BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

[0001] Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

2. Description of the Related Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), etc.

[0003] A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide higher data rates as compared to previous standards, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements. These enhancements, as well as the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technology, and high-density deployments for 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning.

SUMMARY

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not be considered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or critical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following summary has the sole purpose to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form to precede the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In an aspect, a method of positioning performed by a positioning entity includes obtaining a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; determining a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; determining a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and determining a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0006] In an aspect, a positioning entity includes a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: obtain a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; determine a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; determine a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and determine a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0007] In an aspect, a positioning entity includes means for obtaining a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; means for determining a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; means for determining a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and means for determining a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0008] In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to: obtain a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; determine a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; determine a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and determine a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0009] Other obj ects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0012] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0013] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR), according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0015] FIGS. 5 A and 5B illustrate various scenarios of interest for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example sidelink ranging and positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 7 illustrates an example message exchange in a fine timing measurement (FTM) positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 8 illustrates an example message exchange in a next generation positioning (NGP) positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0019] FIG. 9 illustrates an example method of positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings directed to various examples provided for illustration purposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

[0021] The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term “aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

[0022] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the particular application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0023] Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s) of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of non- transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

[0024] As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (loT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a “wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a “subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a “mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally, UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network the UEs can be connected with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the Internet are also possible for the UEs, such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

[0025] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data, voice, and/or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions while in other systems it may provide additional control and/or network management functions. A communication link through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which the base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0026] The term “base station” may refer to a single physical transmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurement report from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from or reception at a base station are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0027] In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base station may not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data, voice, and/or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmit reference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and/or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to UEs) and/or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from UEs).

[0028] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transports information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, the receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100, according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communications system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and/or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and/or ng-eNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0030] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). The location server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may be external to core network 170. A location server 172 may be integrated with a base station 102. A UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, a UE 104 may communicate with a location server 172 via the base station 102 that is currently serving that UE 104. A UE 104 may also communicate with a location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and so on. For signaling purposes, communication between a UE 104 and a location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through the core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with the intervening nodes (if any) omitted from a signaling diagram for clarity.

[0031] In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more of transferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0032] The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cells may be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband loT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access for different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within some portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

[0033] While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas 110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0034] The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies. Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink than for uplink).

[0035] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and/or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel is available. [0036] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and/or an unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102', employing LTE / 5G in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and/or increase capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0037] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and/or near mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as a millimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave. Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and/or receive) over a mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0038] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receiving device(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, a network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use an array of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antenna array”) that creates abeam of RF waves that can be “steered” to point in different directions, without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase the radiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiation in undesired directions.

[0039] Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of a given type means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receive parameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0040] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting and/or adjust the phase setting of an array of antennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signals received from that direction. [0041] Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0042] Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlink beam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink reference signal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0043] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on frequency/wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5G NR two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “Sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) which is identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a “millimeter wave” band.

[0044] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5GNR studies have identified an operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz - 24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and/or FR2 characteristics, and thus may effectively extend features of FR1 and/or FR2 into mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5GNR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz - 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz - 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz - 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0045] With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term “millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and/or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0046] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104/182 and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier over which some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can be used interchangeably.

[0047] For example, still referring to FIG. 1, one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or “PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations 102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers (“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increase its data transmission and/or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0048] The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communication link 120 and/or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0049] In some cases, the UE 164 and the UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. Sidelink-capable UEs (SL-UEs) may communicate with base stations 102 over communication links 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between a UE and abase station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless sidelink (or just “sidelink”) is an adaptation of the core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication needing to go through a base station. Sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-every thing (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL- UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 102 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station 102. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1 :M) system in which each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, a base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are carried out between SL-UEs without the involvement of a base station 102. [0050] In an aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and/or infrastructure access points, as well as other RATs. A “medium” may be composed of one or more time, frequency, and/or space communication resources (e.g., encompassing one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In an aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by a government entity such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems, in particular those employing small cell access points, have recently extended operation into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies, most notably IEEE 802.1 lx WLAN technologies generally referred to as “Wi-Fi.” Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0051] Note that although FIG. 1 only illustrates two of the UEs as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. Further, although only UE 182 was described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs, including UE 164, may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UEs 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102’, access point 150), etc. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming over sidelink 160.

[0052] In the example of FIG. 1, any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1 as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one or more Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In an aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that a UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) to determine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part, on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and/or other UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo location information from the SVs 112.

[0053] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can be augmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and/or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBAS may include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and/or the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and/or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0054] In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more nonterrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, an SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrial antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities external to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other user devices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g., signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communication signals from a terrestrial base station 102.

[0055] The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example of FIG. 1, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 may indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on.

[0056] FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. For example, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) which operate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, an ng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to the control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0057] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for UE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

[0058] FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 250. A 5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewed functionally as control plane functions, provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions, provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transport for session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transport for short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that was established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionalities for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0059] Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra-/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink/ downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of location services messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a location server, such as an SLP 272. [0060] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF 262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 is referred to as the Ni l interface.

[0061] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be in communication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) over a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and/or data like the transmission control protocol (TCP) and/or IP).

[0062] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which may be in communication with the LMF 270, the SLP 272, the 5GC 260 (e.g., via the AMF 264 and/or the UPF 262), the NG-RAN 220, and/or the UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., a location estimate) for the UE 204. As such, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location services (LCS) client or an external client. The third- party server 274 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a single server.

[0063] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. The gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to as the “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referred to as the “Uu” interface.

[0064] The functionality of a gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RUs) 229. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to the gNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally host the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. A gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the “Fl” interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of a gNB 222 is generally hosted by one or more standalone gNB-RUs 229 that perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission/reception. The interface between a gNB-DU 228 and a gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the “Fx” interface. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with a gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0065] FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as a private network) to support the operations described herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communication system. For example, other apparatuses in a system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. For example, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components that enable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicate via different technologies.

[0066] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, and/or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time/frequency resources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0067] The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and/or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0068] The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and/or measuring satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), QuasiZenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. Where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations of the UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0069] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ the one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ the one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or with other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0070] A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry and separate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respective apparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at the same time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listen module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0071] As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “a transceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.” As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers will generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereas wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0072] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0073] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information (e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may therefore provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning component 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the memory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 388, which may be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or more network transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0074] The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting movement and/or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and/or the satellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and/or any other type of movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include a plurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs in order to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensors to provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D) and/or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0075] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing means for providing indications (e.g., audible and/or visual indications) to a user and/or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of a sensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0076] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks (SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0077] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (LI) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission. [0078] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer- 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved to recover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the one or more processors 332, which implements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

[0079] In the uplink, the one or more processors 332 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0080] Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlink transmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization. [0081] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0082] The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver function at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respective antenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors 384.

[0083] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0084] For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and/or the network entity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional in alternative configurations and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, a particular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth capability without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit the sensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point without cellular capability), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit the satellite receiver 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of the various alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would be readily understandable to one skilled in the art. [0085] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other over data buses 334, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, and 392 may provide communication between them.

[0086] The components of FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3 A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one or more processors and/or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity 306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). For simplicity, various operations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as being performed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as the processors 332, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0087] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be distinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellular communication link, such as WiFi).

[0088] NR supports a number of cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR. FIG. 4 illustrates examples of various positioning methods, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, illustrated by scenario 410, a UE measures the differences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from pairs of base stations, referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives the identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in assistance data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity (e.g., the UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the UE’s location.

[0089] For DL-AoD positioning, illustrated by scenario 420, the positioning entity uses a measurement report from the UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the transmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

[0090] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, a UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals that are measured by a reference base station and a plurality of non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timing of the involved base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.

[0091] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from a UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receive beam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the base station(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s) of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0092] Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as “multi-cell RTT” and “multi-RTT”). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), which transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is referred to as a reception-to-transmission (Rx- Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement may be made, or may be adjusted, to include only a time difference between nearest slot boundaries for the received and transmitted signals. Both entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurement to a location server (e.g., an LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities from the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined from the RTT and the known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi- RTT positioning, illustrated by scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on distances to, and the known locations of, the second entities. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve location accuracy, as illustrated by scenario 440.

[0093] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base station(s).

[0094] To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include identifiers of the base stations (or the cells/TRPs of the base stations) from which to measure reference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots including PRS, periodicity of the consecutive slots including PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and/or other parameters applicable to the particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base stations themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes itself without the use of assistance data. [0095] In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the assistance data may further include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty, or search window, around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be +/- 500 microseconds (ps). In some cases, when any of the resources used for the positioning measurement are in FR1, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be +/- 32 ps. In other cases, when all of the resources used for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range for the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be +/- 8 ps.

[0096] NR supports, or enables, various sidelink positioning techniques. FIG. 5A illustrates various scenarios of interest for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In scenario 510, at least one peer UE with a known location can improve the Uu-based positioning (e.g., multi-cell round-trip-time (RTT), downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), etc.) of a target UE by providing an additional anchor (e.g., using sidelink RTT (SL-RTT)). In scenario 520, a low-end (e.g., reduced capacity, or “RedCap”) target UE may obtain the assistance of premium UEs to determine its location using, e.g., sidelink positioning and ranging procedures with the premium UEs. Compared to the low-end UE, the premium UEs may have more capabilities, such as more sensors, a faster processor, more memory, more antenna elements, higher transmit power capability, access to additional frequency bands, or any combination thereof. In scenario 530, a relay UE (e.g., with a known location) participates in the positioning estimation of a remote UE without performing uplink positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission over the Uu interface. Scenario 540 illustrates the joint positioning of multiple UEs. Specifically, in scenario 540, two UEs with unknown positions can be jointly located in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions by utilizing constraints from nearby UEs.

[0097] FIG. 5B illustrates additional scenarios of interest for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In scenario 550, UEs used for public safety (e.g., by police, firefighters, and/or the like) may perform peer-to-peer (P2P) positioning and ranging for public safety and other uses. For example, in scenario 550, the public safety UEs may be out of coverage of a network and determine a location or a relative distance and a relative position among the public safety UEs using sidelink positioning techniques. Similarly, scenario 560 shows multiple UEs that are out of coverage and determine a location or a relative distance and a relative position using sidelink positioning techniques, such as SL-RTT.

[0098] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default level of confidence).

[0099] The different types of positioning procedures described above can be used in various types of wireless communication systems, such as LTE, 5GNR, Wi-Fi, etc. For example, NR is capable of supporting various sidelink ranging and positioning techniques, which are a type of RTT-based positioning procedure. Sidelink-based ranging enables the determination of the relative distance(s) between UEs and optionally their absolute position(s), where the absolute position of at least one involved UE is known. This technique is valuable in situations where global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning is degraded or unavailable (e.g., tunnels, urban canyons, etc.) and can also enhance range and positioning accuracy when GNSS is available. Sidelink-based ranging can be accomplished using a three-way handshake for session establishment, followed by the exchange of positioning reference signals (PRS), and concluded by messaging to exchange measurements based on PRS transmission and receipt from peer UEs.

[0100] Sidelink ranging is based on calculating an inter-UE round-trip-time (RTT) measurement, as determined from the transmit and receive times of PRS (a wideband positioning signal defined in LTE and NR). Each UE reports an RTT measurement to all other participating UEs, along with its location (if known). For UEs having zero or inaccurate knowledge of their location, the RTT procedure yields an inter-UE range between the involved UEs. For UEs having accurate knowledge of their location, the range yields an absolute position. UE participation, PRS transmission, and subsequent RTT calculation is coordinated by an initial three-way messaging handshake (a PRS request, a PRS response, and a PRS confirmation), and a message exchange after PRS transmission (post PRS messages) to share measurements after receiving a peer UE’s PRS.

[0101] FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an example sidelink ranging and positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure. The procedure (or session) begins with the initial three-way messaging handshake after the broadcast of capability information by the involved peer UEs. At stage 605, the initiator UE 604-1 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) transmits a PRS request (“PRSrequesf ’) to a target UE 604-2 (e.g., any other of the UEs described herein). At stage 610, the target UE 604-2 transmits a PRS response (“PRSresponse”) to the initiator UE 604-1. At stage 615, the initiator UE 604- 1 transmits a PRS confirmation to the target UE 604-2. At this point, the initial three- way messaging handshake is complete.

[0102] At stages 620 and 625, the involved peer UEs 604 transmit PRS to each other. The resources on which the PRS are transmitted may be configured / allocated by the network (e.g., one of the UE’s 604 serving base stations) or negotiated by the UEs 604 during the initial three-way messaging handshake. The initiator UE 604-1 measures the reception- to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference between the reception time of PRS at stage 625 and the transmission time of PRS at stage 620. Similarly, the target UE 604-2 measures the Rx-Tx time difference between the reception time of PRS at stage 620 and the transmission time of PRS at stage 625.

[0103] At stages 630 and 635, the UE 604 exchange their respective time difference measurements. Each UE 604 is then able to determine the RTT between each UE 604 based on the Rx-Tx time difference measurements (specifically, the difference between the initiator UE’s 604-1 Rx-Tx time difference measurement and the target UE’s 604-2 Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Based on the RTT measurement and the speed of light, each UE 604 can then estimate the distance between the two UEs 604 (specifically, half the RTT measurement multiplied by the speed of light).

[0104] Note that while FIG. 6 illustrates two UEs 604, a UE may perform, or attempt to perform, the sidelink ranging and positioning procedure illustrated in FIG. 6 with multiple UEs.

[0105] As another example, in a Wi-Fi communication system (e.g., utilizing IEEE 802. lime), a fine timing measurement (FTM) positioning procedure is a type of RTT-based positioning procedure generally used for indoor positioning. FIG. 7 illustrates an example message exchange 700 in an FTM positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure. The example message exchange 700 shown in FIG. 7 is between an “initiator” STA (ISTA) and a “responder” STA (RSTA). The ISTA (or other positioning entity) may obtain or compute one or more RTT measurements based, at least in part, on the timing of ranging messages or frames transmitted between the ISTA and the RSTA.

[0106] To begin an FTM positioning procedure, the ISTA transmits an FTM request to the RSTA. The RSTA may optionally respond with an FTM acknowledgment (ACK). The contents of the FTM request are described in IEEE 802.11, which is publicly available and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

[0107] The exchange of ranging messages that are measured begins with the transmission of an FTM frame by the RSTA. The RSTA records a timestamp tl corresponding to the time at which a specified portion (e.g., preamble) of the FTM frame is transmitted (referred to as the time-of-departure (ToD)). The ISTA receives the FTM frame and records a timestamp t2 corresponding to the time at which the specified portion (e.g., preamble) of the FTM frame is received (referred to as the time-of-arrival (ToA)). In response to reception of the FTM frame, the ISTA transmits an ACK frame and records a timestamp t3 corresponding to the time at which a specified portion of the ACK frame is transmitted. There are two cases, either the ISTA responds with a Legacy Duplicate ACK, or responds with a high throughput (HT), very high throughput (VHT), high efficiency (HE), or extremely high throughput (EHT) ACK frame. The RSTA receives the ACK frame and records a timestamp t4 corresponding to the time at which the specified portion of the ACK frame is received.

[0108] In certain aspects, the RSTA sends an FTM report (labeled “FTM R”) frame to the ISTA that includes the timestamp values tl and t4. Using the timestamp values tl, t2, t3, and t4, the ISTA may determine the RTT measurement (e.g., RTT = (t4 - tl) - (t3 - 12) or (t2 — tl + t4 — 13)) between itself and the RSTA. The time-of-flight (ToF) measurement, or ranging measurement, between the ISTA and the RSTA is half the RTT measurement.

[0109] In some cases, the FTM frame exchange (FTM frame, ACK frame, and optionally FTM R frame) may be repeated multiple times (e.g., n) to obtain additional timestamp values (tl, t2, t3, and t4) for each RTT K (where K iterates from 1 to n). The multiple repetitions of the FTM frame exchange may improve the measurement accuracy, where the final RTT is determined by an average of the n RTTs.

[0110] The ISTA can determine the range, or distance, between itself and the RSTA based on the RTT measurement (specifically, the ToF, or half the RTT) and the speed of light. Specifically, the distance can be calculated as d = c ■ RTT/2, where d is the distance and c is the speed of light. Note that the ISTA and the RSTA’s clocks do not need to be synchronized with each other, as time differences between readings taken by the same clock are assumed in the calculation.

[OHl] Note that while FIG. 7 illustrates both the initiator and responder as STAs, one may be an AP. To determine its location, an STA may perform an FTM positioning procedure with multiple network nodes (e.g., APs or other STAs) having known locations (similar to a multi-cell RTT positioning procedure, as in scenario 430, or a sidelink RTT positioning procedure, as in scenario 520). Based on the known locations of the network nodes and the determined ranges to the network nodes, the STA can determine its location using, for example, multilateration.

[0112] As another example, again in a Wi-Fi communication system (e.g., utilizing IEEE 802.11az), a next generation positioning (NGP) positioning procedure is a type of RTT- based positioning procedure. NGP enables a STA to identify its position relative to multiple APs using two high-efficiency (HE) ranging physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU) formats: (1) HE ranging null data packet (NDP) and (2) HE trigger-based (TB) ranging NDP. The HE ranging NDP and HE TB ranging NDP are the respective analogues of the HE sounding NDP and HE TB feedback NDP PPDU formats, as defined in the IEEE 802. 11 ax standard. An NGP positioning procedure estimates the ToA of these ranging messages by using, for example, a multiple signal classification (MUSIC) super-resolution approach, then estimates the two-dimensional position of a STA by using, for example, trilateration.

[0113] FIG. 8 illustrates an example message exchange 800 in an NGP positioning procedure, according to aspects of the disclosure. The example message exchange 800 shown in FIG. 8 is between an STA and an AP, and illustrates the measurement sounding phase between an STA and a single AP. The STA (or other positioning entity) may obtain or compute one or more RTT measurements based, at least in part, on the timing of ranging messages or frames transmitted between the STA and the AP.

[0114] As shown in FIG. 8, the STA begins by transmitting an uplink NDP (UL NDP) frame (also known as an “initiator to responder (I2R) NDP”) and recording the time tl (UL ToD) at which it transmits the UL NDP. The AP records the time t2 (UL ToA) at which it receives the UL NDP and records the time t3 (DL ToD) at which it transmits the downlink NDP (DL NDP) frame (also known as a “responder to initiator (R2I) NDP”) in response. The STA then records the time t4 (DL ToA) at which it receives the DL NDP.

[0115] Although not shown, the AP may report the timing measurements t2 and t3 to the STA to enable the STA (or other positioning entity) to determine the RTT between the STA and the AP. Alternatively, the AP may report the difference between t2 and t3 to the STA. Based on the determined RTT, the STA (or other positioning entity) can determine the distance, or range, between itself and the AP, as discussed above with reference to FIG. 7. Using the ranges between the STA and three or more APs, plus the known locations of the APs, the STA can determine its location (e.g., via multilateration).

[0116] Note that the IEEE 802.1 laz standard provides protocol support for the STA to report the timing measurements tl and t4 to the AP to enable the AP to determine the RTT between the STA and the AP. Timestamps tl and t4 may be reported via an initiator-to-responder location measurement report (I2R LMR). Timestamps t2 and t3 may be reported from the AP to the STA via an R2I LMR. Further note that while FIG. 8 illustrates an STA and an AP performing the NGP positioning procedure, the NGP positioning procedure may also be performed between two STAs or two APs.

[0117] Ranging measurements (also referred to as timing measurements, such as ToA and ToD measurements of FTM frames and ACK frames in an FTM positioning procedure or PRS in a sidelink ranging procedure) are usually collected in a burst fashion (e.g., as in the FTM protocol) and/or combined over time to improve ranging and/or location tracking performance. Ranging measurements may also be collected at different bandwidths (i.e., ranging messages may be transmitted and measured on different bandwidths) depending on channel availability at different times. For example, Wi-Fi FTM frames may be sent at 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, or 20 MHz bandwidths, with wider bandwidths providing better timing accuracy. The ACK frame in response to an FTM frame may be sent in the same physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) format as the FTM frame, which results in the same timing accuracy for the ACK frame as for the FTM frame. Alternatively, the ACK frame may be sent in the Legacy Duplicate format, which results in lower timing accuracy for the ACK frame than for the FTM frame.

[0118] When combining ranging measurements taken at different bandwidths, the measurements may be assigned weights to increase or decrease their influence on the final measurement. As such, there is a need to determine the optimal weights for each bandwidth to optimize ranging performance. Some implementations use zero weight for lower bandwidth ranging measurements, which causes the measurements at lower bandwidth to be dropped. However, this has proven to not be optimal and also reduces the successful measurement rate. Other implementations use equal weights for all bandwidths, but this has also proven to not be optimal and degrades ranging accuracy.

[0119] As noted above, the accuracy of a timing measurement is bandwidth dependent. Thus, timing measurements should be weighted differently for different bandwidths. For example, for Wi-Fi communication, there are bandwidths of up to 320 MHz at 6 GHz channels, up to 160 MHz at 5 GHz channels, and up to 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz channels. For mmW communication, the bandwidth is around 1.76 GHz at 60 GHz channels. For ultra- wideband (UWB) communication, the bandwidth is around 500 MHz. 5G supports up to 400 MHz bandwidth.

[0120] The accuracy of a timing measurement is also dependent on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). As such, the optimal weights should also consider SNR.

[0121] The accuracy of a timing measurement also depends on the number of spatial streams (e.g., transmit beams). The IEEE 802.1 laz next generation positioning (NGP) standard supports MIMO ranging, which gives more accurate timing estimation. Thus, the weights also need to consider spatial diversity.

[0122] When ranging is combined with RF sensing, besides measurement bandwidth, SNR, and spatial diversity, how the RF channel and environment looks may also be known. For example, RF sensing can be used to distinguish line-of-sight (LOS) versus non-line-of- sight (NLOS) paths, whether the surrounding environment is clear with light reflections or crowded with heavy multipaths, whether the environment is static or the transmitting device is surrounded by moving objects, and/or the like. The weights can be optimized further by using what is learned from RF sensing. [0123] Motion sensors can also be used to further enhance the optimization of the weights. Timing measurements are more accurate when the measuring device is static / stationary and less accurate when the device is in (fast) motion.

[0124] The present disclosure provides a weighted mean (or average) of ranging measurements with mixed bandwidths. More specifically, the present disclosure provides a set of weights to optimize ranging accuracy with measurements taken at different bandwidths. The proposed weights consider not only the bandwidth of the ranging message (e.g., FTM frame) but also the PPDU type of the response (e.g., ACK frame). The proposed weights provide a performance gain compared to assigning a zero weight for lower bandwidth measurements or equal weights for all bandwidths.

[0125] As described above, an RTT measurement is calculated as (t2 - tl + 14 - 13), and a range measurement R = (t2 - tl + 14 - 13)/2, where tl and t3 are ToD measurements and t2 and t4 are ToA measurements. The variance of where al and 04 are the variances of the errors in the timestamps t2 and t4. This assumes that the timestamps tl and t3 have no error, which is typically true, as ToD is deterministic.

[0126] As an example, assume there are RTT measurements at bandwidths of 20, 40, 80, and 160 MHz. The measurements may have been performed with either HT, VHT, HE, or EHT ACKs or Legacy Duplicate ACKs. These measurements may be denoted with R,. where i = 1, 2, ... N, each with an assumed standard deviation of its error, o _Ri . The optimal weight factors in the weighed mean, e , should be the inverse relative error variances. With the above, the weighted mean of these measurements is as below:

[0127] The following table lists the weight factors for different bandwidths and different types of ACKs. The weight factors are determined based on the above equations.

Table 1

[0128] The abovementioned weights are only an example of how weights can be optimized for bandwidth alone. Although the examples in Table 1 cover bandwidths up to 160 MHz, the design can be expanded to other bandwidths, such as Wi-Fi bandwidths of up to 320 MHz at 6 GHz channels, up to 160 MHz at 5 GHz channels, up to 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz channels, the mmW bandwidth of 1.76 GHz at 60 GHz channels, the UWB bandwidth of 500 MHz, and the 5G bandwidth of up to 400 MHz.

[0129] As noted above, the weight optimization should also consider the SNR, the spatial diversity, RF sensing results, and the motion state. For example, referring to SNR, a higher SNR (e.g., above some SNR threshold) should have a higher weight. Referring to spatial diversity, a higher spatial diversity (e.g., above some threshold) should have a higher weight. Referring to RF sensing results, a ranging measurement of an LOS path should have a higher weight than a ranging measurement of an NLOS path, ranging measurements in clear surroundings with light reflections should have higher weights than ranging measurements in crowded surroundings with heavy multipath, ranging measurements taken in a static environment should have higher weights than ranging measurements taken when the device is surrounded by moving objects, etc. Referring to the motion state (determined from motion sensors), the ranging measurements should have higher weights when the device is static / stationary and lower weights when the device is in fast motion (e.g., above some threshold speed, acceleration, etc.). The amount of motion can be quantified based on acceleration, velocity, and rotation.

[0130] The weighting scheme can be implemented by the initiator and/or the responder. For example, for Wi-Fi, the weighting scheme can be implemented by the ISTA or RSTA, as the IEEE 802.11 az protocol enables both the ISTA and RSTA to collect all timestamps to estimate the range, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. For cellular (e.g., LTE, 5G), the weighting scheme can be implemented by a UE (e.g., or both UEs in a sidelink positioning session), a base station, or a location server (e.g., LMF 270).

[0131] FIG. 9 illustrates an example method 900 of positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 900 may be performed by a positioning entity (e.g., a UE (including ISTA or RSTA), base station, location server, or other network entity).

[0132] At 910, the positioning entity obtains a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a RTT-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a UE, operation 910 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 332, memory 340, and/or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a base station, operation 910 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a location server or other network entity, operation 910 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0133] At 920, the positioning entity determines a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a UE, operation 920 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 332, memory 340, and/or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a base station, operation 920 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a location server or other network entity, operation 920 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0134] At 930, the positioning entity determines a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a UE, operation 930 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 332, memory 340, and/or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a base station, operation 930 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a location server or other network entity, operation 930 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0135] At 940, the positioning entity determines a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a UE, operation 940 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, the one or more processors 332, memory 340, and/or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a base station, operation 940 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360, the one or more network transceivers 380, the one or more processors 384, memory 386, and/or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation. In an aspect, where the positioning entity is a location server or other network entity, operation 940 may be performed by the one or more network transceivers 390, the one or more processors 394, memory 396, and/or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing this operation.

[0136] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 900 is improved positioning performance due to improved weighting of ranging measurements based on bandwidth.

[0137] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, the various aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features of an individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, wherein each clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are not limited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clause aspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause or independent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can be readily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of a clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0138] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0139] Clause 1. A method of positioning performed by a positioning entity, comprising: obtaining a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; determining a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; determining a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and determining a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0140] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is a function of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0141] Clause 3. The method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is an inverse of a variance of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0142] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements is calculated as:

[0143] where R is the weighted mean, N is a number of the plurality of range measurements, R _L is a range measurement of the plurality of range measurements, 07^ is a variance of an error of the range measurement R _L . and a _L is a weight of the range measurement /? ₍ .

[0144] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on a type of response message of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0145] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the type of response message is an acknowledgment.

[0146] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0147] Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the plurality of bandwidths comprises: a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 320 megahertz (MHz) at 6 gigahertz (GHz) channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 160 MHz at 5 GHz channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz channels, a millimeter wave (mmW) bandwidth of 1.76 GHz at 60 GHz channels, an ultra-wideband (UWB) bandwidth of 500 MHz, a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) bandwidth of up to 400 MHz, or any combination thereof.

[0148] Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein: the plurality of pairs of timing measurements is a plurality of pairs of time-of-arrival (ToA) measurements, a first To A measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the initiator wireless device, and a second ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the responder wireless device.

[0149] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a fine timing measurement (FTM) frame, and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an acknowledgment of the FTM frame.

[0150] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0151] Clause 12. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an initiator to responder (I2R) null data packet (NDP), and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a responder to initiator (R2I) NDP.

[0152] Clause 13. The method of any of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on: signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, spatial diversity associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a radio frequency (RF) sensing environment associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a motion state associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0153] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the RF sensing environment indicates: whether the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement are line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) timing measurements, whether a surrounding environment is clear or crowded with multipaths, whether the surrounding environment is static or includes moving objects, or any combination thereof. [0154] Clause 15. The method of any of clauses 13 to 14, wherein the motion state is one of stationary or in motion.

[0155] Clause 16. The method of any of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the positioning entity is: the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, a base station, or a location server.

[0156] Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 1 to 16, wherein: the positioning entity is the initiator wireless device or the responder wireless device, and obtaining the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprises: measuring a first timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; and receiving a second timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements.

[0157] Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 1 to 17, wherein: the positioning entity is a location server or a base station, and obtaining the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprises receiving the plurality of pairs of timing measurements from the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, or both.

[0158] Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are user equipments, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is an 802. l ime fine timing measurement (FTM) positioning procedure, an IEEE 802. 11 az next generation positioning (NGP) procedure, or a sidelink ranging positioning procedure.

[0159] Clause 20. The method of any of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are a user equipment and a base station, and the RTT- based positioning procedure is a downlink-and-uplink-based RTT positioning procedure.

[0160] Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 1 to 20, further comprising: determining a distance between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device based on the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements.

[0161] Clause 22. A positioning entity, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: obtain a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; determine a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; determine a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and determine a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0162] Clause 23. The positioning entity of clause 22, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is a function of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0163] Clause 24. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 23, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is an inverse of a variance of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0164] Clause 25. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 24, wherein the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements is calculated as:

[0165] where R is the weighted mean, N is a number of the plurality of range measurements, R _L is a range measurement of the plurality of range measurements, is a variance of an error of the range measurement R _L . and a _L is a weight of the range measurement /? ₍ .

[0166] Clause 26. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 25, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on a type of response message of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0167] Clause 27. The positioning entity of clause 26, wherein the type of response message is an acknowledgment.

[0168] Clause 28. The positioning entity of clause 27, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment. [0169] Clause 29. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 28, wherein the plurality of bandwidths comprises: a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 320 megahertz (MHz) at 6 gigahertz (GHz) channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 160 MHz at 5 GHz channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz channels, a millimeter wave (mmW) bandwidth of 1.76 GHz at 60 GHz channels, an ultra- wideband (UWB) bandwidth of 500 MHz, a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) bandwidth of up to 400 MHz, or any combination thereof.

[0170] Clause 30. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 29, wherein: the plurality of pairs of timing measurements is a plurality of pairs of time-of-arrival (ToA) measurements, a first ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the initiator wireless device, and a second ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the responder wireless device.

[0171] Clause 31. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 30, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a fine timing measurement (FTM) frame, and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an acknowledgment of the FTM frame.

[0172] Clause 32. The positioning entity of clause 31, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0173] Clause 33. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 30, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an initiator to responder (I2R) null data packet (NDP), and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a responder to initiator (R2I) NDP.

[0174] Clause 34. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 33, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on: signal -to-noise ratios (SNRs) associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, spatial diversity associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a radio frequency (RF) sensing environment associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a motion state associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, or any combination thereof. [0175] Clause 35. The positioning entity of clause 34, wherein the RF sensing environment indicates: whether the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement are line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) timing measurements, whether a surrounding environment is clear or crowded with multipaths, whether the surrounding environment is static or includes moving objects, or any combination thereof.

[0176] Clause 36. The positioning entity of any of clauses 34 to 35, wherein the motion state is one of stationary or in motion.

[0177] Clause 37. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 36, wherein the positioning entity is: the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, a base station, or a location server.

[0178] Clause 38. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 37, wherein: the positioning entity is the initiator wireless device or the responder wireless device, and the at least one processor configured to obtain the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprises the at least one processor configured to: measure a first timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; and receive, via the at least one transceiver, a second timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements.

[0179] Clause 39. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 38, wherein: the positioning entity is a location server or a base station, and the at least one processor configured to obtain the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprises the at least one processor configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements from the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, or both.

[0180] Clause 40. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 39, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are user equipments, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is an 802. l ime fine timing measurement (FTM) positioning procedure, an IEEE 802. 1 laz next generation positioning (NGP) procedure, or a sidelink ranging positioning procedure.

[0181] Clause 41. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 39, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are a user equipment and a base station, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is a downlink-and-uplink-based RTT positioning procedure.

[0182] Clause 42. The positioning entity of any of clauses 22 to 41, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine a distance between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device based on the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements.

[0183] Clause 43. A positioning entity, comprising: means for obtaining a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; means for determining a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; means for determining a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and means for determining a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0184] Clause 44. The positioning entity of clause 43, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is a function of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0185] Clause 45. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 44, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is an inverse of a variance of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0186] Clause 46. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 45, wherein the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements is calculated as:

[0187] where R is the weighted mean, N is a number of the plurality of range measurements, R _L is a range measurement of the plurality of range measurements, 07^ is a variance of an error of the range measurement R _L . and a _L is a weight of the range measurement /? ₍ . [0188] Clause 47. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 46, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on a type of response message of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0189] Clause 48. The positioning entity of clause 47, wherein the type of response message is an acknowledgment.

[0190] Clause 49. The positioning entity of clause 48, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0191] Clause 50. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 49, wherein the plurality of bandwidths comprises: a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 320 megahertz (MHz) at 6 gigahertz (GHz) channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 160 MHz at 5 GHz channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz channels, a millimeter wave (mmW) bandwidth of 1.76 GHz at 60 GHz channels, an ultra- wideband (UWB) bandwidth of 500 MHz, a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) bandwidth of up to 400 MHz, or any combination thereof.

[0192] Clause 51. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 50, wherein: the plurality of pairs of timing measurements is a plurality of pairs of time-of-arrival (ToA) measurements, a first ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the initiator wireless device, and a second ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the responder wireless device.

[0193] Clause 52. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 51, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a fine timing measurement (FTM) frame, and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an acknowledgment of the FTM frame.

[0194] Clause 53. The positioning entity of clause 52, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0195] Clause 54. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 51, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an initiator to responder (I2R) null data packet (NDP), and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a responder to initiator (R2I) NDP.

[0196] Clause 55. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 54, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on: means for signaling -to-noise ratios (SNRs) associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, spatial diversity associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a radio frequency (RF) sensing environment associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a motion state associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0197] Clause 56. The positioning entity of clause 55, wherein the RF sensing environment indicates: whether the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement are line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) timing measurements, whether a surrounding environment is clear or crowded with multipaths, whether the surrounding environment is static or includes moving objects, or any combination thereof.

[0198] Clause 57. The positioning entity of any of clauses 55 to 56, wherein the motion state is one of stationary or in motion.

[0199] Clause 58. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 57, wherein the positioning entity is: the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, a base station, or a location server.

[0200] Clause 59. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 58, wherein: the positioning entity is the initiator wireless device or the responder wireless device, and the means for obtaining the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprises: means for measuring a first timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; and means for receiving a second timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements.

[0201] Clause 60. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 59, wherein: the positioning entity is a location server or a base station, and the means for obtaining the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprises means for receiving the plurality of pairs of timing measurements from the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, or both. [0202] Clause 61. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 60, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are user equipments, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is an 802. l ime fine timing measurement (FTM) positioning procedure, an IEEE 802. 1 laz next generation positioning (NGP) procedure, or a sidelink ranging positioning procedure.

[0203] Clause 62. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 60, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are a user equipment and a base station, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is a downlink-and-uplink-based RTT positioning procedure.

[0204] Clause 63. The positioning entity of any of clauses 43 to 62, further comprising: means for determining a distance between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device based on the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements.

[0205] Clause 64. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to: obtain a plurality of pairs of timing measurements from a round-trip-time (RTT)-based positioning procedure between an initiator wireless device and a responder wireless device, the plurality of pairs of timing measurements obtained based on a plurality of pairs of ranging messages exchanged between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device on a plurality of bandwidths; determine a plurality of range measurements based on the plurality of pairs of timing measurements, each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based on one pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; determine a weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements based at least on a bandwidth of the plurality of bandwidths of a pair of timing measurements of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement; and determine a weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements based at least on the plurality of range measurements and weights of the plurality of range measurements.

[0206] Clause 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 64, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is a function of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0207] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 65, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is an inverse of a variance of an error of each timing measurement of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0208] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 66, wherein the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements is calculated as:

[0209] where R is the weighted mean, N is a number of the plurality of range measurements, R _L is a range measurement of the plurality of range measurements, 07^ is a variance of an error of the range measurement R _L . and a _L is a weight of the range measurement /? ₍ .

[0210] Clause 68. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 67, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on a type of response message of the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement.

[0211] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 68, wherein the type of response message is an acknowledgment.

[0212] Clause 70. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 69, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0213] Clause 71. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 70, wherein the plurality of bandwidths comprises: a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 320 megahertz (MHz) at 6 gigahertz (GHz) channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 160 MHz at 5 GHz channels, a Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 40 MHz at 2.4 GHz channels, a millimeter wave (mmW) bandwidth of 1.76 GHz at 60 GHz channels, an ultra- wideband (UWB) bandwidth of 500 MHz, a Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) bandwidth of up to 400 MHz, or any combination thereof.

[0214] Clause 72. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 71, wherein: the plurality of pairs of timing measurements is a plurality of pairs of time-of- arrival (ToA) measurements, a first ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the initiator wireless device, and a second ToA measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ToA measurements is measured by the responder wireless device. [0215] Clause 73. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 72, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a fine timing measurement (FTM) frame, and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an acknowledgment of the FTM frame.

[0216] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 73, wherein the acknowledgment is a Legacy Duplicate acknowledgment, a high throughput (HT) acknowledgment, a very high throughput (VHT) acknowledgment, a high efficiency (HE) acknowledgment, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) acknowledgment.

[0217] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 72, wherein: a first ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is an initiator to responder (I2R) null data packet (NDP), and a second ranging message of each pair of the plurality of pairs of ranging messages is a responder to initiator (R2I) NDP.

[0218] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 75, wherein the weight for each range measurement of the plurality of range measurements is further determined based on: signal -to-noise ratios (SNRs) associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, spatial diversity associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a radio frequency (RF) sensing environment associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, a motion state associated with the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0219] Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 76, wherein the RF sensing environment indicates: whether the pair of timing measurements used to determine the range measurement are line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) timing measurements, whether a surrounding environment is clear or crowded with multipaths, whether the surrounding environment is static or includes moving objects, or any combination thereof.

[0220] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 76 to 77, wherein the motion state is one of stationary or in motion.

[0221] Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 78, wherein the positioning entity is: the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, a base station, or a location server. [0222] Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 79, wherein: the positioning entity is the initiator wireless device or the responder wireless device, and the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to obtain the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to: measure a first timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements; and receive a second timing measurement of each pair of the plurality of pairs of timing measurements.

[0223] Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 80, wherein: the positioning entity is a location server or a base station, and the computerexecutable instructions that, when executed by the positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to obtain the plurality of pairs of timing measurements comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to receive the plurality of pairs of timing measurements from the initiator wireless device, the responder wireless device, or both.

[0224] Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 81, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are user equipments, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is an 802. l ime fine timing measurement (FTM) positioning procedure, an IEEE 802.11 az next generation positioning (NGP) procedure, or a sidelink ranging positioning procedure.

[0225] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 81, wherein: the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device are a user equipment and a base station, and the RTT-based positioning procedure is a downlink- and-uplink-based RTT positioning procedure.

[0226] Clause 84. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 83, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the positioning entity, cause the positioning entity to: determine a distance between the initiator wireless device and the responder wireless device based on the weighted mean of the plurality of range measurements.

[0227] Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0228] Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0229] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0230] The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0231] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0232] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.