TWI863467B - Long srs sequence support by srs frequency hopping and stitching - Google Patents

Abstract

Various example embodiments relate to methods and apparatuses for uplink positioning reference signal transmission. An apparatus may be configured to receive from a network device in a radio access network configuration information indicative of a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; generate a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and transmit the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information.

Description

Long SRS sequence support technology through SRS frequency hopping and splicing

Scope of this disclosure

Various example embodiments described herein relate generally to communication techniques, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for supporting long SRS sequences by SRS frequency hopping and splicing.

Background of this disclosure

Certain abbreviations that may be seen in the description and/or drawings are hereby defined as follows:

Wireless communication systems have evolved over generations to support a wide variety of service applications for end devices. For some applications, it may be useful to be able to obtain the location of the end device through the wireless communication system so that a large number of location-based services can be provided (e.g., emergency calls, navigation assistance, asset tracking, etc.). In some scenarios, it may be necessary to support positioning for reduced capability (RedCap) end devices with reduced bandwidth and a reduced number of receive RF links.

Summary of invention

The following provides a brief summary of exemplary embodiments to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. It should be noted that this summary is not intended to identify key features of basic elements or define the scope of the embodiments, and its sole purpose is to introduce some concepts in a simplified form as a preface to the more detailed description provided below.

In a first aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a terminal device in a wireless access network is provided. The terminal device may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor may cause the terminal device to at least: receive configuration information from a network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; generate a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and transmit the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information.

In a second aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a network device in a radio access network is provided. The network device may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor may cause the network device to at least: transmit configuration information to a terminal device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and receive a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In a third aspect, an exemplary embodiment of a location server is provided. The location server may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may store instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, may cause the location server to at least: receive configuration information for a terminal device in a radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and transmit the configuration information to at least one second network device in the radio access network configured to locate the terminal device.

Example embodiments of methods, apparatus, and computer program products are also provided. Such example embodiments generally correspond to the example embodiments in the above aspects, and for convenience, their repeated descriptions are omitted here.

Other features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will also become apparent when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example the principles of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

100: Cellular communication network

110:UE

120a,120b,120c:gNB

130: Location Server

200a,200b: Received signal

310,312,318,610,612,614,616,618a,622a,622b: Steps

314,316,320,620a,620b,624,710,720,730,740,810,820,830,840,910,920: Block

400: Virtual SRS resource

410: First SRS resource

420: Second SRS resource

430: Third SRS resource

440: ZC sequence, SRS sequence

450,460,470: SRS sequence part

500: Virtual SRS resource

502: The first part of the SRS sequence

504: The second part of the SRS sequence

510: First SRS resource

520: Second SRS resource

700,800,900:method,program

1000: Communication system

1010: Terminal device

1011,1021,1031:Processor

1012,1022,1032:Memory

1013,1023: transceiver

1014,1024,1034: Bus

1015,1025,1035: Program instructions

1016,1026:antenna

1020: Network device

1027: Network interface

1028: Return connection

1030: Network function node

1100,1200,1300:Equipment

1110,1210,1310:First device

1120,1220,1320: Second device

1130: Third device

Some exemplary embodiments will now be described by way of non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication network in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

Figures 2A and 2B illustrate examples of frequency hopping and splicing of DL PRS and UL SRS.

Figures 3A and 3B illustrate examples of learned sequence mapping for locating SRS resources.

FIG4 is a message flow diagram illustrating a process for frequency hopping and splicing UL SRS according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of SRS sequence generation and mapping according to an example implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of generating an SRS sequence based on a virtual SRS resource and mapping it to an associated SRS resource according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures 7A and 7B illustrate an example of SRS sequence mapping to overlapping REs between associated SRS resources according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG8 is a message flow diagram illustrating a process for locating a UE based on a virtual SRS resource configuration according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flow chart illustrating frequency hopping and splicing operations performed at a terminal device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart illustrating frequency hopping and splicing operations performed at a network device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic flow chart illustrating frequency hopping and splicing operations performed at a location server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a device in a communication system in which an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented.

FIG. 13 is a schematic functional block diagram illustrating a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a schematic functional block diagram illustrating a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a schematic functional block diagram illustrating a device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals indicate the same or similar elements. Repeated descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

Detailed description of this disclosure

Below, some example embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known circuits, technologies, and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts and features described.

As used herein, the term "terminal device" or "user equipment" (UE) refers to any entity or device that can wirelessly communicate with network devices or each other. Examples of the terminal device may include a mobile phone, a mobile terminal (MT), a mobile station (MS), a subscriber station (SS), a portable subscriber station (PSS), an access terminal (AT), a calculator, a wearable device, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device, a machine type communication (MTC) device, a D2D communication device, a V2X communication device, a sensor, etc. The term "terminal device" may be used interchangeably with a UE, a user terminal, a mobile terminal, a mobile station, or a wireless device.

As used herein, the term "network device" means any suitable entity or device that can provide a cell or coverage range, and a terminal device can access the network or receive services through any suitable entity or device. The network device can generally be referred to as a base station. The term "base station" used in this article can represent a NodeB (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), or a gNB. The base station can be specifically implemented as a macro base station, a relay node, or a low-power node, such as a micro base station or a femto base station. The base station can be composed of a number of distributed network units, such as a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DU), one or more remote radio heads (RRH) or remote radio units (RRU). The number and functionality of these distributed units depends on the chosen split RAN architecture.

As used herein, the term "network function" (NF) refers to a processing function in a network and defines the functional behavior and interface. A network function can be implemented by using dedicated hardware, or can be implemented by running software on dedicated hardware, or in the form of a virtual function on a general-purpose hardware platform. From an implementation perspective, a network function can be divided into a physical network function and a virtual network function. From a usage perspective, a network function can be divided into a dedicated network function and a shared network function.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified schematic diagram of a cellular communication network 100 in which an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. The cellular communication network 100 may be implemented as a plurality of access systems capable of supporting communications with a plurality of users sharing available system resources. The cellular communication network 100 may use one or more channel access schemes, such as time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), single user multiple input multiple output (SU-MIMO), and multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO). These multiple access schemes may be developed for 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G New Radio (NR), or beyond the 5G radio standard. For ease of illustration, FIG. 1 shows the cellular communication network 100 as a 5G NR network including a plurality of 5G base stations "gNB", but it will be understood that the example embodiments disclosed herein may also be implemented in a 4G LTE network or a beyond 5G network.

1 , a communication network 100 may include a user equipment (UE) 110 and a plurality of base stations (shown as gNBs) 120a, 120b, 120c. The plurality of base stations 120a, 120b, 120c, collectively referred to as base stations 120, may form a so-called radio access network (RAN) and provide network access to a plurality of UEs. For example, UE 110 may reside in a cell supported by base station 120a and establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection with base station 120a. UE 110 may communicate with base station 120a on uplink and downlink channels. Base station 120a may be referred to as a serving base station for UE 110, and base stations 120b, 120c may be referred to as neighboring base stations. The UL PRS of FIG1 is an uplink reference signal used to estimate the position of UE 110, such as a sounding reference signal (SRS).

In some example embodiments, the communication network 100 may use a multiple transmission reception point (TRP) architecture, where the UE 110 may transmit data to one or more transmission reception points (TRPs) and receive data from the one or more transmission reception points. The TRPs may be associated with one or more base stations 120 and/or one or more cells. The term "cell" used herein may refer to a specific geographic coverage area served by a base station, and/or a subsystem of the base station that serves the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. It will be understood that when the description herein indicates that a "cell" performs a function, the base station serving the cell will perform the functions. The example embodiments described herein are not limited to any specific deployment of TRPs, or a specific relationship between TRPs and base stations/cells. It will also be understood that, in light of the present disclosure, the term "base station" may also include a TRP, and operations performed at a base station may be performed at least in part at a TRP.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 1 , the communication network 100 may further include a location server 130 to manage the positioning of UEs connected to the network 100. The location server 130 may be a physical or logical entity, which may be implemented as a local location management component (LMC) in a base station or as a location management function (LMF) in a core network. The base station 120 may be connected to the core network via a so-called backhaul connection.

Various NR positioning aspects are introduced in 3GPP Rel.16 to implement positioning solutions based on radio access technology (RAT). For example, both downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) positioning reference signals (PRS) are introduced to facilitate positioning measurements for UE 110. More specifically, the UL positioning method can utilize the UL PRS transmitted by UE 110 to the serving base station 120a and one or more neighboring base stations such as base stations 120b, 120c. Base stations 120a, 120b and 120c can obtain positioning measurements based on the UL PRS and then send a measurement report to the location server 130 to determine the location of UE 110. The DL positioning method can utilize the DL PRS transmitted by one or more base stations 120a, 120b, 120c. The DL is obtained by UE 110 to estimate its position. Throughout the present disclosure, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to any UL or DL reference signal that can be used to perform positioning measurements. Examples of such UL reference signals may include Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), UL Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), UL Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), and any other UL reference signal that can be used for UL positioning, as defined in the 3GPP specification. In the following, for ease of explanation, SRS is described, but the features of the present disclosure are also applicable to other UL reference signals.

As mentioned above, various classes of UEs may be supported in the communication network 100. For example, several UEs are assigned to a new UE class, denoted as Reduced Capability (RedCap) UEs starting with Rel. 17. Examples of RedCap UEs may include wearable devices, industrial sensors, surveillance cameras, etc. In general, RedCap UEs are characterized as having reduced bandwidth support and reduced complexity, including the number of receive radio frequency (RF) chains compared to normal UEs. For example, a RedCap UE may have a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz for frequency range 1 in Rel. 17, which may be further reduced to, for example, 5 MHz in Rel. 18.

An important indicator for measuring positioning performance is positioning accuracy. In Rel.16, the positioning accuracy target is less than 3m, and in Rel.17, the target accuracy is increased to less than 30cm. Bandwidth resources are a key factor in positioning accuracy. In order to overcome the performance degradation caused by the narrow bandwidth of PRS resources allocated to RedCap UEs, in order to meet positioning requirements, the typical approach is frequency hopping and splicing. An SRS hopping frequency can be part or all of the bandwidth in which the UE can transmit an SRS at a time. If the base station combines the received SRS transmitted by multiple UL BWPs, an SRS hopping frequency can be defined in one UL BWP.

Figures 2A and 2B illustrate examples of frequency hopping and splicing of DL PRS and UL SRS, respectively. As shown in Figure 2A, LMF 130 can assemble broadband DL PRS resources for UE 110, and UE 110 can receive different parts of them in each measurement scenario. Then, UE 110 can splice the measurement values (measurement value #1, measurement value #2, and measurement value #3) measured in multiple PRS measurement scenarios. Therefore, UE 110 can receive broadband PRS.

However, the support for UL frequency hopping and splicing is different from the support for DL. Referring to FIG. 2B , in the case of UL frequency hopping and splicing, UE 110 can be configured to have multiple SRS (SRS resource #1, SRS resource #2, and SRS resource #3) with an appropriate time gap in between for BWP splicing. UE 110 can transmit narrowband SRS across multiple hops in the entire bandwidth. The narrowband SRS for each hop will be the maximum bandwidth of the activated UL BWP. As the transmitted SRS sequence for each hop is generated separately, base station 120 will see independent and multiple sequence groups through combined SRS measurements. That is, the combined received signal is not a single ZC sequence.

3A and 3B illustrate examples of conventional sequence mapping of SRS resources for positioning. According to current 3GPP specifications, one SRS is transmitted on every Nth subcarrier, where N represents the comb size, which can take two, four, eight or other values, and the same sequence element is allocated to resource elements (REs) across multiple symbols with different comb-offsets. For example, in the case of an SRS resource with comb-2 and 2-symbol as shown in FIG. 3A , the same sequence element is allocated to REs across two symbols with different comb-offsets. Therefore, the same sequence element is repeated twice in the frequency domain in the combined received signal 200a. Similarly, referring to FIG. 3B , for an SRS resource with comb-4 and 4-symbol, the same sequence element is allocated to four symbols with different comb-offsets, and the same sequence element is repeated four times in the frequency domain in the combined received signal 200b.

The sequence mapping rules shown in Figures 3A and 3B are not suitable for SRS frequency hopping and splicing. As discussed above, the sequence length depends on the comb-size and is very short for high comb-sizes given a preset bandwidth. If two different SRS resources have different comb-sizes and symbol numbers, it is difficult to assign the same sequence elements to overlapping resource blocks (RBs) for frequency hopping and splicing operations. In addition, the combined signal is not a single ZC sequence.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide an efficient mechanism to support long SRS sequences by frequency hopping and splicing, for example, to be used for positioning of RedCap UEs.

An exemplary embodiment of a method and apparatus for supporting long SRS sequences by frequency hopping and splicing will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the exemplary embodiment, a single long ZC sequence can be used for SRS frequency hopping and splicing. The exemplary embodiment allows bandwidth-limited UEs (e.g., RedCap UEs) to achieve full bandwidth or wide bandwidth by frequency hopping. Therefore, the positioning performance can be improved.

FIG. 4 is a message flow diagram illustrating a process for frequency hopping and splicing of uplink SRS according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in FIG. 4 may be performed by a base station and a user equipment. For example, the UE 110 and the serving base station 120a in the communication network 100 described above with reference to FIG. 1 may be configured to perform the frequency hopping and splicing process. The UE 110 and the serving base station 120a may each include a plurality of components, modules, components or elements to perform the operations discussed below, and the components, modules, components and elements may be implemented in various ways, including but not limited to, for example, software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof to perform the operations.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in operation 310, the serving base station 120a may transmit the SRS resource configuration to the UE 110, for example, via an RRC message. The base station 120a may configure the UE 110 with multiple SRS resources. For example, the multiple SRS resources may be configured for UL channel estimation, positioning, or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) related operations.

In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration of the SRS resource may include at least one of the following: duration, transmission bandwidth, comb size, cyclic shift, transmission beam information of the SRS, etc. The base station 120a may determine one or more parameters of the SRS resource configuration based on the capability information of the UE 110 and other information such as the positioning requirements of the UE 110 (e.g., positioning accuracy). The capability information may indicate the ability of the UE 110 to perform SRS frequency hopping and splicing operations. For example, the capability information may include, but is not limited to, device class (normal UE or RedCap UE), maximum transmission bandwidth, number of antennas, etc. In an example, the UE 110 may report the capability information to the base station 120a in advance or in response to receiving a request from the base station 120a. Based on the received capability information, the base station 120a may assemble and allocate multiple SRS resources that fall within the maximum transmission bandwidth of the UE 110. For example, each SRS resource may be assembled with a specific UL bandwidth part (BWP). In one example, to facilitate SRS frequency hopping, two consecutive SRS resources of the assembled SRS resources may partially overlap each other in the frequency domain.

In an operation 312, the base station 120a may transmit and the UE 110 may receive configuration information to determine SRS transmission. In one example, the configuration information may indicate a virtual SRS resource associated with a plurality of SRS resources allocated to the UE 110. The term "virtual SRS resource" means that the SRS resource does not occupy an actual physical resource, but is a logical resource to be mapped to a plurality of actual physical SRS resources. The virtual SRS resource may be considered as an aggregation of a plurality of physical SRS resources allocated to the UE 110. With the virtual SRS resource, a single long ZC sequence can be transmitted through the multiple SRS resources by SRS frequency hopping and splicing, so that more accurate positioning of the UE 110 can be achieved.

For example, the configuration information may include association information between the virtual SRS resource and the plurality of SRS resources. As discussed above, the plurality of SRS resources may be SRS resources used for various purposes, such as uplink channel state estimation, positioning, or MIMO-related operations such as transmit or receive beamforming. In one example, the association information may indicate that the plurality of SRS resources are grouped for SRS frequency hopping and splicing. In other words, if the association information is grouped, the UE 110 may understand that the base station 120a allocates the associated plurality of SRS resources for SRS frequency hopping and splicing operations.

FIG5 illustrates an example of an association between a virtual SRS resource and multiple SRS resources. As shown in FIG5, the base station 120a may assemble multiple SRS resources for the UE 110, such as a first SRS resource 410, a second SRS resource 420, and a third SRS resource 430. The first SRS resource 410, the second SRS resource 420, and the third SRS resource 430 are associated with a corresponding BWP. In one example, the assembled SRS resources 410, 420, 430 may be located in different uplink BWPs, so that UL positioning measurements for a wideband or full bandwidth may be achieved by performing frequency hopping. In addition, the base station 120a may assemble a virtual SRS resource 400 and associate it with the assembled SRS resources 410, 420, and 430. Once the association information is received, the UE 110 may understand that the SRS resources 410, 420, 430 are allocated for frequency hopping and splicing operations in positioning, and the UE 110 may continue to generate and transmit the SRS sequence, which will be described in more detail below. Please note that although three SRS resources are shown in FIG. 5, the base station 120a may still assemble more or fewer SRS resources for the UE 110.

In an exemplary embodiment, the configuration information may include other information associated with the virtual SRS resource. For example, the information may indicate a validation time of the association between the virtual SRS resource (e.g., virtual SRS resource 400) and the multiple SRS resources (e.g., SRS resources 410, 420, 430), spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams of the multiple SRS resources associated with the virtual SRS resource, or sequence generation and mapping information for generating the SRS sequence and mapping the SRS sequence to the multiple SRS resources.

In one example, the virtual SRS resource will only be applicable for the time period indicated in the confirmation time information. In other words, the virtual SRS resource configuration can be disconnected after the confirmation time has elapsed, and the configured SRS resources (e.g., SRS resources 410, 420, and 430) can be used by UE 110 for other purposes. In another example, the confirmation time is set to a default value of the associated SRS resource. For example, if the associated SRS resource is semi-persistent and disabled at a certain time, the virtual SRS resource is also disabled at that time.

The spatial relationship information may indicate the transmission beam information for the plurality of SRS resources. If the spatial relationship information is configured, the UE 110 may follow the newly configured spatial relationship information and ignore or overwrite the spatial relationship information previously used for each SRS resource configuration. In one example, the UE 110 may be configured to have the same spatial relationship information for associated SRS resources. For example, the UE 110 may transmit the SRS carried on the respective SRS resources by using the same beam width.

Base station 120a may assemble sequence generation and mapping information in the configuration information to instruct UE 110 to generate the SRS sequence and map the SRS sequence to the plurality of SRS resources. For example, the sequence generation information may include a sequence length, a sequence ID, etc. for UE 110 to determine the ZC sequence. The mapping information may include parameters such as comb-size, cyclic shift, sequence element to RE mapping, etc. Similar to the confirmation time and the spatial relationship information, the newly assembled sequence generation and mapping information may cover the corresponding configuration for the plurality of SRS resources. For example, if SRS parameters such as comb-size, cycle shift are configured for sequence generation and mapping information, UE 110 may follow the newly configured comb-size and/or cycle shift within the confirmation time and ignore the comb-size and cycle shift previously configured for SRS resources.

Referring back to FIG. 4 , at operation 314 , based on the received configuration information, UE 110 may generate an SRS sequence corresponding to the virtual SRS resource such that the SRS sequence is a complete single sequence, such as a ZC sequence. Next, at operation 316 , UE 110 may map the SRS sequence to the multiple SRS resources. In an exemplary embodiment, UE 110 may generate and map the SRS sequence based on a preset generation and mapping rule. Alternatively, if base station 120a assembles sequence generation and mapping information in the configuration information, UE 110 will follow the newly assembled information to perform operations 314 and 316.

For example, referring to FIG. 5 , for a virtual SRS resource 400, the UE 110 may generate a length-M ZC sequence 440 consisting of M sequence elements denoted as c(0), c(1), ..., c(M). The total sequence length M may be determined based on the number of subcarriers of the SRS resources 410, 420, 430 associated with the virtual SRS resource 400. In one example, the sequence length M may be determined by subtracting the number of overlapping subcarriers between the multiple SRS resources from the sum of the number of subcarriers in the multiple SRS resources.

After generating the SRS sequence 440 for the virtual SRS resource 400, the UE 110 may map the SRS sequence 440 to the SRS resources 410, 420, and 430, for example, based on the mapping information in the configuration information. For example, a sequence element in the SRS sequence 440 may be mapped to a subcarrier among a plurality of SRS resources in the frequency domain. Referring to FIG. 5 , the sequence elements c(0), c(1), . . . , c(k'+L) of the SRS sequence 440 may be mapped to the physical resource elements (REs) of the first assembled SRS resource 410. Similarly, the sequence elements c(k'), c(k'+1), ..., c(k'+L') of the SRS sequence 440 can be mapped to the REs of the SRS resource 420, and the sequence elements c(k'+m), ..., c(M) of the SRS sequence 440 can be mapped to the REs of the SRS resource 430. In other words, the SRS resources 410, 420, 430 can transmit different parts of the SRS sequence 440, and these different parts can partially overlap.

In an exemplary embodiment, when two SRS resources of the plurality of SRS resources 410, 420, and 430 have overlapping BWPs, resource blocks (RBs), or subcarriers, corresponding two portions of the SRS sequence 440 mapped to the two SRS resources may include the same sequence segment mapped to the overlapping subcarriers. As shown in FIG. 5, sequence elements c(k'), c(k'+1), ..., c(k'+L) are mapped to both the SRS resource 410 and the SRS resource 420 in the overlapping subcarriers. Similarly, sequence elements c(k'+m), ..., c(k'+L') are mapped to both the SRS resource 420 and the SRS resource 430 in the overlapping subcarriers. In this way, the base station 120a can see a single complete ZC sequence across three SRS resource BWPs.

As discussed above, the SRS sequence generation and mapping rules of the present disclosure are different from the current rules described above with reference to FIGS. 3A-3B . Other aspects of the generation and mapping rules will be described in more detail with respect to FIGS. 6-7 .

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of SRS sequence generation based on virtual SRS resources and mapping to associated SRS resources according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6 , a first SRS resource 510 and a second SRS resource 520 may be configured for UE 110 for frequency hopping. The first SRS resource 510 is configured to have a comb-2 structure, which includes 24 subcarriers in the frequency domain and spans two consecutive symbols in the time domain. The second SRS resource 520 is configured to have a comb-4 structure, which also includes 24 subcarriers in the frequency domain, but spans four consecutive symbols in the time domain. As shown, the first SRS resource 510 and the second SRS resource 520 partially overlap in the frequency domain.

When the base station 120a configures the UE 110 with a virtual SRS resource 500 associated with two SRS resources 510 and 520, the UE 110 may first determine the length of the SRS sequence corresponding to the virtual SRS resource 500. In the case shown in FIG. 6 , the sequence length may be determined to be 36 based on the sum of the subcarriers of the two SRS resources minus the number of overlapping subcarriers between the two SRS resources. Based on the determined sequence length, the UE 110 may generate a length-36 SRS sequence (e.g., a ZC sequence).

Next, UE 110 may map the SRS sequence consisting of 36 sequence elements, i.e., c(0), c(1), ..., c(35), to the first SRS resource 510 and the second SRS resource 520. As shown in FIG. 6 , except for the overlapping subcarriers between the two SRS resources, the sequence elements of the SRS sequence are not allocated to different REs. Furthermore, for each SRS resource 510 or 520, a sequence element of the SRS sequence is mapped to a single subcarrier, e.g., in the order of the subcarrier index, so that the mapped sequence elements are arranged according to the comb type configuration. Therefore, the sequence elements are mapped to the subcarriers across the full bandwidth of the two SRS resources.

In an exemplary embodiment, to facilitate the mapping operation, the entire SRS sequence generated based on the virtual SRS resource may be divided into several different parts corresponding to the assembled SRS resources for the UE 110. Each part may then be mapped to the REs of the associated SRS resource. As shown in FIG. 6 , the first part 502 of the SRS sequence consisting of sequence elements c(0) to c(23) is mapped to the first SRS resource 510, and the second part 504 of the SRS sequence consisting of sequence elements c(12) to c(35) is mapped to the second SRS resource 520. In an example, the two parts 502, 504 of the SRS sequence may be mapped to the respective SRS resources 510, 520 in the order of the common resource block (CRB) index of the starting RB of the SRS resource.

As discussed above, if parameters such as comb-size, cyclic shift are configured in the configuration information, UE 110 may follow the configured comb-size and cyclic shift and ignore each configured comb-size and cyclic shift of each of the multiple SRS resources. For example, the multiple SRS resources may be configured to have the same comb-size but different numbers of symbols.

7A and 7B illustrate an example of SRS sequence mapping for overlapping REs between associated SRS resources when comb-size is configured according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Different from the mapping shown in FIG. 6 , for example, based on the comb size of the first SRS resource 510, the first SRS resource 510 and the second SRS resource 520 are configured to have the same comb size, but the first SRS resource 510 is configured to have a smaller number of symbols than the second SRS resource 520. In this case, the SRS sequence can be mapped so that the sequence elements in both the first SRS resource 510 and the second SRS resource 520 are arranged according to a comb-2 pattern.

In one example, as shown in FIG. 7A , in the overlapping region in the frequency domain of the two SRS resources, the same sequence elements c(12), c(13), …, c(23) may be repeatedly mapped to the frequency domain overlapping REs of the second SRS resource 520 in the same pattern as the mapping of the same sequence elements to the frequency domain overlapping REs of the first SRS resource 510. In another example, as shown in FIG. 7B , the same sequence elements c(12), c(13), …, c(23) may be mapped to the frequency domain overlapping REs of the two SRS resources in the same pattern, and the remaining symbols in the second SRS resource 520 are punctured or remain unused.

Referring back to FIG. 4 , when the SRS sequence is generated and mapped to the multiple SRS resources, at operation 318 , based on the configuration information on the multiple SRS resources, the UE 110 may transmit, and the base station 120a may receive, the SRS sequence.

For example, referring to FIG. 5 , UE 110 may perform frequency hopping to transmit multiple SRS sequence portions 450, 460, 470 transmitted on respective SRS resources 410, 420, 430 to base station 120a, for example, using the transmission beam information configured for UE 110. On the side of base station 120a, when base station 120a combines the received signals of the SRS resources, it may see a single complete ZC sequence across the UL BWP.

In operation 320, the base station 120 may concatenate the multiple SRS sequence portions to recover the SRS sequence. For example, the base station 120a may estimate the phase discontinuity/difference between SRS hops and concatenate the multiple SRS sequences for coherent processing to obtain positioning measurements.

FIG8 is a message flow diagram illustrating a process for locating a UE based on a virtual SRS resource configuration according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in FIG8 may be performed by, for example, UE 110, base station 120, and location server 130.

If UL positioning based on UL PRS (e.g., SRS) is required, at operation 610, the location server 130 may transmit a request to the UE 110 to start the positioning process. Additionally or alternatively, the location server 130 may transmit a request to the serving base station 120a to initiate the positioning procedure for the UE 110.

In an operation 612, the base station 120a may transmit a virtual SRS resource configuration information to the UE 110. For example, if the base station 120a knows that the UE 110a is a redCap UE, the base station 120a may configure the UE 110 with a virtual SRS resource associated with a plurality of physical SRS resources previously allocated to the UE 110. The configuration information may further include at least one of sequence generation and mapping information, confirmation time, and spatial relationship information. The details of the configuration information may be substantially the same as described with reference to FIG. 4, and its redundant description is omitted here.

At operation 614, base station 120a may transmit the virtual SRS resource configuration information to location server 130. Upon receiving the configuration information, at operation 616, the location server 130 may transmit the configuration information to other measurement base stations, such as base stations 120b, 120c. In one example, the configuration information may be transmitted in addition to other SRS resource configurations. For example, the configuration information may be transmitted separately or together with a learned SRS resource configuration assembled for other purposes.

Next, at operation 618a, UE 110 may perform frequency hopping to transmit the SRS sequence across the UL BWP. Similarly, at operation 618b, UE 110 may transmit the SRS sequence to base stations 120b, 120c. Once the SRS sequence is received, all measuring base stations may perform a splicing operation at operations 620a, 620b to process the respective frequency hopping to obtain UL positioning measurements based on the SRS sequence. This frequency hopping and splicing operation has been described above with respect to FIG. 4, and the reduced description is omitted here.

After completing the measurement, in operations 622a, 622b, the measuring base stations 120a, 120b, 120c may report their positioning measurements to the location server 130, for example, via NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) signaling. Based on the measurement report, the location server 130 may determine the location of the UE 110 in operation 624.

FIG. 9 shows a flow chart of an example method 700 for frequency hopping and splicing uplink PRS sequences, such as SRS sequences, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 700 may be implemented at a terminal device (e.g., the UE 110 described above). It should be understood that the steps illustrated in the dashed blocks represent an optional step and may be omitted in some example embodiments. In some example embodiments, the method 700 may further include one or more steps as described above with respect to FIGS. 4-8 performed at the UE 110. It should also be understood that the details of some steps in the program 700 have been discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4-8, and the program 700 will be described here in a simplified manner.

At block 710, the terminal device may receive configuration information from a network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device. For example, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may include a sounding reference signal resource configured for at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning, or multiple-input multiple-output related operations. For example, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may be located in different uplink bandwidth portions.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information may further indicate at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information for generating the positioning reference signal sequence and mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. For example, the positioning reference signal sequence may be an uplink positioning reference signal sequence.

In some example embodiments, at least one of the sequence generation and mapping information, the confirmation time, or the spatial relationship information associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource may cover the corresponding configuration for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In block 720, the terminal device may generate an uplink positioning reference signal sequence based on the configuration information, such as an SRS sequence corresponding to a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. For example, the uplink positioning reference signal sequence may be a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence.

In some example embodiments, the uplink positioning reference signal sequence may have a length determined by the sum of the number of subcarriers in the plurality of uplink reference signal resources minus the number of overlapping subcarriers between the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In some example embodiments, in the case where two uplink reference signal resources have overlapping subcarriers, the two portions of the uplink positioning reference signal sequence mapped to the two uplink reference signal resources may include an overlapping sequence portion mapped to the overlapping subcarriers.

In some example embodiments, where the two uplink reference signal resources having the overlapping sub-carriers are configured to have a same comb size and different number of symbols, the same sequence element can be mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the two uplink reference signal resources in a same pattern, and the one of the two uplink reference signal resources is configured to have a larger number of symbols. The remaining symbols in the sequence may be punctured or remain unused, or the same sequence elements may be repeatedly mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of one of the two uplink reference signal resources that is assembled with a larger number of symbols in the same manner as the mapping of the same sequence elements to the elements of the frequency domain overlapping resources of the other of the two uplink reference signal resources that is assembled with a smaller number of symbols.

At block 730, the terminal device may map the uplink positioning reference signal sequence to a plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information. For example, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may convey respective portions of the uplink positioning reference signal sequence. Still for example, a sequence element in the uplink positioning reference signal sequence may be mapped in a frequency domain to a subcarrier among the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

At block 740, the terminal device may transmit an uplink positioning reference signal sequence on a plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information.

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of an exemplary method 800 for frequency hopping and splicing uplink PRS sequences, such as SRS sequences, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 800 may be implemented at a network device, such as the serving base station 120a described above. It should be understood that the steps illustrated in the dashed blocks represent an optional step and may be omitted in some exemplary embodiments. In some exemplary embodiments, the method 800 may further include one or more steps performed at the base station 120a as described above with reference to FIGS. 4-8. It should also be understood that the details of some steps in the program 800 have been discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4-8, and the program 800 will be described in a simplified manner herein.

At block 810, the network device may transmit configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device to the terminal device in the radio access network. For example, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may include a sounding reference signal resource configured for at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning, or multiple-input multiple-output related operations. For another example, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may be located in different uplink bandwidth portions.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information may further indicate at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information for generating the uplink positioning reference signal sequence and mapping the uplink positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource.

At block 820, the network device may receive an uplink positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. For example, the uplink positioning reference signal sequence is a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence.

In some example embodiments, an uplink positioning reference signal sequence may be received on multiple uplink reference signal resources based on at least one of sequence generation and mapping information, confirmation time or spatial relationship information.

At block 830, the network device may concatenate the respective portions of the uplink positioning reference signal sequence to recover the uplink positioning reference signal sequence.

At block 840, the network device may transmit the configuration information to a location server.

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart of an example method 900 for frequency hopping and splicing uplink PRS sequences, such as an SRS sequence, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 900 may be implemented at a location server, such as the location server 130 described above. In some example embodiments, the method 900 may further include one or more steps performed at the location server 130 as described above with respect to FIGS. 4-8 . It should also be understood that the details of some steps in the process 900 have been discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4-8 , and the process 900 will be described here in a simplified manner.

At block 910, the location server may receive configuration information for a terminal device in the radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the sequence generation and mapping information, the configuration information may further indicate at least one of the following: for generating the uplink positioning reference signal sequence and mapping the uplink positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource.

At block 920, the location server may transmit the configuration information to at least one second network device in the configured radio access network to locate the terminal device.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary communication system 1000 in which an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 12 , the communication system 1000 may include a terminal device 1010 that may be implemented as the above-mentioned UE 110, a network device 1020 that may be implemented as any one of the above-mentioned base stations 120, and a network function node 1030 that may be implemented as the above-mentioned location server 130. In some exemplary embodiments, alternatively, the location server 130 may be implemented as a component or part of the network device 1020. Although FIG. 12 shows one network device 1020, it will be understood that the communication system 1000 may include multiple network devices 1020 to locate or assist in the location of the terminal device 1010.

12 , the terminal device 1010 may include one or more processors 1011, one or more memories 1012, and one or more transceivers 1013 interconnected via one or more buses 1014. The one or more buses 1014 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fibers, optical devices, or other optical communication devices. Each of the one or more transceivers 1013 may include a receiver and a transmitter, which are connected to one or more antennas 1016. The terminal device 1010 may communicate wirelessly with the network device 1020 via the one or more antennas 1016. The one or more memories 1012 may include program instructions 1015. The one or more memories 1012 and the program instructions 1015 may be configured to enable the terminal device 1010 to perform operations and programs related to the UE 110 as described above when executed by the one or more processors 1011.

The network device 1020 may include one or more processors 1021, one or more memories 1022, one or more transceivers 1023, and one or more network interfaces 1027 interconnected via one or more buses 1024. The one or more buses 1024 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fibers, optical devices, or other optical communication equipment. Each of the one or more transceivers 1023 may include a receiver and a transmitter, which are connected to one or more antennas 1026. The network device 1020 may operate as a base station for the terminal device 1010 and communicate wirelessly with the terminal device 1010 via the one or more antennas 1026. The one or more network interfaces 1027 may provide wired or wireless communication links through which the network device 1020 may communicate with other network devices, entities, components or functions. The one or more memories 1022 may include program instructions 1025. The network device 1020 may communicate with a network function node 1030 via a backhaul connection 1028. The one or more memories 1022 and the program instructions 1025 can be configured to enable the network device 1020 to perform operations and programs related to any one of the base stations 120 when executed by the one or more processors 1021.

The network function node 1030 may include one or more processors 1031, one or more memories 1032, and one or more network interfaces 1037 interconnected via one or more buses 1034. The one or more buses 1034 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of wires on a motherboard or integrated circuit, optical fibers, optical devices, or other optical communication devices. The network function node 1030 may operate as a core network function node and communicate with the network device 1020 via one or more links, either wired or wirelessly. The one or more network interfaces 1037 may provide wired or wireless communication links, and the network function node 1030 may communicate with other network devices, entities, components or functions through such wired or wireless communication links. The one or more memories 1032 may include program instructions 1035. The one or more memories 1032 and the program instructions 1035 may be configured to enable the network function node 1030 to perform operations and programs related to the location server 130 as described above when executed by the one or more processors 1031.

The one or more processors 1011, 1021 and 1031 mentioned above may be of any appropriate type suitable for the local technical network, and may include one or more of the following: a general purpose processor, a dedicated processor, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), one or more processors in a processor-based multi-core processor architecture, and dedicated processors such as those developed based on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The one or more processors 1011, 1021 and 1031 may be configured to control other elements of the UE/network device/network element and operate in cooperation with them to implement the program discussed above.

The one or more memories 1012, 1022, and 1032 may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as temporary memory and/or non-temporary memory. The temporary memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, random access memory (RAM) or cache memory. The non-temporary memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read-only memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, etc. As used herein, the term "non-temporary" is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (such as RAM and ROM). Additionally, the one or more memories 1012, 1022, and 1032 may include, but are not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices, or any combination thereof.

It will be understood that the blocks in the diagrams may be implemented in a variety of ways, including software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, one or more blocks may be implemented using software and/or firmware, such as machine executable instructions stored in a storage medium. In addition to or in lieu of machine executable instructions, some or all of the blocks in the diagrams may be implemented at least in part by one or more hardware logic elements. By way of example, and in a non-limiting manner, exemplary types of hardware logic elements that may be used include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-chips (SOCs), composite programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc.

FIG. 13 is a schematic functional block diagram of a device 1100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1100 may be implemented at a terminal device (such as UE 110) to perform operations related to UE 110, as discussed above. Since the operations related to UE 110 have been discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 4-8, the blocks of the device 1100 will be briefly described here and the details may refer to the above description.

Referring to FIG. 13 , the device 1100 may include: a first device 1110 for receiving configuration information from a network device in a radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to a terminal device; a second device 1120 for generating a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and a third device 1130 for transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information.

In some exemplary embodiments, transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence may include: mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may convey respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence; and transmitting the respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may include detection reference signal resources configured for at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning, or multiple-input multiple-output related operations.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information may further indicate at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information for generating the positioning reference signal sequence and mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource.

In some example embodiments, at least one of the sequence generation and mapping information, the confirmation time, or the spatial relationship information associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource may cover the corresponding configuration for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In some example embodiments, the positioning reference signal sequence may have a length determined by the sum of the number of subcarriers in the plurality of uplink reference signal resources minus the number of overlapping subcarriers between the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In some example embodiments, in the case where two uplink reference signal resources have overlapping subcarriers, the two portions of the positioning reference signal sequence mapped to the two uplink reference signal resources may include overlapping sequence segments mapped to the overlapping subcarriers.

In some example embodiments, where the two uplink reference signal resources having the overlapping subcarriers are configured to have the same comb size and different number of symbols, the same sequence element can be mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the two uplink reference signal resources in the same pattern, and the one of the two uplink reference signal resources configured to have a larger number of symbols has the same sequence element. The remaining symbols of are punctured or remain unused, or the same sequence elements may be repeatedly mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of one of the two uplink reference signal resources that are organized into a larger number of symbols in the same manner as the mapping of the same sequence elements to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the other of the two uplink reference signal resources that are organized into a smaller number of symbols.

In some exemplary embodiments, a sequence element in the positioning reference signal sequence is mapped to a subcarrier among the multiple uplink reference signal resources in the frequency domain.

In some example embodiments, the multiple uplink reference signal resources may be located in different uplink bandwidth portions.

In some example embodiments, the positioning reference signal sequence is a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence.

FIG. 14 is a schematic functional block diagram of a device 1200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1200 may be implemented in a network node similar to the base station 120a to perform the operations of the base station 120a as discussed above. Since the operations of the base station 120a have been discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 4-8, the blocks of the device 1200 will be briefly described here and the details may refer to the above description.

14, the apparatus 1200 may include a first device 1210 for transmitting configuration information to a terminal device in a radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and a second device 1220 for receiving a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources.

In some exemplary embodiments, receiving the positioning reference signal sequence may include: receiving respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; and splicing the respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence to recover the positioning reference signal sequence.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources may include detection reference signal resources configured for at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning, or multiple-input multiple-output related operations.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information may further indicate at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information for generating the positioning reference signal sequence and mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource.

In some example embodiments, a positioning reference signal sequence may be received on multiple uplink reference signal resources based on at least one of sequence generation and mapping information, confirmation time or spatial relationship information.

In some example embodiments, the device 1200 may also include a third device for transmitting configuration information to a location server.

In some example embodiments, the multiple detection reference signal resources may be located in different uplink bandwidth portions.

In some example embodiments, the positioning reference signal sequence may be a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence.

FIG. 15 is a schematic functional block diagram illustrating a device 1300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1300 may be implemented in a network function such as a location server 130 to perform operations related to the location server 130 as discussed above. Since the operations related to the location server 130 have been discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 4-8 , the blocks of the device 1300 will be briefly described here, and the details can be found in the above description.

15 , the device 1300 may include a first device 1310 for receiving configuration information for a terminal device in the radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and a second device 1320 for transmitting the configuration information to at least one second network device in the radio access network configured to locate the terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the configuration information may further indicate at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information for generating the positioning reference signal sequence and mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource.

Certain exemplary embodiments further provide program instructions or instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, can cause a device or apparatus to execute the above-mentioned program. The program instructions for executing the program of the exemplary embodiments can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program instructions can be provided to one or more processors or controllers of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that the program instructions, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program instructions can be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine as a separate package, partially on the machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

Certain exemplary embodiments also provide a computer program product or a computer readable medium having program instructions or instructions stored therein. A computer readable medium may be any tangible medium that may contain or store a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A machine readable medium may be a machine readable signal medium or a machine readable storage medium. A machine readable medium may be, but is not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media would include an electrical connector having one or more conductors, a portable computer floppy disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

As used herein, "at least one of: <a list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of <a list of two or more elements>" and similar expressions, where the list of two or more elements is joined by "and" or "or", means at least one of the components or at least two or more elements, or at least all elements.

In addition, although operations are illustrated in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in a sequential manner, or that all illustrated operations be performed to achieve the desired results. In some cases, multiplexing and parallel processing may be advantageous. Similarly, although the above discussion contains several specific implementation details, these details should not be interpreted as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but should be understood as descriptions of features that may be specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a single embodiment in combination. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments, either individually or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it should be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as examples of implementing the claims.

110:UE

120a:gNB

310,312,318: Steps

314,316,320: Block

Claims (52)

A terminal device in a radio access network comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the terminal device at least: receives configuration information from a network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; generates a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and transmits the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence comprises: mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources transmitting respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence; and transmitting the respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. A terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of uplink reference signal resources include detection reference signal resources configured for use in at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning or a multiple-input multiple-output related operation. The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following: Sequence generation and mapping information, which is used to generate the positioning reference signal sequence and map the positioning reference signal sequence to the multiple uplink reference signal resources; the confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the multiple uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information, which indicates one or more beams of the multiple uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. A terminal device as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least one of the sequence generation and mapping information, the confirmation time or the spatial relationship information associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource covers the corresponding configuration of the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. A terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence has a length determined by the sum of the number of subcarriers in the plurality of uplink reference signal resources minus the number of overlapping subcarriers between the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. A terminal device as claimed in claim 2, wherein when two uplink reference signal resources have overlapping subcarriers, the two parts of the positioning reference signal sequence mapped to the two uplink reference signal resources include an overlapping sequence segment mapped to the overlapping subcarriers. A terminal device as claimed in claim 7, wherein when the two uplink reference signal resources having the overlapping sub-carriers are configured to have the same comb size and different numbers of symbols, the same sequence elements are mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the two uplink reference signal resources in the same pattern, and the remaining symbols in one of the two uplink reference signal resources configured to have a larger number of symbols are The signals are punctured or remain unused, or the same sequence elements are repeatedly mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the one of the two uplink reference signal resources that is organized into the larger number of symbols, and the mapping is performed in the same manner as the mapping of the same sequence elements to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the other of the two uplink reference signal resources that is organized into a smaller number of symbols. A terminal device as claimed in claim 7, wherein a sequence element in the positioning reference signal sequence is mapped to a subcarrier among the multiple uplink reference signal resources in a frequency domain. A terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of uplink reference signal resources are located in different uplink bandwidth portions. A terminal device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence is a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence. A network device in a radio access network comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the network device at least: transmits configuration information to a terminal device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and receives a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. A network device as claimed in claim 12, wherein receiving the positioning reference signal sequence comprises: receiving respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; and splicing the respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence to recover the positioning reference signal sequence. A network device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality of uplink reference signal resources include detection reference signal resources configured for use in at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning or a multiple-input multiple-output related operation. A network device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information used to generate the positioning reference signal sequence and map the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams used for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. A network device as claimed in claim 15, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence is received on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on at least one of the sequence generation and mapping information, the confirmation time or the spatial relationship information. A network device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions, which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device to at least: transmit the configuration information to a location server. A network device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality of detection reference signal resources are located in different uplink bandwidth portions. A network device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence is a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence. A location server comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the location server at least: receives configuration information for a terminal device in a radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and transmits the configuration information to at least one second network device in the radio access network configured to locate the terminal device. A location server as claimed in claim 20, wherein the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information, which is used to generate a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and map the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; a confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information, which indicates one or more beams used for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. A method implemented at a terminal device in a radio access network, comprising: receiving configuration information from a network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; generating a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence comprises: mapping the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information, the plurality of uplink reference signal resources transmitting respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence; and transmitting the respective portions of the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. The method of claim 22, wherein the plurality of uplink reference signal resources include detection reference signal resources configured for use in at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning, or a multiple-input multiple-output related operation. The method of claim 22, wherein the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information used to generate the positioning reference signal sequence and map the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams used for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. The method of claim 25, wherein at least one of the sequence generation and mapping information, the confirmation time, or the spatial relationship information associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource covers the corresponding configuration of the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. The method of claim 22, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence has a length determined by the sum of the number of subcarriers in the multiple uplink reference signal resources minus the number of overlapping subcarriers between the multiple uplink reference signal resources. The method of claim 23, wherein in the case where two uplink reference signal resources have overlapping subcarriers, the two parts of the positioning reference signal sequence mapped to the two uplink reference signal resources include an overlapping sequence segment mapped to the overlapping subcarriers. The method of claim 28, wherein when the two uplink reference signal resources having the overlapping sub-carriers are configured to have the same comb size and different numbers of symbols, the same sequence elements are mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the two uplink reference signal resources in the same pattern, and the remaining one of the two uplink reference signal resources configured to have a larger number of symbols is Symbols are punctured or remain unused, or the same sequence elements are repeatedly mapped to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the one of the two uplink reference signal resources that is organized into the larger number of symbols, and the mapping is performed in the same manner as the mapping of the same sequence elements to the frequency domain overlapping resource elements of the other of the two uplink reference signal resources that is organized into a smaller number of symbols. A method as claimed in claim 28, wherein a sequence element in the positioning reference signal sequence is mapped to a subcarrier among the plurality of uplink reference signal resources in a frequency domain. As in the method of claim 22, wherein the multiple uplink reference signal resources are located in different uplink bandwidth portions. The method of claim 22, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence is a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence. A method implemented at a network device in a radio access network, comprising: transmitting configuration information to a terminal device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and receiving a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. The method of claim 33, wherein receiving the positioning reference signal sequence comprises: receiving individual parts of the positioning reference signal sequence on the multiple uplink reference signal resources; and splicing the individual parts of the positioning reference signal sequence to recover the positioning reference signal sequence. The method of claim 33, wherein the plurality of uplink reference signal resources include detection reference signal resources configured for use in at least one of uplink channel estimation, positioning, or a multiple-input multiple-output related operation. The method of claim 33, wherein the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information used to generate the positioning reference signal sequence and map the positioning reference signal sequence to the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the plurality of uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information indicating one or more beams used for the plurality of uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. The method of claim 36, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence is received on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on at least one of the sequence generation and mapping information, the confirmation time, or the spatial relationship information. The method of claim 33 further comprises: transmitting the configuration information to a location server. As in the method of claim 33, wherein the plurality of detection reference signal resources are located in different uplink bandwidth portions. The method of claim 33, wherein the positioning reference signal sequence is a complete single Zadoff Chu sequence. A method implemented in a location server, comprising: receiving configuration information for a terminal device in a radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and transmitting the configuration information to at least one second network device in the radio access network configured to locate the terminal device. The method of claim 41, wherein the configuration information further indicates at least one of the following: sequence generation and mapping information, which is used to generate a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and map the positioning reference signal sequence to the multiple uplink reference signal resources; confirmation time associated between the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource and the multiple uplink reference signal resources; or spatial relationship information, which indicates one or more beams used for the multiple uplink reference signal resources associated with the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource. A communication device, comprising: a component for receiving configuration information from a network device in a radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to a terminal device; a component for generating a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and a component for transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information. The apparatus of claim 43 further comprises a component for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 32. A communication device, comprising: a component for transmitting configuration information to a terminal device in a radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and a component for receiving a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. The apparatus of claim 45 further comprises components for performing a method as claimed in any one of claims 34 to 40. A communication device, comprising: a component for receiving configuration information for a terminal device in a radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and a component for transmitting the configuration information to at least one second network device in the radio access network configured to locate the terminal device. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions, which, when executed by a device, causes the device to perform at least the following steps: receiving configuration information from a network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; generating a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource based on the configuration information; and transmitting the positioning reference signal sequence on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources based on the configuration information. A computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 48, further comprising instructions which, when executed by the device, cause the device to perform a method as claimed in any one of claims 23 to 32. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions, which, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the following steps: Transmit configuration information to a terminal device in a radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and receive a positioning reference signal sequence corresponding to the virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource from the terminal device on the plurality of uplink reference signal resources. The computer-readable medium of claim 50 further comprises instructions which, when executed by the device, cause the device to perform a method as in any one of claims 34 to 40. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions, which, when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the following steps: receiving configuration information for a terminal device in a radio access network from a first network device in the radio access network, the configuration information indicating a virtual uplink positioning reference signal resource associated with a plurality of uplink reference signal resources allocated to the terminal device; and transmitting the configuration information to at least one second network device in the radio access network configured to locate the terminal device.

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