WO2025171627A1

WO2025171627A1 - Positioning measurement and reporting based on frequency hopping

Info

Publication number: WO2025171627A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/077322
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hyun-Su Cha; Gilsoo LEE; Tao Tao; Abdurrahman FOUDA
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: 2024-02-17
Filing date: 2024-02-17
Publication date: 2025-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2026-08-17

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for positioning measurement and reporting based on frequency hopping. In an example method, a first device receives a request to perform positioning for a terminal device. The request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning. The first device transmits, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources. The first device performs at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources. The first device transmits, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement. In this way, the second network device (such as, an LMF) can use the positioning measurements based on the number of frequency hops used for the positioning measurements, and accuracy of UE positioning, especially of RedCap UE positioning, can be enhanced.

Description

POSITIONING MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING BASED ON FREQUENCY HOPPING

FIELD

Various example embodiments relate to the field of communication, and in particular, to devices, methods, apparatuses, and a computer readable medium for uplink (UL) positioning measurement and reporting based on frequency hopping.

BACKGROUND

New radio (NR) positioning in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 (Rel-18) enables networks to achieve high accuracy positioning without dependence on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) . In addition, Rel-18 NR supports positioning functionalities for reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) .

The NR positioning enhancements of Rel-18 should support high-precision location services. The new positioning features also include bandwidth aggregation for positioning measurements, the adoption of frequency hopping for RedCap UEs, low-power consumption solutions for low power high accuracy positioning (LPHAP) use cases, and the sidelink positioning. As such, future 3GPP releases will need innovative enhancements.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for UL positioning measurement and reporting based on frequency hopping, especially for reduced capability (RedCap) positioning.

In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to: receive, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; transmit, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device; perform at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and transmit, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.

In a second aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to: transmit, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and receive, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: receiving, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; transmitting, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device; performing at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and transmitting, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises: transmitting, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and receiving, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for receiving, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; means for transmitting, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device; means for performing the at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and means for transmitting, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises: means for transmitting, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and means for receiving, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of the above third aspect or fourth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the method of the above third aspect or fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises: receiving circuitry configured to receive, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; first transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device; performing circuitry configured to perform at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and second transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises: transmitting circuitry configured to transmit, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and receiving circuitry configured to receive, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.

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, in which:

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

FIG. 1B illustrates an example frequency hopping used by RedCap UEs to transmit sounding reference signal (SRS) .

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a process flow in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example procedure for uplink (UL) positioning measurement reporting with frequency hopping in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a first device in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method implemented at a second device in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer-readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

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

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles 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 herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

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 (for example, 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 “network” , “communication network” or “data 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) , wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device/element in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) , IEEE 802.11 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 receives services (e.g., positioning services) therefrom. The network device may refer to a core network device or access network device, such as base station (BS) or an access point (AP) or a transmission and reception point (TRP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a remote radio unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a WiFi device, a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In the following description, the terms “network device” , “AP device” , “AP” and “access point” may be used interchangeably.

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) , a station (STA) or station device, 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 (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (for example, remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (for example, 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 “station” , “station device” , “STA” , “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

As discussed above, the NR positioning enhancements need to support high-precision location services. The new positioning features also include bandwidth aggregation for positioning measurements, the adoption of frequency hopping for RedCap UEs, low- power consumption solutions for low power high accuracy positioning (LPHAP) use cases, and the sidelink positioning. As a continued effort of the Rel-18 work, future 3GPP releases will need innovative enhancements.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example communication environment in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented, and FIG. 1B illustrates an example frequency hopping used by RedCap UEs to transmit sounding reference signal (SRS) in a network. The communication environment 100, which may be a part of a communication system, comprises terminal devices and network devices.

The network may be implemented according to any proper wireless or wired communication protocol (s) , comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols and core network communication protocols of the fourth generation (4G) and the fifth generation (5G) and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and/or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) , Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) , Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) , Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) , Time Division Duplex (TDD) , Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM) , Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and/or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

It is to be understood that the number of devices and their connection relationships and types shown in FIG. 1A are for illustrative purposes without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may comprise any suitable number of devices adapted for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, it can be seen that positioning for RedCap UEs (e.g., UE 1 104-1 in FIG. 1A) , as well as frequency hopping beyond maximum RedCap UE bandwidth for transmission of uplink (UL) SRS (e.g., UL SRS 1 120-1 or UL SRS 2 120-2 in FIG. 1A) and reception of downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) (e.g., DL PRS 1 130-1 or DL PRS 2 130-2 in FIG. 1A) , should be supported. It should be noted that, the complexity of the corresponding capabilities for RedCap UEs should be addressed for the introduction of appropriate capabilities for RedCap UEs. Furthermore, performance improvement for RedCap UEs can be obtained by means of frequency hopping technique.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, for RedCap UE with UL SRS frequency hopping, the main idea is to transmit a part of SRS of a virtual SRS resource as the RedCap RF bandwidth is limited to 20 MHz for FR1 and 100 MHz for FR2. A part of SRS is called as an SRS frequency hop. The gNB (e.g., gNB 1 102-1, gNB 2 102-2, gNB 3 102-3, or gNB 4 102-4 in FIG. 1A) receives multiple SRS frequency hops and stitch them together. In order for the UE (e.g., UE 1 104-1 in FIG. 1A) to transmit another SRS frequency hop, the UE needs RF retuning time. More specifically, when RedCap UE is performing positioning, the total bandwidth allowed for SRS transmission should be wider than RedCap UE’s bandwidth to use frequency hopping. When RedCap UE can transmit one hop of SRS occupying 20 MHz, 5 hops are consecutively transmitted. Then gNB will combine the received SRS in 5 hops. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, 5 hops are used to transmit the total PRS bandwidth to RedCap UE.

One aspect of some embodiments of this disclosure relates to enhancing and fixing the measurement reporting framework to accommodate SRS frequency hopping. In the context of RedCap positioning with SRS frequency hopping, the gNB performs timing measurements from a concatenated sequence of multiple frequency hops. The determination of the number of SRS frequency hops to be utilized for a specific measurement is up to gNB implementations. Furthermore, there are instances where the UE cannot transmit SRS during a frequency hop due to the prioritization rule of high-priority signals or data.

Based on the RAN1 agreement, when the gNB reports an uplink (UL) positioning measurement obtained with SRS frequency hopping, it may be able to indicate whether the measurement originates from a singular frequency hop or multiple frequency hops. Although it may be advantageous for the gNB to convey information regarding the exact number of frequency hops used or the total hopping bandwidth utilized for UL positioning measurement, regrettably, this option is not feasible.

For measurements based on UL SRS (e.g., UL SRS 1 120-1 or UL SRS 2 120-2 in FIG. 1A) with Tx hopping or DL PRS (e.g., DL PRS 1 130-1 or DL PRS 2 130-2 in FIG. 1A) with Rx frequency hopping, in one hand, UE (UE 1 104-1, UE 2 104-2, or UE 3 104-3 in FIG. 1A) and/or gNB (e.g., gNB 1 102-1, gNB 2 102-2, gNB 3 102-3, gNB 4 102-4, or gNB 5 102-5 in FIG. 1A) should report either a single-hop or multi-hops measurement. In another hand, indication of which of a single-hop or multi-hops measurement should be optionally reported.

Based on these features, the following problems can be identified. First, the location measurement function (LMF, e.g., LMF 106 in FIG. 1A) is unable to obtain the information on the number of frequency hops or the total hopping bandwidth utilized for UL positioning measurement. This limitation makes it difficult to select the most pertinent measurements for practical use. Such task is a challenging work for the LMF. Second, the gNB can perform timing measurement (e.g., relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement) from different number of frequency hops of two transmission and reception points (TRPs) . Thus, the LMF is likely to calculate a differential measurement from RTOA measurements originated from different number of frequency hops (that is, different bandwidths) .

Therefore, some embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution for uplink positioning measurement and reporting based on frequency hopping. In this solution, a first device (e.g., a base station) receives, from a second device (e.g., a LMF) , a request to perform positioning for a terminal device (e.g., a RedCap UE or a normal UE) . The request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning. Also, the first device transmits, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device. In addition, the first device performs at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request. Then, the first device transmits, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement. By implementing the example embodiments of the present disclosure, the second device (e.g., a LMF) can use the uplink positioning measurements based on the number of frequency hops used for the uplink positioning measurements, and accuracy of UE positioning, especially of RedCap UE positioning, can be enhanced.

For illustrative purposes, principles and example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 7. However, it is to be noted that these embodiments are given to enable the skilled in the art to understand inventive concepts of the present disclosure and implement the solution as proposed herein, and not intended to limit scope of the present application in any way.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a process flow 200 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, the process flow 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1A. It would be appreciated that although the process flow 200 has been described referring to the communication environment 100 of FIG. 1A, this process flow 200 may be likewise applied to other similar communication scenarios.

As shown in FIG. 2, at 220, a second device 206 may transmit, to a first device 202, a request 222 to perform positioning for a terminal device 204. For example, the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning. Accordingly, at 224, the first device 202 may receive, from the second device 206, the request 222 to perform positioning for the terminal device 204. After receiving the request 222 from the second device 206, at 230, the first device 202 may transmit, to the terminal device 204 and based on the request 222, a configuration 232 of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device 204. At 234, the terminal device 204 may receive the configuration 232.

Thereafter, at 240, the first device 202 may perform at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request 222, and at 250, the first device 202 may transmit, to the second device 206, a measurement report 252 for the at least one uplink positioning measurement. Accordingly, at 254, the second device 206 may receive, from the first device 202, the measurement report 252 for the at least one uplink positioning measurement. In some embodiments, the request 222 indicates the first device 202 to perform the at least one uplink positioning measurement using a same number of frequency hops of the uplink RS resources.

Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the request indicates a first threshold, and a difference between a first number of frequency hops used for performing a first uplink positioning measurement and a second number of frequency hops used for performing a second uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the first threshold. Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, a difference between a third number of frequency hops used for reporting a third uplink positioning measurement and a fourth number of frequency hops used for reporting a fourth uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to a second threshold, and the second threshold is predefined or requested by the second device.

In some implementations, the request indicates the first device to provide information related to a reference uplink positioning measurement. The request further indicates a largest number of frequency hops used for obtaining the reference uplink positioning measurement. Moreover, the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement comprises information on which uplink positioning measurements are obtained using a same number of frequency hops as used for the reference uplink positioning measurement.

Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement further comprises information on a group of uplink positioning measurements which are obtained using a same number of frequency hops. Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the request further indicates a third threshold, and a difference between a reference number of frequency hops used for performing the reference uplink positioning measurement and a number of frequency hops used for performing an uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the third threshold.

In some embodiments, the first device may be a base station (BS) , the second device may be a location management function (LMF) , the terminal device can be a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) or a normal UE, the RS can be a sounding reference signal (SRS) , or any combination thereof. In some examples, the at least one uplink positioning measurement may comprise a relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement, a next generation node B (gNB) receiving (Rx) -transmitting (Tx) time difference measurement, a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example procedure 300 for UL positioning measurement reporting with frequency hopping in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The example procedure 300 of FIG. 3 relates to the behaviors of a gNB 302, a UE 304 (e.g., a RedCap UE) , and a LMF 306 for UL positioning measurement reporting with frequency hopping. Specifically and initially, the LMF 306 may initiates UL-based positioning (e.g., through providing positioning assistance data 312 to the gNB 302 and providing positioning assistance data 314 to the UE 304) , and the UE 304 may report its limited UE capability to either or both of the gNB 302 and the LMF 306 (e.g., through providing RedCap UE capability 316 and/or providing RedCap UE capability 318) . It should be noted that, RedCap UE capability 316 and/or RedCap UE capability 318 may be provided before, after, or during the initiation of UL-based positioning.

Thereafter, based on provision of request message at 320, the LMF 306 may request the gNB 302 to perform UL positioning measurements for the RedCap UE. At 330, the gNB 302 may provide the RedCap UE with UL SRS configuration for frequency hopping. The provided SRS resource may occupy at least more than 2 symbols, so that the RedCap UE can perform RF re-tuning while frequency hopping.

In particular, the above mentioned provision of request message may be implemented according to at least one of the following options. For the first option, at 322, the LMF 306 may request the gNB 302 to use the same number of UL SRS frequency hops for RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) when the gNB 302 is performing RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) with frequency hopping. It should be noted that, such behavior in the first option may not be implemented as a default behavior of the gNB, as sometimes the UE cannot transmit SRS at a specific frequency hop due to the priority rule, and the gNB may perform RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) from multiple SRSs transmitted by multiple UEs.

For the second option, at 324, the LMF 306 may provide a criterion on the number of frequency hops for the RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) , where the criterion may include a threshold number on the difference of the number of frequency hops used for measurements. The LMF 306 may request the gNB 302 to report the RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) , where the difference of the number of frequency hops used for those measurements is less than or equal to the threshold number.

For example, assume the threshold number is 2. The gNB may report N (N>1) RTOA measurements obtained from N distinct SRS resources, with the RTOA measurements being obtained from 1, 2, or 3 SRS frequency hops. In such case, if the gNB reports an RTOA measurement obtained from a single frequency hop, it has an option to indicate that the measurement is indeed obtained from a single frequency hop. As a result, the LMF can at least be aware that the reported measurements are generated from a maximum of three frequency hops.

In another embodiment of the second option, the gNB may only report the RTOA measurements which maintain the difference between the number of SRS frequency hops that are made from within a predefined or requested frequency hopping threshold. For example, if the threshold number is 1 and the gNB measures UL RTOA#1 (made from 1 frequency hop) , UL RTOA#2 (made from 3 frequency hops) , and UL RTOA#3 (made from 4 frequency hops) , the gNB may only report UL RTOA#2 and UL RTOA#3.

For the third option, at 326, the LMF 306 may request the gNB 302 to report information related to at least one reference RTOA measurement (or reference gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement) . In addition, the LMF 306 may request the gNB 302 to use a largest number of frequency hops for the reference RTOA measurement (or reference gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement) , ensuring that it is larger than or equal to the number of frequency hops of any other RTOA measurement (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement) .

As mentioned above, the LMF may calculate a differential measurement from RTOA measurements obtained from different number of frequency hops. For example, differential measurement #1 = RTOA#5-RTOA#4, and differential measurement #2 = RTOA#6 –RTOA#4.

According to the third option, RTOA#4 may be considered as a reference RTOA measurement since it is obtained from a largest number of frequency hops, and thus RTOA#4 may be used as a reference when the LMF calculates differential measurements to remove a time offset caused by the UE.

Therefore, the LMF can at least determine a best RTOA measurement as a reference to calculate differential measurements. If the LMF uses a RTOA measurement obtained from narrow bandwidth as a reference RTOA measurement, the accuracy of differential measurements may not be comparable with the best RTOA measurement.

In addition, the LMF may requests the gNB to provide information on which measurements are obtained using the same number of frequency hops as used for the reference RTOA measurement. In addition, the LMF may request the gNB to provide information on a group of RTOA measurements (or a group of gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) which are obtained from the same number of frequency hops. In another embodiment, the LMF may request the gNB to maintain the difference between the number of frequency hops used for the reference RTOA measurement and the number of frequency hops used for other RTOA measurements within a predefined or requested frequency hopping threshold.

For example, if the reference RTOA measurement is obtained from 6 frequency hops and the frequency hopping threshold is set by the LMF to a maximum of 3, the gNB may report the RTOA measurements that are obtained from 6, 5, 4, or 3 frequency hops. Setting the frequency hopping threshold to be dependent on the number of the frequency hops used to obtain the reference RTOA measurement may help the gNB avoid excluding too many RTOA measurements, which might otherwise have been beneficial.

After the UE 304 transmitting SRS across multiple frequency hops at 335, the gNB 302 may perform the UL positioning measurements at 340, and the gNB 302 may report the UL positioning measurements to the LMF 306 through response message 350. In particular, the gNB 302 may report the UL positioning measurements based on at least one of the above mentioned options (option 1 to option 3) . When the above mentioned provision of request message is implemented according to option 1, at 352, the gNB 302 may try to provide the RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) which are obtained from the same number of UL SRS frequency hops. It should be noted that, it may not be guaranteed as such condition is too strict for the gNB.

When the above mentioned provision of request message is implemented according to option 2, at 352, the gNB 302 may try to report the RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) satisfying the LMF request. Compared with the first option, the gNB has more flexibility and may be able to provide a set of RTOA measurements (or a set of gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) that are more likely to satisfy the LMF request.

When the above mentioned provision of request message is implemented according to option 3, at 354, the gNB 302 may perform the RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) with frequency hopping and determine a reference RTOA measurement (or a reference gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement) , where the gNB used the largest number of SRS frequency hops (e.g., the largest number of consecutive SRS frequency hops) to obtain the reference RTOA measurement (or the reference gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement) . The gNB 302 may provide information on which RTOA measurements (or gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements) are obtained from the same number of frequency hops as used for the reference RTOA measurement (or the reference gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement) . Accordingly, the LMF 306 may receive the measurements mentioned above, select measurements to be used for location estimation (at 360) , and estimate the location of the UE, especially the location of the RedCap UE (at 370) .

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 implemented at a first device in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, the method 400 will be described from the perspective of the first device 202 with reference to FIG. 2.

At block 410, the first device 110 may receive, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning.

In some embodiments, the request indicates the first device to perform the at least one uplink positioning measurement using a same number of frequency hops of the uplink RS resources.

Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the request indicates a first threshold, and a difference between a first number of frequency hops used for performing a first uplink positioning measurement and a second number of frequency hops used for performing a second uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the first threshold.

Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, a difference between a third number of frequency hops used for reporting a third uplink positioning measurement and a fourth number of frequency hops used for reporting a fourth uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to a second threshold, and the second threshold is predefined or requested by the second device.

Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement further comprises information on a group of uplink positioning measurements which are obtained using a same number of frequency hops.

Additionally or alternatively, in some implementations, the request further indicates a third threshold, and a difference between a reference number of frequency hops used for performing the reference uplink positioning measurement and a number of frequency hops used for performing an uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the third threshold.

In some embodiments, the first device is a base station (BS) ; the second device is a location management function (LMF) ; the terminal device is a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) or a normal UE; the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; or the at least one uplink positioning measurement comprises a relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement, a next generation node B (gNB) receiving (Rx) -transmitting (Tx) time difference measurement, or a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement; or any combination of the above mentioned items.

At block 420, the first device 110 may transmit, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device;

At block 430, the first device 110 may perform at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and

At block 440, the first device 110 may transmit, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at a second device in accordance with some other embodiments of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the second device 206 with reference to FIG. 2.

At block 510, the second device 206 may transmit, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning.

In some embodiments, the first device is a base station (BS) ; the second device is a location management function (LMF) ; the terminal device is a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) or a normal UE; the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; the at least one uplink positioning measurement comprises a relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement, a next generation node B (gNB) receiving (Rx) -transmitting (Tx) time difference measurement, or a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement; or any combination of the above-mentioned items.

At block 510, the second device 206 may receive, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.

In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the method 400 (for example, the first device 202) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; means for transmitting, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device; means for performing at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and means for transmitting, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.

In some embodiments, the request indicates a first threshold, and a difference between a first number of frequency hops used for performing a first uplink positioning measurement and a second number of frequency hops used for performing a second uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the first threshold.

In some embodiments, a difference between a third number of frequency hops used for reporting a third uplink positioning measurement and a fourth number of frequency hops used for reporting a fourth uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to a second threshold, and the second threshold is predefined or requested by the second device.

In some embodiments, the request indicates the first device to provide information related to a reference uplink positioning measurement.

In some embodiments, the request further indicates a largest number of frequency hops used for obtaining the reference uplink positioning measurement.

In some embodiments, the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement comprises information on which uplink positioning measurements are obtained using a same number of frequency hops as used for the reference uplink positioning measurement.

In some embodiments, the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement further comprises information on a group of uplink positioning measurements which are obtained using a same number of frequency hops.

In some embodiments, the request further indicates a third threshold, and a difference between a reference number of frequency hops used for performing the reference uplink positioning measurement and a number of frequency hops used for performing an uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the third threshold.

In some embodiments, at least one of the following: the first device is a base station (BS) ; the second device is a location management function (LMF) ; the terminal device is a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) or a normal UE; the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; or the at least one uplink positioning measurement comprises a relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement, a next generation node B (gNB) receiving (Rx) -transmitting (Tx) time difference measurement, or a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 400. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

In some embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing any of the method 500 (for example, the second device 206) 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 embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and means for receiving, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 500. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first device 202 or the second device 206 as shown in FIG. 2. As shown, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 620 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more communication modules 640 coupled to the processor 610.

The communication module 640 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 640 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 610 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 600 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 620 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) 624, 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. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The program 630 may be stored in the ROM 624. The processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 622.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 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 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer-readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer-readable medium to the RAM 622 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. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer-readable medium 700 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer-readable medium 700 has the program 730 stored thereon. It is noted that although the computer-readable medium 700 is depicted in form of CD or DVD in FIG. 7, the computer-readable medium 700 may be in any other form suitable for carry or hold the program 730.

Generally, various 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 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, apparatus, 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 400 or 500 as described above with reference to FIG. 4 or 5. Generally, program modules 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 apparatus, 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, apparatus 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, apparatus, 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. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .

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 storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to:

receive, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning;

transmit, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device;

perform at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and

transmit, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the request indicates the first device to perform the at least one uplink positioning measurement using a same number of frequency hops of the uplink RS resources.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the request indicates a first threshold, and a difference between a first number of frequency hops used for performing a first uplink positioning measurement and a second number of frequency hops used for performing a second uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the first threshold.
The first device of claim 1, wherein a difference between a third number of frequency hops used for reporting a third uplink positioning measurement and a fourth number of frequency hops used for reporting a fourth uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to a second threshold, and the second threshold is predefined or requested by the second device.
The first device of claim 1, wherein the request indicates the first device to provide information related to a reference uplink positioning measurement.
The first device of claim 5, wherein the request further indicates a largest number of frequency hops used for obtaining the reference uplink positioning measurement.
The first device of claim 5 or 6, wherein the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement comprises information on which uplink positioning measurements are obtained using a same number of frequency hops as used for the reference uplink positioning measurement.
The first device of any of claims 5-7, wherein the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement further comprises information on a group of uplink positioning measurements which are obtained using a same number of frequency hops.
The first device of any of claims 5-8, wherein the request further indicates a third threshold, and a difference between a reference number of frequency hops used for performing the reference uplink positioning measurement and a number of frequency hops used for performing an uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the third threshold.
The first device of any of claims 1-9, wherein at least one of the following:

the first device is a base station (BS) ;

the second device is a location management function (LMF) ;

the terminal device is a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) or a normal UE;

the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; or

the at least one uplink positioning measurement comprises a relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement, a next generation node B (gNB) receiving (Rx) -transmitting (Tx) time difference measurement, or a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement.
A second device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to:

transmit, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and

receive, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.
The second device of claim 11, wherein the request indicates the first device to perform the at least one uplink positioning measurement using a same number of frequency hops of the uplink RS resources.
The second device of claim 11, wherein the request indicates a first threshold, and a difference between a first number of frequency hops used for performing a first uplink positioning measurement and a second number of frequency hops used for performing a second uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the first threshold.
The second device of claim 11, wherein a difference between a third number of frequency hops used for reporting a third uplink positioning measurement and a fourth number of frequency hops used for reporting a fourth uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to a second threshold, and the second threshold is predefined or requested by the second device.
The second device of claim 11, wherein the request indicates the first device to provide information related to a reference uplink positioning measurement.
The second device of claim 15, wherein the request further indicates a largest number of frequency hops used for obtaining the reference uplink positioning measurement.
The second device of claim 15 or 16, wherein the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement comprises information on which uplink positioning measurements are obtained using a same number of frequency hops as used for the reference uplink positioning measurement.
The second device of any of claims 15-17, wherein the information related to the reference uplink positioning measurement further comprises information on a group of uplink positioning measurements which are obtained using a same number of frequency hops.
The second device of any of claims 15-18, wherein the request further indicates a third threshold, and a difference between a reference number of frequency hops used for performing the reference uplink positioning measurement and a number of frequency hops used for performing an uplink positioning measurement is less than or equal to the third threshold.
The second device of any of claims 11-19, wherein at least one of the following:

the first device is a base station (BS) ;

the second device is a location management function (LMF) ;

the terminal device is a reduced capability (RedCap) user equipment (UE) or a normal UE;

the RS is a sounding reference signal (SRS) ; or

the at least one uplink positioning measurement comprises a relative time of arrival (RTOA) measurement, a next generation node B (gNB) receiving (Rx) -transmitting (Tx) time difference measurement, or a reference signal carrier phase (RSCP) measurement.
A method comprising:

receiving, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning;

transmitting, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device;

performing at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and

transmitting, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.
A method comprising:

transmitting, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and

receiving, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.
An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving, from a second device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning;

means for transmitting, to the terminal device and based on the request, a configuration of the uplink RS resources for transmission of uplink RS with frequency hopping at the terminal device;

means for performing the at least one uplink positioning measurement for the uplink RS resources based on the request; and

means for transmitting, to the second device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement.
An apparatus comprising:

means for transmitting, to a first device, a request to perform positioning for a terminal device, wherein the request relates to a number of frequency hops of uplink reference signal (RS) resources for positioning; and

means for receiving, from the first device, a measurement report for the at least one uplink positioning measurement, wherein the at least one uplink positioning measurement is obtained for the uplink RS resources based on the request.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least method of any of claims 21-22.