Opportunistic reference signal processing

Abstract

A method of processing reference signals at an apparatus includes: obtaining, at the apparatus, a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively processing, at the apparatus, only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

Description

OPPORTUNISTIC REFERENCE SIGNAL PROCESSINGCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Greek Patent Application No. 20240100396, filed May 27, 2024, entitled “OPPORTUNISTIC REFERENCE SIGNAL PROCESSING,” which is assigned to the assignee hereof, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.BACKGROUND

[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, a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax®), a fifth-generation (5G) service (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)), etc., with a sixthgeneration (6G) service in development. 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), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for 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 data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

[0004] It is often desirable to know the location and / or motion (e.g., speed or velocity) of a user equipment (UE), e.g., a cellular phone, with the terns "location" and "position" being synonymous and used interchangeably herein. A location services (LCS) client may desire to know the location of the UE and may communicate with a location center in order to request the location of the UE.The location center and the UE may exchange messages, as appropriate, to obtain a location estimate for the UE. The location center may return the location estimate to the LCS client, e.g., for use in one or more applications.

[0005] Radio frequency sensing (RF sensing) is expected to be a major use case for next generation wireless systems (e.g., 5G advanced and / or 6G) and may be used to determine information about an environment of a device. In RF sensing, an RF signal, called a sensing signal, is transmitted by a transmitter, reflected off a target object, and received by a receiver. The sensing signal may be used for sensing and one or more other purposes, e.g., communication. The received signal may be used to determine characteristics of the target object, e.g., location, size, material, movement, etc. RF sensing may be achieved using various techniques such as radar, radio frequency identification (RFID), and / or wireless sensor networks. In RFID techniques, RF signals may be used for identification and / or tracking. Tags or transponders that contain a unique identifier may communicate with RFID readers using RF signals. By placing the RFID tags on objects, the objects may be identified, tracked, and managed. RF sensing may be used for a variety of applications such as automotive (collision avoidance, autonomous driving, adaptive cruise control, etc.), surveillance and security, object detection, inventory management, medication management, environmental monitoring, etc.SUMMARY

[0006] An example method of processing reference signals at an apparatus includes: obtaining, at the apparatus, a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively processing, at the apparatus, only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0007] An example apparatus includes: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to: obtain a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively process only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the setof resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0008] Another example apparatus includes: means for obtaining a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and means for selectively processing only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0009] An example non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions to cause at least one processor of an apparatus to: obtain a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively process only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communications system.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of an example user equipment shown in FIG. 1.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of components of an example transmission / reception point shown in FIG. 1.

[0013] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of components of an example server shown in FIG. 1.

[0014] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example user equipment.

[0015] FIG. 6A is an example of a comb-2, 2-symbol transmission schedule.

[0016] FIG. 6B is an example of a comb-4, 4-symbol transmission schedule.

[0017] FIG. 6C is an example of a comb-6, 6-symbol transmission schedule.

[0018] FIG. 6D is an example of a comb- 12, 12-symbol transmission schedule.

[0019] FIG. 6E is an example of a comb-2, 12-symbol transmission schedule.

[0020] FIG. 6F is an example of a comb-4, 12-symbol transmission schedule.

[0021] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of monostatic sensing.

[0022] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of bi-static sensing.

[0023] FIG. 9 is an example transmission schedule of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing reference signal.

[0024] FIG. 10A is a sequence of six comb-2, 2-symbol repetitions, with one slot per repetition.

[0025] FIG. 10B illustrates an example of uniform sub-processing of repetitions of the sequence shown in FIG. 10A.

[0026] FIG. 10C illustrates another example of uniform sub-processing of repetitions of the sequence shown in FIG. 10A.

[0027] FIG. 10D illustrates a hybrid sub-processing of repetitions of the sequence shown in FIG. 10A.

[0028] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an environment including multiple transmission / reception points and a moving user equipment.

[0029] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an environment with two user equipments moving in unison in one direction and another user equipment moving in an opposite direction.

[0030] FIG. 13 is a timing diagram of a reference signal allocation and reference signal transmissions or measurements.

[0031] FIG. 14 is a timing diagram of a reference signal configuration and reference signal transmissions.

[0032] FIG. 15 is a timing diagram of transmission schedule of a tracking reference signal.

[0033] FIG. 16 is a timing diagram indicating selective processing of a fracking reference signal portion of a comb-4, 12-symbol transmission schedule.

[0034] FIG. 17 is a timing diagram indicating selective processing of a fracking reference signal portion of a comb-2, 12-symbol transmission schedule.

[0035] FIG. 18 is a timing diagram indicating selective processing of multiple fracking reference signal portions of a comb-2, 12-symbol transmission schedule.

[0036] FIG. 19 is a signaling and process flow for determining position information.

[0037] FIG. 20 is a block flow diagram of a method of processing reference signals at an apparatus.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Techniques are discussed herein for selective reference signal processing. For example, based on dynamic desired (e.g., required) performance, a reference signal allocation may be dynamically processed, e.g., to opportunistically transmit fewer than all allocated reference signal resource elements and / or to opportunistically measure fewer than all allocated reference signal resource elements. Signal integration time may be reduced (e.g., if lower velocity resolution (increased velocity error) is acceptable), and / or time between symbols may be increased (e.g., if max measurable velocity may be reduced), and / or effective subcarrier spacing may be increased(e.g., if lower max measurable range is acceptable), and / or an effective reference signal bandwidth may be reduced (range resolution may be decreased (range error increased)). These are examples, and other examples may be implemented.

[0039] Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. Items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. Processing energy and / or time may be conserved while meeting one or more desired performance criteria (e.g., maximum measurable velocity, velocity resolution, range resolution, and / or maximum measurable range) by opportunistically processing allocated reference signal resource elements. Energy consumption may be reduced and performance improved (e.g., latency reduced) for performing one or more non-positioning tasks) by opportunistically processing allocated reference signal resource elements. Unused allocated resource elements of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing reference signal may be reallocated. Resource elements of a reference signal may be opportunistically sub-processed (e.g., subsampled, sub-transmitted). An apparatus (e.g., a user equipment, a network entity such as a base station, etc.) may opportunistically achieve power savings for transmission and / or measurement for sensing applications (e.g., monostatic, bi-static, or multi-static radio frequency sensing based on configured reference signal resources). Allocated reference signal resource elements may be sub-processed by a mobile device without requiring components not already mandated. Other capabilities may be provided and not every implementation according to the disclosure must provide any, let alone all, of the capabilities discussed.

[0040] Obtaining the locations of mobile devices that are accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating a friend or family member, etc. In industrial applications, the location of a mobile device may be necessary for asset tracking, robotic control, and other kinematic operations which may require a precise location of an end effector. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from a variety of devices or entities including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in a wireless network such as base stations and access points. Stations in a wireless network may be configured to transmit reference signals to enable mobile device to perform positioning measurements. It is expected that standardization for the 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods, which may utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to which LTEwireless networks currently utilize Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and / or Cell-specific Reference Signals (CRS) for position determination.

[0041] The description herein may refer to sequences of actions to be performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. Various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Sequences of actions described herein may be embodied within a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various examples described herein may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the disclosure, including claimed subject matter.

[0042] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not specific to 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 tracking device, Internet of Things (loT) device, automobile, etc.) used 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 terminal," a "mobile station," a "mobile device," 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, WiFi® networks (e.g., based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, etc.) and so on. Two or more UEs may communicate directly in addition to or instead of passing information to each other through a network.

[0043] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of a base station include an Access Point (AP), a Network Node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), or a general Node B (gNodeB, gNB). In addition, 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.

[0044] UEs may be embodied by any of a number of types of devices including but not limited to printed circuit (PC) cards, compact flash devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wireline phones, smartphones, tablets, consumer asset tracking devices, asset tags, and so on. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the RAN can send signals to UEs is called a downlink 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.

[0045] As used herein, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of a plurality of cells of a base station, or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (for example, over a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier for distinguishing neighboring cells (for example, a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) operating via the same or a different carrier. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (for example, machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband Intemet-of-Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (for example, a sector) over which the logical entity operates.

[0046] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes a UE 105, a UE 106, a Radio Access Network (RAN), here a Fifth Generation (5G) Next Generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135, a 5G Core Network (5GC) 140, and a server 150. The UE 105 and / or the UE 106 may be, e.g., an loT device, a location tracker device, a cellular telephone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a boat, etc.), or another device. A 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or as an NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG Core network (NGC). Standardization of an NG-RAN and 5GC is ongoing in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Accordingly, the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may conform to current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, e.g., a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. The UE 106 may be configured and coupled similarly to the UE 105 to send and / or receive signals to / from similar other entities in the system 100, but such signaling is not indicated in FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity of the figure. Similarly, the discussion focuses on the UE 105 for the sake ofsimplicity. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) (e.g., a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) like the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or Beidou or some other local or regional SPS such as the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 1, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodcBs (gNBs) 110a, 110b, and a next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a network entity 116 including a sensing entity 118 and a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, are each configured to bi-directionally wirelessly communicate with the UE 105, and are each communicatively coupled to, and configured to bi-directionally communicate with, the AMF 1 15. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). The AMF 115, the SMF 117, the LMF 120, and the GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to an external client 130. The SME 117 may serve as an initial contact point of a Service Control Eunction (SCE) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. Base stations such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station), or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate with short-range technology such as WiFi®, WiFi®-Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Bluetooth®-low energy (BLE), Zigbee®, etc. One or more base stations, e.g., one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic region, e.g., a cell. Each cell may be partitioned into multiple sectors as a function of the base station antennas.

[0048] FIG. 1 provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as necessary. Specifically, although one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a larger (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e. , more or fewer than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs110a, 110b, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections that connect the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections which may include additional (intermediary) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, and / or omitted, depending on desired functionality.

[0049] While FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described herein (be they for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at UEs (e.g., the UE 105) and / or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via the GMLC 125 or other location server) and / or compute a location for the UE 105 at a location-capable device such as the UE 105, the gNB 110a, 110b, or the LMF 120 based on measurement quantities received at the UE 105 for such directionally-transmitted signals. The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, the location management function (LMF) 120, the access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, the SMF 117, the ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and the gNBs (gNodeBs) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functionality and / or base station functionality respectively.

[0050] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication in that components of the system 100 can communicate with one another (at least some times using wireless connections) directly or indirectly, e.g., via the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or the 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). For indirect communications, the communications may be altered during transmission from one entity to another, e.g., to alter header information of data packets, to change format, etc. The UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via wired connections. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are examples as the UE 105 is not required to be any of these configurations, and other configurations of UEs may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses or headsets, etc.). Still other UEs may be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. Further, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, the5GC 140, and / or the external client 130. For example, such other devices may include internet of thing (loT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), e.g., to allow the external client 130 to request and / or receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0051] The UE 105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi® communication, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi® communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobiles), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything, e.g., V2P (Vehicle- to-Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle-to- Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.1 Ip, etc.). V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi® (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Connection)). The system 100 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). Multi-carrier transmitters can transmit modulated signals simultaneously on the multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) signal, a Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC- FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different earner and may carry pilot, overhead information, data, etc. The UEs 105, 106 may communicate with each other through UE- to-UE sidelink (SL) communications by transmitting over one or more sidelink channels such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCF1), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). Direct wireless-device-to-wireless- device communications without going through a network may be referred to generally as sidelink communications without limiting the communications to a particular protocol.

[0052] The UE 105 may comprise and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Enabled Terminal (SET), or by some other name. Moreover, the UE 105 may correspond to a cellphone, smartphone, laptop, tablet, PDA, consumer asset tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (loT) device, health monitors, security systems, smart city sensors, smart meters, wearable trackers, or some other portable or moveable device. Typically, though not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communication using one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA ( WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802. 11WiFi® (also referred to as Wi-Fi®), Bluetooth® (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax®), 5G new radio (NR) (e.g., using the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communication using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) which may connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable, for example. The use of one or more of these RATs may allow the UE 105 to communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in FIG. 1, or possibly via the GMLC 125) and / or allow the external client 130 to receive location information regarding the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0053] The UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video and / or data TO (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and a separate wireline or wireless modem. An estimate of a location of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, thus providing location coordinates for the UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude) which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level).Alternatively, a location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., as a postal address or the designation of some point or small area in a building such as a particular room or floor). A location of the UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in civic form) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). A location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location comprising, for example, a distance and direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location which may be defined, e.g., geographically, in civic terms, or by reference to a point, area, or volume, e.g., indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term location may comprise any of these variants unless indicated otherwise. When computing the location of a UE, it is common to solve for local x, y, and possibly z coordinates and then, if desired, convert the local coordinates into absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0054] The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. The UE 105 may be configured to connect indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P links may be supported with any appropriate D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, and so on. One or more of a group-I l-of UEs utilizing D2D communications may be within a geographic coverage area of a Transmission / Reception Point (TRP) such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng- eNB 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage areas, or may be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station. Groups of UEs communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. A TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be carried out between UEs without the involvement of a TRP. One or more of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communications may be within a geographic coverage area of a TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage areas, or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station. Groups of UEs communicating via D2D communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. A TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communications may be carried out between UEs without the involvement of a TRP.

[0055] Base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs, referred to as the gNBs 110a and 110b. Pairs of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to one another via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the serving gNB for the UE 105 is assumed to be the gNB 110a, although another gNB (e.g., the gNB 110b) may act as a serving gNB if the UE 105 moves to another location or may act as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

[0056] Base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include the ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons which may transmit signals to assist with determining the position of the UE 105 but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs.

[0057] The gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may each comprise one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may comprise a TRP, although multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). The system 100 mayinclude macro TRPs exclusively or the system 100 may have TRPs of different types, e.g., macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs, etc. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscription. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscription. A femto or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals having association with the femto cell (e.g., terminals for users in a home).

[0058] Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB 110b includes an RU 111, a DU 112, and a CU 113. The RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113 divide functionality of the gNB 110b. While the gNB 110b is shown with a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, a gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. An interface between the CU 1 13 and the DU 112 is referred to as an Fl interface. The RU 111 is configured to perform digital front end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmission / reception) and digital beamforming, and includes a portion of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU 1 11 may perform the DFE using massive multiple input / multiple output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB 110b. The DU 112 hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical layers of the gNB 110b. One DU can support one or more cells, and each cell is supported by a single DU. The operation of the DU 112 is controlled by the CU 113. The CU 113 is configured to perform functions for transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc. although some functions are allocated exclusively to the DU 112. The CU 113 hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 110b. The UE 105 may communicate with the CU 113 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the DU 112 via the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and with the RU 111 via the PHY layer.

[0059] As noted, while FIG. 1 depicts nodes configured to communicate according to 5G communication protocols, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or IEEE 802. 1 lx protocol, may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE wireless access to the UE 105, a RAN may comprise an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) which may comprise base stations comprising evolved Node Bs (eNBs). A core network for EPS may comprise an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). An EPS maycomprise an E-UTRAN plus EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140 in FIG. 1.

[0060] The gNBs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which, for positioning functionality, communicates with the LMF 120. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell change and handover and may participate in supporting a signaling connection to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, e.g., through wireless communications, or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114. The sensing entity 118 may support RF sensing operations and process RF sensing requests, e.g., by determining and providing sensing signal configurations. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A- GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., Downlink (DL) OTDOA or Uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, Real Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), and / or other position methods. The LMF 120 may process location services requests for the UE 105, e.g., received from the AMF 1 15 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or to the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as a Location Manager (LM), Location Function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value added LMF (VLMF). A node / system that implements the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location-support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP). At least part of the positioning functionality (including derivation of the location of the UE 105) may be performed at the UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114, and / or assistance data provided to the UE 105, e.g., by the LMF 120). The AMF 115 may serve as a control node that processes signaling between the UE 105 and the 5GC 140, and may provide QoS (Quality of Service) flow and session management. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105 including cell change and handover and may participate in supporting signaling connection to the UE 105.

[0061] The server 150, e.g., a cloud server, is configured to obtain and provide location estimates of the UE 105 to the external client 130. The server 150 may, for example, be configured to run a microservice / service that obtains the location estimate of the UE 105. The server 150 may, for example, pull the location estimate from (e.g., by sending a location request to) the UE 105, one ormore of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g. , via the RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113) and / or the ng- eNB 114, and / or the LMF 120. As another example, the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 1 11, the DU 112, and the CU 113), and / or the LMF 120 may push the location estimate of the UE 105 to the server 150.

[0062] The GMLC 125 may support a location request for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 via the server 150 and may forward such a location request to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120 or may forward the location request directly to the LMF 120. A location response from the LMF 120 (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) may be returned to the GMLC 125 cither directly or via the AMF 115 and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. The GMLC 125 is shown connected to both the AMF 115 and LMF 120, though may not be connected to the AMF 115 or the LMF 120 in some implementations.

[0063] As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, with NRPPa messages being transferred between the gNB 110a (or the gNB 110b) and the LMF 120, and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and the LMF 120, via the AMF 115. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or instead communicate using a New Radio Positioning Protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b or the serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP) and may be transferred between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based position methods such as A- GNSS, RTK, OTDOA and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using network-based position methods such as E-CID (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b or the ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location related information from the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS or PRS transmissions from the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / orthe ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with a gNB or a TRP, or may be disposed remote from the gNB and / or the TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or the TRP.

[0064] With a UE-assisted position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Round Trip signal propagation Time (RTT), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and / or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and / or a WLAN AP. The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193.

[0065] With a UE-based position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to location measurements for a UE-assisted position method) and may compute a location of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, or other base stations or APs).

[0066] With a network-based position method, one or more base stations (e.g., the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ or Time of Arrival (ToA) for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105.

[0067] Information provided by the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 to the LMF 120 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS or PRS transmissions and location coordinates. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 as assistance data in an LPP and / or NPP message via the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140.

[0068] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message could contain an instruction for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A- GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other position method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurement quantities (e.g., beam ID, beam width, mean angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signalstransmitted within particular cells supported by one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng- eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi® AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or the serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0069] As noted, while the communication system 100 is described in relation to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., that are used for supporting and interacting with mobile devices such as the UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functionalities). In some such implementations, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may be connected to a WLAN using a Non-3GPP InterWorking Function (N3IWF, not shown FIG. 1) in the 5GC 140. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802. 11 WiFi® access for the UE 105 and may comprise one or more WiFi® APs. Here, the N3IWF may connect to the WLAN and to other elements in the 5GC 140 such as the AMF 115. In some examples, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN containing eNBs and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC containing a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in place of the AMF 115, an E-SMLC in place of the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa in place of NRPPa to send and receive location information to and from the eNBs in the E- UTRAN and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other examples, positioning of the UE 105 using directional PRSs may be supported in an analogous manner to that described herein for a 5G network with the difference that functions and procedures described herein for the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, the AMF 115, and the LMF 120 may, in some cases, apply instead to other network elements such eNBs, WiFi® APs, an MME, and an E-SMLC.

[0070] As noted, in some examples, positioning functionality may be implemented, at least in part, using the directional SS or PRS beams, sent by base stations (such as the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114) that are within range of the UE whose position is to be determined (e.g., the UE 105 of FIG. 1). The UE may, in some instances, use the directional SS or PRS beams from a plurality of base stations (such as the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, etc.) to compute the position of the UE.

[0071] Referring also to FIG. 2, a UE 200 may be an example of one of the UEs 105, 106 and may comprise a computing platform including a processor 210, memory 211 including software (SW)212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (that includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensor(s) 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the position device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 220 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus (e.g., the camera 218, the position device 219, and / or one or more of the sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from the UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may comprise multiple processors including a general-purpose / application processor 230, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may comprise multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may comprise, e.g., processors for RF (radio frequency) sensing (with one or more (cellular) wireless signals transmitted and reflection(s) used to identify, map, and / or track an object), and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module or Subscriber Identification Module) may be used by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 for connectivity. The memory 211 may be a non- transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 211 may store the software 212 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that may be configured to, when executed, cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210 but may be configured to cause the processor 210, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. The description herein may refer to the processor 210 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 210 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 200 performing the function. The processor 210 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 211. Functionality of the processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0072] The configuration of the UE 200 shown in FIG. 2 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of the UE may include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, and the wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations may include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211 , a wireless transceiver, and one or more of the sensor(s) 213, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, the PD 219, and / or a wired transceiver.

[0073] The UE 200 may comprise the modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and down-converted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be upconverted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Also or alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by the general -purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Other configurations, however, may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0074] The UE 200 may include the sensor(s) 213 that may include, for example, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) 270, one or more magnetometers 271, and / or one or more environment sensors 272. The IMU 270 may comprise, for example, one or more accelerometers 273 (e.g., collectively responding to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes 274 (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope(s)). The sensor(s) 213 may include the one or more magnetometers 271 (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer(s)) to determine orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north) that may be used for any of a variety of purposes, e.g., to support one or more compass applications. The environment sensor(s) 272 may comprise, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals indications of which may be stored in the memory 211 and processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general-purpose / application processor 230 in support of one or more applications such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and / or navigation operations. The sensor(s) 213 may comprise one or more of other various types of sensors such as one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors, etc.

[0075] The sensor(s) 213 may be used in relative location measurements, relative location determination, motion determination, etc. Information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based location determination, and / or sensor-assisted location determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be useful to determinewhether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or mobile and / or whether to report certain useful information to the LMF 120 regarding the mobility of the UE 200. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movements or that the UE 200 has moved, and may report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor- assisted location determination enabled by the sensor(s) 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensors / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of the other device with respect to the UE 200, etc.

[0076] The IMU 270 may be configured to provide measurements about a direction of motion and / or a speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used in relative location determination. For example, the one or more accelerometers 273 and / or the one or more gyroscopes 274 of the IMU 270 may detect, respectively, a linear acceleration and a speed of rotation of the UE 200. The linear acceleration and speed of rotation measurements of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine an instantaneous direction of motion as well as a displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and the displacement may be integrated to track a location of the UE 200. For example, a reference location of the UE 200 may be determined, e.g., using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means) for a moment in time and measurements from the accelerometer(s) 273 and the gyroscope(s) 274 taken after this moment in time may be used in dead reckoning to determine present location of the UE 200 based on movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference location.

[0077] The magnetometer(s) 271 may determine magnetic field strengths in different directions which may be used to determine orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) may include a two- dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide indications of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) 271 may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide indications of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) 271 may provide means for sensing a magnetic field and providing indications of the magnetic field, e.g., to the processor 210.

[0078] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlinkchannels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. The wireless transmitter 242 includes appropriate components (e.g., a power amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter). The wireless receiver 244 includes appropriate components (e.g., one or more amplifiers, one or more frequency filters, and an analog-to-digital converter). The wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with TRPs and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.1 Ip), WiFi®, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, etc. New Radio may use mm-wave frequencies and / or sub-6GHz frequencies. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, and receive communications from, the NG-RAN 135. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, e.g., by optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers, and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for sending and / or receiving, respectively, appropriate signals.

[0079] The user interface 216 may comprise one or more of several devices such as, for example, a speaker, microphone, display device, vibration device, keyboard, touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory211 to be processed by DSP 231 and / or the general-purpose / application processor 230 in response to action from a user. Similarly, applications hosted on the UE 200 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present an output signal to a user. The user interface 216 may include an audio input / output (TO) device comprising, for example, a speaker, a microphone, digital-to-analog circuitry, analog-to-digital circuitry, an amplifier and / or gain control circuitry (including more than one of any of these devices). Other configurations of an audio TO device may be used. Also or alternatively, the user interface 216 may comprise one or more touch sensors responsive to touching and / or pressure, e.g., on a keyboard and / or touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0080] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring SPS signals 260 via an SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to transduce the SPS signals 260 from wireless signals to wired signals, e.g., electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process, in whole or in part, the acquired SPS signals 260 for estimating a location of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine location of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signals 260. The general-purpose / application processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231 and / or one or more specialized processors (not shown) may be utilized to process acquired SPS signals, in whole or in part, and / or to calculate an estimated location of the UE 200, in conjunction with the SPS receiver 217. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signals 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general-purpose / application processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more specialized processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing measurements to estimate a location of the UE 200.

[0081] The UE 200 may include the camera 218 for capturing still or moving imagery. The camera 218 may comprise, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, frame buffers, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing captured images may be performed by the general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. Also or alternatively, the video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing captured images. The video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown), e.g., of the user interface 216.

[0082] The position device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine a position of the UE 200, motion of the UE 200, and / or relative position of the UE 200, and / or time. For example, the PD 219 may communicate with, and / or include some or all of, the SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may work in conjunction with the processor 210 and the memory 211 as appropriate to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may refer to the PD 219 being configured to perform, or performing, in accordance with the positioning method(s). The PD 219 may also or alternatively be configured to determine location of the UE 200 using terrestrial-based signals (e.g., at least some of the wireless signals 248) for trilateration, for assistance with obtaining and using the SPS signals 260, or both. The PD 219 may be configured to determine location of the UE 200 based on a cell of a serving base station (e.g., a cell center) and / or another technique such as E-CID. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition combined with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks such as mountains and / or artificial landmarks such as buildings, bridges, streets, etc.) to determine location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to use one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE’s self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE’s position beacon)) for determining the location of the UE 200, and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more of the sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense orientation and / or motion of the UE 200 and provide indications thereof that the processor 210 (e.g., the general-purpose / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine motion (e.g., a velocity vector and / or an acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide indications of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. Functionality of the PD 219 may be provided in a variety of manners andzor configurations, e.g., by the general-purpose / application processor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0083] Referring also to FIG. 3, an example of a TRP 300 of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng- eNB 114 may comprise a computing platform including a processor 310, memory 330 including software (SW) 332, and a transceiver 320. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 310 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 320 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and the memory 330 may include one or more memories. The processor 310, the memory 330, and the transceiver 320 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 380 (which may be configured, e.g., for opticaland / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general-purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 330 may be a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 330 may store the software 332 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that arc configured to, when executed, cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 332 may not be directly executable by the processor 310 but may be configured to cause the processor 310, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions.

[0084] The description herein may refer to the processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 310 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 330) of the TRP 300 (and thus of one of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114) performing the function. The processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 330. Functionality of the processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

[0085] The transceiver 320 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more otherdevices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802. 1 Ip), WiFi®, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, and receive communications from, the LMF 120, for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0086] The configuration of the TRP 300 shown in FIG. 3 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 may be configured to perform or performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0087] Referring also to FIG. 4, a server 400, of which the LMF 120 may be an example, may comprise a computing platform including a processor 410, memory 430 including software (SW) 432, and a transceiver 420. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 410 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 420 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and the memory 430 may include one or more memories. The processor 410, the memory 430, and the transceiver 420 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 480 (which may be configured, e.g., for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the shown apparatus (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more hardware devices, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may comprise multiple processors (e.g., including a general -purpose / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor as shown in FIG. 2). The memory 430 may be a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM)), flash memory, disc memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory430 may store the software 432 which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 432 may not be directly executable by the processor 410 but may be configured to cause the processor 410, e.g., when compiled and executed, to perform the functions. The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as shorthand for one or more of the processors contained in the processor 410 performing the function. The description herein may refer to the server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing the function. The processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or instead of the memory 430. Functionality of the processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0088] The transceiver 420 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices through wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and transducing signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to a variety of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobiles), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE- D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802. l ip), WiFi®, WiFi® Direct (WiFi®-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, e.g., a network interface that may be utilized to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, and receive communications from, the TRP 300, for example, and / or one or more other network entities. The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components orcombined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, e.g., for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0089] The configuration of the server 400 shown in FIG. 4 is an example and not limiting of the disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Also or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform or performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0090] Positioning Techniques

[0091] For terrestrial positioning of a UE in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA) often operate in “UE-assisted” mode in which measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are taken by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server calculates the position of the UE based on the measurements and known locations of the base stations. Because these techniques use the location server to calculate the position of the UE, rather than the UE itself, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car or cell-phone navigation, which instead typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0092] A UE may use a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) (a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) for high-accuracy positioning using precise point positioning (PPP) or real time kinematic (RTK) technology. These technologies use assistance data such as measurements from ground- based stations. LTE Release 15 allows the data to be encrypted so that the UEs subscribed to the service exclusively can read the information. Such assistance data varies with time. Thus, a UE subscribed to the service may not easily “break encryption” for other UEs by passing on the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. The passing on would need to be repeated every time the assistance data changes.

[0093] hi UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, Angle of Arrival (AoA), etc.) to the positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has the base station almanac (BSA) that contains multiple ‘entries’ or ‘records’, one record per cell, where each record contains geographical cell location but also may include other data. An identifier of the ‘record’ among the multiple ‘records’ in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and the measurements from the UE may be used to compute the position of the UE.- l-

[0094] In conventional UE-based positioning, a UE computes its own position, thus avoiding sending measurements to the network (e.g., location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses relevant BSA record information (e.g., locations of gNBs (more broadly base stations)) from the network. The BSA information may be encrypted. But since the BSA information varies much less often than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described earlier, it may be easier to make the BSA information (compared to the PPP or RTK information) available to UEs that did not subscribe and pay for decryption keys. Transmissions of reference signals by the gNBs make BSA information potentially accessible to crowd-sourcing or wardriving, essentially enabling BSA information to be generated based on in-thc-ficld and / or over- the-top observations.

[0095] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or assessed based on one or more criteria such as position determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is a time elapsed between an event that triggers determination of position-related data and the availability of that data at a positioning system interface, e.g., an interface of the LMF 120. At initialization of a positioning system, the latency for the availability of position-related data is called time to first fix (TTFF), and is larger than latencies after the TTFF. An inverse of a time elapsed between two consecutive position- related data availabilities is called an update rate, i.e., the rate at which position-related data are generated after the first fix. Latency may depend on processing capability, e.g., of the UE. For example, a UE may report a processing capability of the UE as a duration of DL PRS symbols in units of time (e.g., milliseconds) that the UE can process every T amount of time (e.g., T ms) assuming 272 PRB (Physical Resource Block) allocation. Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are a number of TRPs from which the UE can process PRS, a number of PRS that the UE can process, and a bandwidth of the UE.

[0096] One or more of many different positioning techniques (also called positioning methods) may be used to determine position of an entity such as one of the UEs 105, 106. For example, known position-determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also called TDOA and including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), Enhanced Cell Identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL- AoA, etc. RTT uses a time for a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine a range between the two entities. The range, plus a known location of a first one of the entities and an angle between the two entities (e.g., an azimuth angle) can be used to determine a location of the second of the entities. In multi-RTT (also called multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., a UE) to other entities (e.g., TRPs) and known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the difference in travel timesbetween one entity and other entities may be used to determine relative ranges from the other entities and those, combined with known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. Angles of arrival and / or departure may be used to help determine location of an entity. For example, an angle of arrival or an angle of departure of a signal combined with a range between devices (determined using signal, e.g., a travel time of the signal, a received power of the signal, etc.) and a known location of one of the devices may be used to determine a location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or departure may be a zenith angle relative to directly upward from an entity (i.e., relative to radially outward from a center of Earth). E-CID uses the identity of a serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between receive and transmit times at the UE), estimated timing and power of detected neighbor cell signals, and possibly angle of arrival (e.g., of a signal at the UE from the base station or vice versa) to determine location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in arrival times at a receiving device of signals from different sources along with known locations of the sources and known offset of transmission times from the sources are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0097] In a network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan for / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and typically the serving base station, as at least three base stations are needed). The one of more base stations transmit RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by the base station to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as the LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also referred to as a receive time, a reception time, a time of reception, or a time of arrival (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the UE’s current downlink timing (e.g., as derived by the UE from a DL signal received from its serving base station), and transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to the one or more base stations (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station) and may include the time difference TRX^TX(i.e., UE TRX-TX or UERX.TX) between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message in a pay load of each RTT response message. The RTT response message would include a reference signal from which the base station can deduce the ToA of the RTT response. By comparing the difference TTX^RXbetween the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station to the UE-reported time difference TRX^TX, and subtracting the UERX-TX, the base station can deduce the propagation time between the base station and the UE, from which the base station candetermine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during this propagation time.

[0098] A UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based method, except that the UE transmits uplink RTT measurement signal(s) (e.g., when instructed by a serving base station), which are received by multiple base stations in the neighborhood of the UE. Each involved base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station in the RTT response message payload.

[0099] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the side (network or UE) that performs the RTT calculation typically (though not always) transmits the first message(s) or signal(s) (e.g., RTT measurement signal(s)), while the other side responds with one or more RTT response message(s) or signal(s) that may include the difference between the ToA of the first message(s) or signal(s) and the transmission time of the RTT response message(s) or signal(s).

[0100] A multi-RTT technique may be used to determine position. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send out one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from the base station) and multiple second entities (e.g., other TSPs such as base station(s) and / or UE(s)) may receive a signal from the first entity and respond to this received signal. The first entity receives the responses from the multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entities to determine ranges to the second entities and may use the multiple ranges and known locations of the second entities to determine the location of the first entity by trilateration.

[0101] In some instances, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a straight-line direction (e.g., which may be in a horizontal plane or in three dimensions) or possibly a range of directions (e.g., for the UE from the locations of base stations). The intersection of two directions can provide another estimate of the location for the UE.

[0102] For positioning techniques using PRS (Positioning Reference Signal) signals (e.g., TDOA and RTT), PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured and the arrival times of the signals, known transmission times, and known locations of the TRPs used to determine ranges from a UE to the TRPs. For example, an RSTD (Reference Signal Time Difference) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in a TDOA technique to determine position (location) of the UE. A positioning reference signal may be referred to as a PRS or a PRS signal. The PRS signals are typically sent using the same power and PRS signals with the same signalcharacteristics (e.g., same frequency shift) may interfere with each other such that a PRS signal from a more distant TRP may be overwhelmed by a PRS signal from a closer TRP such that the signal from the more distant TRP may not be detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal, e.g., to zero and thus not transmitting the PRS signal). In this way, a weaker (at the UE) PRS signal may be more easily detected by the UE without a stronger PRS signal interfering with the weaker PRS signal. The term RS, and variations thereof (e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal)), may refer to one reference signal or more than one reference signal.

[0103] Positioning reference signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS, often referred to simply as PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS) (which may be called SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning). A PRS may comprise a PN code (pseudorandom number code) or be generated using a PN code (e.g., by modulating a carrier signal with the PN code) such that a source of the PRS may serve as a pseudo-satellite (a pseudolite). The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least within a specified area such that identical PRS from different PRS sources do not overlap). PRS may comprise PRS resources and / or PRS resource sets of a frequency layer. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply a frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets, from one or more TRPs, with PRS resource(s) that have common parameters configured by higher- layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS- Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource sets and the DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource sets and the DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. Common resource blocks are the set of resource blocks that occupy a channel bandwidth. A bandwidth part (BWP) is a set of contiguous common resource blocks and may include all the common resource blocks within a channel bandwidth or a subset of the common resource blocks. Also, a DL PRS Point A parameter defines a frequency of a reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), with DL PRS resources belonging to the same DL PRS resource set having the same Point A and all DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same frequency layer having the same Point A. A frequency layer also has the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same start PRB (and center frequency), and the same value of comb size (i.e., a frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol such that for comb-N, every N- resource element is a PRS resource element). A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a particular TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by an antenna panel of a base station. A PRS resource ID in aPRS resource set may be associated with an omnidirectional signal, and / or with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource of a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam and as such, a PRS resource (or simply resource) can also be referred to as a beam. This does not have any implications on whether the base stations and the beams on which PRS are transmitted are known to the UE.

[0104] A TRP may be configured, e.g., by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP, to send DL PRS per a schedule. According to the schedule, the TRP may send the DL PRS intermittently, e.g., periodically at a consistent interval from an initial transmission. The TRP may be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across one TRP, with the resources having the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Each of the PRS resource sets comprises multiple PRS resources, with each PRS resource comprising multiple OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) Resource Elements (REs) that may be in multiple Resource Blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbol(s) within a slot. PRS resources (or reference signal (RS) resources generally) may be referred to as OFDM PRS resources (or OFDM RS resources). An RB is a collection of REs spanning a quantity of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and a quantity (12 for a 5G RB) of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, slot offset, a symbol offset within a slot, and a number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource may occupy within a slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol within a DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols within a DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource with respect to a corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. Transmitted REs may repeat across slots, with each transmission being called a repetition such that there may be multiple repetitions in a PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. A DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or more beams).

[0105] A PRS resource may also be defined by quasi-co-location and start PRB parameters. A quasi-co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi-co-location information of the DL PRS resource with other reference signals. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with aDL PRS or SS / PBCH (Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel) Block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with an SS / PBCH Block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The start PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DL PRS resource with respect to reference Point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and may have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0106] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across slots. Every time all repetitions of all PRS resources of the PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is referred as an “instance”. Therefore, an “instance” of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within the PRS resource set such that once the specified number of repetitions are transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources, the instance is complete. An instance may also be referred to as an “occasion.” A DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission schedule may be provided to a UE to facilitate (or even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0107] Multiple frequency layers of PRS may be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth that is larger than any of the bandwidths of the layers individually. Multiple frequency layers of component carriers (which may be consecutive and / or separate) and meeting criteria such as being quasi co-located (QCLed), and having the same antenna port, may be stitched to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL PRS and UL PRS) resulting in increased time of arrival measurement accuracy. Stitching comprises combining PRS measurements over individual bandwidth fragments into a unified piece such that the stitched PRS may be treated as having been taken from a single measurement. Being QCLed, the different frequency layers behave similarly, enabling stitching of the PRS to yield the larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth, which may be referred to as the bandwidth of an aggregated PRS or the frequency bandwidth of an aggregated PRS, provides for better time-domain resolution (e.g., of TDOA). An aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources and each PRS resource of an aggregated PRS may be called a PRS component, and each PRS component may be transmitted on different component carriers, bands, or frequency layers, or on different portions of the same band.

[0108] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique in that RTT uses positioning signals sent by TRPs to UEs and by UEs (that are participating in RTT positioning) to TRPs. The TRPs may send DL-PRS signals that are received by the UEs and the UEs may send SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) signals that are received by multiple TRPs. A sounding reference signal may be referred to as an SRS or an SRS signal. In 5G multi -RTT, coordinated positioning may be usedwith the UE sending a single UL-SRS for positioning that is received by multiple TRPs instead of sending a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP that participates in multi-RTT will typically search for UEs that are currently camped on that TRP (served UEs, with the TRP being a serving TRP) and also UEs that are camped on neighboring TRPs (neighbor UEs). Neighbor TRPs may be TRPs of a single BTS (Base Transceiver Station) (e.g., gNB), or may be a TRP of one BTS and a TRP of a separate BTS. For RTT positioning, including multi-RTT positioning, the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS for positioning signal in a PRS / SRS for positioning signal pair used to determine RTT (and thus used to determine range between the UE and the TRP) may occur close in time to each other such that errors due to UE motion and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, signals in a PRS / SRS for positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within about 10 ms of each other. With SRS for positioning being sent by UEs, and with PRS and SRS for positioning being conveyed close in time to each other, it has been found that radio-frequency (RF) signal congestion may result (which may cause excessive noise, etc.) especially if many UEs attempt positioning concurrently and / or that computational congestion may result at the TRPs that are frying to measure many UEs concurrently.

[0109] RTT positioning may be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the UE 200 determines the RTT and corresponding range to each of the TRPs 300 and the position of the UE 200 based on the ranges to the TRPs 300 and known locations of the TRPs 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures positioning signals and provides measurement information to the TRP 300, and the TRP 300 determines the RTT and range. The TRP 300 provides ranges to a location server, e.g., the server 400, and the server determines the location of the UE 200, e.g., based on ranges to different TRPs 300. The RTT and / or range may be determined by the TRP 300 that received the signal(s) from the UE 200, by this TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices, e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or the server 400, or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 that received the signal(s) from the UE 200.

[0110] Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. The NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning methods, UL-only positioning methods, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL -based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0111] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names, such as a location estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. A position estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A position estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default level of confidence). Position information may include one or more positioning signal measurements (e.g., of one or more satellite signals, of PRS, and / or one or more other signals), and / or one or more values (e.g., one or more ranges (possibly including one or more pseudoranges), and / or one or more position estimates, etc.) based on one or more positioning signal measurements.

[0112] Referring also to FIG. 5, an apparatus 500 includes a processor 510, a transceiver 520, and a memory 530 communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 540. Even if referred to in the singular, the processor 510 may include one or more processors, the transceiver 520 may include one or more transceivers (e.g., one or more transmitters and / or one or more receivers), and / or the memory 530 may include one or more memories. The apparatus 500 may include the components shown in FIG. 5. The apparatus 500 may be a UE or a network entity (e.g., may be configured to be a component of a communication network (e.g., a terrestrial communication network such as a cellular network)). For example, the apparatus 500 may include one or more other components such as any of those shown in FIG. 2 such that the UE 200 may be an example of the apparatus 500. For example, the processor 510 may include one or more of the components of the processor 210. The transceiver 520 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 215, e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246, or the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246, or the wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244, and the antenna 246. Also or alternatively, the transceiver 520 may include the wired transmitter 252 and / or the wired receiver 254. As another example, the apparatus 500 may include one or more other components such as any of those shown in FIG. 4 such that the server 400 may be an example of the apparatus 500. For example, the processor 510 may include one or more of the components of the processor 410. The transceiver 520 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 420. Also or alternatively, the apparatus 500 may include one or more other components such as any of those shown in FIG. 3 such that the TRP 300 may be an example of the apparatus 500. For example, the processor 510 may include one or more of the components of the processor 310. The transceiver520 may include one or more of the components of the transceiver 320. The memory 530 may be configured similarly to the memory 211 or the memory 330 or the memory 430, e.g., including software with processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 510 to perform functions. Also or alternatively, the processor 510 may include instructions to cause the processor 510 to perform functions.

[0113] The description herein may refer to the processor 510 performing a function, but this includes other implementations such as where the processor 510 executes instructions in software (stored in the processor 510 and / or the memoiy 530) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to the apparatus 500 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 510 and the memory 530) of the apparatus 500 performing the function. The processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 530 and, as appropriate, the transceiver 520) may include a selective processing unit 550, and may include a reporting unit 560. The selective processing unit 550 may be configured to selectively perform operations (e.g., selectively measure a subset of allocated reference signal resource elements (e.g., to determine Doppler measurements), or selectively transmit a subset of allocated reference signal resource elements). Measuring a resource element involves measuring a signal (e.g., a pilot signal) transmitted using the resource element and transmitting a resource element involves transmitting a signal (e.g., a pilot signal) using the resource element. The reporting unit 560, if included in the apparatus 500, may be configured to report the selective processing performed by the selective processing unit 550. The selective processing unit 550 and the reporting unit 560 are discussed further below, and the description may refer to the processor 510 generally, or the apparatus 500 generally, as performing any of the functions of the selective processing unit 550 and / or the reporting unit 560, with the apparatus 500 being configured to perform the fimction(s).

[0114] Referring also to FIGS. 6A-6F, PRS resources may be sent by a TRP 300 or a UE using a variety of transmission schedules (also called transmission patterns). Examples of transmission schedules of resources of various combinations of comb types and quantities of symbols are shown. Vertical axes of the schedules are subcarriers and horizontal axes are time in symbols, although the axes are shown and labeled only in FIG. 6A. FIG. 6A shows a transmission schedule 602 for a comb-2, 2-symbol resource with a symbol offset of three symbols in a slot containing 14 symbols each with 12 subcarriers. In the transmission schedules shown, columns represent different symbols, rows represent different subcarriers, and darkened boxes represent sounded resource elements (symbol-subcarrier combinations) for a signal source (e.g., a TRP (for DL RS transmission) or a UE (for UL RS or SL RS transmission)). Unsounded resource elements could besounded by one or more other signal sources and / or for one or more other signals (in this case, other than PRS). FIG. 6B shows a transmission schedule 604 for a comb-4, 4-symbol resource. FIG. 6C shows a transmission schedule 606 for a comb-6, 6-symbol resource. FIG. 6D shows a transmission schedule 612 for a comb- 12, 12-symbol resource. FIG. 6E shows a transmission schedule 614 for a comb-2, 12-symbol resource. FIG. 6F shows a transmission schedule 616 for a comb-4, 12-symbol resource. Each of the transmission patterns in FIGS. 6A-6F has at least one sounded RE in each of the subcarriers and is thus a fully-staggered transmission pattern. If each pattern corresponds to a PRS resource, then each PRS resource is a fully-staggered resource.

[0115] Referring also to FIGS. 7 and 8, various configurations of sensing systems, such as monostatic sensing systems or bi-static sensing systems, may be implemented. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a monostatic sensing system 700 includes a transmit node 710, a target object 720, and a receive node 730. In this case, the transmit node 710 and the receive node 730 are co-located and may be portions of a single physical device. The transmit node 710 may transmit an FL signal 712 (forward link signal), and the target object 720 may backscatter (e.g., reflect) a BL signal 722 (backscatter link signal) based on the incoming signal, i.e. , the FL signal 712. The receive node 730 may receive and measure the BL signal 722. A transmit (Tx) node or a receive (Rx) node may be, for example, a UE, a TRP, or a RAN node. As shown in FIG. 8, a bi-static sensing system 800 includes a transmit node 810, a target object 820, and a receive node 830. In this case, the transmit node 810 and the receive node 830 are non-co-located. The transmit node 810 may transmit an FL signal 812, the target object 820 may backscatter a BL signal 822 based on the FL signal 812, and the receive node 830 may receive and measure and / or decode the BL signal 822.

[0116] In RF sensing, a wireless signal may be transmitted from one or multiple transmit points and received at one or multiple receive points after being reflected off a target. RF sensing may enable many candidate applications, such as intruder detection, animal / pedestrian / UAV (Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle) intrusion detection in highways and railways, rainfall monitoring, flooding awareness, autonomous driving, AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) detection / tracking / collision avoidance, smart parking & assistance, UAV trajectory and tracking, crowd management, sleep / health monitoring, gesture recognition, XR (extended reality) streaming, public safety search & rescue, etc. Different use case scenarios address different environments that vary, e.g., from private networks, to warehouses, to public roads. Velocity estimation accuracy has been identified as an important key performance indicator (KPI) in RF sensing use cases.

[0117] Referring to FIG. 9, for an OFDM signal, velocity resolution, maximum measurable velocity, range resolution, and maximum measurable range are functions of bandwidth, effectivesubcarrier spacing, time spacing of measured resource elements, and time span (time duration) of measured resource elements. For example, for monostatic RF OFDM-based sensing, a range resolution is given bywhere B is the bandwidth (total frequency range of measured resource elements) and c is the speed of light; a maximum measurable range is given bywhere A / is an effective subcarrier spacing; a maximum measurable velocity is given bywhere A is the wavelength of the OFDM signal and ATA™ is the time spacing in symbols for consecutive measured resource elements (which may be called a sampling period or sampling spacing); and a velocity resolution is given bywhere ! Tfrmis total duration (time span) of the measured resource elements. Further, the maximum Doppler shift is given bywhere vmax is given by Equation (3) and fcis the carrier frequency; and the Doppler resolution is givenwhere Av is given by Equation (4).

[0118] Referring also to FIG. 10A, an OFDM reference signal (RS), e.g., DL-PRS, UL-PRS (SRS for positioning), SL-PRS, may be used by multiple apparatus for positioning. The disclosure may focus on PRS, but the disclosure may be applied to other RS. PRS-like signals may be (pre- )configured by a network entity for high density to enable Doppler processing by multiple devices, e.g., participating in RF sensing sessions. For example, a PRS transmission allocation 1000 may be configured in each of N slots, in this example slots 1011, 1012, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1016. In this example, the PRS are allocated in comb-2 with 2 symbols, and all of the slots 1011-1016 may be processed, e.g., transmitted and measured (for full sampling of the PRS). The PRS may be transmitted by one or more TRPs and / or by one or more UEs, e.g., roadside units (RSUs). The slots 1011-1016 provide one Doppler sample. The maximum detectable velocity and the Doppler resolution will depend on the PRS density (temporal distance between consecutive PRS repetitionsthat are measured) and the duration of the PRS signals that are measured, respectively. Based on one or more desired (e.g., required) performance characteristics (e.g., max velocity and / or Doppler resolution), the apparatus 500 may opportunistically process (sub-process, e.g., sub-sample or subtransmit) the PRS signals. In this way, the target performance may be achieved while reducing energy consumption (compared to full processing (full sampling or full transmission) of the PRS signals, e.g., in sensing operations).

[0119] Referring also to FIG. 10B, a uniform sub-processing of the PRS transmission allocation 1000 may be performed by the apparatus 500, e.g., by the selective processing unit 550. For example, the apparatus 500 may selectively transmit only the slots 1011, 1013, 1015 or selectively measure only the slots 1011, 1013, 1015. Because the processed slots 1011, 1013, 1015 are fewer than all the slots 101 1-1016 and are uniformly spaced in time, the processing is uniform subprocessing. In this example, nearly full velocity resolution may be achieved (with full velocity resolution corresponding to all the slots 1011-1016) because the processed slots 1011-1015 span nearly the full time span of the slots 1011-1016 and thus an integration time for measuring the slots 1011, 1013, 1015 will be nearly the integration time for measuring the slots 1011-1016. The max velocity discernable in accordance with the selective processing in FIG. 10B will be less than that of the full processing of FIG. 10A due to the higher time difference between processed (transmitted or measured) PRS.

[0120] Referring also to FIG. 10C, another uniform sub-processing of the PRS transmission allocation 1000 may be performed by the apparatus 500, e.g., by the selective processing unit 550. For example, the apparatus 500 may selectively transmit only the slots 1011-1013 or selectively measure only the slots 1011-1013. Because the processed slots 1011-1013 are fewer than all the slots 1011-1016 and are uniformly spaced in time, the processing is uniform sub-processing. In this example, the total time span of the processed slots 1011-1013 is significantly less (less than half) of the time span of the full processing of FIG. 10A, and thus the velocity resolution will be much lower than may be achieved with full velocity resolution corresponding to processing all the slots 1011-1016 (e.g., with a Av more than twice that of FIG. 10A, per Equation (4)). The max velocity discernable in accordance with the selective processing in FIG. 10C will be the same as that of the full processing of FIG. 10A due to the same time difference between processed (transmitted or measured) PRS.

[0121] Referring also to FIG. 10D, a non-uniform, hybrid sub-processing of the PRS transmission allocation 1000 may be performed by the apparatus 500, e.g., by the selective processing unit 550. For example, the apparatus 500 may selectively transmit only the slots 1011, 1012, 1016 orselectively measure only the slots 1011, 1012, 1016. Because the processed slots 1011, 1012, 1016 have different spacings, the processing is hybrid sub-processing. In this example, the total time span of the processed slots 1011, 1012, 1016 is the same as the time span of the full processing of FIG. 10A, the velocity resolution may be the same as for full processing, although the processing may be more complicated than with full processing. The max velocity discernable in accordance with the selective processing in FIG. 10D will be lower than that of the full processing of FIG. 10A, but by how much will depend on the processing, which is complicated due to the hybrid subprocessing.

[0122] Referring also to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the selective processing unit 550 may opportunistically determine whether to sub-process allocated RS, e.g., based on dynamic performance criteria. For example, the selective processing unit 550 of TRPs 11 10, 1120 may determine (e.g., through full RS processing) that a Doppler shift of a UE 1140 due to travel at a velocity v of the UE 1140 is high (above a threshold), and thus that max measurable Doppler should not be reduced (and thus that time between PRS transmissions and / or measurements should not be reduced). The selective processing unit 550 may determine at least not to reduce PRS transmission and / or sampling in the time domain (e.g., determine not to adjust PRS processing at all). As another example, the selective processing unit 550 of a TRP 1130 may determine that a Doppler shift relative to the TRP 1130 is small, and thus determine that sub-processing (e.g., reduced PRS transmission and / or measurement) in the time domain is acceptable. The TRP 1130 could, for example, sample PRS from the UE 1140 less often than the TRP 1110 or the TRP 1120 sample the PRS from the UE 1140. As another example, a vehicle 1205 may contain UEs 1210, 1220, and the selective processing unit 550 of the UE 1220 may determine, e.g., from a full PRS measurement, that the Doppler shift of the UE 1210 relative to the UE 1220 is at or near zero, and thus that the UE 1220 can sub-process PRS (e.g., sub-sample PRS from the UE 1210). The selective processing unit 550 of a UE 1230 that is outside of the vehicle 1205, and in this example travelling in a direction 1260 opposite a direction 1250 of travel of the vehicle 1205, may determine that the Doppler shift of the UE 1210 relative to the UE 1230 is large, and thus that little if any RS subprocessing (e.g., PRS sub-sampling) is acceptable in order to meet one or more performance criteria. The selective processing unit 550 may determine by how much PRS processing may be reduced by determining whether the sub-processing (e.g., a new time between PRS transmission and / or measurement, a new effective subcam er spacing, a new bandwidth, and / or a new total time span of PRS transmitted and / or measured) will allow one or more performance criteria (e.g., measurement of full Doppler shift) to be met.

[0123] Referring also to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the selective processing unit 550 (e.g., of a UE, of a neighbor base station (TRP), etc.) may opportunistically sub-process RS (e.g., DL-PRS, UL-PRS, SL-PRS, etc.) based on one or more performance criteria. For example, the selective processing unit 550 may obtain (e.g., measure or receive) an initial Doppler estimate based on all P available repetitions of a reference signal (e.g., PRS, SSB, TRS, SL-PBCH, etc.). The selective processing unit 550 may subsequently sub-process (e.g., sub-transmit, sub-sample) PRS, processing M of N repetitions of an RS (or of a base pattern thereof), where M < N. PRS is often used herein, but the description may be applied to other forms of reference signals, especially for initial Doppler estimates. A base pattern of an RS is a complete set of REs, e.g., each two symbols of a comb-2 pattern. Thus, for example, all base patterns within an allocated instance may be measured or transmitted initially (e.g., all six base patterns of a comb-2, 12-symbol transmission pattern), and subsequently less than all the repeated base patterns within an allocated instance may be measured or transmitted (e.g., a first base pattern and a last base pattern of a comb-2, 12-symbol transmission pattern). In an example timeline set 1300 shown in FIG. 13, an RS allocation 1310 (i.e., configuration) has RS allocated with a transmission period (or sampling period) of ATsym, but an RS processing 1320 has RS transmitted (or measured) with an effective transmission period (or effective sampling period) of Tsym, effective that, in this example, is twice as long as the allocated period of ATsym(e.g., based on a lower max measurable velocity being acceptable). An effective processing (e.g., transmission or sampling) period corresponds to a distance between resources that are actually processed (as opposed to all resources that are allocated). In an example timeline set 1400 shown in FIG. 14, an RS allocation 1410 (i.e., configuration) has RS allocated with a transmission period (or sampling period) of ATiym, but an RS processing 1420 has RS transmitted (e.g., by a UE) with an effective transmission period of ATiym, effective that, in this example, is twice as long as the allocated period of ATwm. The total duration span (time over which the RS is transmitted or measured) of the sub-processed RS may be reduced relative to the full processing of the RS (full RS allocation), e.g., if a lower velocity resolution is acceptable, or may be the same as the full processing of the RS. The amount of sub-processing may be based, for example, on sensing criteria and / or assessment of target objects in an environment using previous configured resources (e.g., full transmission and sampling of one or more RS).

[0124] For UE-assisted or UE -based RF sensing, the UE may indicate to a network the subprocessing performed by the UE. For example, the reporting unit 560 of a UE may report subprocessing performed by the UE and the sub-processing indicated may include the effective distance between measured (or transmitted) RS repetitions or base patterns, and a total span ofmeasured (or transmitted) RS repetitions or base patterns. The network, e.g., the apparatus 500 (e.g., the server 400), may use the reported RS sub-processing to configure future RS. For example, a network entity (e.g., the selective processing unit 550 of a network entity) may use the reported UE sub-processing to determine an RS allocation, e.g., to increase an RS repetition distance and / or to reduce a total span of RS repetitions (and possibly later to reduce RS repetition distance and / or increase a total span of RS repetitions as conditions change). Thus, a UE may adjust what SRS are transmitted based on SRS needed to achieve one or more performance criteria and a network entity may adjust an RS allocation such that resource elements that will not be used for positioning (e.g., Doppler measurement) may be allocated for other use. This may reduce energy consumption and improve performance (e.g., reduce latency for performing one or more other (non-positioning) tasks). Similarly, fewer than all allocated RS resources may be used by a UE for RF sensing. A UE may not transmit all allocated RS (e.g., SRS for positioning) in an RF sensing session. The sub-processing by the UE may, for example, be based on dynamic UE sensing requirements and / or assessment (e.g., fully using allocated resources) of targets in an environment of the UE, and determined in view of dynamic environmental conditions. Consequently, the selective processing unit 550 may intermittently (e.g., periodically) determine (e.g., based on full resource element sampling) whether sub-processing of allocated resource elements is appropriate, implement sub-processing if appropriate, and not implement (e.g., return to not implementing) subprocessing if not appropriate.

[0125] An apparatus (e.g., a user equipment, a network entity such as a base station, etc.) may opportunistically achieve power savings for transmission and / or measurement for sensing applications (e.g., monostatic, bistatic, or multi-static radio frequency sensing based on configured reference signal resources). For example, in UE-based monostatic RF sensing, a UE (e.g., a connected vehicle UE) may perform sub-processing of RF sensing based on RS resource allocated by a network, thus achieving power savings. As another example, processing savings (e.g., transmission savings) may be achieved for bi-static or multi-static RF sensing. In this example, a transmitting device has some knowledge of Doppler and provides a suggestion about how to measure RS from the transmitting device, e.g., an opportunistic transmission pattern for proper processing of the transmitted RS. Also in this example, a UE may provide an indication of, for example, an opportunistic transmission pattern (of less than all allocated RS resources) to a receiving sensing node (e.g., a TRP or UE). The UE may provide such an indication in a DCI / M AC-CE (Downlink Control Information / Medium Access Control - Control Element) or RRC for TRP sensing nodes, or through an SL-SCI (Sidelink - Sidelink Control Information), SL-MAC-CE, or SL RRC for UE sensing nodes. Further, a UE may indicate opportunistic transmission savings (e.g., a new transmission pattern) to a network entity (e.g., a TRP) such that the network entity may adapt an RS allocation (configuration) and use newly unused RS resources for one or more other purposes.

[0126] An indication of sub-processing (e.g., opportunistic RS transmission and / or measurement) may indicate a window of time during which the sub-processing will be performed (e.g., during which a new transmission pattern is valid). After the indicated time window, the previous (legacy) processing (e.g., transmission pattern) may be expected, with the legacy processing having a longer and / or denser resource allocation. This applies to the discussions above and below.

[0127] Referring also to FIG. 15 and FIG. 16, a resource signal allocation may be sub-processed to simulate a tracking reference signal (TRS) allocation, using a TRS-processing configuration even if an RS configuration (allocation) provides more than a TRS-processing configuration. A transmission pattern 1500 shows a resource allocation for a TRS. Devices are configured to perform Doppler estimation by measuring TRS because TRS is a mandatory signal, and thus will be present absent extraneous circumstances (e.g., blockage jamming, etc.). As shown in FIG. 15, the transmission pattern 1500 for a TRS is comb-4, with two symbols sounded by TRS per slot, nine unsounded (by TRS) symbols between sounded symbols in consecutive slots, and three unsounded signals between sounded symbols in each slot. That is, after the first sounded symbol, the next sounded symbol in the same slot is the fourth symbol from the first sounded symbol, and after the second sounded symbol in a slot (called the second-sounded symbol), the next sounded symbol (which is in the next slot) is the 10- symbol from the second-sounded symbol. As shown in FIG. 16, the selective processing unit 550 may be configured to sub-process (configured to transmit and / or configured to measure), from allocated resource elements containing more resource elements than for a TRS, just those resource elements that match a TRS transmission pattern (i.e., comb-4, two processed symbols per slot, nine unprocessed symbols between processed symbols in consecutive slots, and three unprocessed signals between processed symbols in the same slot). In this example, with an RS allocation 1600 being comb-4, 12 symbols, the selective processing unit 550 may process (transmit and / or receive) just the resource elements in symbols 1611, 1612, 1613, 1614. The selective processing unit 550 may use the TRS-processing configuration of the apparatus 500 (i.e., instructions, hardware, etc. configured for processing TRS) to process the subprocessed RS (e.g., PRS) per the TRS configuration. Thus, RS may be sub-processed using equipment already implemented in the apparatus 500, e.g., without requiring additional configuration of the apparatus 500 beyond what is already required (e.g., by an industry standard).The apparatus 500, e.g., the selective processing unit 550, may be configured to operate only in this TRS-processing mode, or the apparatus 500 may be configured to operate in this mode in addition to one or more other modes (e.g., to fully process an RS allocation) and the TRS-processing mode may be an option that may be selected. For example, a network device (e.g., a TRP) may instruct, e.g., based on one or more performance criteria, the apparatus 500 (e.g., a UE) to use the TRS- processing mode. As another example, the TRS-processing mode may be triggered by prior analysis by the apparatus 500 (e.g., prior RS measurement), or may be mandated, e.g., by an industry standard. For example, a standard or a message from another entity may indicate that accuracy requirements for RS processing arc expected to meet those achievable by TRS-processing of RS, or that of processing four symbols in a specific pattern, even if an RS allocation spans a superset of symbols and / or subcarriers relative to a TRS configuration.

[0128] Referring also to FIG. 17, other RS allocations may be sub-processed in exactly the TRS allocation pattern (even if not the exact subcarriers). In this example, an RS allocation 1700 is comb-2, 12 symbols and the selective processing unit 550 may sub-process the RS allocation 1700 to process just comb-4 resource elements in two appropriate symbols per each of slots 1710, 1720. In this example, the selective processing unit 550 processes just comb-4 resource elements in symbols 1711, 1712, 1713, 1714. In this example, the selective processing unit 550 processes resource elements 1731, 1732, 1733 of the symbol 1711, and resource elements in the symbol 1712 having the same subcarriers as the resource elements 1731-1733. The selective processing unit 550 could process other symbols and / or other resource elements (as long as the TRS pattern is satisfied), e.g., resource elements 1741, 1742, 1743 of the symbol 1711.

[0129] Referring also to FIG. 18, an RS allocation may be divided into multiple TRS-like configurations and measurements from each of the TRS configurations combined (e.g., averaged). In this example, an RS allocation 1800 is comb-4, 12 symbols and the selective processing unit 550 may sub-process the RS allocation 1800 to process multiple combinations of just comb-4 resource elements in two appropriate symbols per each of slots, here to process symbols 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814 in one group and to process symbols 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824 in another group. For example, the selective processing unit 550 may determine a Doppler estimate from the symbols 1811-1814 and determine another Doppler estimate from the symbols 1821-1824, and combine (e.g., average) the multiple Doppler estimates. The apparatus 500 may be configured to operate in this manner (and not to fully process an RS allocation with more than a TRS configuration), which may save expense of configuring the apparatus 500 for full RS processing. Obtaining and combining multiple Doppler estimates each from a TRS-like configuration may provide a better Dopplerestimate than processing a single TRS-like configuration alone. Processing only one or more TRS- like configurations instead of a full RS allocation may save processing energy and / or time.

[0130] Referring also to FIG. 19, a signal and processing flow 1900 for determining position information through sub-processing of allocated reference signal resource elements includes stages shown. The flow 1900 is an example flow and not limiting. The flow 1900 may be altered, e.g., by having one or more messages and / or one or more stages added, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and / or having one or more messages and / or one or more stages split into multiple messages and / or stages.

[0131] At stage 1910, an RS configuration is provided to UEs 1901, 1902, which may each be an example of the apparatus 500. For example, the server 400 may determine RS parameters and transmit an RS configuration message 1912 to the TRP 300, and the TRP 300 may transmit RS configuration messages 1914, 1916 to the UEs 1901, 1902 respectively. The RS configuration messages 1914, 1916 may include RS allocations, e.g., allocations of resource elements in one or more transmission pattern, e.g., comb size, offset, etc. for one or more RS, e.g., DL-RS (e.g., DL- PRS), UL-RS (e.g., UL-PRS (SRS for positioning)), SL-RS, etc. The resource element allocation may be for transmission of pilots (also called pilot signals), e.g., a signal (possibly of a single frequency) transmitted for control and / or reference purposes, etc.

[0132] At stage 1920, RS may be transmitted, received, and measured. For example, the TRP 300 may transmit DL-RS 1922 to the UE 1901 and the UE 1901 may measure the DL-RS 1922. As another example, the UE 1901 may transmit SL-RS 1924 to the UE 1902 and / or RS 1925 (e.g., SL- RS) for RF sensing. The RS 1925 may be reflected off an object 1926 and a reflected RS 1927 corresponding to the RS 1925 may be received and measured by the UE 1901. The UE 1901 may transmit UL-RS 1928 that the TRP 300 receives (and possibly subsamples). The UE 1901 may transmit a measurement report 1929 to the server 400 containing one or more RS measurements.

[0133] At stage 1930, the UE 1902 may measure RS and report one or more RS measurements. For example, the UE 1902 may measure the SL-RS 1924 received from the UE 1901 and transmit a report 1932 containing one or more measurements of the SL-RS 1924. The measurement(s) may contain, for example, one or more Doppler measurements. As another example, the UE 1902 may also or alternatively measure the reflected RS 1927 and provide one or more measurements of the reflected RS 1927. The UE 1902 may transmit a measurement report 1934 to the server 400 including one or more RS measurements.

[0134] At stage 1940, the UE 1902, e.g., the selective processing unit 550, may determine to subprocess allocated RS. For example, the selective processing unit 550 of the UE 1902 maydetermine from measurement of the SL-RS 1924 that a Doppler shift is small, and thus that the SL- RS 1924 may be sub-sampled without compromising desired accuracy. As another example, the selective processing unit 550 of the UE 1902 may determine from measurement of the reflected RS 1927 that a Doppler shift is small, and thus that the reflected RS 1927 may be sub-sampled without compromising desired accuracy.

[0135] At stage 1950, the server 400 (or another network entity such as the TRP 300) may instruct the UE 1901 to sub-process allocated RS. For example, the server 400 may transmit a subprocess instruction message 1952 (via the TRP 300) to the UE 1901 including an instruction for the UE 1901 to sub-proccss allocated RS. The instruction may be to sub-sample received RS, e.g., DLRS such as DL-PRS, or to sub-transmit RS, e.g., SL-RS. The instruction may be explicit or implicit (e.g., indicating one or more performance criteria requiring less than full sampling of received RS). The instruction may be based on one or more performance criteria and / or one or more measurements, e.g., received in one or more of the measurement reports 1929, 1934, e.g., based on the server 400 determining that fewer RS resource elements may be used to achieve desired performance (e.g., measurement accuracy) than correspond to RS parameters indicated in the RS configuration message 1912 (or configured by the TRP 300, e.g., if the TRP 300 transmits the RS configuration message(s) 1914, 1016 to the server 400).

[0136] At stage 1960, the UE 1901 may determine to sub-process allocated RS resource elements. For example, the selective processing unit 550 may determine, based on one or more full-processing measurements of the DL-RS 1922 (e.g., measuring all allocated resource elements of one or more instances of the DL-RS 1922), that less than full sampling may be used while meeting one or more desired performance criteria. The selective processing unit 550 may thus determine to sub-sample one or more future instances of the DL-RS 1922 and / or one or more future base patterns of the DL-RS 1922. As another example, the selective processing unit 550 may determine, based on measurement of the reflected RS 1927, that the UE 1901 may transmit fewer than all allocated RS resource elements and still meet one or more desired performance criteria. The selective processing unit 550 may thus determine to transmit fewer than all allocated RS resource elements in one or more future RS instances of the RS 1925 and / or one or more future base patterns of the RS 1925. As another example, the selective processing unit 550 may determine, based on one or more measurements received in the measurement report 1932, that less than full allocated RS resource element transmission may be used while meeting one or more desired performance criteria. The selective processing unit 550 may thus determine to transmitfewer than all allocated RS resource elements in one or more future RS instances of the SL-RS 1924 and / or one or more future base patterns of the SL-RS 1924.

[0137] Also at stage 1960, the UE 1901 , e.g., the reporting unit 560 of the apparatus 500, may report selective sub-processing to the TRP 300 (e.g., to the server 400 via the TRP 300) and / or to the UE 1902. For example, the reporting unit 560 may send a sub-processing report 1962 to the TRP 300 indicating a sub-sampling that the UE 1901 will perform on allocated RS and / or indicating a reduced transmission pattern, relative to allocated resource elements, that the UE 1901 will use to transmit RS. The sub-processing report 1962 may include an indication of a duration of time (e.g., an expiration time) for which the UE 1901 will perform the indicated sub-processing. The TRP 300 may, for example, use an indication of sub-processing by the UE 1901 to alter the allocated RS resource elements for sampling and / or transmission by the UE 1901. The TRP 300 may reallocate resource elements not used by the UE 1901 to one or more other purposes and / or entities. As another example, the reporting unit 560 may send a sub-processing report 1964 to the UE 1902 indicating a reduced transmission pattern, relative to allocated resource elements, that the UE 1901 will use to transmit SL-RS. The indicated reduced transmission may be based, for example, on reduced sampling by the UE 1902 of the SL-RS 1924. The newly-unallocated resource elements may be used for one or more other purposes.

[0138] At stage 1970, the TRP 300 may determine to sub-process RS. For example, the processor 310 may determine, e.g., based on sub-processing by the UE 1901 indicated in the subprocessing report 1962, to reallocate RS to correspond to the sub-processing performed by the UE 1901 and to reallocate resource elements unused by the UE 1901 to one or more other uses. The TRP 300 may transmit a sub-processing report 1972 to the UE 1901 indicating a new RS configuration, or that only a subset of previously allocated RS resource elements will be transmitted by the TRP 300.

[0139] At stage 1980, RS may be transferred, measured, and position information determined from RS measurement(s). For example, reduced RS (relative to initially allocated RS) may be transmitted by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901 and measured, or fully-allocated RS may be transmitted by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901 but sub-sampled, and the measurement(s) of the (full and / or reduced) RS may be used to determine position information such as one or more ranges, one or more position estimates, one or more velocities, etc.

[0140] Referring to FIG. 20, with further reference to FIGS. 1-19, a method 2000 of processing reference signals at an apparatus includes the stages shown. The method 2000 is, however, an example only and not limiting. The method 2000 may be altered, e.g., by having one or morestages added, removed, rearranged, combined, performed concurrently, and / or by having one or more single stages split into multiple stages.

[0141] At stage 2010, the method 2000 includes obtaining, at the apparatus, a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS. For example, at stage 1910, the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901, and / or the UE 1902 obtain an RS configuration. The TRP 300 may obtain the RS configuration by determining the RS configuration based on RS configuration parameters provided in the RS configuration message 1912. The UEs 1901, 1902 may obtain the RS configuration by receiving the RS configuration in the RS configuration messages 1914, 1916, respectively. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, possibly in combination with the transceiver 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 344 and the antenna 346, or the wired receiver 354, or the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246, or the wired receiver 254) may comprise means for obtaining the RS configuration.

[0142] At stage 2020, the method 2000 includes selectively processing, at the apparatus, only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement. For example, the Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration may be a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, or an RS measurement requirement of a device to receive the subset of the set of resource elements, or an RS measurement capability of the device to receive the subset of the set of resource elements. The apparatus may be, for example, the TRP 300 and the TRP 300 may opportunistically transmit fewer than all allocated resource elements (e.g., as discussed with respect to FIGS. 10B-10D, FIG. 16, FIG. 17, or FIG. 18, etc.). The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, possibly in combination with the transceiver 520 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 342 and the antenna 346) may comprise means for selectively processing only the subset of the set of resources. As another example, the apparatus may be the UE 1901 and the UE 1901 may subsample RS and / or may opportunistically transmit fewer than all allocated resource elements. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, possibly in combination with the transceiver 520 (e.g., the wireless transmitter 242 and the antenna 246 and / or the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246) may comprise means for selectively processing only the subset of the set of resources.

[0143] Implementations of the method 2000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, selectively processing only the subset of the set of resourceelements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing reference signal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements. For example, the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901 may subsample allocated RS, or sub-transmit allocated RS, based on a previous full Doppler measurement of the RS (i.e. , a Doppler measurement based on all resource elements of one or more repetitions of the RS). In another example implementation, selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal. For example, the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901 may subsample allocated RS, or sub-transmit allocated RS, based on a measurement of an SSB, or a TRS, of an SL- PBCH. In another example implementation, the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time. For example, as shown in FIG. 10D, subprocessed RS slots may span the full length of allocated slots. In another example implementation, the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time. For example, as shown in FIGS. 10B, 10C, sub-processed RS slots may span less than the full length of allocated slots. In another example implementation, the method 2000 includes receiving the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements. For example, the UE 1901 may subsample the DL-RS 1922 and / or the UE 1902 may subsample the SL-RS 1924. As another example, the TRP 300 may subsample the UL-RS 1928 transmitted by the UE 1901. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, in combination with the transceiver 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246, and / or the wireless receiver 344 and the antenna 346) may comprise means for subsampling the allocated RS.

[0144] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 2000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the method 2000 includes intermittently determining, at the apparatus, the subset of the set of resource elements over time. For example, the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901 (e.g., the selective processing unit 550) may intermittently (e.g., periodically) measure a full set of allocated resource elements to determine whether to sub-process future allocated resource elements and, if so, then which subset of allocated resource elements toprocess. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, in combination with the transceiver 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246, and / or the wireless receiver 344 and the antenna 346) may comprise means for intermittently determining the subset of the set of resource elements over time. In a further example implementation, the method 2000 includes obtaining, at the apparatus, multiple positioning measurements of a processing reference signal over time, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a most-recently obtained one of the multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal. For example, the TRP 300 and / or the UE 1901 (e.g., the selective processing unit 550) may repeatedly measure a full set of allocated resource elements and use a most-recent measurement (possibly to the exclusion of earlier measurements) to determine whether to sub-process allocated resource elements and, if so, then which resource elements to process. The processor 510, possibly in combination with the memory 530, in combination with the transceiver 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246, and / or the wireless receiver 344 and the antenna 346) may comprise means for obtaining multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal (e.g., a PRS, the allocated RS, an SSB, a TRS, an SL-PBCH, etc.).

[0145] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 2000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises transmitting only the subset of the set of resource elements. In another example implementation, the method 2000 includes transmitting, from the apparatus, a first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements. For example, at stage 1960, the reporting unit 560 of the UE 1901 may transmit the subprocessing report 1962 to the TRP 300 indicating sub-processing (e.g., sub-sampling) of allocated RS by the UE 1901. As another example, the reporting unit 560 of the UE 1901 may transmit the sub-processing report 1964 to the UE 1902 indicating sub-processing (e.g., reduced transmission) of allocated RS by the UE 1901. As another example, at stage 1970, the TRP 300 may transmit the sub-processing report 1972 to the UE 1901 indicating sub-processing (e.g., reduced transmission) of previously-allocated RS resource elements. In a further example implementation, the method 2000 includes transmitting, from the apparatus, a second indication of a time duration of validity of the first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements. For example, an indication of sub-processing may be accompanied by an indication of when the sub-processing will end, and full processing of allocated resource elements will resume, at least absent a further determination to sub-process allocated resource elements.

[0146] Also or alternatively, implementations of the method 2000 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the subset of the set of resource elements contains only symbols of at least one tracking reference signal sounding pattern. For example, the apparatus may be configured (possibly only) with a capability to process resource elements of a configuration of a TRS, or the selective processing unit 550 may be configured to selectively process resource elements of a configuration of a TRS. In a further example implementation, the method 2000 includes receiving the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements by: measuring first symbols of the set of resource elements of a first tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a first measurement; and measuring second symbols of the set of resource elements of a second tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a second measurement; and wherein the method further comprises combining at least the first measurement and the second measurement to determine a combined measurement. For example, as discussed with respect to FIG. 18, symbols 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814 of an allocated transmission pattern may be sampled to determine one Doppler measurement, symbols 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824 of the allocated transmission pattern may be sampled to determine another Doppler measurement, and the measurements combined to determine a combined measurement.

[0147] Implementation examples

[0148] Implementation examples are provided in the following numbered clauses.

[0149] Clause 1. A method of processing reference signals at an apparatus, the method comprising: obtaining, at the apparatus, a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively processing, at the apparatus, only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0150] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing referencesignal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements.

[0151] Clause 3. The method of clause 1, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal.

[0152] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1-3, wherein the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time.

[0153] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1-3, wherein the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time.

[0154] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1-5, further comprising receiving the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0155] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1-6, further comprising intermittently determining, at the apparatus, the subset of the set of resource elements over time.

[0156] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, further comprising obtaining, at the apparatus, multiple positioning measurements of a processing reference signal over time, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a most-recently obtained one of the multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal.

[0157] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1-5, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises transmitting only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0158] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1-9, further comprising transmitting, from the apparatus, a first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0159] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, further comprising transmitting, from the apparatus, a second indication of a time duration of validity of the first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0160] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1-3 or 5-11, wherein the subset of the set of resource elements contains only symbols of at least one tracking reference signal sounding pattern.

[0161] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, further comprising receiving the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein: selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements by: measuring first symbols of the set of resource elements of a first tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a first measurement; and measuring second symbols of the set of resource elements of a second tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a second measurement; and the method further comprises combining at least the first measurement and the second measurement to determine a combined measurement.

[0162] Clause 14. An apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to: obtain a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively process only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0163] Clause 15. The apparatus of clause 14, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing reference signal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements.

[0164] Clause 16. The apparatus of clause 14, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resourceelements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal.

[0165] Clause 17. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-16, wherein the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time.

[0166] Clause 18. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-16, wherein the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time.

[0167] Clause 19. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-18, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to receive the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to subsample the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0168] Clause 20. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-19, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to intermittently determine the subset of the set of resource elements over time.

[0169] Clause 21. The apparatus of clause 20, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to obtain multiple positioning measurements of a processing reference signal over time, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a most-recently obtained one of the multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal.

[0170] Clause 22. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-18, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0171] Clause 23. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-22, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit, from the apparatus, afirst indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0172] Clause 24. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit, from the apparatus, a second indication of a time duration of validity of the first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0173] Clause 25. The apparatus of any of clauses 14-16 or 18-24, wherein the subset of the set of resource elements contains only symbols of at least one tracking reference signal sounding pattern.

[0174] Clause 26. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to receive the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein: the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to subsample the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements by: measuring first symbols of the set of resource elements of a first tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a first measurement; and measuring second symbols of the set of resource elements of a second tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a second measurement; and the instructions further comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to combine at least the first measurement and the second measurement to detemrine a combined measurement.

[0175] Clause 27. An apparatus comprising: means for obtaining a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and means for selectively processing only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0176] Clause 28. The apparatus of clause 27, wherein the means for selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise means for processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal,with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing reference signal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements.

[0177] Clause 29. The apparatus of clause 27, wherein the means for selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise means for processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal.

[0178] Clause 30. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-29, wherein the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time.

[0179] Clause 31. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-29, wherein the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time.

[0180] Clause 32. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-31, further comprising means for receiving the allocated RS, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0181] Clause 33. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-32, further comprising means for intermittently determining the subset of the set of resource elements over time.

[0182] Clause 34. The apparatus of clause 33, further comprising means for obtaining multiple positioning measurements of a processing reference signal over time, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a most-recently obtained one of the multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal.

[0183] Clause 35. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-31, wherein the means for selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise means for transmitting only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0184] Clause 36. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-35, further comprising means for transmitting, from the apparatus, a first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0185] Clause 37. The apparatus of clause 36, further comprising means for transmitting, from the apparatus, a second indication of a time duration of validity of the first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0186] Clause 38. The apparatus of any of clauses 27-29 or 31-37, wherein the subset of the set of resource elements contains only symbols of at least one tracking reference signal sounding pattern.

[0187] Clause 39. The apparatus of clause 38, further comprising means for receiving the allocated RS, wherein: the means for selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise means for subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements by: measuring first symbols of the set of resource elements of a first tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a first measurement; and measuring second symbols of the set of resource elements of a second tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a second measurement; and the apparatus further comprises means for combining at least the first measurement and the second measurement to determine a combined measurement.

[0188] Clause 40. A non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium comprising processor- readable instructions to cause at least one processor of an apparatus to: obtain a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively process only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

[0189] Clause 41. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 40, wherein the processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing reference signal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements.

[0190] Clause 42. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 40, wherein the processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioningmeasurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal.

[0191] Clause 43. The non -transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40- 42, wherein the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time.

[0192] Clause 44. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40- 42, wherein the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time.

[0193] Clause 45. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40-44, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to receive the allocated RS, wherein the processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to subsample the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0194] Clause 46. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40-45, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to intermittently determine the subset of the set of resource elements over time.

[0195] Clause 47. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 46, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to obtain multiple positioning measurements of a processing reference signal over time, wherein the processor- readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a most-recently obtained one of the multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal.

[0196] Clause 48. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40- 44, wherein the processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0197] Clause 49. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40- 48, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit, from the apparatus, a first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0198] Clause 50. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 49, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to transmit, from the apparatus, a second indication of a time duration of validity of the first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

[0199] Clause 51. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of any of clauses 40- 42 or 44-50, wherein the subset of the set of resource elements contains only symbols of at least one tracking reference signal sounding pattern.

[0200] Clause 52. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium of clause 51, further comprising processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to receive the allocated RS, wherein: the processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to subsample the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements by: measuring first symbols of the set of resource elements of a first tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a first measurement; and measuring second symbols of the set of resource elements of a second tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a second measurement; and the processor-readable instructions further comprise processor-readable instructions to cause the at least one processor to combine at least the first measurement and the second measurement to determine a combined measurement.

[0201] Other considerations

[0202] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or a combination of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

[0203] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Thus, reference to a device in the singular (e.g., “a device,” “the device”), including in the claims, includes at least one, i.e., one or more, of such devices (e.g., “a processor” includes at least one processor (e.g., one processor, two processors, etc.), “the processor” includes at least one processor, “a memory” includes at least one memory,“the memory” includes at least one memory, etc.). The phrases “at least one” and “one or more” are used interchangeably and such that “at least one” referred-to object and “one or more” referred- to objects include implementations that have one referred-to object and implementations that have multiple referred-to objects. For example, “at least one processor” and “one or more processors” each includes implementations that have one processor and implementations that have multiple processors. Also, a “set” as used herein includes one or more members, and a “subset” contains fewer than all members of the set to which the subset refers.

[0204] The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and / or “including,” as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0205] Also, as used herein, “or” as used in a list of items (possibly prefaced by “at least one of’ or prefaced by “one or more of’) indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C” or a list of “A or B or C” means A, or B, or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or combinations with more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to perform a function regarding at least one of A or B, or a recitation that an item is configured to perform a function A or a function B, means that the item may be configured to perform the function regarding A, or may be configured to perform the function regarding B, or may be configured to perform the function regarding A and B. For example, a phrase of “a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B” or “a processor configured to measure A or measure B” means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which, or both, of A and B to measure). Similarly, a recitation of a means for measuring at least one of A or B includes means for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or means for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or means for measuring A and B (which may be able to select which, or both, of A and B to measure). As another example, a recitation that an item, e.g., a processor, is configured to at least one of perform function X or perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform the function X, or may be configured to perform the function Y, or may be configured to perform the function X and to perform the function Y. For example, a phrase of “a processor configured to at least one of measure X or measure Y” means that the processor may be configured to measure X(and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and to measure Y (and may be configured to select which, or both, of X and Y to measure).

[0206] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0207] Substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and / or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) executed by a processor, or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed. Components, functional or otherwise, shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled unless otherwise noted. That is, they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication between them.

[0208] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

[0209] A wireless communication system is one in which communications are conveyed wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and / or acoustic waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than through a wire or other physical connection, between wireless communication devices. A wireless communication system (also called a wireless communications system, a wireless communication network, or a wireless communications network) may not have all communications transmitted wirelessly, but is configured to have at least some communications transmitted wirelessly. Further, the term “wireless communication device,” or similar term, does not require that the functionality of the device is exclusively, or even primarily, for communication, or that communication using the wireless communication device is exclusively, or even primarily, wireless, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicates that the device includes wireless communication capability (one-way or two-way), e.g., includes at least one radio (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver) for wireless communication.

[0210] Specific details are given in the description herein to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. The description herein provides example configurations, and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of the configurations provides a description for implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements.

[0211] The terms “processor-readable medium,” “machine-readable medium,” and “computer- readable medium,” as used herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Using a computing platform, various processor- readable media might be involved in providing instructions / code to processor(s) for execution and / or might be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, a processor-readable medium is a physical and / or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, without limitation, dynamic memoiy.

[0212] Having described several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the disclosure. Also, a number of operations may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description does not bound the scope of the claims.

[0213] Unless otherwise indicated, “about” anzor “approximately” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, and the like, encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or ±0.1% from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, “substantially” as used herein when referring to a measurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, a physical attribute (such as frequency), and the like, also encompasses variations of ±20% or ± 10%, =5%, or ±0.1 % from the specified value, as appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein.

[0214] A statement that a value exceeds (or is more than or above) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold value that is slightlygreater than the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value being one value higher than the first threshold value in the resolution of a computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or is within or below) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold value that is slightly lower than the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value being one value lower than the first threshold value in the resolution of a computing system.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of processing reference signals at an apparatus, the method comprising: obtaining, at the apparatus, a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively processing, at the apparatus, only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Dopplcr / vclocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing reference signal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising intermittently determining, at the apparatus, the subset of the set of resource elements over time.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising obtaining, at the apparatus, multiple positioning measurements of a processing reference signal over time, wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises processing only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a most-recently obtained one of the multiple positioning measurements of the processing reference signal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises transmitting only the subset of the set of resource elements.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, from the apparatus, a first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting, from the apparatus, a second indication of a time duration of validity of the first indication of selective processing by the apparatus of only the subset of the set of resource elements.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of the set of resource elements contains only symbols of at least one tracking reference signal sounding pattern.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein: selectively processing only the subset of the set of resource elements comprises subsampling the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements by: measuring first symbols of the set of resource elements of a first tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a first measurement; and measuring second symbols of the set of resource elements of a second tracking reference signal sounding pattern to obtain a second measurement; andthe method further comprises combining at least the first measurement and the second measurement to determine a combined measurement.

14. An apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the at least one transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to: obtain a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and selectively process only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being the allocated RS and the prior positioning measurement of the processing reference signal being a Doppler measurement based on all the resource elements in the set of resource elements.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to process only the subset of the set of resource elements based on a prior positioning measurement of a processing reference signal, with the processing reference signal being one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) signal, or a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a sidelink physical broadcast channel signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the set of resource elements and the subset of the set of resource elements span an identical amount of time.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the set of resource elements spans a first amount of time and the subset of the set of resource elements spans a second amount of time that is shorter than the first amount of time.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory, or the at least one processor, or a combination of the at least one memory and the at least one processor further comprises instructions to cause the at least one processor to receive the allocated RS at the apparatus, wherein the instructions to cause the at least one processor to selectively process only the subset of the set of resource elements comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor to subsample the allocated RS to measure only the subset of the set of resource elements.

20. An apparatus comprising: means for obtaining a reference signal (RS) configuration corresponding to a set of pilots to be transmitted on a set of resource elements in at least one RS repetition of an allocated RS; and means for selectively processing only a subset of the set of resource elements, to process fewer than all resource elements of the set of resource elements, based on at least one Doppler / velocity RS measurement consideration corresponding to at least one of a Doppler RS measurement or a velocity RS measurement.

Images