ON-DEMAND POSITIONING OF 5G DEVICES

A method comprises: at a radio access network configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) wirelessly, an access and mobility management function (AMF), and a positioning service, and through which the UE attached to a network using an attach procedure with the AMF: upon receiving a request for a location of the UE from the positioning service, scheduling resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across multiple radio units (RUs) of the radio access network, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple RUs; by the multiple RUs, exchanging, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquiring the location measurements from the multiple RUs based on exchanging; and forwarding the location measurements to the positioning service to enable the positioning service to determine the location of the UE based on the location measurements.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to positioning of a user device attached to a network.

BACKGROUND

Cellular network-based positioning is an important technology for 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) (hereinafter “5G”) vertical industries, individuals, and operators, especially in local indoor scenarios. 5G new radio (NR) positioning is introduced by 3GPP Re1.16. A location management function (LMF) resides in the 5G core network (i.e., the “3GPP packet core”) and acts as a location server. The Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) is reused for user equipment (UE) measurements for positioning, while NR positioning protocol (NRPPa) based on LPPa is used for gNodeB (gNB) (i.e., base station) measurements. NRPPa protocol data units (PDUs) are routed between an eNB/gNB and the LMF via an access and mobility management function (AMF). Thus, current UE positioning services under 3GPP/5G use a complex architecture that is dependent on 5G core network functions/elements. Long route messages between the eNB/gNB and the LMF may suffer network jitter and lead to non-real-time UE location results, instead of desired real-time results.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Overview

In an embodiment, a method comprises: at a radio access network configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) wirelessly, an access and mobility management function (AMF), and a positioning service, and through which the UE attached to a network using an attach procedure with the AMF: upon receiving a request for a location of the UE from the positioning service, scheduling resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across multiple radio units (RUs) of the radio access network, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple RUs; by the multiple RUs, exchanging, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquiring the location measurements from the multiple RUs based on exchanging; and forwarding the location measurements to the positioning service to enable the positioning service to determine the location of the UE based on the location measurements.

EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments presented herein provide a simplified architecture and related technique for acquiring on-demand, real-time, UE location for use by enterprises involved with retail, manufacturing, stadiums, and other types of venues, for example. According to the embodiments, a cloud-based location service (i.e., a “positioning service”) accessible to an enterprise determines a location of a UE for the enterprise using a simplified architecture that includes (i) a radio access network (RAN), and (ii) an AMF through which the UE accesses/attaches to a 5G network, but without using or interacting with a conventional LMF or gateway mobile location center (GMLC) in a core of the 5G network. The RAN independently reports location measurements without involving 5G core network functions. The embodiments are described below in the context of a network by way of example; however, it is understood that the embodiments apply to other types of communication networks. As used herein, the terms “location” and “position” are synonymous and may be used interchangeably.

With reference toFIG.1, there is an example network environment100in which UE positioning according to embodiments presented herein may be implemented. Network environment100includes a 5G network102comprising core elements or functions104(collectively referred to as a “5G core104”) and a disaggregated RAN106configured to communicate with each other over various network interfaces. Network environment100also includes a cloud-based positioning service108configured to communicate with core functions104, RAN106, and an enterprise109over a network110, which may include or overlap with portions of 5G network102. Network110may include one or wide area networks (WANs), such as the Internet, and or more local area networks (LANs). Network environment100further includes UEs112(1),112(2), and112(3) (collectively referred to as UEs112) configured to communicate wirelessly with 5G network102through RAN106and with positioning service108through network110. UEs112may include, but are not limited to, portable computers, Smartphones, and the like.130

Positioning service108may comprise various positioning applications hosted on one or more servers of a data center, for example. In an example, positioning service108may include the Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) spaces. Positioning service108may exchange data packets with 5G network102, enterprise109, and UEs112using any known or hereafter developed network communication protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP) suite of protocols, for example.

In the example ofFIG.1, core functions104include an AMF120, a session management function (SMF)122, and a user plane function (UPF)124. It is understood the that the 5G core includes additional functions; however, such additional functions may not be used to implement UE positioning according to the embodiments presented herein, and are therefore omitted fromFIG.1. A UE (e.g., UE112(1)) may communicate with AMF120via RAN106. AMF120may communicate control signaling (e.g., non-access stratum (NAS) signaling) with the UE using an N1 interface. AMF120may communicate control signaling with RAN106using an N2 interface. The AMF120may support termination of NAS signaling, NAS ciphering and integrity protection, registration management, connection management, and/or mobility management. AMF120may support access, authentication, and authorization (AAA) and/or security context management.

AMF120may communicate control signaling with SMF122using an N11 interface. SMF122may support session establishment, modification, and/or release. SMF122may allocate and manage the allocation of an IP address to the UE. SMF122may support dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) functions, and termination of NAS signaling related to session management. SMF122may support traffic steering configuration for UPF124.

UPF124may communicate control signaling with SMF122using an N4 interface. UPF124may communicate data signaling with the RAN106using an N3 interface. UPF124may support packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, and handling of quality of service (QoS). UPF124may function as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (DN), such as the Internet.

In the example ofFIG.1, RAN106is configured as a disaggregated RAN that includes multiple radio units (RUs)130(1),130(2), and130(3) (collectively referred to as RUs130), a distributed unit (DU)132configured to control the multiple radio units, and a centralized unit (CU)134configured to control the DU and communicate with core functions104. RUs130(1),130(2), and130(3) are also denoted RU-11, RU-12, and RU-13, respectively. Three RUs are shown inFIG.1by way of example, only. More than three RUs may be employed in the disaggregated RAN. RUs130each include one or more antennas and associated radio hardware, such as a digital front end (DFE) and physical (PHY) layer components. Each RU may include digital beamforming functionality. DU132serves as a scheduler/controller of RUs130, and may be configured with identifiers and physical coordinates of each of RUs130. DU132provides support for lower layers of the protocol stack, such as radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and the PHY layer. CU134provides support for higher layers of the protocol stack, such as the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and the radio resource control (RRC) protocol.

RUs130exchange physical resource blocks (PRBs) (also referred to as “resource blocks (RBs)”) with a UE (e.g., UE112(1)) over an air interface under control of/as scheduled by DU132. In a downlink direction, the RUs transmit downlink PRBs to the UE as scheduled by DU132. In an uplink direction, the UE transmits uplink PRBs to RUs130as scheduled by DU132. That is, DU132schedules time slots and allocates frequencies for the uplink and downlink PRBs for the UE across RUs130. For example, DU132(i) schedules time slots, and allocates frequencies, across RUs130for transmission of the downlink PRBs from the RUs to the UE, and (ii) schedules time slots, and allocates frequencies, across the RUs for reception of uplink PRBs transmitted by the UE.

At a high-level, a request for a location of a UE originated at enterprise109flows through positioning service108to DU132of RAN106. DU132schedules uplink and downlink PRBs for acquiring uplink and downlink location measurements for the UE across RUs130. Responsive to the scheduling by DU132, RUs130and the UE exchange the PRBs, derive the location measurements based on the exchange, and forward the location measurements to DU132. DU132forwards the location measurements to positioning service108via CU134. Positioning service108determines the location of the UE based on the location measurements, and forwards the location to enterprise109. The aforementioned process acquires the location of the UE without involving the LMF in the 5G network. Further details of the positioning process are described below.

With reference toFIG.2, there is a diagram of example transactions200used for positioning of a UE (e.g., UE112(1)) in network environment100. The example ofFIG.2assumes that the UE is in range of each of RUs130, meaning that PRBs transmitted by the UE may be decoded by the RUs and vice versa. Thus, RUs130are viable “observation points” for UE positioning based on the PRBs. In the example ofFIG.2, positioning service108includes Cisco DNA spaces, although other positioning services may be used in other examples.

Initially, at202, the UE performs a UE attach procedure with AMF120(and SMF122) to attach to 5G network102through RAN106. In the example, the UE attaches through RU130(1) (referred to as the “attached RU”), but not RUs130(2) and RU130(3) (referred to as the “neighboring RUs” or the “unattached RUs”). Through the attach procedure, AMF120acquires and, at204, sends to positioning service108(i) an AMF UE next generation (NG) application protocol (AP) (NGAP) identifier (ID) (“AMF UE NGAP ID”), and (ii) a gNB UE NGAP ID. The AMF UE NGAP ID and the gNB UE NGAP ID (which serves as a RAN ID for the UE) are UE network IDs used by AMF122and RAN106of 5G network102to identify the UE, respectively.

Upon receiving the network IDs, at206, positioning service108maps or associates the UE network IDs provided by AMF120to a user ID for the UE that is configured on the positioning service. That is, positioning service108creates a mapping or link between the UE network IDs and the user ID for the UE, and stores the mapping in a database accessible to the positioning service. In an example, the user ID may include one or more of a UE mobile station integrated services digital network (MSISDN) ID, an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), or the like.

At208, positioning service108receives a request for a location of the UE (i.e., a UE location request) from enterprise109. The UE location request includes the user ID. Upon receiving the UE location request, at210, positioning service108uses the user ID to access the gNB UE NGAP ID (i.e., the RAN ID) based on the mapping created at206, and forwards the UE location request to CU134along with the gNB UE NGAP ID.

Upon receiving the UE location request, at212, CU134obtains a cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) associated with the UE, based on the gNB UE NGAP ID, for example. At213, CU134queries/commands DU132to acquire/gather location measurements (also referred to as “location data” and “position measurements”) for the UE based on the C-RNTI.

Upon receiving the command from CU134, at214, DU132controls RUs130to acquire the location measurements from the RUs. That is, acting as a PRB scheduler for RUs130, DU132synchronizes PRBs for the UE in time/phase and frequency across the RUs, i.e., across the attached RU and the neighboring RUs. RUs130will employ the PRBs to derive the location measurements. Therefore, the PRBs are said to be configured for acquiring location measurements.

DU132performs scheduling operations215(1),215(2), and215(3) (collectively referred to as scheduling operations215) to allocate PRB scheduling for the UE across RUs130in order to synchronize the PRBs across the RUs. At215(1), DU132allocates PRB scheduling for the UE on the attached RU. At215(2), DU132reserves PRBs on uplink slots (i.e., “uplink PRBs”) and, optionally, reserves PRBs on downlink slots (i.e., “downlink PRBs”) for location-related transmissions. At215(3), DU132informs the neighboring RUs to perform network listen using any reserved (blank) downlink PRBs. In summary, DU132schedules/configures the attached RU to receive uplink PRBs transmitted by the UE during uplink time slots. The DU132schedules/configures the neighboring RUs to listen (i.e., perform “network listen”) for the uplink PRBs during the uplink time slots (e.g., during blank downlink PRB time slots for the neighboring RUs), and to not transmit during the uplink time slots. The DU132also schedules/configures the attached and neighboring RUs to transmit downlink PRBs to the UE during downlink time slots that are time-aligned with each other, or are sequential.

Responsive to/in accordance with the scheduling/configuration imposed by DU132across RUs130, at220, the RUs exchange the PRBs with the UE. For example, RUs130transmit the downlink PRBs to the UE, and receive the uplink PRBs transmitted by the UE. RUs130and the UE derive uplink and downlink location measurements for the UE based on the exchanged PRBs. At222, RUs130forward to DU132their respective location measurements along with the identifiers of the RUs, e.g., in channel status reports. Also, as described below, location measurements made by the UE are transmitted by the UE to DU132through RUs130.

Upon receiving the location measurements and the identifiers from RUs130, at224, DU132forwards to CU134the location measurements, the identifiers of the RUs, and the coordinates of the RUs. Upon receiving the aforementioned information from DU132, at228, CU134forwards/sends to positioning service108the location measurements (and the related RU information) along with the RAN ID receive by the CU at210. In addition, at230, CU134may periodically report to positioning service108further location measurements in continuous telemetry streams that are triggered by the CU, without dependence on (i.e., without triggers from) core functions104. Additional location measurements may be trigged at CU134/DU132based on events such as when mobility is detected on the UE or when a handover is triggered. The events may be defined based on certain thresholds using a policy framework.

Upon receiving the location measurements from CU134, at236, positioning service108determines the location of the UE based on the location measurements. For example, positioning service108, performs multi-lateration to determine the UE location, and may combine any additional location estimates (e.g., derived from IEEE 802.11/Wi-Fi® and/or Bluetooth/Bluetooth low energy (BLE) positioning algorithms) to converge on a high confidence location for the UE.

At238, positioning service108sends the location of the UE to enterprise109.

With reference toFIG.3, there is an illustration of various signals associated with synchronizing/scheduling uplink PRBs across RUs130to acquire uplink location measurements for the UE, according to an embodiment. The illustration, and description below, primarily expand on synchronizing/scheduling operations214/215ofFIG.2.

As described above, upon receiving the UE location request (e.g., in the form an NRPPa position request) from positioning service108, CU134commands DU132to acquire location measurements for the UE. Upon receiving the command, DU132synchronizes/schedules uplink PRBs for the UE for uplink location measurements as follows.

At214, DU132aligns/synchronizes physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (i.e., “data channel”) and physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (i.e., “control channel”) time-frequency resources of the DU and all of RUs130, and identifies time slots and PRBs that can be used in such a way that the UE is scheduled for an uplink exchange with only the attached RU, while the neighboring RUs remain silent during that time slot and PRB position. DU132informs the attached RU of the frequency and the demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence that will used by the UE to assist the attached RU in decoding the PRB transmitted by the UE. A prerequisite for this is that the time/phase and frequency synchronization of RUs130and DU132are expected to be under 3GPP defined limits. To achieve such synchronization, either the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or the precision time protocol (PTP) may be employed by RUs130and DU132.

Based on the data channel and control channel resources determined as described above, at215, DU132schedules the UE to transmit for location measurements on a subset of PRBs (time and frequency resource position). The PRBs scheduled to be transmitted by the UE may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) as well as a regular data burst. At the same time, DU132configures the neighboring RUs for decoding the same PRB positions allocated to the attached RU. DU132does not schedule any other UE on the neighboring RUs for the PRB resources. DU132informs each neighboring RU of the frequency and the DMRS sequence that will used by the UE to assist in decoding the SRS/data burst transmitted by the UE.

At220, the UE transmits the PRBs (e.g., the SRS) according to the arranged schedule (i.e., the allocated time and frequency). Upon receiving and decoding the PRBs transmitted by the UE, RUs130derive respective location measurements or estimates based on the PRBs. For example, each RU may derive the following location measurements or estimates: an uplink relative time of arrival (RTOA); an uplink angle of arrival (AoA); and an uplink reference signal receive power (RSRP)/received signal strength indicator (RSSI).

At222, RUs130provide their location measurements in an uplink channel status report to DU132, which post-process the location measurements, normalizes the uplink RSRP/RSSI measurements based on a number of antenna elements of the RUs, and then forwards results of the processing to CU134. At224, CU134forwards the results as processed location measurements to positioning service108.

With reference toFIG.4, there is an illustration of various signals associated with scheduling/synchronizing downlink PRBs across RUs130to acquire downlink location measurements for the UE, according to an embodiment. The illustration, and description below, primarily expand on synchronizing/scheduling operations214/215ofFIG.2.

Upon receiving from CU134the command to acquire location measurements for the UE, DU132synchronizes/schedules PRBs for the UE for downlink location measurements as follows. At214, DU132synchronizes the physical data channel and control channel downlink resources across the DU and all RUs130, and determines slot timing (i.e., time slots) for individual RUs to transmit UE specific positioning reference signals (PRSs). The PRS is a reference signal that supports downlink-based positioning methods. A prerequisite for this is that the time/phase and frequency synchronization of RUs130and DU132are expected to be under 3GPP defined limits, as described above.

At215, DU132schedules UE a specific PRS on each of RUs130per the timing established by the synchronizing. DU132also configures the UE accordingly to derive/estimate various downlink location measurements based on individual RU transmission of the PRS by each of RUs130. The downlink location measurements include downlink reference signal time difference (RSTD), downlink receive (RX)-transmit (TX) (RX-TX) time difference, downlink reference signal receive power (RSRP), and downlink angle of departure (AoD). This is achieved by configuring measurement gaps or using connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX).

At220, RUs130transmit their respective PRSs, the UE receives and decodes the PRSs, and derives the downlink location measurements based on the PRSs. The UE sends the downlink location measurements to positioning service108over a logical link/connection410established with the positioning service (which carries an initial position request from the positioning service to the UE, as well as the location measurements from the UE to the positioning service), although the physical path traversed by the downlink location measurements is through RAN106, i.e., the same path as for the uplink location measurements.

With reference toFIG.5, there is a flowchart of example operations500for UE positioning of a UE performed in a network, such as a 5G network environment (e.g.,102). The network includes a RAN (e.g.,106) configured to communicate with the UE, an AMF (e.g.,120), and a positioning service (e.g.,108). The RAN may be a disaggregated RAN including multiple RUs (e.g.,130) that are in range of the UE, a DU (e.g.,132) to control the multiple RUs, and a CU (e.g.,134) to control the DU and communicate with the positioning service. Operations500are performed without accessing (i.e., by bypassing) an LMF of the network. Operations500include operations described above.

At502, the UE performs an attach procedure with the AMF (through the RAN) to attach to the network. The UE is attached to the network through an attached RU (i.e., the RU that serves the UE) of the multiple RUs and is not attached to neighboring RUs of the multiple RUs. The AMF forwards RAN IDs for the UE to the positioning service, and the positioning service maps the RAN IDs to a user ID configured on or provided to the positioning service.

At504, the positioning service sends a request for a location of the UE to the RAN. The location request includes at least one of the RAN IDs.

Upon receiving the UE location request, at506, the RAN (e.g., the DU) schedules resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across the multiple RUs of the RAN, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple RUs.

At508, the multiple RUs, exchange, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquire/derive the location measurements from the multiple RUs based on the exchanging.

At510, the RUs (and the UE) provide their location measurements to the DU. The DU forwards the location measurements to the positioning service through the CU, which provides to the positioning service the at least one RAN ID for the UE. The location measurements enable the positioning service to determine the location of the UE.

At512, the positioning service determines the location of the UE using the forwarded location measurements, and finds the user ID based on the mapping between the RAN ID and the UE.

In summary, advantages of the embodiments presented herein include:a. Leveraging a common DU scheduler for allocating PRBs across multiple RUs to perform faster positioning measurements using a positioning service (e.g., Cisco DNA spaces) and to correlate 5G core and RAN network identifiers tor UE positioning, thus making the positioning solution enterprise friendly.b. Using the positioning service to combine multiple wireless location services to further refine the position estimate of the user device.c. Offering network applications and on-demand location service instead of the irregular or inflexible location queries normally conducted by the 5G core LMF.

The embodiments offer a novel on-demand positioning technique leveraging the unique open (O)-RAN (O-RAN)-based split architecture and readily available local/cloud wireless location servers. The technique bypasses the 3GPP core network LMF (along with its considerable overhead and invocation limitations) and, instead, uses an enterprise cloud-based location services platform (e.g., Cisco DNA Spaces) to perform UE location synergistically with other available RF links such as Wi-Fi, BLE, etc. The user may also deploy an enterprise-scaled 5G core without the need for a complex 3GPP LMF add-on. In some network deployments, standard 3GPP packet core elements, such as the AMF and the LMF, are managed by service providers, and the 3GPP packet core is provided as a service to an Enterprise customer. In this arrangement, it is difficult to integrate enterprise managed location services applications with a service provider managed LMF, unless the location services engine bypasses the 3GPP packet core. The embodiments presented herein provide a solution that bypasses the 3GPP packet core.

Referring toFIG.6,FIG.6illustrates a hardware block diagram of a computing device600that may perform functions associated with operations discussed herein in connection with the techniques depicted inFIGS.1-5In various embodiments, a computing device or apparatus, such as computing device600or any combination of computing devices600, may be configured as any entity/entities as discussed for the techniques depicted in connection withFIGS.1-5in order to perform operations of the various techniques discussed herein. For example, computing device600or portions thereof may represent AMF120, SMF122, UPF124, positioning service108, enterprise109, each of UEs112, and RAN106, including CU134, DU132, and each of RUs130.

In at least one embodiment, the computing device600may be any apparatus that may include one or more processor(s)602, one or more memory element(s)604, storage606, a bus608, one or more network processor unit(s)610interconnected with one or more network input/output (I/O) interface(s)612, one or more I/O interface(s)614, and control logic620. In various embodiments, instructions associated with logic for computing device600can overlap in any manner and are not limited to the specific allocation of instructions and/or operations described herein.

In at least one embodiment, processor(s)602is/are at least one hardware processor configured to execute various tasks, operations and/or functions for computing device600as described herein according to software and/or instructions configured for computing device600. Processor(s)602(e.g., a hardware processor) can execute any type of instructions associated with data to achieve the operations detailed herein. In one example, processor(s)602can transform an element or an article (e.g., data, information) from one state or thing to another state or thing. Any of potential processing elements, microprocessors, digital signal processor, baseband signal processor, modem, PHY, controllers, systems, managers, logic, and/or machines described herein can be construed as being encompassed within the broad term ‘processor’.

In at least one embodiment, memory element(s)604and/or storage606is/are configured to store data, information, software, and/or instructions associated with computing device600, and/or logic configured for memory element(s)604and/or storage606. For example, any logic described herein (e.g., control logic620) can, in various embodiments, be stored for computing device600using any combination of memory element(s)604and/or storage606. Note that in some embodiments, storage606can be consolidated with memory element(s)604(or vice versa) or can overlap/exist in any other suitable manner.

In at least one embodiment, bus608can be configured as an interface that enables one or more elements of computing device600to communicate in order to exchange information and/or data. Bus608can be implemented with any architecture designed for passing control, data and/or information between processors, memory elements/storage, peripheral devices, and/or any other hardware and/or software components that may be configured for computing device600. In at least one embodiment, bus608may be implemented as a fast kernel-hosted interconnect, potentially using shared memory between processes (e.g., logic), which can enable efficient communication paths between the processes.

In various embodiments, network processor unit(s)610may enable communication between computing device600and other systems, entities, etc., via network I/O interface(s)612(wired and/or wireless) to facilitate operations discussed for various embodiments described herein. In various embodiments, network processor unit(s)610can be configured as a combination of hardware and/or software, such as one or more Ethernet driver(s) and/or controller(s) or interface cards, Fibre Channel (e.g., optical) driver(s) and/or controller(s), wireless receivers/transmitters/transceivers, baseband processor(s)/modem(s), and/or other similar network interface driver(s) and/or controller(s) now known or hereafter developed to enable communications between computing device600and other systems, entities, etc. to facilitate operations for various embodiments described herein. In various embodiments, network I/O interface(s)612can be configured as one or more Ethernet port(s), Fibre Channel ports, any other I/O port(s), and/or antenna(s)/antenna array(s) now known or hereafter developed. Thus, the network processor unit(s)610and/or network I/O interface(s)612may include suitable interfaces for receiving, transmitting, and/or otherwise communicating data and/or information in a network environment.

Variations and Implementations

In summary, in some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method including: at a radio access network configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) wirelessly, an access and mobility management function (AMF), and a positioning service, and through which the UE attached to a network using an attach procedure with the AMF: upon receiving a request for a location of the UE from the positioning service, scheduling of resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across multiple radio units of the radio access network that are in range of the UE, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple radio units; by the multiple radio units, exchanging, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquiring the location measurements from the multiple radio units based on exchanging; and forwarding the location measurements to the positioning service to enable the positioning service to determine the location of the UE based on the location measurements.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein: the radio access network is a disaggregated radio access network that includes the multiple radio units, a distributed unit (DU) to control the multiple radio units, and a centralized unit (CU) through which the DU communicates with the access and mobility management function; and receiving, scheduling, and forwarding are performed by the DU.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein: the UE is attached to the network through an attached radio unit of the multiple radio units and is not attached to neighboring radio units of the multiple radio units; scheduling includes scheduling (i) the attached radio unit to receive an uplink resource block transmitted by the UE in an uplink direction during a time slot, and (ii) the neighboring radio units to listen for the uplink resource block during the time slot, and to not transmit during the time slot; and exchanging includes receiving the uplink resource block at the multiple radio units.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein: receiving the uplink resource block includes receiving a sounding reference signal transmitted by the UE at the multiple radio units; and acquiring the location measurements includes acquiring one or more of an uplink relative time of arrival (RTOA), an uplink angle of arrival (AoA), and an uplink reference signal receive power (RSRP) at each of the multiple radio units based on receiving the sounding reference signal at the multiple radio units.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein: scheduling includes scheduling the multiple radio units to transmit downlink resource blocks to the UE in a downlink direction during time slots that are aligned with each other or sequential; and exchanging includes transmitting the downlink resource blocks from the multiple radio units.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein: transmitting the downlink resource blocks includes transmitting position reference signals from the multiple radio units to the UE; and acquiring the location measurements includes acquiring, from the UE, one or more of a downlink reference signal time difference (RSTD) as measured at the UE, a downlink receive (RX)-transmit (TX) (RX-TX) time difference as measured at the UE, and a downlink reference signal receive power (RSRP) as measured as the UE that are based on transmitting the position reference signals from the multiple radio units to the UE.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, further including: at the positioning service, determining the location of the UE based on the location measurements for the UE acquired by the multiple radio units.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, further including, at the positioning service: mapping a user identifier for the UE that is configured on the positioning service to a radio access network identifier for the UE provided by the access and mobility management function; and upon receiving, from the radio access network, the location measurements as acquired by the multiple radio units and which are identified by the radio access network identifier, associating the location measurements to the user identifier based on mapping.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, wherein the network includes a 5G network.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method, further including: performing scheduling, exchanging, and forwarding without interacting with a location management function in the network.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus including: a radio access network configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) wirelessly, an access and mobility management function (AMF), and a positioning service, and through which the UE attached to a network using an attach procedure with the AMF, wherein the radio access network is configured to perform: upon receiving a request for a location of the UE from the positioning service, scheduling of resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across multiple radio units of the radio access network that are in range of the UE, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple radio units; using the multiple radio units, exchanging, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquiring the location measurements from the multiple radio units based on exchanging; and forwarding the location measurements to the positioning service to enable the positioning service to determine the location of the UE based on the location measurements.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus, wherein: the radio access network is a disaggregated radio access network that includes the multiple radio units, a distributed unit (DU) to control the multiple radio units, and a centralized unit (CU) through which the DU communicates with the AMF; and the DU is configured to perform receiving, scheduling, and forwarding.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus, wherein: the UE is attached to the network through an attached radio unit of the multiple radio units and is not attached to neighboring radio units of the multiple radio units; the radio access network is configured to perform scheduling by scheduling (i) the attached radio unit to receive an uplink resource block transmitted by the UE in an uplink direction during a time slot, and (ii) the neighboring radio units to listen for the uplink resource block during the time slot, and to not transmit during the time slot; and the multiple radio units are configured to perform exchanging by receiving the uplink resource block.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus, wherein the multiple radio units are further configured to perform: receiving the uplink resource block by receiving a sounding reference signal transmitted by the UE; and acquiring the location measurements by acquiring one or more of an uplink relative time of arrival (RTOA), an uplink angle of arrival (AoA), and an uplink reference signal receive power (RSRP) based on receiving the sounding reference signal.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus, wherein: the radio access network in configured to perform scheduling by scheduling the multiple radio units to transmit downlink resource blocks to the UE in a downlink direction during time slots that are aligned with each other or sequential; and the multiple radio units are configured to perform exchanging by transmitting the downlink resource blocks from the multiple radio units.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus, wherein the multiple radio units are further configured to perform: transmitting the downlink resource blocks by transmitting position reference signals from the multiple radio units to the UE; and acquiring the location measurements by acquiring, from the UE, one or more of a downlink reference signal time difference (RSTD) as measured at the UE, a downlink receive (RX)-transmit (TX) (RX-TX) time difference as measured at the UE, and a downlink reference signal receive power (RSRP) as measured as the UE that are based on transmitting the position reference signals from the multiple radio units to the UE.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to an apparatus, wherein the network includes a 5G network.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to non-transitory computer readable media encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a radio access network configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) wirelessly, an access and mobility management function (AMF), and a positioning service, and through which the UE attached to a network using an attach procedure with the AMF, cause the one or more processors to perform: upon receiving a request for a location of the UE from the positioning service, scheduling of resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across multiple radio units of the radio access network that are in range of the UE, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple radio units; by the multiple radio units, exchanging, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquiring the location measurements from the multiple radio units based on exchanging; and forwarding the location measurements to the positioning service to enable the positioning service to determine the location of the UE based on the location measurements.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a non-transitory computer readable media, wherein: the radio access network is a disaggregated radio access network that includes the multiple radio units, a distributed unit (DU) to control the multiple radio units, and a centralized unit (CU) through which the DU communicates with the AMF.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a non-transitory computer readable media, wherein: the UE is attached to the network through an attached radio unit of the multiple radio units and is not attached to neighboring radio units of the multiple radio units; the instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform scheduling include instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform scheduling (i) the attached radio unit to receive an uplink resource block transmitted by the UE in an uplink direction during a time slot, and (ii) the neighboring radio units to listen for the uplink resource block during the time slot, and to not transmit during the time slot; and the instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform exchanging include instructions to cause the one or more processors to perform receiving the uplink resource block at the multiple radio units.

In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a system including: a positioning service hosted on a computer; and a radio access network configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) wirelessly, an access and mobility management function (AMF), and the positioning service, and through which the UE attached to a network using an attach procedure with the AMF, wherein the radio access network is configured to perform: upon receiving a request for a location of the UE from the positioning service, scheduling of resource blocks, configured for acquiring location measurements, across multiple radio units of the radio access network that are in range of the UE, such that the resource blocks are synchronized in time and frequency across the multiple radio units; using the multiple radio units, exchanging, with the UE, the resource blocks as synchronized, and acquiring the location measurements from the multiple radio units based on exchanging; and forwarding the location measurements to the positioning service, wherein the positioning service is configured to perform determining the location of the UE based on the location measurements.