systems and methods to facilitate location determination by beam forming a positioning reference sig

专利摘要:
Techniques are provided for positioning a mobile device on an unwired network using directional positional reference signals (PRS), also referred to as a PRS beam conformation. In an illustrative method, several directional PRSs (S1, S2) are generated for at least one cell to a base station (410), so that each of the various directional PRSs comprises at least one signal characteristic and a direction and transmission, either or both being distinct or unique. The various directional PRSs are transmitted within at least one cell, so that each of the various directional PRSs is transmitted in the direction of transmission. A mobile device (420) can acquire and measure at least one of the directional PRSs, which can be identified using the associated signal characteristic. Measurement can be used to assist position methods such as OTDOA and ECID and mitigate multipath.
公开号:BR112020001354A2
申请号:R112020001354-4
申请日:2018-06-27
公开日:2020-08-11
发明作者:Stephen William Edge；Sven Fischer；Rayman Pon
申请人:Qualcomm Incorporated；
IPC主号:

专利说明:

[0001] [0001] Obtaining the location or position of a mobile device that is accessing a non-wired network can be useful for several applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, location of a friend or member of the family, etc. Existing position methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources on an unwired network, such as base stations and access points. In methods based on terrestrial radio sources, a mobile device can measure the timing of signals received from two or more base stations and determine arrival times, arrival time differences and / or receive transmission time differences of time. Combining these measurements with the known locations for the base stations and known transmission times from each base station can allow the location of a mobile device using such position methods as Observed Difference in Arrival Time (OTDOA) or Enhanced Cell ID ( ECID).
[0002] [0002] To additionally assist in determining the location (for example, for OTDOA), the Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) can be transmitted by the base stations, in order to increase the measurement accuracy and the number of different base stations for which timing measurements can be obtained by a mobile device. However, location accuracy can be impaired by a number of factors, including errors, inaccuracy in location measurements and multipath effects, where a PRS signal can be reflected, refracted or spread by intervening obstacles such as trees, walls, buildings and traffic . The methods and techniques for mitigating or overcoming these factors can therefore be beneficial. SUMMARY
[0003] [0003] An example of a method, in a first base station, to support the positioning of a mobile device, according to the disclosure, includes generating several directional positioning reference signals (PRSs) for at least one cell for the base station , so that each of the various directional PRSs comprises at least one signal characteristic and a transmission direction and transmits each of the various directional PRSs within at least one cell, so that each of the various directional PRSs is transmitted in the direction transmission.
[0004] [0004] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following characteristics. The at least one signal characteristic may include a frequency, a frequency shift, a sequence of codes, a muting pattern, a transmission time or any combination thereof. Transmitting the various directional PRSs within at least one cell may include directing the various directional PRSs through a controllable antenna array configured to beam each directional PRS in the direction of transmission.
[0005] [0005] An example of a method, on a mobile device, to support the positioning of the mobile device, according to the disclosure includes receiving, on the mobile device, a first directional positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by a first station base within at least one cell for the first base station, so that the first directional PRS comprises at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction, obtaining at least a first measurement for the first directional PRS based on at least part, on at least a first signal characteristic, and facilitate determining the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement.
[0006] [0006] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following aspects. The at least one first signal characteristic may include a carrier frequency, a frequency shift, a sequence of codes, a muting pattern, a bandwidth, a transmission time or any combination thereof. The first directional PRS can be transmitted from the first base station via a controllable antenna array configured to beam the first directional PRS in the first direction of the transmission. The first direction of transmission may include a continuous range of horizontal angles, a continuous range of vertical angles, or a combination thereof. The method may additionally include receiving at least one first signal characteristic for the first directional PRS from the first base station or from a Location Management Function (LMF). At least one first measurement for the first directional PRS may include an Arrival Time (TOA), a Difference in Reference Signal Time (RSTD), an Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), an Received Signal Power Reference (RSRP), a Quality Received from the Reference signal (RSRQ), an Angle of Arrival (AOA), a signal propagation time, a detection of at least one signal characteristic or any combination thereof. The determination of the location of the mobile device on the device with location capability can be based on a position by difference in time of arrival (OTDOA) method, a departure angle position (AOD) method or a position method Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) or any combination thereof.
[0007] [0007] An example of a method, on a device with location capability, to support the positioning of a mobile device, according to the disclosure, includes obtaining at least a first measurement from the mobile device for a first reference signal directional positioning (PRS) transmitted by a first base station in at least one cell to the first base station, so that the first directional PRS comprises at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction, and determine the location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least a first measurement and the first transmission direction.
[0008] [0008] Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following characteristics. The at least one first signal characteristic may include a carrier frequency, a frequency shift, a sequence of codes, a muting pattern, a bandwidth, a transmission time or any combination thereof.
[0009] [0009] Other objectives and objectives, characteristics, aspects and additional advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood with the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] [0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram of an illustrative communication system.
[0011] [0011] FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative configuration of positioning reference signals (PRS) with beam shape (directional) transmitted from a base station.
[0012] [0012] FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating an illustrative implementation of using directional PRS (beam-formed) signals for the location determination functionality.
[0013] [0013] FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating another illustrative implementation of the use of directional PRS signals to facilitate the location determination functionality.
[0014] [0014] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the mitigation of multipath effects using a directional PRS signal.
[0015] [0015] FIG. 5 is a signaling flow diagram showing messages sent between components of a communication network during a tracing session.
[0016] [0016] FIG. 6 is a diagram of a structure of an illustrative LTE subframe sequence with occasions for PRS positioning.
[0017] [0017] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating additional aspects of PRS transmission to a cell supported by an unwired node.
[0018] [0018] FIG. 8 is a flow chart of an illustrative procedure, usually performed on a network node, to support and facilitate the positioning of a mobile device.
[0019] [0019] FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an illustrative procedure, usually performed on a mobile device, to facilitate the positioning of the mobile device.
[0020] [0020] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an illustrative procedure, usually performed on a device with location capability, to facilitate the positioning of a mobile device.
[0021] [0021] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative non-wired node (such as a base station, an access point or a server).
[0022] [0022] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a mobile device (for example, a UE).
[0023] [0023] Same reference symbols in the various drawings indicate similar elements, according to some examples of implementations. In addition, several instances of an element can be indicated by following a first number for the element with a hyphen and a second number or by a letter. For example, multiple instances of an element 110 can be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. and / or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When referring to such an element using only the first number, any instance of the element must be understood (for example, elements 110 in the previous example referred to elements 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 and / or 110a, 110b and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] [0024] Obtaining the location or position of a mobile device that is accessing a non-wired network can be useful for several applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, location of a friend or family member , etc. Existing position methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from a variety of devices, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources on a non-wired network, such as base stations and access points. In methods based on terrestrial radio sources, a mobile device can measure the timing of signals received from two or more base stations and determine signal strengths, arrival times, arrival time differences and / or receive differences time transmission time. Combining these measurements with known locations for base stations and possibly known transmission times from each base station can allow the location of the mobile device using position methods such as Observed Arrival Time Difference (OTDOA) or Enhanced Cell ID ( ECID). Such land-based positioning methods can be used in non-wired networks that support different non-wired technologies, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also known as Nova Rádio (NR)), as defined by an organization known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
[0025] [0025] This document describes systems, devices, methods, media and other implementations for directional positioning reference (PRS) signals, also referred to as PRS beam conformation. PRS signals are used to support positioning using, for example, the OTDOA position method, and can be transmitted to different cells in a network in the same set of times or in different sets of times. For example, in the case of LTE access, a PRS may be transmitted during PRS placement occasions which may occur at fixed periodic intervals, with each placement occasion comprising one or more consecutive subframes (for example, LTE subframes lasting 1 ms each). The cells using the same carrier frequency can be synchronized and use PRS positioning occasions that occur in the same set of times. Although this would normally create interference in the case of other signals, a PRS for any cell can be made non-interfering (eg, orthogonal to) with the PRS for any other nearby cell. This can be achieved using: (i) a different sequence of frequency subcarriers through consecutive OFDM symbols in an LTE subframe (referred to as frequency shift or vshift), (ii) a different PRS code sequence, (iii) a sequence different silencing in which PRS positioning occasions are silenced according to a different periodic silencing pattern and / or (iv) different transmission times (for example, which may be a variant of (iii)).
[0026] [0026] In the case of LTE or 5G communication technologies, a PRS can also be made non-interfering with (for example, orthogonal to) another PRS by beam conformation, using, for example, an antenna array at a base station ( for example, an eNodeB for LTE or a gNB for 5G). With beam conformation, a signal (for example, a PRS) is broadcast over a continuous narrow range of horizontal and / or vertical directions, for example, directions with a horizontal range of 5 or 10 degrees (or less or greater ). Transmitting different signals through a small angular band within a cell can also be referred to as spatial multiplexing. Similar to other approaches used to inhibit or prevent PRS interference from different cells, a first directional PRS (with beam formation) can be made non-interfering with any other second directional PRS transmitted from the same base station, by ensuring that the directions in which the first directional PRS is transmitted are all different from the directions in which the second directional PRS is transmitted. When this non-interfering condition is achieved, the transmission direction for the first directional PRS can be considered and can be referred to as being unique (in the context of transmission from the given base station). In practice, achieving perfect non-interference can be difficult or impossible due to the existence of lateral and rear lobes. Therefore, a first directional PRS can be considered and can be referred to as being transmitted in a single direction when the signal strength for any second directional PRS transmitted by the same base station is substantially weaker in this particular single direction (for example, weaker by at least 10 decibels (dB).
[0027] [0027] A directional PRS may have other signal characteristics, in addition to a single transmission direction, which allows it to be differentiated from another directional PRS and another non-directional PRS (for example, transmitted over an area cell coverage). These other signal characteristics may include a particular carrier frequency, a particular frequency shift (or vshift), a particular PRS code sequence, a particular muting sequence, a particular bandwidth and / or a particular set of transmission times . One or more of these signal characteristics may differ from the corresponding signal characteristics for another directional PRS and / or another non-directional PRS transmitted by the same base station and / or by other nearby base stations. When a first particular signal characteristic for a first directional PRS differs from a corresponding second signal characteristic for any other second directional PRS transmitted from the same base station and / or from other nearby base stations, the first signal characteristic may be considered as, and can be referred to as being unique. When a first particular combination of two or more different signal characteristics for a first directional PRS differs from a second combination of two or more corresponding signal characteristics for any other second directional PRS transmitted from the same base station and / or from other nearby base stations, the first combination of two or more signal characteristics can be considered and can be referred to as being unique.
[0028] [0028] A single signal characteristic or a unique combination of signal characteristics can allow a directional PRS to be identified by a mobile device and a device with location capability, such as a location server. For example, a directional PRS can be defined according to its signal characteristics, which can include a unique particular signal characteristic or a unique unique combination of signal characteristics and can additionally receive an identifier (ID), such as a PRS ID, a transmission point ID (TP) or a physical cell ID (PCI). Such an identifier can also be used to identify a non-directional PRS that is broadcast via a cell, which can avoid the need to define and implement different types of identifiers for the directional PRS and the non-directional PRS. By detecting and measuring a directional PRS that has a given unique signal characteristic or a unique combination of signal characteristics and a unique identifier, a UE can be aware of which directional PRS was measured and can identify the directional PRS for a device with location capability, such as a location server using the unique identifier (for example, when any measurement for the directional PRS is provided by the UE for the location capable device).
[0029] [0029] The implementations described in this document include a method, on a first base station or another non-wired processor-based node, to support the positioning of a mobile device (for example, a UE), with the method including generating multiple PRSs directional by at least one cell to the first base station, with each of the various directional PRSs comprising at least one signal characteristic and a transmission direction, and transmitting each of the various directional PRSs within at least one cell, with each of the various directional PRSs being transmitted in the direction of transmission. The at least one signal characteristic for a particular directional PRS can be indicative of the respective transmission direction for that particular directional PRS. The transmission direction for the particular directional PRS can be a single or distinct direction from a continuous range of horizontal angles, a continuous range of vertical angles, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the at least one signal characteristic may include one or more of, for example, a frequency shift,
[0030] [0030] Also described in this document are systems, devices, methods, media and other implementations to facilitate the positioning of a mobile device, including a method comprising receiving, on the mobile device, a first directional PRS transmitted by a first base station within at least one cell for the first base station, with the first directional PRS comprising at least one signal characteristic and a transmission direction and obtaining at least a first measurement for the first directional PRS based, at least in part, on at least one signal characteristic. The method additionally includes facilitating the determination of the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement. Also disclosed are methods, systems, media, devices and other implementations, including a method, on a location capable device, to support the positioning of a mobile device, with the method including obtaining at least a first measurement of the mobile device for a first directional PRS transmitted by a first base station in at least one cell to the first base station, where the first directional PRS comprises at least one signal characteristic and a transmission direction. The method additionally includes determining the location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least a first measurement and the direction of transmission. The location capable device may include one or more of the first base station, another base station, the mobile device and / or a location server (such as an LMF).
[0031] [0031] FIG. 1 shows a diagram of a communication system 100, according to an embodiment. Communication system 100 can be configured to implement directional PRS transmission and reception. Here, the communication system 100 comprises user equipment (UE) 105 and components of a Fifth Generation (5G) network comprising a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NAN) (NG) (NG-RAN) 135 and a 5G Core Network (5GC) 140. A 5G network can also be referred to as the Nova Rádio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 can be referred to as 5G RAN or NR RAN; and 5GC 140 can be referred to as an NG Main network (NGC). The standardization of an NG-RAN and a 5GC is underway at 3GPP. Consequently, the NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may comply with current or future 3GPP 5G support standards. The communication system 100 can additionally use information from satellite vehicles (SVs) 190 to a Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo or Beidou or some other local or regional Satellite Positioning System ( SPS), such as IRNSS, EGNOS or WAAS. Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. Communication system 100 may include alternative or additional components.
[0032] [0032] It is noted that FIG. 1 provides only a generalized illustration of various components, some or all of which can be used as appropriate, and each of which can be duplicated or omitted as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it will be understood that several UEs (for example, hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may use communication system 100. Similarly, communication system 100 may include a larger number (or SVs 190, gNBs 110, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external customers 130 and / or other components. The illustrated connections that connect the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections which may include additional components (intermediaries), direct and indirect physical and / or non-wired connections, and / or additional networks.
[0033] [0033] While FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations can be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described in this document (whether for 5G technology or for other communication technologies and protocols) can be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional PRSs from base stations (for example, gNBs 110, ng-eNBs 114), receive and measure directional PRSs in UEs (for example, UE 105) and calculate a location for a UE 105 on a location capable device, such as the UE 105, a gNB 110 or LMF 120 based on measurements in UE 105 for directional PRSs.
[0034] [0034] UE 105 may comprise and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, an un-wired device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a Safe Location Activated Terminal (SET) User Plan (SUPL) or by another name. In addition, the UE 105 can correspond to a cell phone, smartphone, laptop, tablet, PDA, tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (IoT) device or some other portable or mobile device . Typically, although not necessarily, the UE 105 can support non-wired communication using one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as the Global Communication System
[0035] [0035] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include several entities, such as in a personal area network where a user can employ audio, video and / or data I / O and / or body sensors and a modem not wired or separate wired. An estimate of a UE 105 location can be referred to as a location, location estimate, location correction, correction, position, position estimate or position correction and can be geographic, thus providing location coordinates for the UE 105 (eg example, latitude and longitude) which may or may not include an altitude component (for example, height above sea level, height above or below ground level, floor level or subsoil level). Alternatively, a location of UE 105 can be expressed as a civic location (for example, as a postal address or the designation of some point or small area of a building, such as a particular room or floor). A UE 105 location can also be expressed as an area or volume (defined geographically or in civic form) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some level of confidence or probability (e.g. 67%, 95%, etc.). A location of UE 105 can additionally be a relative location comprising, for example, a distance and direction or relative coordinates X, Y (and Z) defined with respect to some origin in a known location which can be defined geographically, in civic terms or by reference to a point, area or volume indicated on a map, floor plan or building plan. In the description contained in this document, the use of the term location may include any of these variants, unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of a UE, it is common to resolve the local coordinates x, y and possibly z and, if necessary, convert the local coordinates to absolute coordinates (for example, latitude, longitude and altitude above or below average sea level).
[0036] [0036] The Base Stations (BSs) on NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs, also referred to as gNBs, 110-1 and 110-2 (collectively and generically referred to herein as gNBs 110). Pairs of gNBs 110 on the NG-RAN 135 can be connected to each other - for example, directly, as shown in FIG. 1 or indirectly via other gNBs 110. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via the non-wired communication between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110, which can provide unwired communications access to the 5GC on behalf UE 105 using 5G. In FIG. 1, the gNB server for UE 105 is assumed to be gNB 110-1, although other gNBs (for example, gNB 110-2) may act as a gNB server if the UE 105 moves to another location or acts as a gNB secondary to provide additional effective transmission rate and bandwidth for the UE 105.
[0037] [0037] The Base Stations (BSs) on NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may also include an evolved Node B of the next generation, also referred to as ng-eNB,
[0038] [0038] As noted, while FIG. 1 represents nodes configured to communicate according to 5G communication protocols, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols, such as, for example, an LTE protocol or
[0039] [0039] gNBs 110 and ng-eNB 114 can communicate with an Access and Mobility Management (AMF) function 115, which for positioning functionality, communicates with a Location Management Function (LMF) 120 The AMF 115 can support mobility of the UE 105, including cell change and handover and can participate in supporting a signaling connection for the UE 105 and possible voice and data carriers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 can also support positioning UE 105 when UE accesses NG-RAN 135 and can support position procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Arrival Time Difference (OTDOA), Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Positioning Point Point (PPP), Differential GNSS
[0040] [0040] The Mobile Gateway Location Center (GMLC) 125 can support a location request for UE 105 received from an external customer 130 and can forward such location request to AMF 115 for forwarding by AMF 115 to LMF 120 or can forward the location request directly to LMF 120. A location response from LMF 120 (for example, containing a location estimate for UE 105) can similarly be returned to GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 can then return the location response (for example, containing the location estimate) to the external client 130. The GMLC 125 is presented connected with the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, although only one these connections can be supported by the 5GC 140 in some implementations.
[0041] [0041] As further illustrated in FIG. 1, LMF 120 can communicate with gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio A Position Protocol (which can be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which can be defined in the Specification Technique (TS) 3GPP 38.455. The NRPPa can be the same, similar or an extension of the LTE A Positioning Protocol (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, with NRPPa messages being transferred between a gNB 110 and LMF 120 and / or between an ng-eNB 114 and to LMF 120, via AMF 115. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, LMF 120 and UE 105 can communicate using an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which can be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and UE 105 can also or instead communicate using a New Radio Positioning Protocol (which can be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which can be the same, similar or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages can be transferred between UE 105 and LMF 120 via AMF 115 and a gNB server 110-1 or ng-eNB server 114 for UE 105. For example, LPP and / or NPP can be transferred between LMF 120 and AMF 115 using an Application Protocol
[0042] [0042] With a position method assisted by the UE, the UE 105 can obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (for example, the LMF 120) for the calculation of a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, location measurements can include one or more of an Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Round trip signal propagation time (RTT), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Received Power Reference Signal (RSRP) and / or Quality Received Reference Signal (RSRQ) for gNBs 110, ng-eNB 114 and / or a WLAN AP. Location measurements can also or can instead include GNSS pseudo-band measurements, code phase and / or carrier phase for SVs 190. With a position method based on the UE, the UE 105 can obtain location measurements ( for example, which can be the same or similar to location measurements for an EU-assisted position method) and can calculate a UE 105 location (for example, with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as LMF 120 or broadcast by gNBs 110, ng-eNB 114 or other base stations or APs). With a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (for example, gNBs 110 and / or ng- eNB 114) or APs can obtain location measurements (for example, RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRP, RSRQ measurements or Arrival Time (TOA) for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and / or can receive measurements obtained by the UE 105 and can send the measurements to a location server (for example, the LMF 120) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105.
[0043] [0043] The information provided by gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 to LMF 120 using NRPPa may include timing information and configuration information for transmission of directional PRS and location coordinates. The LMF 120 can then provide some or all of this information to the UE 105 as assistance data in an LPP and / or NPP message via the NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140.
[0044] [0044] An LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 can instruct the UE 105 to do any one of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message could contain an instruction for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN and / or OTDOA
[0045] [0045] As noted, while communication system 100 is described in relation to 5G technology, communication system 100 can be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., which are used to support and interact with mobile devices such as the UE 105 (for example, to implement voice, data, positioning and other features). In some of these embodiments, the 5GC 140 can be configured to control different overhead interfaces. For example, in some embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be connected to a WLAN using a Non-3GPP Interoperability Function (N3IWF, not shown in FIG. 1) in 5GC 150. For example, the WLAN can support IEEE access 802.11 WiFi for UE 105 and can comprise one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF can connect to the WLAN and other elements on the 5GC 150, such as the AMF 115. In some other embodiments, the NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 can be replaced by other RANs and other major networks. For example, in an EPS, the NG-RAN 135 can be replaced by an E-UTRAN containing eNBs and the 5GC 140 can be replaced by an EPC containing a Mobility Management Entity (MME) in place of AMF 115, an E -SMLC in place of LMF 120 and a GMLC that can be similar to GMLC 125. In such an EPS, E-SMLC can use LPPa in place of NRPPa to send and receive location information to and from eNBs in E- UTRAN and can use LPP to support the positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, the positioning of a UE 105 using directional PRSs can be supported in a manner similar to that described in this document for a 5G network with the difference that the functions and procedures described in this document for gNBs 110, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115 and LMF 120 may, in some cases, apply instead to other elements of the network, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, an MME and an E -SMLC.
[0046] [0046] As noted, in some embodiments, the positioning functionality can be implemented, at least in part, using PRS transmissions and / or directional PRS transmissions, sent by base stations (such as gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 ) that are within the range of the UE whose position is to be determined (for example, the UE 105 of FIG. 1). The UE may, in some cases, use the difference in the arrival times of downlink radio signals (for example, directional PRS transmissions) from various base stations (such as gNBs 110, ng-eNB 114, etc.). ) to calculate the position of the UE. For example, if a signal from one base station is received at time t1 and a signal from another base station is received at time t2, then OTDOA or RSTD can be calculated according to t2-t1.
[0047] [0047] FIG. 2 illustrates an illustrative configuration 200 of directional PRS transmission (or PRS beam conformation) at a base station 202 (represented by the small full line circle) that supports three (3) sectors of cell A (marked sector 210), B ( marked as sector 220) and C (marked as sector 230). Base station 202 may be similar to or equal to any of gNBs 110 or ng-eNB 114 in FIG. 1, or it can be another base station (for example, an eNB) or a WiFi AP.
[0048] [0048] Each of the directional PRSs shown in FIG. 2 measures a continuous range of horizontal angles (or horizontal directions) within each circular sector that have a 20 degree coverage in a horizontal plane. Each directional PRS shown in FIG. 2 can also measure a continuous but limited range of vertical angles (or vertical directions), such as elevation angles ranging from zero degrees (which can coincide with a horizontal direction) to 20 degrees (which can coincide with a direction elevated by 20 degrees from the horizontal). In addition, there may be other directional PRS signals, not shown in FIG. 2, which can share the same horizontal angle bands shown in FIG. 2, but can have different vertical angle ranges. As an example, for each directional PRS shown in FIG. 2, there may be a directional PRS (shown in FIG. 2) with elevation angles between zero and 20 degrees, another directional PRS (not shown in FIG. 2) with elevation angles between 20 and 40 degrees and a third directional PRS ( not shown in Figure 2) with elevation angles between 40 and 60 degrees, where each of these directional PRSs has the same range of horizontal angles. In another example, the directional PRS signals may not be directionally horizontally (for example, they may be transmitted across the entire coverage area of a particular cell), but they may have different vertical angle ranges. The control of directional PRS signals transmitted by a set of antennas to base station 202 can be done by, for example, selecting individual antennas (or individual antenna elements) from the set of antennas of base station 202 to transmit signals, control phases and relative amplitudes of signals directed through the various selected antennas (or antenna elements) of the set, etc.
[0049] [0049] A convenient way to treat Pn directional PRS signals in any cell sector P (for example, where P represents one of A, B or C in FIG. 2) can be to treat each directional PRS signal as corresponding to a transmitter different or to a different cell, for example, as if each Pn directional PRS signal were transmitted by a different antenna such as an antenna associated with a separate remote radio head for the cell sector P. A Pn directional PRS signal could then receive a Distinct PRS ID associated with a distinct PRS code sequence and / or a distinct vshift offset for the directional PRS signal Pn. In some embodiments, a directional PRS signal could receive a separate transmission point ID. For LTE access through a UE 105, this would allow a location server (for example, an E-SMLC, SUPL SLP or LMF such as LMF 120) to provide assistance data to the UE 105 for the Pn directional PRS signals using the capability existing in LPP. Assistance data can make UE 105 aware of the existence of directional PRS signals and signal characteristics and other parameters for each PRS directional signal (for example, a PRS ID, transmission point ID, carrier frequency, width bandwidth, frequency and occasion number of the subframes position, silencing pattern, expected RSTD measurement, etc.) and allow UE 105 to make RSTD measurements for OTDOA positioning. This support may not require any changes to the LPP (or NPP), since the location server could treat each directional PRS Pn in the same way as a PRS transmitted by a separate radio head or a separate antenna from the Distributed Antenna System ( DAS) for the cellular sector P (as already supported in the LPP).
[0050] [0050] In some embodiments, two or more different directional PRS signals Pn can be transmitted at the same time by base station 202, but in a way that allows any PRS Pi signal to be distinguished from any other PRS Pj signal by a UE 105 ( for example, by using a different frequency, different frequency offset or different PRS code sequence). In another embodiment, a PRS signal can be transmitted by base station 202 in a cell (for example, cell A, B or C) in different directions at different non-overlapping times, using the beam conformation. For example, base station 202 for cell sector A in FIG. 2 can transmit a directional PRS signal using the beam conformation in a direction coincident with the directional PRS A1 for a time slot T1, then can change the direction of the PRS signal transmission to match the directional PRS A2 during a time interval T2, and can subsequently change the direction of transmission of the directional PRS signal to match the directional PRS signals A3, A4, A5 and A6 during the time intervals T3, T4, T5 and T6, respectively.
[0051] [0051] There are several ways in which directional PRS signals can be used for determining location (for example, to perform OTDOA positioning) for a UE 105. In a first example, directional PRS signals can be used to obtain the direct information about the location of a UE 105. For example, if a UE 105 is capable of receiving and measuring directional PRS A5 in FIG. 2, the UE 105 is determined to be within the coverage area of the directional PRS A5, and not elsewhere in the coverage area of the cell sector A. This can be used to improve the accuracy of the location of the UE.
[0052] [0052] FIG. 3A shows a diagram 300 illustrating the use of directional PRS signals (with shaped beam) for the location determination functionality. In this example, a UE 105 (not shown) measures or detects, for example, the directional PRS signal marked PRS A5 in FIG. 2. The UE 105 can also measure
[0053] [0053] The determination of the location according to FIG. 3A can be performed on a location capable device that knows the locations of the base station antennas for cells A and D and the precise directions of directional PRSs A5 and D2. For example, the location capable device can be the base station for cell A, the base station for cell D, LMF 120 or UE 105 (for example, if UE 105 is provided with the antenna locations of the base station for cells A and D and the precise directions of the directional PRSs by another entity, such as a server base station or LMF 120).
[0054] [0054] FIG. 3B includes a diagram 320 showing another example of implementing the use of directional PRS signals to facilitate the location determination functionality. In the example of FIG. 3B a UE 105 (not shown) measures / detects PRS A5 of FIG. 2. Here, the UE 105 and / or gNB 110 of cell A (or some other non-wired node, such as ng-eNB 114) measures the signal propagation time or the round-trip signal propagation time (RTT) between the UE 105 and the antenna for cell A. If the RTT has a measured value of 2T plus an uncertainty of U, the distance between the UE and the antenna for cell A would be given by (T c ) with an uncertainty of (U c) where c is the speed of light, and assuming the transmission of the line of sight (LOS). In this example, a determination can be made, based on the identity of the particular directional PRS detected by the UE 105, and the measured timing information (e.g. RTT), that the UE 105 is located in a region 330 represented in FIG. 3B. The example in FIG. 3B can be referred to as positioning based on the Enhanced Cell ID (ECID).
[0055] [0055] The determination of the location according to FIG. 3B can be performed on a location capable device that knows the location of the antenna from the base station to cell A, the precise direction of the directional PRS A5 and the measured RTT and its uncertainty. For example, the location capable device can be the base station for cell A, the LMF 120, or the UE 105 (for example, if the UE 105 is provided with the location of the antenna of the base station of the cell A, the direction needs directional PRS A5 and, optionally, information to assist in the determination of RTT, by another entity, such as the base station of cell A).
[0056] [0056] In an additional illustrative implementation, the directional PRS (with beam conformation) can be used to mitigate errors / inaccurate positioning due to the measurement of multipath signals. With multipath, a signal transmitted in a cell can undergo reflection, refraction and / or dispersion from one or more surfaces, objects (for example, walls and roofs of buildings) or materials (for example, water, air), so that the signal received by a UE may not be a line of sight (LOS) signal, but some redirection of a signal transmitted from a source that may or may not be in the UE's LOS. This will normally increase the signal propagation time for a UE compared to any LOS signal, leading to errors in time-based positioning methods, such as OTDOA.
[0057] [0057] FIG. 4 includes a diagram 400 illustrating two signals, namely, S1 (marked as a signal 412) and S2 (marked as a signal 414), reaching a UE 420 in a cell supported by a base station 410. The UE 420 may be similar or the same as UE 105 of FIG. 1. Base station 410 may be similar or equal to any of the gNBs 110 or ng-eNB 114 of FIG. 1 or some other base station, such as an eNB supporting LTE communication, or some other node or access point. In the example shown in FIG. 4, signal S1 is a LOS signal received directly from base station 410, while signal S2 is a multipath signal, also referred to as a non-LOS signal (NLOS), resulting from the reflection of a signal 416 that originated from base station 410. Since the multipath signal (NLOS) S2 does not travel to the UE entirely along a straight line, it would typically initially travel from the cell's antenna in a different direction from the S1 signal, as shown in FIG. 4. Thus, if the cell is using directional PRSs, the S1 and S2 signals would typically correspond to different directional PRS signals (for example, if the beam angles are narrow enough). For example, if the cell served by base station 410 corresponds to cell A in FIG. 2 and if signal S1 corresponds to directional PRS signal A3, signal S2 can correspond to another directional PRS, such as A2 or A4. A location server (or UE 420) that knows the approximate location of the UE 420 could therefore target the UE 420 to measure the S1 signal (for example, the directional PRS A3 in FIG. 2), but not target the UE 420 for measuring signal S2 (e.g., directional PRS A2 or A4 in FIG. 2) for providing service data for signal S1 only. This would prevent or inhibit the UE 420 from measuring a multipath signal and increase the chance of measuring an LOS signal.
[0058] [0058] In another aspect, the UE 105 may have several antennas (for example, a set of antennas) that allow the UE 105 to selectively receive and measure signals that arrive from some directions and to filter and ignore signals that arrive from other directions. A location server (for example, the LMF 120) can provide the UE 105 with the transmission direction for the LOS S1 412 signal, but may not provide information for the LOS S2 414/416 signal. The UE 105 can then use the various antennas (for example, the antenna array) to receive and measure signals with the same transmission direction as the S1 signal, which can allow the UE 105 to measure a TOA or RSTD (or other characteristic signal) for signal S1. Using multiple antennas or a set of antennas on the UE 105 to adjust reception to a particular transmission direction can reduce interference to the S1 signal from other signals (such as the S2 signal) and may allow for enhanced signal acquisition S1 by UE 105 and greater measurement accuracy.
[0059] [0059] Directional PRS signals (with shaped beam) can also be used to mitigate multipath effects in situations where a location server (or UE 420) may not have the approximate location of the UE 420 or does not provide information for the
[0060] [0060] In another aspect, the UE 420 can measure an angle of arrival (AOA) for a directional PRS, as well as other characteristics, such as TOA and / or RSTD. If the AOA measured by the UE 420 is consistent with (for example, it is equal to or approximately equal to) the direction of transmission for the measured directional PRS, the UE 420 or a device with location capability, such as an E-SMLC or the LMF 120, you can assume that the directional PRS measured by the UE 420 is LOS (for example, as the signal S1 412 in FIG. 4). On the other hand, if the AOA measured by the UE 420 is not consistent with (for example, it is not equal to or approximately equal to) the transmission direction for the measured directional PRS, the UE 420 or a device with location capability, such as an E-SMLC or LMF 120 can assume that the directional PRS measured by the UE 420 is NLOS or multipath (for example, as the signal S2 414/416 in FIG. 4).
[0061] [0061] The above illustrative embodiments, discussed (in part) with reference to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4 can be used to improve the location determination for a UE 105 for UE assisted OTDOA, when, for example, the UE 105 provides directional PRS measurements for a location capable device, such as gNB 110, ng-eNB 114 or LMF 120 for determining the location of UE 105. The embodiments can also be used to improve location determination for EU-based OTDOA for UE 105 when, for example, the network ( for example, a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) or a location server (for example, LMF 120) to provide UE 105 with information about directional PRSs (for example, directional PRS transmission directions and characteristics signal), as well as the base station coordinates and other PRS parameters. For example, for EU-assisted OTDOA or EU-based OTDOA, a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114 in the communication system 100 of FIG. 1 could broadcast information for directional PRSs transmitted by this gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114 and possibly the directional PRSs transmitted by other nearby gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNBs 114.
[0062] [0062] FIG. 5 and with further reference to FIG. 1, shows a signaling flow 500 illustrating the various messages sent between the components of a communication network, such as the communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1, during a location session using LPP and / or NPP (also referred to as LPP / NPP session) between the UE 105 and a location server corresponding to LMF 120. While signaling flow 500 is discussed, to facilitate illustration, in relation to the implementation of the 5G communication network, similar messages can be exchanged for other communication technologies or protocols (such as EPS or WLAN). Additionally, in some embodiments, the UE 105 itself can be configured to determine its location using, for example, assistance data provided for it (for example, by the LMF 120 or by a gNB server 110-1). The positioning protocol used to signal flow 500 can be LPP, NPP or LPP combined with NPP (for example, where an LPP message includes an embedded NPP message). The messages for the positioning protocol are therefore referred to below as LPP / NPP messages to indicate that the messages are for LPP, NPP or LPP combined with NPP. However, other positioning protocols are also possible, such as the LPP Extensions (LPPe) protocol defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).
[0063] [0063] In some embodiments, a location session for UE 105 can be triggered when LMF 120 receives a location request for UE 105 in action 501. Depending on the scenario, the location request can reach LMF 120 from AMF 115 or GMLC 125 shown in FIG. 1. LMF 120 can then query AMF 115 to obtain information for UE 105. AMF 115 can then send information to UE 105 for LMF 120 (not shown in FIG. 5). The information may indicate that the UE 105 has 5G non-wired access (or LTE or eLTE) (for the illustrative embodiments of FIG. 5), and may provide a current 5G server cell for the UE 105 (for example, a cell supported by the gNB 110-1 which can be a server gNB for UE 105) and / or can indicate that UE 105 supports localization using LPP and / or NPP. Part or all of this information may have been obtained by AMF 115 from UE 105 and / or from gNB 110-1, for example, when 105 is attached and registered with 5GC 140.
[0064] [0064] To start the LPP / NPP session (for example, and based on an indication of UE 105 support for LPP and / or NPP with 5G non-wired access), LMF 120 sends an LPP / NPP Request Capabilities message in action 502 for AMF 115 serving UE 105 (for example, using 5G LCS AP). AMF 115 may include the LPP / NPP Request Capabilities message within a NAS 5G transport message, in action 503, which is sent to UE 105 (for example, via a NAS communication path on the NG-RAN 135, as illustrated in Figure 1). UE 105 responds to AMF 115 with a message Provides LPP / NPP Capabilities in action 504, also within a NAS 5G transport message.
[0065] [0065] Based on the positioning capabilities of UE 105 received in action 505 and possibly based on the location request received in action 501 (for example, a location accuracy requirement included in the location request received in action 501), LMF 120 can select one or more position methods to locate UE 105 in action 506. For example, the LMF may select OTDOA and / or ECID in action 506 in association with the directional PRS transmitted from gNBs 110 and / or ng- eNB 114.
[0066] [0066] Based on the position method (s) selected in action 506 and the assistance data indicated by UE 105 as being supported in action 505, LMF 120 can determine assistance data for UE 105 for support the selected position method (s). The LMF 120 can then send an NRPPa Request for Information message in action 507, which can be retransmitted to the gNB 110-1 server node by AMF 115 (in action 508). The NRPPa Information Request may request information related to the location for gNB 110-1, such as the location of gNB 110-1, PRS configuration parameters for gNB 110-1 and / or information related to transmission via broadcast of assistance data by gNB 110-1. The NRPPa Information request sent in actions 507 and 508 may include a request for configuration parameters related to directional PRSs (for example, a request for a transmission direction, a range of horizontal angles, a range of vertical angles and / or other signal characteristics for each directional PRS transmitted by gNB 110-1). The gNB 110-1 server node responds with an NRPPa Information Reply message, in action 509, which can be relayed to LMF 120 by AMF 115 in action 510. The NRPPa Information Response can provide some or all of the related information with location requested in actions 507 and 508. For example, when configuration parameters for PRSs and / or directional PRSs are requested in actions 507 and 508, NRPPa Information Response can provide signal characteristics and other configuration information for each PRS and / or for each directional PRS supported by gNB 110-1. In the case of a directional PRS, the information provided may include a transmission direction, a range of horizontal angles, a range of vertical angles and / or other signal characteristics (for example, a carrier frequency, a frequency shift (or vshift ), a bandwidth, a sequence of codes, a frequency of positioning occasions, a duration of a positioning occasion and / or a silencing sequence). Actions 507 to 510 can be repeated for LMF 120 to obtain location-related information (for example, configuration parameters for directional PRSs) from other gNB 110s and / or ng-eNBs near UE 105, such as gNB 110-2 and ng-eNB 114 (not shown in FIG. 5).
[0067] [0067] In some implementations, gNB 110-1 server and / or other gNBs 110 and ng-eNBs, such as gNB 110-2 and ng-eNB 114 (not shown in FIG. 5) can broadcast data assistance for UE 105 (and other UEs) in action 511 and / or may provide assistance data for UE 105 through point-to-point, for example, using a Radio Resource Control Protocol (RRC) for the 5G access (not shown in FIG. 5). The broadcast can use System Information Blocks (SIBs) for an RRC protocol in some implementations. Service data can include configuration parameters and signal characteristics for PRS signals and / or for directional PRS signals that are transmitted by the sending gNB 110 and / or that are transmitted by other gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 next. The configuration parameters and signal characteristics for the PRS signals and / or the directional PRS signals broadcast by the gNB 110-1 (and / or other gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114) can be the same as the configuration parameters and signal characteristics for PRS signals and / or PRS directional signals described further for the location-related information sent in actions 512 and 513. In some embodiments, actions 512 and 513, as described below, may not occur - for example, if all information related to the location can be broadcast to the UE by gNB 110-1 and / or by other gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114.
[0068] [0068] The LMF can send part or all of the assistance data received in action 510, and possibly other assistance data already known by the LMF 120, to the UE 105 via a message Provide LPP / NPP Assistance Data sent to the AMF at action 512, and retransmitted to UE 105 by AMG 115 in the 5G NAS transport message in action 513. In the case of OTDOA positioning, assistance data may include the identities of a reference cell and neighboring cells supported by gNBs 110 and / or by ng-eNB 114 and can include information for each cell, such as the carrier frequency of the cell, and the configuration parameters for each PRS transmitted within the cell.
[0069] [0069] The NAS Transport message transmitted in action 513 can be followed by a Request LPP / NPP Location Information message, again sent from LMF 120 to AMF 115, in action 514, which is retransmitted to UE 105 in a NAS 5G transport message by AMF 115 in action 515. The message Request Location Information LPP / NPP can request one or more location measurements from the UE 105 and / or a location estimate according to, for example, the position method (s) selected in action 506 and / or the position capabilities of UE 105 sent to LMF 120 in actions 504 and 505. Position measurements can, for example, include measurements TOA to OTDOA or ECID, RSTD measurements to OTDOA, AOA, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ measurements and / or unidirectional signal propagation delay to ECID, etc. Some of the positioning measurements can be additionally specified or allowed to be measured for directional PRSs - for example, directional PRSs for which configuration parameters and signal characteristics may have been provided, as described previously for actions 511 , 512 and 513.
[0070] [0070] In action 516, UE 105 can subsequently obtain some or all of the location measurements (and other information) requested in actions 514 and 515. Location measurements can be made based, in part, on the directional PRSs transmitted by gNB 110-1 server and / or other nearby gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114.
[0071] [0071] In some embodiments, at least some of the location measurements obtained in action 516 are provided in a Provides LPP / NPP Location Information message, which is sent from UE 105 to AMF 115 in a transport message NAS 5G in action
[0072] [0072] After determining the location in action 519, LMF 120 may send the location determined in action 520 to the entity (for example, GMLC 125 or AMF 115) that sent the location request in action 501.
[0073] [0073] In some embodiments, UE 105 may determine a location for UE 105 after action 516 (not shown in FIG. 5). The location can be determined by UE 105, as described for action 519, using techniques described in association with FIGS. 3A through 4. The determination of the location by the UE 105 can be based on the information related to the location received by the UE 105 in action 511 and / or actions 512 and 513, including the information related to the location described above and other information, such as such as the antenna locations for gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 and any transmission timing differences for gNBs 110 and / or ng-eNB 114. The UE 105 can then return the location determined for LMF 120 in the actions 517 and 518 instead of returning location measurements. In this embodiment, action 519 may not occur.
[0074] [0074] FIG. 6 presents a structure of an illustrative sequence of LTE 600 subframes with occasions for PRS positioning. The sequence of subframes 600 can be applicable for broadcasting PRS and directional PRS from ng-eNB 114 on communication system 100. Although FIG. 6 provide an example of a sequence of subframes for LTE, similar implementations of sequence of subframes can be imagined for other communication technologies / protocols, such as 5G and NR. For example, a gNB 110 in communication system 100 can broadcast a PRS, a directional PRS or another type of reference signal (RS) or directional RS (for example, a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS)) that is similar to the sequence of subframes 600. In FIG. 6, time is represented horizontally (for example, on a geometric X axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (for example, on geometric Y axis) with increasing frequency (or decreasing) from bottom to top. As shown in FIG. 6, the LTE Radio Frames of downlink and uplink 610 can last 10 ms each. For the downlink Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) mode, Radio Frames 610 are organized, in the illustrated embodiments, into ten 612 subframes of 1 ms duration each. Each subframe 612 comprises two partitions 614, each, for example, lasting 0.5 ms.
[0075] [0075] In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth can be divided into evenly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 616. For example, for a cyclic prefix of normal length using, for example, 15 kHz spacing, subcarriers 616 can be grouped into a group of twelve (12) subcarriers. Each grouping, which comprises the 12 subcarriers 616, is called a resource block and, in the example above, the number of subcarriers in the resource block can be written as = 12. For a given channel bandwidth, the number of blocks of resources available on each channel 622, which is also called the 622 transmission bandwidth setting, are indicated as. For example, for a channel bandwidth of 3 MHz in the example above, the number of resource blocks available on each channel 622 is given by = 15.
[0076] [0076] In the communication system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, an ng-eNB 114 or a gNB 110, such as one of gNBs 110-1 or 110-2, can transmit frames or other signal strings from the physical layer, supporting PRS signals (i.e. a downlink PRS ( DL)) according to similar frame configurations or (for example, in the case of ng-eNB 114) same as shown in FIG. 6 and (as described below) in FIG. 7, which can be measured and used to determine the position of the UE (for example, the UE 105). As noted, other types of nodes and base stations not wired (for example, an eNB or WiFi AP) can also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in a similar (or equal to) way as represented in FIGS. 6 and 7. Since the transmission of a PRS by a non-wired node or base station is directed to all UEs within radio range, a non-wired node or base station can also be considered to transmit (or broadcast) a PRS.
[0077] [0077] A PRS that was defined in 3GPP LTE Release-9 and later versions, can be transmitted by non-wired nodes (for example, eNBs, ng-eNB 114) after the appropriate configuration (for example, by an Operation server and Maintenance (O&M)). A PRS can be transmitted in special positioning subframes that are grouped together on positioning occasions. For example, in LTE, a PRS positioning occasion can comprise an NPRS number of consecutive positioning subframes where the NPRS number can be between 1 and 160 (for example, it can include the values 1, 2, 4 and 6, as well as other values). PRS placement occasions for a cell supported by an unwired node can occur periodically at intervals, indicated by a TPRS number, in millisecond intervals (or subframes) where TPRS can be 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 , 160, 320, 640 or 1280 (or any other appropriate value). As an example, FIG. 6 illustrates a periodicity of positioning occasions where NPRS is equal to 4 618 and TPRS is greater than or equal to 20 620. In some embodiments, TPRS can be measured in terms of the number of subframes between the start of consecutive positioning occasions.
[0078] [0078] Within each positioning occasion, a PRS can be transmitted with a constant power. A PRS can also be transmitted at zero power (ie, muted). Silencing, which disables a regularly scheduled PRS transmission, can be useful when the PRS signals between different cells overlap, occurring at the same or nearly the same time. In that case, the PRS signals from some cells can be silenced while the PRS signals from other cells are transmitted (for example, at constant power). Silencing can assist signal acquisition and TOA and RSTD measurement, by UEs (such as UE 105 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 and UE 420 in FIG. 4), of PRS signals that are not silenced (by avoiding interference from PRS signals that have been silenced). Silence can be seen as the non-transmission of a PRS during a given placement occasion for a particular cell. Mute patterns (also referred to as mute strings) can be signaled (for example, using LPP or NPP) to a UE using bit strings. For example, in a bit string signaled to indicate a muting pattern, if a bit in position j is set to '0', then the UE can infer that the PRS is silenced for a j-th positioning occasion.
[0079] [0079] To additionally improve the hearing ability of the PRS, the positioning subframes can be low interference subframes that are transmitted without user data channels. As a result, in ideally synchronized networks, PRSs can receive interference from other cell PRSs with the same PRS pattern index (that is, with the same frequency shift), but not from data transmissions. Frequency shift, in LTE, for example, is defined as a function of a PRS ID for a cell or TP (denoted as) or as a function of a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) (denoted as) if no PRS ID is assigned, which results in an effective frequency reuse factor of 6.
[0080] [0080] To also improve the audibility of a PRS (for example, when the PRS bandwidth is limited to just 6 resource blocks corresponding to the 1.4 MHz bandwidth), the frequency band for the occasions consecutive PRS positioning patterns (or consecutive PRS subframes) can be changed in a known and predictable way via the frequency hop. In addition, a cell supported by a non-wired node can support more than one PRS configuration, where each PRS configuration can comprise a different frequency shift (vshift), a different carrier frequency, a different bandwidth, a different code sequence and / or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes (NPRS) per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity (TPRS). In some implementations, one or more of the PRS configurations supported in a cell may be for a directional PRS and may have additional distinct characteristics, such as a different transmission direction, a different range of horizontal angles and / or a different range of angles vertical. Additional enhancements to a PRS can also be supported by an unwired node.
[0081] [0081] As discussed in this document (for example, for actions 511, 512 and 513 of signaling flow 500), in some embodiments, OTDOA assistance data can be provided to a UE 105 by a location server (for example , LMF 120 of FIG. 1, an E-SMLC, etc.) for a "reference cell" and one or more "neighboring cells" or "cells in the vicinity" with respect to the "reference cell". For example, assistance data can provide the frequency of the center channel of each cell, various PRS configuration parameters (for example, NPRS, TPRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth ), a global cell ID, characteristics of the PRS signal associated with a directional PRS and / or with other cell-related parameters applicable to OTDOA or some other positioning method (for example, ECID).
[0082] [0082] The positioning based on PRS by a UE 105 can be facilitated by indicating the serving cell for UE 105 in the OTDOA assistance data (for example, with the reference cell indicated as being the serving cell). In the case of a UE 105 with 5G non-wired access, the reference cell can be chosen by the LMF 120 as some cell (for example, supported by a gNB 110) with good coverage in the approximate expected location of the UE 105 (for example, as indicated by the 5G server cell known to the UE 105).
[0083] [0083] In some embodiments, OTDOA assistance data may also include "expected RSTD" parameters, which provide the UE 105 with information about the RSTD values that the UE 105 is expected to measure at its current location between the cell reference and each neighboring cell, together with an uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter. The expected RSTD, together with the associated uncertainty, can define a search window for the UE 105 within which the UE 105 is expected to measure the RSTD value. OTDOA assistance information can also include PRS configuration information parameters, which allow a UE 105 to determine when a PRS positioning occasion occurs on signals received from several neighboring cells in relation to the PRS positioning occasions for the PRS cell. reference, and to determine the PRS sequence transmitted from several cells in order to measure a time of arrival (TOA) or signal RSTD.
[0084] [0084] Using the RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each cell and the known position (s) of physical antennas transmitting from a non-wired node to the reference and neighboring cells, the position of the UE 105 can be calculated (for example, by the UE 105, by the LMF 120, or by some other node, such as a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114). More particularly, the RSTD for a neighboring cell “k” in relation to a reference cell "Ref" can be given as (TOAk - TOARef), where TOA values can be measured in module one of the subframe duration (1 ms ) to remove the effects of measuring different subframes at different times. TOA measurements for different cells can then be converted to RSTD measurements (for example, as defined in 3GPP TS 36.214 called "Physical layer, Mesurements") and sent to the location server (for example, the LMF 120 or an E -SMLC) by UE 105. Using (i) the RSTD measurements, (ii) the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each cell, (iii) the known position (s) of physical antennas of transmission to reference and neighboring cells and / or (iv) characteristics of the directional PRS, such as a transmission direction, the position of UE 105 can be determined.
[0085] [0085] FIG. 7 illustrates additional aspects of PRS transmission to a cell supported by an unwired node (such as an ng-eNB 114 or a gNB 110). Again, the PRS to LTE transmission is assumed in FIG. 7, although the same or similar aspects of PRS transmission as those presented and described in FIG. 7, can be applied to 5G, NR and / or other non-wired technologies. FIG. 7 shows how the PRS positioning occasions are determined by a System Frame Number (SFN), a cell specific subframe offset (∆PRS) and the PRS periodicity (TPRS) 720. Typically, the subframe setting of Cell-specific PRS is defined by an IPRS "PRS Configuration Index" included in OTDOA assistance data. The periodicity of PRS (TPRS) 720 and the displacement of specific cell subframe (∆PRS) are defined based on the PRS IPRS Configuration Index, in 3GPP TS 36.211 called "Physical channels and modulation”, as shown in Table 1 below. PRS TPRS Configuration Offset Frequency Index PRS ∆PRS PRS subframe IPRS (subframes) (subframes) 0 - 159 160 IPRS 160 479 320 IPRS - 160 480 - 1119 640 IPRS - 480 1120 - 2399 1280 IPRS - 1120 2400 - 2404 5 IPRS - 2400 2405 - 2414 10 IPRS - 2405 2415 - 2434 20 IPRS - 2415
[0086] [0086] A PRS configuration is defined with reference to the System Frame Number (SFN) of a cell that transmits the PRS. PRS instances, for the first subframe of the NPRS downlink subframes comprising a first occasion of PRS positioning, can satisfy: where nf is the SFN with 0 ≤ nf ≤ 1023, ns is the partition number in the radio frame defined by nf with 0 ≤ ns ≤ 19, TPRS is the PRS periodicity and ∆PRS is the cell specific subframe offset.
[0087] [0087] As shown in FIG. 7, the displacement of a specific cell subframe ∆PRS 752 can be defined in terms of the number of subframes transmitted from system frame number 0 (partition 'Number 0', marked partition 750) until the beginning of the first ( subsequent) occasion of PRS positioning. In FIG. 7, the number of consecutive positioning subframes 718 (NPRS) is equal to 4.
[0088] [0088] In some embodiments, when a UE 105 receives an IPRS configuration index in the OTDOA assistance data for a particular cell, the UE 105 can determine the periodicity of the PRS TPRS and the quPRS subframe offset using Table 1. The UE 105 can then determine the radio frame, subframe and partition when a PRS is programmed in the cell (for example, using equation (1)). The OTDOA service data can be determined, for example, by the LMF 120 or an E-SMLC and includes service data for a reference cell and several neighboring cells supported by several non-wired nodes.
[0089] [0089] Typically, the PRS occasions from all cells in a network using the same frequency are time aligned and can have a fixed known time offset in relation to other cells in the network using a different frequency. In SFN synchronous networks, all non-wired nodes (for example, gNBs, ng-eNBs, eNBs, etc.) can be aligned at the frame boundary and the system frame number. Therefore, in synchronous SFN networks, all cells supported by the various non-wired nodes can use the same PRS configuration index for any particular PRS transmission frequency. On the other hand, in asynchronous SFN networks, the various non-wired nodes may be aligned at the edge of a frame, but not at the frame number of the system. Thus, in asynchronous SFN networks, the PRS configuration index for each cell can be configured separately by the network, so that the PRS occasions are aligned over time.
[0090] [0090] A UE 105 can determine the timing of PRS occasions (for example, on an LTE network or a 5G network, such as that of the communication system 100) of the reference and neighboring cells for OTDOA positioning, if the UE 105 can obtain cell timing (for example, SFN or frame number) from at least one of the cells, for example, the reference cell or a server cell (for example, which can be performed as part of action 516 in FIG. 5). The timing of the other cells can then be derived by UE 105 based, for example, on the assumption that PRS occasions from different cells overlap.
[0091] [0091] As defined by 3GPP (for example, in 3GPP TS 36.211), for LTE systems, the sequence of subframes used to transmit PRS (for example, for OTDOA positioning) can be characterized and defined by several parameters, as previously described, comprising: (i) a reserved bandwidth block (BW), (ii) the IPRS configuration index, (iii) the NPRS duration, (iv) an optional muting pattern; and (v) a TREP silencing sequence periodicity which can be implicitly included as part of the silencing pattern in (iv) when present. In some cases, with a reasonably low PRS cycle, NPRS = 1, TPRS = 160 subframes (equivalent to 160 ms) and BW = 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz. To increase the duty cycle of the PRS, the NPRS value can be increased to six (that is, NPRS = 6) and the bandwidth value (BW) can be increased to the system bandwidth (that is, BW = bandwidth of the system). LTE system in the case of LTE). An expanded PRS with greater NPRS (for example, greater than six) and / or shorter TPRS (for example, shorter than 160 ms), up to the total duty cycle (ie, NPRS = TPRS), can also be used in later versions of the LPP according to 3GPP TS
[0092] [0092] FIG. 8 presents a flowchart of an illustrative procedure 800, performed at a first base station, configured to transmit signaling (for example, according to the LTE, NR or 5G protocols), to support and facilitate the positioning of a mobile device (for example, UE 105 or UE 420). Procedure 800 can be performed by a base station, such as base station 410 in FIG. 4, the base station 202 in FIG. 2, an eNB for LTE, a gNB for 5G or NR, such as a gNB 110 in FIG. 1, or an ng-eNB for 5G, such as ng-eNB 114 in FIG. 1. Procedure 800 can also be supported by a positioning-only beacon that transmits signals (for example, NR or LTE signals), but receives no signals.
[0093] [0093] Procedure 800 includes generating in block 810 (by the first base station) several directional positioning reference signals (PRSs) for at least one cell for the first base station, with each of the several directional PRSs comprising at least one feature signal and a direction of transmission. The at least one cell can be a serving cell for the mobile device. In one embodiment, at least one of at least one signal characteristic and the transmission direction may be unique (for example, they may differ from at least one corresponding signal characteristic and / or a corresponding transmission direction, respectively, for any other directional PRS transmitted to at least one cell, the first base station or other nearby base stations).
[0094] [0094] Procedure 800 additionally includes transmitting in block 820 each of the various directional PRSs within at least one cell, where each of the various directional PRSs is transmitted in the direction of transmission. At least one signal characteristic for any directional PRS in the various directional PRSs can indicate the direction of transmission for that directional PRS. For example, at least one signal characteristic can identify the directional PRS and thus indicate a known transmission direction for that directional PRS, because it is different from at least one corresponding signal characteristic for any other directional PRS in the various Directional PRSs. Thus, the at least one signal characteristic can be used to reduce or remove, for example, multipath interference, or to facilitate the determination of the location of the mobile device, as described in relation to FIGS. 3A through 4.
[0095] [0095] The at least one signal characteristic may comprise, for example, a frequency (for example, a carrier frequency), a frequency shift, a code sequence, a muting pattern, a transmission time or set of times transmission or some combination of these. In some embodiments, transmitting the various directional PRSs in block 820 may include directing the various directional PRSs through a controllable antenna array (from the base station) configured to beam each directional PRS into the respective transmission direction. In some embodiments, the transmission direction (for a particular directional PRS) may include a first angle from a continuous range of horizontal angles and / or a second angle from a continuous range of vertical angles. In some embodiments, the transmission direction for a directional PRS may comprise a continuous range of horizontal angles, a continuous range of vertical angles, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the transmission direction for a particular directional PRS can be selected from a set of discrete transmission directions (for example, represented as an angle or several angles). Directional PRSs can be transmitted in substantially non-overlapping directions, each associated with at least one signal characteristic that allows the identification of each directional PRS (and therefore allows the determination of the transmission direction for each directional PRS).
[0096] [0096] In some embodiments, at least one of the various directional PRSs transmitted in block 820 may be detectable by the mobile device to facilitate determining the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability based on an observed difference in arrival time (OTDOA), in a starting angle position (AOD) method and / or in an Enhanced Cell ID position method (ECID).
[0097] [0097] In embodiments where at least one of the several directional PRSs transmitted in block 820 is detectable by the mobile device to facilitate determining the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability, the at least one of the several directional PRSs can be detectable by the mobile device based on the direction of transmission for at least one of the various directional PRSs, at least one signal characteristic for at least one of the various directional PRSs or a combination thereof. For example, at least one signal characteristic for at least one of several directional PRSs can be used by the mobile device to acquire and measure at least one of several directional PRSs.
[0098] [0098] In some embodiments, procedure 800 may additionally comprise sending at least one of the transmission directions or at least one signal characteristic to at least one of several directional PRSs to the mobile device. Sending can be based on broadcast transmission within at least one cell or transfer from point to point - for example, as described for action 511 on signaling flow 500 in the case of broadcast transmission.
[0099] [0099] In embodiments where at least one of the various directional PRSs transmitted in block 820 is detectable by the mobile device to facilitate the determination of the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability, the operation of determining the location on the device with capacity for location may include determining a multipath presence or absence for at least one of several directional PRSs based on the associated transmission direction for at least one of the various directional PRSs and in an approximate location for the mobile device. Here, determining the location of the mobile device on the location capable device can be based, at least in part, on the determined presence or absence of multipath. For example, and described for FIG. 4, when the presence of multipath is determined, determining the location of the mobile device may include disregarding (for example, ignoring) the at least one of the several directional PRSs transmitted in block 820. On the other hand, and as also described for FIG . 4, when an absence of multipath is determined, determining the location of the mobile device may include using at least one of the several directional PRSs transmitted in block 820 (for example, using a measurement obtained by the mobile device for at least one of the several Directional PRSs). The approximate location for the mobile device can be based, at least in part, on a serving cell for the mobile device or on an earlier determination of the location of the mobile device. For example, the previous determination can be based, at least in part, on at least one of the various directional PRSs transmitted in block 820 and detectable by the mobile device (for example, based on a measurement obtained by the mobile device for at least one the various directional PRSs).
[00100] [00100] FIG. 9 presents a flow chart of an illustrative procedure 900, generally performed on a mobile device (for example, an UE, such as UE 105 in FIGS. 1 and 5 or UE 420 in FIG. 4), to support the positioning of the device mobile. Procedure 900 includes receiving in block 910, on the mobile device, a first directional positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by a first base station (for example, a gNB 110, an ng-eNB 114 or an eNB) within at least at least one cell for the first base station, with the first directional PRS comprising at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction. The at least one cell can be a serving cell for the mobile device - for example, if the first base station is gNB 110-1 in FIG. 1 and the mobile device is UE 105. As noted, the at least one first signal characteristic may include one or more of, for example, a carrier frequency, a frequency shift (for example, a vshift), a sequence of codes (for example, a sequence of PRS codes), a muting pattern, a bandwidth and / or a transmission time (or a set of transmission times). In some embodiments, the first directional PRS is transmitted from the first base station via a controllable antenna array configured to perform beam forming of the first directional PRS in the first transmission direction. As also noted, the first transmission direction can include (or be defined) by a direction with a continuous range of horizontal angles and / or a continuous range of vertical angles.
[00101] [00101] With continued reference to FIG. 9, procedure 900 additionally includes obtaining in block 920 at least a first measurement for the first directional PRS based, at least in part, on at least a first signal characteristic. Block 920 can correspond to action 516 or part of action 516 in signal flow 500. At least one first measurement for the first directional PRS obtained in block 920 can include, for example, an Arrival Time (TOA), a Difference Reference Signal Time Rate (RSTD), Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Arrival Angle (AOA) , a signal propagation time, a round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), a detection of at least one first signal characteristic and / or any combination of these.
[00102] [00102] Procedure 900 additionally includes facilitating in block 930 the location determination of the mobile device in a device with location capability based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement. The location determination for block 930 can correspond to action 519 in signaling flow 500. As discussed in this document, the location capable device, where at least some of the location determination operations can be performed, can include one or more among, for example, the mobile device, the first base station, some other base station and / or a location server (for example, the LMF 120 of FIG. 1, an E-SMLC, an SLP, etc.). The determination of the location of the mobile device in the location capable device can be based, for example, on an observed difference of arrival time position (OTDOA) method, a departure angle position (AOD) method, a Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) position method, or in some combination thereof, and may employ one or more of the techniques described in this document in association with FIGS. 3 A, 3B and 4. When the location capable device corresponds to the first base station or a location server (for example, an E-SMLC, SLP or LMF 120), facilitating location determination in block 930 may include send at least one first measurement to the first directional PRS for the tracking device - for example, as in actions 517 and 518 in signal flow 500 when the tracking device is the LMF 120.
[00103] [00103] In some embodiments, determining the location of the mobile device on the location capable device may include determining a presence or absence of multipath for the first directional PRS based on the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS and on a approximate location for the mobile device. Here, determining the location of the mobile device can be based, at least in part, on the determined presence or absence of multipath. For example, and as described for FIG. 4, when a multipath presence is determined, determining the location of the mobile device may include disregarding (for example, ignoring) at least one first measurement obtained in block 920. On the other hand, and as also described for FIG. 4, when the absence of multipath is determined, determining the location of the mobile device may include the use of at least a first measurement obtained in block 920 in determining the location. The approximate location of the mobile device can be based, at least in part, on a serving cell for the mobile device or on an earlier determination of the location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement.
[00104] [00104] In some embodiments, the determination of the location of the mobile device can be implemented based on measurements by the mobile device of various directional PRS signals. Thus, in such embodiments, procedure 900 may additionally include receiving, on the mobile device, a second directional PRS transmitted by a second base station within at least one cell to the second base station, with the second directional PRS including at least a second signal characteristic and a second transmission direction and with at least a second signal characteristic and the second transmission direction for the second directional PRS being, respectively, different from at least a first signal characteristic and the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS. Procedure 900, in such embodiments, may also include obtaining at least a second measurement for the second directional PRS based, at least in part, on at least a second signal characteristic for the second directional PRS, and facilitating the location determination of the mobile device in the device with location capability based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement and at least one second measurement.
[00105] [00105] In some embodiments of procedure 900, at least one of at least one first signal characteristic and the first transmission direction may be unique (for example, it may be different from a corresponding signal characteristic and / or from one direction corresponding transmit signal, respectively, to any other directional PRS transmitted within at least one cell, the first base station or another nearby base station).
[00106] [00106] FIG. 10 shows a flow chart of an illustrative procedure 1000, generally performed on a device with location capability to support the positioning of a mobile device, such as UE 105 of FIGS. 1 and 5 or the UE 420 of FIG. 4. Procedure 1000 can be performed by the mobile device, by a base station such as an eNB, ng-eNB 114 or a gNB 110 or by a location server such as an E-SMLC, SLP or LMF 120.
[00107] [00107] Procedure 1000 includes obtaining in block 1010 at least a first measurement from the mobile device for a first directional positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by a first base station in at least one cell to the first base station, where the first directional PRS comprises at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction. The at least one cell can be a serving cell for the mobile device - for example, if the first base station corresponds to gNB 110-1 and the mobile device corresponds to UE 105. At least one first measurement can be obtained in block 1010 directly if the tracking device is the mobile device or can be obtained in block 1010 because it is received on the tracking device from the mobile device if the tracking device is a base station (for example, the first station base) or a location server (for example, the LMF 120). For example, at least a first measurement can be received from the mobile device in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message if the location capable device is a base station or can be received from the mobile device at an LPP, NPP or RPP message if the location capable device is a location server (for example, as described for actions 517 and 518 for signaling flow 500 to a location server corresponding to LMF 120).
[00108] [00108] Procedure 1000 additionally includes determining in block 1020 a location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement and the first transmission direction. In some embodiments where the location capable device is a location server (for example, LMF 120), block 1020 may correspond to action 519 in signaling flow 500.
[00109] [00109] As discussed in this document, the at least one first signal characteristic may comprise a carrier frequency, a frequency shift (for example, a vshift), a code sequence (for example, a PRS code sequence), a muting pattern, bandwidth, transmission time (or a set of transmission times), or some combination of these. The first transmission direction may include a continuous range of horizontal angles and / or a continuous range of vertical angles.
[00110] [00110] In some embodiments, the tracking device may include the mobile device, and procedure 1000 may additionally include, in such embodiments, receiving at least a first signal characteristic and / or the first transmission direction from from the first base station or from a location server, such as an E-SMLC, SLP or an LMF (for example, the LMF 120). At least a first signal characteristic and / or the first transmission direction can be received from the first base station by receiving a broadcast signal from the first base station - for example, as described for action 511 in the stream signaling 500. At least one first signal characteristic and / or the first transmission direction can be received from a location server (for example, the LMF
[00111] [00111] In some embodiments, the location capable device may include the first base station or a location server (for example, an E-SMLC, SLP or LMF 120) and, in such embodiments, procedure 1000 may additionally include sending at least a first signal characteristic and / or the first transmission direction to the mobile device. For example, when the location capable device includes the first base station, at least a first signal characteristic and / or the first transmission direction can be sent to the mobile station using broadcast transmission - for example, as described for action 511 in signaling flow 500. For example, when the device with location capability includes the location server (for example, LMF 120), at least one first signal characteristic and / or the first direction of transmission they can be sent to the mobile device in an LPP or NPP message - for example as described for actions 512 and 513 in signal flow 500.
[00112] [00112] In some embodiments, and as described earlier in this document, at least a first signal characteristic and / or the first transmission direction may allow or assist the mobile device to acquire and measure the first directional PRS and obtain the hair minus a first measurement of the first directional PRS (for example, in block 1010 if the mobile device is the device with location capability or before block 1010 if the device with location capability includes the first base station or a location server). For example, the mobile device can integrate the first directional PRS and other received signals using coherent or non-coherent integration over a period of time, such as the duration of a PRS placement occasion, and can compare or correlate the integrated signal with an expected signal that has the same at least one first signal characteristic, which may allow the mobile device to detect and measure the first directional PRS.
[00113] [00113] In some embodiments, determining the location of the mobile device in block 1020 can be based on an observed difference of arrival position (OTDOA) method, a departure angle position (AOD) method, on a Enhanced cell ID position method (ECID) or some combination of these. Procedure 1000 may also include, in such embodiments, determining a presence or absence of multipath for the first directional PRS based on the first direction of transmission and an approximate location for the mobile device, where determining the location of the mobile device if based, at least in part, in the presence or absence of a determined multipath. For example, and as described for FIG. 4, when a multipath presence is determined, determining the location of the mobile device in block 1020 may include disregarding (for example, ignoring) at least one first measurement obtained in block 1010. On the other hand, and also as described for FIG . 4, when an absence of multipath is determined, determining the location of the mobile device in block 1020 may include using at least one first measurement obtained in block 1010 in determining the location in block 1020. The approximate location for the mobile device can be based , at least in part, in a serving cell for the mobile device or in a previous determination of the location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement obtained in the block
[00114] [00114] In some embodiments, the determination of the location of the mobile device in block 1020 can be implemented based on measurements by the mobile device of several directional PRS signals. Thus, in such embodiments, procedure 1000 may further include obtaining at least a second measurement from the mobile device for a second directional PRS transmitted by a second base station in at least one cell to the second base station, with the second directional PRS including at least a second signal characteristic and a second transmission direction, and with at least a second signal characteristic and the second transmission direction for the second directional PRS being, respectively, different from at least a first signal characteristic and from the first transmission direction to the first directional PRS. In such embodiments, procedure 1000 may also include determining the location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on the at least first measurement, the at least second measurement, the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS and the second direction of transmission to the directional PRS.
[00115] [00115] In some embodiments of procedure 1000, at least one of at least one first signal characteristic and the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS may be unique (for example, they may be different from a corresponding signal characteristic and / or a corresponding transmission direction, respectively, for any other directional PRS transmitted within at least one cell, the first base station or some other nearby base station).
[00116] [00116] FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of an illustrative non-wired node 1100, such as a base station, an access point or a server, which can be similar and configured to have functionality similar to that of any of the various nodes represented, for example example, in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5 (for example, gNBs 110-1 and 110-2, ng-eNB 114, base station 202, base station 410, base station 410, LMF 120, components of 5GC 140) or otherwise discussed in this document (for example, as an E-SMLC or SLP). Unwired node 1100 can include one or more communication modules 1110 through 1110n, which can be electrically coupled with one or more antennas 1116a through 1116n for communication with non-wired devices, such as, for example, UE 105 of FIGS . 1 and 5. Each of the communication modules 1110a through 1110n can include a respective transmitter 1112a through 1112n to send signals (for example,
[00117] [00117] The node 1100 can also include other components that can be used with embodiments described in this document. For example, node 1100 may include, in some embodiments, a processor (also referred to as a controller) 1130 for managing communications with other nodes (for example, sending and receiving messages), generating communication signals (including generating directional PRS signals) and provide other related functionality, including functionality to implement the various processes and methods described in this document. Thus, for example, the processor, in combination with other modules / units of node 1100, can be configured to make node 1100, when functioning as a base station (for example, a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) , to generate multiple directional positioning reference signals (PRSs) for at least one cell to the base station, with each of the various directional PRSs including at least one signal characteristic and one transmitting direction, and transmitting each of the various PRSs directional cells within at least one cell, with each of several directional PRSs being transmitted in the direction of transmission. Similarly, for example, the processor, in combination with other modules / units of node 1100, can be configured to make node 1110, when functioning as a location capable device, obtain at least a first measurement from a mobile device for a first directional positioning reference (PRS) signal transmitted by a base station in at least one cell to the base station, with the first directional PRS comprising at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction, and to determine a location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement and the first transmission direction.
[00118] [00118] The 1130 processor can be coupled with (or otherwise communicate with) an 1140 memory,
[00119] [00119] Additionally, in some embodiments, memory 1140 may also include neighbor relationship controllers (eg neighbor discovery modules) 1142 to manage neighbor relationships (eg maintain a list of neighbors 1144) and provide other related functionality. In some embodiments, node 1110 may also include one or more sensors (not shown) and other devices (for example, cameras).
[00120] [00120] FIG. 12 illustrates a user equipment (UE) 1200 for which various procedures and techniques described in this document can be used. The UE 1200 may, in implementation and / or functionality, be similar or equal to any of the other UEs described in this document, including the UE 105 represented in FIGS. 1 and 5 and UE 420 in FIG. 4. Additionally, the implementation illustrated in FIG. 12 can also be used to implement, at least in part, some of the nodes and devices illustrated throughout the present disclosure, including nodes and devices as base stations (for example, gNBs 10, ng-eNB 114, and eNBs, etc. .), location servers (for example, the LMF 120) and other components and devices illustrated and described in FIGS. 1 to 10.
[00121] [00121] The UE 1200 includes a 1211 processor (or processor core) and memory 1240. As described in this document, the UE 1200 is configured to detect and process the directional positioning reference (PRS) signals that are used to facilitate location determination operations. UE 1200 can optionally include a trusted environment operationally connected to memory 1240 by a public bus 1201 or a private bus (not shown). The UE 1200 may also include a communication interface 1220 and an unwired transceiver 1221 configured to send and receive unwired signals 1223 (which may include LTE or NR frames comprising directional PRS signals) via an unwired antenna 1222 over a network not wired (such as NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 in FIG. 1). Unwired transceiver 1221 is connected to bus 1201 via communication interface 1220. Here, UE 1200 is illustrated as having a single unwired transceiver
[00122] [00122] The communication interface 1220 and / or the non-wired transceiver 1221 can support operations on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). Multi-port transmitters can transmit modulated signals simultaneously on the various carriers. Each modulated signal can be a Code Division Multiple Access signal (CDMA), a Time Division Multiple Access signal (TDMA), an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) signal, a Multiple Access signal by Single Carrier Frequency Division (SC-FDMA), etc. Each modulated signal can be sent on a different carrier and can carry the pilot, control information, overhead information, data, etc.
[00123] [00123] The UE 1200 can also include a 1250 user interface (for example, video, numeric keypad, touchscreen, graphical user interface (GUI)) and a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver 1255 which receives SPS 1259 signals (for example, from SPS satellites) via an SPS 1258 antenna (which may be the same antenna as the non-wired antenna 1222 or may be different). The SPS 1255 receiver can communicate with a single global satellite navigation system (GNSS) or with several such systems. A GNSS may include, but is not limited to, the Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, Glonass, Beidou (Compass), etc. SPS satellites are also referred to as satellites, space vehicles (SVs), etc. The SPS 1255 receiver measures SPS 1259 signals and can use measurements from SPS 1259 signals to determine the location of UE 1200. Processor 1211, memory 1240, Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 1212 and / or the specialized processor (s) (not shown) can also be used to process the SPS 1259 signals, in whole or in part, and / or to calculate (approximately or more precisely) the location of the UE 1200, together with the SPS receiver
[00124] [00124] Memory 1240 may include a temporary (or medium) computer-readable storage medium that stores functions such as one or more instructions or code. The media that can compose the 1240 memory includes, but is not limited to RAM, ROM, FLASH, disk drives, etc. In general, functions stored by memory 1240 are performed by the general purpose processor (processors), such as processor 1211, specialized processors, such as DSP 1212, etc. Thus, the 1240 memory is a processor-readable memory and / or a computer-readable memory that stores software (programming code, instructions, etc.) configured to make the 1211 processor (processors) and / or the DSP (s ) 1212 perform the functions described. Alternatively, one or more functions of the UE 1200 can be performed in whole or in part on the hardware.
[00125] [00125] An UE 1200 can estimate its current position within an associated system using various techniques, based on other spot communication entities and / or information available for the UE 1200. For example, the UE 1200 can estimate its position using information obtained from base stations (for example, gNBs, ng-eNBs), access points (APs) associated with one or more non-wired local area networks (WLANs), personal area networks (PANs) using communication technology short-range, such as Bluetooth® or ZIGBEE® non-wired technology, etc., the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or other satellites of the Satellite Positioning System (SPS) and / or map data obtained from from a map server or another server (for example, an LMF, an E-SMLC or SLP). In some cases, a location server, which can be an E-SMLC, SLP, Independent Server Mobile Location Center (SAS), or an LMF, etc., can provide assistance data for the UE 1200 to allow or assist the UE 1200 to acquire signals (for example, signals from WLAN APs, signals from cellular base stations (including directional PRS signals), GNSS satellites, etc.), and create location-related measures using these signals.
[00126] [00126] In one embodiment, the UE 1200 may include a 1230 camera (for example, facing forward and / or backward), such as, for example, complementary semiconductor metal oxide (CMOS) image sensors with configurations of appropriate lens. Other imaging technologies, such as paired charging devices (CCD) and backlit CMOS, can be used. Camera 1230 can be configured to obtain and provide image information to assist in positioning the UE 1200. In one example, one or more external image processing servers (for example, remote servers) can be used to perform image recognition and provide location estimation processes. The UE 1200 can include other 1235 sensors which can also be used to calculate or assist in the calculation of a location for the UE 1200. The other 1235 sensors can include inertial sensors (for example, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, a compass, any of which can be implemented based on the microelectromechanical system (MEMS), or based on some other technology), as well as a barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer and other sensors.
[00127] [00127] As noted, in some embodiments the UE 1200 can be configured to receive (for example, via the non-wired transceiver 1221), a first directional positioning reference (PRS) signal transmitted by a first base station within at least a cell for the first base station, with the first directional PRS comprising at least one signal characteristic and a transmission direction. In such embodiments, the UE 1200 can additionally be configured to obtain at least a first measurement for the first directional PRS based, at least in part, on at least one signal characteristic and to facilitate the determination of the location of the UE 1200 on a device with location capability (which can include the UE 1200 and / or additionally can include the first base station, some other base station, a remote location server, etc.) based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement .
[00128] [00128] Substantial variations can be made according to specific wishes. For example, custom hardware can also be used and / or particular elements can be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) or both. In addition, connection to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, can be employed.
[00129] [00129] The configurations can be described as a process that is represented as a flow diagram or block diagram. Although each can describe operations as a sequential process, several of the operations can be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Additionally, the order of operations can be reorganized. A process can have additional steps not included in the figure. Additionally, examples of the methods can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages or any combination of them. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks can be stored in a non-temporary, computer-readable medium, such as a storage medium. Processors can perform the tasks described.
[00130] [00130] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in this document have the same meaning as is commonly or conventionally understood. As used in this document, the articles "one" and "one" refer to one or more than one (that is, at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. For example, "an element" means an element or more than one element. "Around" and / or "approximately", as used in this document, when referring to a measurable value, such as a quantity, a time duration, among others, covers variations of ± 20% or ± 10%, ± 5% or ± 0.1% from the specified value, as such variations are appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods and other implementations described in this document. "Substantially" as used in this document when referring to a measurable value, such as a quantity, a time duration, a physical attribute (such as frequency), among others, also covers variations of ± 20% or ± 10%, ± 5 % or + 0.1% from the specified value, as such variations are appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods and other implementations described in this document.
[00131] [00131] As used in this document, including in the claims "or" as used in a list of items preceded by "at least one of” or "one or more of" indicates a disjunctive list so that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or combinations with more than one characteristic (for example, AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). In addition, as used in this document, unless stated otherwise, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition, means that the function or operation is based on the indicated item or condition and can be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the indicated item or condition.
[00132] [00132] As used in this document, a mobile device or station (MS) refers to a device, such as a cellular communication device or other non-wired device, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal communication system device ( PCS), a personal navigation device (PND), a Personal Information Manager (PIM), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a laptop or other suitable mobile device that is capable of receiving non-wired communication and / or navigation signals , such as navigation position signals.
[00133] [00133] Although some of the techniques, processes and / or implementations presented in this document may conform to all or part of one or more standards, such techniques, processes and / or implementations may not meet, in some embodiments, part or all patterns of one or more patterns.
[00134] [00134] Although particular embodiments have been revealed in this document in detail, this was done by way of example only for illustrative purposes and is not intended to be limiting with respect to the scope of the appended claims below. In particular, it is contemplated that various substitutions, changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the claims. Other aspects, advantages and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the following claims. The claims presented are representative of the embodiments and characteristics disclosed in this document. Other embodiments and unclaimed features are also contemplated. Consequently, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

权利要求:
Claims (30)
[1]
1. Method, in a first base station, to support the positioning of a mobile device, the method comprising: generating several directional reference reference signals (PRSs) for at least one cell for the first base station, where each of the several directional PRSs comprise at least one signal characteristic and one transmission direction; and transmitting each of the various directional PRSs within at least one cell, where each of the various directional PRSs is transmitted in the direction of transmission.
[2]
A method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one signal characteristic comprises a frequency, a frequency shift, a sequence of codes, a muting pattern, a transmission time or any combination thereof.
[3]
3. Method according to claim 1, in which transmitting the various directional PRSs within at least one cell comprises: directing the various directional PRSs through a set of controllable antennas configured to perform beam forming of each directional PRS in the direction transmission.
[4]
A method according to claim 3, wherein the transmission direction comprises a continuous range of horizontal angles, a continuous range of vertical angles or a combination thereof.
[5]
5. Method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the various directional PRSs is detectable by the mobile device to facilitate the determination of the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability based on the observed difference position method in time of arrival (OTDOA), a departure angle position method (AOD) or an enhanced cell ID position method (ECID), or any combination thereof.
[6]
6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the at least one of the various directional PRSs is detectable by the mobile device based on the transmission direction for the at least one of the various directional PRSs, on at least one signal characteristic for o at least one of the various directional PRSs or in a combination thereof.
[7]
7. Method according to claim 6, further comprising: sending at least one of the transmission direction to at least one of several directional PRSs or at least one signal characteristic to at least one of the several directional PRSs for the mobile device.
[8]
8. Method according to claim 7, wherein the sending is based on the broadcast transmission within the at least one cell.
[9]
9. The method of claim 5, wherein determining location on the location capable device includes determining a presence or absence of multipath for at least one of the several directional PRSs based on the direction of transmission for at least one of the several directional PRSs and in an approximate location for the mobile device, in which the determination of a location of the mobile device in the location capable device is based, at least in part, on the determined presence or absence of multipath.
[10]
A method according to claim 9, wherein the approximate location for the mobile device is based, at least in part, on a serving cell for the mobile device.
[11]
11. Method according to claim 5, wherein the location capable device comprises the mobile device, a Location Management Function (LMF) or a second base station other than the first base station, and wherein the method additionally comprises: sending the transmission direction to at least one of several directional PRSs to the device with location capability.
[12]
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one cell is a serving cell for the mobile device.
[13]
13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of at least one signal characteristic and the transmission direction for each of the various directional PRSs is unique.
[14]
14. Method, on a device with location capability, to support positioning of a mobile device, the method comprising: obtaining at least a first measurement from the mobile device for a first directional positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by a first base station in at least one cell for the first base station, wherein the first directional PRS comprises at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction; and determining a location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement and the first transmission direction.
[15]
A method according to claim 14, wherein the at least one first signal characteristic comprises a carrier frequency, a frequency shift, a code sequence, a muting pattern, a bandwidth, a transmission time or any combination thereof.
[16]
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first directional PRS is transmitted from the first base station via a controllable antenna array configured to perform beam forming of the first directional PRS in the first transmission direction.
[17]
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first transmission direction comprises a continuous range of horizontal angles, a continuous range of vertical angles or a combination thereof.
[18]
18. The method of claim 14, wherein the tracking device comprises the mobile device, and the method further comprises: receiving at least a first signal characteristic and the first transmission direction from the first base station or from a Location Management Function (LMF).
[19]
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first transmission direction is received from the first base station by receiving a broadcast signal from the first base station.
[20]
20. Method according to claim 14, wherein the location capable device comprises the first base station, or a Location Management Function (LMF), and the method additionally comprises: receiving at least one first measurement from the mobile device.
[21]
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising: sending at least one first signal characteristic to the mobile device.
[22]
22. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one first measurement for the first directional PRS comprises an Arrival Time (TOA), a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), an Intensity Indication of the Received Signal (RSSI), Received Reference Signal Power (RSRP), Received Reference Signal Quality (RSRQ), Arrival Angle (AOA), signal propagation time, detection of at least one first characteristic of the signal or any combination thereof.
[23]
23. The method of claim 22, wherein determining the location of the mobile device is based on an observed difference of arrival time position (OTDOA) method, on a departure angle position (AOD) method or in an Enhanced cell ID position (ECID) method, or in any combination thereof.
[24]
24. The method of claim 23, and further comprising: determining a presence or absence of multipath for the first directional PRS based on the first transmission direction and an approximate location for the mobile device, wherein determining the location of the mobile device is based, at least in part, on the determined presence or absence of multipath.
[25]
25. The method of claim 24, wherein the approximate location for the mobile device is based, at least in part, on a serving cell for the mobile device.
[26]
26. The method of claim 14, and further comprising: obtaining at least a second measurement from the mobile device for a second directional PRS transmitted by a second base station in at least one cell to the second base station, wherein the second directional PRS comprises at least a second signal characteristic and a second transmission direction, and wherein the at least a second signal characteristic and the second transmission direction for the second directional PRS are, respectively, different from at least one first signal characteristic and the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS; and determining the location of the mobile device based, at least in part, on at least a first measurement, on at least a second measurement, in the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS and in the second transmission direction for the second directional PRS.
[27]
27. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one cell for the first base station is a serving cell for the mobile device.
[28]
28. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of at least one first signal characteristic and the first transmission direction for the first directional PRS is unique.
[29]
29. Method, on a mobile device, to support positioning of the mobile device, the method comprising: receiving, on the mobile device, a first directional positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by a first base station within at least one cell to the first base station, in which the first directional PRS comprises at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction; obtaining at least a first measurement for the first directional PRS based, at least in part, on at least one first signal characteristic; and facilitating the determination of the location of the mobile device on a device with location capability based, at least in part, on at least one first measurement.
[30]
30. An apparatus for supporting the positioning of a mobile device, comprising: means for receiving a first directional positioning reference (PRS) signal transmitted by a first base station within at least one cell to the first base station, where the first PRS directional comprises at least a first signal characteristic and a first transmission direction; means for obtaining at least a first measurement for the first directional PRS based at least in part on the at least one first signal characteristic; and means for facilitating the determination of the location of the mobile device based at least in part on at least one first measurement.

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