Signal measurement utilization by location server

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for communication. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) may receive Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process, obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and transmitting a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server. In an aspect, a location server may transmit a request for MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs and receive MDT report information in response to the request. In an aspect, a network device can receive a request for MDT report information from a location server; obtain MDT report information in accordance with the request; and transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO SIGNAL MEASUREMENT UTILIZATION BY LOCATION SERVER BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless technologies. 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. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technology, and high-density deployments for 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning. SUMMARY

[0004] 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 1 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0005] 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, Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process: obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server.

[0006] In an aspect, a location server 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: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information obtained by one or more User Equipments (UEs); and receive, via the one or more transceivers, MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters.

[0007] In an aspect, a network device 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 request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information from a location server; obtain MDT report information for one or more User Equipments (UEs) in accordance with the request; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

[0008] Other objects 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] 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.

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0011] FIGS.2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0012] 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.

[0013] FIG.4 illustrates the different radio resource control (RRC) states available in New Radio (NR), according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates example Long-Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) reference sources for positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG.6A and 6B show example protocol layering and information flow for NRPPa (New Radio Positioning Protocol A) PDU (Protocol Data Unit) Transfer between a Location Management Function (LMF) and NG-RAN (Next Generation-Radio Access Network) node, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG.7 shows an example logged MDT (Minimization of Drive Test) call flow between a UE and a RAN node, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG.8 shows an example information flow for a location server requesting MDT reports from a network device, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG.9 shows an example between a UE and a location server, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIGS. 10-12 illustrate example methods of communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0021] Various aspects relate generally to providing Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) information to a location server. In some examples, the location server can use crowdsourced MDT reporting information to generate and / or update coverage map database(s), and provide coverage map information to one or more UEs, one or more network devices, or a combination thereof.

[0022] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. Crowdsourced MDT reporting can provide rich information about the network environment, including reporting of many parameters that can be used to improve positioning. Because the location server can request MDT reporting, the described techniques can enable accurate positioning even when network changes are not captured by a central network entity. In some aspects, the location server can provide one or more UEs with accurate coverage map information based on the crowdsourced MDT report information. In some cases, the described techniques can allow devices with fewer location capabilities (such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices without GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers and / or with relatively low memory capacity) to derive an accurate location. In some cases, the described techniques allow position determination without the need for a protocol session.

[0023] 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.

[0024] 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. 4 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0025] 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.

[0026] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (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., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer 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 (IoT) 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 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 device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. 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 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0027] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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 access channel, 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 uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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 signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may 6 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0030] 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 through multipath 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.

[0031] 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 (labeled “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 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.

[0032] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0033] 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, dual connectivity), 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.

[0034] 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 IoT (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 of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. 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. 8 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0035] 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' (labeled “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 heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0036] 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).

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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®. 9 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0039] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in 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 3 GHz 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO types of quasi-co-location (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 reference RF 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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.

[0044] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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 the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0048] 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 “secondary serving 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and / or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0051] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) 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). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 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, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL- UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs 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 SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE 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 SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0052] In an aspect, the sidelink 160 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. In an aspect, 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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 802.11x 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.

[0053] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0054] 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 SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to 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.

[0055] 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 Multi- QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO functional 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.

[0056] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non- terrestrial 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.

[0057] 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 (referred to as “sidelinks”). 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.

[0058] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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).

[0059] 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).

[0060] 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 user plane 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0061] 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 and forwarding 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.

[0062] 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 N11 interface.

[0063] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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).

[0064] 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.

[0065] 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.

[0066] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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 “F1” 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.

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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).

[0069] 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 (O-RAN QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO (such as the network configuration sponsored by the O-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.

[0070] 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 one or more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 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.

[0071] 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0072] 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 E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0073] 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.

[0074] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0075] 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 O1 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 O2 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 O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0076] 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 A1 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.

[0077] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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 O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0078] 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. 2A 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 an ASIC, 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.

[0079] 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 for tuning, 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., QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0080] 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), wireless access 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.

[0081] 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and / or other space vehicles.

[0082] 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 non- terrestrial 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.

[0083] 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0084] 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.

[0085] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0086] 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.

[0087] 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. The UE 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.

[0088] 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(s) 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning component(s) 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(s) 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component(s) 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(s) 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(s) 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 combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG.3C illustrates possible locations of the positioning component(s) 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0091] 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 header compression / 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.

[0092] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (L1) 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0093] 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 Layer-1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 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.

[0094] 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.

[0095] 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); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0096] 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. The spatial 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.

[0097] 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.

[0098] 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.

[0099] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS.3A, 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 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 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.

[0100] 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.

[0101] The components of FIGS.3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 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., QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component(s) 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0102] 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 private network 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).

[0103] After a random access procedure, the UE is in an RRC CONNECTED state. The RRC protocol is used on the air interface between a UE and a base station. The major functions of the RRC protocol include connection establishment and release functions, broadcast of system information, radio bearer establishment, reconfiguration, and release, RRC connection mobility procedures, paging notification and release, and outer loop power control. In LTE, a UE may be in one of two RRC states (CONNECTED or IDLE), but in NR, a UE may be in one of three RRC states (CONNECTED, IDLE, or INACTIVE). The different RRC states have different radio resources associated with them that the UE can use when it is in a given state. Note that the different RRC states are often capitalized, as above; however, this is not necessary, and these states can also be written in lowercase.

[0104] FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 of the different RRC states (also referred to as RRC modes) available in NR, according to aspects of the disclosure. When a UE is powered up, it is initially in the RRC DISCONNECTED / IDLE state 410. After a random access procedure, it moves to the RRC CONNECTED state 420. If there is no activity at the UE for a short time, it can suspend its session by moving to the RRC INACTIVE state 430. The UE can resume its session by performing a random access procedure to transition back to the RRC CONNECTED state 420. Thus, the UE needs to perform a random access procedure to transition to the RRC CONNECTED state 420, regardless of whether the UE is in the RRC IDLE state 410 or the RRC INACTIVE state 430.

[0105] The operations performed in the RRC IDLE state 410 include public land mobile network (PLMN) selection, broadcast of system information, cell re-selection mobility, paging for mobile terminated data (initiated and managed by the 5GC), discontinuous reception (DRX) for core network paging (configured by non-access stratum (NAS)). The operations performed in the RRC CONNECTED state 420 include 5GC (e.g., 5GC 260) QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO and NG-RAN (e.g., NG-RAN 220) connection establishment (both control and user planes), UE context storage at the NG-RAN and the UE, NG-RAN knowledge of the cell to which the UE belongs, transfer of unicast data to / from the UE, and network controlled mobility. The operations performed in the RRC INACTIVE state 430 include the broadcast of system information, cell re-selection for mobility, paging (initiated by the NG-RAN), RAN-based notification area (RNA) management (by the NG-RAN), DRX for RAN paging (configured by the NG-RAN), 5GC and NG-RAN connection establishment for the UE (both control and user planes), storage of the UE context in the NG-RAN and the UE, and NG-RAN knowledge of the RNA to which the UE belongs.

[0106] In LTE and, at least in some cases, NR, positioning measurements are reported through higher layer signaling, specifically, LTE positioning protocol (LPP) and / or RRC. LPP is used point-to-point between a location server (e.g., location server 230 of FIG.2A, LMF 270 or SLP 272 of FIG.2B) and a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) in order to position the UE using location related measurements obtained from one or more reference sources.

[0107] FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating example LPP reference sources for positioning. In the example of FIG. 5, a target device such as a UE 504 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein), is engaged in an LPP session with a location server 530. UE 504 is also receiving / measuring wireless positioning signals from a first reference source, specifically one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes such as base stations 502, and a second reference source, specifically one or more SPS satellites 520 (which may correspond to SVs 112 in FIG.1).

[0108] An LPP session is used between a location server 530 and a UE 504 in order to obtain location-related measurements or a location estimate or to transfer assistance data. A single LPP session is used to support a single location request (e.g., for a single mobile- terminated location request (MT-LR), mobile originated location request (MO-LR), or network induced location request (NI-LR)). Multiple LPP sessions can be used between the same endpoints to support multiple different location requests. Each LPP session comprises one or more LPP transactions, with each LPP transaction performing a single operation (e.g., capability exchange, assistance data transfer, location information transfer). LPP transactions are referred to as LPP procedures. The instigator of an LPP session instigates the first LPP transaction, but subsequent transactions may be instigated by either endpoint. LPP transactions within a session may occur serially or in parallel. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO LPP transactions are indicated at the LPP protocol level with a transaction identifier in order to associate messages with one another (e.g., request and response). Messages within a transaction are linked by a common transaction identifier.

[0109] LPP positioning methods and associated signaling content are defined in the 3GPP LPP standard (3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 37.355, which is publicly available). LPP signaling can be used to request and report measurements related to the following positioning methods: observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA), downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), assisted global navigation satellite system (A-GNSS), LTE enhanced cell identity (E-CID), NR E-CID, sensor, terrestrial beacon system (TBS), WLAN, BLUETOOTH®, downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), and multi-round-trip-time (RTT). LPP measurement reports may contain the following measurements: (1) one or more time of arrival (ToA), time difference of arrival (TDOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), or reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurements, (2) one or more AoA and / or AoD measurements (currently only for a base station to report UL-AoA and DL-AoD to the location server 430), (3) one or more multipath measurements (per-path ToA, reference signal received power (RSRP), AoA / AoD), (4) one or more motion states (e.g., walking, driving, etc.) and trajectories, and (5) one or more report quality indications.

[0110] As another example, for motion sensor-based positioning, currently supported positioning methods use a barometric pressure sensor and a motion sensor, as described in 3GPP TS 36.305 and 38.305 (which are publicly available).

[0111] New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa), described in 3GPP TS 38.305, carries information between RAN nodes such as an NG-RAN Node and the LMF. FIG. 6A shows the protocol layering 600 used to support transfer of NRPPa PDUs between an LMF and NG-RAN Node. The NRPPa protocol is transparent to the Access and Mobility Function (AMF). The AMF routes the NRPPa PDUs transparently based on a Routing ID, which corresponds to the involved LMF node over the NG interface without knowledge of the involved NRPPa transaction. It carries the NRPPa PDUs over NG interface either in UE associated mode or non-UE associated mode.

[0112] FIG. 6B shows information flow 605 for NRPPa PDU Transfer between an LMF and NG-RAN node for UE positioning of a particular UE. In response to the LMF needing to send an NRPPa message to the serving NG-RAN Node for a target UE as part of a NRPPa positioning activity. Blocks 615, 625, and 635 are triggered when the LMF needs QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO to send an NRPPa message to the serving NG-RAN Node for a target UE as part of a NRPPa positioning activity.

[0113] At 615, LMF invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation towards the AMF to request the transfer of a NRPPa PDU to the serving NG- RAN Node for the UE. The service operation includes the NRPPa PDU together with the LCS Correlation ID in the N2 Message Container as defined in TS 29.518

[0028] . At 625, if the UE is in CM-IDLE (Connection Management-idle) state (e.g. if the NG connection was previously released due to data and signaling inactivity), the AMF performs a network triggered service request as defined in TS 23.502

[0026] in order to establish a signaling connection with the UE and assign a serving NG-RAN Node. At 635, the AMF forwards the NRPPa PDU to the serving NG-RAN Node in an NGAP (Next Generation Application Protocol) Downlink UE Associated NRPPa Transport message over the NG signaling connection corresponding to the UE and includes the Routing ID related to the LMF. The AMF need not retain state information for this transfer – e.g. can treat any response at 645 as a separate non-associated transfer. Block 645 and 655 are triggered when a serving NG-RAN Node needs to send an NRPPa message to the LMF for a target UE as part of an NRPPa positioning activity. The NG-RAN Node then sends an NRPPa PDU to the AMF in an NGAP Uplink UE Associated NRPPa Transport message and includes the Routing ID received at 635. At 655, the AMF invokes the Namf_Communication_N2InfoNotify service operation towards the LMF indicated by the Routing ID received at 645. The service operation includes the NRPPa PDU received at 645 together with the LCS Correlation ID in the N2 Info Container as defined in TS 29.518

[0028] .

[0114] One existing technique to characterize the wireless environment in different locations is Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) reporting by UEs. With MDT techniques, UE measurements at different locations and at different times are reported and can be used by the network to analyze and improve its coverage without the need for costly and time- consuming “drive tests.” MDT reports generally include UE measurements of signal strength and / or quality for one or more transmitters, as well as additional parameters such as identification information for the transmitter, available location information, time information, and sensor information.

[0115] Using MDT reports, the network can obtain rich information about serving cells, neighbor cells, WiFi access points, sensors, and BLUETOOTH® devices. Current MDT report QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO parameters are included in 3GPP TS 37.320. For example, according to current techniques (as outlined in 3GPP TS 37.320, section 5.1.1.3.3), the measurement reports for neighbour cells consist of: Physical cell identity of the logged cell; Carrier frequency; RSRP and RSRQ for EUTRA (Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) and NR; RSCP (Received Signal Code Power) and Ec / No (Energy per chip / Noise density) for UTRA (Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), P-CCPCH (Primary Physical Common Control CHannel) RSCP (Received Signal Code Power) for UTRA 1.28 Mcps TDD (Time Division Duplex); Rxlev for GERAN (GSM EDGE Radio Access Network); Pilot Pn Phase and Pilot Strength for CDMA2000; RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) and RTT (Round Trip Time) for WLAN APs; RSSI for BLUETOOTH® beacons. For any logged cell (serving or neighbour), latest available measurement result made for cell reselection purposes is included in the log only if it has not already been reported. While logging neighbor cells measurements, the UE determines a fixed number of best cells based on the measurement quantity used for ranking during cell reselection per frequency or RAT.

[0116] According to current techniques, MDT reports can be immediate or logged, with immediate MDT reports including measurements taken while the UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state and logged MDT reports including measurements taken while the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state and / or measurements taken while the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state. Logged MDT reports are transmitted to the network after resuming an RRC_ACTIVE state. There are also cases of measurement collection not specified as either immediate or logged MDT, such as Accessibility measurements.

[0117] FIG. 7 shows an example logged MDT call flow 700 performed by a user equipment (UE) 750 in communication with a network, according to some existing techniques. At 710, UE 750 is in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode. UE 750 may establish a connection with a network when in the RRC connected mode. For example, UE 750 may establish a connection to a Radio Access Network (RAN) node such as base station 760, which is communication with one or more additional network entities such as network entity 770. UE 750 includes instructions and circuitry implementing an RRC layer 702, Layer 2 (L2) packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layers 704, and a physical (PHY) layer 706.

[0118] Base station 760 and / or network entity 770 may obtain UE capability information, including logged MDT support capability information. For example, base station 760 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO may obtain the UE capability carried in the initial context setup. At 712, base station 760 transmits a LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message that configures one or more UEs to measure and log signal parameters in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state. An MDT session can be UE-specific or area-specific, and configuration is propagated via the control plane to UE 750.

[0119] The MDT configuration message can include information about the area in which the UE should log measurements, whether the measurements should be logged periodically or event-triggered, information about the measurement types to be logged, etc.

[0120] For example, the LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message is described in 3GPP TS 38.331 (for 5G NR RRC), and includes a number of information elements, including: areaConfiguration-r16, plmn-IdentityList-r16, bt-NameList-r16, wlan-NameList-r16, sensor-NameList-r16, loggingDuration-r16, report type, etc.

[0121] At 714, UE 750 enters an RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state. At 716, UE 750 initiates an MDT session based on the measurement configuration received at block 712. At 718, UE 750 generates an MDT log at each logging instance for the duration of the MDT session based on the MDT measurements collected at the logging instance. That is, at 718, UE 750 performs MDT measurements for one or more information elements configured by the measurement configuration received at 712. The MDT logs may be generated at an RRC level of UE 750. The logging instance and a duration of the MDT session may be configured by base station 760.

[0122] At 720, the MDT session is completed and UE 750 stores the MDT logs. The MDT logs may be stored for a pre-determined period, such as forty-eight hours. A size of each MDT log may vary. For example, in some existing systems, the size of an MDT log may be 64 KB or 3 MB.

[0123] At 722, UE 750 enters the RRC connected mode. Upon entering the RRC connected mode, at 724, UE 750 transmits a message to the base station 760 indicating that it has validly stored the MDT logs. The indication may be provided via a log measurement available information element, such as logMeasAvailable. The information element may be provided in an RRC connection completion message, such as an RRCConnectionSetupComplete message transmitted during connection establishment, an RRCConnectionReconfigurationComplete message transmitted during a handover, or an RRCConnectionReestablishmentComplete message transmitted during a connection re-establishment. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0124] In response to receiving the indication of validly stored MDT logs, at 726, base station 760 transmits a request message requesting transmission of the MDT logs. At 728, in response to receiving the request message, UE 750 generates a UE information confirmation message including the collected MDT logs. The UE information confirmation message may be a type of RRC message.

[0125] The information confirmation message generated at 728 may not include all of the collected MDT logs because lower layers of a network connection restrict a size of an RRC message. If the log size exceeds the maximum allowed amount, UE 750 segments the MDT logs (not shown). In the current example, at block 730, UE 750 transmits one segment of one of the collected MDT logs. In response to receiving one segment of one of the collected MDT logs, at block 732, the base station 760 transmits a message requesting transmission of the MDT logs. At block 734, the UE 750 generates a second UE information confirmation message including a segment of one of the collected MDT logs. The segment is transmitted in the second UE information message at block 736. The process described for blocks 728-736 may repeat until all of the MDT logs are transmitted.

[0126] The logged measurements include measurements of signals received by UE 750. Examples of logged measurements include DL signal quantities measurement results for a serving cell and for intra-frequency / inter-frequency / inter-RAT neighbor cells, power headroom measurements, PDCP SDU data volume measurements separately for DL and UL, average UE throughput measurements separately for DL and UL, packet delay measurements, packet loss rate measurements, received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements for WLAN and BLUETOOTH®, round trip time (RTT) measurement for WLAN, etc.

[0127] Examples of current measurements and measurement details for logged measurements can be found in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification 37.320, while examples of current MDT network configuration and call flow can be found in 3GPP technical specification 36.331 (for LTE) and 3GPP technical specification 38.331 (for 5G).

[0128] In some aspects of the current disclosure, transmitter types and measurements for MDT reporting need not be confined to those available in current techniques. For example, MDT report information can include information for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), such as satellite networks. Details of MDT techniques incorporating NTNs can be found QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO (for example) in commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 18 / 314,725 and PCT patent application number PCT / US2023 / 067011. In some examples, MDT information reported for NTNs may include some of the same MDT information types reported for terrestrial network cells, in addition to new information types. For example, new information elements may indicate the NTN cell type, e.g., low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), GEO (geostationary / geosynchronous), or high-altitude platform station (HAPS). The parameters may further include the NTN cell mobility type, such as GEO stationary or GEO synchronous.

[0129] Other information elements may include an NTN cell timing advance (TA) average values, e.g., a typical range. The timing advance (TA) changes frequently in NTNs due to environmental factors of the NTN. A drift amount with respect to a mean timing may be provided. An NTN cell round trip delay parameter may indicate a delay (e.g., in milliseconds). In some implementations, an index table may be represented. This parameter may indicate an access network delay.

[0130] An NTN cell center mean elevation angle may indicate an elevation angle range of a beam in an index array (e.g., table). A related parameter is an NTN number of average beams seen, which indicates a number of beams, or a quantity of beams detected by a UE in a particular area during a specified period of time. The NTN cell mean beam width indicates a beam width mean value, in other words, whether a beam is narrow or wide.

[0131] A terrestrial network (TN) cell visibility information element may indicate a percentage of time when TN cells were available for a serving public land mobile network (PLMN) and other PLMNs. An NTN cell visibility information element may indicate an average number of visible NTN cells for a serving PLMN and other PLMNs. An NTN cell mean access time may indicate an average time a UE was accessing each NTN cell or a list of specific access times; for example, in milliseconds. An NTN cell coverage gap time may indicate a percentage of time when no NTN cell and no TN cell for the serving PLMN were available for an area of the UE. An NTN usable bandwidth information element may indicate a mean bandwidth available for control signaling and also for data and voice. A mean non-access stratum (NAS) round trip signaling delay information element may indicate a complete end-to-end delay to a core network component, such as a mobile management entity (MME) or an access and mobility management function (AMF).

[0132] The network can use crowdsourced MDT reports to analyze and improve network coverage and quality, and to update its databases if, for example, the signal environment 41 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO for an area changes. For example, if a WiFi access point or BLUETOOTH® beacon is removed or its position changes, the network can update its database based on MDT reports.

[0133] Although MDT-capable UEs can be configured to report logged or immediate measurements to the network for network analysis and planning, the measurements are not reported to location servers such as server(s) implementing a Location Management Function (LMF), Secure User Plan Location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) server(s), or Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Centre E-SMLC server(s). For example, the LMF can access updates to network coverage second-hand, once the network updates its databases based on MDT reporting, but in general the LMF communicates with UEs in the context of positioning sessions and does not receive the logged or immediate MDT reports or participate in the MDT process.

[0134] In some aspects of the current disclosure, signal information is obtained by one or more UEs and provided to a location server. For example, one or more UEs can receive MDT configuration messaging and detect signal information according to the MDT configuration. The MDT report(s) can be provided to a location server; for example, using LPP for point-to-point communication or via an RRC connection to a RAN node which forwards the MDT report information using NRPPa protocol. When a RAN node forwards MDT report information to the location server, it may forward the information unchanged from the way in which it was received, or in some cases may forward the MDT report information in a different format. For example, the MDT report information provided to the location server may not include some information, may include additional information, may be provided as a compilation of report information from multiple devices or from the same device at different times, etc. The location server(s) can use the UE signal information to update one or more databases with the signal measurement information, where the measurements are associated with a specific location, a specific area, a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, and / or other identification of a location or area where the measurement was made. The location server(s) can create a coverage map or modify an existing coverage map for a specific area or region by effectively crowdsourcing measurements from multiple UEs. In some aspects of the disclosure, the coverage map can include coverage information for one or more NTN devices, one or more TN (Terrestrial Network) devices, or both. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0135] According to some aspects of the disclosure, the location server can provide coverage map information to the network, which can use the coverage map information to improve positioning techniques. For example, a network device can provide refined Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to one or more UEs using the coverage map information. According to some aspects of the disclosure, coverage map information can be provided to a UE, which can use the coverage map information and detected signal information to determine its location, outside of a positioning session with the location server. In an example, a UE without support for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) processing can use the coverage map to determine an accurate location.

[0136] FIG.8 shows an example information flow 800 for an implementation in which a location server 870 requests MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs from a network device 860 such as a RAN node, according to some aspects of the current disclosure. At 805, a location server 870 can send a request for MDT report information to network device 860 using a NRPPa protocol. The location server 870 can request MDT report information according to a schedule (e.g., with a requested periodicity), on demand, and / or subject to other conditions. The request may specify one or more UEs 850, one or more areas, or a combination thereof. The request sent to network device 860 may be in the same format as existing MDT configuration messaging, or may be different. For example, the request from the location server 870 can be included in new NRPPa messaging for location server-generated MDT requests, which can serve as the basis for generation of MDT configuration messaging from network device 860 to one or more UEs 850. In some aspects, new NRPPa messaging can indicate at least some parameters the same as / similar to those in a LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message described in 3GPP TS 38.331, such as area parameters, PLMN parameters, BLUETOOTH® parameters, WLAN parameters, sensor parameters, duration parameters, report type parameters, etc.

[0137] In some implementations, at 815 the network device 860 may respond to a request from a location server 870 for MDT report information with MDT report information that has been previously obtained from one or more UEs 850. For example, if the location server 870 requests MDT reports for a specified UE 850, area, region, etc., and the request allows MDT reports obtained within a particular time range to be included in the response, the network device 860 may respond with corresponding MDT report information (instead of or in addition to initiating an MDT session with one or more UEs 850). QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0138] At 825, the network device 860 can initiate an MDT session with one or more MDT- capable UEs 850, where UE capability for MDT can be carried in the initial context setup, as noted above. For an example logged MDT process with a UE 850, the network device 860 can transmit a LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message to the UE 850 while in the RRC_CONNECTED state. For an example immediate MDT process, the configuration for UE measurements may be based on existing RRC measurement procedures for configuration and reporting, with extensions for location information.

[0139] At 835, UE(s) 850 obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging. For example, a UE 850 can detect signal(s) from transmitters, determine transmitter / cell information, and measure signal parameters indicative of signal strength, signal quality, etc. For an example logged MDT process, UE 850 obtains signal information according to the LoggedMeasurementConfiguration message while the UE is not in an RRC_CONNECTED state; for example, in an RRC_IDLE and / or RRC_INACTIVE state, and stores logs for later transmission, as shown in FIG. 7. For an example immediate MDT process, the UE can use existing RRC measurement procedures for configuration and reporting, with extensions for location information, while in an RRC_CONNECTED state. At 845, MDT reports are transmitted to the network device 860, and at 855 the network device 860 forwards the measurements to the location server 870. For example, UEs 850 transmit MDT reports to a network device, which forwards the reports to location server 870 according to the NRPPa protocol.

[0140] Location server 870 can use the MDT report information to update its databases. For example, the MDT report information can be used to generate and / or update coverage map databases associating area or region identifiers (e.g., an area identifier, PLMN identifiers, cell identifiers, etc.) with transmitter information crowdsourced from MDT reports. At 865, location server 870 can transmit coverage map information to network device 860. The network device 860 can use the coverage map information to refine information for Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs), enabling UEs 850 to receive more accurate PosSIBs on the downlink from network device 860. Coverage map information can also be used by the network and / or UE for location determination and to cross check all parameters reported by a UE in a Network Initiated Location Request (NILR) Position report.

[0141] At 875, coverage map information can also be transmitted to UEs 850; for example, for a positioning process at the UE without initiating a protocol session. The coverage map 44 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO information may be particularly beneficial for devices that don’t support GNSS receivers, such as IoT devices with relatively small memory capacity.

[0142] In some aspects, one or more UEs and one or more location servers can use a protocol such as the LPP protocol to communicate directly, with a RAN node acting as transport. FIG. 9 shows an example information flow 900 between a UE 950 and location server 970, via a network device 960 such as a RAN node.

[0143] At 905, location server 970 may transmit a request for UE signal information. For example, location server 970 may transmit MDT configuration messaging to one or more UEs 950. The MDT configuration messaging may be included in one or more new LPP messages, which may have the same format as existing MDT configuration messaging or may differ in some way (in addition to being communicated using a different protocol). The configuration can be UE-specific or area-specific, and may configure the UE(s) to measure / detect signal parameters for TN and / or NTN networks, including signal parameters for a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof. The configuration may be for scheduled MDT reporting, dynamic MDT reporting (“on demand”), MDT reporting based on one or more conditions, or a combination thereof.

[0144] At 915, UEs 850 detect signals and measure signal parameters according to the MDT configuration messaging from location server 970. At 925, one or more UEs 950 can transmit MDT report information to location server 970.

[0145] As described above, the location server can use the MDT report information to update its databases. For example, the MDT reports can be used to generate and / or update coverage map databases associating area or region identifiers. At 935, coverage map information can be provided to one or more UEs directly using LPP protocol, while at 945 coverage map information can be provided to network device 960 using NRPPa protocol (e.g., to be used for refining PosSIBs etc.), and at 955 coverage map information can be provided to UEs 950 by network device 960.

[0146] FIG. 10 illustrates an example method 1000 of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1000 can be performed by a UE (e.g., UE 302 of FIG.3A or any of the user devices described herein). At 1010, a UE may receive Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process. In some implementations, operation 1010 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO can be performed, for example, using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component(s) 342 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1010. In some aspects, the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to detect signal information from a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more non-terrestrial transmitters; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the UE can detect signal information from one or more transmitters in a terrestrial network, non-terrestrial network, or both. In some aspects, the MDT configuration messaging indicates a periodicity for MDT reporting, and the UE can transmit a plurality of MDT reports to the location server according to the indicated periodicity.

[0147] At 1020, the UE can obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; for example, using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component(s) 342 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1020. In some aspects, the detected signal information includes transmitter identification information, signal quality information, signal strength information, or a combination thereof.

[0148] At 1030, the UE can transmit a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server; for example, using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component(s) 342 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for performing operation 1030. In some aspects, the UE can transmit the MDT report to the location server according to LPP protocol, while in some cases the UE can transmit the MDT report to a location server via a RAN node forwarding the MDT report using NRPPa protocol.

[0149] In some aspects, the UE can also receiving coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information based on crowdsourced MDT reports from a plurality of UEs. For example, the UE can receive the coverage map information using WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short range transceiver(s) 320, processor(s) 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component(s) 342 of UE 302, which may be considered means (structure) for receiving the coverage map information.

[0150] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of example method 1000 is the ability of the UE to share MDT information with the location server or the network or both. The 46 QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO location server can use the crowdsourced MDT information from UE(s) to generate and / or improve coverage map database(s), and as a result, improved coverage map information can be provided to UEs. Further, the coverage map information can be provided to the network and used to improve positioning; for example, by refining PosSIBs.

[0151] FIG. 11 illustrates an example method 1100 of communication for a location server, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1100 can be performed by a location server (e.g., location server 172 of FIG. 1, location server 230 of FIG.2A, LMF 270 or SLP 272 of FIG. 2B, or network entity 306 of FIG. 3C, or any of the location servers disclosed herein. For example, the location server can be server(s) implementing a Location Management Function (LMF), Secure User Plan Location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) server(s)), or Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Centre E-SMLC server(s)). At 1110, the location server can transmit a request for MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs. In some aspects, the request for MDT report information from one or more UEs includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both. In some aspects, the request for MDT report information comprises MDT configuration messaging transmitted to the one or more UEs according to a LPP protocol or a request for MDT report information transmitted to one or more RAN nodes according to a NRPPa protocol. In some aspects, the location server requests MDT report information for one or more transmitters included in a terrestrial network, one or more transmitters included in a non-terrestrial network, or both. In some aspects, operation 1110 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0152] At 1120, the location server can receive MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters. In some aspects, the MDT report information can be received from one or more RAN nodes using an NRPP-a protocol, while in some aspects the MDT report information can be received from the one or more UEs using an LPP protocol, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the MDT report information can be received in response to the request comprises receiving the MDT report information from at least one UE not in a positioning session with the location QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO server. In some aspects, the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information.

[0153] For example, operation 1120 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0154] Method 1100 may further include additional aspects that may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398. For example, method 1100 may further include updating at least some coverage map information based on the received MDT report information, which may include updating at least one coverage map database for an area associated with an area identifier, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least one coverage map database is based on information crowdsourced from a plurality of MDT reports. Method 1100 may further include transmitting coverage map database information associated with the area to at least a first UE, wherein transmitting the coverage map database information is based on an estimated location of the first UE included in the area having the area identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes included in a PLMN having the PLMN identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with a cell having the cell identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0155] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of example method 1100 is the ability of the location server to receive crowdsourced reports from UEs in order to generate and manage its coverage map database(s), rather than waiting for the network for updates. By providing accurate coverage map information to the UEs, example method 1100 may enable lower cost devices to determine their own position using the coverage map information; for example, in cases where a device does not have GNSS capability.

[0156] FIG. 12 illustrates an example method 1200 of communication for a network device, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1200 can be performed by a network entity (e.g., a RAN node, such as ng-eNB 224 or gNB 222 as shown in FIG.2B or a base station 304 of FIG.3B, or any network device described herein).

[0157] In some aspects, the network device receives a request for MDT report information from a location server at 1210. In an aspect, the request for MDT report information can include an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both. In an aspect, the request for MDT report information comprises a request for QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information. In an aspect, operation 1210 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0158] In some aspects, the network device obtains MDT report information for one or more UEs in accordance with the request, at 1220. In some aspects, obtaining MDT report information may comprise obtaining at least some previously obtained MDT report information.

[0159] In an aspect, operation 1220 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0160] In some aspects, the network device transmits at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server, at 1230. In some aspects, at least some of the obtained MDT report information is transmitted using a NRPPa protocol. In some aspects, transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprises forwarding MDT report information from at least one UE of the one or more UEs not in a positioning session with the location server. In an aspect, operation 1230 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short- range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means (structure) for performing this operation.

[0161] Example method 1200 further include additional aspects that may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388. For example, method 1200 may further include transmitting MDT configuration messaging to at least one of the one or more UEs based on the request for MDT report information, and obtaining MDT report information in accordance with the MDT configuration messaging. In another aspect, method 1200 may further include receiving coverage map information from the location server, the coverage QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO map information comprising signal information and associated transmitter information for at least one area and based at least in part on crowdsourced MDT report information. In another aspect, method 1200 can further include transmitting one or more Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to at least one UE of the one or more UEs, the one or more PosSIBs generated using at least some of the coverage map information.

[0162] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of example method 1200 is the ability of the network device to enable a location server to receive crowdsourced MDT report information from UEs in order to generate and / or update its coverage map database(s). The network device can obtain accurate coverage map information from the location server and refine PosSIBs for improved positioning.

[0163] 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.

[0164] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0165] Clause 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, Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO or an immediate MDT process: obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server.

[0166] Clause 2. The user equipment of clause 1, wherein, to transmit the MDT report to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the MDT report to the location server according to Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0167] Clause 3. The user equipment of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information based on crowdsourced MDT reports from a plurality of UEs.

[0168] Clause 4. The user equipment of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to detect signal information from one or more transmitters in a terrestrial network, non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0169] Clause 5. The user equipment of clause 4, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to: detect signal information from a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more non-terrestrial transmitters; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof; and wherein the detected signal information includes transmitter identification information, signal quality information, signal strength information, or a combination thereof.

[0170] Clause 6. The user equipment of any of clauses 1 and 3 to 5, wherein, to transmit the MDT report to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the MDT report to the location server via a Radio Access Network (RAN) node forwarding the MDT report using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

[0171] Clause 7. The user equipment of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the MDT configuration messaging indicates a periodicity for MDT reporting, and wherein transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises transmitting a plurality of MDT reports to the location server according to the indicated periodicity.

[0172] Clause 8. A location server, 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, QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information obtained by one or more User Equipments (UEs); and receive, via the one or more transceivers, MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters.

[0173] Clause 9. The location server of clause 8, wherein, to receive the MDT report information in response to the request, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to receive the MDT report information from one or more RAN nodes using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol or receive the MDT report information from the one or more UEs using a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol, or a combination thereof.

[0174] Clause 10. The location server of any of clauses 8 to 9, wherein the request for MDT report information from one or more UEs includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0175] Clause 11. The location server of any of clauses 8 to 10, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises MDT configuration messaging transmitted to the one or more UEs according to a LPP protocol or a request for MDT report information transmitted to one or more RAN nodes according to a NRPPa protocol.

[0176] Clause 12. The location server of any of clauses 8 to 11, wherein, to receive the MDT report information in response to the request, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to receive the MDT report information from at least one UE not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0177] Clause 13. The location server of any of clauses 8 to 12, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information.

[0178] Clause 14. The location server of any of clauses 8 to 13, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to update at least some coverage map information based on the received MDT report information, and wherein updating the at least some coverage map information comprises: updating at least one coverage map database for an area associated with an area identifier, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO one coverage map database is based on information crowdsourced from a plurality of MDT reports.

[0179] Clause 15. The location server of clause 14, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to transmit, via the one or more transceivers, coverage map database information associated with the area to at least a first UE, wherein transmitting the coverage map database information is based on an estimated location of the first UE included in the area having the area identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes included in a PLMN having the PLMN identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with a cell having the cell identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0180] Clause 16. The location server of any of clauses 8 to 15, wherein, to transmit the request for MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to request MDT report information for one or more transmitters included in a terrestrial network, one or more transmitters included in a non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0181] Clause 17. A network device, 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 request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information from a location server; obtain MDT report information for one or more User Equipments (UEs) in accordance with the request; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

[0182] Clause 18. The network device of clause 17, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to transmit MDT configuration messaging to at least one of the one or more UEs based on the request for MDT report information, and obtain MDT report information in accordance with the MDT configuration messaging.

[0183] Clause 19. The network device of any of clauses 17 to 18, wherein, to obtain MDT report information, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to obtain at least some previously obtained MDT report information. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0184] Clause 20. The network device of any of clauses 17 to 19, wherein the request for MDT report information includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0185] Clause 21. The network device of any of clauses 17 to 20, wherein, to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

[0186] Clause 22. The network device of any of clauses 17 to 21, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information comprising signal information and associated transmitter information for at least one area and based at least in part on crowdsourced MDT report information.

[0187] Clause 23. The network device of clause 22, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to at least one UE of the one or more UEs, the one or more PosSIBs generated using at least some of the coverage map information.

[0188] Clause 24. The network device of any of clauses 17 to 23, wherein, to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to forward MDT report information from at least one UE of the one or more UEs not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0189] Clause 25. A method of communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process: obtaining signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and transmitting a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server.

[0190] Clause 26. The method of clause 25, wherein transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises transmitting the MDT report to the location server according to Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP). QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0191] Clause 27. The method of any of clauses 25 to 26, further comprising: receiving coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information based on crowdsourced MDT reports from a plurality of UEs.

[0192] Clause 28. The method of any of clauses 25 to 27, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to detect signal information from one or more transmitters in a terrestrial network, non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0193] Clause 29. The method of clause 28, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to: detect signal information from a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more non-terrestrial transmitters; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof; and wherein the detected signal information includes transmitter identification information, signal quality information, signal strength information, or a combination thereof.

[0194] Clause 30. The method of any of clauses 25 and 27 to 29, wherein transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises transmitting the MDT report to the location server via a Radio Access Network (RAN) node forwarding the MDT report using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type a (NRPPa) protocol.

[0195] Clause 31. The method of any of clauses 25 to 30, wherein the MDT configuration messaging indicates a periodicity for MDT reporting, and wherein transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises transmitting a plurality of MDT reports to the location server according to the indicated periodicity.

[0196] Clause 32. A method at a location server, comprising: transmitting a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information obtained by one or more User Equipments (UEs); and receiving MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters.

[0197] Clause 33. The method of clause 32, wherein receiving the MDT report information in response to the request comprises receiving the MDT report information from one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPP-a) protocol or receiving the MDT report information from the one or more UEs using a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol, or a combination thereof. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0198] Clause 34. The method of any of clauses 32 to 33, wherein the request for MDT report information from one or more UEs includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0199] Clause 35. The method of any of clauses 32 to 34, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises MDT configuration messaging transmitted to the one or more UEs according to a LPP protocol or a request for MDT report information transmitted to one or more RAN nodes according to a NRPPa protocol.

[0200] Clause 36. The method of any of clauses 32 to 35, wherein receiving the MDT report information in response to the request comprises receiving the MDT report information from at least one UE not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0201] Clause 37. The method of any of clauses 32 to 36, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on- demand report information.

[0202] Clause 38. The method of any of clauses 32 to 37, further comprising updating at least some coverage map information based on the received MDT report information, and wherein updating the at least some coverage map information comprises: updating at least one coverage map database for an area associated with an area identifier, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least one coverage map database is based on information crowdsourced from a plurality of MDT reports.

[0203] Clause 39. The method of clause 38, further comprising transmitting coverage map database information associated with the area to at least a first UE, wherein transmitting the coverage map database information is based on an estimated location of the first UE included in the area having the area identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with one or more RAN nodes included in a PLMN having the PLMN identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with a cell having the cell identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0204] Clause 40. The method of any of clauses 32 to 39, wherein transmitting a request for MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs comprises requesting MDT report information for one or more transmitters included in a terrestrial network, one or more transmitters included in a non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0205] Clause 41. A method at a network device, comprising: receiving a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information from a location server; obtaining QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO MDT report information for one or more User Equipments (UEs) in accordance with the request; and transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

[0206] Clause 42. The method of clause 41, further comprising: transmitting MDT configuration messaging to at least one of the one or more UEs based on the request for MDT report information; and obtaining MDT report information in accordance with the MDT configuration messaging.

[0207] Clause 43. The method of any of clauses 41 to 42, wherein obtaining MDT report information comprises obtaining at least some previously obtained MDT report information.

[0208] Clause 44. The method of any of clauses 41 to 43, wherein the request for MDT report information includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0209] Clause 45. The method of any of clauses 41 to 44, wherein transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprises transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

[0210] Clause 46. The method of clause 45, further comprising: transmitting one or more Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to at least one UE of the one or more UEs, the one or more PosSIBs generated using at least some of the coverage map information.

[0211] Clause 47. The method of any of clauses 41 to 46, wherein transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprises forwarding MDT report information from at least one UE of the one or more UEs not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0212] Clause 48. The method of any of clauses 41 to 47, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on- demand report information.

[0213] Clause 49. A user equipment, comprising: means for receiving Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process: means for obtaining signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and means for transmitting a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0214] Clause 50. The user equipment of clause 49, wherein the means for transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises means for transmitting the MDT report to the location server according to Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0215] Clause 51. The user equipment of any of clauses 49 to 50, further comprising: means for receiving coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information based on crowdsourced MDT reports from a plurality of UEs.

[0216] Clause 52. The user equipment of any of clauses 49 to 51, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to detect signal information from one or more transmitters in a terrestrial network, non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0217] Clause 53. The user equipment of clause 52, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to: means for detecting signal information from a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more non-terrestrial transmitters; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof; and wherein the detected signal information includes transmitter identification information, signal quality information, signal strength information, or a combination thereof.

[0218] Clause 54. The user equipment of any of clauses 49 and 51 to 53, wherein the means for transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises means for transmitting the MDT report to the location server via a Radio Access Network (RAN) node forwarding the MDT report using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type a (NRPPa) protocol.

[0219] Clause 55. The user equipment of any of clauses 49 to 54, wherein the MDT configuration messaging indicates a periodicity for MDT reporting, and wherein transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises transmitting a plurality of MDT reports to the location server according to the indicated periodicity.

[0220] Clause 56. A location server, comprising: means for transmitting a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information obtained by one or more User Equipments (UEs); and means for receiving MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters.

[0221] Clause 57. The location server of clause 56, wherein the means for receiving the MDT report information in response to the request comprises means for receiving the MDT report information from one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes using a New QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPP-a) protocol or receiving the MDT report information from the one or more UEs using a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol, or a combination thereof.

[0222] Clause 58. The location server of any of clauses 56 to 57, wherein the request for MDT report information from one or more UEs includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0223] Clause 59. The location server of any of clauses 56 to 58, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises MDT configuration messaging transmitted to the one or more UEs according to a LPP protocol or a request for MDT report information transmitted to one or more RAN nodes according to a NRPPa protocol.

[0224] Clause 60. The location server of any of clauses 56 to 59, wherein the means for receiving the MDT report information in response to the request comprises means for receiving the MDT report information from at least one UE not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0225] Clause 61. The location server of any of clauses 56 to 60, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information.

[0226] Clause 62. The location server of any of clauses 56 to 61, further comprising means for updating at least some coverage map information based on the received MDT report information, and wherein updating the at least some coverage map information comprises: means for updating at least one coverage map database for an area associated with an area identifier, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least one coverage map database is based on information crowdsourced from a plurality of MDT reports.

[0227] Clause 63. The location server of clause 62, further comprising means for transmitting coverage map database information associated with the area to at least a first UE, wherein transmitting the coverage map database information is based on an estimated location of the first UE included in the area having the area identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with one or more RAN nodes included in a PLMN having the PLMN identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with a cell having the cell identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0228] Clause 64. The location server of any of clauses 56 to 63, wherein the means for transmitting a request for MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO comprises means for requesting MDT report information for one or more transmitters included in a terrestrial network, one or more transmitters included in a non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0229] Clause 65. A network device, comprising: means for receiving a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information from a location server; means for obtaining MDT report information for one or more User Equipments (UEs) in accordance with the request; and means for transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

[0230] Clause 66. The network device of clause 65, further comprising: means for transmitting MDT configuration messaging to at least one of the one or more UEs based on the request for MDT report information; and means for obtaining MDT report information in accordance with the MDT configuration messaging.

[0231] Clause 67. The network device of any of clauses 65 to 66, wherein the means for obtaining MDT report information comprises means for obtaining at least some previously obtained MDT report information.

[0232] Clause 68. The network device of any of clauses 65 to 67, wherein the request for MDT report information includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0233] Clause 69. The network device of any of clauses 65 to 68, wherein the means for transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprises means for transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

[0234] Clause 70. The network device of clause 69, further comprising: means for transmitting one or more Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to at least one UE of the one or more UEs, the one or more PosSIBs generated using at least some of the coverage map information.

[0235] Clause 71. The network device of any of clauses 65 to 70, wherein the means for transmitting at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprises means for forwarding MDT report information from at least one UE of the one or more UEs not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0236] Clause 72. The network device of any of clauses 65 to 71, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0237] Clause 73. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment, cause the user equipment to: receive Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process: obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and transmit a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server.

[0238] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 73, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the user equipment, cause the user equipment to transmit the MDT report to the location server comprise computer- executable instructions that, when executed by the user equipment, cause the user equipment to transmit the MDT report to the location server according to Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0239] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 to 74, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the user equipment, cause the user equipment to: receive coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information based on crowdsourced MDT reports from a plurality of UEs.

[0240] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 to 75, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to detect signal information from one or more transmitters in a terrestrial network, non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0241] Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 76, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to: detect signal information from a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more non- terrestrial transmitters; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof; and wherein the detected signal information includes transmitter identification information, signal quality information, signal strength information, or a combination thereof.

[0242] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 and 75 to 77, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the user equipment, cause the user equipment to transmit the MDT report to the location server comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the user equipment, cause the user equipment to transmit the MDT report to the location server via a Radio QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO Access Network (RAN) node forwarding the MDT report using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type a (NRPPa) protocol.

[0243] Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 73 to 78, wherein the MDT configuration messaging indicates a periodicity for MDT reporting, and wherein transmitting the MDT report to the location server comprises transmitting a plurality of MDT reports to the location server according to the indicated periodicity.

[0244] Clause 80. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a location server, cause the location server to: transmit a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information obtained by one or more User Equipments (UEs); and receive MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters.

[0245] Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 80, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to receive the MDT report information in response to the request comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to receive the MDT report information from one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPP-a) protocol or receiving the MDT report information from the one or more UEs using a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol, or a combination thereof.

[0246] Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 80 to 81, wherein the request for MDT report information from one or more UEs includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0247] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 80 to 82, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises MDT configuration messaging transmitted to the one or more UEs according to a LPP protocol or a request for MDT report information transmitted to one or more RAN nodes according to a NRPPa protocol.

[0248] Clause 84. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 80 to 83, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to receive the MDT report information in response to the request comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO cause the location server to receive the MDT report information from at least one UE not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0249] Clause 85. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 80 to 84, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information.

[0250] Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 80 to 85, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to update at least some coverage map information based on the received MDT report information, and wherein updating the at least some coverage map information comprises: update at least one coverage map database for an area associated with an area identifier, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least one coverage map database is based on information crowdsourced from a plurality of MDT reports.

[0251] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 86, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to transmit coverage map database information associated with the area to at least a first UE, wherein transmitting the coverage map database information is based on an estimated location of the first UE included in the area having the area identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with one or more RAN nodes included in a PLMN having the PLMN identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with a cell having the cell identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0252] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 80 to 87, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to transmit a request for MDT report information obtained by one or more UEs comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the location server, cause the location server to request MDT report information for one or more transmitters included in a terrestrial network, one or more transmitters included in a non-terrestrial network, or both.

[0253] Clause 89. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network device, cause the network device to: receive a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information from a location server; obtain MDT report information for one or more User Equipments (UEs) in QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO accordance with the request; and transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

[0254] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to: transmit MDT configuration messaging to at least one of the one or more UEs based on the request for MDT report information; and obtain MDT report information in accordance with the MDT configuration messaging.

[0255] Clause 91. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 90, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to obtain MDT report information comprise computer- executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to obtain at least some previously obtained MDT report information.

[0256] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 91, wherein the request for MDT report information includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

[0257] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 92, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

[0258] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 93, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to: transmit one or more Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to at least one UE of the one or more UEs, the one or more PosSIBs generated using at least some of the coverage map information.

[0259] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 94, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network device, cause the network device to forward MDT report QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO information from at least one UE of the one or more UEs not in a positioning session with the location server.

[0260] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 89 to 95, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information.

[0261] 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.

[0262] 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 disclosed herein 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.

[0263] 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0264] 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.

[0265] 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. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO

[0266] 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, the phrase “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. QC2307925WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO CLAIMS What 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, Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) configuration messaging to obtain signals for a logged MDT process or an immediate MDT process: obtain signal information according to the MDT configuration messaging; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a MDT report including detected signal information to a location server.

2. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the MDT report to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the MDT report to the location server according to Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP).

3. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information based on crowdsourced MDT reports from a plurality of UEs.

4. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to detect signal information from one or more transmitters in a terrestrial network, non-terrestrial network, or both. QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO 5. The user equipment of claim 4, wherein the MDT configuration messaging configures the UE to: detect signal information from a serving cell, at least one neighbor cell, or both; one or more transmitters included in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN); one or more BLUETOOTH® beacons; one or more non-terrestrial transmitters; one or more sensors; or a combination thereof; and wherein the detected signal information includes transmitter identification information, signal quality information, signal strength information, or a combination thereof.

6. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the MDT report to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit the MDT report to the location server via a Radio Access Network (RAN) node forwarding the MDT report using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

7. A location server, 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: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, a request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information obtained by one or more User Equipments (UEs); and receive, via the one or more transceivers, MDT report information in response to the request, wherein the received MDT report information includes at least transmitter identification information, signal strength information, signal quality information, or a combination thereof, for one or more transmitters.

8. The location server of claim 7, wherein, to receive the MDT report information in response to the request, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to receive the MDT report information from one or more QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO RAN nodes using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol or receive the MDT report information from the one or more UEs using a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) protocol, or a combination thereof.

9. The location server of claim 7, wherein the request for MDT report information from one or more UEs includes an identifier for at least one of the one or more UEs, an indicator of an area, or both.

10. The location server of claim 7, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises MDT configuration messaging transmitted to the one or more UEs according to a LPP protocol or a request for MDT report information transmitted to one or more RAN nodes according to a NRPPa protocol.

11. The location server of claim 7, wherein, to receive the MDT report information in response to the request, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to receive the MDT report information from at least one UE not in a positioning session with the location server.

12. The location server of claim 7, wherein the request for MDT report information comprises a request for periodic MDT report information or a request for on-demand report information.

13. The location server of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to update at least some coverage map information based on the received MDT report information, and wherein updating the at least some coverage map information comprises: updating at least one coverage map database for an area associated with an area identifier, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) identifier, cell identifier, or a combination thereof, wherein the at least one coverage map database is based on information crowdsourced from a plurality of MDT reports.

14. The location server of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to transmit, via the one or more QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO transceivers, coverage map database information associated with the area to at least a first UE, wherein transmitting the coverage map database information is based on an estimated location of the first UE included in the area having the area identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with one or more Radio Access Network (RAN) nodes included in a PLMN having the PLMN identifier, based on the first UE being in communication with a cell having the cell identifier, or a combination thereof.

15. A network device, 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 request for Minimization of Drive Test (MDT) report information from a location server; obtain MDT report information for one or more User Equipments (UEs) in accordance with the request; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server.

16. The network device of claim 15, wherein, to obtain MDT report information, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to obtain at least some previously obtained MDT report information.

17. The network device of claim 15, wherein, to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information using a New Radio Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPa) protocol.

18. The network device of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: QC2307925WOQualcomm Ref. No.2307925WO receive, via the one or more transceivers, coverage map information from the location server, the coverage map information comprising signal information and associated transmitter information for at least one area and based at least in part on crowdsourced MDT report information.

19. The network device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, one or more Positioning System Information Blocks (PosSIBs) to at least one UE of the one or more UEs, the one or more PosSIBs generated using at least some of the coverage map information.

20. The network device of claim 15, wherein, to transmit at least some of the obtained MDT report information to the location server, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are configured to forward MDT report information from at least one UE of the one or more UEs not in a positioning session with the location server. QC2307925WO

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