WO2018064278A1

WO2018064278A1 - Enhanced cell identifier positioning

Info

Publication number: WO2018064278A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/053915
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jie Cui; Yang Tang; Anatoliy IOFFE; Shuang TIAN
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2016-09-29
Filing date: 2017-09-28
Publication date: 2018-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-29
Also published as: DE112017004254T5

Abstract

Embodiments are generally directed to enhanced cell identifier positioning. An embodiment of a baseband circuitry for a user equipment (UE) includes one or more processors to process data, including processing of data for timing determination; a memory to store data, including storage of received signals and storage of data for transmission; and an RF circuitry interface to transfer downlink radio frames and uplink radio frames, wherein the baseband circuitry includes a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode for signal reception and transmission. The baseband circuitry is to perform UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement between a received downlink positioning signal and a transmitted uplink positioning signal in the HD-FDD mode. The UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement includes identifying a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal, and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal.

Description

ENHANCED CELL IDENTIFIER POSITIONING

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments described herein generally relate to the field of communications and, more particularly, enhanced cell identifier positioning.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/401,749 filed September 29, 2016, which application is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

BACKGROUND

In LTE (Long-Term Evolution) wireless communication networks, a user equipment (UE) has by default been defined as a full-duplex device, indicating that data transmission in in two directions (i.e., uplink and downlink communications) simultaneously.

In LTE communications, one of the measurements to be made is the difference between the time of a received downlink (DL) radio frame at the UE from the serving cell (such time being designated as TUE-RX, where Rx refers to the receiver) and the time of a UE transmission of an uplink (UL) radio frame to the serving cell (such time being designated as TUE-TX, where Tx refers to the transmitter) with such difference (designated as UE Rx - Tx) thus being TUE-RX - TUE-TX. With full-duplex communications, such time difference will always occur in the same radio frame, and thus the Rx - Tx time difference is so defined.

However, with new advances providing instead for half-duplex operation for UEs, it is no longer certain that the time difference between the received downlink radio frame and the transmitted uplink radio frame will occur in the same radio frame, and thus the conventional definition of the Rx - Tx time difference may not be applicable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments described here are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of timing determination in a user equipment according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for estimation of a UE Rx-Tx time difference for HD- FDD operation according to some embodiments; FIG. 3 is an illustration of events utilized in estimation of a UE Rx-Tx time difference for HD-FDD operation according to some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a first table for Rx - Tx time difference measurement report mapping according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a first table for Rx - Tx time difference measurement report mapping according to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram to illustrate one or more guard periods in UE HD-FDD communications;

FIG. 7 illustrates an architecture of a system of a network in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of a device in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 9 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium and perform one or more methodologies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein are generally directed to enhanced cell identifier positioning.

In conventional LTE networks, all user equipments (UEs) by default are full-duplex, and for purposes of E-UTRA (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access) measurements, Rx-Tx timing difference for use in positioning applications is always measured on the radio frame. For example, the definition for enhanced cell-id (eCID) positioning on 3 GPP (3^rd Generation Partnership Project) TS (Technical Specification) 36.214 (Group Radio Access Network;

Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer; Measurements) §5.1.15 provides the following:

Table 1 The UE behavior is to estimate the downlink receiving timing of downlink positioning signal (for example CRS (Cell Specific Reference Signal), or PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), or other downlink signal) and in the meantime (always in the same radio frame) to record the uplink transmitting timing of uplink positioning signal (e.g. SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) when applicable, PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel) when applicable, or other uplink signal).

In 3 GPP TS36.355 (LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA;)), the Rx-Tx time difference measurement result to be reported to the positioning server (Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center, or E-SMLC) is defined as:

MeasuredResultsElement ::= SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0 .503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumber

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0..97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0..34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0..4095) OPTIONAL,

[[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL ~ Cond EARFCN- max

]]

systemFrameNumber: This field specifies the system frame number of the measured cell during which the measurements have been performed. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN of the cell at the time of measurement.

However, the systemFrameNumber might be different for DL and UL measurement for a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) case, and thus the above timing estimation might not be applicable, and might serve to confuse the positioning server.

In 3 GPP TS36.331 (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification), the Rx-Tx time difference measurement reported to the eNB (Evolved Node B) is defined as:

MeasResultForECID-r9 ::= SEQUENCE {

ue-RxTxTimeDiffResult-r9 INTEGER (0..4095), currentSFN-r9 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))

currentSFN: Indicates the current system frame number when receiving the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement results from lower layer.

Similarly, if Rx and Tx cannot take place in the same radio frame, the currentSFN definition is not appropriate, and thus requires revision.

In new network deployments, many UEs are to be designed to be HD-FDD, and such mode does not allow the UE to simultaneously transmit uplink signals and receive downlink signals. For this reason, an HD-FDD UE may perform downlink receiving and uplink transmitting in different radio frames, or in different subframes. It thus may not be possible for the UE to measure within a same radio frame if the UE doesn't have the uplink transmission in this radio frame, or UE doesn't have the downlink transmission in this radio frame.

In some embodiments, Rx-Tx time difference measurement under HD-FDD is modified, including modification of one or more of the measurement concept, the UE behavior, the measurement report definition, and the measurement result mapping rule. In some embodiments, an apparatus, system, or process provided enhanced cell identifier positioning includes detection of certain events (referred to herein as downlink timing events and uplink timing events) that are related to downlink and uplink positioning signals, and utilizes such events for estimation of the Rx-Tx time difference. In some embodiments, an apparatus, system, or process operates to provide a measurement that is adjusted or compensated based on the HD-FDD mode of operation.

In some embodiments, an apparatus, system, or process includes one or more of the following in the estimation of the Rx-Tx time difference for enhanced cell identifier positioning:

1. The UE Rx-Tx time difference is the time difference between the UE received timing of downlink radio frame #i and the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame #j, where j is the closest radio frame to i.

2. The UE Rx-Tx time difference is the time difference between timing of an x continuous DL subframes chunk, and timing of an x continuous UL subframes chunk immediately after or immediately before the x continuous DL subframes chunk. Where: x=min{m, the total number of continuous DL subframes, the total number of continuous UL subframes}; m being a predefined value, and "min{a, b, c}" returning the smallest number among the values a, b, and c.

3. The UE Rx-Tx time difference is the time difference between timing of a continuous DL subframes chunk, and the timing of a continuous UL subframes chunk immediately after or immediately before the continuous DL subframes chunk.

4. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement result reported to positioning server (the Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center, or E-SMLC) includes the system frame number for Uplink (systemFrameNumberUL) and the system frame number for Downlink (sy stemFrameNumberDL) .

5. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement reported to the eNB (Evolved Node B) includes current SFN (system frame number) for Uplink (currentUlSFN) and current SFN for Downlink (currentDlSFN).

6. The measurement reporting levels in a reporting results mapping table are increased by considering the UL-to-DL or DL-to-UL guard period.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of timing determination in a user equipment according to some embodiments. The contents of eCID positioning related measurement and reporting will be changed in the half-duplex FDD (HD-FDD) case because the UE Rx and Tx timing may be not on the same radio frame, and thus is necessary to define UE behavior and signaling for this circumstance.

In some embodiments, the timing utilizes a downlink timing event related to a downlink positioning signal and uplink timing event related to an uplink positioning signal to enable measurement in a half-duplex case. As shown in FIG. 1, a user equipment 100 with an HD-FDD mode of operation includes a UE antenna connector 105 that is the point of measurement for the uplink and downlink signals.

In some embodiments, the UE 100 is to base the RX - TX timing measurement at least in part on estimation of timing of the downlink timing event 115 at the UE antenna connector 105, the downlink timing event being related to a downlink positioning signal 110 received at the UE, and estimation of timing of an uplink timing event 125 at the UE antenna connector 105, the uplink timing event 125 being related to an uplink positioning signal 120 transmitted from the

UE.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a process for estimation of a UE Rx-Tx time difference for HD- FDD operation according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, a UE is operated in an LTE network, the UE operating in an HD-FDD mode of operation, wherein the HD-FDD mode of operation may results in downlink positioning signal and uplink positioning signal occurring in different radio frames.

In some embodiments, a process for estimation of a UE Rx-Tx time difference for HD- FDD operation includes the following:

205: A UE, such as UE 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, operates in an LTE network, the UE including and utilizing an HD-FDD mode. In such half-duplex operation, conventional processes for estimation of UE Rx-Tx time difference for use in cell positioning are not applicable.

210: Receive a downlink positioning signal at the UE. 215: Identify a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal. The downlink timing event may include one of the events illustrated in FIG. 3.

220: Measure and record a time for the downlink timing event to determine TUE-RX, wherein the reference point for the time measurement is the antenna connector of the UE, such as the UE antenna connector 105 illustrated in FIG. 1.

225: Prepare uplink positioning signal for transmission at the UE.

230: Identify an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal. The uplink timing event may include one of the events illustrated in FIG. 3.

235: Determine TUE-TX, wherein determining TUE-TX may include either:

240: Measure and record a time of the uplink timing event to determine TUE-TX, wherein the reference point for the time measurement is the antenna connector of the UE, such as the UE antenna connector 105 illustrated in FIG. 1.

245: Identify the uplink timing event based on the downlink timing event, such as identification of a preceding or succeeding frame.

250: Calculate the UE Rx - Tx time difference as TUE-RX - TUE-TX.

255: Report a time difference based on the calculated UE Rx - Tx time difference. In some embodiments, the time difference is reported to a positioning server for determination of UE positioning.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of events utilized in estimation of a UE Rx-Tx time difference for HD-FDD operation according to some embodiments. As illustrated in FIG. 3, downlink timing events 300 related to downlink signals and uplink timing events 305 related to uplink signals include the following in some embodiments:

(a) A downlink radio frame #i 310 and an uplink radio frame #j 315, wherein the uplink frame #j may include a closest value to #i; a radio frame immediately preceding or following a guard period; or an adjacent radio frame to #.

(b) An x continuous downlink subframes chunk 320 and x continuous uplink subframes chunk 325 (x being a particular value), wherein the x continuous uplink subframes chunk may include a subframes chunk immediately preceding or immediately following the x continuous downlink subframes chunk.

(c) A continuous downlink subframes chunk 330 and a continuous uplink subframes chunk 335, wherein the continuous uplink subframes chunk 335 may include a continuous uplink subframes chunk immediately preceding or immediately following the continuous downlink subframes chunk.

An embodiment of a system, apparatus, or process for estimation of a UE Rx-Tx time difference may include one or more of the following: (A) A UE Rx-Tx time difference is a time difference between UE received timing of a downlink radio frame #i and a UE transmit timing of an uplink radio frame #j, where j is a closest radio frame to i. As illustrated in FIG. 3, downlink radio frame #i 310 represents the downlink timing event, and the uplink radio frame #j 315 represents the uplink timing event 305.

In some embodiments, the definition of the Rx - Tx time difference is one of the following variations:

Definition 1 :

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-RX is the UE received timing of downlink radio frame #i from the serving cell, defined by the first detected path in time.

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame #j.

If uplink receiving and downlink transmitting are both available in frame #i for the UE, then i = j; otherwise j is the closest value to i.

The reference point for the UE Rx - Tx time difference measurement shall be the UE antenna connector.

Definition 2:

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame which is closest to or same as downlink radio frame #i.

Definition 3 :

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-RX is the UE received timing of downlink radio frame #i immediately preceding a guard period from the serving cell, defined by the first detected path in time.

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame #i + 1.

The reference point for the UE Rx - Tx time difference measurement is the UE antenna connector.

Definition 4:

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX Where:

TuE-Rx is the UE received timing of downlink radio frame #i immediately following a guard period from the serving cell, defined by the first detected path in time.

TuE-Tx is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame #i - 1.

Definition 5 :

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-RX is the UE received timing of downlink radio frame immediately preceding or following a guard period from the serving cell, defined by the first detected path in time.

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame which is closest to downlink radio frame for TUE-RX.

Definition 6:

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame #j.

If uplink receiving and downlink transmitting are both available in frame #i for the UE, then i=j; otherwise radio frame #i and radio frame #j are two adjacent radio frames.

Definition 7:

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of uplink radio frame #j.

If uplink receiving and downlink transmitting are both available in frame #i for the UE, then i=j; otherwise i is the closest value to j.

The reference point for the UE Rx - Tx time difference measurement shall be the UE antenna connector. (B) The UE Rx-Tx time difference is the time difference between timing of an x continuous DL subframes chunk and timing of an x continuous UL subframes chunk immediately after or immediately before this x continuous DL subframe chunk. Where: x=min{m, the total number of continuous DL subframes, the total number of continuous UL subframes } ; m being a predefined value, min{a, b, c} returning the smallest number among a, b, c.

In some embodiments, the definition of the Rx - Tx time difference is the following:

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-RX is the UE received timing of x continuous DL subframes chunk from the serving cell, defined by the first detected path in time.

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of x continuous UL subframes chunk immediately

preceding or immediately following the x continuous DL subframes chunk in TUE- RX definition.

x=min{m, the total number of continuous DL subframes, the total number of continuous

UL subframes } ; m is a predefined value, min{a, b, c}returns the smallest number among a, b, c

(C) The UE Rx-Tx time difference is the time difference between timing of a continuous

DL subframes chunk and the timing of a continuous UL subframes chunk immediately after or immediately before this continuous DL subframes chunk.

The UE Rx - Tx time difference is defined as TUE-RX - TUE-TX

Where:

TUE-RX is the UE received timing of continuous DL subframes chunk from the serving cell, defined by the first detected path in time.

TUE-TX is the UE transmit timing of continuous UL subframes chunk immediately preceding or immediately following the continuous DL subframes chunk in TUE-RX definition.

(D) The Rx-Tx time difference measurement result reported to the positioning server (E- SMLC) will include a system frame number for Uplink (systemFrameNumberUL) and systemframe number for Downlink(systemFrameNumberDL). In some embodiments, for TS36.355, the Rx-Tx time difference measurement result reported to the positioning server (E-SMLC) may be defined as one of the following variations: Definition 1 :

MeasuredResultsElement SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0. 503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumberDl

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

systemFrameNumberUl

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0. 97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0. 34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0..4095) OPTIONAL,

[[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL -- Cond

EARFCN-max

]]

}

systemFrameNumberDl: This field specifies the downlink system frame number of the measured cell during which the downlink measurements have been performed. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN of the cell at the time of measurement.

systemFrameNumberUl: This field specifies the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN of the cell at the time of measurement. Definition 2:

MeasuredResultsElement SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0. 503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumberDelta

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0..97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0..34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0..4095) OPTIONAL, [[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL -- Cond

EARFCN-max

]]

}

systemFrameNumberDelta: This field specifies the SFN difference between downlink system frame number of the measured cell during which the downlink measurements have been performed and the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN difference of the cell at the time of measurement.

Definition 3 :

MeasuredResultsElement SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0. 503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumberDl

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

systemFrameNumberDelta

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0..97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0..34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0..4095) OPTIONAL,

[[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL -- Cond EARFCN-max

]]

]

systemFrameNumberDelta: This field specifies the SFN difference between downlink system frame number of the measured cell during which the downlink measurements have been performed and the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN difference of the cell at the time of measurement. The uplink SFN can be derived from systemFrameNumberDl + systemFrameNumberDelta).

Definition 4:

MeasuredResultsElement ::= SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0..503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumberDl

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

systemFrameNumberDelta

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0. 97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0. 34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0. 4095) OPTIONAL,

[[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL -- Cond EARFCN-max

]]

}

systemFrameNumberDelta: This field specifies the SFN difference between downlink system frame number of the measured cell during which the downlink measurements have been performed and the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN difference of the cell at the time of measurement. The uplink SFN can be derived from (systemFrameNumberDl - systemFrameNumberDelta).

Definition 5

MeasuredResultsElement ::= SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0..503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumberUl

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL, systemFrameNumberDelta

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0. 97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0. 34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0..4095) OPTIONAL,

[[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL -- Cond EARFCN-max

]]

}

systemFrameNumberUl: This field specifies the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN of the cell at the time of measurement.

systemFrameNumberDelta: This field specifies the SFN difference between downlink system frame number of the measured cell during which the downlink measurements have been performed and the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN difference of the cell at the time of measurement. The uplink SFN can be derived from (systemFrameNumberUl + systemFrameNumberDelta).

Definition 6:

MeasuredResultsElement SEQUENCE {

physCellld INTEGER (0. 503),

cellGloballd CellGloballdEUTRA-AndUTRA OPTIONAL,

arfcnEUTRA ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,

systemFrameNumberUl

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

systemFrameNumberDelta

BIT STRING (SIZE (10)) OPTIONAL,

rsrp-Result INTEGER (0. 97) OPTIONAL,

rsrq-Result INTEGER (0. 34) OPTIONAL,

ue-RxTxTimeDiff INTEGER (0..4095) OPTIONAL,

[[ arfcnEUTRA-v9aO ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9aO OPTIONAL - Cond EARFCN-max

]] }

systemFrameNumberDelta: This field specifies the SFN difference between downlink system frame number of the measured cell during which the downlink measurements have been performed and the uplink system frame number of the measured cell during which the UE have recorded the transmission timing. The target device shall include this field if it was able to determine the SFN difference of the cell at the time of measurement. The uplink SFN can be derived from (systemFrameNumberUl - systemFrameNumberDelta).

(E) The Rx-Tx time difference measurement reported to eNB will include current SFN (system frame number) for Uplink (currentUlSFN-rl4) and current SFN for Downlink

(currentDlSFN-rl4).

In TS36.331, the Rx-Tx time difference measurement reported to eNB can be defined as one of the following variations:

Definition 1 :

MeasResultForECID-rl4 ::= SEQUENCE {

ue-RxTxTimeDiffResult-rl4 INTEGER (0..4095),

currentUlSFN-rl4 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))

currentDlSFN-rl4 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))

}

currentDlSFN-rl4: Indicates the current system frame number when receiving the UE Rx timing measurement results from a lower layer.

currentUlSFN-rl4: Indicates the current system frame number when receiving the UE Tx timing from a lower layer.

Definition 2:

MeasResultForECID-rl4 : := SEQUENCE {

ue-RxTxTimeDiffResult-rl4 INTEGER (0..4095),

currentSFN-rl4 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))

DeltaSFN-rl4 BIT STRING (SIZE (10))

}

currentSFN-rl4: Indicates the current system frame number when receiving the UE Rx- Tx time difference measurement results from lower layer. DeltaSFN-rl4: Indicates the numeric difference between the system frame when UE Rx timing is measured and the system frame when UE Tx timing is obtained.

(F) In some embodiments, measurement reporting includes implementation of an adjustment or compensation to account for guard periods in signaling for HD-FDD operations. In HD-FDD operation, and in particular for operation of a type-B UE, because there is a guard period when the UE uplink transmission switches to downlink receiving or when the UE downlink receiving switches to uplink transmission, there is a need for measurement reporting adjustment that accounts for the uplink-to-downlink guard period or downlink-to-uplink guard period in the half-duplex transmission. In some embodiments, alternatives for Rx-Tx time difference measurement result reporting include the following:

Alternative 1 - In some embodiments, the reported time difference values mapped to measured quantity values are adjusted in response to a UL-to-DL or DL-to-UL guard period.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a first table for Rx - Tx time difference measurement report mapping according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is an illustration of a first table for Rx - Tx time difference measurement report mapping according to an embodiment. The tables illustrated in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 represent mapping tables applicable to TS36.133 (Evolved Universal

Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Requirements for support of radio resource management), which provides Table 9.1.9.2-1 for conventional UE operation.

As provided in FIG. 4, 'x' in the table denotes the time for the guard period, with the unit of x being milli-seconds (ms). In the illustrated table, round(y) means to round a value y to an integer value.

As provided in FIG. 5, because 3GPP TS36.211 (Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation) provides for 1ms (one subframe) to be applied as a guard period for type B HD- FDD, then TS36.133 may utilize the table illustrated in Figure 5 in which the measured quantity value for the HD-FDD UE Rx - Tx time difference measurement report mapping presumes a 1ms guard period (as obtained by providing x = 1 in FIG. 4).

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram to illustrate one or more guard periods in UE HD-FDD communications. As illustrated in FIG. 6, in a communication between an eNB (Evolved Node B, being the hardware element in E-UTRA of LTE communicating directly with UEs) 605 and a UE 610, a downlink communication is transmitted by the eNB 605 at time Tl and received at the UE 610 at time T2. The time period T4-T3 represents a guard period 615. An uplink communication is transmitted from UE 610 at time T5 and received at eNB 605 at time T6.

In some embodiments, with T4-T3 being the guard period 615, the eNB may obtain the round-trip time using eNB Rx-Tx + UE Rx-Tx, which is (T6 - Tl) + (T2 - T5). In such formula, the T3 and T4 values are not used, and thus the report mapping table may be revised without the UE being required to report the guard period

Alternative 2 - In some embodiments, in the communication illustrated in the timing diagram of FIG. 6, the UE 610 is to subtract the guard period 615 from the measure Rx-Tx time difference.

In this alternative, the reported Rx-Tx time difference is the Rx-Tx time difference without guard period. The reported UE Rx-Tx time difference is (T2 - T5) - (T3 - T4), with the UE also reporting the guard period 615 to the network, which is (T4 - T3) as illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 illustrates an architecture of a system 700 of a network in accordance with some embodiments. The system 700 is shown to include a user equipment (UE) 701 and a UE 702. The UEs 701 and 702 are illustrated as smartphones (e.g., handheld touchscreen mobile computing devices connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also comprise any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handsets, or any computing device including a wireless communications interface.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 701 and 702 can comprise an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which can comprise a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications utilizing short-lived UE connections. An IoT UE can utilize technologies such as machine-to- machine (M2M) or machine-type communications (MTC) for exchanging data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), Proximity-Based Service (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC exchange of data may be a machine-initiated exchange of data. An IoT network describes interconnecting IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure), with short-lived connections. The IoT UEs may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate the connections of the IoT network.

The UEs 701 and 702 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 710— the RAN 710 may be, for example, an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), a NextGen RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. The UEs 701 and 702 utilize connections 703 and 704, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, the connections 703 and 704 are illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol, and the like.

In this embodiment, the UEs 701 and 702 may further directly exchange communication data via a ProSe interface 705. The ProSe interface 705 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface comprising one or more logical channels, including but not limited to a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), a Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), and a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).

The UE 702 is shown to be configured to access an access point (AP) 706 via connection

707. The connection 707 can comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, wherein the AP 706 would comprise a wireless fidelity (WiFi®) router. In this example, the AP 706 is shown to be connected to the Internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

The RAN 710 can include one or more access nodes that enable the connections 703 and

704. These access nodes (ANs) can be referred to as base stations (BSs), NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), next Generation NodeBs (gNB), RAN nodes, and so forth, and can comprise ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations providing coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 710 may include one or more RAN nodes for providing macrocells, e.g., macro RAN node 711, and one or more RAN nodes for providing femtocells or picocells (e.g., cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells), e.g., low power (LP) RAN node 712.

Any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 can terminate the air interface protocol and can be the first point of contact for the UEs 701 and 702. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 can fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 710 including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In accordance with some embodiments, the UEs 701 and 702 can be configured to communicate using Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication technique (e.g., for downlink communications) or a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) communication technique (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signals can comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 to the UEs 701 and 702, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, called a resource grid or time- frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common practice for OFDM systems, which makes it intuitive for radio resource allocation. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in a radio frame. The smallest time- frequency unit in a resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid comprises a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a collection of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest quantity of resources that currently can be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks.

The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher-layer signaling to the UEs 701 and 702. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, among other things. It may also inform the UEs 701 and 702 about the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE 102 within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 711 and 712 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 701 and 702. The downlink resource assignment information may be sent on the PDCCH used for (e.g., assigned to) each of the UEs 701 and 702.

The PDCCH may use control channel elements (CCEs) to convey the control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets, which may then be permuted using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as resource element groups (REGs). Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH can be transmitted using one or more CCEs, depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and the channel condition. There can be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=l, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use concepts for resource allocation for control channel information that are an extension of the above-described concepts. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more enhanced the control channel elements (ECCEs). Similar to above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as an enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). An ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs in some situations.

The RAN 710 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 720— via an SI interface 713. In embodiments, the CN 720 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a NextGen Packet Core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment the SI interface 713 is split into two parts: the SI -U interface 714, which carries traffic data between the RAN nodes 711 and 712 and the serving gateway (S-GW) 722, and the SI -mobility management entity (MME) interface 715, which is a signaling interface between the RAN nodes 711 and 712 and MMEs 721.

In this embodiment, the CN 720 comprises the MMEs 721, the S-GW 722, the Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 723, and a home subscriber server (HSS) 724. The MMEs 721 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Nodes (SGSN). The MMEs 721 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The HSS 724 may comprise a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities' handling of communication sessions. The CN 720 may comprise one or several HSSs 724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, on the capacity of the equipment, on the organization of the network, etc. For example, the HSS 724 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc.

The S-GW 722 may terminate the SI interface 713 towards the RAN 710, and routes data packets between the RAN 710 and the CN 720. In addition, the S-GW 722 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter- 3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

The P-GW 723 may terminate an SGi interface toward a PDN. The P-GW 723 may route data packets between the EPC network 723 and external networks such as a network including the application server 730 (alternatively referred to as application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 725. Generally, the application server 730 may be an element offering applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS Packet Services (PS) domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 723 is shown to be communicatively coupled to an application server 730 via an IP communications interface 725. The application server 730 can also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group

communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UEs 701 and 702 via the CN 720.

The P-GW 723 may further be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 726 is the policy and charging control element of the CN 720. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with a UE's Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with a UE's IP-CAN session: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) within a HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a Visited Public Land Mobile Network

(VPLMN). The PCRF 726 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 730 via the P-GW 723. The application server 730 may signal the PCRF 726 to indicate a new service flow and select the appropriate Quality of Service (QoS) and charging parameters. The PCRF 726 may provision this rule into a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate traffic flow template (TFT) and QoS class of identifier (QCI), which commences the QoS and charging as specified by the application server 730.

FIG. 8 illustrates example components of a device 800 in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, the device 800 may include application circuitry 802, baseband circuitry 804, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 806, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 808, one or more antennas 810, and power management circuitry (PMC) 812 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 800 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 800 may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 802, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 800 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory /storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

The application circuitry 802 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 802 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with or may include memory /storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory /storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 800. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 802 may process IP data packets received from an EPC.

The baseband circuitry 804 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 806 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806. Baseband processing circuity 804 may interface with the application circuitry 802 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 806. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 804A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 804B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 804C, or other baseband processor(s) 804D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 804 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 804A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 806. In other

embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 804 A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 804G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 804E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments,

modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 804 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 804F. The audio DSP(s) 804F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 804 and the application circuitry 802 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 804 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 804 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 806 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 806 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 804. RF circuitry 806 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 808 for transmission.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 806 may include mixer circuitry 806a, amplifier circuitry 806b and filter circuitry 806c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 806 may include filter circuitry 806c and mixer circuitry 806a. RF circuitry 806 may also include synthesizer circuitry 806d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 808 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 806d. The amplifier circuitry 806b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 806c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down- converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 804 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 806d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 808. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 804 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 806c.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 806a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 806a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 804 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 806.

In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 806d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

The synthesizer circuitry 806d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 806a of the RF circuitry 806 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 806d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 804 or the applications processor 802 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 802.

Synthesizer circuitry 806d of the RF circuitry 806 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 806d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some

embodiments, the RF circuitry 806 may include an IQ/polar converter.

FEM circuitry 808 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 810, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 806 for further processing. FEM circuitry 808 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 806 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 810. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 806, solely in the FEM 808, or in both the RF circuitry 806 and the FEM 808.

In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 808 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 806). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 808 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 806), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 810). In some embodiments, the PMC 812 may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 804. In particular, the PMC 812 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 812 may often be included when the device 800 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 812 may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

While FIG. 8 shows the PMC 812 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 804. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 812 may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 802, RF circuitry 806, or FEM 808.

In some embodiments, the PMC 812 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 800. For example, if the device 800 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 800 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 800 may transition off to an RRC Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 800 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 800 may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC Connected state.

An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable.

Processors of the application circuitry 802 and processors of the baseband circuitry 804 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 804, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 804 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical

(PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

FIG. 9 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 804 of FIG. 8 may comprise processors 804A-804E and a memory 804G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors

804A-804E may include a memory interface, 904A-904E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 804G.

The baseband circuitry 804 may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 912 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 804), an application circuitry interface 914 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry

802 of FIG. 8), an RF circuitry interface 916 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 806 of FIG. 8), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 918 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface 920 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC 812.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 1000 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 1010, one or more memory /storage devices 1020, and one or more communication resources 1030, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 1040. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 1002 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 1000.

The processors 1010 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) such as a baseband processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor

1012 and a processor 1014.

The memory /storage devices 1020 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory /storage devices 1020 may include, but are not limited to any type of volatile or non-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random-access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

The communication resources 1030 may include interconnection or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 1004 or one or more databases 1006 via a network 1008. For example, the communication resources 1030 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

Instructions 1050 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 1010 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 1050 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 1010 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), the memory /storage devices 1020, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 1050 may be transferred to the hardware resources 1000 from any combination of the peripheral devices 1004 or the databases 1006. Accordingly, the memory of processors 1010, the memory /storage devices 1020, the peripheral devices 1004, and the databases 1006 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

In some embodiments, a baseband circuitry for a user equipment (UE) includes one or more processors to process data, including processing of data for timing determination; a memory to store data, including storage of received signals and storage of data for transmission; and an RF circuitry interface to transfer downlink radio frames and uplink radio frames, wherein the baseband circuitry includes a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode for signal reception and transmission. In some embodiments, the one or more processors are to perform UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement between a received downlink positioning signal and a transmitted uplink positioning signal in the HD-FDD mode; and the UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement includes identifying a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal, and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal.

In some embodiments, identifying the downlink timing event includes measuring and recording a first detected path for the downlink time event at a reference point.

In some embodiments, the reference point is an antenna connector.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is a downlink radio frame and uplink timing event is an uplink radio frame, wherein the uplink radio frame is a closest radio frame to the downlink radio frame. In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk.

In some embodiments, x equals a minimum of either a predetermined value m, a total number of continuous downlink subframes, or a total number of continuous uplink subframes.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is a continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is a continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the continuous downlink subframes chunk.

In some embodiments, performance of the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement further includes provision of a measurement result based on the HD-FDD mode.

In some embodiments, the measurement result includes system frame number for uplink and a system frame number for downlink.

In some embodiments, the measurement result includes a reported value that is adjusted by consideration of an uplink-to-downlink guard period or a downlink-to-uplink guard period.

In some embodiments, computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including operating a user equipment (UE) in a long-term evolution LTE network, the UE operating in a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode;

receiving a downlink positioning signal and identifying a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal; measuring and recording a received timing of the downlink timing event; preparing an uplink positioning signal for transmission and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal; determining a transmit timing for the uplink timing event; and calculating a time difference between the received timing of the downlink timing event and the transmit timing of the uplink timing event.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is a downlink radio frame and uplink timing event is an uplink radio frame, wherein the uplink radio frame is a closest radio frame to the downlink radio frame.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk. In some embodiments, x equals a minimum of either a predetermined value m, a total number of continuous downlink subframes, or a total number of continuous uplink subframes. In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is a continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is a continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the continuous downlink subframes chunk.

In some embodiments, the instructions further include reporting a time difference to a positioning server for determination of US positioning, the reported time difference being based on the calculated time difference between the received timing of the downlink timing event and the transmit timing of the uplink timing event.

In some embodiments, the report of the time difference includes a system frame number for uplink and a system frame number for downlink.

In some embodiments, the report of the time difference includes a reported time difference that is adjusted by consideration of an uplink-to-downlink guard period or a downlink-to-uplink guard period.

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes means for operating a user equipment (UE) in a long-term evolution LTE network, the UE operating in a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode; means for receiving a downlink positioning signal and identifying a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal; measuring and recording a received timing of the downlink timing event; means for preparing an uplink positioning signal for transmission and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal; means for determining a transmit timing for the uplink timing event; and means for calculating a time difference between the received timing of the downlink timing event and the transmit timing of the uplink timing event.

In some embodiments, the means for identifying the downlink timing event includes means for measuring and recording a first detected path for the downlink time event at a reference point.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk. In some embodiments, x equals a minimum of either a predetermined value m, a total number of continuous downlink subframes, or a total number of continuous uplink subframes.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is a continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is a continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the continuous downlink subframes chunk. In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes means for reporting a time difference to a positioning server for determination of US positioning, the reported time difference being based on the calculated time difference between the received timing of the downlink timing event and the transmit timing of the uplink timing event.

In some embodiments, a system for a user equipment (UE) includes a baseband circuitry including one or more processors to process data, including processing of data for timing determination, a memory to store data, including storage of received signals and storage of data for transmission, and an RF circuitry interface, wherein the baseband circuitry includes a half- duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode for signal reception and transmission; a radio frequency (RF) circuitry to receive downlink radio frames and to transfer uplink radio frames; and an antenna for wireless signal reception and transmission. In some embodiments, the one or more processors are to perform UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement between a received downlink positioning signal and a transmitted uplink positioning signal in the HD-FDD mode; and the UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement includes identifying a downlink timing event the downlink positioning signal, and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal.

In some embodiments, identifying the downlink timing event includes measuring and recording a first detected path for the downlink time event at a connector for the antenna.

In some embodiments, the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. There may be intermediate structure between illustrated components. The components described or illustrated herein may have additional inputs or outputs that are not illustrated or described.

Various embodiments may include various processes. These processes may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in computer program or machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the processes. Alternatively, the processes may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.

Portions of various embodiments may be provided as a computer program product, which may include a computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer program instructions, which may be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) for execution by one or more processors to perform a process according to certain embodiments. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, magnetic disks, optical disks, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of computer-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. Moreover, embodiments may also be downloaded as a computer program product, wherein the program may be transferred from a remote computer to a requesting computer. In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium has stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform certain operations.

Many of the methods are described in their most basic form, but processes can be added to or deleted from any of the methods and information can be added or subtracted from any of the described messages without departing from the basic scope of the present embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many further modifications and adaptations can be made. The particular embodiments are not provided to limit the concept but to illustrate it. The scope of the embodiments is not to be determined by the specific examples provided above but only by the claims below.

If it is said that an element "A" is coupled to or with element "B," element A may be directly coupled to element B or be indirectly coupled through, for example, element C. When the specification or claims state that a component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic A "causes" a component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic B, it means that "A" is at least a partial cause of "B" but that there may also be at least one other component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic that assists in causing "B." If the specification indicates that a component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic "may", "might", or "could" be included, that particular component, feature, structure, process, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claim refers to "a" or "an" element, this does not mean there is only one of the described elements.

An embodiment is an implementation or example. Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "one embodiment," "some embodiments," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments. The various appearances of "an embodiment," "one embodiment," or "some embodiments" are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various novel aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, novel aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims are hereby expressly incorporated into this description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A baseband circuitry for a user equipment (UE) comprising:

one or more processors to process data, including processing of data for timing determination;

a memory to store data, including storage of received signals and storage of data for transmission; and

an RF circuitry interface to transfer downlink radio frames and uplink radio frames, wherein the baseband circuitry includes a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode for signal reception and transmission;

wherein the one or more processors are to perform UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement between a received downlink positioning signal and a transmitted uplink positioning signal in the HD-FDD mode; and

wherein the UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement includes identifying a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal, and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal.

2. The circuitry of claim 1 , wherein identifying the downlink timing event includes measuring and recording a first detected path for the downlink time event at a reference point.

3. The circuitry of claim 2, wherein the reference point is an antenna connector.

4. The circuitry of any of claims 1-3, wherein the downlink timing event is a downlink radio frame and uplink timing event is an uplink radio frame, wherein the uplink radio frame is a closest radio frame to the downlink radio frame.

5. The circuitry of any of claims 1-3, wherein the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk.

6. The circuitry of claim 5, wherein x equals a minimum of either a predetermined value m, a total number of continuous downlink subframes, or a total number of continuous uplink subframes.

7. The circuitry of any of claims 1-3, wherein the downlink timing event is a continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is a continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the continuous downlink subframes chunk.

8. The circuitry of any of claims 1-3, wherein performance of the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement further includes provision of a measurement result based on the HD-FDD mode.

9. The circuitry of claim 8, wherein the measurement result includes system frame number for uplink and a system frame number for downlink.

10. The circuitry of claim 8, wherein the measurement result includes a reported value that is adjusted by consideration of an uplink-to-downlink guard period or a downlink-to-uplink guard period.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

operating a user equipment (UE) in a long-term evolution LTE network, the UE operating in a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode;

receiving a downlink positioning signal and identifying a downlink timing event related to the downlink positioning signal;

measuring and recording a received timing of the downlink timing event;

preparing an uplink positioning signal for transmission and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal;

determining a transmit timing for the uplink timing event; and

calculating a time difference between the received timing of the downlink timing event and the transmit timing of the uplink timing event.

12. The medium of claim 11, wherein identifying the downlink timing event includes measuring and recording a first detected path for the downlink time event at a reference point.

13. The medium of claim 11 or 12, wherein the downlink timing event is a downlink radio frame and uplink timing event is an uplink radio frame, wherein the uplink radio frame is a closest radio frame to the downlink radio frame.

14. The medium of claims 11 or 12, wherein the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein x equals a minimum of either a predetermined value m, a total number of continuous downlink subframes, or a total number of continuous uplink subframes.

16. The medium of claim 11 or 12, wherein the downlink timing event is a continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is a continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the continuous downlink subframes chunk.

17. The medium of claim 11 or 12, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

reporting a time difference to a positioning server for determination of US positioning, the reported time difference being based on the calculated time difference between the received timing of the downlink timing event and the transmit timing of the uplink timing event.

18. The medium of claim 17, wherein the report of the time difference includes a system frame number for uplink and a system frame number for downlink.

19. The medium of claim 17, wherein the report of the time difference includes a reported time difference that is adjusted by consideration of an uplink-to-downlink guard period or a downlink-to-uplink guard period.

20. A system for a user equipment (UE) comprising:

a baseband circuitry including:

an RF circuitry interface, wherein the baseband circuitry includes a half-duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD) mode for signal reception and transmission;

a radio frequency (RF) circuitry to receive downlink radio frames and to transfer uplink radio frames; and

an antenna for wireless signal reception and transmission;

wherein the one or more processors are to perform UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement between a received downlink positioning signal and a transmitted uplink positioning signal in the HD-FDD mode; and wherein the UE receiver-transmitter (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement includes identifying a downlink timing event the downlink positioning signal, and identifying an uplink timing event related to the uplink positioning signal.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein identifying the downlink timing event includes measuring and recording a first detected path for the downlink time event at a connector for the antenna.

22. The system of claim 20 or 21 , wherein the downlink timing event is a downlink radio frame and uplink timing event is an uplink radio frame, wherein the uplink radio frame is a closest radio frame to the downlink radio frame.

23. The system of claim 20 or 21 , wherein the downlink timing event is an x continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is an x continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the x continuous downlink subframes chunk.

24. The system of claim 20 or 21 , wherein the downlink timing event is a continuous downlink subframes chunk, and the uplink timing event is a continuous uplink subframes chuck immediately after or immediately before the continuous downlink subframes chunk.