Search

US-12627436-B2 - Location estimation and uplink bandwidth aggregation

US12627436B2US 12627436 B2US12627436 B2US 12627436B2US-12627436-B2

Abstract

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for bandwidth aggregation of positioning sounding reference signals (positioning SRS), e.g., in 5G NR systems and beyond. A UE may report, to a network one or more capabilities associated with bandwidth aggregation for a positioning procedure for location estimation. The UE may receive, from the network, configuration information and/or scheduling information. The UE may select frequencies for transmission of positioning SRS and may transmit positioning SRS on the selected frequencies. The network may aggregate the positioning SRS over a range of bandwidth to estimate a location of the UE.

Inventors

  • Oghenekome Oteri
  • Hong He
  • Seyed Ali Akbar FAKOORIAN
  • Dawei Zhang
  • Haitong Sun
  • Wei Zeng

Assignees

  • APPLE INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20230821

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method, comprising: receiving, from a cellular network, configuration information for position estimation where bandwidth aggregation is used, the position estimation comprising transmission of positioning sounding reference signals (SRS) on a plurality of component carriers (CCs); receiving, from the cellular network, signaling scheduling one or more uplink transmission; determining, based on the signaling and the configuration information, to transmit positioning SRS on at least some CCs of the plurality of CCs at a first time; determining, based on the signaling and the configuration information, to switch from a first bandwidth part (BWP) to a second BWP in preparation for transmission of the positioning SRS on the at least some CCs at the first time, wherein: the first BWP does not include at least one CC of the at least some CCs; and the second BWP includes all CCs of the at least some CCs; and transmitting, to the cellular network, the positioning SRS on the at least some CCs at the first time.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein each CC has its own BWP.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first time is based on a switching time.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising: transmitting, to the cellular network, capability information comprising an indication of the switching time.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the switching time is a bandwidth part (BWP) switching time.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the BWP switching time is BWP specific.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the BWP switching time incorporates that a BWP switch occurs in different CCs independently.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information comprises an indication grouping the at least some CCs.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information comprises an indication of a plurality of groupings of CCs of the plurality of CCs.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the signaling comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message comprising an indication of a first grouping of the plurality of groupings, wherein the determination to transmit the positioning SRS on the at least some CCs at the first time is responsive to the DCI message indicating the first grouping.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the DCI is formatted according to one of formats 0_1, 0_2, 1_1, or 1_2.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the DCI is formatted according to a format in which a single value or a bitmap is used to indicate a CC or a linked group of CCs.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the signaling comprises a downlink control information (DCI) message comprising a bitmap indicating respective CCs of the plurality of CCs, wherein the determination to transmit the positioning SRS on the at least some CCs at the first time is in response to the bitmap.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the bitmap indicates one or more groups of CCs.
  15. 15 . A method, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), configuration information for position estimation where bandwidth aggregation is used, the position estimation comprising reception of positioning sounding reference signals (SRS) on a plurality of component carriers (CCs); transmitting, to the UE, signaling scheduling one or more uplink transmission; determining, based on the signaling and the configuration information, that the UE is expected to switch from a first bandwidth part (BWP) to a second BWP in preparation for transmission of the positioning SRS on the at least some CCs at the first time, wherein: the first BWP does not include at least one CC of the at least some CCs; and the second BWP includes all CCs of the at least some CCs; and receiving, from the UE, the positioning SRS on at least some CCs of the plurality of CCs at a first time, consistent with the signaling and the configuration information.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first time is based on a switching time.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising: receiving, from the UE, capability information comprising an indication of the switching time.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the configuration information is based at least in part on the switching time.
  19. 19 . An apparatus, comprising: a processor configured to perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving, from a cellular network, configuration information for position estimation where bandwidth aggregation is used, the position estimation comprising transmission of positioning sounding reference signals (SRS) on a plurality of component carriers (CCs); receiving, from the cellular network, signaling scheduling one or more uplink transmission; determining, based on the signaling and the configuration information, to transmit positioning SRS on at least some CCs of the plurality of CCs at a first time; determining, based on the signaling and the configuration information, to switch from a first bandwidth part (BWP) to a second BWP in preparation for transmission of the positioning SRS on the at least some CCs at the first time, wherein: the first BWP does not include at least one CC of the at least some CCs; and the second BWP includes all CCs of the at least some CCs; and transmitting, to the cellular network, the positioning SRS on the selected CCs at the first time.
  20. 20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein each CC has its own BWP.

Description

PRIORITY INFORMATION This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/485,178, entitled “Location Estimation and Uplink Bandwidth Aggregation,” filed Feb. 15, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein. The claims in the instant application are different than those of the parent application or other related applications. The Applicant therefore rescinds any disclaimer of claim scope made in the parent application or any predecessor application in relation to the instant application. The Examiner is therefore advised that any such previous disclaimer and the cited references that it was made to avoid, may need to be revisited. Further, any disclaimer made in the instant application should not be read into or against the parent application or other related applications. FIELD The invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to apparatuses, systems, and methods for aggregation of bandwidth for uplink reference signals such as positioning reference signals (PRSs), e.g., in cellular systems, such as LTE systems, 5G NR systems, and beyond. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recent years, wireless devices such as smart phones, wearable devices or accessory devices), and tablet computers have become increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephone calls, many mobile devices now provide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigation using the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operating sophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is currently the technology of choice for the majority of wireless network operators worldwide, providing mobile broadband data and high-speed Internet access to their subscriber base. LTE was first proposed in 2004 and was first standardized in 2008. Since then, as usage of wireless communication systems has expanded exponentially, demand has risen for wireless network operators to support a higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users. Thus, in 2015 study of a new radio access technology began and, in 2017, a first release of Fifth Generation New Radio (5G NR) was standardized. 5G-NR, also simply referred to as NR, provides, as compared to LTE, a higher capacity for a higher density of mobile broadband users, while also supporting device-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine type communications with lower latency and/or lower battery consumption. Further, NR may allow for more flexible UE scheduling as compared to current LTE. Consequently, efforts are being made in ongoing developments of 5G-NR to take advantage of higher throughputs possible at higher frequencies. SUMMARY Embodiments relate to wireless communications, and more particularly to apparatuses, systems, and methods for aggregation of bandwidth of uplink reference signals, e.g., positioning sounding reference signals (positioning SRS), e.g., in 5G NR systems and beyond. In some embodiments, a user equipment (UE) may receive, from a cellular network, configuration information for position estimation using bandwidth aggregation, the position estimation using bandwidth aggregation comprising transmission of positioning sounding reference signals (SRS) on a plurality of component carriers (CCs). The UE may receive, from the cellular network, signaling scheduling one or more uplink transmission and determine, based on the signaling and the configuration information, to transmit positioning SRS on at least some selected CCs of the plurality of CCs at a first time. The UE may transmit, to the cellular network, the positioning SRS on the selected CCs at the first time. The network may determine respective arrival times of the positioning SRS on respective CCs of the selected CCs. The network may perform bandwidth aggregation to estimate a position for the UE based on the respective arrival times. The techniques described herein may be implemented in and/or used with a number of different types of devices, including but not limited to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial controllers (UACs), a UTM server, base stations, access points, cellular phones, tablet computers, wearable computing devices, portable media players, and any of various other computing devices. This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtain