WO2023077390A1

WO2023077390A1 - Positioning enhancement for near-far field scenario

Info

Publication number: WO2023077390A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/128832
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tao Tao; Hyun-Su Cha; Ryan Keating; Chaojun Xu
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2021-11-05
Filing date: 2021-11-05
Publication date: 2023-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 2024-05-05
Also published as: CN118235058A

Abstract

Methods (500), devices (110,120,130,130-1,130-2,700), apparatuses, and computer readable medium (800) of enhancement on positioning. The method (500) comprises: performing, at a first device, a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level; determining whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmitting, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second device (530). The positioning solution is applicable to both far-field and near-field, and can provide high positioning accuracy with low complexity.

Description

POSITIONING ENHANCEMENT FOR NEAR-FAR FIELD SCENARIO

FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to devices, methods, apparatus and computer readable storage media of positioning enhancement for near-far field scenario.

BACKGROUND

Positioning and/or ranging techniques, such as, the positioning solution based on Angle of Arrival (AoA) , UL-TDOA, etc., are widely used in a conventional network system. A basic principle of AoA positioning model or algorithm is that each gNB or transmission/reception point (TRP) estimates the received angle of positioning SRS resource (s) from UE, and then reports AoA measurements to a location server. AoA is associated with a direction of the propagated radio-frequency wave incident on an antenna element in the antenna array of the gNB/TRP.

Typically, the AoA can be measured based on the path length difference at the individual antenna element of antenna arrays, and the path length difference between antenna elements is represented as a phase difference. Such a solution is only valid for far-field scenario. In a case where the UE is in proximity to the gNB/TRP, which can be seen as near-field scenario, the AoA of each antenna element would be completely different from the AoA estimation based on a corresponding far-field model. For example, in a factory environment, the distance from the UE to the gNB may be several meters or even less. In addition, the gNB/TRP may have a large size of antenna array, especially in FR2. The conventional far-field solution would lead to a low positioning accuracy and performance in the near-field scenario. Therefore, there is a need for a unified positioning solution for both near-field and far-field scenarios.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a unified positioning solution for both far-field and near field scenarios.

In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes. The at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to: perform a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; determine whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmit, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second device.

In a second aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes. The at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to: transmit, to a first device, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; receive, from the first device, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and estimate a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurement results.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: performing, at a first device, a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; determining whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmitting, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second device.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, at a second device and to a first device, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; receiving, from the first device, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurement results.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises: means for performing a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for determining whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and means for in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmitting, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second apparatus.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a second apparatus. The second apparatus comprises: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and means for estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurement results.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

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

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of radio wave incident on a linear antenna array based on a far-field model according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example of radio wave incident on an antenna element based on a near-field model according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of antenna grouping schemes according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a signaling chart illustrating an example positioning procedure according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method implemented at a first device according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method implemented at a second device according to example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , a further sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR Next Generation NodeB (gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. The network device is allowed to be defined as part of a gNB such as for example in CU/DU split in which case the network device is defined to be either a gNB-CU or a gNB-DU.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

AoA estimation may be based on different models in near-field and far-field scenarios. In theory, the near-field and far-field scenarios can be discriminated by a predefined threshold, which may depend on many aspects, such as, the antenna aperture, the operating frequency, the electromagnetic environment and so on. Although Fraunhofer distance can provide guidance of when a device works under a far-field condition, some field tests have proved that the threshold is hard to identify in the real scenario. In addition, whether to use a near-field algorithm or to use a far-field algorithm for AoA estimation may also depend on a required positioning accuracy.

Before Rel-17, this was not a critical issue to be handled as the requirement of positioning accuracy was not strict, such as, in sub-meter level. Hence, in Rel-16 and earlier, any error introduced by the far-field assumption can be negligible compared with the targeted accuracy.

As communication technology evolves to Rel-17, the requirement of positioning accuracy is increased. On the other hand, the distance between a UE and a gNB may be several meters or even less in some application scenario, for example, in a factory environment. In addition, the gNB/TRP may have a large size antenna array, especially in FR2. All these would lead to a requirement of considering AoA estimation in near-field scenario. The AoA estimation in the near-field is not a special case in practice. For example, Fraunhofer distance is used to discriminate if a distance between two devices is far-field or near-field, which is denoted by 2D ²/λ, where λ is the wavelength of the radio wave and D is the dimension of the radiator. D is assumed to be a diameter of the sphere that encloses the radiating parts of a device. In case that the carrier frequency is 28 GHz and D is 30 cm, a threshold distance for near-field and far-field discrimination is 16.8 meters. In consideration of a TRP size in practice, the threshold distance is more considerable.

Conventional AoA algorithms for near-field scenario are related to algorithm or implementation on how to effectively estimate angle under near-field assumption. For a high positioning accuracy, a priori knowledge about whether a target to be positioned is in near-field or in far-field is needed in order to apply a proper algorithm for localization. However, it is hard to specify a threshold to discriminate near-field and far-field.

In industrial IoT, to pursue high positioning accuracy as well as low cost, it is worth to considering a unified solution applicable in both near-field and far-field scenarios. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, a unified positioning solution is provided. The proposed solution is able to adapt itself according to different environment, in order to get more accurate estimation outcome. In the following descriptions, UL-AoA will be taken as an example to explain the principle of the unified solution, however, the present disclosure is not limited to this aspect, but the idea can apply to positioning methods other than UL-AoA as well.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. The network environment 100 includes a first device 110, a second device 120, and third devices 130-1 and 130-2. The first device 110 may be implemented as the base station (BS) /TRP, which may be also referred to as the BS/TRP 110 hereinafter. The second device 120 may be implemented a location management function (LMF) , which may be also referred to as the LMF 120 hereinafter. The third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may be implemented terminal devices, such as, UEs, which may be collectively referred to the third device 130.

The first device 110 provides radio coverage for the third devices 130-1 and 130-2. The third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may communicate with the first device 110 on uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) . In particular, the direction from the third device 130 to the first device 110 may refer to UL, and the direction from the first device 110 to the third device 130 may refer to DL.

As shown in FIG. 1, the third device130-1 is located far from the first device 110, while the third device 130-2 is located near the first device 110. Each of the third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may transmit wireless signals, for example, positioning reference signals (PRSs) , in an uplink (UL) channel.

The first device 110 may measure the PRSs via antenna elements in an antenna array (not shown) , and determine a group of measurement results, for example, AoA measurements. The AoA measurement may determine a direction of the propagated radio-frequency wave incident on an antenna element in the antenna array of the first device 110. This AoA may be measured by the path length difference at individual antenna element of antenna arrays. The path length difference between antenna elements is represented as phase difference.

FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of radio wave incident on a linear antenna array based on a far-field model 201 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, a part of antenna elements of the first device 110 is shown in FIG. 2A, where the incident angle of the wireless signal is θ, and hence the path length differences of the second and third antenna elements are d×sinθ and 2d×sinθ, respectively. In consideration of M antenna elements in the antenna array, the received signal model may be based on a steering vector a (θ) determined as below.

Then AoA, denoted by θ, can be estimated by estimating the phase difference or time delay between antenna elements. Moreover, the AoA can be also estimated with a higher accuracy by using high-resolution algorithms, such as, MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) algorithm, and so on.

As previously mentioned, the above way for determining AoA measurements is only valid for far-field scenario, where the distance between the UE and the TRP is far enough, and thus the front of the radio wave can be regarded as a plane.

In a case that the UE is so close to the TRP, the AoA of each antenna element would be completely different based on a near-field assumption. FIG. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example of radio wave incident on an antenna element based on a near-field model 202 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2B, the near-field model 202 is a spherical model with a relatively high accuracy, while the far-field model 201 is a plane model, which can be regarded as a relaxed model with a relatively low accuracy.

For example, for the remote third device 130-1 and the near third device 130-2, different fields and thus different positioning model are involved. To perform AoA estimation with various accuracy requirements and adapt to different environments, the first device 110 may partition the antenna elements in its antenna array based on various antenna grouping schemes, such that the antenna elements are grouped into antenna element groups (AEGs) corresponding to different levels. Thus, this may also refer to heterogeneous antenna element groups (H-AEGs) .

In some example embodiments, a higher level H-AEG may contain more antenna elements, whereas a lower level H-AEG may contain less antenna elements. In addition, the H-AEG containing all the antenna elements in the antenna array may correspond to the highest H-AEG level.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of antenna grouping schemes 310 to 330 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. By way of example, the antenna array of the first device 110 is shown as including 8 antenna elements 301 to 308, which are grouped into three different sizes of AEGs corresponding to respective three AEG levels.

According to the antenna grouping scheme 310, the antenna elements 301 to 308 is grouped into four H-AEGs 1_1 to 1_4 corresponding to the lowest H-AEG level, and each of H-AEGs 1_1 to 1_4 includes two antenna elements.

According to the antenna grouping scheme 320, the antenna elements 301 to 308 is grouped into three H-AEGs 2_1 to 2_3 corresponding to the medium H-AEG level, and each of H-AEGs 2_1 to 2_3 includes four antenna elements. As shown, antenna elements in different AEGs may be overlap with each other.

According to the antenna grouping scheme 330, the antenna elements 301 to 308 is grouped into a single H-AEG 3 corresponding to the top H-AEG level, and in this case the H-AEG 3 includes all the eight antenna elements of the first device 110.

Note that the unified positioning solution is not limited to implement with 8 antenna elements corresponding to three AEG levels. Depending on the accuracy requirement, the size of the antenna array, the performance of the TRP, etc., the antenna elements can be partitioned into more or less H-AEGs corresponding to respective H-AEG levels.

The first device 110 may start to perform the AoA estimation per AEG group based on a certain AEG level, and obtain multiple AoA values. Depending on the estimated AoA values, first device 110 may further determine whether to use other level of H-AEGs to perform AoA estimation again, or alternatively, report at least a part of the estimated AoA values to the LMF 120 based on the existing outcome. The first device may also report at least one of an AEG identity, and antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with the reported AoA values. The location information can be antenna reference point (ARP) information as defined in TS 38.455, and the AEG identity and antenna group identity can be an ARP identity. The LMF 120 may then estimate the location of the third device 130 based on the measurement results reported by the first device 110.

In some example embodiments, the LMF 120 may provide assistance information for AoA estimation to the first device 110, including but not limited to, an initial H-AEG level to start with, an approximate distance between the first device 110 and the third device 130, a threshold for near-field and far-field discrimination, a required positioning accuracy, information or rules for determining near-field/far-field, an indication of whether the first device 110 is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device 130, and so on.

However, such assistance information is not essential for the implementation of the unified solution. In some other example embodiments, the first device 110 may perform AoA estimation without the assistance information from the LMF 120.

It should be understood that, the proposed positioning solution is also applicable for the case of UE performing the AoA measurements, for example, in sidelink positioning for V2X. In the case of V2X, the third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may transmit sidelink reference signals, where the sidelink reference signals may be the legacy sidelink reference signals or may be the sidelink signals which are designed dedicated for positioning purpose.

It is also to be understood that the number of the devices as shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. For example, the network environment 100 may include any suitable number of terminal devices and network devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Only for ease of discussion, the first device 110 is illustrated as a TRP, and the third device 130 are illustrated as UEs. However, the TRP and UEs are only given as example implementations of the first device 110 and the third device 130, respectively, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the present application. Any other suitable implementations are possible as well.

The communications in the network environment 100 may conform to any suitable standards including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-evolution, LTE-advanced (LTE-A) , wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) , code division multiple access (CDMA) and global system for mobile communications (GSM) and the like. Furthermore, the communications may be performed according to any generation communication protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples of the communication protocols include, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G) , and/or any further communication protocols.

Principle and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows a signaling chart illustrating an example positioning procedure 400 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 400 will be described with reference to FIGs. 1 to 3. The process 400 may involve the first device 110, the second device 120, and the third device 130.

In the process 400, the positioning measurement is to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes 310 to 330, and each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes 310 to 330 is associated with a respective number of antenna groups that corresponds to a respective AEG level.

The second device 120 may transmit 402 a second message indicating assistance information or rules for positioning measurement to the first device 110. As mentioned above, this step is optional, and the process 400 can be implemented without such assistance information and rules.

The second message may be an NRPPa (NR Positioning Protocol A) message transmitted by the LMF. The assistance information and/or rules may indicate a reporting condition for the positioning measurement with respect to the third device 130.

In the embodiments where no assistance information and/rule is provided, the reporting condition may be either preconfigured at the first device 110 or determined by the first device 110 itself.

In some example embodiments, the assistance information for positioning measurement may include one of 1) an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement; and 2) assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement.

In some example embodiments, the assistance information may include, but not limited to:

· information about timing advance (TA) associated with the third device 130; for example, for a case where TA is above a certain value, the third device 130 can be assumed to be in far-field.

· time of arrival (ToA) information associated with the third device 130,

· information about a reference signal from the third device 130; for example, for a case where a RSRP of a PRS from the third device 130 is below a certain value, the third device 130 can be assumed be in far-field,

· an indication of whether the first device 110 is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device 130, and

· a rule for determining whether the first device 110 is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device 130.

In some example embodiments, the second message may include at least one threshold indicating the reporting condition, including but not limited to:

· a positioning accuracy threshold, for example, a positioning QoS; and

· a measurement threshold determined based on past estimation values reported from the first device 110; for example, the LMF learns over time that, for a certain threshold, the far-field estimates are sufficient for positioning estimation.

The third device 130 transmits 404 reference signals (e.g., PRSs) on a channel between the first device 110 and the third device 130.

In some cases where the third device 130 knows its previous location based on UE-based positioning (e.g., GNSS based positioning) , the measurement threshold may be also provided by the third device 130.

The first device 110 performs 406 positioning measurement on the received reference signals based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a respective number of AEGs corresponding to the initial AEG level.

By way of example, the LMF may indicate the TRP to start the positioning measurement for a target UE with the lowest H-AEG level, which corresponds to the antenna grouping scheme 310, since there is no priori information about the location of the target UE. In this case, the first device 110 may perform AoA measurements separately by using four H-AEGs 1_1 to 1_4, and thus determine a group of measurement result, in this example, there will be four AoA estimation values.

By way of another example, the second device 120 may determine the initial H-AEG level to be the highest H-AEG level, and in this case, the positioning measurement is started based on the antenna grouping scheme 330 by using a single H-AEG including all the antenna elements 301 to 308.

The first device 110 then determines 408 the next operation based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme. For example, the measurement result may include a deviation of AoA values. Additionally, or alternatively, to improve the AoA accuracy under the H-AEG framework, the measurement result may be a maximum difference of the AoAs. Other criteria are also applicable to the unified positioning solution, and the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

For the purpose of discussion, in the following descriptions, the example embodiments are described based on the deviation of AoA values, and a current H-AEG level corresponds to the above antenna group scheme 320, that is, the first device 110 start to perform the positioning measurement by using the H-AEGs 2_1 to 2_3. However, it should be understood that the operations of process 400 are also suitable for other criteria, and configurations.

The first device 110 may determine whether the deviation of the AoA values is larger than or smaller than a threshold. The threshold may be configured by the LMF, for example, via the signaling in 40. Alternatively, the threshold may be determined by the first device 110 based on local information.

Depending on the determination result, the first device 110 makes a decision for the next operation, which may involve two branches of the process 400, that is, branches A and B. In particular, if the deviation of AoA values is smaller than the threshold, the next operations may follow branch A of the process 400. In some embodiments of branch A, the first device 110 may perform 410 AoA estimation again based on the highest H-AEG level, for example, using the whole antenna array for AoA estimation. A relatively small deviation of AoA values may indicate that the far-field conditions appear to be met, as the AoA values measured by different antenna elements or H-AEGs in the array are quite similar. In this case, to improve the positioning accuracy, the first device 110 could use more antenna elements, e.g., the antenna group scheme 330 which corresponds to the highest H-AEG level, as more antenna elements are able to identify more paths.

Alternatively, in some other embodiments of branch A, the first device 110 may directly report 412 one or multiple obtained AoA values to the second device 120. In this case, a higher positioning accuracy may not be required, and AoA estimation based on the current H-AEG level is already sufficient.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may report a part or the entire group of measurement results to the second device 120. Additionally, or alternatively, the first device 110 may take an average or a weighted average of the AoA measurements obtained from the lower H-AEG level and report the combined value as a final measurement result for AoA.

Otherwise, if the deviation of AoA values is larger than the threshold, the next operations may follow branch B of the process 400.

In some embodiments of branch B, the first device 110 may report 414 a part of the group of measurement results for reporting to the second device 120. For example, for a better positioning accuracy, the first device 110 may select the AoA values obtained by the H-AEGs located in middle locations in the antenna array for reporting, for example, H-AEG 2_2.

For another example, the first device 110 may report 416 all the AoA values obtained from the current H-AEG level.

Alternatively, in some other embodiments of branch B, the first device 110 may determine 418 that the positioning measurement is needed to be performed again by using another antenna grouping scheme which corresponds to a different H-AEG level from the current H-AEG level.

As an example, the first device 110 may select a further antenna grouping scheme which corresponds to a higher H-AEG level to perform AoA estimation again. For example, in case where the angle measurements from H-AEG #2_1 and H-AEG #2_2 are similar, and those of H-AEG #2_2 and H-AEG #2_3 are also similar, for example, within a predetermined similarity threshold value, the first device 110 may determine that the AoA measurement may be needed to be performed again by using an antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a higher H-AEG level, for example, the antenna grouping scheme 330 which corresponds to the highest H-AEG level.

As another example, the first device 110 may select a further antenna grouping scheme which corresponds to a lower H-AEG level to perform AoA estimation again. For example, the first device 110 may select the antenna grouping scheme 310 that corresponds to a lower H-AEG level, and perform AoA estimation again per H-AEG #1_1 to #1_4.

In some example embodiments, before reporting the measurement results to the LMF, the operations described in 410 and 418 may be repeatedly performed by the first device 110 in an iterative manner, until a required positioning accuracy is reached or a reporting condition is met. As indicated above, the positioning accuracy and/or the reporting condition may be configured by the second device 110, or autonomously determined by the first device 110.

According to the example embodiments, there is provided a unified positioning solution applicable to both the near-field and the far-field scenarios. Based on the solution, the antenna elements for positioning measurement are divided into various sizes of AEGs corresponding to respective AEG levels. The terminal device or TRP is able to identify near-field or far-field, and accordingly adapt an antenna grouping scheme suitable for positioning estimation depending on a required positioning accuracy, a performance and electromagnetic environment of the network system, a size of the antenna array and so on. In addition, such a solution can be implemented with a low complexity, since there is no need to configure and/or run separate near-field algorithm in product.

Corresponding to the process 400 described in connection with FIG. 4, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning solution applicable in both the near-field and far-field scenarios, which involves the terminal device, the gNB/TRP and the LMF. These methods will be described below with reference to FIGs. 5 and 6.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method 500 according to example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 500 can be implemented by a terminal device for sidelink positioning or by a network device, such as, a gNB or a TRP. The method 500 can be implemented at the first device 110 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that method 500 may further include additional blocks not shown and/or omit some shown blocks, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 510, the first device 110 performs a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device 130 based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes. Each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes may be associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may transmit a first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels to the second device 120. The second device 120 may be the LMF. The first message may help the LMF determine assistance information or rules for positioning measurement. Additionally or alternatively, it may also help the LMF process measurement results reported by the first device 110 later. By way of example, the measurement results may be AoA estimated by the first device 110.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive, from the second device 120, a second message comprising one of the following:

· an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement, and

· assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement.

In some example embodiments, the assistance information may comprise at least one of the following:

· TA information associated with the third device 130,

· ToA information associated with the third device 130,

· information about a positioning reference signal, for example, the PRS,

In some example embodiments, a plurality of antenna elements of the fist device 110 may be grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, with the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group comprising all the antenna elements of the first device corresponds to a highest AEG level.

At 520, the first device 110 determines whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results. The group of measurement results is measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive, from the second device 120, a second message indicating the reporting condition for the positioning measurement to be performed with respect to a third device 130.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition may be associated with at least one threshold indicated by the third device 130, and the at least one threshold may be based on a previous location of the third device 130.

If the reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met, at 530, the first device 110 transmits, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second device 120. The first device may also report at least one of an AEG identity, and antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with the group of measurement results. The location information can be antenna reference point (ARP) information as defined in TS 38.455, and the AEG identity and antenna group identity can be an ARP identity.

Otherwise, if the reporting condition for the positioning measurement is not met, the first device 110 performs a further processing to obtain positioning measurement on a signal from the third device 130 based on a second antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the second antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a second AEG level. The second AEG level may be greater than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine a measurement parameter based on the group of measurement results. The first device 110 may then determine whether the reporting condition is met based at least in part on the measurement parameter.

In some example embodiments, the measurement parameter comprises one of a deviation of the group of measurement results and a maximum difference of the group of measurement results.

In the above example embodiments, if the measurement parameter does not exceed a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, and a positioning accuracy associated with the third device 130 does not exceed a threshold of a positioning accuracy, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is met.

Alternatively, if the measurement parameter exceeds the threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is met. Otherwise, if the measurement parameter does not exceed the threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is not met. In this case, the second AEG level may be greater than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report may comprise at least one of the following:

· at least a part of the group of measurement results; by way of example, the first device 110 may select a part of AoA values obtained the H-AEGs in middle locations in the antenna array, for example, the H-AEG 1_2 and 1_3 as shown in antenna grouping scheme 310 in FIG. 3; as another example, the first device 110 may select all the AoA values obtained from a certain H-AEG level; and

· an average or a weighted average of the group of measurement results; for example, the first device 110 may take an average or weighted average of the AoA values obtained from a certain H-AEG level and report this combined value as the final AoA.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, if the measurement parameter does not exceed the threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is met. Otherwise, if the measurement parameter exceeds the threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is not met. In this case, the second AEG level may be lower than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine, based on local information, an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement. The local information may comprise at least one of TA information associated with the third device 130, an initial distance estimate from the first device 110 to the third device 130, and measurement information reported by the third device 130.

In some example embodiments where no indication of an initial AEG level is received from the second device 120, the first device 110 may start the positioning measurement with the antenna groups corresponding to a lowest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition may be associated with at least one threshold determined by the first device 110 or configured by the second device 120. The at least one threshold may include but not limited to, a positioning accuracy threshold, and a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device 110.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method 600 according to example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 600 can be implemented by a LMF in the core network. The method 600 can be implemented at the second device 120 shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be understood that method 600 may further include additional blocks not shown and/or omit some shown blocks, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

At 610, the second device 120 transmits, to the first device 110, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device 130. The positioning measurement is to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, and each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes may be associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the second message may be an NRPPa message transmitted by the LMF.

In some example embodiments, the second message may further comprise one of the following:

· an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement; and

In some example embodiments, the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

· TA information associated with the third device 130; for example, for a case where TA is above a certain value, the third device 130 can be assumed to be in far-field.

· time of arrival (ToA) information associated with the third device 130,

In some example embodiments, the second message may comprise at least one threshold indicating the reporting condition, and the at least one threshold may comprise at least one of the following:

· a positioning accuracy threshold, for example, a positioning QoS; and

In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may receive, from the first device 110, a first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

The plurality of antenna elements of the first device are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group comprising all of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to a highest AEG level.

At 620, the second device 120 receives, from the first device 110, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report may indicate at least one of an AEG identity, an antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the plurality of measurement results.

At 630, the second device 120 estimates a location of the third device 130 based on the plurality of measurement results.

In the example embodiments, the first device 110 may be one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second device 120 may be a LMF, and the third device may be a second terminal device.

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 500 (for example, the first device 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises: means for performing a positioning measurement on a signal from a third apparatus based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for determining whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and means for in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmitting, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is not met, performing a further processing to obtain positioning measurement on a signal from the third apparatus based on a second antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the second antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a second AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a second message comprising one of the following: an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement; and assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement.

· information about timing advance associated with the third apparatus,

· time of arrival information associated with the third apparatus,

· information about a positioning reference signal,

· an indication of whether the first apparatus is in near-field or far-field relative to the third apparatus, and

· a rule for determining whether the first apparatus is in near-field or far-field relative to the third apparatus.

In some example embodiments, a plurality of antenna elements of the fist apparatus are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group comprising all the antenna elements of the first apparatus corresponds to a highest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether the reporting condition is met comprises: means for determining a measurement parameter based on the group of measurement results, the measurement parameter; and means for determining whether the reporting condition is met based at least in part on the measurement parameter.

In some example embodiments, the measurement parameter comprises one of the following: a deviation of the group of measurement results; and a maximum difference of the group of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter is not exceeding a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination and a positioning accuracy associated with the third apparatus is not exceeding a threshold of a positioning accuracy, determining that the reporting condition is met.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report comprises at least one of the following: at least a part of the group of measurement results, and an average or a weighted average of the group of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter is not exceeding a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, determining that the reporting condition is not met.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter is exceeding a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination and a difference between the measurement results measured by two adjacent antenna groups is not exceeding a threshold difference, determining that the reporting condition is not met.

In some example embodiments, the second AEG level is greater than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, determining that the reporting condition is met.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report comprises one of the following: a part of the measurement results measured by at least one antenna group located at a middle location in the antenna array; and the group of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report indicates at least one of an AEG identity, an antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the reported measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, determining that the reporting condition is not met.

In some example embodiments, the second AEG level is lower than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, based on local information, an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement, the local information comprising at least one of the following: information about timing advance associated with the third apparatus, an initial distance estimate from the first apparatus to the third apparatus, and measurement information reported by the third apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that no indication of an initial AEG level is received from the second apparatus, starting the positioning measurement with the antenna groups corresponding to a lowest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold determined by the first apparatus or configured by the second apparatus, and the at least one threshold comprises at least one of the following: a positioning accuracy threshold, and a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a second message indicating the reporting condition for the positioning measurement to be performed with respect to the third apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold indicated by the third apparatus, and the at least one threshold is based on a previous location of the third apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second apparatus comprises a location management function, LMF, and a third apparatus comprises a second terminal device.

In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 600 (for example, the second device 120) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises: means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third apparatus, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and means for estimating a location of the third apparatus based on the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report indicates at least one of an AEG identity, an antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the plurality of measurement results.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

In some example embodiments, a plurality of antenna elements of the first apparatus are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group comprising all of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to a highest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the second message further comprises one of the following: an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement; and assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement.

· information about timing advance associated with the third apparatus,

· time of arrival information associated with the third apparatus,

· information about a positioning reference signal,

In some example embodiments, the second message comprises at least one threshold indicating the reporting condition, and the at least one threshold comprises at least one of the following: a positioning accuracy threshold, and a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second apparatus comprises a location management function, LMF and the third apparatus comprises a second terminal device.

FIG. 7 is a simplified block diagram of a device 700 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example the first device 110 and the second device 120 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processor 710, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX) 740 coupled to the processor 710.

The TX/RX 740 may be configured for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

The processor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 724, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage media. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 730 includes computer executable instructions that may be executed by the associated processor 710. The program 730 may be stored in the ROM 724. The processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 730 into the RAM 722.

The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 730 so that the device 700 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 4. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 722 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. FIG. 8 shows an example of the computer readable medium 800 in form of CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has the program 730 stored thereon.

Various example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of example embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations. It is to be understood that the block, device, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the

method

500 or 600 as described above with reference to FIGs. 5-6. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, device or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, 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.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A first device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to:

perform a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

determine whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and

in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmit, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second device.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is not met, perform a further processing to obtain positioning measurement on a signal from the third device based on a second antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the second antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a second AEG level.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

transmit, to the second device, a first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

receive, from the second device, a second message comprising one of the following:

an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement; and

assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement.
The first device of Claim 4, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

information about timing advance associated with the third device,

time of arrival information associated with the third device,

information about a positioning reference signal,

an indication of whether the first device is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device, and

a rule for determining whether the first device is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein a plurality of antenna elements of the fist device are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group comprising all the antenna elements of the first device corresponds to a highest AEG level.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to determine whether the reporting condition is met by:

determining a measurement parameter based on the group of measurement results, the measurement parameter; and

determining whether the reporting condition is met based at least in part on the measurement parameter.
The first device of Claim 7, wherein the measurement parameter comprises one of the following:

a deviation of the group of measurement results; and

a maximum difference of the group of measurement results.
The first device of Claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter is not exceeding a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination and a positioning accuracy associated with the third device is not exceeding a threshold of a positioning accuracy, determine that the reporting condition is met.
The first device of Claim 9, wherein the measurement report comprises at least one of the following:

at least a part of the group of measurement results, and

an average or a weighted average of the group of measurement results.
The first device of Claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter is not exceeding a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, determine that the reporting condition is not met.
The first device of Claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter is exceeding a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination and a difference between the measurement results measured by two adjacent antenna groups is not exceeding a threshold difference, determine that the reporting condition is not met.
The first device of Claim 11 or 12, wherein the second AEG level is greater than the first AEG level.
The first device of Claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, determine that the reporting condition is met.
The first device of Claim 14, wherein the measurement report comprises one of the following:

a part of the measurement results measured by at least one antenna group located at a middle location in the antenna array; and

the group of measurement results.
The first device of Claim 10 or 15, wherein the measurement report indicates at least one of an AEG identity, an antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the reported measurement results.
The first device of Claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near-field and far field discrimination, determine that the reporting condition is not met.
The first device of Claim 17, wherein the second AEG level is lower than the first AEG level.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

determine, based on local information, an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement, the local information comprising at least one of the following:

information about timing advance associated with the third device,

an initial distance estimate from the first device to the third device, and

measurement information reported by the third device.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that no indication of an initial AEG level is received from the second device, start the positioning measurement with the antenna groups corresponding to a lowest AEG level.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold determined by the first device or configured by the second device, and the at least one threshold comprises at least one of the following:

a positioning accuracy threshold, and

a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device.
The first device of Claim 21, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

receive, from the second device, a second message indicating the reporting condition for the positioning measurement to be performed with respect to the third device.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold indicated by the third device, and the at least one threshold is based on a previous location of the third device.
The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second device comprises a location management function, LMF, and the third device comprises a second terminal device.
A second device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program codes;

the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to:

transmit, to a first device, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

receive, from the first device, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and

estimate a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurement results.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein the measurement report indicates at least one of an AEG identity, an antenna group identity, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the plurality of measurement results.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second device at least to:

receive, from the first device, a first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein a plurality of antenna elements of the first device are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group comprising all of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to a highest AEG level.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein the second message further comprises one of the following:

an indication of an initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement; and

assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to be used to start the positioning measurement.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of the following:

information about timing advance associated with the third device,

time of arrival information associated with the third device,

information about a positioning reference signal,

an indication of whether the first device is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device, and

a rule for determining whether the first device is in near-field or far-field relative to the third device.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein the second message comprises at least one threshold indicating the reporting condition, and the at least one threshold comprises at least one of the following:

a positioning accuracy threshold, and

a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device.
The second device of Claim 25, wherein the first device comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second device comprises a location management function, LMF, and the third device comprises a second terminal device.
A method comprising:

performing, at a first device, a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

determining whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and

in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmitting, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second device.
A method comprising:

transmitting, at a second device and to a first device, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

receiving, from the first device, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and

estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurement results.
A first apparatus comprising:

means for performing a positioning measurement on a signal from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

means for determining whether a reporting condition for the positioning measurement is met based on a group of measurement results measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and

means for in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is met, transmitting, based on at least a part of the group of measurement results, a measurement report to a second apparatus.
A second apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, a second message indicating a reporting condition for a positioning measurement with respect to a third device, the positioning measurement to be performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and

means for estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurement results.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of Claim 33 or 34.