BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Field of the Disclosure

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

2. Description of the Related Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1 G), 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 Tenn 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 (FDM. A), 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 wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) includes acquiring, from a first set of transmission / reception entities (TREs), a first set of measurements of signals; selecting, from the first set of TREs, a second set of TREs, based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning; acquiring, from the second set of TREs, a second set of measurements, the second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements; and estimating a position of the UE based on the second set of measurements,

[0006] In an aspect, a method of wireless positioning performed by a network entity includes receiving a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one RFFP measurement associated with the geographic location; training a ML model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; and providing, to a UE, the ML model and criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning.

[0007] In an aspect, a UE 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: acquire, from a first set of TREs via the at least one transceiver, a first set of measurements of signals; select, from the first set of TREs, a second set of TREs, based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning; acquire, from the second set of TREs via the at least one transceiver, a second set of measurements, the second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements; and estimate a position of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[0008] In an aspect, a network 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: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one RFFP measurement associated with the geographic location; train a ML model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; and provide, to a UE via the at least one transceiver, the ML model and criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for RFFP- based positioning.

[0009] Other objects 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. 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate portions of radio frequency fingerprinting (RFFP), according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 5 A and FIG. 5B illustrate different implementations of RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 6 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating a process associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0017] FIG, 7 is a flowchart of an example process, performed by a UE, associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example process, performed by a network entity, associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Disclosed are techniques for user equipment (UE)-based wireless positioning. In an aspect, a UE may acquire, from a first set of transmission / reception entities (TREs), a first set of measurements of signals. As used herein, the term transmission / reception entity (TRE) refers to any entity that can transmit and receive RF signals via downlink (DL), uplink (UL), sidelink (SL), or combinations thereof. Examples of TREs include, but are not limited to, transmissions / reception points (TRPs), including base stations, and UEs, including UEs that communicate via sidelink (SL) transmissions, referred to herein as a “sidelink UE” (SL. UE). The UE may select, from the first set of TREs, a second set of TREs, based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning. The UE may acquire, from the second set of TREs, a second set of measurements, the second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements. The UE may estimate a position of the UE based on the second se t of measurements. In an aspect, the UE may input the second set of measurements into a trained machine learning (ML) model that outputs an estimated position of the UE. In an aspect, the UE receives the selection/prioritization criteria and/or the trained ML model from a network node.

[6020] 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, instractions, 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, m 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 instractions 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. Titus, 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.

[6025] 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 beamfonning) 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 tire 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 (WAV AN)) 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 (SUP)). 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 sendee (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. Flach 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 ioT (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 1 10 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 1 10 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).

[6034] "Die 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, lire 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] "Die 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 tire mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have high path loss and a relatively short range. Tire 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 a beam 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 tire source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of a second reference RF signal transmited 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 gam 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 ( SR S)) 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 FRI is greater than 6 GHz, FRI 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] Tire frequencies between FRI and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR 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 5G NR operation beyond 52,6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4aorFR4-l (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 earner” 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 earner 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 earner (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] Tire 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 LIE 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 (D2.D) media-sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everyfhing (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 util izing 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.

[0056] 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 Infrastnicture (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. I 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.

[6052] 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 transmiters (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 transmiter 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, transmiters 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 (SB AS) 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 systern(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 (MS AS), 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. Tins 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 “side links”). 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 02.0 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.

[6056] 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 ILAN (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).

[8058] 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 2.60). 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 2.04 (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 2.64 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 2.64 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. Tire functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SUM 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 rale 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 2.04 and a location server, such as an SLP 272.

[0060] Tire 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 N i l interface.

[0061] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 2.70, 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 sendees for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SEP 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 SEP 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 SEP 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.

[8063] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 2.60, 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) 2.2.2 and/or ng-eNB(s) 22.4 and the UPF 2.62 is referred to as the “N3” interface. Tire 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.

[8064] 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), sen ice 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 (REC) and medium access control (MAC) layer of 0 the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can suppost one or snore cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or snore 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 tire 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 tire 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 tire 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.). Hie 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 fortuning, 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 timing, 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 32.8 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 32.4 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.

[8069] 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. Tire transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some 3 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., LIE 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 (NUM) 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, lire 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 :4 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). Tire 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 ML modules 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The ML modules 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, tire base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the ML. modules 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 ML module 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 perforin tire functionality described herein. FIG. 3A illustrates possible locations of the ML module 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 ML module 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 ML module 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, tlie 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 tire 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 sendee 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 tire transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding/decodmg of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmiter 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)). Tire 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. Tire 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 L ^! E 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. Tire 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. 7

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. Tire spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna] s) 316. Ihe 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. Ihe 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.

[6083] 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 8 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. 3 A, 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. 3 A 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. 3 A, 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 transceivers) 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. 3A, 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 components) 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 ML module 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] Radio frequency fingerprinting is a technique in which channel measurements are taken at known locations within a geographic region of interest (ROI) and stored in a database. Entries within the database store a precise geographic location - also referred to as a "ground truth location" - and the channel measured at that precise geographic location. Each location within the ROI will have a channel that is a function of several factors, such as that location's relative distance from one or more TREs, the local terrain at that location, the environmental conditions, such as ambient noise and interference at that location, and other factors. Because each location will have a different set of conditions that affect the RF channel, each location is said to have its own unique RF "fingerprint". These RF fingerprints are stored in the RFFP database.

[0089] FIG . 4A and FIG. 4B illustrate portions of an implementation of RFFP 400, according to aspects of the disclosure. In RFFP, measurements are taken from many ground truth locations, which are represented as stars in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, within a region of interest (ROI) 402. Data from each of those measurements is received by an RFFP server 404 and stored in an RFFP database 406. In the example shown in FIG. 4 A, the data comprises a ground truth geographic location, represented as a (x,y,z) tuple, and a channel frequency response (CFR) of a signal that was transmitted from that geographic location. [0090] The RFFP database 406 may then be used for a method of positioning in which a channel frequency response of a signal transmitted by a UE whose exact position is to be determined (CFRUE) IS compared to entries ("fingerprints”) in the RFFP database 406 to find a CFR. in the database that best matches CFRUE. If an exact CFR match is found, the UE can be presumed to be at the ground truth location associated with that database entry; if an exact CFR match is not found, the network may interpolate or extrapolate a location of the UE from the ground truth locations of one or more entries in the RFFP database 406 that have channel measurements that are the closest to the channel measurement provided by the UE. In other implementations, the CFRUE may be used as a search parameter for entries within the RFFP database 406, with the matching entries produced by the database query being used as inputs into a weighted positioning algorithm or other type of algorithm. Examples of other algorithms include, but are not limited to, using an ML model (e.g., neural network) to learn the database, that is, the mapping between RFFP measurements, e.g., CFR or CIR, and their corresponding ground truth and/or interpolated/extrapolated positions.

10091] FIG. 4B illustrates another method of positioning in which the RFFP database 406 is used to train an ML module 408. In some aspects, the ML module 408 may be a neural network. In this method, the ML module 408 accepts CFRUE from UE 410 as an input and will produce a predicted position 412 as an output.

[0092] RFFP positioning is expected to be more accurate than conventional positioning algorithms, for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, that spatial filtering and interpolation methods utilize multipath signals implicitly, and because RFFP can deal with challenging conditions, including having a limited number of base stations, and having only NLOS signals available.

[0093] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate different implementations of RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 5 A illustrates an example of network-based positioning, in which a channel measurement associated with a UE 500 whose position is to be determined may comprise a measurement of a downlink (DL) PRS or sidelink (SL) PRS taken by a UE and reported to a location management function (LMF) 502 or another network node. A channel measurement may also be a measurement of an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) or SL-PRS observation at each TRP 504, such as the channel impulse response. FIG. 5A may also illustrate an example of UE-based positioning in which ML module resides on the UE side and takes SL-PRS, DL-PRS (or both SL-PRS and DL-PRS) as input and produces an estimated position as output.

[0094] FIG. 5B illustrates an example of UE-based positioning, in which a channel measurement associated with a UE 500 whose position is to be determined may comprise a measurement of SL-PRS signals by neighboring UEs 500. However, while the number of RFFP measurements available to be used for UE-based positioning can be quite large, it may be that good positioning may be achieved using only a subset of all of the possible RFFP measurements.

[0095] One weakness of UE-based positioning is that it can highly be susceptible to quality of available links and coverage status, e.g., using measurements based on DL signals only, based on SL signals only, or based on a combination of DL signals and SL signals, for example. A UE is likely to be configured with a pre-trained model that accepts RFFPs captured from both DL and SL channels, but the UE may naively treat RFFP measurements from both high quality signals and low quality signals as equally valuable.

[0096] Thus, to help the UE avoid selecting low er quality RFFP measurements instead of higher quality RFFP measurements for UE-based positioning, techniques are herein presented by which a network provides a UE with guidance for selecting which RFFP measurements to use for UE-based positioning. In some aspects, the network signals to the UE criteria and procedures for selecting measurement features to be used for RFFP positioning, including criteria and procedures for prioritizing measurements to be used in UE-based RFFP positioning.

[0097] In some aspects, a network entity, such as a location server or positioning configuration instance that participates in RRC„ provides configurations to guide a UE on how to prioritize and select entities for RFFP measurements. Tire UE collects the initial set of measurements, does prioritization as configured by network, and collects applicable RFFP measurements and uses them for UE-based RFFP positioning. An example of this is shown in more detail in FIG. 6.

[0098] FIG. 6 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating a process associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates an example interaction between a network entity 600 (e.g., a location server), base station(s) 602 (e.g., a gNB), a UE 604 that is performing the UE-based positioning using RFFP, and other UE(s) 606. In the example illustrated in FIG . 6. the network entity 600 provides the UE 604 with a trained neural network (NN) model and some RFFP prioritization criteria for the UE 604 to use when selecting which RFFP measurements to use for the positioning operation (event 608). In some aspects, this may be signaled via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In an alternative aspect, the UE 604 may be preconfigured with a trained NN. In an alternative aspect, the UE 604 may use another type of ML model. In an alternative aspect, the UE 604 may be preconfigured with RFFP prioritization criteria.

[0099] At block 610, the UE 604 requests an initial set of measurements. In some aspects, these requests may be broadcast, multicast, or unicast requests to one or more target entities. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the target entity to transmit a signal for the UE 604 to measure. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the target entity to send a report of a measurement to the UE 604.

[8108] At block 612, the UE 604 takes measurements, receives reports of measurements, or both , In some aspects, the initial set of measurements may include signal strength or signal quality measurements, e.g., layer 1 (LI) reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), or signal to interference -plus-noise ratio (SINR). In some aspects, the initial set of measurements may include delay spread, angle spread, e.g., angle of arrival (AoA) and/or angle of departure (AoD) for azimuth and/or elevation. In some aspects, the initial set of measurements may include Doppler spread, clock mismatch or drift between entities, and other types of information.

[0101] At block 614, the UE 604 ranks and selects base stations and UEs for RFFP positioning based on initial measurements according to the criteria pro vided by the network entity 600. In some aspects, a selection or prioritization criteria can include criteria based on signal quality. Examples of criteria include, but are not limited to the following:

* Select the entities that have the N highest measurement values (e.g., signal strength);

« Select the entities that have the A’ lowest measurement values (e.g., Doppler);

« Select the entities whose measurements satisfy a threshold (e.g,, minimum SNR); ® Select some entities that satisfy one of the conditions above and some entities that satisfy another of the conditions above; and

• Combinations of the above.

In some aspects, a selection or prioritization criteria can include criteria based on anchor type or coverage status. Examples of such criteria include, but are not limited to the following:

® Select base stations that belong to home cell (i.e., home cell TRPs -> DL);

• Select base stations that belong to neighbor cell (i.e., inter-cell TRPs DL);

• Select UEs (i.e., SL-anchor UEs) that belong to the same home cell (i.e., SL);

• Select UEs (i.e., SL-anchor UEs) that belong to a given list of neighboring cells (i.e., SL);

• Select UEs (i.e., SL-anchor UEs) that have partial-coverage w/ home cell (i .e., SL);

• Select UEs (i.e., SL-anchor UEs) that have partial -coverage w/ neighboring cell (i.e., SL);

• Select UEs (i.e., SL-anchor UEs) that are out-of-coverage (i.e., SL);

« Select SL-anchor UEs; and

• Combinations of the above.

In some aspects, the criteria may be applied in the order shown above, e.g., to prioritize measurements from home cell over measurements from neighboring cells, to prioritize measurements from a base station over measurements from UEs, etc.

[0102] In some aspects, the criteria may include some combination of criteria based on signal quality and criteria based on anchor type and coverage status. Other criteria not explicitly listed herein may also be used,

[0103] At. block 616, the UE 604 requests REFP measurements from the selected entities. In some aspects, these requests may be broadcast, multicast, or unicast requests to one or more select target entities. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the select target entity to transmit a signal for the UE 604 to measure. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the select target entity to send a report of an RFFP measurement to the UE 604.

[0104] At block 618, the UE 604 takes RFFP measurements, receives reports of RFFP measurements, or both. Examples of RFFP measurements include, but. are not limited to, a channel impulse response, a channel frequency response, and a histogram of received signal strength.

[8105] At block 620, the UE 604 estimates its own position based on the RFFP measurements involving the selected entities. In the exampie shown in FIG. 6, the UE 604 may input the RFFP measurements involving the selected entities into a machine learning (ML) module, e.g., the trained NN model provided to the UE 604 by the network entity 600, and the ML module outputs the estimated position of the UE 604. At block 622, the UE 604 reports its position to the network entity 600.

[8106] In some aspects, at block 624, the network entity 600 may use the RFFP measurements from selected entities and the reported position of the UE 604 to fine-tune or retrain the NN model. In some aspects, at block 626, the network entity 600 may provide the updated NN model to the UE 604.

[0107] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example process 700 associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 7 may be performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE 104), In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 7 may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the UE. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG. 7 may be performed by one or more components of UE 302, such as processor(s) 332, memory’ 340, WWAN transceiver(s) 310, short-range wireless transceivers) 320, satellite signal receiver 330, sensor(s) 344, user interface 346, and ML moduie(s) 342, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 700.

[8108] As shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may’ optionally include, at optional block 702, receiving, from a network node, a trained ML model and/or criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency' fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning. Means for performing the operation of block 702 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceivers) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may receive the trained ML model and/or the criteria using the receiver(s) 312. Optional block 702 need not be performed, for exampie, if the UE was preconfigured w ith the ML model and/or criteria, or if the UE had previously’ received the ML model and/or criteri a.

[0109] As further shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may include, at block 704, acquiring, from a first set of TREs, a first set of measurements of signals. Means for performing the operation of block 704 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may acquire the first set of measurements of signals using the receivers) 312.

[0110] As further shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may include, at block 706, selecting, from the first set of TREs, a second set of TREs, based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning. Means for performing the operation of block 706 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the LIE 302. For example, the UE 302 may use the processor(s) 332 to select the second set of TREs based on criteria stored in memory 340.

[0111] As further shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may include, at block 708, acquiring, from the second set of TREs, a second set of measurements, the second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements. Means for performing the operation of block 708 may include the processor(s) 332, memory’ 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may acquire the second set of measurements using the receive r(s) 312.

[8112] As further shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may include, at block 710, estimating a position of the UE based on the second set of measurements. Means for performing the operation of block 710 may include the processor(s) 332, memory' 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may estimate a position of the UE based on the second set of measurements, using the processor(s) 332 and the ML module 342.

[0113] As shown in FIG. 7, process 700 may optionally include, at optional block 712, receiving, from the network node, a retrained ML model. Means for performing the operation of block 712 may include the processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) 310 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may receive the re-trained ML model using the receiver(s) 312.

[0114] In some aspects, acquiring the first set of measurements of signals comprises acquiring measurements of at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a signal to interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), a delay spread, an angle spread, an azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA), an azimuth or elevation angle of departure (AoD), a Doppler spread, or a clock mismatch or drift between network entities. [0115] In some aspects, acquiring the first set of measurements of signals comprises at least one of measuring at least one of the signals, or receiving a report of a measurement of at least one of the signals.

[0116] In some aspects, selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRP based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs comprises selecting the second set of TREs based on criteria that was received from a network entity.

[0117] In some aspects, selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRP based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs comprises at least one of selecting entities that have N highest measurement values, selecting entities that have N lowest measurement values, selecting entities having measurements that satisfy a threshold, selecting base stations that belong to a home cell of the UE, selecting base stations that belong to a neighbor cell of the UE, selecting UEs that belong to a home cell of the UE, selecting UEs that belong to a neighbor cel! of the UE, selecting UEs that have partialcoverage with a home cell of the UE, selecting UEs that have partial-coverage with a neighbor cell of the UE, selecting UEs that are out-of-coverage, or a combination thereof [Oil 8] In some aspects, acquiring the second set of measurements of signals comprises acquiring at least one of a channel impulse response of an RFFP signal, a channel frequency response of an RFFP signal, or a histogram of received signal strength of an RFFP signal.

[0119] In some aspects, acquiring the second set of measurements of signals comprises at least one of measuring at least one of the signals, or receiving a report of a measurement of at least one of the signals.

[012b] In some aspects, estimating the position of the UE based on the second set of measurements comprises providing, to a machine learning model, the second set of measurements, and receiving, from the machine learning model, an estimated position of the UE.

[0121] In some aspects, providing the second set of measurements to the machine learning model comprises providing the second set of measurements to a trained neural network.

[0122] In some aspects, process 700 includes receiving, from a network entity, the machine learning model or a retrained machine learning model.

[0123] Process 700 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Although FIG. 7 shows example blocks of process 700, in some implementations, process 700 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in FIG. 7. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 700 may be performed in parallel.

[0124] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an example process 800 associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning, according to aspects of the disclosure. In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 8 may be performed by a network entity (e.g., location server 172, LMF 270, etc.). In some implementations, one or more process blocks of FIG. 8 may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the network entity. Additionally, or alternatively, one or more process blocks of FIG . 8 may be performed by one or more components of network entity 306, such as processor(s) 394, memory 396, network transceiver(s) 390, and ML module(s) 398, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 800.

[0125] As shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may include, at block 802, receiving a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location. Means for performing the operation of block 802 may include the processor^) 394, memory 396, or network transceiver(s) 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may receive the plurality of sets of positioning data via the network transceiver(s) 390 and store them in memory’ 396.

[6126] As further shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may include, at block 804, training a ML model using the plurality of sets of positioning data. Means for performing the operation of block 804 may include the processor(s) 394, memory’ 396, or network transceivers) 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the processor(s) 394 of the network entity’ 306 may train an ML module within the ML module 398 using sets of positioning data stored in memory 396.

[0127] As further shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may’ include, at block 806, providing, to a UE, the ML model and criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning (block 806). Means for performing the operation of block 806 may include the processor(s) 394, memory 396, or network transceivers) 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity’ 306 may provide the ML model and criteria to the UE using the network transceivers ) 390. [0128] As further shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may optionally include, at optional block 808, receiving, from the UE, RFFP measurements associated with TREs selected according to the criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs tor RFFP-based positioning, and an estimated position of the UE. Means for performing the operation of block 808 may include the processor(s) 394, memory 396, or network transceivers) 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may receive the RFFP measurements and the estimated position of the UE using the network transceivers) 390 and store them in memory 396.

[0129] As further shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may optionally include, at optional block 810, using the RFFP measurements and estimated position of the UE to retrain the ML model . Means for performing the operation of block 810 may include the processor(s) 394, memory 396, or network transceiver(s) 390 of tire network entity 306. For example, the processor(s) 394 of the network entity 306 may retrain the ML model within ML. module 398 using the RFFP measurements and estimated position of the UE stored in memory 396

[0130] As further shown in FIG. 8, process 800 may optionally include, at optional block 812, sending, to the UE, the retrained ML model. Means for performing the operation of block 812 may include the processor(s) 394, memory 396, or network transceivers) 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may send the retrained ML model to the UE using the network transceiver(s) 390.

[0131] In some aspects, receiving the RFFP measurements comprises receiving at least one of a channel impulse response of an RFFP signal, a channel frequency response of an RFFP signal, or a histogram of received signal strength of an RFFP signal.

[0132] Process 800 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below' and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Although FIG. 8 show's example blocks of process 800, in some implementations, process 800 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in FIG. 8. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 800 may be performed in parallel.

[0133] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the techniques described herein is that they provide a UE with information that the UE can use to select high quality RFFP measurements for use to estimate its own position. In addition, these high quality measurements can be provided back to a location server or other network node to be used for fine-tuning of the ML model provide to the UEs,

[0134] In the detailed description above it can be seen that different features are grouped together in examples. Ulis 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 clau ses, 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., contradictor}- 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.

[0135] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0136] Clause 1. A method of wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: acquiring, from a first set of transmission / reception entities (TREs), a first set of measurements of signals, wherein a TRE comprises a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof; selecting, from the first set of TREs, a second set of TREs, based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)- based positioning; acquiring, from the second set of TREs, a second set of measurements, the second set. of measurements comprising RFFP measurements; and estimating a position of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[0137] Clause 2. Tlie method of clause 1, wherein acquiring the first set of measurements of signals comprises acquiring measurements of at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP); a reference signal received quality (RSRQ); a received signal strength indicator (RSSI); a signal to interference -plus-noise ratio (SINR); a delay spread; an angle spread; an azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); an azimuth or elevation angle of departure (AoD); a Doppler spread; or a clock mismatch or drift between network entities, [0138] Clause 3. Hie method of any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein acquiring the first set of measurements of signals comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or receiving a report of a measurement of at least one of the signals.

[0139] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, wherein selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRP based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs comprises selecting the second set of TREs based on criteria that was received from a network entity.

[8140] Clause 5. The method of any of clauses 1 to 4. wherein selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRP based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs comprises at least one of: selecting entities that have M highest measurement values; selecting entities that have N lowest measurement values; selecting entities having measurements that satisfy’ a threshold; selecting base stations that belong to a home cell of the UE; selecting base stations that belong to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting UEs that belong to a home cell of the UE; selecting UEs that belong to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting UEs that have partial-coverage with a home cell of the UE; selecting UEs that have partial -coverage with a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting UEs that are out-of-coverage; selecting SL anchor UEs, or a combination thereof.

[0141] Clause 6. 'The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, wherein acquiring the second set of measurements of signals comprises acquiring at least one of: a channel impulse response of an RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of an RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of an RFFP signal.

[0142] Clause 7. The method of any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein acquiring the second set of measurements of signals comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or receiving a report of a measurement of at least one of the signals.

[0143] Clause 8. lire method of any of clauses 1 to 7, wherein estimating the position of tire UE based on the second set of measurements comprises: providing, to a machine learning model, the second set of measurements; and receiving, from the machine learning model, an estimated position of the UE.

[0144] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein providing the second set of measurements to the machine learning model comprises providing the second set of measurements to a trained neural network. [0145] Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 8 to 9, further comprising: receiving, from a network entity, the machine learning model or a retrained machine learning model .

[0146] Clause 11. A method of wireless positioning performed by a network entity, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location; training a machine learning (ML) model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; and providing, to a UE, the ML model and criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing transmission / reception entities (TREs) for RFFP-based positioning, wherein a TRE comprises a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof.

[0147] Clause 12. The method of clause 1 1, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, RFFP measurements associated with TREs selected according to the criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning and an estimated position of the UE; using the RFFP measurements and estimated position of the UE to retrain the ML model; and sending, to the UE, the retrained ML model.

[0148] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein receiving the RFFP measurements comprises receiving at least one of: a channel impulse response of an RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of an RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of an RFFP signal.

[0149] Clause 14. A user equipment (UE), 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: acquire, from a first set of transmission / reception entities (TREs) via the at least one transceiver, a first set of measurements of signals, wherein a TRE comprises a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof; select, from the first set of TREs, a second set of TREs, based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning; acquire, from the second set of TREs via the at least one transceiver, a second set of measurements, the second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements; and estimate a position of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[6150] Clause 15. The UE of clause 14, wherein, to acquire the first set of measurements of signals, the at least one processor is configured to acquire measurements of at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP); a reference signal received quality (RSRQ); a received signal strength indicator (RSSI); a signal to interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR); a delay spread; an angle spread; an azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); an azimuth or elevation angle of departure (AoD); a Doppler spread; or a clock mismatch or drift between network entities.

[0151] Clause 16. The UE of any of clauses 14 to 15, wherein, to acquire the first set of measurements of signals, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of: measure, via the at least one transceiver, at least one of the signals; or receive, via the at least one transceiver, a report of a measurement of at least one of the signals.

[6152] Clause 17. The UE of any of clauses 14 to 16, wherein, to select the second set of TREs from the first set of TRP based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs, the at least one processor is configured to select the second set of TREs based on criteria that was received from a network entity.

[0153] Clause 18. ITe UE of any of clauses 14 to 17, wherein, to select the second set of TREs from the first set of TRP based on criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing TREs, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of: select entities that have N highest measurement values; select entities that have N lowest measurement values; select entities having measurements that satisfy a threshold; select base stations that belong to a home cell of the UE; select base stations that belong to a neighbor cell of the UE; select UEs that belong to a home cell of the UE; select UEs that belong to a neighbor cell of the UE; select UEs that have partial-coverage with a home cell of the UE; select UEs that have partial-coverage with a neighbor cell of the UE; select UEs that are out-of-coverage; or a combination thereof.

[0154] Clause 19. The UE of any of clauses 14 to 18, wherein, to acquire the second set of measurements of signals, the at least one processor is configured to acquire at least one of: a channel impulse response of an RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of an RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of an RFFP signal.

[0155] Clause 20. The UE of any of clauses 14 to 19, wherein, to acquire the second set of measurements of signals, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of: measure, via the at leas t one transceiver, at least one of the signals; or receive, via the at least one transceiver, a report of a measurement of at least one of the signals.

[0156] Clause 21. The UE of any of clauses 14 to 20, wherein, to estimate the position of the UE based on the second set. of measurements, the at least, one processor is configured to: provide, to a machine learning model, the second set of measurements; and receive, from the machine learning model via the at least one transceiver, an estimated position of the UE.

[0157] Clause 22. The UE of clause 21, wherein, to provide the second set of measurements to the machine learning model, the at least one processor is configured to provide the second set of measurements to a trained neural network.

[0158] Clause 23. The UE of any of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, from a network entity via the at least one transceiver, the machine learning model or a retrained machine learning model.

[0159] Clause 24. A network 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: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location; tram a. machine learning (ML) model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; and provide, to a UE via the at least one transceiver, the ML model and criteria for selecting and/or prioritizing transmission / reception entities (TREs) for RFFP- based positioning, wherein a TRE comprises a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof.

[0160] Clause 2.5. The network entity of clause 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, from the UE via the at least one transceiver, RFFP measurements associated with TREs selected according to the criteria tor selecting and/or prioritizing TREs for RFFP -based positioning and an estimated position of the UE; use the RFFP measurements and estimated position of the UE to retrain the ML model; and send, to the UE via the at least one transceiver, the retrained ML model.

[0161] Clause 26. The network entity of clause 25, wherein, to receive the RFFP measurements, the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one of: a channel impulse response of an RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of an RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of an RFFP signal.

[0162] Clause 27. An apparatus comprising a memory, a transceiver, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor configured to perform a method according to any of clauses 1 to 13. [0163] Clause 28. An apparatus comprising means for performing a method according to any of clauses 1 to 13.

[0164] Clause 29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any of clauses 1 to 13.

[0165] 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.

[0166] 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.

[0167] "Die various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described m 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. [0168] 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.

[0169] 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 m 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. [0170] While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of tire 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.