MEASUREMENTS IN DIFFERENT ACTIVE BANDWIDTH PARTS DURING MEASUREMENT WINDOWS BASED ON A PROCESSING CAPABILITY OF A USER EQUIPMENT

Disclosed are techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives a request to measure resources associated with a positioning frequency layer (PFL), the resources including first processing window (PPW) resources within the first PRS processing window (PPW) and second PRS resources within a second PPW. The UE measures the first PRS resources, the second PRS resources, or both, based on one or more PPW selection parameters. In another aspect, a UE determines whether processing of measurements of first resources, second resources, and third resources associated with respective measurement windows (e.g., PPW(s), measurement gap(s), etc.) exceeds a processing capability of the UE. The UE processes the measurements based on the processing capability determination.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

2. Description of the Related Art

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

SUMMARY

In an aspect, a method of operating a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; receiving a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; receiving a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receiving a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; determining whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and processing the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; receive, via the at least one transceiver, a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receive, via the at least one transceiver, a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; determine whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and process the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; means for receiving a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; means for receiving a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); means for receiving a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; means for determining whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and means for processing the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; receive a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; receive a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receive a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; determine whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and process the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102.

In an aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and/or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and/or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter/receiver pairs. In an aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.11x WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

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

In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite 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.

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

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

The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on.

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

Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

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

Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra-/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, 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.

The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

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).

Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and/or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and/or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

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

The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “F1” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission/reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

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 Non-Real Time (Non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Framework 255, or both). A CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 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.

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 radio frequency (RF) transceiver), configured to receive or transmit signals, or both, over a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

In some aspects, the CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions can include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (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 E1 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.

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.

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 O1 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 O2 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 O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO Framework 255 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via an O1 interface. The SMO Framework 255 also may include a Non-RT RIC 257 configured to support functionality of the SMO Framework 255.

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.

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 O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

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 file transmission operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicate via different technologies.

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, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

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 transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and/or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 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 receivers 330 and 370 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 (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. Where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial 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 receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 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.

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

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

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.

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 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 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.

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 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 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 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 332, 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 342, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the 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.

The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and/or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and/or the satellite signal receiver 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.

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.

Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

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 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 332, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

In the uplink, the one or more processors 332 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 332 are also responsible for error detection.

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.

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

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.

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 in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or 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 receiver 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the 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 receiver 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.

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 334, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 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 334, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

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 (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 332, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component 342, 388, and 398, etc.

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

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

For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses a measurement report from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from a UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as “multi-cell RTT” and “multi-RTT”). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), which transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as a reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be made, or may be adjusted, to include only a time difference between nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurement to a location server (e.g., an LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined from the RTT and the known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on distances to, and the known locations of, the second entities. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy.

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

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

In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty, or search window, around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be +/−500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurement are in FR1, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be +/−32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be +/−8 μs.

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

Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating an example frame structure, according to aspects of the disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communications technologies may have different frame structures and/or different channels.

LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz (μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or greater may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15 kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is 33.3 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is 16.7 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol duration is 8.33 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol duration is 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

In the example of FIG. 4, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of 1 ms each, and each subframe includes one time slot. In FIG. 4, time is represented horizontally (on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slot including one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIG. 4, for a normal cyclic prefix (CP), an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). The reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. FIG. 4 illustrates example locations of REs carrying a reference signal (labeled “R”).

Downlink PRS (DL-PRS) have been defined for NR positioning to enable UEs to detect and measure more neighboring TRPs. Several configurations are supported to enable a variety of deployments (e.g., indoor, outdoor, sub-6 GHz, mmW). In addition, both UE-assisted (where a network entity estimates the location of a target UE) and UE-based (where the target UE estimates its own location) positioning are supported. The following table illustrates various types of reference signals that can be used for various positioning methods supported in NR.

To support

the following

positioning

Signals
UE Measurements
techniques

positioning

for RRM
(SS)-RSRP (RSRP for

A collection of resource elements (REs) that are used for transmission of PRS is referred to as a “PRS resource.” The collection of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and ‘N’ (such as 1 or more) consecutive symbol(s) within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

The transmission of a PRS resource within a given PRB has a particular comb size (also referred to as the “comb density”). A comb size ‘N’ represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency/tone spacing) within each symbol of a PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size ‘N,’ PRS are transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of a PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported for DL-PRS. FIG. 4 illustrates an example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans four symbols). That is, the locations of the shaded REs (labeled “R”) indicate a comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

A “PRS resource set” is a set of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”) across slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from 2{circumflex over ( )}μ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots, with μ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource of a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and as such, a “PRS resource,” or simply “resource,” also can be referred to as a “beam.” Note that this does not have any implications on whether the TRPs and the beams on which PRS are transmitted are known to the UE.

A “PRS instance” or “PRS occasion” is one instance of a periodically repeated time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive slots) where PRS are expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion also may be referred to as a “PRS positioning occasion,” a “PRS positioning instance, a “positioning occasion,” “a positioning instance,” a “positioning repetition,” or simply an “occasion,” an “instance,” or a “repetition.”

A “positioning frequency layer” (also referred to simply as a “frequency layer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs that have the same values for certain parameters. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all numerologies supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported for PRS), the same Point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same start PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb-size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter “ARFCN-ValueNR” (where “ARFCN” stands for “absolute radio-frequency channel number”) and is an identifier/code that specifies a pair of physical radio channel used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth may have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, a UE may support up to four frequency layers across all positioning methods across all frequency bands, and up to two PRS resource sets may be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat like the concept of component carriers and bandwidth parts (BWPs), but different in that component carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or a macro cell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRS. A UE may indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when it sends the network its positioning capabilities, such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

Note that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” generally refer to specific reference signals that are used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to, PRS as defined in LTE and NR, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. In addition, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If needed to further distinguish the type of PRS, a downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a “DL-PRS,” and an uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., an SRS-for-positioning, PTRS) may be referred to as an “UL-PRS.” In addition, for signals that may be transmitted in both the uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), the signals may be prepended with “UL” or “DL” to distinguish the direction. For example, “UL-DMRS” may be differentiated from “DL-DMRS.”

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example PRS configuration 500 for the PRS transmissions of a given base station, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 5, time is represented horizontally, increasing from left to right. Each long rectangle represents a slot and each short (shaded) rectangle represents an OFDM symbol. In the example of FIG. 5, a PRS resource set 510 (labeled “PRS resource set 1”) includes two PRS resources, a first PRS resource 512 (labeled “PRS resource 1”) and a second PRS resource 514 (labeled “PRS resource 2”). The base station transmits PRS on the PRS resources 512 and 514 of the PRS resource set 510.

The PRS resource set 510 has an occasion length (N_PRS) of two slots and a periodicity (T_PRS) of, for example, 160 slots or 160 milliseconds (ms) (for 15 kHz subcarrier spacing). As such, both the PRS resources 512 and 514 are two consecutive slots in length and repeat every T_PRS slots, starting from the slot in which the first symbol of the respective PRS resource occurs. In the example of FIG. 5, the PRS resource 512 has a symbol length (N_symb) of two symbols, and the PRS resource 514 has a symbol length (N_symb) of four symbols. The PRS resource 512 and the PRS resource 514 may be transmitted on separate beams of the same base station.

Each instance of the PRS resource set 510, illustrated as instances 520a, 520b, and 520c, includes an occasion of length ‘2’ (i.e., N_PRS=2) for each PRS resource 512, 514 of the PRS resource set. The PRS resources 512 and 514 are repeated every T_PRS slots up to the muting sequence periodicity T_REP. As such, a bitmap of length T_REP would be needed to indicate which occasions of instances 520a, 520b, and 520c of PRS resource set 510 are muted (i.e., not transmitted).

In an aspect, there may be additional constraints on the PRS configuration 500. For example, for all PRS resources (e.g., PRS resources 512, 514) of a PRS resource set (e.g., PRS resource set 510), the base station can configure the following parameters to be the same: (a) the occasion length (N_PRS), (b) the number of symbols (N_symb), (c) the comb type, and/or (d) the bandwidth. In addition, for all PRS resources of all PRS resource sets, the subcarrier spacing and the cyclic prefix can be configured to be the same for one base station or for all base stations. Whether it is for one base station or all base stations may depend on the UE's capability to support the first and/or second option.

In some designs, LMF provides a full PRS configuration to gNB as assistance information, and the gNB determines the pre-configuration of measurement gap (MG). A UE-associated class 1 procedure may be used to provide a full PRS configuration to gNB as assistance information of the pre-configuration of MG. In some designs, the MG activation request may be initiated by LMF. In some designs, the signaling procedure of the MG activation request uses a UE-associated class 2 signaling procedure. In some designs, the MG activation request message may include information similar to RRC LocationMeasurementIndication message. In some designs, LMF may provide the assistance information to help gNB determine the PRS processing window (described below in more detail). In some designs, for activation request procedure initiated by non-LMF, a unified signaling procedure over NRPPa can be used for delivery of pre-configured MG and PRS processing window configuration information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating various downlink channels within an example downlink slot. In FIG. 6, time is represented horizontally (on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. In the example of FIG. 6, a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, the illustrated slot is one millisecond (ms) in length, divided into 14 symbols.

In NR, the channel bandwidth, or system bandwidth, is divided into multiple bandwidth parts (BWPs). A BWP is a contiguous set of RBs selected from a contiguous subset of the common RBs for a given numerology on a given carrier. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink, and up to four BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) may be active at a given time, meaning the UE may only receive or transmit over one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain the SSB.

Referring to FIG. 6, a primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by a UE to determine subframe/symbol timing and a physical layer identity. A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by a UE to determine a physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine a PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), which carries a master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as an SS/PBCH). The MIB provides a number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and a system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH, such as system information blocks (SIBs), and paging messages.

The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle including one or more REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry the PDCCH/DCI is referred to in NR as the control resource set (CORESET). In NR, a PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and is transmitted with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

In the example of FIG. 6, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols (although it may be only one or two symbols) in the time domain. Unlike LTE control channels, which occupy the entire system bandwidth, in NR, PDCCH channels are localized to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., a CORESET). Thus, the frequency component of the PDCCH shown in FIG. 6 is illustrated as less than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESET is contiguous in the frequency domain, it need not be. In addition, the CORESET may span less than three symbols in the time domain.

The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and descriptions about downlink data transmitted to the UE, referred to as uplink and downlink grants, respectively. More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for the downlink data channel (e.g., PDSCH) and the uplink data channel (e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for downlink scheduling, for uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. A PDCCH may be transported by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs in order to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

The following are the currently supported DCI formats. Format 0-0: fallback for scheduling of PUSCH; Format 0-1: non-fallback for scheduling of PUSCH; Format 1-0: fallback for scheduling of PDSCH; Format 1-1: non-fallback for scheduling of PDSCH; Format 2-0: notifying a group of UEs of the slot format; Format 2-1: notifying a group of UEs of the PRB(s) and OFDM symbol(s) where the UEs may assume no transmissions are intended for the UEs; Format 2-2: transmission of TPC commands for physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and PUSCH; and Format 2-3: transmission of a group of SRS requests and TPC commands for SRS transmissions. Note that a fallback format is a default scheduling option that has non-configurable fields and supports basic NR operations. In contrast, a non-fallback format is flexible to accommodate NR features.

As will be appreciated, a UE needs to be able to demodulate (also referred to as “decode”) the PDCCH in order to read the DCI, and thereby to obtain the scheduling of resources allocated to the UE on the PDSCH and PUSCH. If the UE fails to demodulate the PDCCH, then the UE will not know the locations of the PDSCH resources and it will keep attempting to demodulate the PDCCH using a different set of PDCCH candidates in subsequent PDCCH monitoring occasions. If the UE fails to demodulate the PDCCH after some number of attempts, the UE declares a radio link failure (RLF). To overcome PDCCH demodulation issues, search spaces are configured for efficient PDCCH detection and demodulation.

Generally, a UE does not attempt to demodulate each and very PDCCH candidate that may be scheduled in a slot. To reduce restrictions on the PDCCH scheduler, and at the same time to reduce the number of blind demodulation attempts by the UE, search spaces are configured. Search spaces are indicated by a set of contiguous CCEs that the UE is supposed to monitor for scheduling assignments/grants relating to a certain component carrier. There are two types of search spaces used for the PDCCH to control each component carrier, a common search space (CSS) and a UE-specific search space (USS).

A common search space is shared across all UEs, and a UE-specific search space is used per UE (i.e., a UE-specific search space is specific to a specific UE). For a common search space, a DCI cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is scrambled with a system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI), random access RNTI (RA-RNTI), temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI), paging RNTI (P-RNTI), interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), slot format indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, cell RNTI (C-RNTI), or configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI) for all common procedures. For a UE-specific search space, a DCI CRC is scrambled with a C-RNTI or CS-RNTI, as these are specifically targeted to individual UE.

A UE demodulates the PDCCH using the four UE-specific search space aggregation levels (1, 2, 4, and 8) and the two common search space aggregation levels (4 and 8). Specifically, for the UE-specific search spaces, aggregation level ‘1’ has six PDCCH candidates per slot and a size of six CCEs. Aggregation level ‘2’ has six PDCCH candidates per slot and a size of 12 CCEs. Aggregation level ‘4’ has two PDCCH candidates per slot and a size of eight CCEs. Aggregation level ‘8’ has two PDCCH candidates per slot and a size of 16 CCEs. For the common search spaces, aggregation level ‘4’ has four PDCCH candidates per slot and a size of 16 CCEs. Aggregation level ‘8’ has two PDCCH candidates per slot and a size of 16 CCEs.

Each search space comprises a group of consecutive CCEs that could be allocated to a PDCCH, referred to as a PDCCH candidate. A UE demodulates all of the PDCCH candidates in these two search spaces (USS and CSS) to discover the DCI for that UE. For example, the UE may demodulate the DCI to obtain the scheduled uplink grant information on the PUSCH and the downlink resources on the PDSCH. Note that the aggregation level is the number of REs of a CORESET that carry a PDCCH DCI message, and is expressed in terms of CCEs. There is a one-to-one mapping between the aggregation level and the number of CCEs per aggregation level. That is, for aggregation level ‘4,’ there are four CCEs. Thus, as shown above, if the aggregation level is ‘4’ and the number of PDCCH candidates in a slot is ‘2,’ then the size of the search space is ‘8’ (i.e., 4×2=8).

Referring back to PRS, the following table provides the current physical layer DL-PRS processing capabilities a UE can report. These values indicate the amount of time the UE may need in order to buffer and process DL-PRS at the physical layer.

PRS Processing Capabilities
Values

slot the UE can process
24, 32, 48, 64

UE can buffer and process
40, 45, 50} ms

The measurement window for each positioning frequency layer depends on (1) the UE's reported capabilities (e.g., from Table 2), (2) the PRS periodicity (represented as TPRS or T_PRS), (3) the measurement gap periodicity (a UE is not expected to measure PRS without a measurement gap in which to do so), and (4) the number of the UE's receive beams (if operating in FR2).

FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example DL-PRS measurement scenario, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 7, time is represented horizontally. The arrows represent a PRS periodicity 710 of 20 ms and the blocks represent PRS resources 720, within the PRS periodicities 710, having a duration of PRS symbols in milliseconds of 0.5 ms.

Based on the above considerations related to the length of the measurement window, the minimum PRS measurement window in the example of FIG. 7 would be 88 ms, given the following assumptions: (1) one PRS frequency layer in FRI, (2) PRS RSTD measurements are performed across four PRS instances (i.e., four repetitions of the PRS periodicity 710), (3) both the PRS periodicity 710 and the measurement gap periodicity (denoted “measurement gap repetition period,” or “MGRP”) are equal to 20 ms, and (4) the configured PRS resources are within the UE's PRS processing capacity. For the fourth assumption, the parameter (N, T)=(0.5 ms, 8 ms) (from Table 2), where N is the duration of the PRS resources 720 in milliseconds that the UE can process every T=8 ms. Thus, after the last PRS periodicity 710, there is an 8 ms period (i.e., T) during which the UE processes the PRS resources 720 received during the four PRS periodicities 710, resulting in a total latency of 88 ms.

For positioning procedures in which low latency is required (e.g., less than 10 ms at the physical layer), an 88 ms measurement window (as in the example of FIG. 7) at the physical layer will not suffice. FIG. 8 illustrates a table 800 of different techniques for reducing physical layer PRS processing latency, according to aspects of the disclosure.

Referring to the enhancement in the first row of table 800, different UEs may have different time-domain processing windows while ensuring that network resources can be used across UEs. FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 of an example DL-PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycles for multiple UEs, according to aspects of the disclosure. In the example of FIG. 9, three UEs have been configured to use a “DDDSU” frame structure 910 in time-division duplex (TDD) 30 kHz SCS. As noted above, for 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are 20 slots per frame and the slot duration is 0.5 ms. Thus, each block of the DDDSU frame structure 910 represents a 0.5 ms slot. The DDDSU frame structure 910 comprises repetitions of three downlink (D) slots, a special(S) slot, and an uplink (U) slot.

In the example of FIG. 9, PRS are received in the first three downlink slots of a frame and an SRS is transmitted in the fourth slot. The PRS and SRS may be received and transmitted, respectively, as part of a downlink-and-uplink-based positioning session, such as an RTT positioning session. The three slots in which the PRS are received (i.e., measured) may correspond to a PRS instance. In general, the PRS instance should be contained within a few milliseconds (here, 2 ms) of the start of the PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle. The SRS transmission (if needed, as here, for a downlink-and-uplink-based positioning procedure) should be close to the PRS instance (here, in the next slot).

As shown in FIG. 9, the first UE (labeled “UE1”) has been configured with a PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle 920, the second UE (labeled “UE2”) has been configured with a PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle 930, and the third UE (labeled “UE3”) has been configured with a PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle 940. The PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle 920, 930, and 940 may be repeated periodically (e.g., every 10 ms) for some duration of time. Each UE is expected to send a positioning report (e.g., its respective Rx-Tx time difference measurement) at the end of its PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle (e.g., every 10 ms). Each UE sends its report on a PUSCH (e.g., a configured uplink grant). Specifically, the first UE sends its report on PUSCH 924, the second UE on PUSCH 934, and the third UE on PUSCH 944.

As shown in FIG. 9, the different UEs have each been configured with their own PRS processing gap (or simply “processing gap”), or PRS processing window (or simply “processing window”), in which to process the PRS measured in the first three slots of the frame (e.g., determine the ToA of the PRS and calculate the Rx-Tx time difference measurement). Specifically, the first UE has been configured with a processing gap 922, the second UE with a processing gap 932, and the third UE with a processing gap 942. In the example of FIG. 9, each processing gap is 4 ms in length.

As shown in FIG. 9, each UE's processing gap is offset from the other UEs' processing gaps, but is still within the UE's 10 ms PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycle. In addition, there is still a PUSCH opportunity for reporting the UE's measurements after the processing gap. Even though there is a gap between the PRS instance and the processing gap for the second and third UEs, because of the short length of the UEs' respective PRS transmission, processing, and reporting cycles 930 and 940, there is limited aging between the measurement and the reporting.

A technical advantage of configuring the UEs with offset processing gaps is greater spectrum utilization. Rather than all of the UEs processing the PRS at the same time right after the PRS instance (and SRS transmission), and therefore not processing other signals, different UEs can continue to transmit and receive while other UEs do not.

Referring to the processing gaps in greater detail, as shown in FIG. 9, a processing gap is a time window after the time the PRS are received and measured. It is therefore a period of time for a UE to process the PRS (e.g., to determine the ToA of the PRS for an Rx-Tx time difference measurement or an RSTD measurement) without having to measure any other signals. Said another way, a processing gap is a period of time during which the UE prioritizes PRS over other channels, which may include prioritization over data (e.g., PDSCH), control (e.g., PDCCH), and any other reference signals. There may, however, as shown in FIG. 9, be a gap between the time of the measurement and the processing gap. Note that in some cases, depending on the capabilities of the UE, the processing gap may correspond to just the actual PRS symbols being measured.

A processing gap, or processing window, is different from a measurement gap. In a processing gap, there are no retuning gaps as in a measurement gap—the UE does not change its BWP and instead continues with the BWP it had before the processing gap. In addition, the location server (e.g., LMF 270) may determine a processing gap, and the UE would not need a processing gap to send an RRC Request to the serving base station and wait for a reply. Processing gaps will thereby reduce the signaling overhead and the latency.

Information related to a PRS processing gap may be provided in the unicast assistance data the UE receives. For example, the LPP Provide Assistance Data message may include information to determine the processing gap. Alternatively, the PRS processing gap information may be included in the LPP Provide Location Information message to the UE, or in the on-demand PRS information (e.g., UE-initiated on-demand PRS and processing gap information). A processing gap may be associated with one or more positioning frequency layers, one or more PRS resource sets, one or more PRS resources, or any combination thereof.

A UE may include a request for a specific processing gap in the LPP Assistance Data Request message. Alternatively, the UE may include PRS processing gap information in the LPP Provide Capabilities message. For example, a UE may selectively include the processing gap request for “tight” PRS processing cases (e.g., where there is limited time between the measured PRS instance and the measurement report). The request may include how long a PRS processing gap the UE needs for the low-latency PRS processing applications. For example, the UE may need 4 ms of processing time for a PRS instance with ‘X’ PRS resources sets, resources, or symbols. The location server may use this recommendation to send assistance data to the UE that are associated to a specific PRS processing gap.

The processing gap information configured to the UE and/or recommended by the UE may include (1) an offset with respect to (a) the start of a PRS instance or offset (e.g., the processing gap for the second UE in FIG. 9 has an offset of 4 ms from the start of the PRS instance), (b) the end of a PRS instance (e.g., the processing gap for the third UE in FIG. 9 has an offset of 3.5 ms from the end of the PRS instance), (c) a PRS resource offset, (d) a PRS resource set offset, or (e) a slot, subframe, or frame boundary (e.g., the processing gap for the second UE in FIG. 9 has an offset of 4.5 ms from the start of the frame), (2) a length and/or an end time of the processing gap, (3) whether the processing gap is per UE, per band, per band combination (BC), per frequency range (e.g., FRI or FR2), whether it affects LTE, and/or (4) how many PRS resources, resource sets, or instances can be processed within a processing gap of such a length. In some cases, the location of the start/offset of the processing gap may depend on the UE ID.

To configure a UE with a processing gap, the location server (e.g., LMF 270) may first send an on demand PRS configuration to the UE's serving base station and a suggestion or recommendation or demand or request for a processing gap for the UE. Note that the location server may not need to send the requested processing gap at the same time as (e.g., in the same message) the on demand PRS configuration. Second, the serving base station may send a response to the location server. The response may be an acceptance of the requested processing gap or a configuration of a different processing gap. Third, the location server sends assistance data to the UE for the positioning session. The assistance data includes the PRS configurations and the associated processing gap.

In some cases, a UE may utilize autonomous processing gaps (i.e., autonomous PRS prioritization). In such cases, after a PRS instance, if there is no measurement gap configured, the UE may drop or disregard all other traffic for some period of time without notifying the serving base station. In an aspect, there may be a maximum window inside which the UE is permitted to perform these autonomous PRS prioritizations. As one example, the UE may be expected to finish PRS processing within ‘X’ ms (e.g., 6 ms) after the end of the PRS instance, and inside that ‘X’ msec, the UE may select a period of ‘Y’ ms (where ‘Y’ less than ‘X,’ e.g., 4 ms) during which the UE autonomously prioritizes PRS over other channels. It will be up to the UE to drop or disregard any other channels and processes (e.g., CSI processes) during this window—the serving base station will not refrain from transmitting to the UE.

In an aspect, processing gap information (e.g., the processing gap offset) may be determined implicitly through a UE-specific parameter. For example, using a modulo operation with the UE's ID can result, for different UEs, in the UEs measuring the same PRS instance and still time-division multiplexing their PRS processing (as in the example of FIG. 9).

In an aspect, rather than the location server configuring a UE with a processing gap via LPP, the serving base station may configure the UE using a MAC control element (MAC-CE) or DCI.

In general, DL-PRS have lower priority than other channels in LTE and NR. This is because the UE does not expect to process DL-PRS in the same symbol where other downlink signals and channels are transmitted to the UE when there is no measurement gap configured to the UE. However, if increased DL-PRS priority over other channels is supported, there are various factors that should be taken into consideration.

Currently, the working assumption regarding PRS processing without measurement gaps (also referred to as “measurement gap-less” PRS processing, or “MG-less” PRS processing) is that, subject to UE capability, PRS measurements should be supported outside of measurement gaps, within a PRS processing window (as illustrated in, and described with reference to, FIG. 9). In addition, UE measurements inside the active downlink BWP with PRS having the same numerology as the UE's active downlink BWP should be supported.

Inside the PRS processing window (as illustrated in, and described with reference to, FIG. 9), subject to the UE determining DL-PRS to be higher priority, the following UE capabilities are expected to be supported. The first capability (referred to as “Capability 1” or a “Type 1” capability) indicates whether the UE can or is expected to prioritize PRS over all other downlink signals/channels in all symbols inside the PRS processing window. This capability includes two sub-capabilities. The first sub-capability (referred to as “Capability-1A” or a “Type 1A” capability) indicates that the downlink signals/channels from all downlink component carriers (CCs) (per UE) are affected. The second sub-capability (referred to as “Capability 1B” or a “Type 1B” capability) indicates that only the downlink signals/channels from a certain band/CC (one or multiple) are affected.

For Type 1B capability, in some cases, the PRS may be in a CC of a first frequency band, and if the UE attempts to perform PRS processing in that first CC/band, the PRS processing in another band may be affected. For example, in FR2, if the UE uses the same beam management across frequency bands, performing PRS processing in one band (and performing beam management on those PRS) may affect the beam used in the data/control/reference signals of a second band. Therefore, additional signaling may be needed. Specifically, the UE may report its capability regarding whether the measurement gap-less PRS processing in one band will impact the downlink reception in another band. This reporting may be per band pair (i.e., which pairs of bands would be affected) or per band combination (i.e., which combination of bands would be affected).

A second UE capability (referred to as “Capability 2” or a “Type 2” capability) indicates whether the UE can or is expected to prioritize PRS over other downlink signals/channels only in the PRS symbols inside the PRS processing window. A Type 2 capability may be per CC or per band, and is a more advanced capability than Type 1 capabilities. A UE is expected to be able to declare a capability for PRS processing outside of measurement gaps.

In some designs, the PRS processing window is configured per BWP. In some designs, processing type (e.g., Type 1A, 1B or 2) may be associated with the PRS processing window if and only if multiple processing types per band in the UE capability signaling is supported. As noted above, Type 1A capability indicates that the UE may drop the processing of any DL signal in any DL band and prioritize the PRS processing inside the PRS processing window. In some designs, there is no need to provide band ID and CC ID associated with the PRS processing window. In some designs, a single priority indicator may be provided for a PRS processing window, which applies to all PRS within the PRS processing window within the BWP (e.g., PRS processing window on different BWP may have different priority indicator). In some designs, the maximum number of activated PRS processing windows per BWP is 1. In some designs, the maximum number of activated PRS processing windows across all active DL BWP is 4. In some designs, the maximum number of concurrently activated PRS processing windows across all active DL BWP is 1.

For the purpose of this feature, PRS-related conditions are expected to be specified, with the following to be down-selected: (1) applicable to serving cell PRS only, or (2) applicable to all PRS under conditions to PRS of non-serving cell. Note that when the UE determines that other downlink signals/channels have a higher priority over PRS measurement/processing, the UE is not expected to measure/process DL-PRS, which is applicable to all of the above capability options.

In view of the above, further details regarding which downlink signals/channels should be prioritized over PRS would be beneficial. In addition, it would be beneficial to have further details regarding how the UE determines DL-PRS's priority based on one or more of the following: (1) based on indication/configuration from the serving base station, or (2) other options (e.g., implicit, signalling from the LMF, etc).

FIGS. 10A to 10C illustrate tables 1000, 1030, and 1050, respectively, showing various feature groups related to the different types of PRS processing capabilities and the corresponding components of those feature groups, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIGS. 10A to 10C, the acronym “MG” stands for “measurement gap.”

In the present disclosure, a UE may declare a PRS processing window capability of Type 1A, Type 1B, Type 2, or a combination thereof for PRS processing outside of measurement gaps. The UE may declare this capability to its serving base station (e.g., via RRC or MAC control element (MAC-CE) signaling) and/or the location server (e.g., via LPP)) in one or more capability messages. In the subsequent configuration/activation of PRS processing windows, if the UE has declared that it supports multiple PRS processing window types, the serving base station or the location server may include explicit signaling indicating whether the type of the PRS processing windows is Type 1A, Type 1B, or Type 2. If, however, the UE has declared a single type of PRS processing window capability, then this field may be optional.

The signaling of the type of PRS processing window can be from the location server to the serving base station (e.g., via NR positioning protocol type A (NRPPa)) to the UE (e.g., via RRC or MAC-CE), or from the base station to the UE (e.g., via RRC or MAC-CE), or from the location server to the UE (e.g., via LPP). For example, the location server may indicate to the base station that it wants the UE to apply a particular type of PRS processing window based on the UE's PRS processing capabilities, and in response, the base station will configure the UE to use/apply that type of PRS processing window.

In various aspects, a UE expects to be triggered with a single type of PRS processing window at a time. That is, the UE is not expected to apply more than one type of PRS processing window at a time. The triggered PRS processing window type (Type 1A, Type 1B, or Type 2) may apply (1) across all CCs, (2) in a single CC, or (3) in a single frequency band (or simply “band”).

In various aspects, within the same type of PRS processing window, a UE does not expect overlap of the PRS processing windows (1) across all CCs (e.g., more applicable to Type 1A), (2) within a CC (e.g., more applicable to Type 2), or (3) within a band (e.g., more applicable to Type 1B).

Where a UE has declared a PRS processing window capability of Type 1A, Type 1B, Type 2, or a combination thereof, the UE may also report a capability for the maximum number of positioning frequency layers (PFLs) it can process for the declared types of PRS processing windows. If the UE declares a Type 1A PRS processing window capability, then (1) a single PFL is assumed to be processed across all the bands, or (2) the UE reports the number of PFLs that the UE can process separately from the maximum number of PFLs that the UE can process (currently up to four PFLs), or (3) the maximum number of PFLs currently supported (four PFLs) applies for PRS processing without measurement gaps. If the UE declares a Type 1B capability, then (1) the UE may be able to process a single PFL within each band, or (2) the UE reports the number of PFLs that the UE can process separately from the maximum number of PFLs that the UE can process (currently up to four PFLs), or (3) the maximum number of PFLs currently supported (four PFLs) applies for PRS processing without measurement gaps. If the UE declares a Type 2 capability, then (1) the UE may be able to process a single PFL within each CC, or (2) the UE reports the number of PFLs that the UE can process separately from the maximum number of PFLs that the UE can process (currently up to four PFLs), or (3) the maximum number of PFLs currently supported (four PFLs) applies for PRS processing without measurement gaps.

In some cases, even for Type 2 UEs (which generally have higher capabilities than Type 1A or Type 1B UEs), a UE may support X CCs for downlink carrier aggregation (CA) but may only support up to Y PFLs for PRS processing without measurement gaps, where Y is less than X. For example, the UE may only support one PFL in each CC for the purposes of PRS processing. As a more detailed example, the same UE may declare the following PFL-related capabilities: (1) four PFLs for both measurement gap-based and measurement gap-less PRS processing, (2) two PFLs for PRS processing window Type 1A, and (3) one PFL for PRS processing window Type 1B. Note that the legacy capability (i.e., a maximum of four PFLs across all positioning methods across all frequency bands) may be interpreted as an upper bound across all types of PRS processing (i.e., measurement gap-based and measurement gap-less Type 1A, Type 1B, and Type 2).

In some aspects, the UE may transmit one or more capability messages to a first network entity, the one or more capability messages indicating one or more types of PRS processing windows that the UE is capable of applying for PRS processing without measurement gaps, wherein each type of the one or more types of PRS processing windows indicates a different capability of the UE for prioritizing PRS processing over processing of other channels. In a further aspect, the UE may receive a configuration message from a second network entity, the configuration message indicating one type of PRS processing window of the one or more types of PRS processing windows that the UE is expected to use for PRS processing windows for processing PRS.

FIG. 11 is a diagram 1100 illustrating an example PRS configuration for two TRPs (labeled “TRP1” and “TRP2”) operating in the same positioning frequency layer (labeled “Positioning Frequency Layer 1”), according to aspects of the disclosure. For a positioning session, a UE may be provided with assistance data indicating the illustrated PRS configuration. In the example of FIG. 11, the first TRP (“TRP1”) is associated with (e.g., transmits) two PRS resource sets, labeled “PRS Resource Set 1” and “PRS Resource Set 2,” and the second TRP (“TRP2”) is associated with one PRS resource set, labeled “PRS Resource Set 3.” Each PRS resource set comprises at least two PRS resources. Specifically, the first PRS resource set (“PRS Resource Set 1”) includes PRS resources labeled “PRS Resource 1” and “PRS Resource 2,” the second PRS resource set (“PRS Resource Set 2”) includes PRS resources labeled “PRS Resource 3” and “PRS Resource 4,” and the third PRS resource set (“PRS Resource Set 3”) includes PRS resources labeled “PRS Resource 5” and “PRS Resource 6.”

In some designs, for MG-less measurements within a PRS processing window (PPW) within active BW and same numerology, PRS can be measured, if it is deemed higher priority than other DL signals/channels under some conditions. The conditions at least include that the Rx timing difference between PRS from the non-serving cell and that from the serving cell is within a threshold. LMF may send a request to the serving gNB of specific PPW parameters. In some designs, the UE cannot recommend/request a PPW. In some designs, multiple PPWs can be pre-configured, and a single one can be activated using DL-MAC-CE.

In some designs, the main difference(s) of MG-less measurements within a PPW as compared to MG-based PRS processing are that (i) UL Signals/Channels are not affected/interrupted during the PPW, (ii) no need of an RF re-tuning since the UE does not change active BWP, (iii) better multiplexing of PRS with other channels/more benign interruption of DL traffic (at least for Type 1B/2), and/or (iv) PRS processed only within the PPW and expectation that the UE shall be able to report at the end of the PPW.

The above-noted Type 1A, Type 1B and Type 2 capabilities can be characterized as PPW types, as follows:

PPW Types

PRS
Domain
Domain

PPW
Prioritization
Prioritization
Prioritization
Scenario of

Type
Principle
Applicability
Applicability
Interest

Type 1A
High-Priority
All DL
All Symbols
Lowest achievable

PRS Prioritized
Bands
within the
Latency: UE can

Over All Other
(across NR
PPW
dedicate all

DL
and LTE)

resources across

(note that SSB is

NR/LTE for completing

a possible

PRS as fast as possible,

exception to this

Interruption of DL

traffic across both NR

and LTE, across all

bands

Band of PRS
All Symbols
UE can dedicate all

within the
processing/memory

PPW
resources of a band for

completing PRS, and

Interruption of DL

traffic in the PRS band

CC of PRS
PRS Only
No interruption of any

of PRS

except dropping the

channels on the

colliding symbols with

the DL PRS, and

Highest latency, but

lowest communication

interruption

In some designs as noted above, the PPW priority is indicated by gNB using RRC configuration (e.g., single priority indicator is provided for a PPW, which applies to all PRS within the PPW. In one example, UE may indicates support of two priority states including State 1 where PRS is higher priority than DL channel, and State 2 where PRS is lower priority than DL channels. In another example, UE may indicate support of three priority states including State 1 where PRS is higher priority than DL channels, State 2 where PRS is lower priority than PDCCH and URLLC PDSCH and higher priority than other PDSCH/CSI-RS (e.g., the URLLC channel corresponds a dynamically scheduled PDSCH whose PUCCH resource for carrying ACK/NAK is marked as high-priority) and State 3 where PRS is lower priority than DL channels. In another example, UE may indicate support of single priority state; namely, State 1 where PRS is higher priority than all DL channels. In the various examples above, the relative priority between PRS and SSB is flexible and may be subject to change.

In some designs, UE may indicate support of more than one processing types and corresponding PRS processing capability on a band. In some designs, gNB may decide which processing type to use. In some designs as noted above, PPW is configured per DL BWP. In some designs, the PPW configuration includes starting slot, periodicity, duration/length, SCS information, priority, and processing type. In some designs as noted above:

Aspects of the disclosure are related to configurations of PPWs on active BWPs, whereby a position estimation entity requests a UE to measure resources of a single PFL associated with the PPWs, whereby the UE measures the first PRS resources, the second PRS resources, or both, based on one or more PPW selection parameters. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improved position estimation accuracy, reduced position estimation latency, and so on.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary process 1200 of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process 1200 of FIG. 12 is performed by a UE, such as UE 302.

Referring to FIG. 12, at 1210, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a first configuration of a first PRS processing window (PPW) of a first active bandwidth part (BWP).

Referring to FIG. 12, at 1220, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a second configuration of a second PPW of a second active BWP, the first PPW and the second PPW being non-overlapping in time.

Referring to FIG. 12, at 1230, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a request to measure resources associated with a positioning frequency layer (PFL), the resources including first PRS resources within the first PPW and second PRS resources within the second PPW.

Referring to FIG. 12, at 1240, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, processor(s) 332, positioning component 342, etc.) measures the first PRS resources, the second PRS resources, or both, based on one or more PPW selection parameters.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary process 1300 of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process 1300 of FIG. 13 is performed by a position estimation entity, such as UE 302 (e.g., for UE-based position estimation), or a network component (e.g., BS 304 or network entity 306, such as LMF, or O-RAN component such as RU/CU/DU, etc.).

Referring to FIG. 13, at 1310, the position estimation entity (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) transmits, to a user equipment (UE), a first configuration of a first PRS processing window (PPW) of a first active bandwidth part (BWP).

Referring to FIG. 13, at 1320, the position estimation entity (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) transmits, to the UE, a second configuration of a second PPW of a second active BWP, the first PPW and the second PPW being non-overlapping in time.

Referring to FIG. 13, at 1330, the position estimation entity (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) transmits, o the UE, a request to measure resources associated with a positioning frequency layer (PFL), the resources including first PRS resources within the first PPW and second PRS resources within the second PPW

Referring to FIG. 13, at 1340, the position estimation entity (e.g., receiver 312 or 322 or 352 or 362, transceiver(s) 380 or 390, etc.) receives, from the UE, measurement information associated with measurements by the UE of the first PRS resources, the second PRS resources, or both, based on one or more PPW selection parameters.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example implementation 1400 of the processes 1200-1300 of FIGS. 12-13, respectively, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 14, assume that BWP1 (denoted as 1410) and BWP2 (denoted as 1420) are active, with BWP1 on CC1 and BWP2 on CC2. Two instances of PFL1 (denoted as 1430 and 1440, respectively) are shown as overlapping with both BWP1 and BWP2. In some designs, a single PPW may be active at any given time (i.e., non-overlapping PPWs). In particular, PPW1 (denoted as 1450) is on BWP1, and PPW2 (denoted as 1460 is on BWP2) at different times. Moreover, while FIG. 14 depicts BWP1 and BWP2 with the same bandwidth, in other designs BWP1 and BWP2 may have different bandwidths. Likewise, while FIG. 14 depicts PPW1 and PPW2 with the same duration, in other designs PPW1 and PPW2 may have different durations.

Referring to FIGS. 12-14, in some designs, the one or more PPW selection parameters may include, e.g.:

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the PPW timing parameter, the UE may select PPW which is earliest in time to improve time latency, such that the measured PRS resources correspond to an earliest of the first PRS resources and the second PRS resources.

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the processing time parameter, the UE may select the PPW which will improve its response time (e.g., the measured PRS resources are associated with a lower processing time than the non-measured PRS resources). In some designs, this will be the function of processing window start point and length and type. In the example before, if PPW1 is Type-2 an PPW2 is Type-1A, then even if PPW1 is configured earlier than PPW2, it may eventually take longer to finish the processing of the PRS within PPW1 compared to the PRS within PPW2.

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the bandwidth parameter, the UE may select the PPW operating on the larger BW to improve accuracy (e.g., the measured PRS resources are associated with a larger bandwidth than the non-measured PRS resources).

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the processing window length loading parameter, the UE may select the PPW operating which will have larger processing window length.

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the resource loading parameter, the resource deployment outside the processing window may be considered, and the UE may select the PPW on CC with a lower scheduling and processing load (e.g., the measured PRS resources are associated with a respective active BWP with more scheduled resources outside of the respective PPW than the non-measured PRS resources).

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the DRX parameter, the UE may select the PPW on CC which will have DRX enabled (e.g., pick the PPW that comes inside the DRX ON duration/Active Time). For example, the measured PRS resources may be associated with a respective active BWP with DRX enabled and the non-measured PRS resources are associated with a respective active BWP with DRX disabled. In another example, the measured PRS resources are associated with a respective active BWP with DRX enabled during a DRX ON period and the non-measured PRS resources are associated with a respective active BWP with DRX enabled during a DRX OFF period.

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the priority parameter, the UE may select the PPW on CC which will less priority channels scheduled. For example, the one or more PPW selection parameters may include the priority parameter, and the measured PRS resources may be associated with a higher priority than the non-measured PRS resources.

In an example where the one or more PPW selection parameters includes the collision parameter, the measured PRS resources may be associated with a respective PPW that does not include a scheduling collision and the non-measured PRS resources may be associated with a respective PPW that includes a scheduling collision, as described below with respect to FIG. 15.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example implementation 1500 of the processes 1200-1300 of FIGS. 12-13, respectively, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. 1510-1560 of FIG. 15 generally correspond to 1410-1460 of FIG. 14, respectively, except that the bandwidth of PPW2 and BWP2 is greater than the bandwidth of PPW1 and BWP1, and FIG. 15 further depicts an SSB 1570 within the PPW2 of BWP2. The SSB 1570 thereby collides with PPW2. In this case, in an example, the UE may select PPW1 so that most of the processing power for PPW2 may be allocated to SSB processing (e.g., UE selects the “collision-free” PPW).

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in some designs, only one of the first PRS resources and the second PRS resources is measured and another of the first PRS resources and the second PRS resources is non-measured.

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in some designs, both of the first PRS resources and the second PRS resources are measured. For example, consider a variation of FIG. 15 where the SSB is omitted. In this case, the first PRS resources (e.g., PPW1) may precede the second PRS resources (e.g., PPW2) in time, the second PPW (e.g., PPW2) is associated with a longer duration than the first PPW (e.g., PPW1), and the second PPW (e.g., PPW2) is associated with a larger bandwidth than the first PPW (e.g., PPW1). In an example, the UE may divide the measurement period in into (i) an acquisition and tracking phase (e.g., initial detection of cells), and (ii) a tracking phase (e.g., actual measurement and reporting of the PRS cell). In an example, the acquisition/initial detection of PRS resources may be allocated to the smaller PPW (e.g., in duration or bandwidth or both), and the tracking/actual measurement of PRS resources may be allocated to the larger processing window (e.g., in duration or bandwidth or both). Hence, in an aspect, the first PRS resources are measured in association with an acquisition phase for initial detection of cells, and the second PRS resources are measured in association with a tracking phase for PRS measurement and reporting. Again, the above-described example assumes that PPW2 is used for measurement, which may not be the case if PPW2 is excluded from measurement due to SSB collision as depicted in FIG. 15.

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in some designs, the UE may determine that the first PRS resources are associated with a line of sight (LOS) path and the second PRS resources are associated with a non-LOS (NLOS) path. In some designs, only measurement information associated with the first PRS resources is reported. For example, the UE may select the PPW which will have better LOS measurements indicator (e.g., UE may perform measurement on both PPWs, find out the LOS indicator for both PPWs, and report the measurement from the PPW which will have better LOS measurements).

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in some designs, the UE may measure the same PRS resources throughout a positioning session that includes multiple positioning reference signal (PRS) occasions. For example, the UE may be allowed to measure and report only one PPW throughout the positioning session. In this case, all the resources/TRPs in a single measurement report may be assumed to be measured through the same PPW. LMF will assume all the measurements are belong to the same bandwidth or the same PPW.

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in some designs, the UE may receive, from the position estimation entity, an indication of a set of transmission reception points (TRPs), positioning reference signal (PRS) resource sets, PRS resources, or a combination thereof, to be measured in the same PPW, and the UE may measure the first PRS resources, the second PRS resources, or both, in accordance with the indication. For example, the UE may receive, from the position estimation entity (e.g., LMF, etc.) a signaling of the group of the TRP, PRS Resource set, PRS resources that need to be measured through same PPW. For example, {TRP1, TRP2} need to be measured within the same PPW, and {TRP3, TRP4} need to be measured within the same PPW. In some designs, multiple TRP groups (or PRS resource groups) may be defined (e.g., up to UE implementation how to schedule different group in the PPW).

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, in some designs, the UE may further report measurement information based on the PRS resource measurements. In some designs, the measurement information comprises a first indication of a first bandwidth associated with the first active BWP, a second bandwidth associated with the second active BWP, or both, or the measurement information comprises a second indication of a first bandwidth offset associated with the first active BWP, a second bandwidth offset associated with the second active BWP, or both, or a combination thereof. For example, the same bandwidth at different part of BWP may have a different channel response. For example, consider a 100 MHz system bandwidth. The channel response for first 5 MHz may be uncorrelated with respect to last 5 MHz part of the system bandwidth. For the case where the UE is reporting the measurement across both the PPW, the UE may report the bandwidth and/or bandwidth offset(s) associated with each PRS bandwidth (BWP1 and BWP2, or specifically the bandwidth of the PRS resources of PPW1 and PPW2).

In some aspects, a UE may report a PRS processing capability of the UE to a position estimation entity, such as LMF. For example, the PRS processing capability of the UE may indicate a duration of DL PRS symbols N in units of ms a UE can process every T ms assuming maximum DL PRS bandwidth in MHz, which is supported and reported by UE. In some designs, the UE may report the PRS processing capability as T: {8, 16, 20, 30, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280} ms, and N: {0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 32, 35, 40, 45, 50} ms.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example configuration 1600 that depicts UE processing capability for PRS, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 16, assume that BWP1 (denoted as 1610) is active, with BWP1 on CC1. Two instances of PFL1 (denoted as 1620 and 1630, respectively) are shown as overlapping with both BWP1. A first PPW (or PPW1) is shown at 1650. In the example of FIG. 16, assume a processing capability of (N, T)=(4, 20). In other words, the UE has a processing capability of measuring 4 msec of PRS resources of every 20 msec. In some designs, the LMF may configure the UE so as to schedule a schedule maximum of 4 msec of PRS resources every 20 msec to comply with the UE processing capability. In other words, the processing capability of the UE indicates a maximum number of PRS measurements that the UE is capable of processing within a UE measurement period.

Aspects of the disclosure are related to a determination of whether processing of measurements of resources associated with different PFLs on different active BWPs will exceed a processing capability of the UE. The UE may then process the measurements associated with the resources on both PFLs based on this processing capability determination. Such aspects may provide various technical advantages, such as improved position estimation accuracy, reduced position estimation latency, and so on.

FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary process 1700 of communications according to an aspect of the disclosure. The process 1700 of FIG. 17 is performed by a UE, such as UE 302.

Referring to FIG. 17, at 1710, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window.

Referring to FIG. 17, at 1720, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window.

Referring to FIG. 17, at 1730, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL).

Referring to FIG. 17, at 1740, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, etc.) receives a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL.

Referring to FIG. 17, at 1750, UE 302 (e.g., processor(s) 332, positioning component 342, etc.) determines whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE.

Referring to FIG. 17, at 1760, UE 302 (e.g., processor(s) 332, positioning component 342, etc.) processes the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

Referring to FIG. 17, in some designs, the UE may further report, to a position estimation entity, measurement information associated with the measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources. In some designs, the UE may further transmit, to a position estimation entity (e.g., BS, LMF, etc.), an indication of the processing capability of the UE. Note that if the UE itself corresponds to the position estimation entity (e.g., for UE-based position estimation), the various receiving and reporting operations may correspond to an exchange of information between logical components of the UE).

Referring to FIG. 17, in some designs, the processing capability determination determines that the measurement of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, exceeds the processing capability of the UE, and the measurements associated with the first resources and the second resources are processed before the measurements associated with the third resources based on the processing capability determination. An example of this aspect is depicted in FIG. 17.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example implementation 1800 of the process 1700 of FIG. 17 in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 18, assume that BWP1 (denoted as 1810) and BWP2 (denoted as 1820) are active, with BWP1 on CC1 and BWP2 on CC2. Two instances of PFL1 (denoted as 1830 and 1840, respectively) are shown as overlapping with BWP1, and one instance of PFL2 (denoted as 1850) is shown as overlapping with BWP2. In FIG. 18, a first measurement window (e.g., MG1 1860) overlaps with PFL1 1830 on BWP1, a second measurement window (e.g., MG2 1870) overlaps with PFL1 1840 on BWP1, and a third measurement window (e.g., PPW1 1880) overlaps with PLF2 1850 on BWP2. In an example, PPW1 1880 is a Type 1a or Type 1b PPW. Moreover, while FIG. 18 depicts BWP1 and BWP2 with the same bandwidth, in other designs BWP1 and BWP2 may have different bandwidths. Likewise, while FIG. 18 depicts the first, second and third measurement windows with the same duration or at least a similar duration, in other designs the first, second and third measurement windows may have different durations.

Referring to FIG. 18, in some designs, similar to FIG. 16, assume the UE processing capability for PRS is (N, T)=(4, 20). In this case, the PFL2 scheduling of PPW1 1880 is within 20 msec of MG1 1860. In this case, as an example, the UE may complete processing of the measurements of both MG1 1860 and MG2 1870 before processing the PPW1 1880, even though the PPW1 1880 intervenes in time between MG1 1860 and MG2 1870. In other words, the UE will not attempt to switch back-and-forth between PFLs to process all measurement windows sequentially because this will violate the UE processing capability. In this case, the UE measurement period is based on (e.g., is equal to or corresponds to) the sum of two individual PFL periods (in this case, 2×20 msec=40 msec). While FIG. 18 depicts an example where BWP1 includes MGs and BWP2 includes PPW(s), in other designs a third MG may be used in place of PPW1. In this case, the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and the third measurement window also corresponds to a third MG.

Referring to FIG. 17, in some designs (e.g., as shown in FIG. 18), the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and the third measurement window corresponds to a PRS processing window (PPW) associated with a first active bandwidth part (BWP) of a plurality of active BWPs. In some designs (e.g., as shown in FIG. 18), the PPW is Type 1A or Type 1B, and the processing of the measurements associated with the third resources occurs outside of the third measurement window (e.g., in other words, PPW1 1880 is processed after MG2 1870, which is outside the normal measurement window for PPW1 1880).

Referring to FIG. 17, in some designs, the processing capability determination determines that the measurement of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, does not exceed the processing capability of the UE, and the measurements associated with the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, are processed sequentially. An example of this aspect is depicted in FIG. 19.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example implementation 1900 of the process 1700 of FIG. 17, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. 1910-1980 of FIG. 19 generally correspond to 1810-1890 of FIG. 18, respectively, except that PPW1 1980 is moved in time such that the processing capability of the UE is not violated.

Referring to FIG. 19, in some designs, similar to FIG. 16, assume the UE processing capability for PRS is (N, T)=(4, 20). In this case, the PFL2 scheduling of PPW1 1980 later than 20 msec of MG1 1960. In this case, as an example, the UE may complete processing of the measurements MG1 1960, MG2 1970, and PPW1 1980 (e.g., the processing order corresponds to the order of these measurement periods in time). In other words, unlike FIG. 18, the UE will switch back-and-forth between PFLs to process all measurement windows sequentially because this will not violate the UE processing capability. In this case, the UE measurement period is based on (e.g., is equal to or corresponds to) a longer (or maximum) of a first measurement period associated with the first PFL (MG period or 20 msec) and a second measurement period associated with the second PFL (PPW1 period). While FIG. 19 depicts an example where BWP1 includes MGs and BWP2 includes PPW(s), in other designs a third MG may be used in place of PPW1. In this case, the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and the third measurement window also corresponds to a third MG.

Referring to FIG. 19, in some designs (e.g., as shown in FIG. 19), the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and the third measurement window corresponds to a PRS processing window (PPW) associated with a first active bandwidth part (BWP) of a plurality of active BWPs. In some designs (e.g., as shown in FIG. 19), the PPW is Type 1A or Type 1B, and the processing of the measurements associated with the third resources occurs within the third measurement window (e.g., in contrast to FIG. 18).

FIG. 20 illustrates an example implementation 2000 of the process 1700 of FIG. 17 in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 20, assume that BWP1 (denoted as 2010) and BWP2 (denoted as 2020) are active, with BWP1 on CC1 and BWP2 on CC2. Two instances of PFL1 (denoted as 2030 and 2040, respectively) are shown as overlapping with BWP1, and one instance of PFL2 (denoted as 2050) is shown as overlapping with BWP2. In FIG. 20, a first measurement window (e.g., MG1 2060) overlaps with PFL1 2030 on BWP1, a second measurement window (e.g., MG2 2070) overlaps with PFL1 2040 on BWP1, and a third measurement window (e.g., MG3 2080) overlaps with PLF2 2050 on BWP2. A fourth measurement window (e.g., MG4 2090) is also depicted, but MG4 2090 does not overlap with PFL1 or PFL2. Moreover, while FIG. 18 depicts BWP1 and BWP2 with the same bandwidth, in other designs BWP1 and BWP2 may have different bandwidths. Likewise, while FIG. 18 depicts the first, second and third measurement windows with the same duration or at least a similar duration, in other designs the first, second and third measurement windows may have different durations.

Referring to FIG. 17, if the LMF is capable of scheduling the PFL(s) as in FIG. 19 or FIG. 20 (e.g., so that PFL2 can be measured without violating the UE processing capability), then the UE may start processing of measurements of both PFLs concurrently or simultaneously, which may reduce the UE measurement period relative to the scenario depicted in FIG. 18 (e.g., to the longer of the PFL1 and PFL2 measurement periods, rather than a sum of two PFL measurement periods as in FIG. 18).

Clause 1. A method of operating a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; receiving a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; receiving a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receiving a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; determining whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and processing the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: reporting, to a position estimation entity, measurement information associated with the measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources.

Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising: transmitting, to a position estimation entity, an indication of the processing capability of the UE.

Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the processing capability determination determines that the measurement of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, exceeds the processing capability of the UE, and wherein the measurements associated with the first resources and the second resources are processed before the measurements associated with the third resources based on the processing capability determination.

Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a positioning reference signal (PRS) processing window (PPW) associated with a first active bandwidth part (BWP) of a plurality of active BWPs.

Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the PPW is Type 1A or Type 1B, and wherein the processing of the measurements associated with the third resources occurs outside of the third measurement window.

Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 4 to 6, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a third MG.

Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 4 to 7, wherein the processing capability of the UE indicates a maximum number of PRS measurements that the UE is capable of processing within a UE measurement period.

Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein the UE measurement period is based on a sum of two measurement periods associated with the first PFL.

Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the processing capability determination determines that the measurement of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, does not exceed the processing capability of the UE, and wherein the measurements associated with the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, are processed sequentially.

Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a positioning reference signal (PRS) processing window (PPW) associated with a first active bandwidth part (BWP) of a plurality of active BWPs.

Clause 12. The method of clause 11, wherein the PPW is Type 1A or Type 1B, and wherein the processing of the measurements associated with the third resources occurs within the third measurement window.

Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 10 to 12, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a third MG.

Clause 14. The method of any of clauses 10 to 13, wherein the processing capability of the UE indicates a maximum number of PRS measurements that the UE is capable of processing within a UE measurement period.

Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein the UE measurement period is based on a longer of a first measurement period associated with the first PFL and a second measurement period associated with the second PFL.

Clause 16. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; receive, via the at least one transceiver, a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receive, via the at least one transceiver, a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; determine whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and process the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

Clause 17. The UE of clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: report, to a position estimation entity, measurement information associated with the measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources.

Clause 18. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to a position estimation entity, an indication of the processing capability of the UE.

Clause 19. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 18, wherein the processing capability determination determines that the measurement of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, exceeds the processing capability of the UE, and wherein the measurements associated with the first resources and the second resources are processed before the measurements associated with the third resources based on the processing capability determination.

Clause 20. The UE of clause 19, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a positioning reference signal (PRS) processing window (PPW) associated with a first active bandwidth part (BWP) of a plurality of active BWPs.

Clause 21. The UE of clause 20, wherein the PPW is Type 1A or Type 1B, and wherein the processing of the measurements associated with the third resources occurs outside of the third measurement window.

Clause 22. The UE of any of clauses 19 to 21, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a third MG.

Clause 23. The UE of any of clauses 19 to 22, wherein the processing capability of the UE indicates a maximum number of PRS measurements that the UE is capable of processing within a UE measurement period.

Clause 24. The UE of clause 23, wherein the UE measurement period is based on a sum of two measurement periods associated with the first PFL.

Clause 25. The UE of any of clauses 16 to 24, wherein the processing capability determination determines that the measurement of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, does not exceed the processing capability of the UE, and wherein the measurements associated with the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, are processed sequentially.

Clause 26. The UE of clause 25, wherein the first measurement window and the second measurement window correspond to a first measurement gap (MG) and a second MG, respectively, and wherein the third measurement window corresponds to a third MG.

Clause 27. The UE of any of clauses 25 to 26, wherein the processing capability of the UE indicates a maximum number of PRS measurements that the UE is capable of processing within a UE measurement period.

Clause 28. The UE of clause 27, wherein the UE measurement period is based on a longer of a first measurement period associated with the first PFL and a second measurement period associated with the second PFL.

Clause 29. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; means for receiving a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; means for receiving a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); means for receiving a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; means for determining whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and means for processing the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

Clause 30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a first configuration of a first measurement window and a second measurement window; receive a second configuration of a third measurement window, the third measurement window intervening in time between the first measurement window and the second measurement window; receive a first request to measure first resources within the first measurement window and second resources associated with the second measurement window, the first resources and the second resources associated with a first positioning frequency layer (PFL); receive a second request to measure third resources within the third measurement window, the third resources associated with a second PFL; determine whether processing of measurements of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources exceeds a processing capability of the UE; and process the measurements associated with each of the first resources, the second resources, and the third resources, based on the processing capability determination.

Clause 29. An apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor configured to perform a method according to any of clauses 1 to 28.

Clause 30. An apparatus comprising means for performing a method according to any of clauses 1 to 28.

Clause 31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any of clauses 1 to 28.