US-12625275-B2 - Virtual positioning signal measurements

US12625275B2US 12625275 B2US12625275 B2US 12625275B2US-12625275-B2

Abstract

A method, for providing a virtual positioning signal measurement, includes: determining that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a UE; and providing a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that corresponds to at least one positioning signal measured by the UE.

Inventors

Yuxiang PENG
Ning Luo
Min Wang

Assignees

QUALCOMM INCORPORATED

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230118

Claims (20)

1 . An apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to receive signals wirelessly; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the receiver and the memory and configured to: determine that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and provide a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, that is a simulated measurement value based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that is measured close in time to a timing of the expected positioning signal measurement measured by the UE.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement corresponds to a first positioning signal corresponding to a first positioning signal source, and wherein the processor is configured to provide the virtual measurement value by propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to propagate the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time based on a position estimate for the UE that is based on a plurality of second positioning signals corresponding to a plurality of second positioning signal sources separate from the first positioning signal source.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement is an ionosphere delay and corresponds to a first positioning signal source, and wherein the at least one positioning signal corresponds to at least one second positioning signal source separate from the first positioning signal source.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein to provide the virtual measurement value the processor is configured to: determine at least one slant total electron content (STEC), each corresponding to a respective one of the at least one positioning signal; determine a vertical total electron content (VTEC) corresponding to each of the at least one STEC; determine an average VTEC based on the VTEC corresponding to each of the at least one STEC; and determine the virtual measurement value based on the average VTEC.
6 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a position estimate for the UE based on the virtual measurement value.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement and the at least one actual positioning signal measurement correspond to a positioning signal source, wherein the at least one actual positioning signal measurement comprises a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements, and wherein to provide the virtual measurement value the processor is at least one of: configured to interpolate using the plurality of actual positioning signal measurements; or configured to extrapolate using the plurality of actual positioning signal measurements.
8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a position estimate for the UE based on the virtual measurement value.
9 . A method, for providing a virtual positioning signal measurement, comprising: determining that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and providing a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, that is a simulated measurement value based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that is measured close in time to a timing of the expected positioning signal measurement measured by the UE.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement corresponds to a first positioning signal corresponding to a first positioning signal source, and providing the virtual measurement comprises providing the virtual measurement value by propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time comprises propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time based on a position estimate for the UE that is based on a plurality of second positioning signals corresponding to a plurality of second positioning signal sources separate from the first positioning signal source.
12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement is an ionosphere delay and corresponds to a first positioning signal source, and wherein the at least one positioning signal corresponds to at least one second positioning signal source separate from the first positioning signal source.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein providing the virtual measurement comprises: determining at least one slant total electron content (STEC), each corresponding to a respective one of the at least one positioning signal; determining a vertical total electron content (VTEC) corresponding to each of the at least one STEC; determining an average VTEC based on the VTEC corresponding to each of the at least one STEC; and determining the virtual measurement value based on the average VTEC.
14 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining a position estimate for the UE based on the virtual measurement value.
15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement and the at least one actual positioning signal measurement correspond to a positioning signal source, wherein the at least one actual positioning signal measurement comprises a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements, and wherein providing the virtual measurement comprises at least one of: interpolating using the plurality of actual positioning signal measurements; or extrapolating using the plurality of actual positioning signal measurements.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining a position estimate for the UE based on the virtual measurement value.
17 . An apparatus comprising: means for determining that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and means for providing a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, that is a simulated measurement value based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and is measured close in time to a timing of the expected positioning signal measurement measured by the UE.
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement corresponds to a first positioning signal corresponding to a first positioning signal source, and the means for providing the virtual measurement comprise means for propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time.
19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the means for propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time comprise means for propagating the at least one actual positioning signal measurement forward in time based on a position estimate for the UE that is based on a plurality of second positioning signals corresponding to a plurality of second positioning signal sources separate from the first positioning signal source.
20 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the expected positioning signal measurement is an ionosphere delay and corresponds to a first positioning signal source, and wherein the at least one positioning signal corresponds to at least one second positioning signal source separate from the first positioning signal source.

Description

BACKGROUND Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service, a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), a fifth-generation (5G) service, etc. There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including Cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, etc. A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for 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 data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards. SUMMARY An example apparatus includes: a receiver configured to receive signals wirelessly; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the receiver and the memory and configured to: determine that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and provide a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that corresponds to at least one positioning signal measured by the UE. A method, for providing a virtual positioning signal measurement, including: determining that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and providing a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that corresponds to at least one positioning signal measured by the UE. Another example apparatus includes: means for determining that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and means for providing a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that corresponds to at least one positioning signal measured by the UE. An example non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions to cause a processor of an apparatus to: determine that an expected positioning signal measurement is absent from a plurality of actual positioning signal measurements made by a user equipment (UE); and provide a virtual measurement value, for the expected positioning signal measurement, based on at least one actual positioning signal measurement that is of a same type as the expected positioning signal measurement and that corresponds to at least one positioning signal measured by the UE. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communications system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of components of an example user equipment shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of components of an example transmission/reception point. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of components of a server, various examples of which are shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an example mobile device. FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of an example network entity. FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example environment for positioning of a target device. FIG. 8 is graph of positioning signal measurements that may be used for interpolation and/or extrapolation. FIG. 9 is a block flow diagram of a method for determining and processing actual and virtual positioning signal measurements. FIG. 10 is a block flow diagram of a method for providing a virtual positioning signal measurement. DET