Base Station Routing for Low-Latency RAN Location Services

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Solution Overview

Problem

Implementing local LCS in wireless communication systems results in increased message latency and excessive transmission overhead due to existing messaging schemes.

Innovation Solution

A base station directly transports positioning protocol messages to RAN-based LCS entities without routing through the CN, and layers these messages over radio resource control (RRC) or NAS/RRC protocols, allowing selective access to RAN-based or CN-based LCS.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If positioning protocol messages are routed through the core network (CN) to reach RAN-based LCS entities, then message delivery is ensured through established protocols, but message latency increases and transmission overhead becomes excessive

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage delivery reliabilityVSAvoidmessage latency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the positioning message routing path by separating CN-based LCS and RAN-based LCS message flows. Positioning protocol messages are selectively routed: those destined for RAN-based LCS entities are directed through the base station (gNB) using RRC signaling, while those for CN-based LCS entities continue through the AMF. This segmentation eliminates unnecessary routing through the CN for RAN-based messages, reducing latency while maintaining reliable delivery through appropriate protocol selection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The base station (gNB) acts as an intermediary for positioning protocol messages destined for RAN-based LCS entities. Instead of routing all messages through the CN, the gNB directly receives, processes, and forwards positioning messages to the appropriate RAN-based LCS entity using RRC signaling. This intermediary role reduces message latency and transmission overhead while ensuring reliable delivery through established RRC protocols.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple protocol layers (NAS and RRC) are used to transport positioning protocol messages, then message routing flexibility is improved, but transmission overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemessage routing flexibilityVSAvoidtransmission overhead

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by selecting different protocol layering strategies based on the destination of the positioning message. For RAN-based LCS entities, positioning protocol messages are layered only over RRC signaling, eliminating the NAS layer overhead. For CN-based LCS entities, messages use the full NAS-RRC layering. This localized optimization reduces transmission overhead for RAN-based messages while maintaining routing flexibility through the appropriate protocol selection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Adaptability or versatility

If RAN-based LCS is implemented using existing messaging schemes, then local LCS functionality is achieved, but network link efficiency decreases due to excessive overhead

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocal LCS functionalityVSAvoidnetwork link efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the positioning protocol message transport from the CN-based messaging path for RAN-based LCS entities. By removing the unnecessary CN routing step and the NAS layer encapsulation for RAN-based messages, the solution achieves local LCS functionality while significantly reducing network link overhead. The positioning messages are directly transported through the RRC layer between the gNB and RAN-based LCS entities, improving network efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS12477504B2Supporting location services at a base station

Publication Date: 2025.11.18 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

To efficiently support location services, a base station receives an uplink (UL) message from a user equipment (UE) (2002). The base station determines whether the UL message includes a positioning protocol message associated with a positioning protocol for exchanging information related to a location service (2004). In a first instance, in response to determining that the UL message includes the positioning protocol message, the base station sends the positioning protocol message to a local entity that implements a location service (2010). In a second instance, in response to determining that the message does not include any positioning protocol messages, the base station sends at least some of the data included in the UL message to a remote node (2012).