Non-radio access network (RAN)-aided training data generation for artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) sidelink positioning

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques for wireless positioning. In some aspects, a first user equipment (UE) may obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements. The first UE may obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE. The first UE may obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE. The first UE may train an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

Description

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO1NON-RADIO ACCESS NETWORK (RAN)-AIDED TRAINING DATA GENERATION FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE / MACHINE LEARNING (AIML) SIDELINK POSITIONINGTECHNICAL 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 sendee and a fourth -generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) orWiMax). 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. Hie 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. Tirus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO2scope 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 some aspects, a method of wireless positioning performed at a first user equipment (HE) includes obtaining one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtaining one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; obtaining one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE; and training an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0006] In some aspects, a first user equipment (UE) includes one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; and train an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0007] In some aspects, a first user equipment (UE) includes means for obtaining one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; means for obtaining one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; means for obtaining one or more ground truth labels corresponding to tire one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; and means for training an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0008] In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computerexecutable instructions that, when executed by a first user equipment (UE), cause the first UE to: obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; and train an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WObased on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0009] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled m the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely tor illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0012] FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0013] 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.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating various components of an example user equipment (UE), according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system that supports unicast sidelink establishment, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 6 illustrates an example wireless communication system in which a vehicle user equipment (V-UE) is exchanging ranging signals with a roadside unit (RSU) and another V-UE, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example sidelink ranging and positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 8 illustrates an example neural network, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of direct artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0020] FIG, 9B is a diagram illustrating an example of AIML, assisted positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0021] FIG. 9C illustrates various AIML positioning and / or sensing scenarios, according to aspects of the di sclosure.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO4

[0022] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a ranging / sidelink positioning operation involving a target UE and multiple location UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of UEs in ranging / sidelink and non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning operations without network coverage, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of training an AIML model for ranging / sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations involving a target UE and multiple location UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of interactions between target / server and non-RAN positioning UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 15 illustrates an example method of wireless positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] 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.

[0029] Various aspects relate generally to wireless positioning. Some aspects more specifically relate to artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) in wireless positioning without network coverage. In some examples, a user equipment (UE) may obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements, obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results, obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results, and train an AIML model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0030] Particular aspects of the subject mater described in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, by using non-RAN positioning measurements to obtain ground truth labels where network -assisted positioning is unavailable, the described techniques can be used to train an AIML, ranging or sidelink positioning model with better accuracy and a higher level of confidence. QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO5

[0031] 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.

[0032] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0033] 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, tire 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.

[0034] 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 LIE 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 Tilings (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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO6access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible tor 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.

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

[0036] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO7may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively; the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRI’ is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0037] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference 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),

[0038] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals 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.

[0039] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labelled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In some aspects, the macro cell base stations 102 may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO8

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

[0041] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, 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 sendee (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0042] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In some aspects, 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO9operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband loT (NB-ioT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of abase station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

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

[0044] Tire 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 earners may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0045] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz), When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO10

[0046] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use tire 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. LIE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MULTEFIRE®.

[0047] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a mmW base station 180 that may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies m 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 mm W or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0048] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction.Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamformmg, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF' signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO“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.

[6049] 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 R ’ 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 R ’ signal transmitted on the same channel.

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

[0051] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO12signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

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

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

[0054] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies.Recent 5G NR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and / or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4aor FR4-I (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52,6 GHz - 114.25 GHz),QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO13and FR5 (114,25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

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

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

[0057] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO14the macro cell base stations 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

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

[0059] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satelli te 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 tire like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0060] In some aspects, 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOan element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

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

[0062] Still referring to FIG. 1, the wireless communications system 100 may include multiple V-UEs 160 that may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and abase station). V-UEs 160 may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 162, with a roadside unit (RSU) 164 (a roadside access point) over a wireless sidelink 166, or with sidelink -capable UEs 104 over a wireless sidelink 168 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between side link-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g,, LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device- to-device (D2D) media-sharing, V2V communication, V2X communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc,), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of V-UEs 160 utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 m 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. QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOIn some cases, groups of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1: M) system in which each V-UE 160 transmits to every other V-UE 160 in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between V-UEs 160 without the involvement of a base station 102.

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

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

[0065] In some aspects, the side links 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) links. DSRC is a one-way or two-way short-range to mediumrange wireless communication protocol that uses the wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE) protocol, also known as IEEE 802. lip, for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.1 Ip is an approved amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band of 5.9 GHz (5.85-5,925 GHz) in the U. S. In Europe, IEEE 802.1 Ip operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875 - 5.905 MHz). Other bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on the Safety Channel, which in tire U. S. is typically a 10 MHz channel that is dedicated to the purpose of safety'. The remainder of the DSRC band (the total bandwidth is 75 MHz) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road rules, tolling, parking automation, etc. Thus, as a particular example, the mediums of interest utilized by sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS frequency band of 5.9 GHz.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO17

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

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

[0068] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as V-UEs (V-UEs 160), any of the illustrated UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs. In addition, while only the V-UEs 160 and a single UE 104 have been illustrated as being connected over a sidelink, any of the UEs illustrated in FIG. 1, whether V-UEs, P-UEs, etc., may be capable of sidelink communication. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beam forming, any of tire illustrated UEs, including V-UEs 160, may be capable of beam forming. Where V-UEs 160 are capable of beam forming, they may beam form towards each other (i.e., towards other V-UEs 160), towards RSUs 164, towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, V-UEs 160 may utilize beamforming over sidelinks 162, 166, and 168,QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO

[0069] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device -to-de vice (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2. D 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®:1, BLUETOOTH:®, and so on. As another example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be sidelinks, as described above with reference to side links 162, 166, and 168.

[0070] FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-pIane) 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 22.2 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0071] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with tire 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 tor UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOnetwork, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0072] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 240. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and 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) 2.66, 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 sendee function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP® (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0073] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOpacket inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0074] The functions of the SMF 2.66 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 Nil interface.

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

[0076] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and / or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and / or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g,, a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client, or an external client. Tire third- QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOparty server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0077] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and / or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “M3” 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 tire “Un” interface.

[0078] The functionality of a gNB 22.2 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 2.26 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “Fl” interface. Tire physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0079] Deployment of communication systems, such as 5G NR systems, may be arranged in multiple manners with various components or constituent, parts. In a 5G NR system, or QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOnetwork, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment, such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality, may be implemented in an aggregated or disaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, AP, TRP, cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or a disaggregated base station.

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

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

[0082] FIG. 2C illustrates an example disaggregated base station architecture 250, according to aspects of the disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CU 226) that can communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units (such as a Near-Real Time (Near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WONon-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.

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

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

[0085] The DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, the DU 285 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOmay host one or more of a RLC layer, a MAC layer, and one or more high PHY layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, or the like) depending, at least in part, on a functional split, such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®). In some aspects, the DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) can be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 285, or with the control functions hosted by the CU 280.

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

[0087] The SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non -virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements which may be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as an 01 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO Framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element life cycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an 02 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, CUs 280, DUs 285, RUs 287 and Near-RT RICs 259. In some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate with a hardware aspect of a 4G RAN, such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261, via an 01 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOcan communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an 01 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

[0088] The Non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include a logical function that enables non- real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updates, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the Near-RT RIC 259. The Non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with (such as via an A1 interface) the Near- RT RIC 259. The Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include a logical function that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions over an interface (such as via an E2 interface) connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, as well as an O-eNB, with the Near-RT RIC 259.

[0089] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the Near-RT RIC 259, the Non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from external servers. Such information may be utilized by the Near-RT RIC 259 and may be received at the SMO Framework 255 or the Non-RT RIC 257 from non-network data sources or from network functions. In some examples, the Non-RT RIC 257 or the Near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the Non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns for performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO Framework 255 (such as reconfiguration via 01) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0090] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOincorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

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

[0092] The UE 302. and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmiting, 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- QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO27range 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 32.4 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 (V2. V) and / or vehicle-to- everything (V2X) transceivers.

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

[0094] The satellite signal receivers 332 and 372 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receiver(s) 332 and 372 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NA VIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) signals, etc. Where the satellite signal receivers) 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO28receiver(s) 332 and 372 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0095] The optional satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374, when present, may be connected to the one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal transmitter(s) 374 are satellite positioning system transmitters, the satellite positioning / communication signals 378 may be GPS signals, GLONASS signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, NAV1C, 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 transmitters) 334 and 374 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for transmitting satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal transmitter(s) 334 and 374 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems.

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

[0097] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOmay 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., LIE 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 some aspects, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

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

[0099] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 342, 384, and 394, respectively, tor 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 tor calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO30means for indicating, etc. In some aspects, the processors 342, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

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

[0101] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 342 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO31that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or the satellite signal interface 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and / or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor! s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

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

[0103] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in tire downlink, IP packets from the network entity' 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer, lire 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), mter-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 andQC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOtransport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

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

[0105] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316.The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 342. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer- 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Tire 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO33determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304, These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 342, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

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

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

[0108] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. 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.

[0109] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF earner and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO34

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

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

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

[0113] The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO35(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 tire functionality' represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may' be implemented by processor and memory' component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity' 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and / or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity’,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 342, 384, 394, tire transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component 348, 388, and 398, etc.

[0114] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of tire 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),

[0115] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating various components of an example UE 400, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some aspects, the UE 400 may correspond to any of the UEs described herein. As a specific example, the UE 400 may be a V -UE, such as V-UE 160 in FIG. 1. For the sake of simplicity, the various features and functions illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 4 are connected together using a common data bus that is meant to represent that these various features and functions are operatively coupled together. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other connections, mechanisms, features, functions, or the like, may be provided and adapted as necessary' QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO36to operatively couple and configure an actual UE. Further, it is also recognized that one or more of the features or functions illustrated in the example of FIG. 4 may be further subdivided, or two or more of the features or functions illustrated in FIG. 4 may be combined.

[0116] Hie UE 400 may include one or more transceivers 404 connected to one or more antennas 402 and providing 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 V-UEs (e.g., V-UEs 160), infrastructure access points (e.g., roadside access point 164), P-UEs (e.g., UEs 104), base stations (e.g., base stations 102), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., cV2X or IEEE 802. lip) over one or more communication links (e.g., communication links 120, sidelinks 162, 166, 168, mmW communication link 184). The one or more transceivers 404 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on) in accordance with the designated RAT. In some aspects, the one or more transceivers 404 and the antenna(s) 402 may form a (wireless) communication interface of the UE 400.

[0117] As used herein, a “transceiver” may include at least one transmitter and at least one receiver in an integrated device (e.g., embodied as a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit of a single communication device) in some implementations, may comprise a separate transmitter device and a separate receiver device in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. In some aspects, a transmitter may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antenna(s) 402), such as an antenna array, that permits the UE 400 to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, a receiver may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antenna(s) 402), such as an antenna array, that permits the UE 400 to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In some aspects, the transmitter(s) and receiver(s) may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antenna(s) 402), such that the UE 400 can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. In some cases, a transceiver may not provide both transmit and receive functionalities. For example, a low functionality receiver circuit may be employed in some designs to reduce costs when providing full communication is not necessary (e.g., a receiver chip or similar circuitry simply providing low-level sniffing).QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO37

[0118] The UE 400 may also include a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 406. The SPS receiver 406 may be connected to the one or more SPS antennas 403 and may provide means for receiving and / or measuring satellite signals. The SPS receiver 406 may comprise any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals, such as global positioning system (GPS) signals. The SPS receiver 406 requests information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and performs the calculations necessary’ to determine the UE’s 400 position using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0119] One or more sensors 408 may be coupled to one or more processors 410 and may provide means for sensing or detecting information related to the state and / or environment of the UE 400, such as speed, heading (e.g., compass heading), headlight status, gas mileage, etc. By way of example, the one or more sensors 408 may include a speedometer, a tachometer, an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), etc.

[0120] The one or more processors 410 may include one or more central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors, microcontrollers, ASICs, processing cores, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or the like that provide processing functions, as well as other calculation and control functionality. The one or more processors 410 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. Tire one or more processors 410 may include any form of logic suitable for performing, or causing the components of the UE 400 to perform, at least the techniques described herein.

[0121] The one or more processors 410 may also be coupled to a memory 414 providing means for storing (including means for retrieving, means tor maintaining, etc.) data and software instructions for executing programmed functionality within the UE 400. The memory 414 may be on-board the one or more processors 410 (e.g., within the same integrated circuit (IC) package), and / or the memory-’ 414 may be external to the one or more processors 410 and functionally coupled over a data bus.

[0122] The UE 400 may include a user interface 450 that provides any suitable interface systems, such as a microphone / speaker 452, keypad 454, and display 456 that allow user interaction with the UE 400. The microphone / speaker 452 may provide for voice QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO38communication sendees with the UE 400, The keypad 454 may comprise any suitable buttons for user input to the UE 400. Hie display 456 may comprise any suitable display, such as, for example, a backlit liquid crystal display (LCD), and may further include a touch screen display for additional user input modes. The user interface 450 m ay therefore be a means for providing indications (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., via user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on).

[0123] In some aspects, the UE 400 may include a sidelink manager 470 coupled to the one or more processors 410. The sidelink manager 470 may be a hardware, software, or firmware component that, when executed, causes the UE 400 to perform the operations described herein. For example, the sidelink manager 470 may be a software module stored in memory 414 and executable by the one or more processors 410. As another example, the sidelink manager 470 may be a hardware circuit (e.g., an ASIC, a field- programmable gate array (FPGA), etc.) within the UE 400.

[0124] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 500 that supports wireless unicast sidelink establishment, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some examples, wireless communications system 500 may implement aspects of wireless communications systems 100, 200, and 250. Wireless communications system 500 may include a first UE 502 and a second UE 504, which may be examples of any of the UEs described herein. As specific examples, UEs 502 and 504 may correspond to V-UEs 160 in FIG. 1.

[0125] In the example of FIG. 5, the UE 502 may attempt to establish a unicast connection over a sidelink with the UE 504, which may be a V2X sidelink between the UE 502 and UE 504. As specific examples, the established sidelink connection may correspond to sidelinks 162 and / or 168 in FIG. 1. The sidelink connection may be established in an omni-directional frequency range (e.g., FR1) and / or a mmW frequency range (e.g., FR2). In some cases, the UE 502 may be referred to as an initiating UE that initiates the side link connection procedure, and the UE 504 may be referred to as a target UE that is targeted for the sidelink connection procedure by the initiating UE.

[0126] For establishing the unicast connection, access stratum (AS) (a functional layer in the UMTS and LTE protocol stacks between the RAN and the UE that is responsible for transporting data over wireless links and managing radio resources, and which is part of Layer 2) parameters may be configured and negotiated between the UE 502 and UE 504. QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO39For example, a transmission and reception capability matching may be negotiated between the UE 502 and UE 504. Each UE may have different capabilities (e.g., transmission and reception, 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), transmission diversity, carrier aggregation (CA), supported communications frequency band(s), etc.). In some cases, different services may be supported at the upper layers of corresponding protocol stacks for LIE 502 and UE 504. Additionally, a security association may be established between UE 502 and UE 504 for the unicast connection. Unicast traffic may benefit from security protection at a link level (e.g., integrity protection). Security requirements may differ for different wireless communications systems. For example, V2. X and Uu systems may have different security requirements (e.g., Uu security does not include confidentiality protection). Additionally, IP configurations (e.g., IP versions, addresses, etc.) may be negotiated for the unicast connection between UE 502 and UE 504.

[0127] In some cases, UE 504 may create a service announcement (e.g., a service capability message) to transmit over a cellular network (e.g., cV2X) to assist the sidelink connection establishment. Conventionally, UE 502 may identify and locate candidates for sidelink communications based on a basic service message (BSM) broadcasted unencrypted by nearby UEs (e.g., UE 504). The BSM may include location information, security and identity information, and vehicle information (e.g., speed, maneuver, size, etc.) for the corresponding UE. However, for different wireless communications systems (e.g., D2D or V2X communications), a discovery channel may not be configured so that UE 502 is able to detect the BSM(s). Accordingly, the service announcement transmitted by UE 504 and other nearby UEs (e.g., a discovery signal) may be an upper layer signal and broadcasted (e.g., m an MR sidelink broadcast). In some cases, the UE 504 may include one or more parameters for itself m the service announcement, including connection parameters and / or capabilities it possesses. The UE 502 may then monitor tor and receive the broadcasted service announcement to identify' potential UEs for corresponding sidelink connections. In some cases, the UE 502 may identify the potential UEs based on the capabilities each UE indicates in their respective service announcements,

[0128] The service announcement may include information to assist the UE 502 (e.g., or any initiating UE) to identify the UE transmiting the sendee announcement (UE 504 in the example of FIG. 5). For example, the service announcement may include channel information where direct communication requests may be sent. In some cases, the channel QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO40information may be RAT-specific (e.g., specific to LTE or NR) and may include a resource pool within which UE 502 transmits the communication request. Additionally, the service announcement may include a specific destination address for the UE (e.g., a Layer 2 destination address) if the destination address is different from the current address (e.g., the address of the streaming provider or UE transmitting the service announcement). The service announcement may also include a network or transport layer for the UE 502 to transmit a communication request on. For example, the network layer (also referred to as “Layer 3” or “L3”) or the transport layer (also referred to as “Layer 4” or “L4”) may indicate a port number of an application for the UE transmitting the service announcement. In some cases, no IP addressing may be needed if the signaling (e.g., PC5 signaling) carries a protocol (e.g., a real-time transport protocol (RTP)) directly or gives a locally-generated random protocol. Additionally, the service announcement may include a type of protocol for credential establishment and QoS-related parameters.

[0129] After identifying a potential sidelink connection target (UE 504 in the example of FIG, 5), the initiating UE (UE 502 in the example of FIG. 5) may transmit a connection request 515 to the identified target UE 504. In some cases, the connection request 515 may be a first RRC message transmitted by the UE 502 to request a unicast connection with the UE 504 (e.g., an “RRCSetupRequest” message). For example, the unicast connection may utilize the PC5 interface for the sidelink, and the connection request 515 may be an RRC connection setup request message. Additionally, the UE 502 may use a sidelink signaling radio bearer 505 to transport the connection request 515.

[0130] After receiving the connection request 515, the UE 504 may determine whether to accept or reject the connection request 515. The UE 504 may base this determination on a transmission / reception capability, an ability to accommodate the unicast connection over the sidelink, a particular sendee indicated for the unicast connection, the contents to be transmitted over the unicast connection, or a combination thereof. For example, if the UE 502 wants to use a first RAT to transmit or receive data, but the UE 504 does not support the first RAT, then the UE 504 may reject tire connection request 515. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 504 may reject the connection request 515 based on being unable to accommodate the unicast connection over the sidelink due to limited radio resources, a scheduling issue, etc. Accordingly, the UE 504 may transmit an indication of whether the request is accepted or rejected in a connection response 520. Similar to the UE 502 and the connection request 515, the UE 504 may use a sidelink signaling radio bearer 510 to QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO41transport the connection response 520. Additionally, the connection response 520 may be a second RRC message transmitted by the UE 504 in response to the connection request 515 (e.g., an “RRCResponse” message).

[0131] In some cases, sidelink signaling radio bearers 505 and 510 may be the same sidelink signaling radio bearer or may be separate sidelink signaling radio bearers. Accordingly, a radio link control (RLC) layer acknowledged mode (AM) may be used for sidelink signaling radio bearers 505 and 510. A UEi that supports the unicast connection may listen on a logical channel associated with the sidelink signaling radio bearers. In some cases, the AS layer (i.e.. Layer 2) may pass information directly through RRC signaling (e.g., control plane) instead of a V2X layer (e.g., data plane).

[0132] If the connection response 520 indicates that the UE 504 accepted the connection request 515, the UE 502 may then transmit a connection establishment 525 message on the sidelink signaling radio bearer 505 to indicate that the unicast connection setup is complete. In some cases, the connection establishment 525 may be a third RRC message (e.g., an “RRCSetupComplete” message). Each of the connection request 515, the connection response 520, and the connection establishment 525 may use a basic capability when being transported from one UE to the other UE to enable each UE to be able to receive and decode the corresponding transmission (e.g,, the RRC messages).

[0133] Additionally, identifiers may be used for each of the connection request 515, the connection response 520, and the connection establishment 525. For example, the identifiers may indicate which UE 502 / 504 is transmitting which message and / or for which UE 502 / 504 the message is intended. For physical (PHY) layer channels, the RRC signaling and any subsequent data transmissions may use the same identifier (e.g.. Layer 2 IDs). However, for logical channels, the identifiers may be separate for the RRC signaling and for the data transmissions. For example, on the logical channels, the RRC signaling and the data transmissions may be treated differently and have different acknowledgement (ACK) feedback messaging. In some cases, for the RRC messaging, a physical layer ACK may be used for ensuring the corresponding messages are transmitted and received properly.

[0134] One or more information elements may be included in the connection request 515 and / or the connection response 520 for UE 502 and / or UE 504, respectively, to enable negotiation of corresponding AS layer parameters for the unicast connection. For example, the UE 502 and / or UE 504 may include packet data convergence protocol QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO42(PDCP) parameters in a corresponding unicast connection setup message to set a PDCP context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the PDCP context may indicate whether or not PDCP duplication is utilized for the unicast connection. Additionally, the UE 502 and / or UE 504 may include RLC parameters when establishing the unicast connection to set an RLC context for the unicast connection. For example, the RLC context may indicate whether an AM (e.g., a reordering timer (t-reordenng) is used) or an unacknowledged mode (UM) is used for the RLC layer of the unicast communications.

[0135] Additionally, the UE 502 and / or UE 504 may include medium access control (MAC) parameters to set a MAC context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the MAC context may enable resource selection algorithms, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback scheme (e.g., ACK or negative ACK (NACK) feedback), parameters for the HARQ feedback scheme, carrier aggregation, or a combination thereof for the unicast connection. Additionally, the UE 502 and / or UE 504 may include PHY layer parameters when establishing the unicast connection to set a PHY layer context for the unicast connection. For example, the PHY layer context may indicate a transmission format (unless transmission profiles are included for each UE 502 / 504) and a radio resource configuration (e.g., bandwidth part (BWP), numerology, etc.) for the unicast connection. These information elements may be supported for different frequency range configurations (e.g., FR1 and FR2).

[0136] In some cases, a security context may also be set for the unicast connection (e.g., after the connection establishment 525 message is transmitted). Before a security association (e.g., security context) is established between the UE 502 and UE 504, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 505 and 510 may not be protected. After a security association is established, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 505 and 510 may be protected. Accordingly, the security context may enable secure data transmissions over the unicast connection and the sidelink signaling radio bearers 505 and 510. Additionally, IP layer parameters (e.g., link-local IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) may also be negotiated. In some cases, the IP layer parameters may be negotiated by an upper layer control protocol running after RRC signaling is established (e.g., the unicast connection is established). As noted above, the UE 504 may base its decision on whether to accept or reject the connection request 515 on a particular service indicated for the unicast connection and / or the contents to be transmitted over the unicast connection (e.g., upper layer information). The particularQC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO43service and / or contents may be also indicated by an upper layer control protocol running after RRC signaling is established.

[0137] After the unicast connection is established, the UE 502 and UE 504 may communicate using the unicast connection over a sidelink 530, where sidelink data 535 is transmitted between the two UEs 502 and 504. The sidelink 530 may correspond to sidelinks 162 and / or 168 in FIG. 1. In some cases, the sidelink data 535 may include RRC messages transmitted between the two UEs 502 and 504. To maintain this unicast connection on sidelink 530, UE 502 and / or UE 504 may transmit a keep alive message (e.g., “RRCLinkAlive” message, a fourth RRC message, etc.). In some cases, the keep alive message may be triggered periodically or on-demand (e.g., event-triggered). Accordingly, the triggering and transmission of the keep alive message may be invoked by UE 502 or by both UE 502 and UE 504. Additionally or alternatively, a MAC control element (CE) (e.g., defined over sidelink 530) may be used to monitor the status of the unicast connection on sidelink 530 and maintain the connection. When the unicast connection is no longer needed (e.g., UE 502 travels far enough away from UE 504), either UE 502 and / or UE 504 may start a release procedure to drop the unicast connection over sidelink 530. Accordingly, subsequent RRC messages may not be transmitted between UE 502 and UE 504 on the unicast connection.

[0130] In addition to the downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods, NR supports various sidelink positioning techniques. For example, link-level ranging signals can be used to estimate the distance between pairs of V -UEs or between a V-UE and a roadside unit (RSU), similar to a round-trip-time (RTT) positioning procedure.

[0139] FIG. 6 illustrates an example wireless communication system 600 in which a V-UE 604 is exchanging ranging signals with an RSU 610 and another V-UE 606, according to aspects of the disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a wideband (e.g., FR1) ranging signal (e.g., a Zadoff Chu sequence) is transmitted by both end points (e.g., V-UE 604 and RSU 610 and V-UE 604 and V-UE 606). In some aspects, the ranging signals may be sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS) transmitted by the involved V-UEs 604 and 606 on uplink resources. On receiving a ranging signal from a transmitter (e.g., V-UE 604), the receiver (e.g., RSU 610 and / or V-UE 606) responds by sending a ranging signal that includes a measurement of the difference between the reception time of the ranging signalQC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO44and the transmission time of the response ranging signal, referred to as the reception-to- transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement of the receiver.

[0140] Upon receiving the response ranging signal, the transmitter (or other positioning entity) can calculate the RTT between the transmitter and the receiver based on the receiver’s Rx-Tx time difference measurement and a measurement of the difference between the transmission time of the first ranging signal and the reception time of the response ranging signal (referred to as the transmission-to-reception (Tx-Rx) time difference measurement of the transmitter). The transmitter (or other positioning entity) uses the RTT and the speed of light to estimate the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. If one or both of the transmitter and receiver are capable of beamforming, the angle between the V-UEs 604 and 606 may also be able to be determined. In addition, if the receiver provides its global positioning system (GPS) location in the response ranging signal, the transmitter (or other positioning entity) may be able to determine an absolute location of the transmitter, as opposed to a relative location of the transmitter with respect to the receiver.

[0141] As will be appreciated, ranging accuracy improves with the bandwidth of the ranging signals. Specifically, a higher bandwidth can better separate the different multipaths of the ranging signals.

[0142] Note that this positioning procedure assumes that the involved V-UEs are time- synchronized (i.e., their system frame time is the same as, or has a known offset relative to, the other V-UE(s)). In addition, although FIG. 6 illustrates two V-UEs, as will be appreciated, they need not be V-UEs, and may instead be any other type of UE capable of sidelink communication.

[0143] NR supports various sidelink ranging techniques. Sidelink-based ranging and positioning (SLRP) enables the determination of the relative distance(s) between UEs and optionally their absolute position(s), where the absolute position of at least one involved UE is known. This technique is valuable in situations where global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning is degraded or unavailable (e.g., tunnels, urban canyons, etc.) and can also enhance range and positioning accuracy when GNSS is available,

[0144] SLRP is based on calculating an inter-UE round-trip-time (RTT) measurement, as determined from the transmit and receive times of sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRS) (a wideband positioning signal defined for sidelink-based positioning). Each UE reports an RTT measurement to all other participating UEs, along with its location (if QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO45known). For UEs having zero or inaccurate knowledge of their location, the RTT procedure yields an inter-UE range between the involved UEs. For UEs having accurate knowledge of their location, the range yields an absolute position.

[0145] FIG. 7 illustrates an example sidelink-based ranging and positioning (SLRP) procedure 700, according to aspects of the disclosure. An SLRP procedure 700 is established using the Sidelink Positioning Protocol (SLPP) to identify participating UEs, perform session establishment, and exchange measurements and measurement results. SLPP reuses the basic Long-Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) message constructs of Request / Provide Capabilities, Request / Provide Assistance Data, and Request / Provide Location Information.

[0146] An SLRP procedure 700 (or session) begins with a target UE 204-2 (a UE with an unknown or inaccurate location that is attempting to be located) transmitting, at stage 705, an SLPP Request Capabilities message requesting capability information from one or more peer UEs. As shown in FIG. 7, at least one of the peer UEs, UE 204-1, is capable of being an anchor UE for the SLRP procedure 700. As such, at stage 710, the anchor UE 204-1 responds with an SLPP Provide Capabilities message that includes an indication that it is capable of being an anchor UE for the SLRP procedure 700. The SLPP Provide Capabilities message may also include the location of the anchor UE 204- 1, or this may be provided later. Note that while FIG. 7 illustrates the target UE 204-2 initiating the SLPP capabilities exchange procedure by transmitting the SLPP Request Capabilities message, an SLPP capabilities exchange can be initiated by either a target UE 204-2 or an anchor UE 204-1. In the latter case, an anchor UE 204-1 may be, for example, an RSU situated at an intersection periodically polling vehicles to establish a positioning session by transmitting SLPP Request Capabilities messages to the vehicles.

[0147] At stage 715, after the initial capability’ exchange, the anchor UE 204-1 transmits an SLPP Request Assistance Data message to the target UE 204-2. At stage 720, the target UE 204-2 transmits an SLPP Provide Assistance Data message to the anchor UE 204-1, which may include the configuration of one or more SL-PRS resources to be transmitted by the anchor UE 204-1 for measurement by’ the target UE 204-2 for the SLRP procedure 700, Alternatively or additionally, the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message may include configuration information for one or more SL-PRS resources to be transmitted by the target UE 204-2 for measurement by the anchor UE 204-1. In some cases (not shown), the target UE 204-2 may transmit an SLPP Request Assistance Data message to the QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO46anchor UE 204-1 to obtain configuration information for the one or more SL-PRS resources transmitted by the anchor UE 204-1 for measurement by the target UE 204-2. The target UE 204-2 provides the requested configuration information in an SLPP Provide Assistance Data message. In some cases, the respective UE 204 may not transmit an SLPP Request Assistance Data message, but instead, only the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message.

[0148] At stages 725 and 730, the involved peer UEs 204 transmit the configured SL-PRS resources to each other. Alternatively, only the anchor UE 204-1 of the target UE 204-2 may transmit SL-PRS resources (e.g., in the case of a sidelink time-difference of arrival (SL-TDOA) procedure). The resources on which the SL-PRS are transmitted may be configured during the assistance data exchange(s) at stages 715 and 720, The anchor UE 204-1 measures the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference between the transmission time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 725 and the reception time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 730, Likewise, the target UE 204-2 measures the Rx-Tx time difference between the reception time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 725 and the transmission time of the SL-PRS resource(s) at stage 730. Note that although FIG. 7 illustrates the anchor UE 204-1 transmitting SL-PRS first, the target UE 204-2 may instead transmit SL-PRS first as may be specified in the SLPP Provide Assistance Data message at stage 720.

[0149] At stage 735, the target UE 204-2 transmits an SLPP Request Location Information message to the anchor UE 204-1. At stage 740, the anchor UE 204-1 responds with an SLPP Provide Location Information message that includes the Rx-Tx time difference measurement(s) obtained by the anchor UE 204-1. Alternatively or additionally (not shown), the anchor UE 204-1 may transmit an SLPP Request Location Information message to the target UE 204-2 and the target UE 204-2 may respond with an SLPP Provide Location Information message including the Rx-Tx time difference measurement(s) obtained by the target UE 204-2. If the anchor UE 204-1 has not yet provided its location to the target UE 204-2, it does so at this point.

[0150] The target UE 204-2 is then able to determine the RTT between itself and the anchor UE 204-1 based on the Rx-Tx time difference measurements. Based on the RTT measurement and the speed of light, the target UE 204-2 can then estimate the distance (or range) between the two UEs 204, If the target UE 204-2 also has the absolute location (e.g., geographic coordinates) of the anchor UE 204-1 and two or more additional anchor QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO47UEs 204-1, the target UE 204-2 can use that location and the distance to the anchor UEs 204-1 to determine its own absolute location (e.g., based on trilateration).

[0151] Note that while FIG. 7 illustrates one anchor UE 204-1, a target UE 204-2 may perform, or attempt to perform, the SLRP procedure 700 with multiple anchor UEs 204- 1, Further, while FIG. 7 illustrates the SLPP Request Location Information being transmitted after the SL-PRS resources are transmitted, it may be transmited before SL-PRS transmission.

[0152] 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.

[0153] 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).

[0154] 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.

[0155] 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.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO48

[0156] 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.

[0157] FIG. 8 illustrates an example neural network 800, according to aspects of the disclosure.The neural network 800 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 tire nodes (illustrated as circles) of each successive hidden layer process from the nodes of the previous hidden layer,

[0158] 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.

[0159] 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.

[0160] 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. QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO49Dimensionality 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.

[0161] 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).

[0162] 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.

[0163] FIG. 9A is a diagram 910 illustrating an example of direct AIML positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9A, direct AIML 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). Tire measurements of the reference signal(s) may include the channel energy response QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO50(CER), channel impulse response (CIR), power delay profile (PDP), delay profile (DP), channel frequency response (CFR), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received power (RSRP), path RSRP (RSRPP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), time of arrival (’ To A), relative ToA (RTOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), angle of departure ( AoD), angle of arrival (Ao A), and / or the like of the reference signal) s).

[0164] FIG, 9B is a diagram 930 illustrating an example of AIML assisted positioning and / or sensing, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9B, 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, CSI-RS measurements, etc.) and output one or more intermediate results (also referred to as '‘intermediate iabel(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).

[0165] Note that as shown in FIG. 9B, 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 position estimation model / technique. As another example, for UE-based positioning, a network component (e.g., a base station, location server, or another UE tor sidelink positioning) may apply the A-AIML model to compress the measurement data and report the compressed data to tire UE, which then applies the other position estimation model / technique.

[0166] FIG. 9C illustrates various AIML positioning and / or sensing scenarios, according to aspects of the disclosure. As shown in diagram 950, 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WOpositioning and / or sensing case with a UE-side D-AIML positioning and / or sensing model (labeled “D-AIML”). In this case, the HE 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).

[0167] 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, CSI-RS) 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).

[0168] 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.

[0169] As shown in diagram 970, there are two AIML positioning and / or sensing deployment scenarios based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS). The first deployment scenario (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., abase 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).

[0170] 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 QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO52direct 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).

[0171] 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.

[0172] 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. 9A to 9C may correspond to AIML model weights or inferences depending on whether the respective AIML model is executing in the training mode or the inferencing mode.

[0173] In some situations, sidelink positioning operations may be needed where cellular network coverage is unavailable. To obtain more accurate and reliable estimations of positions of UEs where network coverage is unavailable, AIML positioning techniques may be applied to sidelink positioning. For that purpose, collection of high-quality training data may be needed for training an AIML sidelink positioning model, which may be challenging in some scenarios.

[0174] Typical use cases for sidelink positioning may include automotive use cases where network coverage is unavailable, for example, where vehicles that are traveling in rural areas, wildernesses, or other unpopulated areas. Despite the lack of network coverage, vehicle UEs may be interested in identifying the absolute or relative positions of other QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO53vehicle UEs while on the move. In such scenarios, it may be challenging to generate or collect high-quality training data for an AIML sidelink positioning model where some or all of the vehicle UEs participating in sidelink positioning operations are moving relative to each other.

[0175] Sidelink positioning operations may involve multiple UEs. As used herein, a target UE is a UE whose distance, direction, or position is to be determined. As used herein, a location UE, also called an anchor UE, is a UE that performs or supports positioning of the target UE by transmitting and / or receiving SL-PRS and providing location-related information (e.g., the current position of the location UE). As used herein, a server UE is a UE that provides location services (LCS) to the target UE, coordinates tire location UE(s), and in some implementations, computes the positioning estimate based on the measurements and / or assistance data received from the target UE and / or the location UE(s).

[0176] In some aspects, a sidelink positioning operation may involve one or more location UEs, Various positioning methods (e.g., SL-TDOA) may be used according to aspects of the disclosure. In some implementations, the target UE or a location UE may play the role of the server UE. In some implementations, the server UE may be a UE for computing the positioning estimate of the target UE without participating in positioning measurements. In some implementations, the target UE may also be the server UE if it has the capability to perform computations for positioning estimates.

[0177] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a rangmg / sidelink positioning operation involving a target UE and multiple location UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, a first UE 1002 (denoted as “UE1”) is both a target UE and a server UE. In an alternate implementation, the server UE may be separate from the target UE if the target UE does not perform computations of positioning results itself. A plurality of location UEs 1004a... 1004n (denoted as “UE2”...c£UEn”) may participate in sidelink positioning operations with the target / server UE 1002.

[0178] At stage 1010, the target / server UE 1002. may initiate a rangmg / sidelink positioning service request. At stage 1012, discovery' may be made between the target / server UE 1002 and the location UEs 1004a... 1004n for ranging / sidelink positioning operations. At stage 1014, a determination may be made that the positioning operation is a UE-only operation if there is no network coverage available to support network-based positioning operations. At stage 1016, a capability exchange may be performed between the QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO54target / server UE 1002 and the location UEs 1004a... 1004n, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some aspects, capability exchange messages may include information such as supported positioning method(s), use of dedicated or shared positioning resources pools, and / or other information.

[0179] At stage 1018, assistance data delivery may be performed by the target / server UE 1002 and the location UEs 1004a... 1004n, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some aspects, the location UEs 1004a... 1004n may transmit assistance data such as the absolute locations of the location UEs (if known), SL-PRS sequence IDs, and / or other assistance data. In some aspects, if the absolute location of at least one of the location UEs 1004a... 1004n is unknown, tire target / server UE 1002 may indicate a scheduled location time T, which is the time at which the ranging / sidelink positioning measurements will occur, to allow' the location UEs 1004a... 1004n to initiate mobile location requests at the same scheduled location time T to obtain their locations.

[0180] At stage 1020, transmission and measurement of SL-PRS at the scheduled location time T may be performed by each ofthe location UEs 1004a... 1004n. At stage 1022, location information may be transferred from the location UEs 1004a... 1004n to the target / server UE 1002, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some implementations, raw measurement data may be transferred to the target / server UE 1002, In some implementations, positioning results derived from the raw' measurement data may be transferred to the target / server UE 1002.

[0181] At stage 1024, the target / server UE 1002 may calculate the estimated position ofthe target UE based on the measurements or results received from the location UEs 1004a... 1004n. If the server UE is separate from the target UE, the server UE may perform the calculation for the estimated position ofthe target UE. At stage 1026, tire server UE may provide a response to the ranging / sidelink positioning sen ice request.

[0182] In some aspects, in AIML ranging / sidelink positioning operations, collection of high- quality training data may hinge upon obtaining reliable and accurate ground truth labels. In automotive use cases where network coverage is unavailable, some or all ofthe UEs involved in ranging / sidelink positioning measurements are potentially' on the move. In such scenarios, obtaining ground truth labels may present a challenge, considering the uncertainty of their locations at any given time, in addition to the level of uncertainty in SL-PRS signal processing. In some situations, an AIML, positioning model that wasQC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO55trained when network coverage was available may not be reliably applied to vehicle UEs in areas without network coverage.

[0183] In some aspects, positioning results based on non-RAN-based positioning measurements may be used as ground truth labels or to assist in the generation of improved ground truth labels. Examples of non-RAN-based positioning may include positioning measurements based on optical sensing and / or infrared sensing using optical and / or infrared cameras, radar sensing, GNSS positioning, or any combination thereof. In some aspects, one or more location UEs may perform non-RAN-based positioning measurements of the target UE by using one or more cameras or radars. The target UE may also perform its GNSS positioning measurements to help establish a ground truth label if the GNSS is able to provide a positioning result with a requisite degree of accuracy. In some aspects, the location UEs that perform non-RAN sensing operations on the target UE may or may not be part of ranging or sidelink positioning operations.

[0184] FIG, 11 illustrates an example of UEs in ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations without network coverage, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 11, a target UE 1102 may be in the vicinity of three location UEs 1104, 1106 and 1108 in an area without network coverage. In this example, the first location UE 1104 may perform only ranging / sidelink positioning operations, the second location UE 1106 may perform only non-RAN-based positioning operations, and the third location UE 1108 may perform both ranging / sidelink and non-RAN-based positioning operations.

[0185] In the example shown in FIG. 11, non-RAN-based positioning operations may be performed by the second and third location UEs 1104 and 1106, and positioning results based on the non-RAN positioning measurements may be used to assist in ground truth labeling of the target UE 1102, In some aspects, not all location UEs need be involved in both ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations. In this example, the first, location U E 1104 may not be equipped with a sensor (e.g., camera or radar) for non-RAN positioning, or may not be at a suitable location for non-RAN positioning measurements at the time of measurement. The second location UE 1106 may not be involved in ranging / sidelink positioning of the target UE 1102, but may provide non-RAN positioning measurements to assist in ground truth labeling of the target LIE 1102. The third location UE 1108 may be involved in both ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO56

[0186] In some aspects, non-RAN positioning operations may be performed at the same time as the ranging / sidelink positioning operations, for example, at a scheduled location time T, to provide an accurate position estimate, which may be used as a ground truth label for AIML model training. In some aspects, non-RAN positioning operations may be performed at a different time from the scheduled location time T for performing the ranging / sidelink positioning operations, but the difference may not exceed a threshold. In some scenarios, position estimates based on non-RAN positioning measurements may be more accurate than position estimates based on ranging / sidelink positioning measurements where network coverage is unavailable.

[0187] FIG. 12 illustrates an example of training an AIML model for ranging / sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 12, a plurality' of ranging / sidelink positioning measurements of a target UE may be made by one or more location UEs in block 1202, and a plurality of non-RAN positioning measurements of the target UE may be made by one or more location UEs in block 1204, As described above, not all location UEs may need to perform both ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations. In some implementations, one or more of the location UEs may perform either ranging / sidelink or non-RAN positioning but not both.

[0188] After the ranging / sidelink positioning measurements and the non-RAN positioning measurements are made in blocks 1202 and 1204, AIML training data may be collected in block 1206. In some aspects, non-RAN positioning results may be derived or computed from raw non-RAN positioning measurements. After AIML training data is collected, the non-RAN positioning results, which may serve as ground truth labels or assist in the determination of ground truth labels, along with the ranging / sidelink positioning measurements, may be used to train an AIML model for ranging / sidelink positioning in block 1208.

[0189] In some aspects, AIML positioning model training based on ranging / sidelink and non- RAN positioning measurements may be achieved in various manners. In some aspects, ranging / sidelink positioning operations may be performed for the purpose of AIML training data generation and / or collection. In some aspects, the ground troth label corresponding to the AIML model input may be directly obtained from or calculated based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements.

[0190] In some aspects, the non-RAN positioning operations may be an integral part of or associated with the ranging / sidelink positioning operations, regardless of whether each of QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO57the location UEs performs both non-RAN and ranging / sidelink positioning operations. As described above, some of the location UEs may perform both non-RAN and ranging / sidelink positioning while other location UEs may perform either non-RAN or ranging / sidelink positioning but not both.

[0191] In some implementations, the non-RAN positioning operations may be performed at the same time as the ranging / sidelink positioning operations at a scheduled location time T. In some implementations, the non-RAN positioning operations may be performed at a different time from the scheduled location time T for performing the ranging / sidelink positioning operations. In some aspects, the time for performing the non-RAN positioning operations may be offset from the schedule location time T by an amount of time that does not exceed a threshold.

[0192] In some aspects, the unit of time representing the threshold time difference may reflect the time format and / or origin used (e.g., Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), GNSS, NR time, or a relative time from the current time), For example, where the scheduled location time T is an NR time, the threshold time difference may be represented as a number of system frame numbers (SFNs) or time slots.

[0193] In some aspects, the threshold time difference may depend on one or more of tire following: (1) the ranging / sidelink positioning QoS; and / or (2) the targeted accuracy and / or confidence level of ground truth labels for training data. In some aspects, other factors may be considered for determining the threshold time difference between the time of non-RAN positioning measurements and the time of ranging / sidelink positioning measurements.

[0194] Some location UEs may perform both ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations if they are capable of transmitting SL-PRS and also equipped with sensors (e.g,, cameras or radars) to identify the target UE and measure its position, for example. Some location UEs that perform non-RAN positioning operations may not be also performing ranging / sidelink positioning operations for various reasons, for example, because they may not be aware of their own locations at the time of measurement. Some location UEs that perform ranging / sidelink measurements may not be also performing non-RAN positioning operations for various reasons. For example, some ranging / sidelink location UEs may not be equipped with sensors (e.g., cameras or radars) for non-RAN positioning, or may not be at suitable locations for non-RAN positioning measurements at the time of measurement.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO58

[0195] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations involving a target UE and multiple location UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 13, a first UE 1302 (denoted as “UE1”) is both a target UE and a server UE. In an alternate implementation, the server UE may be separate from the target UE if the target UE does not perform computations of positioning results itself. A plurality of location UEs 1304a... 1304n (denoted as “UE2”... “UEn”) may participate in positioning operations with the target / server UE 1302.

[0196] At stage 1310, the target / server UE 1302 may initiate a request for generation of AIML ranging / sidelink positioning training data assisted by non-RAN positioning. At stage 1312, discovery may be made between the target / server UE 1302 and the location UEs 1304a... 1304n, including location UEs for ranging / sidelink positioning and location UEs for non-RAN positioning. In some implementations, some of the location UEs may perform both ranging / sidelink and non-RAN positioning operations, while others may perform either ranging / sidelink positioning or non-RAN positioning but not both.

[0197] At stage 1314, a determination may be made that the positioning operations are UE-only operations if there is no network coverage available to support network-based positioning operations. At stage 1316, a capability exchange may be performed between the target / server UE 1302 and the location UEs 1304a... 1304n, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some aspects, capability exchange messages may include information such as supported positioning methods, use of dedicated or shared positioning resources pools, and / or other information. In some aspects, for non-RAN positioning, the capability' exchange messages may include the specific type(s) of non-RAN positioning method(s) supported (e.g., camera-based, radar-based, and / or lidar-based positioning), constraints, if any, on when and where the non-RAN positioning operations may be performed, and / or other information associated with non-RAN positioning.

[0198] At stage 1318, assistance data delivery may be performed by the target / server UE 1302 and the location UEs 1304a... 1304n, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some aspects, the location UEs that will perform ranging / sidelink positioning may transmit assistance data such as the absolute locations of the location UEs (if known), SL-PRS sequence IDs for ranging / sidelink positioning, and / or other assistance data. In some aspects, if the absolute location of at least one of those location UEs is unknown, the target / server UE 1302 may indicate a scheduled location time T, which is the time at which the ranging / sidelink positioning measurements will occur, to allow those location UEs which QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO59will perform ranging / sidelink positioning to initiate mobile location requests at the same scheduled location time T to obtain their locations.

[0199] In some aspects, for non-RAN positioning, the target / server UE 1302 may transmit assistance data associated with non-RAN positioning operations to those location UEs that will perform non-RAN positioning. In some aspects, the target / server UE 1302 may transmit the scheduled location time T to those location UEs that will perform non-RAN positioning as well as location UEs that will perform ranging / sidelink positioning.

[0200] In some implementations, non-RAN positioning and ranging / sidelink positioning may be performed at the same scheduled location time T. In some implementations, non-RAN positioning may be performed at a different time from the scheduled location time T by not greater than a threshold, as described above. In such implementations, the target / server UE 1302 may signal this threshold to the location UEs that will perform non- RAN positioning. In some aspects, the assistance data provided by the target / server UE 1302 for non-RAN positioning may include visual attributes (e.g., keypoint features) of the target UE for camera-based non-RAN positioning, for example.

[0201] At stage 1320, the location UEs that are configured to perform ranging / sidelink positioning measurements may transmit and measure SL-PRS at the scheduled location time T. At stage 1322, the location UEs that are configured to perform non-RAN positioning (e.g., location UEs that are equipped with cameras, radars or lidars) may perform non-RAN positioning operations.

[0202] At stage 1324, location information may be transferred from the location UEs 1304a...1304n to the target / server UE 1302, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some implementations, raw measurement data may be transferred to the target / server UE 1302. In some implementations, positioning results derived from the raw measurement data may be transferred to the target / server UE 1302, In some aspects, measurement data and / or positioning results obtained from non-RAN as well as ranging / sidelink positioning operations may be transferred to the UE 1302 via SLPP signaling.

[0203] At stage 1326, the target / server UE 1302 may calculate the estimated position of the target UE based on the measurements or results received from the location UEs 1304a... 1304n. If the server UE is separate from the target UE, the server UE may perform the calculation for the estimated position of the target UE. At stage 1328, the server UE may provide a response to the request for AIML ranging / sidelink positioning training data assisted by non-RAN positioning.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO60

[0204] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of interactions between target / server and non-RAN positioning UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG.14, a first UE 1402 (denoted as “UE1”) is both a target UE and a server UE. In an alternate implementation, the server UE may be separate from the target UE if the target UE does not perform computations of positioning results itself. A second UE 1404 (denoted as “UE2”) may perform non-RAN positioning of the target / server UE 1402.

[0205] At stage 1410, the target / server UE 1402 may initiate a request for generation of AIML ranging or positioning training data, assisted by non-RAN positioning. At stage 1412, discovery may be made between tiie target / server UE 1402 and the non-RAN positioning UE 1404. At stage 1414, a capability exchange may be performed between the target / server UE 1402 and the non-RAN positioning UE 1404, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some aspects, capability exchange messages may include information such as supported non-RAN positioning method(s) (e.g., camera-based, radar-based, and / or lidar-based positioning), constraints, if any, on when and where the non-RAN positioning operations may be performed, and / or other information associated with non-RAN positioning.

[0206] At stage 1416, assistance data delivery may be performed by the target / server UE 1402 and the non-RAN positioning UE 1404, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some aspects, the target / server UE 1402 may transmit assistance data associated with non-RAN positioning operations. For example, the target / server UE 1402 may transmit, to the non- RAN positioning UE 1404, an indication of a training data generation session identification (session ID) as part of the assistance data delivery'. In some aspects, session IDs may be used for keeping track of non-RAN positioning results and associating them with the corresponding positioning procedures in case of multiple positioning measurements. In some aspects, the assistance data provided by the target / server UE 1402 to the non-RAN positioning UE 1404 may include visual attributes (e.g., keypoint features) of the target UE for camera-based non-RAN positioning, for example.

[0207] At stage 1418, the non-RAN positioning UE 1404 may perform one or more non-RAN positioning operations. At stage 1420, location information may be transferred from the non-RAN positioning UE 1404 to the target / server UE 1402, via SLPP signaling, for example. In some implementations, raw measurement data may be transferred to the target / server UE 1402. In some implementations, positioning results derived from the raw' measurement data may be transferred to the target / server UE 1402.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO61

[0208] At stage 1422, the target / server UE 1402 may generate a training dataset for the AIML positioning model based on the non-RAN positioning results. If the server UE is separate from the target UE, the server UE may perform the calculations for generating the training dataset. If the target UE includes a server function, the target UE may generate the training dataset itself.

[0209] FIG. 15 illustrates an example method 1500 of wireless positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some aspects, method 1500 may be performed by a first UE (e.g., UE 302 described herein).

[0210] At 1510, the first UE may obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0211] Means for performing the operation of block 1510 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the UE 302 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1510 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning / sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0212] At 1520, the first UE may obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE.

[0213] Means for performing the operation of block 1520 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the UE 302 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1520 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning / sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0214] At 1530, the first UE may obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE.

[0215] Means for performing the operation of block 1530 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver(s) of any of the UE 302 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1530 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning / sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO62

[0216] At 1540, the first UE may train an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0217] Means for performing the operation of block 1540 may include the processor(s), memory, or transceiver] s) of any of the UE 302 described herein. For example, the operation of block 1540 may be performed by tire one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 342, memory 340, and / or positioning / sensing component 348, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0218] Method 1500 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0219] In some aspects, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), or any combination thereof.

[0220] In some aspects, obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises receiving, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE, and deriving the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on the one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0221] In some aspects, obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises receiving, from a second UE, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE.

[0222] In some aspects, obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprises receiving, from the second UE or a third UE, the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0223] In some aspects, the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed at a first time, and the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE performed at a second time.

[0224] In some aspects, the second time is identical to the first time.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO63

[0225] In some aspects, the second time is offset from the first time by less than or equal to a threshold.

[0226] In some aspects, the threshold is based on a ranging quality of service (QoS), a ranging or sidelink positioning QoS, an accuracy level of the one or more ground truth labels, a confidence level of the one or more ground truth labels, or any combination thereof.

[0227] In some aspects, obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE and obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed in one or more integral positioning operations.

[0228] In some aspects, obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE is performed separately from obtaining the one or more positioning measurements.

[0229] In some aspects, obtaining the one or more non-RAN positi oning results of the first UE comprises communicating, with a second UE, via sidelink long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (SLPP) signaling.

[0230] In some aspects, communicating, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprises performing a positioning capability exchange with the second UE, and transmitting, to the second UE, assistance data associated with one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0231] In some aspects, communicating, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprises transmitting, to the second UE, an indication of a positioning training data generation session identification (ID) for one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0232] Although FIG. 15 shows example operations of method 1500, in some implementations, method 1500 may include additional operations, fewer operations, different operations, or differently arranged operations than those depicted in FIG. 15. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the operations of method 1500 may be performed in parallel, or performed in a sequence different from the sequence listed in FIG. 15.

[0233] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 1500 is that, by using non- RAN positioning measurements to obtain ground truth labels where network-assisted positioning is unavailable, the described techniques can be used to train an AIML ranging or sidelink positioning model with better accuracy and a higher level of confidence.

[0234] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together m 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, QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO64the 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 wdth 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.

[0235] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0236] Clause 1. A method of wireless positioning performed at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: obtaining one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtaining one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; obtaining one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE; and training an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth label.

[0237] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing, or obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing, or obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing, or obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), or any combination thereof.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO65

[0238] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising: obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE, comprising: receiving, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; and deriving the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on the one or more non- RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0239] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises: receiving, from a second UE, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE.

[0240] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprises: receiving, from the second UE or a third UE, tire one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0241] Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed at a first time, and the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE performed at a second time.

[0242] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the second time is identical to the first time.

[0243] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 6 to 7, wherein the second time is offset from the first time by less than or equal to a threshold.

[0244] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the threshold is based on: a ranging quality of service (QoS); a ranging or sidelink positioning QoS; an accuracy level of the one or more ground truth labels; a confidence level of the one or more ground truth labels; or any combination thereof.

[0245] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE and obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed in one or more integral positioning operations,

[0246] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE is performed separately from obtaining the one or more positioning measurements.

[0247] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1 to 11, wherein obtaining the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises: communicating, with a second UE, via sidelink long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (SLPP) signaling.

[0248] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein communicating, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprises: performing a positioning capability exchange with the second QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO66UE; and transmitting, to the second UE, assistance data associated with one or more non- RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0249] Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 12 to 13, wherein communicating, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprises: transmitting, to the second UE, an indication of a positioning training data generation session identification (ID) for one or more non- RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0250] Clause 15. A first user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; one or more transceivers; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; and train an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0251] Clause 16. The first UE of clause 15, wherein the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on: one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); or any combination thereof.

[0252] Clause 17. The first UE of any of clauses 15 to 16, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; and derive the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on the one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0253] Clause 18. The first UE of any of clauses 15 to 17, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO67receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a second UE, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE.

[0254] Clause 19. The first UE of clause 18, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the second UE or a third UE, the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0255] Clause 20. The first UE of any of clauses 15 to 19, wherein the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed at a first time, and the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE performed at a second time.

[0256] Clause 21. The first UE of clause 20, wherein the second time is identical to the first time.

[0257] Clause 22. The first UE of any of clauses 20 to 21, wherein the second time is offset from the first time by less than or equal to a threshold,

[0258] Clause 23. The first UE of clause 22, wherein the threshold is based on: a ranging quality of service (QoS); a ranging or sidelink positioning QoS; an accuracy level of the one or more ground truth labels; a confidence level of the one or more ground truth labels; or any combination thereof.

[0259] Clause 24. The first UE of any of clauses 15 to 23, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE and the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: obtain the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE and the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements in one or more integral positioning operations.

[0260] Clause 25. The first. UE of any of clauses 15 to 23, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE separately from the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0261] Clause 26. The first UE of any of clauses 15 to 25, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO68communicate, via the one or more transceivers, with a second UE, via sidelink long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (SLPP) signaling.

[0262] Clause 27. The first UE of clause 26, wherein the one or more processors configured to communicate, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: perform a positioning capability exchange with the second UE; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second UE, assistance data associated with one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0263] Clause 28. The first UE of any of clauses 26 to 27, wherein the one or more processors configured to communicate, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to: transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second UE, an indication of a positioning training data generation session identification (ID) for one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0264] Clause 29. A first user equipment (UE), comprising: means for obtaining one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; means for obtaining one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; means for obtaining one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; and means for training an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0265] Clause 30. The first UE of clause 29, wherein the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on: one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); or any combination thereof.

[0266] Clause 31. The first UE of any of clauses 29 to 30, wherein the means for obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises: means for receiving, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; and means for deriving the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on the one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO69

[0267] Clause 32. The first UE of any of clauses 29 to 31, wwherein the means for obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises: means for receiving, from a second UE, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE.

[0268] Clause 33. The first UE of clause 32, wwherein the means for obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprises: means for receiving, from the second UE or a third UE, the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0269] Clause 34. The first UE of any of clauses 29 to 33, wherein the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed at a first time, and the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE performed at a second time.

[0270] Clause 35. The first UE of clause 34, wherein the second time is identical to the first time.

[0271] Clause 36. The first UE of any of clauses 34 to 35, wherein the second time is offset from the first time by less than or equal to a threshold.

[0272] Clause 37. The first UE of clause 36, wherein the threshold is based on: a ranging quality of service (QoS); a ranging or sidelink positioning QoS; an accuracy level of the one or more ground truth labels; a confidence level of the one or more ground truth labels; or any combination thereof.

[0273] Clause 38. The first UE of any of clauses 29 to 37, wherein obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE and obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed in one or more integral positioning operations.

[0274] Clause 39. The first UE of any of clauses 29 to 38, wherein obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE is performed separately from obtaining the one or more positioning measurements.

[0275] Clause 40. The first UE of any of clauses 29 to 39, wwherein the means for obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprises: means for communicating, with a second UE, via sidelink long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (SLPP) signaling.

[0276] Clause 41, The first UE of clause 40, wherein the means for communicating, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprises: means for performing a positioning capability exchange with the second UE; and means for transmitting, to the second UE, assistance data associated with one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO70

[0277] Clause 42. The first UE of any of clauses 40 to 41, wherein the means for communicating, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprises: means for transmitting, to the second UE, an indication of a positioning training data generation session identification (ID) for one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0278] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a first user equipment (UE), cause the first UE to: obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE; obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; and train an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

[0279] Clause 44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 43, wherein the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on: one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing; one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing; one or more non- RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing; one or more non- RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS); or any combination thereof.

[0280] Clause 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 43 to 44, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to: receive, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; and derive the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on the one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0281] Clause 46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 43 to 45, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to: receive, from a second UE, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO

[0282] Clause 47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 46, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to obtain the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to: receive, from the second UE or a third UE, the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

[0283] Clause 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 43 to 47, wherein the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed at a first time, and the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE performed at a second time.

[0284] Clause 49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 48, wherein the second time is identical to the first time.

[0285] Clause 50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 48 to 49, wherein the second time is offset from the first time by less than or equal to a threshold.

[0286] Clause 51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 50, wherein the threshold is based on: a ranging quality of service (QoS): a ranging or sidelink positioning QoS; an accuracy level of the one or more ground truth labels; a confidence level of the one or more ground truth labels; or any combination thereof.

[0287] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 43 to 51, wherein obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE and obtaining the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed in one or more integral positioning operations.

[0288] Clause 53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 43 to 52, wherein obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE is perforated separately from obtaining the one or more positioning measurements.

[0289] Clause 54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 43 to 53, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to: communicate, with a second UE, via sidelink long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (SLPP) signaling.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO

[0290] Clause 55. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 54, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to communicate, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to: perform a positioning capability exchange with the second UE; and transmit, to the second UE, assistance data associated with one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE,

[0291] Clause 56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 54 to 55, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to communicate, with tire second UE, via SLPP signaling comprise computerexecutable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to: transmit, to the second UE, an indication of a positioning training data generation session identification (ID) for one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

[0292] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0293] 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.

[0294] 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-programmable gate array QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO(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 tire 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.

[0295] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0296] 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, QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO74twisted 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.

[0297] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. For example, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Further, no component, function, action, or instruction described or claimed herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Furthermore, as used herein, the terms “set,” “group,” and the like are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Also, as used herein, the terms “has,” “have,” “having,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” and the like does not preclude the presence of one or more additional elements (e.g., an element “having” A may also have B). Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise. Also, as used herein, the term “or” is intended to be inclusive when used in a series and may be used interchangeably with “and / or,” unless explicitly stated otherwise (e.g., if used in combination with “either” or “only one of”) or the alternatives are mutually exclusive (e.g., “one or more” should not be interpreted as “one and more”). Furthermore, although components, functions, actions, and instructions may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Accordingly, as used herein, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to include one or more of the stated elements. Additionally, as used herein, the terms “at least one” and “one or more” encompass “one” component, function, action, or instruction performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality and also “two or more” components, functions, actions, or instructions performing or capable of performing a described or claimed functionality’ in combination.QC2406769WO

Claims

Qualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO73CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A first user equipment (UE), comprising:one or more memories;one or more transceivers; andone 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:obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE;obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; andtrain an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

2. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on:one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing;one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing;one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of tire first UE based on radar sensing;one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS);or any combination thereof.

3. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise tire one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO76receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a second UE, one or more non- RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; andderive the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on tire one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

4. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, from a second UE, the one or more non-RAN positioning results of tire first UE.

5. The first UE of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:receive, via the one or more transceivers, from the second UE or a third UE, the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

6. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements are performed at a first time, and the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE are based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE performed at a second time.

7. The first UE of claim 6, wherein the second time is identical to the first time.

8. The first UE of claim 6, wherein the second time is offset from the first time by less than or equal to a threshold.

9. The first UE of claim 8, wherein the threshold is based on:a ranging quality of service (QoS);a ranging or sidelink positioning QoS;an accuracy level of the one or more ground truth labels;a confidence level of the one or more ground truth labels;or any combination thereof.QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO10. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE and the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE and the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements in one or more integral positioning operations.

11. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE separately from the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements.

12. The first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors configured to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise tire one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:communicate, via the one or more transceivers, with a second UE, via sidelink long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (SLPP) signaling.

13. The first UE of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors configured to communicate, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:perform a positioning capability exchange with the second UE; and transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second UE, assistance data, associated with one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

14. The first UE of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors configured to communicate, with the second UE, via SLPP signaling comprise the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO78transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the second UE, an indication of a positioning training data generation session identification (ID) for one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

15. A method of wireless positioning performed at a first user equipment (UE), comprising:obtaining one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements; obtaining one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE;obtaining one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non- RAN positioning results of the first UE; andtraining an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing, orobtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing, orobtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing, orobtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), orany combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:obtaining the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE, comprising:QC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO79receiving, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; andderiving the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on tire one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a first user equipment (UE), cause the first UE to:obtain one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements;obtain one or more non-radio access network (non-RAN) positioning results of the first UE;obtain one or more ground truth labels corresponding to the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE; andtrain an artificial intelligence / machine learning (AIML) model based on the one or more ranging or sidelink positioning measurements and the one or more ground truth labels.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more non-RAN positioning results of tire first UE are based on:one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on optical sensing;one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on infrared sensing;one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on radar sensing;one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS);or any combination thereof.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UE to obtain the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first UE, cause the first UEQC2406769WOQualcomm Ref. No. 2406769WO80receive, from a second UE, one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE; andderive the one or more non-RAN positioning results of the first UE based on the one or more non-RAN positioning measurements of the first UE.QC2406769WO

Images