Collection and reporting of artificial intelligence machine learning model-related data

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to collection and reporting of artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data. In an aspect, a first device (e.g., user equipment (UE), positioning reference unit (PRU), gNB or transmission reception point (TRP), etc.) receives at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations. The first device collects AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations, and reports the collected AIML model-related data to the second device. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improving the quality of AIML training data which in turn increases the AIML model quality, which may be improve positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, and so on.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO1COLLECTION AND REPORTING OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MACHINE LEARNING MODEL-RELATED DATATECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless technologies.BACKGROUND

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

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

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the1QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO2 scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In an aspect, a method performed by a first device includes receiving, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collecting AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and reporting, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0006] In an aspect, a method performed by a second device includes transmitting, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receiving, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0007] In an aspect, a first device includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers,, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collect AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and report, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0008] In an aspect, a second device includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receive, via the one or more transceivers,, from the first device, AIML model-related data2QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO3 associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0009] In an aspect, a first device includes means for receiving, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; means for collecting AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and means for reporting, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0010] In an aspect, a second device includes means for transmitting, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and means for receiving, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0011] In an aspect, a non -transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a first device, cause the first device to: receive, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model- related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collect AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and report, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0012] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a second device, cause the second device to: transmit, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model -related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receive, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0013] Other obj ects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.3QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO4BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIGS. 2 A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0018] FIGS. 4 A and 4B illustrate different types of wireless sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIGS. 5A to 5F illustrate various example monostatic and bistatic sensing use cases, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 6 illustrates an example call flow for a New Radio (NR)-based sensing procedure in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0022] FIGS. 8 A and 8B are diagrams of example sidelink slot structures with and without feedback resources, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 9 illustrates an example Long-Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) call flow between a UE and a location server for performing positioning operations.

[0024] FIG. 10 illustrates an example neural network, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating an example of direct artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 1 IB is a diagram illustrating an example of AIML assisted positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 11C illustrates various AIML positioning and / or sensing scenarios, according to aspects of the disclosure.4QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO5

[0028] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary process of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary process of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0031] Various aspects relate generally to collection and reporting of artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model -related data. Particular aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. Aspects of the disclosure are directed to collection and reporting of artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data. In an aspect, a first device (e.g., user equipment (UE), positioning reference unit (PRU), gNB or transmission reception point (TRP), etc.) receives at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations. The first device collects AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations, and reports the collected AIML model-related data to the second device. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improving the quality of AIML training data which in turn increases the AIML model quality, which may be improve positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, and so on.

[0032] The words “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0033] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For5QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO6 example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0034] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non- transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

[0035] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (loT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of6QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO7 course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0036] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0037] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is7QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO8 measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0038] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0039] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0040] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0041] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform8QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO9(SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0042] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0043] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband loT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that9QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO10 may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0044] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0045] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0046] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.10QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO11

[0047] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and / or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0048] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0049] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example,11QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO12 a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0050] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0051] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal -to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction.12QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO13

[0052] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0053] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0054] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency / wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) which is identified by the INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION® as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0055] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond13QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO1452.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0056] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0057] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE- specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base14QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO15 station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0058] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0059] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and / or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0060] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL- UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1 :M) system in which each SL-UE transmits15QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO16 to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

[0061] In an aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In an aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.1 lx WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0062] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0063] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning16QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO17 system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0064] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and / or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0065] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more nonterrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0066] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the17QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO18 example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WI-FI DIRECT®, BLUETOOTH®, and so on.

[0067] FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0068] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be18QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO19 external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0069] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0070] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic19QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO20 steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0071] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the Ni l interface.

[0072] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0073] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-20QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO21 party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0074] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0075] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “Fl” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.21QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO22

[0076] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system, or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

[0077] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A disaggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed throughout one or multiple other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU and RU also can be implemented as virtual units, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0078] Base station-type operation or network design may consider aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, disaggregated base stations may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (0-RAN (such as the network configuration sponsored by the 0-RAN ALLIANCE®)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C- RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as distributing functionality for at least one unit virtually, which can enable flexibility in network design. The various units of the disaggregated base station, or disaggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0079] FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly22QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO23 with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both). A CU 280 may communicate with one or more DUs 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an Fl interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RUs 287 may communicate with respective UEs 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 204 may be simultaneously served by multiple RUs 287.

[0080] Each of the units, i.e., the CUs 280, the DUs 285, the RUs 287, as well as the Near-RT RICs 259, the Non-RT RICs 257 and the SMO Framework 255, may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of the units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units can include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals over a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. Additionally, the units can include a wireless interface, which may include a receiver, a transmitter or transceiver (such as a RF transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0081] In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include RRC, PDCP, service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), or the like. Each control function can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 280. The CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - User Plane (CU- UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., Central Unit - Control Plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU 280 can be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as the El interface when23QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO24 implemented in an O-RAN configuration. The CU 280 can be implemented to communicate with the DU 285, as necessary, for network control and signaling.

[0082] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 may host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280.

[0083] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, an RU 287, controlled by a DU 285, may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions, or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or the like), or both, based at least in part on the functional split, such as a lower layer functional split. In such an architecture, the RU(s) 287 can be implemented to handle over the air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control and user plane communication with the RU(s) 287 can be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(s) 285 and the CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0084] The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an 01 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network24QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO25 elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an 02 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an 01 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an 01 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0085] The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non- real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 259. The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an Al interface) the Near- RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

[0086] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as Al policies).

[0087] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or25QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO26 embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0088] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means fortuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and / or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time / frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0089] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and26QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO27366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE Direct, BLUETOOTH®, ZIGBEE®, Z-WAVE®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), ultra- wideband (UWB), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short- range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be Wi-Fi transceivers, BLUETOOTH® transceivers, ZIGBEE® and / or Z-WAVE® transceivers, NFC transceivers, UWB transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to- everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0090] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal interfaces 330 and 370, which each include one or more satellite signal receivers 332 and 372, respectively, and may optionally include one or more satellite signal transmitters 334 and 374, respectively. In some cases, the base station 304 may be a terrestrial base station that may communicate with space vehicles (e.g., space vehicles 112) via the satellite signal interface 370. In other cases, the base station 304 may be a space vehicle (or other non-terrestrial entity) that uses the satellite signal interface 370 to communicate with terrestrial networks and / or other space vehicles.

[0091] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS)27QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO28 signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are nonterrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0092] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS® signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAVIC, QZSS signals, etc. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 are NTN transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

[0093] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 39028QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO29 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0094] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0095] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via29QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO30 a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0096] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 342, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0097] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include AIML-related data component 348, 388, and 398, respectively. The AIML-related data component 348, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the AIML-related data component 348, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 342, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the AIML-related data component 348, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 342, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A30QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO31 illustrates possible locations of the AIML-related data component 348, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 342, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the AIML-related data component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the AIML-related data component 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0098] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0099] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0100] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control31QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO32(MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0101] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer- 1 (LI) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer- 1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The32QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO33 transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0102] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Lay er- 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0103] In the downlink, the one or more processors 342 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 342 are also responsible for error detection.

[0104] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 342 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); REC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport33QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO34 channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0105] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0106] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0107] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0108] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and / or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or personal computer (PC) or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or BLUETOOTH® capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short- range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN34QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO35 transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal interface 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art.

[0109] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 308, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 308, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0110] The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc.,35QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO36 such as the processors 342, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the AIML-related data component 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0111] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as Wi-Fi).

[0112] Wireless communication signals (e.g., radio frequency (RF) signals configured to carry orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in accordance with a wireless communications standard, such as LTE, NR, etc.) transmitted between a UE and a base station can be used for environment sensing (also referred to as “RF sensing” or “wireless sensing”). Using wireless communication signals for environment sensing can be regarded as consumer-level wireless sensing with advanced detection capabilities that enable, among other things, touchless / device-free interaction with a device / system. The wireless communication signals may be cellular communication signals, such as LTE or NR signals, WLAN signals, such as Wi-Fi signals, etc. As a particular example, the wireless communication signals may be an OFDM waveform as utilized in LTE and NR. High-frequency communication signals, such as millimeter wave (mmW) RF signals, are especially beneficial to use as sensing signals because the higher frequency provides, at least, more accurate range (distance) detection.

[0113] Possible use cases of RF sensing include health monitoring use cases, such as heartbeat detection, respiration rate monitoring, and the like, gesture recognition use cases, such as human activity recognition, keystroke detection, sign language recognition, and the like, contextual information acquisition use cases, such as location detection / tracking, direction finding, range estimation, and the like, and automotive sensing use cases, such as smart cruise control, collision avoidance, and the like.

[0114] There are different types of sensing, including monostatic sensing (also referred to as “active sensing”) and bistatic sensing (also referred to as “passive sensing”). FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate these different types of sensing. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating a monostatic sensing scenario and FIG. 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating a36QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO37 bistatic sensing scenario. In FIG. 4A, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are co-located in the same sensing device 404 (e.g., a UE). The sensing device 404 transmits one or more RF sensing signals 434 (e.g., uplink or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS) where the sensing device 404 is a UE), and some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406 (e.g., an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)). The sensing device 404 can measure various properties (e.g., times of arrival (ToAs), angles of arrival (AoAs), phase shift, etc.) of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 to determine characteristics of the target object 406 (e.g., size, shape, speed, motion state, etc.).

[0115] In FIG. 4B, the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) are not co-located, that is, they are separate devices (e.g., a UE and a base station). Note that while FIG. 4B illustrates using a downlink RF signal as the RF sensing signal 432, uplink RF signals or sidelink RF signals can also be used as RF sensing signals 432. In a downlink scenario, as shown, the transmitter device 402 is a base station (e.g., a gNB) and the receiver device 408 is a UE (e.g., a mobile phone, a V2X-capable vehicle, a roadside unit (RSU), etc.), whereas in an uplink scenario, the transmitter device 402 is a UE and the receiver device 408 is a base station. Where the transmitter device 402 is a base station and the receiver device 408 a UE, the sensing is referred to as UE-assisted sensing. In UE-assisted sensing, the position of receiver device 408 should be known by the network (e.g., by GPS or other UE positioning method).

[0116] Referring to FIG. 4B in greater detail, the transmitter device 402 transmits RF sensing signals 432 and 434 (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) to the receiver device 408, but some of the RF sensing signals 434 reflect off a target object 406. The receiver device 408 (also referred to as the “sensing device”) can measure the times of arrival (ToAs) of the RF sensing signals 432 received directly from the transmitter device 402 and the ToAs of the reflections 436 of the RF sensing signals 434 reflected from the target object 406.

[0117] More specifically, as described above, a transmitter device (e.g., a base station) may transmit a single RF signal or multiple RF signals to a receiver device (e.g., a UE). However, the receiver may receive multiple RF signals corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. Each path may be associated with a cluster of one or more channel taps. Generally, the time at which the receiver detects the first cluster of channel taps is considered the ToA of the RF signal on the line-of-site (LOS) path (i.e., the shortest path between the37QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO38 transmitter and the receiver). Later clusters of channel taps are considered to have reflected off objects between the transmitter and the receiver and therefore to have followed non-LOS (NLOS) paths between the transmitter and the receiver.

[0118] Thus, referring back to FIG. 4B, the RF sensing signals 432 followed the LOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408, and the RF sensing signals 434 followed an NLOS path between the transmitter device 402 and the receiver device 408 due to reflecting off the target object 406. The transmitter device 402 may have transmitted multiple RF sensing signals 432, 434, some of which followed the LOS path and others of which followed the NLOS path. Alternatively, the transmitter device 402 may have transmitted a single RF sensing signal in a broad enough beam that a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the LOS path (RF sensing signal 432) and a portion of the RF sensing signal followed the NLOS path (RF sensing signal 434).

[0119] Based on the ToA of the LOS path, the ToA of the NLOS path, and the speed of light, the receiver device 408 can determine the distance to the target object(s). For example, the receiver device 408 can calculate the distance to the target object as the difference between the ToA of the LOS path and the ToA of the NLOS path multiplied by the speed of light. In addition, if the receiver device 408 is capable of receive beamforming, the receiver device 408 may be able to determine the general direction to a target object 406 as the direction (angle) of the receive beam on which the RF sensing signal following the NLOS path was received. That is, the receiver device 408 may determine the direction to the target obj ect 406 as the AoA of the RF sensing signal, which is the angle of the receive beam used to receive the RF sensing signal. The receiver device 408 may then optionally report this information to the transmitter device 402, its serving base station, an application server associated with the core network, an external client, a third-party application, or some other sensing entity. Alternatively, the receiver device 408 may report the ToA measurements to the transmitter device 402, or other sensing entity (e.g., if the receiver device 408 does not have the processing capability to perform the calculations itself), and the transmitter device 402 may determine the distance and, optionally, the direction to the target object 406.

[0120] Note that if the RF sensing signals are uplink RF signals transmitted by a UE to a base station, the base station would perform object detection based on the uplink RF signals just like the UE does based on the downlink RF signals.38QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO39

[0121] Like conventional wireless sensing, wireless communication-based sensing signals can be used to estimate the range (distance), velocity (Doppler), and angle (AoA) of a target object. However, the performance (e.g., resolution and maximum values of range, velocity, and angle) may depend on the design of the reference signal.

[0122] FIGS. 5A to 5F illustrate various example monostatic and bistatic sensing use cases, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 5 A, a gNBl-to-gNBl monostatic sensing use case 500 is depicted. In FIG. 5B, a UEl-to-UEl monostatic sensing use case 510 is depicted. In FIG. 5C, a gNBl-to-gNB2 bistatic sensing use case 520 is depicted. In FIG. 5D, a gNBl-to-UEl bistatic sensing use case 530 is depicted. In FIG. 5E, a UEl-to-gNBl bistatic sensing use case 540 is depicted. In FIG. 5F, a UEl-to-UE2 bistatic sensing use case 550 is depicted.

[0123] FIG. 6 illustrates an example call flow 600 for an NR-based sensing procedure (e.g., a bistatic sensing procedure) in which the network configures the sensing parameters, according to aspects of the disclosure. Although FIG. 6 illustrates a network-coordinated sensing procedure, the sensing procedure could be coordinated over sidelink channels.

[0124] At stage 605, a sensing server 670 (e.g., inside or outside the core network) sends a request for network (NW) information to a gNB 622 (e.g., the serving gNB of a UE 604). The request may be for a list of the UE’s 604 serving cell and any neighboring cells. At stage 610, the gNB 622 sends the requested information to the sensing server 670. At stage 615, the sensing server 670 sends a request for sensing capabilities to the UE 604. At stage 620, the UE 604 provides its sensing capabilities to the sensing server 670.

[0125] At stage 625, the sensing server 670 sends a configuration to the UE 604 indicating one or more reference signal (RS) resources that will be transmitted for sensing. The reference signal resources may be transmitted by the serving and / or neighboring cells identified at stage 610. In some cases, the NR-based sensing procedure illustrated in FIG. 6 may be a sensing-only procedure or a joint communication and sensing (JCS) procedure. In the case of a sensing-only procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources specifically configured for sensing purposes. In the case of a JCS procedure, the reference signal resources may be reference signal resources for communication that can also be used for sensing purposes. Alternatively, the reference signal resources for sensing may be multiplexed (e.g., time-division multiplexed) with reference signal resources for communication. For example, the reference signal resources for39QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO40 communication may be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, while the reference signal resources for sensing may be a frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) waveform.

[0126] At stage 630, the sensing server 670 sends a request for sensing information to the UE 604. The UE 604 then measures the transmitted reference signals and, at stage 635, sends the measurements, or any sensing results determined from the measurements, to the sensing server 670.

[0127] In an aspect, the communication between the UE 604 and the sensing server 670 may be via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP). The communication between the sensing server 670 and the gNB may be via NR positioning protocol type A (NRPPa).

[0128] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example frame structure, according to aspects of the disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communications technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0129] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. Unlike LTE, however, NR has an option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kilohertz (kHz) and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0130] LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (p), for example, subcarrier spacings of40QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO4115 kHz (p=0), 30 kHz (p=l), 60 kHz (p=2), 120 kHz (p=3), and 240 kHz (p=4) or greater may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15 kHz SCS (p=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (ps), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30 kHz SCS (p=l), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 ps, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60 kHz SCS (p=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 ps, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120 kHz SCS (p=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 ps, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (p=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 ps, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0131] In the example of FIG. 7, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, and each subframe includes one time slot. In FIG. 7, time is represented horizontally (on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0132] A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slot including one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIG. 7, for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0133] Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). The reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase41QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO42 tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. FIG. 7 illustrates example locations of REs carrying a reference signal (labeled “R”).

[0134] Sidelink communication takes place in transmission or reception resource pools. In the frequency domain, the minimum resource allocation unit is a sub-channel (e.g., a collection of consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain). In the time domain, resource allocation is in one slot intervals. However, some slots are not available for sidelink, and some slots contain feedback resources. In addition, sidelink resources can be (pre)configured to occupy fewer than the 14 symbols of a slot.

[0135] Sidelink resources are configured at the radio resource control (RRC) layer. The RRC configuration can be by pre-configuration (e.g., preloaded on the UE) or configuration (e.g., from a serving base station).

[0136] NR sidelinks support hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission. FIG. 8A is a diagram 800 of an example slot structure without feedback resources, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 8A, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, and the 14 symbols make up a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one sub-channel. Currently, the (pre)configured sub-channel size can be selected from the set of { 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0137] For a sidelink slot, the first symbol is a repetition of the preceding symbol and is used for automatic gain control (AGC) setting. This is illustrated in FIG. 8A by the vertical and horizontal hashing. As shown in FIG. 8A, for sidelink, the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) are transmitted in the same slot. Similar to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the PSCCH carries control information about sidelink resource allocation and descriptions about sidelink data transmitted to the UE. Likewise, similar to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), the PSSCH carries user data for the UE. In the example of FIG. 8A,42QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO43 the PSCCH occupies half the bandwidth of the sub-channel and only three symbols. Finally, a gap symbol is present after the PSSCH.

[0138] FIG. 8B is a diagram 850 of an example slot structure with feedback resources, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 8B, time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one OFDM symbol, and the 14 symbols make up a slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one sub-channel.

[0139] The slot structure illustrated in FIG. 8B is similar to the slot structure illustrated in FIG. 8A, except that the slot structure illustrated in FIG. 8B includes feedback resources. Specifically, two symbols at the end of the slot have been dedicated to the physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH). The first PSFCH symbol is a repetition of the second PSFCH symbol for AGC setting. In addition to the gap symbol after the PSSCH, there is a gap symbol after the two PSFCH symbols. Currently, resources for the PSFCH can be configured with a periodicity selected from the set of {0, 1, 2, 4} slots.

[0140] NR supports a number of cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, a UE measures the differences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from pairs of base stations, referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives the identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity (e.g., the UE for UE -based positioning or a location server for UE- assisted positioning) can estimate the UE’s location.

[0141] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses a measurement report from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The43QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO44 positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0142] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, a UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals that are measured by a reference base station and a plurality of non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timing of the involved base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.

[0143] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from a UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0144] Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multi -round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as “multi-cell RTT” and “multi-RTT”). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), which transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT- related signal. This time difference is referred to as a reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be made, or may be adjusted, to include only a time difference between nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurement to a location server (e.g., an LMF 270), which calculates the round trip44QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO45 propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined from the RTT and the known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi- RTT positioning, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on distances to, and the known locations of, the second entities. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

[0145] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base station(s).

[0146] To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include identifiers of the base stations (or the cells / TRPs of the base stations) from which to measure reference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots including PRS, periodicity of the consecutive slots including PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to the particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base stations themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes itself without the use of assistance data.

[0147] In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty, or search window, around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / - 500 microseconds (ps). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurement are in FR1, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / - 32 ps. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning45QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO46 measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / - 8 ps.

[0148] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default level of confidence).

[0149] FIG. 9 illustrates an example Long-Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) procedure 900 between a UE 904 and a location server (illustrated as a location management function (LMF) 970) for performing positioning operations. As illustrated in FIG. 9, positioning of the UE 904 is supported via an exchange of LPP messages between the UE 904 and the LMF 970. The LPP messages may be exchanged between UE 904 and the LMF 970 via the UE’s 904 serving base station (illustrated as a serving gNB 902) and a core network (not shown). The LPP procedure 900 may be used to position the UE 904 in order to support various location-related services, such as navigation for UE 904 (or for the user of UE 904), or for routing, or for provision of an accurate location to a public safety answering point (PSAP) in association with an emergency call from UE 904 to a PSAP, or for some other reason. The LPP procedure 900 may also be referred to as a positioning session, and there may be multiple positioning sessions for different types of positioning methods (e.g., downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), round-trip-time (RTT), enhanced cell identity (E-CID), etc.).

[0150] Initially, the UE 904 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities from the LMF 970 at stage 910 (e.g., an LPP Request Capabilities message). At stage 920, the UE 904 provides its positioning capabilities to the LMF 970 relative to the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Provide Capabilities message to LMF 970 indicating the position methods and features of these position methods that are supported by the UE 904 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Provide Capabilities message may, in some aspects, indicate the type of positioning the UE 904 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-46QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO47CID, etc.) and may indicate the capabilities of the UE 904 to support those types of positioning.

[0151] Upon reception of the LPP Provide Capabilities message, at stage 920, the LMF 970 determines to use a particular type of positioning method (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based on the indicated type(s) of positioning the UE 904 supports and determines a set of one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs) from which the UE 904 is to measure downlink positioning reference signals or towards which the UE 904 is to transmit uplink positioning reference signals. At stage 930, the LMF 970 sends an LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the UE 904 identifying the set of TRPs.

[0152] In some implementations, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message at stage 930 may be sent by the LMF 970 to the UE 904 in response to an LPP Request Assistance Data message sent by the UE 904 to the LMF 970 (not shown in FIG. 9). An LPP Request Assistance Data message may include an identifier of the UE’s 904 serving TRP and a request for the positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration of neighboring TRPs.

[0153] At stage 940, the LMF 970 sends a request for location information to the UE 904. The request may be an LPP Request Location Information message. This message usually includes information elements defining the location information type, desired accuracy of the location estimate, and response time (i.e., desired latency). Note that a low latency requirement allows for a longer response time while a high latency requirement requires a shorter response time. However, a long response time is referred to as high latency and a short response time is referred to as low latency.

[0154] Note that in some implementations, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message sent at stage 930 may be sent after the LPP Request Location Information message at 940 if, for example, the UE 904 sends a request for assistance data to LMF 970 (e.g., in an LPP Request Assistance Data message, not shown in FIG. 9) after receiving the request for location information at stage 940.

[0155] At stage 950, the UE 904 utilizes the assistance information received at stage 930 and any additional data (e.g., a desired location accuracy or a maximum response time) received at stage 940 to perform positioning operations (e.g., measurements of DL-PRS, transmission of UL-PRS, etc.) for the selected positioning method.

[0156] At stage 960, the UE 904 may send an LPP Provide Location Information message to the LMF 970 conveying the results of any measurements that were obtained at stage 950 (e.g.,47QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO48 time of arrival (ToA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx), etc.) and before or when any maximum response time has expired (e.g., a maximum response time provided by the LMF 970 at stage 940). The LPP Provide Location Information message at stage 960 may also include the time (or times) at which the positioning measurements were obtained and the identity of the TRP(s) from which the positioning measurements were obtained. Note that the time between the request for location information at 940 and the response at 960 is the “response time” and indicates the latency of the positioning session.

[0157] The LMF 970 computes an estimated location of the UE 904 using the appropriate positioning techniques (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) based, at least in part, on measurements received in the LPP Provide Location Information message at stage 960.

[0158] Machine learning may be used to generate models that may be used to facilitate various aspects associated with processing of data. One specific application of machine learning relates to generation of measurement models for processing of reference signals for positioning (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS)), such as feature extraction, reporting of reference signal measurements (e.g., selecting which extracted features to report), and so on.

[0159] Machine learning models are generally categorized as either supervised or unsupervised. A supervised model may further be sub-categorized as either a regression or classification model. Supervised learning involves learning a function that maps an input to an output based on example input-output pairs. For example, given a training dataset with two variables of age (input) and height (output), a supervised learning model could be generated to predict the height of a person based on their age. In regression models, the output is continuous. One example of a regression model is a linear regression, which simply attempts to find a line that best fits the data. Extensions of linear regression include multiple linear regression (e.g., finding a plane of best fit) and polynomial regression (e.g., finding a curve of best fit).

[0160] Another example of a machine learning model is a decision tree model. In a decision tree model, a tree structure is defined with a plurality of nodes. Decisions are used to move from a root node at the top of the decision tree to a leaf node at the bottom of the decision tree (i.e., a node with no further child nodes). Generally, a higher number of nodes in the decision tree model is correlated with higher decision accuracy.48QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO49

[0161] Another example of a machine learning model is a decision forest. Random forests are an ensemble learning technique that builds off of decision trees. Random forests involve creating multiple decision trees using bootstrapped datasets of the original data and randomly selecting a subset of variables at each step of the decision tree. The model then selects the mode of all of the predictions of each decision tree. By relying on a “majority wins” model, the risk of error from an individual tree is reduced.

[0162] Another example of a machine learning model is a neural network (NN). A neural network is essentially a network of mathematical equations. Neural networks accept one or more input variables, and by going through a network of equations, result in one or more output variables. Put another way, a neural network takes in a vector of inputs and returns a vector of outputs.

[0163] FIG. 10 illustrates an example neural network 1000, according to aspects of the disclosure. The neural network 1000 includes an input layer ‘i’ that receives ‘n’ (one or more) inputs (illustrated as “Input 1,” “Input 2,” and “Input n”), one or more hidden layers (illustrated as hidden layers ‘hl,’ ‘h2,’ and ‘h3 ’) for processing the inputs from the input layer, and an output layer ‘o’ that provides ‘m’ (one or more) outputs (labeled “Output 1” and “Output m”). The number of inputs ‘n,’ hidden layers ‘h,’ and outputs ‘m’ may be the same or different. In some designs, the hidden layers ‘h’ may include linear function(s) and / or activation function(s) that the nodes (illustrated as circles) of each successive hidden layer process from the nodes of the previous hidden layer.

[0164] In classification models, the output is discrete. One example of a classification model is logistic regression. Logistic regression is similar to linear regression but is used to model the probability of a finite number of outcomes, typically two. In essence, a logistic equation is created in such a way that the output values can only be between ‘0’ and ‘ 1.’ Another example of a classification model is a support vector machine. For example, for two classes of data, a support vector machine will find a hyperplane or a boundary between the two classes of data that maximizes the margin between the two classes. There are many planes that can separate the two classes, but only one plane can maximize the margin or distance between the classes. Another example of a classification model is Naive Bayes, which is based on Bayes Theorem. Other examples of classification models include decision tree, random forest, and neural network, similar to the examples described above except that the output is discrete rather than continuous.49QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO50

[0165] Unlike supervised learning, unsupervised learning is used to draw inferences and find patterns from input data without references to labeled outcomes. Two examples of unsupervised learning models include clustering and dimensionality reduction.

[0166] Clustering is an unsupervised technique that involves the grouping, or clustering, of data points. Clustering is frequently used for customer segmentation, fraud detection, and document classification. Common clustering techniques include k-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, mean shift clustering, and density-based clustering. Dimensionality reduction is the process of reducing the number of random variables under consideration by obtaining a set of principal variables. In simpler terms, dimensionality reduction is the process of reducing the dimension of a feature set (in even simpler terms, reducing the number of features). Most dimensionality reduction techniques can be categorized as either feature elimination or feature extraction. One example of dimensionality reduction is called principal component analysis (PCA). In the simplest sense, PCA involves project higher dimensional data (e.g., three dimensions) to a smaller space (e.g., two dimensions). This results in a lower dimension of data (e.g., two dimensions instead of three dimensions) while keeping all original variables in the model.

[0167] Regardless of which machine learning model is used, at a high-level, a machine learning module (e.g., implemented by a processing system) may be configured to iteratively analyze training input data (e.g., measurements of reference signals to / from various target UEs) and to associate this training input data with an output data set (e.g., a set of possible or likely candidate locations of the various target UEs), thereby enabling later determination of the same output data set when presented with similar input data (e.g., from other target UEs at the same or similar location).

[0168] The artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) positioning and / or sensing provided by an AIML model may be “direct” AIML (denoted “D-AIML”) positioning and / or sensing or AIML “assisted” (denoted “A-AIML”) positioning and / or sensing. Note that, as used herein, an AIML model (whether an A-AIML model or a D-AIML model) may alternatively be referred to as an “ML model,” an “Al model,” an “ML-based model,” an “Al-based model,” and the like.

[0169] FIG. 11A is a diagram 1110 illustrating an example of direct AIML positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 11 A, direct AIML50QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO51 positioning and / or sensing is where the AIML model is trained to accept input features (e.g., downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) measurements, sounding reference signal (SRS) measurements, sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) measurements, sensing signal measurements, beam measurements (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB) measurements), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurements, etc.) and output a final result (referred to as a “direct label”), such as a target location (e.g., a UE location for positioning or a target object location for sensing). The measurements of the reference signal (s) may include the channel energy response (CER), channel impulse response (CIR), power delay profile (PDP), delay profile (DP), channel frequency response (CFR), received signal strength indicator (RS SI), reference signal received power (RSRP), path RSRP (RSRPP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), time of arrival (ToA), relative ToA (RTOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA), and / or the like of the reference signal(s).

[0170] FIG. 1 IB is a diagram 1130 illustrating an example of AIML assisted positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1 IB, AIML assisted positioning and / or sensing is where an AIML model is trained to accept input features (e.g., DL-PRS measurements, SRS measurements, SL-PRS measurements, sensing signal measurements, beam measurements, CSLRS measurements, etc.) and output one or more intermediate results (also referred to as “intermediate label(s)”). In a positioning context, generating the intermediate result may be referred to as “positioning feature extraction,” which may include determining timing / angle information, line of sight (LOS) identification, etc. The intermediate results may include the ToA, RTOA, RSTD, AoD, AoA, LOS indication, and / or the like. The intermediate result(s) may in turn be provided as an input to another AIML model or non-AIML model positioning and / or sensing technique (e.g., Chan’s algorithm, Kalman filtering, etc.) to determine a target location (e.g., a UE location for positioning or a target object location for sensing).

[0171] Note that as shown in FIG. 1 IB, the A-AIML model and the other model / technique may be implemented at the same entity (e.g., UE, base station, location server, sensing server, etc.) or at different entities. For example, for network-assisted positioning, the UE may apply the A-AIML model to compress the measurement data and then report the compressed data to the location server, which may then apply the other position51QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO52 estimation model / technique. As another example, for UE-based positioning, a network component (e.g., a base station, location server, or another UE for sidelink positioning) may apply the A-AIML model to compress the measurement data and report the compressed data to the UE, which then applies the other position estimation model / technique.

[0172] FIG. 11C illustrates various AIML positioning and / or sensing scenarios, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in diagram 1150, there are three AIML positioning and / or sensing deployment scenarios based on downlink reference signals (e.g., DL-PRS, CSI-RS, etc.). The first deployment scenario (labeled “Case 1”) is a UE-based positioning and / or sensing case with a UE-side D-AIML positioning and / or sensing model (labeled “D-AIML”). In this case, the UE applies the D-AIML positioning and / or sensing model (or simply “D-AIML model”) to the downlink reference signal measurements to determine a location of the UE or a target object and reports the target location to the network (e.g., LMF 270).

[0173] The second deployment scenario (labeled “Case 2a”) is UE-assisted / network-based positioning and / or sensing with a UE-side A-AIML positioning and / or sensing model that provides AIML-assisted positioning and / or sensing. That is, the UE inputs measurements of downlink reference signals (e.g., DL-PRS, CSLRS) received from one or more TRPs into the A-AIML positioning and / or sensing model to obtain intermediate measurements (or quantities) of the downlink reference signals. The UE then reports the intermediate measurements to the network (e.g., LMF 270). The network entity may then apply an AIML model or a non-AIML model technique to the intermediate measurements to determine a target location (e.g., of the UE for positioning scenarios or a target object for sensing scenarios).

[0174] The third deployment scenario (labeled “Case 2b”) is UE-assisted / network-based positioning and / or sensing scenario with a network-side D-AIML positioning and / or sensing model. That is, the UE reports the measurements of the downlink reference signals received from one or more TRPs to the network (e.g., LMF 270). The network then applies the D-AIML positioning and / or sensing model to the measurements to determine the location of the UE or a target object.

[0175] As shown in diagram 1170, there are two AIML positioning and / or sensing deployment scenarios based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS). The first deployment scenario52QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO53(labeled “Case 3a”) is RAN node-assisted positioning and / or sensing with a RAN-side AIML model that provides AIML assisted positioning and / or sensing. In this case, the RAN node (e.g., a base station, TRP, or other base station component) applies an A- AIML positioning and / or sensing model to TRP measurements of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) transmitted by a UE to obtain intermediate measurements of the received uplink reference signal(s). The RAN node then reports the intermediate measurements to the core network (e.g., LMF 270), which can use them to locate the UE (for positioning) or a target object (for sensing).

[0176] The second deployment scenario (labeled “Case 3b”) is RAN node-assisted positioning and / or sensing with a network-side AIML positioning and / or sensing model that provides direct AIML positioning and / or sensing. In this case, the RAN node reports measurements of one or more uplink reference signals received from a UE to the core network (e.g., LMF 270). The core network then applies a D-AIML positioning and / or sensing model to the measurements of the uplink reference signal(s) to obtain a target location of the UE (for positioning) or a target object (for sensing).

[0177] Note that there may be other deployment scenarios in which the UE, RAN, or the core network use an AIML positioning and / or sensing model to compute or report a positioning and / or sensing estimate (target location), but these cases are implementationspecific and do not necessarily involve signaling between the UE, RAN, and / or the core network.

[0178] Further note that an AIML model may execute in a training mode or an inferencing mode. In the training mode, the AIML model is provided with pre-validated input data along with pre-validated output data to derive or modify weights of the AIML to increase the reliability of the AIML model to provide new (unvalidated) output data that is similar to the pre-validated output data in response to new (unvalidated) input data that is similar to the pre-validated input data. In the inferencing mode, the AIML model utilizes the weights determined during the training mode to process new (unvalidated) input data so as to generate new (unvalidated) output data (typically, without further adjusting the weights until / unless the AIML model returns to the training mode). The (unvalidated) output data may be characterized as an “inference.” Thus, the “final” positioning or sensing results described above with respect to FIGS. 11A to 11C may correspond to53QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO54AIML model weights or inferences depending on whether the respective AIML model is executing in the training mode or the inferencing mode.

[0179] Ensuring high quality of measurements and labels is an important objective for training and achieving the excellent performance for AIML models. Data collection devices (or entities) may obtain measurement data and labels at various levels of quality. In an aspect, AIML training devices may request data (measurements and positioning labels) with specified quality and conditions. In an aspect, data source entities (e.g., UE or PRU, etc.) may filter out measurements and / or labels and only report “clean” (i.e., higher-quality) positioning measurement and labels.

[0180] In an aspect, training data for AIML model-based positioning may be associated with a quality indicator at least for ground truth label (if needed), other information associated with training data is not precluded (e.g., information related training dataset / samples, information related to scenario, resource configuration & mapping, timing for training data, information on implementation imperfections, etc.). In an aspect, assistance signaling and procedures to facilitate generating / collecting training data may involve determination of the data source devices (e.g., UE / PRU / TRP / etc.) which can provide the training data, configuration of associated reference signal(s) (for measurement and / or label), and / or other signaling aspects (e.g., designating training data quality, etc.).

[0181] In an aspect, for training data collection of AIML based positioning, the collected data sample can include the Part A components (e.g., measurement data) and Part B components (e.g., ground truth data):• Part A, e.g. : channel measurement, quality indicator of channel measurement, time stamp of channel measurement.• Part B, e.g.: ground truth label (or its approximation), quality indicator of label, time stamp of label.

[0182] Note: contents in Part A and Part B may or may not be generated by different entities. Note: Part A and / or Part B, and their contents may or may not apply for each case.

[0183] In an aspect, conditions (or criteria) for data collection selection / prioritization at UE and / or PRU side may be considered (note: UE and PRU may be used interchangeably as examples of data source entities), e.g.:• Scenario 1 : LMF configures data quality and conditions at UE side (e.g., training entity may request data quality directly from LMF; and LMF configures data54QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO55 collection at UE side to ensure the requested quality and conditions). UE may receive, from LMF, configurations on requested data quality and conditions. UE collects measurements according to the configured quality and conditions. UE may apply labeling according to the configured quality and conditions.• Scenario 2: UE requests LMF assistance to ensure data quality and conditions (e.g., the training entity is at UE side but UE needs certain RS configurations and / or LMF labeling assistance). UE requests RS configurations that it believes can ensure data quality and conditions is met. If UE needs labeling assistance from LMF UE (as a data collection / source entity) may also request labeling assistance according to specified quality and conditions.

[0184] In an aspect, UE receives configurations to prioritize measurements. In an aspect, the configurations list the criteria for prioritizing measurements based on any combination of, e.g.:• PRS measurements with RSRP satisfying a threshold;• PRS measurements with SNR / SINR satisfying a threshold;• PRS measurements with delay spread satisfying a threshold;• PRS measurements with Rician factor satisfying a threshold;• PRS measurements with Doppler spread satisfying a threshold;• PRS measurements with # of multipath components satisfying a threshold;• PRS measurements with delay spread satisfying a threshold.

[0185] Note: an equivalent proposal for PRU measurement prioritization may also be implemented.

[0186] In an aspect, UE may receive multiple configurations to generate multiple labels and measurements. In an aspect, UE receives multiple RSs and obtains multiple label estimates. In an aspect, the UE may report, for the LMF, the multiple measurements, multiple label estimates, indicator(s) on measurement quality, and / or indicator(s) on labeling quality based on the multiple label estimates. In an aspect, the configurations relate to various measurement and labeling prioritization and quality rules. In an aspect, the LMF uses the multiple measurements, multiple label estimates, indicator(s) on measurement quality, and / or indicator(s) on labeling quality based on the multiple label estimates to assess the UE feasibility to collect data for AIML positioning. In an aspect, the LMF sends the UE further signaling, e.g.: UE may receive, from LMF, the further55QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO56 signaling to tune / update data collection prioritization rule, and / or UE may receive, from LMF, the further signaling to activate / deactivate data collection. In an aspect, UE provides data collected (measurements and labels) to LMF, data collection entity, data repository, or training entity.

[0187] Aspects of the disclosure are directed to collection and reporting of artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data. In an aspect, a first device (e.g., user equipment (UE), positioning reference unit (PRU), gNB or transmission reception point (TRP), etc.) receives at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations. The first device collects AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations, and reports the collected AIML model-related data to the second device. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improving the quality of AIML training data which in turn increases the AIML model quality, which may be improve positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, and so on.

[0188] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary process 1200 of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process 1200 of FIG. 12 is performed by a first device (e.g., a data source entity). In some designs, the first device may correspond to a wireless network component (e.g., a RSU or PRU or gNB / BS 304 or 0-RAN component such as RU, etc.). In other designs, the device may correspond to a UE (e.g., a target UE or a sidelink anchor UE or sidelink server UE).

[0189] Referring to FIG. 12, at 1210, the first device (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network transceiver(s) 380, etc.) receives, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations. In some designs, a means for performing the reception of 1210 includes receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network transceiver s) 380, etc., of FIGS. 3A-3B.

[0190] Referring to FIG. 12, at 1220, the first device (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, processor( s) 342 or 384, AIML-related data component 348 or 388, etc.) collects AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations. In some designs, a means for collecting the56QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO57 data of 1220 includes receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, processor(s) 342 or 384, AIML- related data component 348 or 388, etc., of FIGS. 3A-3B.

[0191] Referring to FIG. 12, at 1230, the first device (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver(s) 380, etc.) reports, to the second device, the collected AIML model- related data. In some designs, a means for performing the reporting of 1230 includes transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver(s) 380, etc., of FIGS. 3A-3B.

[0192] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the set of data collection configurations includes a single data collection configuration.

[0193] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations. In an aspect, a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types. In an aspect, the first device further determines that a first AIML model- related data collection activation request associated with a first data collection configuration is associated with a first data collection time period and a second AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a second data collection configuration is associated with a second data collection time period that overlaps in time at least in part with the first data collection time period. In an aspect, the first device further extends the first data collection time period, the second data collection time period, or both, based on the determination, or deactivates the first AIML model-related data collection activation request, the Second AIML model-related data collection activation request, or both, based on the determination, or preempts the first AIML model-related data collection activation request for the AIML model-related second data collection activation request based on priority information, or a combination thereof.

[0194] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the at least one AIML model -related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request. In an aspect, the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests. In an aspect, the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information. In an aspect, the priority information is indicated to the first device via the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or the priority information is indicated to the first device via one or more messages separate the at least57QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO58 one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device via information associated with the plurality of data collection configurations, or any combination thereof. In an aspect, the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device based on one or more of, e.g.:• data collection configuration index, or• data collection starting time, or• data collection ending time, or• validity area information or cell group information, or• position estimation technique information, or• a radio resource control (RRC) state of the first device, or• band information, component carrier (CC) information, bandwidth part (BWP) information or positioning frequency layer (PFL) information, or• ground truth type, or• one or more measurement types that are being measured by the first device separately from the at least one data collection request, or• a measurement-to-ground-truth coupling requirement, or• any combination thereof.

[0195] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the priority information is indicated to the first device via receive timing information associated with the at least one AIML model- related data collection activation request.

[0196] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to receipt of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0197] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the first device further transmits capability information to the second device. In an aspect, the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information. In an aspect, the capability information comprises, e.g.:• a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or• a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or58QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO59• a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model -related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or• a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or• a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or• a data collection response time capability of the first device, or• a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or• a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or• any combination thereof.

[0198] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the first device may further receive (e.g., via DCI or SCI or MAC CE, etc.) at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0199] Referring to FIG. 12, in some designs, the at least one AIML model -related data collection activation request is received via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0200] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary process 1300 of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process 1300 of FIG. 13 is performed by a second device (e.g., AIML model training component, etc.). In some designs, the second device may correspond to a network component (e.g., gNB / BS 304 or 0-RAN component or a network entity 306, etc.). In other designs, the device may correspond to a UE (e.g., target UE or sidelink anchor UE or sidelink server UE).

[0201] Referring to FIG. 13, at 1310, the second device (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) transmits, to a first device (e.g., the first device that performs the process 1200 of FIG. 12), at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model -related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations. In some designs, a means for59QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO60 performing the transmission of 1310 includes transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc., of FIGS. 3 A-3C.

[0202] Referring to FIG. 13, at 1320, the second device (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) receives, from the first device, AIML model- related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations. In some designs, a means for performing the reception of 1320 includes receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, network transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc., of FIGS. 3A-3C.

[0203] Referring to FIG. 13, in some designs, the second device further trains one or more AIML models based on the collected AIML model-related data. In an aspect, the one or more AIML models are associated with positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0204] Referring to FIG. 13, in some designs, the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations. In an aspect, a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types, or the at least one AIML model -related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request, or the at least one AIML model -related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests. In an aspect, the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0205] Referring to FIG. 13, in some designs, at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to transmission of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0206] Referring to FIG. 13, in some designs, the second device further receives capability information from the first device. In an aspect, the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information. In an aspect, the capability information comprises:• a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or• a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or60QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO61• a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model -related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or• a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or• a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or• a data collection response time capability of the first device, or• a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or• a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or• any combination thereof.

[0207] Referring to FIG. 13, in some designs, the second device further transmits at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0208] Referring to FIG. 13, in some designs, the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is transmitted via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0209] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, references below to UE are provided as an example, although in other aspects the UE referenced in the following paragraphs may correspond to any type of the first device (e.g., PRU, RSU, gNB / TRP, etc.).

[0210] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in a specific example, UE may receive one or more messages that include multiple configurations for data collection requests, based on which the UE is expected to collect data according to the one or more configurations. In an aspect, a single data collection request message may include multiple configurations (or it could be called pre-data collection requests pre-configuration). In this case, there may be an explicit priority defined to which of the different data collection requests should the UE prioritize to process. In an aspect, this priority indication can be received in the same message, associated with each configuration. In an aspect, this priority indication may be61QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO62 received in a separate message, e.g., if the UE gets an activation message / dynamic signaling to activate a specific data collection request, then this gets priority to be processed. In an aspect, there may be an implicit priority between the data collection requests, e.g. :• Option 1 : based on their index in the list of multiple configurations;• Option 2: based on which of the configurations has a first starting time;• Option 3 : based on which of the configurations has a first end time / response time.

[0211] In an aspect, the UE may report its capability on the maximum number of data collection requests pre-configurations the UE can receive. In an aspect, a UE may report its capability on the maximum number of active data collection requests it can simultaneously process.

[0212] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in a specific example, UE may receive multiple data collection request messages that overlap in time. In an aspect, each data collection request includes a single configuration for data collection. In an aspect, when this happens, the data collection request that was received first, may be expected to be processed first, and the remaining will be fulfilled after the start of the first. In an aspect, the UE may be expected to determine whether the new data collection request has higher priority than the previous / active data request, and may deactivate the one that is currently active, in order to process the new request. In an aspect, the UE may preempt the previous data collection request for the higher priority one. In an aspect, this can be specifically true for data collection requests that are considered “high priority” or “low latency”. In an aspect, the measurement period or response time for any data collection request may be increased / expanded if the UE receives multiple such requests that overlap in time.

[0213] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in a specific example, whether / which data collection preconfiguration should fulfill first or prioritize may depend on various factors. In an aspect, each pre-configuration of data collection request may be associated with one or more of, e.g.:• A different validity area / cell-group.• A different positioning technique (e.g., AoD / AoA, multi-RTT, TDOA, etc.).• A specific RRC state (RRC CONNECTED or RCC INACTIVE or RCC IDLE).• A specific band, CC, BWP, PFL: (e.g., the device may not have active a specific band, or CC, or BWP for which the data collection is associated with).62QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO63• A ground truth type to be collected. For example, if one pre-configuration requests the UE to collect WiFi-based position estimate as a ground truth, and another one, to use GPS-based position estimate, the UE will act on the former whenever it is within appropriate / sufficient WiFi coverage, and will act on the latter whenever it is within appropriate / sufficient GPS coverage. In an aspect, in a single data collection request, multiple ground truths may be collected based on different technology (e.g. WiFibased ground truth & GPS-based).• A specific measurement type and what is already being performed by the device. For example, if a request says to gather RSTD (Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSRPP, AoA, etc.), but the UE it currently does not have an active RSTD (Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSRPP, AoA, etc.) measurement request, then the UE will not “on purpose” start a new RSTD (Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSRPP, AoA, etc.) measurement session. In an aspect, a UE may not be expected to perform more measurements than what it regularly wants in order to fulfil a specific data collection request

[0214] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in a specific example, a specific data collection request preconfiguration may require “loose,” “tight,” or “ultra-tight” coupling between the measurement and the ground truth. Generally, a tighter coupling will filter out more measurement data than a looser coupling for reporting to the second device. In an aspect, if the UE determines that it cannot achieve the required coupling for a specific request, it may deprioritize the corresponding data collection. In an aspect, the data to be collected by the first device may be different for different pre-configurations. In an aspect, depending on the state of the first device (e.g., power level, high / low processing load, high / low memory load, etc.), the first device may decide to fulfil one of the other data collection requests.

[0215] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in a specific example, the first device may provide capability information on whether the first device supports multiple data collection preconfigurations. In an aspect, the first device may provide capability information on what type of pre-configurations can be simultaneously activated, e.g.:• Option 1 : Requests that ask the UE collected different measurement types simultaneously may not be able to be performed simultaneously. For example, one request asks the UE to gather RSTD and the other to gather Rx-Tx measurements.63QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO64• Option 2: Different response times / priorities. For example, a UE may not be able to fulfill simultaneously multiple requests that are both high priority or have both small response times.• Option 3: Requests on data collected on different PFLs / CC / bands / FR. If the two requests ask the UE to collected data from different PFL / CC / bands / FR, the UE may not be able to do that simultaneously.• Option 4: Requests on data collected on different TRPs / PRS resource sets / PRS resource IDs / Rx antennas / RxTEGs.

[0216] Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in a specific example, the first device may receive dynamic signaling to activate / deactivate a specific pre-configuration. In an aspect, the first device may receive MAC CE signaling to activate / deactivate a specific preconfiguration. In an aspect, a MAC CE may activate / deactivate multiple of the pre-configurations.

[0217] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0218] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0219] Clause 1. A method performed by a first device, comprising: receiving, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data64QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO65 collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collecting AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and reporting, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0220] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a single data collection configuration.

[0221] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0222] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and wherein a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types.

[0223] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 3 to 4, further comprising: determining that a first AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a first data collection configuration is associated with a first data collection time period and a second AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a second data collection configuration is associated with a second data collection time period that overlaps in time at least in part with the first data collection time period.

[0224] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, further comprising: extending the first data collection time period, the second data collection time period, or both, based on the determination, or deactivating the first AIML model-related data collection activation request, the Second AIML model-related data collection activation request, or both, based on the determination, or preempting the first AIML model-related data collection activation request for the AIML model-related second data collection activation request based on priority information, or a combination thereof.

[0225] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 3 to 6, wherein the at least one AIML model- related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0226] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 3 to 7, wherein the at least one AIML model- related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

[0227] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 3 to 8, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.65QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO66

[0228] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via one or more messages separate the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device via information associated with the plurality of data collection configurations, or any combination thereof.

[0229] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device based on one or more of: data collection configuration index, or data collection starting time, or data collection ending time, or validity area information or cell group information, or position estimation technique information, or a radio resource control (RRC) state of the first device, or band information, component carrier (CC) information, bandwidth part (BWP) information or positioning frequency layer (PFL) information, or ground truth type, or one or more measurement types that are being measured by the first device separately from the at least one data collection request, or a measurement-to-ground-truth coupling requirement, or any combination thereof.

[0230] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 10 to 11, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via receive timing information associated with the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0231] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to receipt of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0232] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 1 to 13, further comprising: transmitting capability information to the second device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0233] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a66QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO67 second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0234] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 1 to 15, further comprising: receiving at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0235] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 1 to 16, wherein the at least one AIML model- related data collection activation request is received via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0236] Clause 18. A method performed by a second device, comprising: transmitting, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receiving, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0237] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, further comprising: training one or more AIML models based on the collected AIML model-related data.

[0238] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the one or more AIML models are associated with positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0239] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 18 to 20, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0240] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request67QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO68 comprises a single AIML model -related data collection activation request, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

[0241] Clause 23. The method of any of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0242] Clause 24. The method of any of clauses 18 to 23, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to transmission of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0243] Clause 25. The method of any of clauses 18 to 24, further comprising: receiving capability information from the first device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0244] Clause 26. The method of clause 25, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0245] Clause 27. The method of any of clauses 18 to 26, further comprising: transmitting at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0246] Clause 28. The method of any of clauses 18 to 27, wherein the at least one AIML model- related data collection activation request is transmitted via medium access control (MAC)68QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO69 command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0247] Clause 29. A first device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers,, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collect AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and report, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0248] Clause 30. The first device of clause 29, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a single data collection configuration.

[0249] Clause 31. The first device of any of clauses 29 to 30, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0250] Clause 32. The first device of clause 31, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and wherein a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types.

[0251] Clause 33. The first device of any of clauses 31 to 32, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine that a first AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a first data collection configuration is associated with a first data collection time period and a second AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a second data collection configuration is associated with a second data collection time period that overlaps in time at least in part with the first data collection time period.

[0252] Clause 34. The first device of clause 33, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: extend the first data collection time period, the second data collection time period, or both, based on the determination, or deactivate the first AIML model-related data collection activation request, the Second AIML model- related data collection activation request, or both, based on the determination, or preempt the first AIML model-related data collection activation request for the AIML model-69QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO70 related second data collection activation request based on priority information, or a combination thereof.

[0253] Clause 35. The first device of any of clauses 31 to 34, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0254] Clause 36. The first device of any of clauses 31 to 35, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model- related data collection activation requests.

[0255] Clause 37. The first device of any of clauses 31 to 36, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0256] Clause 38. The first device of clause 37, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via one or more messages separate the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device via information associated with the plurality of data collection configurations, or any combination thereof.

[0257] Clause 39. The first device of clause 38, wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device based on one or more of: data collection configuration index, or data collection starting time, or data collection ending time, or validity area information or cell group information, or position estimation technique information, or a radio resource control (RRC) state of the first device, or band information, component carrier (CC) information, bandwidth part (BWP) information or positioning frequency layer (PFL) information, or ground truth type, or one or more measurement types that are being measured by the first device separately from the at least one data collection request, or a measurement-to-ground-truth coupling requirement, or any combination thereof.

[0258] Clause 40. The first device of any of clauses 38 to 39, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via receive timing information associated with the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0259] Clause 41. The first device of any of clauses 29 to 40, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first70QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO71 device prior to receipt of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0260] Clause 42. The first device of any of clauses 29 to 41, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information to the second device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0261] Clause 43. The first device of clause 42, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0262] Clause 44. The first device of any of clauses 29 to 43, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0263] Clause 45. The first device of any of clauses 29 to 44, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is received via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0264] Clause 46. A second device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in71QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO72 combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receive, via the one or more transceivers,, from the first device, AIML model -related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0265] Clause 47. The second device of clause 46, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: train one or more AIML models based on the collected AIML model-related data.

[0266] Clause 48. The second device of clause 47, wherein the one or more AIML models are associated with positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0267] Clause 49. The second device of any of clauses 46 to 48, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0268] Clause 50. The second device of clause 49, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model -related data collection activation request, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

[0269] Clause 51. The second device of any of clauses 49 to 50, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0270] Clause 52. The second device of any of clauses 46 to 51, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to transmission of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0271] Clause 53. The second device of any of clauses 46 to 52, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, capability information from the first device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.72QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO73

[0272] Clause 54. The second device of clause 53, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0273] Clause 55. The second device of any of clauses 46 to 54, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0274] Clause 56. The second device of any of clauses 46 to 55, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is transmitted via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0275] Clause 57. A first device, comprising: means for receiving, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; means for collecting AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and means for reporting, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0276] Clause 58. The first device of clause 57, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a single data collection configuration.

[0277] Clause 59. The first device of any of clauses 57 to 58, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.73QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO74

[0278] Clause 60. The first device of clause 59, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and wherein a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types.

[0279] Clause 61. The first device of any of clauses 59 to 60, further comprising: means for determining that a first AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a first data collection configuration is associated with a first data collection time period and a second AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a second data collection configuration is associated with a second data collection time period that overlaps in time at least in part with the first data collection time period.

[0280] Clause 62. The first device of clause 61, further comprising: means for extending the first data collection time period, the second data collection time period, or both, based on the determination, or means for deactivating the first AIML model-related data collection activation request, the Second AIML model-related data collection activation request, or both, based on the determination, or means for preempting the first AIML model-related data collection activation request for the AIML model-related second data collection activation request based on priority information, or a combination thereof.

[0281] Clause 63. The first device of any of clauses 59 to 62, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0282] Clause 64. The first device of any of clauses 59 to 63, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model- related data collection activation requests.

[0283] Clause 65. The first device of any of clauses 59 to 64, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0284] Clause 66. The first device of clause 65, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via one or more messages separate the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device via information associated with the plurality of data collection configurations, or any combination thereof.74QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO75

[0285] Clause 67. The first device of clause 66, wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device based on one or more of data collection configuration index, or data collection starting time, or data collection ending time, or validity area information or cell group information, or position estimation technique information, or a radio resource control (RRC) state of the first device, or means for banding information, component carrier (CC) information, bandwidth part (BWP) information or positioning frequency layer (PFL) information, or means for grounding truth type, or one or more measurement types that are being measured by the first device separately from the at least one data collection request, or a measurement-to-ground-truth coupling requirement, or any combination thereof.

[0286] Clause 68. The first device of any of clauses 66 to 67, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via receive timing information associated with the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0287] Clause 69. The first device of any of clauses 57 to 68, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to receipt of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0288] Clause 70. The first device of any of clauses 57 to 69, further comprising: means for transmitting capability information to the second device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0289] Clause 71. The first device of clause 70, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or75QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO76PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0290] Clause 72. The first device of any of clauses 57 to 71, further comprising: means for receiving at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0291] Clause 73. The first device of any of clauses 57 to 72, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is received via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0292] Clause 74. A second device, comprising: means for transmitting, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and means for receiving, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0293] Clause 75. The second device of clause 74, further comprising: means for training one or more AIML models based on the collected AIML model-related data.

[0294] Clause 76. The second device of clause 75, wherein the one or more AIML models are associated with positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0295] Clause 77. The second device of any of clauses 74 to 76, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0296] Clause 78. The second device of clause 77, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model -related data collection activation request, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

[0297] Clause 79. The second device of any of clauses 77 to 78, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.76QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO77

[0298] Clause 80. The second device of any of clauses 74 to 79, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to transmission of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0299] Clause 81. The second device of any of clauses 74 to 80, further comprising: means for receiving capability information from the first device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0300] Clause 82. The second device of clause 81, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0301] Clause 83. The second device of any of clauses 74 to 82, further comprising: means for transmitting at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0302] Clause 84. The second device of any of clauses 74 to 83, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is transmitted via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0303] Clause 85. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a first device, cause the first device to: receive, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-77QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO78 related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collect AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and report, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

[0304] Clause 86. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 85, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a single data collection configuration.

[0305] Clause 87. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 86, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0306] Clause 88. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 87, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and wherein a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types.

[0307] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87 to 88, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first device, cause the first device to: determine that a first AIML model -related data collection activation request associated with a first data collection configuration is associated with a first data collection time period and a second AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a second data collection configuration is associated with a second data collection time period that overlaps in time at least in part with the first data collection time period.

[0308] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first device, cause the first device to: extend the first data collection time period, the second data collection time period, or both, based on the determination, or deactivate the first AIML model-related data collection activation request, the Second AIML model-related data collection activation request, or both, based on the determination, or preempt the first AIML model-related data collection activation request for the AIML model-related second data collection activation request based on priority information, or a combination thereof.78QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO79

[0309] Clause 91. The non -transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87 to 90, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0310] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87 to 91, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

[0311] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 87 to 92, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0312] Clause 94. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 93, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via the at least one AIML model -related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via one or more messages separate the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device via information associated with the plurality of data collection configurations, or any combination thereof.

[0313] Clause 95. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 94, wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device based on one or more of: data collection configuration index, or data collection starting time, or data collection ending time, or validity area information or cell group information, or position estimation technique information, or a radio resource control (RRC) state of the first device, or band information, component carrier (CC) information, bandwidth part (BWP) information or positioning frequency layer (PFL) information, or ground truth type, or one or more measurement types that are being measured by the first device separately from the at least one data collection request, or a measurement-to-ground-truth coupling requirement, or any combination thereof.

[0314] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 94 to 95, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via receive timing information associated with the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0315] Clause 97. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 96, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection79QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO80 configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to receipt of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

[0316] Clause 98. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 97, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first device, cause the first device to: transmit capability information to the second device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0317] Clause 99. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 98, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection preconfigurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model -related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0318] Clause 100. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 99, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first device, cause the first device to: receive at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0319] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 85 to 100, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is received via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.80QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO81

[0320] Clause 102. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a second device, cause the second device to: transmit, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model -related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receive, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

[0321] Clause 103. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 102, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the second device, cause the second device to: train one or more AIML models based on the collected AIML model-related data.

[0322] Clause 104. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 103, wherein the one or more AIML models are associated with positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, or any combination thereof.

[0323] Clause 105. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 102 to 104, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

[0324] Clause 106. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 105, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the at least one AIML model -related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

[0325] Clause 107. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 105 to 106, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

[0326] Clause 108. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 102 to 107, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to transmission of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.81QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO82

[0327] Clause 109. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 102 to 108, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the second device, cause the second device to: receive capability information from the first device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

[0328] Clause 110. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 109, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection preconfigurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model -related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

[0329] Clause 111. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 102 to 110, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the second device, cause the second device to: transmit at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

[0330] Clause 112. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 102 to 111, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is transmitted via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

[0331] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be82QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO83 referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0332] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0333] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0334] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the83QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO84 processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0335] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0336] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be84QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO85 construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and / or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of’) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality in combination.85QC2405913WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO86CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A first device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; collect AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and report, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a single data collection configuration.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.

4. The first device of claim 3, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and wherein a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types.

5. The first device of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: determine that a first AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a first data collection configuration is associated with a first data86QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO87 collection time period and a second AIML model-related data collection activation request associated with a second data collection configuration is associated with a second data collection time period that overlaps in time at least in part with the first data collection time period.

6. The first device of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: extend the first data collection time period, the second data collection time period, or both, based on the determination, or deactivate the first AIML model-related data collection activation request, the Second AIML model-related data collection activation request, or both, based on the determination, or preempt the first AIML model-related data collection activation request for the AIML model-related second data collection activation request based on priority information, or a combination thereof.

7. The first device of claim 3, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request.

8. The first device of claim 3, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

9. The first device of claim 3, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

10. The first device of claim 9, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or87QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO88 wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via one or more messages separate the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device via information associated with the plurality of data collection configurations, or any combination thereof.

11. The first device of claim 10, wherein the priority information is implicitly indicated to the first device based on one or more of: data collection configuration index, or data collection starting time, or data collection ending time, or validity area information or cell group information, or position estimation technique information, or a radio resource control (RRC) state of the first device, or band information, component carrier (CC) information, bandwidth part (BWP) information or positioning frequency layer (PFL) information, or ground truth type, or one or more measurement types that are being measured by the first device separately from the at least one data collection request, or a measurement-to-ground-truth coupling requirement, or any combination thereof.

12. The first device of claim 10, wherein the priority information is indicated to the first device via receive timing information associated with the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

13. The first device of claim 1, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to receipt of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.88QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO8914. The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, capability information to the second device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

15. The first device of claim 14, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

16. The first device of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to:89QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO90 receive, via the one or more transceivers, at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

17. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request is received via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

18. A second device, comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the first device, AIML model- related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.

19. The second device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: train one or more AIML models based on the collected AIML model-related data.

20. The second device of claim 19, wherein the one or more AIML models are associated with positioning, sensing, beam management, channel state information (CSI) procedures, or any combination thereof.

21. The second device of claim 18, wherein the set of data collection configurations includes a plurality of data collection configurations.90QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO9122. The second device of claim 21, wherein a first data collection configuration is associated with a first set of data types, and a second data collection configuration is associated with a second set of data types that is different than the first set of data types, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a single AIML model-related data collection activation request, or wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request comprises a plurality of AIML model-related data collection activation requests.

23. The second device of claim 21, wherein the plurality of data collection configurations is associated with priority information.

24. The second device of claim 18, wherein at least one data collection configuration of the set of data collection configurations is pre-configured at the first device prior to transmission of the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request.

25. The second device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, capability information from the first device, wherein the at least one AIML model-related data collection activation request, the set of data collection configurations, or both, are based on the capability information.

26. The second device of claim 25, wherein the capability information comprises: a maximum number of data collection pre-configurations supported by the first device, or a maximum number of data collection requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or91QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO92 a maximum number of higher-priority AIML model-related data collection activation requests for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a first set of data types that the first device is capable of collecting concurrently, or a second set of data types that the first device is incapable of collecting concurrently, or a data collection response time capability of the first device, or a maximum number of bands, component carriers (CC), bandwidth parts (BWPs) or positioning frequency layers (PFLs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or a maximum number of wireless network components or positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets or PRS resource identifiers or receive (Rx) antennas or receive timing error groups (RxTEGs) for which data collection is supported by the first device, or any combination thereof.

27. The second device of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, are further configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, at least one data collection deactivation request that deactivates one or more data collection configurations from the set of data collection configurations.

28. The second device of claim 18, wherein the at least one AIML model- related data collection activation request is transmitted via medium access control (MAC) command element (CE) signaling, downlink communication information (DCI) signaling or sidelink communication information (SCI) signaling.

29. A method performed by a first device, comprising: receiving, from a second device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations;92QC2405913WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2405913 WO93 collecting AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network in accordance with the set of data collection configurations; and reporting, to the second device, the collected AIML model-related data.

30. A method performed by a second device, comprising: transmitting, to a first device, at least one artificial intelligence machine learning (AIML) model-related data collection activation request associated with activation of a set of data collection configurations; and receiving, from the first device, AIML model-related data associated with a wireless communications network that is collected in accordance with the set of data collection configurations.93QC2405913WO

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