Training data collection for positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning models

Abstract

Embodiments include methods for a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN). Such methods include performing positioning measurements of downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) transmitted by one or more RAN nodes and determining at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed. Such methods include sending, to a positioning server, a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location. For example, the UE may be a positioning reference unit (PRU) and the reported information may be used for training a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) model. Other embodiments include complementary methods for the positioning server as well as UEs and positioning servers configured to perform such methods.

Description

[0001]TRAINING DATA COLLECTION FOR POSITIONING ARTIFICIALINTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING MODELSTECHNICAL FIELDThe present disclosure relates generally to communication networks and more specificallyto managing collection of data for training of artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML)models used for positioning of user equipment (UE) operating in a communication network.BACKGROUND The fifth generation (“5G”) of cellular systems has been standardized within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). 5G was developed for maximum flexibility to a varietyof use cases including enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), machine type communications(MTC), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC), side-link device-to-device (D2D), and several others. 5G was initially specified in Release 15 (Rel-15) and continues to evolve through subsequent releases. 3GPP standards provide various ways for positioning (e.g., determining the position of, locating, and / or determining the location of) user equipment (UEs) operating in 3GPP networks.In general, a positioning node configures a target device (e.g., UE) and / or a radio access network(RAN) node to perform one or more positioning measurements according to one or morepositioning methods. For example, the positioning measurements can include timing (and / or timing difference) measurements on UE, RAN, and / or satellite transmissions, such as RAN- transmitted positioning reference signals (PRS), The positioning measurements are used by targetdevice (e.g., UE), RAN node, and / or positioning node to determine location of the target device.Positioning reference units (PRUs) may be deployed in a 3GPP network to facilitate UEpositioning. A PRU is a radio node that can transmit uplink (UL) signals to be measured by thenetwork, perform positioning measurements of downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the network,and send positioning measurements to the network (e.g., positioning server). PRUs may be deployed at known locations or have the capability to estimate their own location, e.g., based on RAN or satellite transmissions. Machine learning (ML) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the use ofdata and algorithms to imitate the way that humans learn, gradually improving accuracy as moredata becomes available. ML algorithms build models based on sample (or “training”) data, withthe models being used subsequently to make predictions or decisions. AI / ML algorithms (ormodels) can be used in a wide variety of applications (e.g., medicine, email filtering, speechrecognition, etc.) in which it is difficult or unfeasible to develop conventional algorithms toperform the needed tasks. A subset of ML is closely related to computational statistics.AI / ML models can also be used for UE positioning (“positioning AI / ML models”). Forexample, a UE or RAN node (e.g., gNB) may use a positioning AI / ML model to estimatemeasurements needed to determine the UE’s location and / or to directly determine the UE’slocation based on measurements performed by the UE or RAN node on reference signalstransmitted by the other. The positioning AI / ML model may be previously trained or may betrained on-the-fly. SUMMARY Even so, obtaining necessary and proper training data for positioning AI / ML models may be difficult. For example, positioning measurements labelled with known, valid locations where they are performed are beneficial for training a positioning AI / ML model. However, it is unclear how to obtain such labelled positioning measurements using currently available techniques. An object of embodiments of the present disclosure is to improve training data collectionfor positioning AI / ML models used in a RAN, such as by providing, enabling, and / or facilitatingsolutions to overcome exemplary problems summarized above and described in more detailbelow. Some embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE configured to operate ina RAN. These exemplary methods include performing positioning measurements of downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) transmitted by one or more RAN nodes and determining at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed. These exemplary methods also include sending to a positioning server a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location. In some embodiments, these exemplary methods also include receiving, from thepositioning server, a request for one or more of the following information: the positioning measurements, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE. In some embodiments where the report includes a single location and the validity duration for the single location, the exemplary method also includes the following operations: after sending the report and during the validity duration for the single location, receiving from a RAN node a configuration for uplink (UL) RS transmission; and transmitting the UL RS in accordance with the configuration. In other embodiments where the report includes a single location and the validity duration for the single location, the exemplary method also includes the following operations: after sending the report and during the validity duration for the single location, performing further positioning measurements on the DL RS; and sending to the positioning server a further report that includes the further positioning measurements but excludes the single location. Other embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for a positioning serverconfigured to operate with a RAN. In general, these embodiments are complementary to theexemplary methods for a UE summarized above.These exemplary methods include sending, to a UE operating in the RAN, a request forone or more of the following information: positioning measurements of DL RS transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE. Theseexemplary methods also include receiving from the UE a report that includes one or more of thefollowing: the positioning measurements performed by the UE, at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and a validity duration for the at least one location. In some embodiments where the report includes a single location and the validity durationfor the single location, the exemplary method also includes the following operations afterreceiving the report: based on the validity duration for the single location, selecting the UE for transmission ofUL RS; sending to a RAN node a request to configure the UE for UL RS transmission;receiving from the RAN node further positioning measurements of the UL RS transmittedby the UE; and associating the single location received in the report with the further positioning measurements, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements. In other embodiments where the report includes a single location and the validity durationfor the single location, the exemplary method also includes the following operations afterreceiving the report and during the validity duration for the single location: receiving from the UE a further report that includes further positioning measurementsperformed by the UE on the DL RS but excludes the single location; andassociating the single location received in the report with the further positioning measurements, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements. In different variants of these embodiments, these exemplary methods may also include oneof the following operations: training the positioning AI / ML model using the labelled positioning measurements; or sending the labelled positioning measurements to one or more radio nodes of the RAN that host the positioning AI / ML model, for use as training data for the positioning AI / ML model. The following summary applies to all of the embodiments summarized above.In some embodiments, the request includes assistance information for the positioningmeasurements, and the positioning measurements are performed using the assistance information.In some of these embodiments, the assistance information includes or indicates one or more of thefollowing associated with the DL RS: positioning RS (PRS) resource ID, PRS resource set ID,PRS resource bandwidth, positioning frequency layer (PFL), and respective locations of the RANnodes. In some of these embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed on a pluralityof PFLs indicated by the assistance information, and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed. In some embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed at a plurality oflocations and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed.In other embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed at a single location, and thereport includes the single location and the validity duration for the single location. In some embodiments, the UE is a positioning reference unit (PRU), the positioningserver is a location management function (LMF) of a 5G core network (5GC), the one or more RAN nodes are transmission reception points (TRPs), and the DL RS are positioning RS (PRS). Other embodiments and variants of the exemplary methods summarized above aredescribed herein. Other embodiments include UEs (e.g., PRUs, wireless devices, radio nodes) andpositioning servers (e.g., LMFs, SMLCs, SUPLs) configured to perform operations correspondingto any of the exemplary methods described herein. Other embodiments include non-transitory,computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processingcircuitry, configure such UEs or positioning servers to perform operations corresponding to anyof the exemplary methods described herein. These and other embodiments described herein may provide various benefits and / oradvantages. For example, embodiments may provide labelled data that may be used for trainingof positioning AI / ML models hosted by UEs and / or RAN nodes. As such, embodiments mayimprove training of positioning AI / ML models, which consequently improves the inferenceperformance of such models during positioning operations by UEs and / or RAN nodes. At a highlevel, embodiments may improve life cycle management (LCM) of positioning AI / ML models. These and other objects, features, and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosurewill become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description in view of the Drawings briefly described below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows an exemplary 5G network.Figure 2 shows exemplary 5G user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacks.Figure 3 shows a high-level architecture for UE positioning in 5G networks.Figure 4 shows an example AI / ML model training pipeline.Figures 5-8 show signaling diagrams of example procedures according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 9 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE,according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 10 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a positioningserver, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.Figure 11 shows a communication system according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Figure 12 shows a user equipment according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Figure 13 shows a network node according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Figure 14 shows a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by someembodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within thescope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construedas limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. In general, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaningto a person of ordinary skill in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is expresslydefined and / or implied from the context of use. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance ofthe element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise or clearlyimplied from the context of use. The operations of any methods and / or procedures disclosed hereindo not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless an operation is explicitly described as following or preceding another operation and / or where it is implicit that an operation must follow or precede another operation. Any feature of any embodiment disclosed herein can apply to any other disclosed embodiment, as appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any embodiment described herein can apply to any other disclosed embodiment, as appropriate. Furthermore, the following terms are used throughout the description given below: Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” (or equivalently “radio networknode,” “radio access network node,” or “RAN node”) may be any node in a radio accessnetwork (RAN) that operates to wirelessly transmit and / or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., gNB in a 3GPP 5G network or an enhanced or eNB in a 3GPP LTE network), base station distributed components (e.g., CU and DU), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., micro, pico, femto, or home base station, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a transmission point (TP), a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU or RRH), and a relay node. Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a corenetwork. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a serving gateway (SGW), a PDN Gateway (P-GW), a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF), an access and mobility management function (AMF), a session management function (SMF), a user plane function (UPF), a Charging Function (CHF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a location management function (LMF), or the like. Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” (or “WD” for short) is any type of device that is capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. Unless otherwise noted, the term “wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with the term “user equipment” (or “UE” for short), with both of these terms having a different meaning than the term “network node”. Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” may be either a “radio access node” (orequivalent term) or a “wireless device.” Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the radioaccess network (e.g., a radio access node or equivalent term) or of the core network (e.g., a core network node discussed above) of a cellular communications network. Functionally, a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and / or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the cellular communications network. Node: As used herein, the term “node” (without prefix) may be any type of node that canin or with a wireless network (including RAN and / or core network), including a radio access node (or equivalent term), core network node, or wireless device. However, the term “node” may be limited to a particular type (e.g., radio access node, IAB node) based on its specific characteristics in any given context. The above definitions are not meant to be exclusive. In other words, various ones of the above terms may be explained and / or described elsewhere in the present disclosure using the same or similar terminology. Nevertheless, to the extent that such other explanations and / or descriptions conflict with the above definitions, the above definitions should control. Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used.However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system and may be applied toany communication system that may benefit from them. Figure 1 shows a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including anNG-RAN (199) and a 5GC (198). The NG-RAN can include gNBs (e.g., 110a,b) and ng-eNBs(e.g., 120a,b) that are interconnected via respective Xn interfaces. The gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected via NG interfaces to the 5GC, more specifically to the Access and Mobility Management Functions (AMFs, e.g., 130a,b) via respective NG-C interfaces and to the User Plane Functions (UPFs, e.g., 140a,b) via respective NG-U interfaces. Moreover, the AMFs can communicate with one or more policy control functions (PCFs, e.g., 150a,b) and network exposure functions (NEFs, e.g., 160a,b). Each of the gNBs can support the New Radio (NR) interface including frequency divisionduplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof. Each of ng-eNBs cansupport the LTE radio interface. Unlike conventional LTE eNBs, however, ng-eNBs connect tothe 5GC via the NG interface. Each of the gNBs and ng-eNBs can serve a geographic coverage area including one more cells (e.g., 211a-b, 221a-b). Depending on the cell in which it is located, a UE (205) can communicate with the gNB or ng-eNB serving that cell via the NR or LTE interface, respectively. Although Figure 2 shows gNBs and ng-eNBs separately, it is also possible that a single NG-RAN node provides both LTE and NR interfaces. NG-RAN logical nodes (e.g., gNBs) include a central unit (CU) and one or moredistributed units (DUs). CUs are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and performvarious gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs. DUs are decentralized logical nodesthat host lower layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split option, various subsets of the gNB functions. Each CU and DU can include various circuitry needed to performtheir respective functions, including processing circuitry, communication interface circuitry (e.g.,transceivers), and power supply circuitry. A CU connects to one or more DUs over respective F1logical interfaces, but a DU can be connected to only one CU.Figure 2 shows an exemplary 5G user plane (UP) and control plane (CP) protocol stacksbetween a UE (210), a gNB (220), and an AMF (230), such as those shown in Figures 1-2. ThePhysical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers between the UE and the gNB are common to UP and CP. PDCP provides ciphering / deciphering, integrity protection, sequence numbering, reordering, and duplicate detection for both CP and UP. In addition, PDCP provides header compression and retransmission for UP data. On the UP side, Internet protocol (IP) packets arrive to PDCP as service data units (SDUs), and PDCP creates protocol data units (PDUs) to deliver to RLC. The Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer handles quality-of-service (QoS) including mapping between QoS flows and Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and marking QoS flow identifiers (QFI) in UL and DL packets. When each IP packet arrives, PDCP starts a discard timer. When this timer expires, PDCPdiscards the associated SDU and the corresponding PDU. If the PDU was delivered to RLC, PDCPalso indicates the discard to RLC. The RLC layer transfers PDCP PDUs to the MAC throughlogical channels (LCH). RLC provides error detection / correction, concatenation, segmentation / reassembly, sequence numbering, reordering of data transferred to / from the upper layers. If RLC receives a discard indication from associated with a PDCP PDU, it will discard the corresponding RLC SDU (or any segment thereof) if it has not been sent to lower layers. MAC provides mapping between LCHs and PHY transport channels, LCH prioritization, multiplexing into or demultiplexing from transport blocks (TBs), hybrid ARQ (HARQ) error correction, and dynamic scheduling (in gNB). PHY provides transport channel services to MAC and handles transfer over the NR interface, e.g., via modulation, coding, antenna mapping, and beam forming. On the CP side, the non-access stratum (NAS) layer between UE and AMF handles UE / gNB authentication, mobility management, and security control. RRC sits below NAS in the UE but terminates in the gNB rather than the AMF. RRC controls communications between UEand gNB at the radio interface as well as the mobility of a UE between cells in the NG-RAN. RRCalso broadcasts system information (SI) and performs establishment, configuration, maintenance, and release of DRBs and Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) and used by UEs. Additionally, RRC controls addition, modification, and release of carrier aggregation (CA) and dual-connectivity (DC) configurations for UEs, and performs various security functions such as key management. After a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC_IDLE state until an RRC connection is established with the network, at which time the UE will transition to RRC_CONNECTED state the the has some properties similar to a “suspended” condition used in LTE. In addition to providing coverage via cells as in LTE, gNBs also provide coverage via “beams.” In general, a downlink (DL, i.e., network to UE) “beam” is a coverage area of a network-transmitted reference signal (RS) that may be measured or monitored by a UE. In NR, forexample, RS can include any of the following: synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB),channel state information RS (CSI-RS), tertiary reference signals (or any other sync signal),positioning RS (PRS), demodulation RS (DMRS), phase-tracking reference signals (PTRS), etc.In general, SSB is available to all UEs regardless of the state of their connection with the network, while other RS (e.g., CSI-RS, DM-RS, PTRS) are associated with specific UEs that have a network connection. Another change in 5G networks (e.g., in 5GC) is that traditional peer-to-peer interfaces and protocols found in earlier-generation networks are modified and / or replaced by a Service Based Architecture (SBA) in which Network Functions (NFs) provide one or more services to one or more service consumers. The services are composed of various “service operations”, which are more granular divisions of the overall service functionality. The interactions between service consumers and producers can be of the type “request / response” or “subscribe / notify”. In the latter type, a service consumer NF (or equivalently, “consumer NF”) requests a service producer NF (or equivalently, “producer NF”) to establish a subscription for the service consumer NF to receive notifications from the service producer NF under conditions specified in this subscription. One 5GC NF of interest in the present disclosure is the Network Data Analytics Function(NWDAF). This NF can collect data from any 5GC NF and provides network analyticsinformation (e.g., statistical information of past events and / or predictive information) to otherNFs on a network slice instance level. Note that a “network slice” is a logical partition of a 5Gnetwork that provides specific network capabilities and characteristics, e.g., in support of a particular service. A network slice instance is a set of NF instances and the required networkresources (e.g., compute, storage, communication) that provide the capabilities andcharacteristics of the network slice. 3GPP TS 23.288 (v18.5.0) specifies NWDAF as the main NF for computing analyticsbased on ML models and classifies NWDAF into two sub-functions (or logical functions):Analytics Logical Function (AnLF), which performs analytics procedures; and Model Training Logical Function (MTLF), which performs training and retraining of ML models used by the AnLF. Another 5GC NF of interest in the present disclosure is the Location ManagementFunction (LMF), which facilitates location services such as positioning of UEs and delivery ofassistance data to UEs. The LMF may interact with a target UE’s serving RAN node (e.g., gNBor ng-eNB) to obtain positioning measurements for the UE, including UL measurements by theRAN node (or other RAN nodes) and DL measurements by the UE. The LMF may interact witha target UE to deliver assistance data (if requested) and / or to obtain a location estimate by the UE(if requested). Figure 3 shows a high-level architecture for UE positioning in 5G networks. NG-RAN(320) can include nodes such as gNBs (e.g., 322) and ng-eNBs (e.g., 321). Each ng-eNB maycontrol one or more transmission points (TPs), such as remote radio heads. Similarly, each gNBmay control one or more transmission / reception points (TRPs).In addition, the NG-RAN nodes communicate with an AMF (330) in the 5GC viarespective NG-C interfaces, while the AMF communicates with an LMF (340) via an NLsinterface. In addition, positioning-related communication between UEs (e.g., 210) and NG-RAN nodes occurs via the RRC protocol, while positioning-related communication between NG-RANnodes and LMF occurs via the NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa). Optionally, the LMF canalso communicate with an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC, 350) and a secure user plane location platform (SLP, 360) in an LTE network. Although not explicitly shown, positioning reference units (PRUs) may also be deployedin the exemplary positioning architecture shown in Figure 3. A PRU is a radio node that cantransmit uplink (UL) signals to be measured by the network, perform positioning measurements of downlink (DL) signals transmitted by the network, and send the positioning measurements to the LMF together with the locations where they were performed. PRUs are deployed at known locations or have the capability to estimate their own location, e.g., based on RAN or satellite transmissions. In this manner, PRUs can help identify positioning errors and facilitate compensation for these errors in positions determined for UEs that are proximate in the network.3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.305 (v18.2.0) describes PRUs in more detail. From theLMF’s perspective, a PRU is a UE with a known location. As such, a PRU may be considered atype of wireless device. In a typical operation, the AMF can receive a request for a location service associated with a particular target UE from another entity (e.g., a gateway mobile location center, GMLC), or the AMF can initiate a location service on behalf of a particular target UE (e.g., for an emergency call by the UE). The AMF then sends a location services (LS) request to the LMF. The LMF processes the LS request, which may include transferring assistance data to the target UE to assist with UE- based and / or UE-assisted positioning; and / or positioning of the target UE. The LMF then returns the result of the LS (e.g., a position estimate for the UE and / or an indication of any assistance data transferred to the UE) to the AMF or to another entity (e.g., GMLC) that requested the LS. Various other interfaces and protocols are used for, or involved in, 5G positioning. TheLTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) is used between a target device (e.g., UE in the control-plane, or SET in the user-plane) and a positioning server (e.g., LMF in the control-plane, SLP in the user- plane). LPP can use either CP or UP protocols as underlying transport. NRPP is terminated between a target device and the LMF. NRPPa carries information between NG-RAN and LMF over NG-C interface and istransparent to AMF. As such, the AMF routes the NRPPa PDUs over NG-C interface withoutknowledge of the involved NRPPa transaction, based on a Routing ID corresponding to theinvolved LMF. More specifically, the AMF carries the NRPPa PDUs over NG-C interface either in UE associated mode or non-UE associated mode. LPP / NRPPa are used to deliver messages such as positioning capability request, positioning measurements request, and assistance data to the UE from the LMF. LPP / NRPPa are also used to deliver messages from the UE to the LMF including UE capability, UE measurements for UE-assisted positioning, UE request for additional assistance data, UE configuration parameter(s) to be used to create UE-specific assistance data, etc. The NG application part (NGAP) protocol between the AMF and NG-RAN (e.g., gNB orng-eNB) is used as transport for LPP and NRPPa messages over the NG-C interface. NGAP isalso used to instigate and terminate NG-RAN-related positioning procedures. 5G networks may support any of the following positioning methods:Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID). Utilizes information to associate the UE with thegeographical area of a serving cell, and then additional information to determine a finer granularity position. The following measurements are supported for E-CID: AoA (base station only), UE Rx-Tx time difference, timing advance (TA) types 1 and 2, reference signal received power (RSRP), and reference signal received quality (RSRQ).Assisted GNSS. The UE receives and measures Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) signals, supported by assistance information provided to the UE from E-SMLC. DL Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA). The UE measures reference signal timedifferences (RSTD) between DL RS (e.g., PRS) transmitted by different RAN nodes.UL Relative Time of Arrival (UL-RToA). The UE is requested to transmit a specific waveform that is detected by multiple location measurement units (LMUs, which may be standalone, co-located or integrated into an eNB) at known positions. These measurements are forwarded to the E-SMLC for multilateration. Multi-Round Trip Time (RTT): The UE computes UE Rx-Tx time difference and gNBs compute gNB Rx-Tx time difference. The results are combined to find the UE position based upon round trip time (RTT) calculation. DL angle of departure (DL-AoD): gNB or LMF calculates the UE angular position based upon UE DL RSRP measurement results (e.g., of PRS transmitted by RAN nodes).UL angle of arrival (UL-AoA): gNB calculates the UL AoA based upon measurements of a UE’s UL SRS transmissions. In addition, one or more of the following positioning modes may be utilized in each of thepositioning methods listed above: UE-Assisted: The UE performs measurements with or without assistance from the network and sends these measurements to the E-SMLC where the position calculation may take place. UE-Based: The UE performs measurements and calculates its own position with assistance from the network. Standalone: The UE performs measurements and calculates its own position without network assistance. In the 5G positioning methods listed above, RTT uses bidirectional timing measurementsincluding UE Rx-Tx time difference, gNB Rx-Tx time difference, time advance (TA), etc. In the5G positioning methods listed above, unidirectional timing measurements include RSTDperformed by the UE, UL RToA performed by the gNB, etc. These are explained in more detailbelow. RSTD: measured by UE on the DL PRS signals transmitted by positioning node j andreference positioning node i. RSTD always involves two cells (also referred to as TRPs).UE Rx-Tx time difference: defined as TUE-RX-TUE-TX, where: oTUE-RX is UE receive timing of DL subframe #i, defined by the first path detected intime, measured on PRS received from the gNB. oTUE-TX is UE transmit timing of UL subframe #j closest in time to DL subframe #i.gNB Rx-Tx time difference: define as TgNB-RX - TgNB-TX, where:o TgNB-RX is gNB received timing of UL subframe #i containing SRS transmittedby / received from the UE, defined by the first path detected in time, is measured onSRS signals received from the UE. oTgNB-TX is gNB transmit timing of DL subframe #j closest in time to UL subframe #i.Timing advance (TADV), defined as TADV = (TgNB-RX – TgNB-TX), where:o TgNB-RX is TRP received timing of UL subframe #i containing PRACH transmitted by / received from the UE, defined by the first path detected in time.o TgNB-TX is TRP transmit timing of DL subframe #j closest in time to UL subframe #i.o Detected PRACH is used to determine the start of a subframe containing that PRACH.UL-RToA: gNB / TRP reception timing of beginning of subframe i containing SRStransmitted by / received from the UE, relative to a configurable reference time.In some cases, a UE may also perform positioning measurements on sidelink (SL) PRS transmitted by other UE(s). In this scenario, the UE performing the positioning measurement is called “target UE” and each UE transmitting the SL PRS is called “anchor UE” or “assisting UE.” As also mentioned above, AI / ML algorithms (or models) may be used in a wide variety ofapplications (e.g., medicine, email filtering, speech recognition, etc.) in which it is difficult orunfeasible to develop conventional algorithms to perform the needed tasks. A subset of ML isclosely related to computational statistics.In general, AI / ML models must be trained in order to produce desired results when usedfor inference based on input data. In online training, the AI / ML model is trained in (near) real-time while being used for inference, with the arrival of new training samples or data. In offlinetraining, the AI / ML model is trained based on collected samples or data (often referred to as“training data”) and then later used for inference.AI / ML models can hosted by various entities in a communication network, and can be broadly categorized into the following cases: 1. UE-side AI / ML model, with inference performed entirely at the UE.2. Network-side AI / ML model, with inference performed entirely at the network.3. One-sided AI / ML model, i.e., on UE-side or a network-side.4. Two-sided (AI / ML) model, i.e., a paired AI / ML model in which UE and network performjoint inference, such as first part of inference being performed by UE and remaining partof inference being performed by gNB.Parameters of an AI / ML model may be transferred or delivered over the air interface from RANnode to UE or vice versa.The process of developing, deploying, and maintaining an AI / ML model is referred to aslifecycle management (LCM). Deployment includes both training and inference. Figure 4 showsan example AI / ML model training pipeline. The pipeline starts with a data ingestion stage, whichgathers unprocessed input data from data repositories. Next, the data pre-processing stageidentifies high-quality input features for input to the model training stage, which identifies anoptimal mapping of the model input features to a desired model output target based on a lossfunction. The evaluation stage evaluates model performance on both a functional level and asystem level according to relevant requirements. Finally, the registration stage makes the MLAI / ML model usable (executable) based on compilation to a specific hardware platform,versioning, packaging, etc.As briefly mentioned above, AI / ML models can also be used for UE positioning. For example, a UE or RAN node (e.g., gNB) may use an AI / ML model to estimate measurements needed to determine the UE’s location and / or to directly determine the UE’s location based on measurements performed by the UE or gNB on reference signals transmitted by the other. TheAI / ML model may be previously trained or may be trained on-the-fly.As a more specific example, positioning measurements may be performed (or estimated)by a UE or a RAN node using an AI / ML model. After completion, the positioning measurementsare then reported to the LMF, which determines the location of the UE. As another specificexample, the UE use an AI / ML model to estimate its own location based on positioningmeasurements it performed. In either of the specific examples, the UE may require assistanceinformation from the network to determine how and / or when to train its AI / ML model as well as what information (e.g., positioning measurements and / or estimated location) to report to the LMF. To summarize, AI / ML models used for UE positioning (“positioning AI / ML models”) may reside in the UE, in a RAN node (e.g., gNB / TRP), in 5GC NFs (e.g., NWDAF), and in network operations / administration / maintenance (OAM) function. Even so, obtaining necessary and proper training data for these various positioning AI / ML models may be difficult. For example, positioning measurements labelled with known, valid locations where they are performed are beneficial for training a positioning AI / ML model. However, it is unclear how toobtain such labelled positioning measurements using currently available techniques.Embodiments of the present disclosure may address these and other problems, issues,and / or difficulties with flexible and efficient techniques for collecting labelled positioningmeasurements and using such measurements for training positioning AI / ML models hosted byUEs and / or RAN nodes. In some embodiments, a PRU can report positioning measurementslabelled with a location at which they were performed, along with a validity duration for the location. In other embodiments, the PRU can report its location along with the validity duration, which may then be used to initiate positioning measurements (e.g., by TRPs) on signals transmitted by the PRU, which can then be labelled according to the known location. Embodiments may provide various benefits and / or advantages. For example,embodiments may provide labelled data that may be used for training of positioning AI / ML models hosted by UEs and / or RAN nodes. As such, embodiments may improve training of positioning AI / ML models, which consequently improves the inference performance of suchmodels during positioning operations by UEs and / or RAN nodes. At a high level, embodimentsmay improve life cycle management (LCM) of positioning AI / ML models.Figures 5-7 show signaling diagrams of various positioning-related procedures according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedures shown in Figures5-7 involve a UE (510, e.g., PRU), an LMF (520), and (optionally) a RAN node (530, e.g., gNBor TRP). In general, the LMF is aware of the UEs / PRUs within the RAN coverage area that it serves. Figure 5 will be described first. Initially, the LMF sends the UE a request for positioningmeasurements and / or a location of the UE. In some variants, when the request is for the locationof the UE, the request may also be for a validity duration associated with the location of the UE. The requested positioning measurements may include any of the UE-related measurementsbased on DL PRS, including RSTD (with or without carrier phase measurement), UE Rx-Tx timedifference (with or without carrier phase measurement), RSRP, reference signal received pathpower (RSRPP), etc. In some variants, the LMF may also (or alternately) request the UE to providereceived samples for the PRS resources configured for the positioning measurements. With the request, the LMF provides assistance information that facilitates the UE’s operations to comply with the request. For example, assistance information for DL PRS may include PRS resource ID / resource set ID, bandwidth of PRS resources, positioning frequencylayer (PFL) of PRS resources, location(s) of TRP(s) transmitting PRS to be measured, etc.Upon receiving the request, the UE performs the positioning measurements, if requested,using the provided assistance information. The UE may also determine a location at which thepositioning measurements were performed or, if no positioning measurements, the UE’s currentlocation. The UE also determines a validity duration of the determined location. The validityduration may be determined or estimated by the UE based on expected or planned changes in theUE’s current state, which may include carrier frequency, cell, mobility state, RRC state, network synchronization status (e.g., timing, frequency, and / or phase), etc. For example, a PRU may be configured to follow a mobility pattern (or path) within a RAN coverage area over some time period. Based on this, the PRU is aware of when its current location (e.g., at which the positioning measurements were performed) will change. As another example, the PRU may be configured to enter RRC_IDLE / RRC_INACTIVE subsequently, at which time its determined location is no longer valid. As another example, the PRU may be expecting a subsequent handover to another cell (e.g., due to poor quality in current cell), at which point its determined location is no longer valid. As another example, the validity duration may be determined based on a validity duration (or similar) associated with the assistance information (e.g., PRS resources) or with other RAN resources available and / or configured for the PRU (e.g., SRS resources). Subsequently, the UE reports the requested information to the LMF, together with thedetermined validity duration. For example, if the LMF requested only UE location (and,optionally, a validity duration), the UE reports the determined location together with the validityduration. In some variants, the UE may include additional information not explicitly requested bythe LMF. For example, if the LMF requested only location, the UE may also include thepositioning measurements and / or the received samples for the PRS resources used for the positioning measurements. In any case, the validity duration may be reported in terms of any appropriate time unit, including real time units (e.g., millisecond, second, minute, hour) and radio interface time units(e.g., symbols, slots, subframes, etc.). Subsequent positioning measurements performed by the UEduring the validity duration may be reported without including a location, since the previouslyreported location of the UE is still considered valid.Figure 6 illustrates how the information collected by the LMF may be used in someembodiments. As a precondition for subsequent operations, the UE and the LMF have performedthe procedure shown in Figure 5, such that the LMF has received (at least) the requested information from the UE, along with the validity duration. The LMF may have performed theprocedure shown in Figure 5 with multiple UEs (e.g., PRUs) within the RAN coverage area thatit serves, so that it is aware of the respective validity durations for these UEs. Based on the respective validity durations for the UEs, the LMF determines or selects UEs to transmit UL SRS on which the RAN will perform positioning measurements used for positioning AI / ML model (re-)training. For example, the LMF selects a set of PRUs with locations that have validity durations that extend beyond when the UL positioning measurements should (or will) be performed. The LMF then requests configuration of UL SRS resources for the selectedUEs by their serving RAN nodes, which provide UL SRS configurations to the selected UEs theyserve (e.g., RAN node (530) serving UE (510) in Figure 6).In addition, the LMF requests one or more RAN nodes (e.g., 530) to perform positioningmeasurements on the UL SRS to be transmitted by the selected UEs. The selected UEs transmitUL SRS as configured, and the RAN node(s) perform the requested positioning measurements and report them to the LFM. The LMF may then use the positioning measurements reported bythe RAN nodes – with the UE-reported locations as labels – to (re-)train positioning AI / MLmodels hosted by RAN nodes (e.g., TRPs) and / or UEs.Figure 7 shows a variant of the procedure shown in Figure 5. Initially, the LMF sends theUE a request for positioning measurements and a corresponding location. The requestedpositioning measurements may include any of the UE-related measurements based on DL PRS,including RSTD (with or without carrier phase measurement), UE Rx-Tx time difference (with orwithout carrier phase measurement), RSRP, RSRPP, etc. In some variants, the LMF may also (oralternately) request the UE to provide received samples for the PRS resources configured for thepositioning measurements. With the request, the LMF provides assistance information that facilitates the UE’s operations to comply with the request. For example, assistance information for DL PRS may include PRS resource ID / resource set ID, bandwidth of PRS resources, positioning frequencylayer (PFL) of PRS resources, location of TRP(s) transmitting PRS resources, etc. In somevariants, the request may also include an indication that the requested measurements are intendedto be used for (re-)training of positioning AI / ML models hosted by UEs, RAN nodes, and / or LMF. Upon receiving the request, the UE performs the positioning measurements using anyreceived assistance information. The UE may perform these positioning measurements at multiplelocations over a time period, and determines the respective location(s) at which each of thepositioning measurements was performed. Moreover, each of the positioning measurements isperformed on a specific PFL in accordance with the assistance information. For example, each ofthe PRS resources indicated in the assistance information may be associated with a specific PFL.If UE is not capable of performing positioning measurements on all PFLs indicated by theassistance information, the UE performs positioning measurements on the PFLs for which it iscapable. The UE then groups (e.g., arranges, sorts, etc.) the positioning measurements based onlocation and / or PFL. For example, the UE may form multiple groups, with each group associatedwith a particular location, a particular PFL, or a combination thereof. If the request included theindication, the grouping may be done based on the indication. Otherwise, the UE may group thepositioning measurements based on a pre-configured setting. The UE then reports the groupedpositioning measurements to the LMF. Figure 8 shows a signaling diagram of a procedure for positioning AI / ML model training, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The procedure shown in Figure 8involves an LMF (820) and a UE or RAN node (810) that hosts one or more positioning AI / MLmodels. As a precondition for subsequent operations, the LMF has performed one or more of the procedures shown in Figure 5-7, such that the LMF has collected location-labelled positioning measurements from UEs (e.g., PRUs) and / or RAN nodes. In general, the LMF is aware of theUEs (e.g., PRUs) within the RAN coverage area that it serves and is responsible for provisioningtraining data for the positioning AI / ML models hosted by UEs and RAN nodes within that RAN coverage area. Initially, the LMF determines a need for (re-)training of a positioning AI / ML model hosted by the UE or RAN node. In some variants, the LMF may be responsible for LCM of positioning AI / ML models hosted in UEs and RAN nodes. In these variants, the LMF may determine the need for (re-)training based on model drift monitoring, e.g., based on inferenceresults of the positioning AI / ML model. In other variants, another network node or function(NNF) may be responsible for LCM of positioning AI / ML models hosted in UEs and RAN nodes. In these variants, the LMF may indirectly determine the need for (re-)training based on a request or command from the other NNF, which directly determines the need for (re-)training based on model drift monitoring or other techniques. The LMF then sends the UE or RAN node a request to (re-)train the positioning AI / ML model that it hosts, such as by including a model identifier in / with the request. The LMF then selects training data for the positioning AI / ML model from the labelled positioningmeasurements that it previously collected, and provides the selected training data (or indicationthereof) to the UE or RAN node. For example, the LMF may select labelled positioning measurements associated with PRUs that are proximate to a UE that hosts the positioning AI / ML model. As another example, the LMF may select labelled positioning measurements ofpositioning signals from TRPs that are proximate (or related) to a RAN node that hosts thepositioning AI / ML model The UE or RAN node uses the received training data to (re-)train the positioning AI / ML model and, after completion, sends the LMF an indication (or acknowledgement) that thepositioning AI / ML model has been (re-)trained. In cases of a two-sided AI / ML model hosted bya UE and a RAN node, the LMF may interact with both the UE and the RAN node according tothe operations shown in Figure 8 Various features of the embodiments described above correspond to various operationsillustrated in Figures 9-10, which show exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) for a UE and apositioning server, respectively. In other words, various features of the operations described belowcorrespond to various embodiments described above. Furthermore, the exemplary methods shownin Figures 9-10 may be used cooperatively to provide various benefits, advantages, and / orsolutions to problems described herein. Although Figures 9-10 show specific blocks in particularorders, the operations of the exemplary methods may be performed in different orders than shownand may be combined and / or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown.Optional blocks or operations are indicated by dashed lines. In particular, Figure 9 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a UE configuredto operate in a RAN, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplarymethod may be performed by any appropriate UE (e.g., PRU, wireless device, radio node, etc.)such as described elsewhere herein.The exemplary method includes the operations of blocks 920-930, where the UEperforms positioning measurements of downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) transmitted by one or more RAN nodes and determines at least one location at which the positioning measurementswere performed. The exemplary method also includes the operations of block 960, where theUE sends to a positioning server a report that includes one or more of the following: thepositioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location. In some embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the operations of block 910,where the UE receives, from the positioning server, a request for one or more of the followinginformation: the positioning measurements, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE. In some of these embodiments, the request also includes an indication that the requestedinformation is for training a positioning AI / ML model, and the exemplary method also includesthe operations of block 940, where based on the indication, the UE sorts the positioningmeasurements into a plurality of groups, with each group containing positioning measurements that were performed according to one or more of the following: at a single location, and on a singlePFL. Figure 7 shows an example of these embodiments.In some of these embodiments, the request includes assistance information for thepositioning measurements, and the positioning measurements are performed using the assistanceinformation. In some variants of these embodiments, the assistance information includes orindicates one or more of the following associated with the DL RS: positioning RS (PRS) resourceID, PRS resource set ID, PRS resource bandwidth, positioning frequency layer (PFL), andrespective locations of the RAN nodes. In some variants of these embodiments, the positioningmeasurements are performed on a plurality of PFLs indicated by the assistance information, and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed. In some embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed at a plurality oflocations and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed.Figure 7 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, the report alsoincludes the plurality of locations. In other embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed at a single location,and the report includes the single location and the validity duration for the single location. Figure5 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, the exemplary methodalso includes the operations of block 950, where the UE determines the validity duration based onexpected or planned changes in the UE’s current state. In some variants of these embodiments,the UE’s current state includes one or more the following: serving carrier frequency in the RAN,serving cell in the RAN, mobility state, radio resource control (RRC) state, synchronization withthe RAN, and uplink (UL) RS resources. In some of these embodiments, the report also includes the positioning measurements. Insome of these embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the following operations,labelled with corresponding block numbers: (990) after sending the report and during the validity duration for the single location, receiving from a RAN node a configuration for uplink (UL) RS transmission; and (995) transmitting the UL RS in accordance with the configuration. Figure 6 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the followingoperations, labelled with corresponding block numbers: (970) after sending the report and during the validity duration for the single location, performing further positioning measurements on the DL RS; and (980) sending to the positioning server a further report that includes the further positioning measurements but excludes the single location. In some embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed on received samplesof the DL RS, and the report also includes at least a portion of the received samples. In some embodiments, the UE is a positioning reference unit (PRU), the positioning serveris a location management function (LMF) of a 5G core network (5GC), the one or more RAN nodes are transmission reception points (TRPs), and the DL RS are positioning RS (PRS). In addition, Figure 10 shows an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for a positioningserver, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method maybe performed by any appropriate positioning server (e.g., LMF, SMLC, SUPL, etc.) such asdescribed elsewhere herein.The exemplary method includes the operations of block 1010, where the positioning serversends, to a UE operating in a RAN, a request for one or more of the following information:positioning measurements of DL RS transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE. The exemplary method also includes theoperations of block 1020, where positioning server receives from the UE a report that includesone or more of the following: the positioning measurements performed by the UE, at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and a validity duration for the at least one location. In some embodiments, the request includes assistance information for the positioningmeasurements, and the received positioning measurements are based on the assistanceinformation. In some of these embodiments, the assistance information includes or indicates oneor more of the following associated with the DL RS: positioning RS (PRS) resource ID, PRSresource set ID, PRS resource bandwidth, positioning frequency layer (PFL), and respectivelocations of the RAN nodes. In some of these embodiments, the report includes the following:the positioning measurements, which were performed on a plurality of positioningfrequency layers (PFLs) indicated by the assistance information; andan association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed. In some embodiments, the report includes the following: the positioning measurements, which were performed at a plurality of locations; andan association between each positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed. Figure 7 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, the report also includes the plurality of locations. In some of these embodiments, the request also includes an indication that the requested information is for training a positioning AI / ML model and, based on the indication, the positioning measurements in the report are arranged into a plurality of groups, with each group containing positioning measurements that were performed according to one or more of the following: at asingle location, and on a single PFL. Figure 7 shows an example of these embodiments.In other embodiments, the report includes a single location at which the positioningmeasurements were performed and the validity duration for the single location. Figure 5 shows an example of these embodiments. In some of these embodiments, the validity duration is based on expected or planned changes in the UE’s current state. In some variants of these embodiments,the UE’s current state includes one or more the following: serving carrier frequency in the RAN,serving cell in the RAN, mobility state, RRC state, synchronization with the RAN, and UL RSresources. In some of these embodiments, the report also includes the positioning measurements. Insome of these embodiments, the exemplary method also includes the following operations labelled with corresponding block numbers: (1040) based on the validity duration for the single location, selecting the UE fortransmission of UL RS; (1050) sending to a RAN node a request to configure the UE for UL RS transmission;(1060) receiving from the RAN node further positioning measurements of the UL RStransmitted by the UE; and (1070) associating the single location received in the report with the further positioning measurements, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements. Figure 6 shows an example of these embodiments. In other of these embodiments, after receiving the report in block 1020 and during thevalidity duration for the single location, the exemplary method also includes the followingoperations after labelled with corresponding block numbers:(1030) receiving from the UE a further report that includes further positioningmeasurements performed by the UE on the DL RS but excludes the single location; and(1070) associating the single location received in the report with the further positioning measurements, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements. In different variants of these embodiments, the exemplary method may also include one of the following operations, labelled with corresponding block numbers: (1080) training the positioning AI / ML model using the labelled positioning measurements (e.g., from block 1070); or(1090) sending the labelled positioning measurements (e.g., from block 1070) to one ormore radio nodes of the RAN (e.g., UEs, RAN nodes) that host the positioning AI / MLmodel, for use as training data for the positioning AI / ML model. Figure 8 shows an example of these embodiments. In some embodiments, the positioning measurements are performed by the UE on receivedsamples of the DL RS, and the report also includes at least a portion of the received samples. Insome embodiments, the UE is a PRU, the positioning server is an LMF of a 5GC, the one or moreRAN nodes are TRPs, and the DL RS are PRS. Although various embodiments are described above in terms of methods, techniques, and / or procedures, the person of ordinary skill will readily comprehend that such methods,techniques, and / or procedures may be embodied by various combinations of hardware andsoftware in various systems, communication devices, computing devices, control devices, apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, computer program products, etc. Figure 11 shows an example of a communication system 1100 in accordance with someembodiments. In this example, communication system 1100 includes a telecommunication network 1102 that includes an access network 1104 (e.g., RAN) and a core network 1106, which includes one or more core network nodes 1108. Access network 1104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1110a-b (one or more of which may be referred to as network nodes 1110), or any other similar 3GPP access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, telecommunication network 1102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in telecommunication network 1102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in telecommunication network 1102, including one or more network nodes 1110 and / or core network nodes 1108. Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU- CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical nodein a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualizationenvironment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface definedby the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. Network nodes 1110 facilitate direct orindirect connection of UEs, such as by connecting UEs 1112a-d (one or more of which may bereferred to as UEs 1112) to core network 1106 over one or more wireless connections.Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or othermaterial conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, communication system 1100 mayinclude any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / orsignals whether via wired or wireless connections. Communication system 1100 may includeand / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system. UEs 1112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wirelessdevices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes1110 and other communication devices. Similarly, network nodes 1110 are arranged, capable,configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UEs 1112 and / or with othernetwork nodes or equipment in telecommunication network 1102 to enable and / or providenetwork access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in telecommunication network 1102. In the depicted example, core network 1106 connects network nodes 1110 to one or morehosts, such as host 1116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. Corenetwork 1106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., 1108) that are structured withhardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptionsthereof are applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 1108. Example corenetwork nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM),Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User PlaneFunction (UPF). Host 1116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than anoperator or provider of access network 1104 and / or telecommunication network 1102, and maybe operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Host 1116 may host avariety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server. As a whole, communication system 1100 of Figure 11 enables connectivity between theUEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. In some examples, telecommunication network 1102 is a cellular network that implements3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, telecommunication network 1102 may support networkslicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected totelecommunication network 1102. For example, telecommunication network 1102 may provideUltra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive IoT services to yet further UEs. In some examples, UEs 1112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information withoutdirect human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to accessnetwork 1104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or inresponse to requests from access network 1104. Additionally, a UE may be configured foroperating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate withany one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e., being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio AccessNetwork) New Radio – Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).In the example, hub 1114 communicates with access network 1104 to facilitate indirectcommunication between one or more UEs (e.g., 1112c and / or 1112d) and network nodes (e.g.,1110b). In some examples, hub 1114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, orany of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, hub 1114may be a broadband router enabling access to core network 1106 for the UEs. As another example,hub 1114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in theUEs. Commands or instructions may be received from UEs and / or network nodes, or byexecutable code, script, process, or other instructions in hub 1114. As another example, hub 1114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments,may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, hub 1114 may be acontent source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other mediadelivery device, hub 1114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related tosensory information via a network node, which hub 1114 then provides to the UE either directly,after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still anotherexample, hub 1114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or moreof the UEs are low energy IoT devices. Hub 1114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to network node1110b. Hub 1114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule betweenhub 1114 and UEs (e.g., 1112c and / or 1112d), and between hub 1114 and core network 1106. Inother examples, hub 1114 is connected to core network 1106 and / or one or more UEs via a wiredconnection. Moreover, hub 1114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider overaccess network 1104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs mayestablish a wireless connection with network nodes 1110 while still connected via hub 1114 via awired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, hub 1114 may be a dedicated hub – that is,a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to network node1110b. In other embodiments, hub 1114 may be a non-dedicated hub – that is, a device which iscapable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels. In some embodiments, any of UEs 1112 may be configured to perform operationsattributed to a UE (e.g., PRU) in various methods or procedures described above, including theexemplary method shown in Figure 9. In some embodiments, core network node 1108 may be configured to perform operations attributed to a positioning server in various methods or procedures described above, including the exemplary method shown in Figure 10. Figure 12 shows a UE 1200 in accordance with some embodiments. Examples of a UEinclude, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE),vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examplesinclude any UE identified by 3GPP, including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 1200 includes processing circuitry 1202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1204 toan input / output interface 1206, a power source 1208, a memory 1210, a communication interface 1212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 12. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc. Processing circuitry 1202 is configured to process instructions and data and may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored asmachine-readable computer programs in memory 1210. Processing circuitry 1202 may beimplemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), togetherwith appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, processing circuitry1202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).In the example, input / output interface 1206 may be configured to provide an interface orinterfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into UE 1200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device. In some embodiments, power source 1208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Othertypes of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaicdevice, or power cell, may be used. Power source 1208 may further include power circuitry fordelivering power from power source 1208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the variousparts of UE 1200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Deliveringpower may be, for example, for charging power source 1208. Power circuitry may perform anyformatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 1208 to make thepower suitable for the respective components of UE 1200 to which power is supplied.Memory 1210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives,and so forth. In one example, memory 1210 includes one or more application programs 1214, suchas an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application,and corresponding data 1216. Memory 1210 may store, for use by UE 1200, any of a variety ofvarious operating systems or combinations of operating systems. Memory 1210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such asredundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integratedUICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ Memory 1210 may allowUE 1200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in memory 1210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium. Processing circuitry 1202 may be configured to communicate with an access network orother network using communication interface 1212. Communication interface 1212 may compriseone or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to anantenna 1222. Communication interface 1212 may include one or more transceivers used tocommunicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 1218 and / or a receiver 1220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover,transmitter 1218 and receiver 1220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1222)and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately. In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of communication interface 1212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth. Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient). As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input. A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, ananimal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, anUnmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an IoT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to othercomponents as described in relation to UE 1200 shown in Figure 12.As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators. In some embodiments, UE 1200 may be configured to perform operations attributed to aUE (e.g., PRU) in various methods or procedures described above, including the exemplarymethod shown in Figure 9. Figure 13 shows a network node 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. Examplesof network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, eNBs, gNBs), and O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs). Network node 1300 includes processing circuitry 1302, memory 1304, communicationinterface 1306, and power source 1308. Network node 1300 may be composed of multiplephysically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components.In certain scenarios in which network node 1300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g.,BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate networknode. In some embodiments, network node 1300 may be configured to support multiple radioaccess technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a sameantenna 1310 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 1300 may also include multiplesets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1300. Processing circuitry 1302 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1300 components, such as memory 1304, to provide network node 1300 functionality. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). Insome embodiments, processing circuitry 1302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF)transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units. Memory 1304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readablememory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory(ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, aflash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 1302.Memory 1304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions (collectively denoted computer program 1304a, which may be in the form of acomputer program product) capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1302 and utilizedby network node 1300. Memory 1304 may be used to store any calculations made by processingcircuitry 1302 and / or any data received via communication interface 1306. In some embodiments,processing circuitry 1302 and memory 1304 is integrated.Communication interface 1306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signalingand / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, communicationinterface 1306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1316 to send and receive data, for example to andfrom a network over a wired connection. Communication interface 1306 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1310. Radio front-end circuitry 1318 comprises filters 1320 and amplifiers 1322. Radio front-endcircuitry 1318 may be connected to an antenna 1310 and processing circuitry 1302. The radiofront-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1310and processing circuitry 1302. Radio front-end circuitry 1318 may receive digital data that is tobe sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. Radio front-end circuitry1318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidthparameters using a combination of filters 1320 and / or amplifiers 1322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1310. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuitry 1318. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 1302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components. In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1300 does not include separate radiofront-end circuitry 1318, instead, processing circuitry 1302 includes radio front-end circuitry andis connected to antenna 1310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceivercircuitry 1312 is part of communication interface 1306. In still other embodiments,communication interface 1306 includes one or more ports or terminals 1316, radio front-endcircuitry 1318, and RF transceiver circuitry 1312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), andcommunication interface 1306 communicates with baseband processing circuitry 1314, which ispart of a digital unit (not shown). Antenna 1310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to sendand / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1310 may be coupled to radio front-end circuitry 1318and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signalswirelessly. In certain embodiments, antenna 1310 is separate from network node 1300 andconnectable to network node 1300 through an interface or port.Antenna 1310, communication interface 1306, and / or processing circuitry 1302 may beconfigured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly,antenna 1310, communication interface 1306, and / or processing circuitry 1302 may be configuredto perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Power source 1308 provides power to the various components of network node 1300 in aform suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for eachrespective component). Power source 1308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, powermanagement circuitry to supply the components of network node 1300 with power for performingthe functionality described herein. For example, network node 1300 may be connectable to anexternal power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitryof power source 1308. As a further example, power source 1308 may comprise a source of powerin the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.Embodiments of network node 1300 may include additional components beyond thoseshown in Figure 13 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subjectmatter described herein. For example, network node 1300 may include user interface equipmentto allow input of information into network node 1300 and to allow output of information fromnetwork node 1300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 1300. In some embodiments, network node 1300 may be configured to perform operations attributed to a positioning server (e.g., LMF) in various methods or procedures described above, including the exemplary method shown in Figure 10. Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1400 in whichfunctions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1400 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1400 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface. Applications 1402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. For example, In some embodiments, one or more virtual nodes or network functions 1402 may be configured to perform operations attributed to a positioning server (e.g., LMF) in various methods or procedures described above, including the exemplary method shown in Figure 10. Hardware 1404 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions (collectively denoted computer program 1404a, which may be in the form of a computer program product) executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs1408a-1408b (one or more of which may be referred to as VMs 1408), and / or perform any of thefunctions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.Virtualization layer 1406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networkinghardware to the VMs 1408. VMs 1408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1408, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, andcustomer premise equipment. In the context of NFV, each VM 1408 may be a software implementation of a physicalmachine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM 1408, and that part of hardware 1404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1408 on top of the hardware 1404 and corresponds to the application 1402. Hardware 1404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1404 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestrationfunction 1410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1402. In someembodiments, hardware 1404 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units. The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various exemplary embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. The term unit, as used herein, can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and / or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and / orelectronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and / or discretedevices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and / or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein. Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memorydevices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit toperform corresponding functions according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.As described herein, device and / or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor. Furthermore, functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and / or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other. Moreover, devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. In addition, certain terms used in the present disclosure, including the specification anddrawings, can be used synonymously in certain instances (e.g., “data” and “information”). Itshould be understood that although such terms may be used synonymously herein, there may beinstances when such terms are not intended to be used synonymously.Embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein also include, but are notlimited to, the following enumerated examples:A1. A method for a positioning reference unit (PRU) configured to operate in a radio accessnetwork (RAN), the method comprising: receiving, from a positioning server associated with the RAN, a request for one or moreof the following information:positioning measurements of downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, and a location of the PRU; performing positioning measurements of the DL RS; determining at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed; sending to the positioning server a report that includes one or more of the following: thepositioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location.A2. The method of embodiment A1, wherein the request includes assistance information forthe positioning measurements, and the positioning measurements are performed using the assistance information.A2a. The method of embodiment A2, wherein the assistance information includes or indicatesone or more of the following associated with the DL RS: positioning RS (PRS) resource ID,PRS resource set ID, PRS resource bandwidth, positioning frequency layer (PFL), respectivelocations of the RAN nodes.A2b. The method of any of embodiments A2-A2a, wherein the positioning measurements areperformed on a plurality of positioning frequency layers (PFLs) indicated by the assistance information, and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed.A3. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2b, wherein the positioning measurements areperformed at a plurality of locations and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed.A3a. The method of embodiment A3, wherein the report also includes the plurality oflocations.A3b. The method of any of embodiments A3-A3a, wherein the request also includes anindication that the requested information is for training a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) model, and the method further comprises, based on the indication,sorting the positioning measurements into a plurality of groups, with each group containingpositioning measurements that were performed according to one or more of the following: at asingle location, and on a single positioning frequency layer (PFL).A4. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2b, wherein the positioning measurements areperformed at a single location, and the report includes the single location and the validity duration for the single location.A4a. The method of embodiment A4, further comprising determining the validity durationbased on expected or planned changes in the PRU’s current state.A4b. The method of embodiment A4a, wherein the PRU’s current state includes one or morethe following: serving carrier frequency in the RAN, serving cell in the RAN, mobility state,radio resource control (RRC) state, synchronization with the RAN, and uplink (UL) RSresourcesA4c. The method of any of embodiments A4-A4b, wherein the report also includes thepositioning measurements.A4d. The method of any of embodiments A4-A4c, further comprising, after sending the reportand during the validity duration for the single location: receiving from a RAN node a configuration for uplink (UL) RS transmission; and transmitting the UL RS in accordance with the configuration.A4e. The method of any of embodiments A4-A4d, further comprising, after sending the reportand during the validity duration for the single location: performing further positioning measurements on the DL RS; and sending to the positioning server a further report that includes the further positioning measurements but excludes the single location.A5. The method of any of embodiments A1-A4e, wherein the positioning measurements areperformed on received samples of the DL RS, and the report also includes at least a portion of the received samples.A6. The method of any of embodiments A1-A5, wherein the positioning server is a locationmanagement function (LMF) of a 5G core network (5GC), the one or more RAN nodes are transmission reception points (TRPs), and the DL RS are positioning RS (PRS).B1. A method for a positioning server configured to operate with a radio access network(RAN), the method comprising: sending, to a positioning reference unit (PRU) operating in the RAN, a request for one or more of the following information: positioning measurements of downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, and a location of the PRU; receiving from the PRU a report that includes one or more of the following: thepositioning measurements performed by the PRU, at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and a validity duration for the at least one location.B2. The method of embodiment B1, wherein the request includes assistance information forthe positioning measurements, and the received positioning measurements are based on theassistance information.B2a. The method of embodiment B2, wherein the assistance information includes or indicatesone or more of the following associated with the DL RS: positioning RS (PRS) resource ID,PRS resource set ID, PRS resource bandwidth, positioning frequency layer (PFL), respectivelocations of the RAN nodes.B2b. The method of any of embodiments B2-B2a, wherein the report includes the following:the positioning measurements performed on a plurality of positioning frequency layers (PFLs) indicated by the assistance information, and an association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed.B3. The method of any of embodiments B1-B2b, wherein the report includes the following:the positioning measurements performed at a plurality of locations, and an association betweeneach positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed.B3a. The method of embodiment B3, wherein the report also includes the plurality oflocations.B3b. The method of any of embodiments B3-B3a, wherein:the request also includes an indication that the requested information is for training a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) model; andbased on the indication, the positioning measurements in the report are arranged into a plurality of groups, with each group containing positioning measurements that were performed according to one or more of the following: at a single location, and on a single positioning frequency layer (PFL).B4. The method of any of embodiments B1-B2b, wherein the report includes the following: asingle location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and the validity durationfor the single location.B4a. The method of embodiment B4, wherein the validity duration is based on expected orplanned changes in the PRU’s current state.B4b. The method of embodiment B4a, wherein the PRU’s current state includes one or morethe following: serving carrier frequency in the RAN, serving cell in the RAN, mobility state,radio resource control (RRC) state, synchronization with the RAN, and uplink (UL) RSresourcesB4c. The method of any of embodiments B4-B4b, wherein the report also includes thepositioning measurements.B4d. The method of any of embodiments B4-B4c, further comprising, after receiving thereport and during the validity duration for the single location: selecting the PRU for transmission of uplink (UL) RS to facilitate collection of training data for a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) model; sending to a RAN node a request to configure the PRU for UL RS transmission; receiving from the RAN node positioning measurements of the UL RS transmitted by the PRU; and associating the single location received in the report with the positioning measurementsreceived from the RAN node, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements.B4e. The method of any of embodiments B4-B4c, further comprising, after receiving thereport and during the validity duration for the single location: receiving from the PRU a further report that includes further positioning measurements performed by the PRU on the DL RS but excludes the single location; andassociating the single location received in the report with the further positioningmeasurements received in the further report, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements.B4f. The method of any of embodiments B4d-B4e, further comprising one of the following:training the positioning AI / ML model using the labelled positioning measurements; or sending the labelled positioning measurements to one or more radio nodes of the RANthat host the positioning AI / ML model, for use as training data for the positioning AI / ML model.B5. The method of any of embodiments B1-B4f, wherein the positioning measurements areperformed by the PRU on received samples of the DL RS, and the report also includes at least aportion of the received samples.B6. The method of any of embodiments B1-B5, wherein the positioning server is a locationmanagement function (LMF) of a 5G core network (5GC), the one or more RAN nodes are transmission reception points (TRPs), and the DL RS are positioning RS (PRS).C1. Positioning reference unit (PRU) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN),the PRU comprising:communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with a positioning server associated with the RAN; and processing circuitry operably coupled to the communication interface circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1- A6.C2. Positioning reference unit (PRU) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN),the PRU being further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A6.C3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed by processing circuitry of a positioning reference unit (PRU) configured tooperate in a radio access network (RAN), configure the PRU to perform operationscorresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A6.C4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, whenexecuted by processing circuitry of a positioning reference unit (PRU) configured to operate in a radio access network (RAN), configure the PRU to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments A1-A6.D1. Positioning server configured to operate with a radio access network (RAN), thepositioning server comprising:communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with radio nodes of the RAN; and processing circuitry operably coupled to the communication interface circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1- B6.D2. Positioning server configured to operate with a radio access network (RAN), thepositioning server being configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B6.D3. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed by processing circuitry associated with a positioning server configured to operate with a radio access network (RAN), configure the positioning server to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B6.D4. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions that, whenexecuted by processing circuitry associated with a positioning server configured to operate with a radio access network (RAN), configure the positioning server to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments B1-B6.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for a user equipment, UE, configured to operate in a radio access network,RAN, the method comprising: performing (920) positioning measurements of downlink, DL, reference signals, RS, transmitted by one or more RAN nodes; determining (930) at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed; and sending (960), to a positioning server, a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:the method further comprises receiving (910), from the positioning server, a request for one or more of the following information: the positioning measurements, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE; and the report is sent in response to the request.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:the request includes an indication that the requested information is for training a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning, AI / ML, model;the method further comprises, based on the indication, sorting (940) the positioning measurements into a plurality of groups, with each group containing positioning measurements that were performed according to one or more of the following: at asingle location, and on a single positioning frequency layer, PFL; andthe report includes the positioning measurements sorted into the plurality of groups.

4. The method of any of claims 2-3, wherein the request includes assistance information forthe positioning measurements, and the positioning measurements are performed using the assistance information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the assistance information includes or indicates one ormore of the following associated with the DL RS: positioning RS, PRS, resource ID; PRSresource set ID; PRS resource bandwidth; positioning frequency layer, PFL; and respectivelocations of the RAN nodes.

6. The method of any of claims 4-5, wherein the positioning measurements are performedon a plurality of positioning frequency layers, PFLs, indicated by the assistance information, and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the positioning measurements are performedat a plurality of locations and the report includes the positioning measurements and an association between each positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the report also includes the plurality of locations.

9. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the positioning measurements are performedat a single location, and the report includes the single location and the validity duration for the single location.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining (950) the validity duration basedon expected or planned changes to one or more of the following comprising the UE’s currentstate: serving carrier frequency in the RAN; serving cell in the RAN; mobility state; radioresource control, RRC, state; synchronization with the RAN; and uplink, UL, RS resources.

11. The method of any of claims 9-10, wherein the report also includes the positioningmeasurements.

12. The method of any of claims 9-11, further comprising, after sending (960) the report andduring the validity duration for the single location: receiving (990) from a RAN node a configuration for uplink, UL, RS transmission; and transmitting (995) the UL RS in accordance with the configuration.

13. The method of any of claims 9-12, further comprising, after sending (960) the report andduring the validity duration for the single location: performing (970) further positioning measurements on the DL RS; and sending (980) to the positioning server a further report that includes the further positioning measurements but excludes the single location.

14. The method of any of claims 1-13, wherein the positioning measurements are performedon received samples of the DL RS, and the report also includes at least a portion of the received samples.

15. The method of any of claims 1-14, wherein: the UE is a positioning reference unit, PRU;the positioning server is a location management function, LMF, of a 5G core network, 5GC; theone or more RAN nodes are transmission reception points, TRPs; and the DL RS are positioningRS, PRS.

16. A method for a positioning server, the method comprising:sending (1010), to user equipment, UE, operating in a radio access network, RAN, a request for one or more of the following information: positioning measurements of downlink, DL, reference signals, RS, transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE; and receiving (1020) from the UE a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements performed by the UE, at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and a validity duration for the at least one location.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the request includes assistance information for thepositioning measurements, and the received positioning measurements are based on the assistance information.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the assistance information includes or indicates one ormore of the following associated with the DL RS: positioning RS, PRS, resource ID; PRSresource set ID; PRS resource bandwidth; positioning frequency layer, PFL; and respectivelocations of the RAN nodes.

19. The method of any of claims 17-18, wherein the report includes the following:the positioning measurements, where were performed on a plurality of positioning frequency layers, PFLs, indicated by the assistance information; andan association between each positioning measurement and the PFL on which the positioning measurement was performed.

20. The method of any of claims 16-19, wherein the report includes the following:the positioning measurements, which were performed at a plurality of locations; and an association between each positioning measurement and the location at which the positioning measurement was performed.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the report also includes the plurality of locations.

22. The method of any of claims 20-21, wherein:the request also includes an indication that the requested information is for training a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning, AI / ML, model; andbased on the indication, the positioning measurements in the report are arranged into a plurality of groups, with each group containing positioning measurements that were performed according to one or more of the following: at a single location, and on a single positioning frequency layer, PFL.

23. The method of any of claims 16-22, wherein the report includes the following: a singlelocation at which the positioning measurements were performed, and the validity duration forthe single location.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the validity duration is based on expected or plannedchanges to one or more of the following comprising the UE’s current state: serving carrierfrequency in the RAN; serving cell in the RAN; mobility state; radio resource control, RRC,state; synchronization with the RAN; and uplink, UL, RS resources25. The method of any of claims 23-24, wherein the report also includes the positioningmeasurements.

26. The method of any of claims 23-25, further comprising:based on the validity duration for the single location, selecting (1040) the UE for transmission of uplink, UL, RS; sending (1050) to a RAN node a request to configure the UE for UL RS transmission;receiving (1060), from the RAN node, further positioning measurements of the UL RS transmitted by the UE; and associating (1070) the single location received in the report with the further positioningmeasurements, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements.

27. The method of any of claims 23-25, further comprising, after receiving (1020) the reportand during the validity duration for the single location: receiving (1030) from the UE a further report that includes further positioning measurements performed by the UE on the DL RS but excludes the single location; and associating (1070) the single location received in the report with the further positioningmeasurements, thereby obtaining labelled positioning measurements.

28. The method of any of claims 26-27, further comprising one of the following:training (1080) a positioning artificial intelligence / machine learning, AI / ML, model using the labelled positioning measurements; or sending (1090) the labelled positioning measurements to one or more radio nodes of the RAN that host the positioning AI / ML model, for use as training data for the positioning AI / ML model.

29. The method of any of claims 16-28, wherein the positioning measurements areperformed by the UE on received samples of the DL RS, and the report also includes at least a portion of the received samples.

30. The method of any of claims 16-29, wherein: the UE is a positioning reference unit,PRU; the positioning server is a location management function, LMF, of a 5G core network, 5GC; the one or more RAN nodes are transmission reception points, TRPs; and the DL RS are positioning RS, PRS.

31. User equipment, UE (105, 210, 310, 510, 810, 1112, 1200) configured to operate in aradio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), the UE comprising: communication interface circuitry (1212) configured to communicate with a positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402); andprocessing circuitry (1202) operably coupled to the communication interface circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: perform positioning measurements of downlink, DL, reference signals, RS, transmitted by one or more RAN nodes; determine at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed; and send, to a positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402), a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location.

32. The UE of claim 31, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interfacecircuitry are further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 2-15.

33. User equipment, UE (105, 210, 310, 510, 810, 1112, 1200) configured to operate in aradio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), the UE being further configured to: perform positioning measurements of downlink, DL, reference signals, RS, transmitted by one or more RAN nodes; determine at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed; and send, to a positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402), a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements, the determined at least one location, and a validity duration for the determined at least one location.

34. The UE of claim 33, being further configured to perform operations corresponding toany of the methods of claims 2-15.

35. Non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1210) storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1202) of user equipment, UE (105,210, 310, 510, 810, 1112, 1200) configured to operate in a radio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-15.

36. Computer program product (1214) comprising computer-executable instructions that,when executed by processing circuitry (1202) of user equipment, UE (105, 210, 310, 510, 810,1112, 1200) configured to operate in a radio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), configure the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-15.

37. Positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402) comprising:communication interface circuitry (1306, 1404) configured to communicate with radio nodes of a radio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104); and processing circuitry (1302, 1404) operably coupled to the communication interface circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to: send, to user equipment, UE (105, 210, 310, 510, 810, 1112, 1200), a request for one or more of the following information: positioning measurements of downlink, DL, reference signals, RS, transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE; and receive from the UE a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements performed by the UE, at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and a validity duration for the at least one location.

38. The positioning server of claim 37, wherein the processing circuitry and thecommunication interface circuitry are further configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 17-30.

39. Positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402) configured to operate with a radioaccess network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), the positioning server being further configured to: send, to user equipment, UE (105, 210, 310, 510, 810, 1112, 1200) operating in the RAN, a request for one or more of the following information: positioning measurements of downlink, DL, reference signals, RS, transmitted by one or more RAN nodes, a location of the UE, and a validity duration for the location of the UE; andreceive from the UE a report that includes one or more of the following: the positioning measurements performed by the UE, at least one location at which the positioning measurements were performed, and a validity duration for the at least one location.

40. The positioning server of claim 39, being further configured to perform operationscorresponding to any of the methods of claims 17-30.

41. Non-transitory, computer-readable medium (1304, 1404) storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (1302, 1404) associated with a positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402) configured to operate with a radio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), configure the positioning server to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 16-30.

42. Computer program product (1304a, 1404a) comprising computer-executable instructionsthat, when executed by processing circuitry (1302, 1404) associated with a positioning server (340, 520, 820, 1108, 1300, 1402) configured to operate with a radio access network, RAN (199, 320, 1104), configure the positioning server to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 16-30.

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