. In an aspect, operation 1510 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0181] At 1520, the UE determines one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops. In an aspect, operation 1520 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0182] At 1530, the UE determines one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL- PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop. In an aspect, operation 1530 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0183] At 1540, the UE transmits the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops. In an aspect, operation 1540 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0184] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1500 is that the method 1500 reduces the number of frequency hops the UE will need to sense in order to transmit the SL-PRS resource.

[0185] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0186] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0187] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL- PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determining one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; determining one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmitting the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRSfrequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0188] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops consists of a single SL-PRS frequency hop, and the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0189] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0190] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 2 to 3, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0191] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 2 to 4, wherein the single SL-PRS frequency hop is a first-occurring SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops in time and frequency.

[0192] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises two or more SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to SL-PRS transmission properties for the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0193] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein: each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops is associated with at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops and theassociated at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of that SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0194] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 6 to 7, wherein the configuration further indicates: a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel busy ratio (CBR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL- PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel occupancy ratio (CR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, or any combination thereof.

[0195] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0196] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0197] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein a minimum periodicity of SL- PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource in a slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0198] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein a maximum comb size of a SL- PRS resource per slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops.

[0199] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the one or more congestion control metrics comprise: a channel busy ratio (CBR), a channel occupancy ratio (CR), a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI), or any combination thereof.

[0200] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the CBR is defined as a portion of SL-PRS resources associated with a given SL-PRS frequency hop whose SL-RSSI measured by the UE exceeds a threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window.

[0201] Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 13 to 14, wherein the CR is defined as a total number of SL-PRS resources that used a given SL-PRS frequency hop for transmissions in a set of previous slots and granted in a set of subsequent slots divided by a total number of configured SL-PRS resources in the sidelink resource pool.

[0202] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 1 to 15, wherein determining the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least the subset of SL- PRS frequency hops comprises: determining the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0203] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, wherein the configuration further indicates: a same threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or a different threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0204] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 1 to 17, wherein the configuration further indicates: whether to determine congestion control metrics jointly for all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or whether to determine the congestion control metrics individually for each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0205] Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 1 to 18, wherein the configuration is received from: a location server, a base station, or a sidelink anchor UE.

[0206] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 1 to 19, wherein the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE.

[0207] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 1 to 20, wherein the one or more transmission properties comprise: a maximum transmission power, a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS, a maximum number of SL-PRS resources per slot, a maximum comb size of aSL-PRS resource in a slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or any combination thereof.

[0208] Clause 22. A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determine one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; determine one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0209] Clause 23. The UE of clause 22, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops consists of a single SL-PRS frequency hop, and the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0210] Clause 24. The UE of clause 23, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0211] Clause 25. The UE of any of clauses 23 to 24, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combinationthereof are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0212] Clause 26. The UE of any of clauses 23 to 25, wherein the single SL-PRS frequency hop is a first-occurring SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops in time and frequency.

[0213] Clause 27. The UE of clause 22, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises two or more SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to SL-PRS transmission properties for the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0214] Clause 28. The UE of clause 27, wherein: each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops is associated with at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops and the associated at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of that SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0215] Clause 29. The UE of any of clauses 27 to 28, wherein the configuration further indicates: a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel busy ratio (CBR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL- PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel occupancy ratio (CR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, or any combination thereof.

[0216] Clause 30. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 29, wherein the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0217] Clause 31. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 30, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0218] Clause 32. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 31, wherein a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource in a slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0219] Clause 33. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 32, wherein a maximum comb size of a SL- PRS resource per slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops.

[0220] Clause 34. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 33, wherein the one or more congestion control metrics comprise: a channel busy ratio (CBR), a channel occupancy ratio (CR), a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI), or any combination thereof.

[0221] Clause 35. The UE of clause 34, wherein the CBR is defined as a portion of SL-PRS resources associated with a given SL-PRS frequency hop whose SL-RSSI measured by the UE exceeds a threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window.

[0222] Clause 36. The UE of any of clauses 34 to 35, wherein the CR is defined as a total number of SL-PRS resources that used a given SL-PRS frequency hop for transmissions in a set of previous slots and granted in a set of subsequent slots divided by a total number of configured SL-PRS resources in the sidelink resource pool.

[0223] Clause 37. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 36, wherein the one or more processors configured to determine the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: determine the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0224] Clause 38. The UE of clause 37, wherein the configuration further indicates: a same threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or a different threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0225] Clause 39. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 38, wherein the configuration further indicates: whether to determine congestion control metrics jointly for all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or whether to determine the congestion control metrics individually for each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0226] Clause 40. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 39, wherein the configuration is received from: a location server, a base station, or a sidelink anchor UE.

[0227] Clause 41. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 40, wherein the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE.

[0228] Clause 42. The UE of any of clauses 22 to 41, wherein the one or more transmission properties comprise: a maximum transmission power, a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS, a maximum number of SL-PRS resources per slot, a maximum comb size of a SL-PRS resource in a slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or any combination thereof.

[0229] Clause 43. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; means for determining one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; means for determining one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and means for transmitting the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0230] Clause 44. The UE of clause 43, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops consists of a single SL-PRS frequency hop, and the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0231] Clause 45. The UE of clause 44, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0232] Clause 46. The UE of any of clauses 44 to 45, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0233] Clause 47. The UE of any of clauses 44 to 46, wherein the single SL-PRS frequency hop is a first-occurring SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops in time and frequency.

[0234] Clause 48. The UE of clause 43, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises two or more SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to SL-PRS transmission properties for the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0235] Clause 49. The UE of clause 48, wherein: each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops is associated with at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops and the associated at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of that SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0236] Clause 50. The UE of any of clauses 48 to 49, wherein the configuration further indicates: a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel busy ratio (CBR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL- PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel occupancy ratio (CR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, or any combination thereof.

[0237] Clause 51. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 50, wherein the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0238] Clause 52. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 51, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0239] Clause 53. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 52, wherein a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource in a slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0240] Clause 54. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 53, wherein a maximum comb size of a SL- PRS resource per slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops.

[0241] Clause 55. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 54, wherein the one or more congestion control metrics comprise: a channel busy ratio (CBR), a channel occupancy ratio (CR), a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI), or any combination thereof.

[0242] Clause 56. The UE of clause 55, wherein the CBR is defined as a portion of SL-PRS resources associated with a given SL-PRS frequency hop whose SL-RSSI measured by the UE exceeds a threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window.

[0243] Clause 57. The UE of any of clauses 55 to 56, wherein the CR is defined as a total number of SL-PRS resources that used a given SL-PRS frequency hop for transmissions in a set of previous slots and granted in a set of subsequent slots divided by a total number of configured SL-PRS resources in the sidelink resource pool.

[0244] Clause 58. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 57, wherein the means for determining the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises: means for determining the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0245] Clause 59. The UE of clause 58, wherein the configuration further indicates: a same threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or a different threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0246] Clause 60. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 59, wherein the configuration further indicates: whether to determine congestion control metrics jointly for all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or whether to determine the congestion control metrics individually for each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0247] Clause 61. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 60, wherein the configuration is received from: a location server, a base station, or a sidelink anchor UE.

[0248] Clause 62. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 61, wherein the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE.

[0249] Clause 63. The UE of any of clauses 43 to 62, wherein the one or more transmission properties comprise: a maximum transmission power, a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS, a maximum number of SL-PRS resources per slot, a maximum comb size of a SL-PRS resource in a slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or any combination thereof.

[0250] Clause 64. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determine one or more congestion control metrics for each SL- PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops; determine one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmit the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0251] Clause 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 64, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops consists of a single SL-PRS frequency hop, and the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0252] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 65, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL- PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0253] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 66, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hopper slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

[0254] Clause 68. The non -transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 65 to 67, wherein the single SL-PRS frequency hop is a first-occurring SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops in time and frequency.

[0255] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 64, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises two or more SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to SL-PRS transmission properties for the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0256] Clause 70. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 69, wherein: each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops is associated with at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops and the associated at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of that SL- PRS frequency hop.

[0257] Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 69 to 70, wherein the configuration further indicates: a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel busy ratio (CBR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel occupancy ratio (CR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, or any combination thereof.

[0258] Clause 72. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 71, wherein the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0259] Clause 73. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 72, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0260] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 73, wherein a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL- PRS resource in a slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0261] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 74, wherein a maximum comb size of a SL-PRS resource per slot, a maximum number of SL- PRS resource symbols per slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0262] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 75, wherein the one or more congestion control metrics comprise: a channel busy ratio (CBR), a channel occupancy ratio (CR), a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL- RSSI), or any combination thereof.

[0263] Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 76, wherein the CBR is defined as a portion of SL-PRS resources associated with a given SL-PRS frequency hop whose SL-RSSI measured by the UE exceeds a threshold sensed over a CBR measurement window.

[0264] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 76 to 77, wherein the CR is defined as a total number of SL-PRS resources that used a given SL- PRS frequency hop for transmissions in a set of previous slots and granted in a set of subsequent slots divided by a total number of configured SL-PRS resources in the sidelink resource pool.

[0265] Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 78, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to determine the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprise computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: determine the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0266] Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 79, wherein the configuration further indicates: a same threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or a different threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0267] Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 80, wherein the configuration further indicates: whether to determine congestion control metrics jointly for all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or whether to determine the congestion control metrics individually for each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

[0268] Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 81, wherein the configuration is received from: a location server, a base station, or a sidelink anchor UE.

[0269] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 82, wherein the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE.

[0270] Clause 84. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 83, wherein the one or more transmission properties comprise: a maximum transmission power, a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS, a maximum number of SL-PRS resources per slot, a maximum comb size of a SL-PRS resource in a slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or any combination thereof.

[0271] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0272] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0273] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general -purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0274] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0275] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed 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 medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0276] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, thephrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and / or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of’) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determine one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; determine one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

2. The UE of claim 1, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops consists of a single SL-PRS frequency hop, and the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on the one or more SL- PRS transmission properties of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

3. The UE of claim 2, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hop retransmissions, or both of the single SL- PRS frequency hop.

4. The UE of claim 2, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof are determined for remaining SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops based on a maximum number of SL-PRS frequency hops per slot, a maximum comb size per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, a maximum number of symbols per SL-PRS frequency hop per slot, or any combination thereof of the single SL-PRS frequency hop.

5. The UE of claim 2, wherein the single SL-PRS frequency hop is a first-occurring SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops in time and frequency.

6. The UE of claim 1, wherein: the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises two or more SL-PRS frequency hops, and the SL-PRS resource is transmitted over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to SL-PRS transmission properties for the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops.

7. The UE of claim 6, wherein: each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops is associated with at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL- PRS frequency hops, andthe SL-PRS resource is transmitted over each SL-PRS frequency hop of the two or more SL-PRS frequency hops and the associated at least one remaining SL-PRS frequency hop according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties of that SL- PRS frequency hop.

8. The UE of claim 6, wherein the configuration further indicates: a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel busy ratio (CBR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a channel occupancy ratio (CR) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, a minimum number of hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops that need to pass a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI) requirement before the UE is permitted to transmit the SL-PRS resource, or any combination thereof.

9. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

10. The UE of claim 1, wherein a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

11. The UE of claim 1, wherein a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource in a slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

12. The UE of claim 1, wherein a maximum comb size of a SL-PRS resource per slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or both are determined based on (1) congestion control metrics across all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops and (2) congestion control metrics per each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

13. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more congestion control metrics comprise: a channel busy ratio (CBR), a channel occupancy ratio (CR), a sidelink received signal strength indicator (SL-RSSI), or any combination thereof.

14. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configured to determine the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops comprises the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: determine the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

15. The UE of claim 16, wherein the configuration further indicates: a same threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or a different threshold to apply to the one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

16. The UE of claim 1, wherein the configuration further indicates: whether to determine congestion control metrics jointly for all of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops, or whether to determine the congestion control metrics individually for each of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops.

17. The UE of claim 1, wherein the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE.

18. The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more transmission properties comprise: a maximum transmission power, a maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions, a maximum number of SL-PRS retransmissions, a minimum periodicity of SL-PRS, a maximum number of SL-PRS resources per slot, a maximum comb size of a SL-PRS resource in a slot, a maximum number of SL-PRS resource symbols per slot, or any combination thereof.

19. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL-PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; determining one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; determining one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and transmitting the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

20. A user equipment (UE), comprising:means for receiving a configuration for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) resource within a sidelink resource pool, wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops of the SL-PRS resource, and wherein each SL- PRS frequency hop of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops has a bandwidth smaller than a total bandwidth of the sidelink resource pool; means for determining one or more congestion control metrics for each SL-PRS frequency hop of at least a subset of SL-PRS frequency hops of the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops; means for determining one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops based at least in part on the one or more congestion control metrics determined for that SL-PRS frequency hop; and means for transmitting the SL-PRS resource over the plurality of SL-PRS frequency hops according to the one or more SL-PRS transmission properties for each SL-PRS frequency hop of the subset of SL-PRS frequency hops.

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