Patent Description:
Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (<NUM>), a second-generation (<NUM>) digital wireless phone service (including interim <NUM> and <NUM> networks), a third-generation (<NUM>) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (<NUM>) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), etc..

A fifth generation (<NUM>) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The <NUM> standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with <NUM> gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of <NUM> mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current <NUM> standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

In <CIT>, there is described a method in a scheduler manager of a network controller unit in a mobile telecommunication system for scheduling of positioning information of a user equipment in said telecommunication system, characterized by: receiving a command for terrestrial positioning measurements of the user equipment; retrieving a list of candidate radio base stations for scheduling of radio resources and information from said candidate radio base stations on presently available radio resources; calculating scheduling commands to the respective scheduler of selected radio base stations of said candidate base stations; and signalling the scheduling commands to the selected radio base stations.

In <CIT>, there is described a central trajectory controller comprising: a cell interface configured to establish signaling connections with one or more backhaul moving cells and to establish signaling connections with one or more outer moving cells; an input data repository configured to obtain input data related to a radio environment of the one or more outer moving cells and the one or more backhaul moving cells; and a trajectory processor configured to determine, based on the input data, first coarse trajectories for the one or more backhaul moving cells and second coarse trajectories for the one or more outer moving cells, the cell interface further configured to send the first coarse trajectories to the one or more backhaul moving cells and to send the second coarse trajectories to the one or more outer moving cells.

Features of some embodiments are recited in dependent claims.

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of examples of one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter and are provided solely for illustration of the examples and not limitation thereof:.

To overcome the technical disadvantages of conventional systems and methods described above, mechanisms by which the bandwidth (BW) used by a user equipment (UE) for positioning reference signal (PRS) can be dynamically adjusted, e.g., response to environmental conditions, are presented. For example, a UE receiver may indicate to a transmitting entity a condition of the environment in which the UE is operating, and in response the transmitting entity may adjust the PRS bandwidth.

The words "exemplary" and "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. " Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be referred to interchangeably as an "access terminal" or "AT," a "client device," a "wireless device," a "subscriber device," a "subscriber terminal," a "subscriber station," a "user terminal" (UT), a "mobile device," a "mobile terminal," a "mobile station," or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network, to the Internet, or to both are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on IEEE <NUM>, etc.) and so on.

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

The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals (or simply "reference signals") the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, signaling connections, or various combinations thereof for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs, or both. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs), as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs), or both.

An "RF signal" comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary wireless communications system <NUM> according to various aspects. The wireless communications system <NUM> (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations <NUM> and various UEs <NUM>. The base stations <NUM> may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations), small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations), or both. In an aspect, the macro cell base station may include eNBs, ng-eNBs, or both, where the wireless communications system <NUM> corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system <NUM> 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 <NUM> may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network <NUM> (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a <NUM> core (5GC)) through backhaul links <NUM>, and through the core network <NUM> to one or more location servers <NUM> (which may be part of core network <NUM> or may be external to core network <NUM>). In addition to other functions, the base stations <NUM> 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), intercell 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 <NUM> may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links <NUM>, which may be wired or wireless.

In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station <NUM> in each geographic coverage area <NUM>. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas <NUM>.

While neighboring macro cell base station <NUM> geographic coverage areas <NUM> may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas <NUM> may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area <NUM>. For example, a small cell base station <NUM>' may have a coverage area <NUM>' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area <NUM> of one or more macro cell base stations <NUM>. 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 <NUM> between the base stations <NUM> and the UEs <NUM> may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE <NUM> to a base station <NUM>, downlink (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station <NUM> to a UE <NUM>, or both. The communication links <NUM> may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, transmit diversity, or various combinations thereof. The communication links <NUM> 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).

When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs <NUM>, the WLAN AP <NUM>, or various combinations thereof 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.

The small cell base station <NUM>' may operate in a licensed, an unlicensed frequency spectrum, or both. The small cell base station <NUM>', employing LTE / <NUM> in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to the access network, increase capacity of the access network, or both.

The wireless communications system <NUM> may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station <NUM> that may operate in mmW frequencies, in near mmW frequencies, or a combination thereof in communication with a UE <NUM>. The mmW base station <NUM> and the UE <NUM> may utilize beamforming (transmit, receive, or both) over a mmW communication link <NUM> to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range.

Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while canceling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting, adjust the phase setting, or a combination thereof, of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction.

Receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a transmit beam for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a receive beam for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS), narrowband reference signals (NRS) tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), etc.) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

In <NUM>, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations <NUM>/<NUM>, UEs <NUM>/<NUM>) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges, FR1 (from <NUM> to <NUM>), FR2 (from <NUM> to <NUM>), FR3 (above <NUM>), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system, such as <NUM>, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells. " In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE <NUM>/<NUM> and the cell in which the UE <NUM>/<NUM> either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE <NUM> and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs <NUM>/<NUM> in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE <NUM>/<NUM> at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," "carrier frequency," and the like can be used interchangeably.

For example, still referring to <FIG>, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations <NUM> may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell") and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations <NUM>, the mmW base station <NUM>, or a combination thereof may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). The simultaneous transmission, reception, or both of multiple carriers enables the UE <NUM>/<NUM> to significantly increase its data transmission rates, reception rates, or both.

The wireless communications system <NUM> may further include one or more UEs, such as UE <NUM>, 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>, UE <NUM> has a D2D P2P link <NUM> with one of the UEs <NUM> connected to one of the base stations <NUM> (e.g., through which UE <NUM> may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link <NUM> with WLAN STA <NUM> connected to the WLAN AP <NUM> (through which UE <NUM> may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links <NUM> and <NUM> may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on.

The wireless communications system <NUM> may further include a UE <NUM> that may communicate with a macro cell base station <NUM> over a communication link <NUM>, with the mmW base station <NUM> over a mmW communication link <NUM>, or a combination thereof. For example, the macro cell base station <NUM> may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE <NUM> and the mmW base station <NUM> may support one or more SCells for the UE <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example wireless network structure <NUM>. For example, a 5GC <NUM> (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions <NUM> (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions <NUM>, (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) <NUM> and control plane interface (NG-C) <NUM> connect the gNB <NUM> to the 5GC <NUM> and specifically to the user plane functions <NUM> and control plane functions <NUM>, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB <NUM> may also be connected to the 5GC <NUM> via NG-C <NUM> to the control plane functions <NUM> and NG-U <NUM> to user plane functions <NUM>. Further, ng-eNB <NUM> may directly communicate with gNB <NUM> via a backhaul connection <NUM>. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) <NUM> may have one or more gNBs <NUM>, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs <NUM> and gNBs <NUM>. Either (or both) gNB <NUM> or ng-eNB <NUM> may communicate with one or more UEs <NUM> (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

Another optional aspect may include a location server <NUM>, which may be in communication with the 5GC <NUM> to provide location assistance for UE(s) <NUM>. The location server <NUM> 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 <NUM> can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs <NUM> that can connect to the location server <NUM> via the core network, 5GC <NUM>, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server <NUM> 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> illustrates another example wireless network structure <NUM>. A 5GC <NUM> (which may correspond to 5GC <NUM> in <FIG>) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) <NUM>, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) <NUM>, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC <NUM>). The functions of the AMF <NUM> include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs <NUM> (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) <NUM>, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE <NUM> and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF <NUM> also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE <NUM>, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE <NUM> authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF <NUM> retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF <NUM> 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 <NUM> also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE <NUM> and a location management function (LMF) <NUM> (which acts as a location server <NUM>), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN <NUM> and the LMF <NUM>, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE <NUM> mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF <NUM> also supports functionalities for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

Functions of the UPF <NUM> 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 <NUM> may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE <NUM> and a location server, such as an SLP <NUM>.

The functions of the SMF <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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 <NUM> communicates with the AMF <NUM> is referred to as the N11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include an LMF <NUM>, which may be in communication with the 5GC <NUM> to provide location assistance for UEs <NUM>. The LMF <NUM> 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 <NUM> can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs <NUM> that can connect to the LMF <NUM> via the core network, 5GC <NUM>, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP <NUM> may support similar functions to the LMF <NUM>, but whereas the LMF <NUM> may communicate with the AMF <NUM>, NG-RAN <NUM>, and UEs <NUM> over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP <NUM> may communicate with UEs <NUM> and external clients (e.g., third-party server <NUM>) 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 <NUM>, which may be in communication with the LMF <NUM>, the SLP <NUM>, the 5GC <NUM> (e.g., via the AMF <NUM> and/or the UPF <NUM>), the NG-RAN <NUM>, and/or the UE <NUM> to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE <NUM>. As such, in some cases, the third-party server <NUM> may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server <NUM> 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 <NUM> and control plane interface <NUM> connect the 5GC <NUM>, and specifically the UPF <NUM> and AMF <NUM>, respectively, to one or more gNBs <NUM> and/or ng-eNBs <NUM> in the NG-RAN <NUM>. The interface between gNB(s) <NUM> and/or ng-eNB(s) <NUM> and the AMF <NUM> is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between gNB(s) <NUM> and/or ng-eNB(s) <NUM> and the UPF <NUM> is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNB(s) <NUM> and/or ng-eNB(s) <NUM> of the NG-RAN <NUM> may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections <NUM>, referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of gNBs <NUM> and/or ng-eNBs <NUM> may communicate with one or more UEs <NUM> over a wireless interface, referred to as the "Uu" interface.

The functionality of a gNB <NUM> may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) <NUM>, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) <NUM>, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) <NUM>. A gNB-CU <NUM> 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) <NUM>. More specifically, the gNB-CU <NUM> generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB <NUM>. A gNB-DU <NUM> is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB <NUM>. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU <NUM>. One gNB-DU <NUM> can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU <NUM>. The interface <NUM> between the gNB-CU <NUM> and the one or more gNB-DUs <NUM> is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB <NUM> is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs <NUM> that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission/reception. The interface between a gNB-DU <NUM> and a gNB-RU <NUM> is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, a UE <NUM> communicates with the gNB-CU <NUM> via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU <NUM> via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU <NUM> via the PHY layer.

<FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE <NUM> (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station <NUM> (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity <NUM> (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server <NUM> and the LMF <NUM>, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN <NUM> and/or 5GC <NUM>/<NUM> infrastructure depicted in <FIG> and <FIG>, 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 <NUM> and the base station <NUM> each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers <NUM> and <NUM>, 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 <NUM> and <NUM> may each be connected to one or more antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, 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 <NUM> and <NUM> may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> include one or more transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, and one or more receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively.

The UE <NUM> and the base station <NUM> each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> may be connected to one or more antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, 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 <NUM> and <NUM> may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals <NUM> and <NUM> (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> include one or more transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, and one or more receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> 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 <NUM> and the base station <NUM> also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal receivers <NUM> and <NUM>. The satellite signal receivers <NUM> and <NUM> may be connected to one or more antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and/or measuring satellite positioning/communication signals <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. Where the satellite signal receivers <NUM> and <NUM> are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals <NUM> and <NUM> 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 <NUM> and <NUM> are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals <NUM> and <NUM> may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data) originating from a <NUM> network. The satellite signal receivers <NUM> and <NUM> may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning/communication signals <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. The satellite signal receivers <NUM> and <NUM> 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 <NUM> and the base station <NUM>, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

The base station <NUM> and the network entity <NUM> each include one or more network transceivers <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations <NUM>, other network entities <NUM>). For example, the base station <NUM> may employ the one or more network transceivers <NUM> to communicate with other base stations <NUM> or network entities <NUM> over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity <NUM> may employ the one or more network transceivers <NUM> to communicate with one or more base station <NUM> over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities <NUM> 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 <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>). 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 <NUM> and <NUM> in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE <NUM>, base station <NUM>) to perform transmit "beamforming," as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE <NUM>, base station <NUM>) 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 <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), 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 <NUM> and <NUM>, short-range wireless transceivers <NUM> and <NUM>) 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 <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, and network transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers <NUM> and <NUM> 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 <NUM>) and a base station (e.g., base station <NUM>) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

The UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> include one or more processors <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> 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 <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> 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 <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> include memory circuitry implementing memories <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> (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 <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> may include positioning component <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, respectively. The positioning component <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning component <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be external to the processors <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may be memory modules stored in the memories <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, respectively, that, when executed by the processors <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> to perform the functionality described herein. <FIG> illustrates possible locations of the positioning component <NUM>, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the one or more processors <NUM>, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. <FIG> illustrates possible locations of the positioning component <NUM>, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the one or more processors <NUM>, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. <FIG> illustrates possible locations of the positioning component <NUM>, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the one or more processors <NUM>, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

The UE <NUM> may include one or more sensors <NUM> coupled to the one or more processors <NUM> 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 <NUM>, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers <NUM>, and/or the satellite signal receiver <NUM>. By way of example, the sensor(s) <NUM> 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) <NUM> may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) <NUM> 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 <NUM> includes a user interface <NUM> 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 <NUM> and the network entity <NUM> may also include user interfaces.

Referring to the one or more processors <NUM> in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity <NUM> may be provided to the processor <NUM>. The one or more processors <NUM> 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 <NUM> 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.

The transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may implement Layer-<NUM> (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-<NUM>, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter <NUM> handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas <NUM>. The transmitter <NUM> may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

At the UE <NUM>, the receiver <NUM> receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors <NUM>. The transmitter <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> implement Layer-<NUM> functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver <NUM> may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE <NUM>. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE <NUM>, they may be combined by the receiver <NUM> into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver <NUM> then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). 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 <NUM> on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors <NUM>, which implements Layer-<NUM> (L3) and Layer-<NUM> (L2) functionality.

In the uplink, the one or more processors <NUM> 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 <NUM> are also responsible for error detection.

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

Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station <NUM> may be used by the transmitter <NUM> to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter <NUM> may be provided to different antenna(s) <NUM>. The transmitter <NUM> may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

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

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

For convenience, the UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and/or the network entity <NUM> are shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> 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 <FIG> 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>, a particular implementation of UE <NUM> may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) <NUM> (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) <NUM> (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver <NUM>, or may omit the sensor(s) <NUM>, and so on. In another example, in case of <FIG>, a particular implementation of the base station <NUM> may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) <NUM> (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) <NUM> (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite receiver <NUM>, 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 <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM> may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE <NUM>, the base station <NUM>, and the network entity <NUM>, 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 <NUM>), the data buses <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> may provide communication between them.

The components of <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG> 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 <NUM> to <NUM> may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE <NUM> (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 <NUM> to <NUM> may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station <NUM> (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 <NUM> to <NUM> may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity <NUM> (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 <NUM>, base station <NUM>, network entity <NUM>, etc., such as the processors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, the transceivers <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, the memories <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, the positioning component <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, etc..

In some designs, the network entity <NUM> may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity <NUM> may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN <NUM> and/or 5GC <NUM>/<NUM>). For example, the network entity <NUM> may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE <NUM> via the base station <NUM> or independently from the base station <NUM> (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., PRS, TRS, narrowband reference signal (NRS), CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) 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 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 can estimate the UE's location. For DL-AoD positioning, a base station measures the angle and other channel properties (e.g., signal strength) of the downlink transmit beam used to communicate with a UE to estimate the location of the UE.

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., SRS) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, a base station measures the angle and other channel properties (e.g., gain level) of the uplink receive beam used to communicate with a UE to 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"). In an RTT procedure, an initiator (a base station or a UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a responder (a UE or base station), which transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, referred to as the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurement. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, referred to as the "Tx-Rx" measurement. The propagation time (also referred to as the "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx measurements. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, a UE performs an RTT procedure with multiple base stations to enable its location to be triangulated based on the known locations of the base stations. 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 stations.

To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server <NUM>, LMF <NUM>, SLP <NUM>) 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 positioning slots, periodicity of positioning slots, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier (ID), reference signal bandwidth, slot offset, etc.), other parameters applicable to the particular positioning method, or a combination thereof. 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.

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> is a diagram <NUM> illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure, according to aspects.

<FIG> is a diagram <NUM> illustrating an example of channels within the downlink frame structure, according to aspects. Other wireless communications technologies may have different frame structures, different channels, or both.

LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. Unlike LTE, however, NR has an option to use OFDM on the uplink as well. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers may be <NUM> and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) may be <NUM> subcarriers (or <NUM>). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may be equal to <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> for system bandwidth of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> megahertz (MHz), respectively. For example, a subband may cover <NUM> (i.e., <NUM> resource blocks), and there may be <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> subbands for system bandwidth of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM>, respectively.

LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (µ), for example, subcarrier spacing of <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> or greater may be available. Table <NUM> provided below lists some various parameters for different NR numerologies.

In the example of <FIG> and <FIG>, a numerology of <NUM> is used. Thus, in the time domain, a <NUM> millisecond (ms) frame is divided into <NUM> equally sized subframes of <NUM> each, and each subframe includes one time slot. In <FIG> and <FIG>, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., 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 NR, a subframe is <NUM> in duration, a slot is fourteen symbols in the time domain, and an RB contains twelve consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and fourteen consecutive symbols in the time domain. Thus, in NR there is one RB per slot. Depending on the SCS, an NR subframe may have fourteen symbols, twenty-eight symbols, or more, and thus may have <NUM> slot, <NUM> slots, or more.

Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). The DL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. <FIG> illustrates exemplary locations of REs carrying PRS (labeled "R").

A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is one instance of a periodically repeated time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive slots) where PRS are expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion may also 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 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' (e.g., <NUM> 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-<NUM>, for each of the fourth symbols of the PRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (e.g., subcarriers <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) are used to transmit PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb-<NUM>, comb-<NUM>, comb-<NUM>, and comb-<NUM> are supported for DL PRS. <FIG> illustrates an exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb-<NUM> (which spans six symbols). That is, the locations of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate a comb-<NUM> 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 (e.g., 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 <NUM>µ·{<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>} slots, with µ = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>} 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," can also 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 "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 (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all numerologies supported for the 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 <NUM> PRBs and a maximum of <NUM> PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, 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.

<FIG> illustrates an example of various channels within a downlink slot of a radio frame. In NR, the channel bandwidth, or system bandwidth, is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs 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>, 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 an 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 <NUM> 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>, there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols (although it could 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> 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. 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 non-MIMO downlink scheduling, for MIMO downlink scheduling, and for uplink power control. A PDCCH may be transported by <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, or <NUM> CCEs in order to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

PRS are defined for NR positioning to enable UEs to detect and measure neighboring TRPs. Several configuration are supported to enable a variety of deployments (indoor, outdoor, sub-<NUM>, millimeter wave (mmW), and others). Both UE assisted and UE based position calculation is supported in Release <NUM> and <NUM>.

Logical channel prioritization (LCP) is a procedure that is applied whenever a new transmission is performed by the UE. LCP includes rules that determine what logical channels (which are MAC layer entities) that the UE can include in an UL transmission when the UE receives an UL grant.

For data, RRC controls the scheduling of uplink data by signalling, for each logical channel per MAC entity, the following:.

RRC additionally controls the LCP procedure by configuring mapping restrictions for each logical channel, which may include the following:.

The following UE variable is used for the Logical channel prioritization procedure:.

LCP includes a filtering process, which excludes from consideration logical channels that do not meet requirements defined by the UL grant. When a new transmission is to be performed, the MAC entity will select the logical channels for each UL grant that satisfy all of the following conditions:.

The Subcarrier Spacing index, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission duration, Cell information, and priority index are included in Uplink transmission information received from lower layers for the corresponding scheduled uplink transmission.

LCP includes a prioritization process, which prioritizes logical channels that were not excluded by the filtering process. Logical channels will be added for inclusion in the UL transmission in order or priority until there is no more space for additional logical channels. Thus, lower-priority logical channels may not be included if there is not enough space for them in the UL transmission. Logical channels shall be prioritized in accordance with the following order (highest priority listed first):.

Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) are defined as Radio Bearers (RBs) that are used only for the transmission of RRC and NAS messages. More specifically, the following SRBs are defined:.

In downlink, piggybacking of NAS messages is used only for bearer establishment/modification/release. In uplink, piggybacking of NAS message is used only for transferring the initial NAS message during connection setup and connection resume. Once security is activated, all RRC messages on SRB1, SRB2 and SRB3, including those containing NAS messages, are integrity protected and ciphered by PDCP. NAS independently applies integrity protection and ciphering to the NAS messages. LPP is encapsulated within NAS, which is encapsulated within RRC.

Positioning quality of service (QoS) is indicated by an information element (IE). This IE indicates the quality of service and includes a number of sub-fields. In the case of measurements, some of the sub-fields apply to the location estimate that could be obtained by the server from the measurements provided by the target device assuming that the measurements are the only sources of error. The fields are as follows:.

All QoS requirements shall be obtained by the target device to the degree possible but it is permitted to return a response that does not fulfill all QoS requirements if some were not attainable. The single exception is time and timeNB which shall always be fulfilled - even if that means not fulfilling other QoS requirements. A target device supporting NB-IoT access shall support the responseTimeNB IE. A target device supporting high accuracy (HA) global navigation satellite system (GNSS) shall support the HorizontalAccuracyExt, VerticalAccuracyEx, and unit fields. A target device supporting NB-IoT access and HA GNSS shall support the unitNB field.

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio access network (RAN) working group <NUM> (RAN1) has come to some agreements on latency. The agreements include the following:
In Rel-<NUM> target positioning requirements for commercial use cases are defined as follows:.

In Rel-<NUM> target positioning requirements for IIoT use cases are defined as follows:.

Physical layer latency can be evaluated through analysis and, optionally, numerical evaluation.

Higher layer positioning latency can be evaluated.

<FIG> is a time-frequency graph <NUM> showing transmission and processing timing in an example of best PHY-layer latency in NR. Starting from the left side of the graph, the UE receives and measures a first positioning reference signal (PRS1), and starts processing PRS1. After PRS <NUM>, the UE transmits PUSCH and a sounding reference signal (SRS), then receives first downlink data (DLD1), during which time the UE continues to process PRS1. After DLD1, the UE again transmits PUSCH and SRS, including the results of processing PRS1. This process repeats, including receiving, processing, and reporting PRS2, and repeats again, including receiving, processing, and reporting PRS3, and so on. In this manner, the UE sends a positioning report every <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an analysis <NUM> of the sources of latency for positioning methods using PRS or SRS. Each iteration of positioning using PRS or SRS includes the time <NUM> required for PHY-layer triggering, the timespan <NUM> of the PRS or SRS instance, the time <NUM> for PRS processing to derive measurements and transmit them in the PUSCH, and the time <NUM> for reception of measurements, for computation, or for both, as well as the time for transmission to the client. RAN1 is focusing on keeping the PHY layer latency to about <NUM>. PHY layer triggering would be applicable for a single-shot location request, and may include configuration or trigger of aperiodic, semiperiodic, or periodic PRS or SRS, as well as a request for a measurement gap (MG), if needed.

Thus, conventional methods of handling of positioning-related reports run the risk that the positioning-related information does not get reported in a timely manner because the positioning-related MAC CEs may not make it into the UL transmission because they don't have sufficient priority.

In order to address the deficiencies of conventional methods of handling positioning-related reports in uplink, the following methods and apparatus for performing the methods are provided.

According to one aspect, if the UE reports positioning-related measurements, recommendations, requests, etc., to the network through an UL MAC-CE container, then in case of urgent or high-priority messages, or positioning sessions, or measurements, at least two different MAC-CE logical channel IDs are defined, each one associated with a different priority level in the ordered list of UL MAC-CE. An example modified table of priorities is shown below:.

The modified logic channel priority table above provides a mechanism by which urgent or high priority MAC CEs for positioning have a higher logical channel priority and are therefore more likely to be included in the uplink. In some aspects, one MAC-CE logical channel ID is used for high priority reports and a different MAC-CE logical channel ID is used for low priority reports.

In some embodiments, there may be a relationship between priority and a QoS of the positioning signal. For example:.

According to one aspect, if the UE reports positioning-related measurements, recommendations, requests, etc., to the network through an RRC container, then in case of urgent or high-priority messages, or positioning sessions, or measurements, SRB <NUM> or SRB2 priorities are defined or reused to be associated with high and low priorities of the positioning reports. For example:.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary method <NUM> of wireless communication, according to aspects of the disclosure. <FIG> illustrates an interaction between a UE <NUM> and a network entity <NUM>, which may be a base station, a location server, another network entity, or some combination thereof.

At <NUM>, the network entity <NUM> optionally sends a positioning reporting mapping to the UE. In some aspects, the positioning reporting mapping may be sent via RRC, MAC-CE, or LPP. The positioning reporting mapping maps positioning reports to one of multiple MAC-CE logical channel IDs, to one of multiple SRBs, or to one of a set of resources that includes both MAC-CE logical channel IDs and SRBs. In some aspects, the positioning report may be mapped to one or another MAC-CE logical channel ID or SRB based on a priority associated with the positioning report. In some aspects, the priority associated with the positioning report may be based on a mapping of positioning QoS (e.g., a QoS of the positioning session) to priority, based on how the positioning report was triggered, based on some other criterion, or a combination thereof. The positioning report is based on a positioning measurement, which may be performed at the request of the network entity <NUM> or at the initiative of the UE <NUM>. Thus, in some aspects, at <NUM>, the network entity <NUM> optionally sends a location request to the UE <NUM>. In some aspects, this request triggers the positioning measurement <NUM>. In other aspects, at <NUM>, the UE <NUM> optionally sends an on-demand request for PRS resources, the request including parameters, e.g., identifying specific resources, TRPs, etc. In some aspects, this request triggers the positioning measurement <NUM>.

At <NUM>, the UE <NUM> performs a positioning measurement, e.g., by measuring a PRS, and prepares a positioning report for uplink. In some aspects, the selection of MAC-CE logical channel (for lower level reporting) or SRB (for higher level reporting) is based at least in part on a priority associated with the positioning report. Thus, optionally, at <NUM>, the UE <NUM> determines a priority of the positioning report. At <NUM>, the UE <NUM> associates the positioning report to a MAC-CE logical channel ID and/or to an SRB, and at <NUM>, the UE <NUM> sends the positioning report to the network entity <NUM> via the MAC-CE logical channel ID and/or SRB that was associated to the positioning report.

At <NUM>, the network entity <NUM> determines the priority of the positioning report based on the MAC-CE logical channel ID and/or SRB that was used.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example process <NUM> associated with prioritization of positioning-related reports in uplink. In the independent claims, the process blocks of <FIG> are performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE <NUM>). One or more process blocks of <FIG> may be performed by one or more components of UE <NUM>, such as processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, WWAN transceiver(s) <NUM>, short-range wireless transceiver(s) <NUM>, satellite signal receiver <NUM>, sensor(s) <NUM>, user interface <NUM>, and positioning component(s) <NUM>, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes identifying at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting a positioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report have different priorities (block <NUM>). Means for performing the operation of block <NUM> may include the processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or WWAN transceiver(s) <NUM> of the UE <NUM>. For example, the UE <NUM> may identify the at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting a positioning report, e.g., using a mapping stored in memory <NUM>.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resource comprises identifying the at least one communication resource according to a mapping that associates a positioning report priority to one or more of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report.

In some aspects, the positioning report is based on measurement of a downlink signal and wherein a priority of the positioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping of positioning quality of service (QoS) to priority.

In some aspects, the priority of the positioning report to be transmitted is based on a horizontal accuracy, a vertical accuracy, a response time, a velocity request, a vertical coordinate request, or a combination thereof, associated with the positioning QoS.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resource comprises identifying at least one communication resource having a first priority if the positioning report to be transmitted is associated with a high positioning QoS and identifying at least one communication resource having a second priority lower than the first priority if the positioning report to be transmitted is associated with a low positioning QoS.

In some aspects, a priority of the positioning report to be transmitted is based on a mapping of a trigger type of the positioning report to priority.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resource comprises identifying at least one communication resource having a first priority if the positioning report was triggered by downlink control information (DCI) and identifying at least one communication resource having a second priority if the positioning report is associated with an on-demand, aperiodic, or semi-persistent PRS.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resource comprises identifying the least one communication resource according to a mapping that associates a specific request, session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to one or more of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resource comprises identifying the at least one communication resource based on parameters within an on-demand request by the UE.

In some aspects, identifying the at least one communication resource based on the parameters within the on-demand request by the UE comprises identifying the at least one communication resource based on which resources are to be transmitted, which PRS resources are to be used, which transmission reception points are to transmit reference signals, or a combination thereof.

As further shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes transmitting the positioning report via the at least one communication resource, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB) (block <NUM>). Means for performing the operation of block <NUM> may include the processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or WWAN transceiver(s) <NUM> of the UE <NUM>. For example, the UE <NUM> may transmit the positioning report via the at least one communication resource, using transmitter(s) <NUM>.

In some aspects, transmitting the positioning report via the at least one communication resource comprises transmitting the positioning report via at least one of a plurality of MAC-CE logical channel IDs, transmitting the positioning report via at least one of a plurality of SRBs, or transmitting the positioning report via at least one of a plurality comprising at least one MAC-CE logical channel ID and at least one SRB.

In some aspects, the positioning report was generated in response to a location request that specifies one or more of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report, and wherein transmitting the positioning report via the at least one communication resource comprises transmitting the positioning report via the one or more communication resources specified by the location request.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an example process <NUM> associated with prioritization of positioning-related reports in uplink in accordance with the independent claims. The process blocks of <FIG> are performed by a network entity (e.g., location server <NUM>, location server <NUM>, etc.). One or more process blocks of <FIG> may be performed by one or more components of network entity <NUM>, such as processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, network transceiver(s) <NUM>, and positioning component(s) <NUM>, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report have different priorities (block <NUM>). Means for performing the operation of block <NUM> may include the processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or network transceiver(s) <NUM> of the network entity <NUM>. For example, the network entity <NUM> may transmit, to a user equipment (UE), information for mapping a positioning report to at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report, wherein the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report have different priorities, using the network interface(s) <NUM>.

In some aspects, transmitting the information for mapping the positioning report to the at least one communication resource from the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report comprises transmitting a mapping that associates a specific request, session, set of measurements, or a combination thereof, to at least one of the plurality of communication resources, associates a specific positioning report priority to at least one of the plurality of communication resources, or a combination thereof.

As further shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes receiving, from the UE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report (block <NUM>). Means for performing the operation of block <NUM> may include the processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or network transceiver(s) <NUM> of the network entity <NUM>. For example, the network entity <NUM> may receive, from the UE, a positioning report via at least one of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report, using the network interface(s) <NUM>.

As further shown in <FIG>, process <NUM> includes determining a priority of the positioning report based on the at least one of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report, wherein the at least one communication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB) (block <NUM>). Means for performing the operation of block <NUM> may include the processor(s) <NUM>, memory <NUM>, or network transceiver(s) <NUM> of the network entity <NUM>. For example, the processor(s) <NUM> of the network entity <NUM> may determine a priority of the positioning report based on the communication resource, using a mapping stored in the memory <NUM>. In some implementations, the at least one communication resource comprises at least one of a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) logical channel ID or a signaling radio bearer (SRB).

In some aspects, determining the priority of the positioning report based on the at least one of the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report comprises determining the priority of the positioning report based on the information for mapping.

Among the various technical advantages provided by the various aspects disclosed herein, in at least some aspects, the prioritization of positioning-related reports in uplink provide at least the technical advantage of providing a mechanism which can selectively increase the likelihood that high-priority positioning information will be included in an UL transmission.

In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, two or more microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE).

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.

Claim 1:
A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment, UE, the method comprising:
identifying (<NUM>) at least one communication resource from a plurality of communication resources for transmitting a positioning report (<NUM>) that is based on measurement of downlink signals by the UE, wherein the plurality of communication resources for transmitting the positioning report have different priorities; and
transmitting (<NUM>) the positioning report via the at least one communication resource,
wherein the at least one communication resource comprises at least one of: i) a medium-access-control control element, MAC-CE, logical channel ID, or ii) a signaling radio bearer, SRB.