PRS Stitching Across Carriers for Accurate Wireless Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The precision of location measurements in wireless networks is limited due to the bandwidth constraints of positioning reference signals (PRS) and sounding reference signals (SRS), which affects the accuracy of UE positioning.
Innovation Solution
Aggregating PRS across multiple component carriers, bands, or frequency layers to increase the effective bandwidth and improve positioning accuracy by jointly processing multiple PRS resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If PRS bandwidth is increased to improve positioning precision, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and network resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the wideband positioning reference signal into multiple narrowband PRS components transmitted on different component carriers or frequency layers. Each narrowband component is independently transmitted and received, then combined at the UE to achieve wideband positioning precision without requiring the network to handle wideband signals directly, thus reducing network device complexity while improving location measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-frequency wideband PRS approach to a multi-dimensional approach using multiple component carriers or frequency layers. By distributing PRS across multiple frequency dimensions and combining them at the receiver, the system achieves wideband positioning precision while keeping individual transmission components simple and manageable, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.
2Measurement precision
If PRS bandwidth is increased to improve positioning accuracy, then positioning accuracy improves, but signal transmission complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the wideband PRS into multiple narrowband components that can be independently transmitted on different component carriers or frequency layers. Each narrowband component follows standard transmission procedures, maintaining ease of operation, while their combination at the UE achieves high positioning accuracy through effective bandwidth aggregation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple narrowband PRS components transmitted on different component carriers or frequency layers at the UE receiver. This merging of signals from multiple sources achieves wideband positioning accuracy while each individual component maintains simple, standardized transmission characteristics, thus improving positioning accuracy without significantly increasing transmission complexity.
3Measurement precision
If multiple PRS resources are aggregated to increase effective bandwidth, then time of arrival measurement accuracy improves, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the positioning measurement task into multiple narrowband PRS component measurements on different component carriers or frequency layers. Each component is measured independently for time of arrival, then the results are combined to achieve high-precision wideband ToA measurement. This segmentation allows standard processing for each component while achieving superior overall accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent measures time of arrival across multiple frequency dimensions (component carriers or frequency layers) and combines these measurements to achieve high-precision wideband ToA estimation. By utilizing the frequency dimension for diversification and combination, the system improves measurement accuracy while maintaining manageable processing complexity through standardized per-component handling.
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AI summary
A wireless entity, such as a user equipment (UE) or transmission reception point (TRP), receives and processes aggregated positioning reference signals (PRS) to increase the effective PRS bandwidth, thereby increasing positioning accuracy, such as time of arrival measurements. An aggregated PRS includes one or more PRS components that are transmitted from a same transmitting entity. Each PRS component may be, e.g., a separate PRS resource associated with a contiguous frequency-domain bandwidth or may be, e.g., a plurality of frequency-domain bandwidths spanned by a single PRS resource. PRS components of an aggregated PRS that are unpunctured, e.g., do not collide with higher priority signals, are aligned in time domain, and are configured with common constraints are processed jointly assuming that the PRS components are transmitted from a same antenna port, thereby increasing the effective PRS bandwidth.