Patent Application
20200280820
The proposed technology relates to a method for positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system, and supplementary methods for assisting in the positioning of a target device, a device configured to determine a position of a target device, and a target device comprising such a device, and a location server comprising such a device, as well as a device configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system and a target device comprising such a device, and also a network node configured to assist in the positioning of a target device and a location server configured to assist in the positioning of a target device, as well as corresponding computer programs and computer-program products and an apparatus for positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system and apparatuses for assisting in the positioning of a target device.
Positioning of target devices such as mobiles and/or other wireless devices in wireless communication systems is becoming increasingly important, ranging from simply determining the location of a device to advanced location-based services.
For example, positioning has been a topic in Long Term Evolution (LTE) standardization since 3GPP Release 9. The primary objective is to fulfill regulatory requirements for emergency call positioning. In 3GPP Release 14, positioning has been extended to support Internet-of-Things (IoT) use cases, such as wearable devices, asset tracking and environment monitoring. These devices require low power consumption and the capability to communication in challenging locations in terms of coverage such as indoors or deep indoors. Other use-cases that require positioning support are further-enhanced Machine-Type Communication (feMTC) and Narrow-Band IoT (NB-IoT).
By way of example, positioning in LTE is supported by the architecture schematically illustrated in
With the architecture illustrated in
In the evolution and revolution of the communication era, positioning remains as a strong and important feature, as it spurs up many business opportunities due to its low latency characteristic. One prominent use-case in so-called New Radio (NR) is to apply positioning in autonomous driving or connected vehicles. In this scenario, the requirement for positioning accuracy goes down to 1-meter.
To achieve this positioning accuracy requirement, Advanced Antenna Systems (AAS), which is believed to be the cornerstone in the future NR system, will likely play an important part. This is an area where technology has advanced significantly in recent years and where a rapid technology development is foreseen in the years to come. Advanced antenna systems may take the following forms:
In this type system, base stations will send out multiple beams and measurements on beams from these Transmission-Reception Points (TRPs) will be performed and reported from UE. Discussions are ongoing in 3GPP on how to report beam level Reference Signal Received Power (BRSRP).
With multiple antennas at each TRP, a graphical representation of an antenna's directional gain pattern which is called beam pattern illustrates the coverage of beams in all directions. More importantly, the beam pattern contains authentic information on the configuration of all antenna receivers in the BS.
By extending to more than 2 beams, a better angle estimation is achieved. A signal processing method called “MUltiple Signal Classification” (MUSIC) is able to derive the accurate Angle of Departure (AoD) for the incoming signal by exploiting multiple beam information.
Given angle estimates and ranging distance estimates (that can be based on Round Trip Time (RTT) from the TRP, a position can be determined. The Timing Advance (TA) may provide the distance between the target device and the serving TRP, and the angle shows the direction along the circular distance solution which localizes the target device.
Despite the fact that Global Positioning System (GPS) and/or other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) can be exploited for outdoor positioning to reach sub-meter accuracy, in very dense urban terrain, when Line-of-Sight (LoS) with the satellite system is blocked by high-rising buildings, achieving high accuracy by GNSS or assisted GNSS techniques is in serious doubt. Hence, using a cellular network for positioning can be a good alternative. However, currently there are severe limitations to the accuracy available from cellular network positioning.
Thus, there is a general demand for improved positioning in wireless communication systems.
It is an object to enable efficient positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
It is an object to provide a method for positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
Another object is to provide methods for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
Yet another object is to provide a device configured to determine a position of a target device in a wireless communication system.
It is also an object to provide a target device comprising such a device.
It is another object to provide a location server comprising such a device.
Yet another object is to provide a device configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
Still another object is to provide a target device comprising such a device.
It is an object to provide a network node configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
It is also an object to provide a location server configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
Another object is to provide corresponding computer programs and computer-program products.
Yet another object is to provide an apparatus for positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
Still another object is to provide apparatuses for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system.
These and other objects are met by embodiments of the proposed technology.
The inventors have realized that with the current positioning techniques, the serving node is limited to estimate the position and/or AoD from its own antenna beam pattern based on the measurement report from a wireless device such as UE. There is no spatial diversity in angular estimation because the serving node is not aware of the beam pattern in other network nodes such as the neighboring network node(s). Additionally, the serving node does not exploit information related to neighboring beams for angular estimation. Hence, possible improvement(s) can be implemented to enhance the positioning estimation accuracy by exploiting information on the beam level corresponding to multiple network nodes in an efficient manner, e.g. from neighboring network node(s) and neighboring beams.
According to a first aspect, there is provided a method for positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The method comprises:
According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The method comprises:
According to a third aspect, there is provided a method for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The method comprises:
According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a method for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The method comprises:
According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a device configured to determine a position of a target device in a wireless communication system. The device is configured to obtain beam quality information relating to reference beams transmitted from at least two network nodes according to specific beam patterns. The device is also configured to obtain beam pattern information representative of the specific beam patterns, and the device is configured to determine a position of the target device based on the beam quality information and the beam pattern information.
According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a target device comprising the device according to the fifth aspect.
According to a seventh aspect, there is provided a location server comprising the device according to the fifth aspect.
According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a device configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The device is configured to perform beam quality measurements on reference beams transmitted from at least two network nodes according to specific beam patterns. The device is also configured to report beam quality information comprising information representative of the beam quality measurements and information representative of said at least two network nodes to a location server in the wireless communication system to enable positioning of the target device based on the beam quality information and beam pattern information representative of the specific beam patterns.
According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a target device comprising the device according to the eighth aspect.
According to a tenth aspect, there is provided a network node configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The network node is configured to receive a request for beam pattern information. The network node is also configured to provide, in response to the request, beam pattern information representative of at least one specific beam pattern used for transmission of at least one reference beam that allows beam quality measurements by the target device. The network node is further configured to report the beam pattern information to the target device or a location server in the wireless communication system for enabling positioning of the target device based on the beam pattern information and corresponding beam quality measurements.
According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided a location server configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The location server is configured to receive a positioning request from the target device. The location server is also configured to request at least two network nodes to send, to the target device or to the location server, beam pattern information representative of specific beam patterns used for transmission, from the at least two network nodes, of corresponding reference beams that allow beam quality measurements by the target device.
According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
According to a fifteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
According to a sixteenth aspect, there is provided a computer-program product comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program according to any of the above aspects.
According to a seventeenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The apparatus comprises:
According to an eighteenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The apparatus comprises:
According to a nineteenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The apparatus comprises:
According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for assisting in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The apparatus comprises:
In this way, efficient positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system is made possible, e.g. with higher accuracy than ever before.
Other advantages will be appreciated when reading the detailed description.
The embodiments, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by making reference to the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Throughout the drawings, the same reference designations are used for similar or corresponding elements.
As used herein, the non-limiting term “target device” may refer to any wireless communication device such as User Equipment (UE), a mobile, a cellular phone, a station, a terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), equipped with radio communication capabilities, a smart phone, a laptop or Personal Computer (PC), equipped with an internal or external mobile broadband modem, a tablet with radio communication capabilities, a target device, a device to device UE, a machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), USB dongle, a portable electronic radio communication device, a sensor device equipped with radio communication capabilities or the like. In particular, the term “wireless communication device” should be interpreted as non-limiting terms comprising any type of wireless device communicating with a network node in a wireless communication system and/or possibly communicating directly with another wireless communication device. In other words, a wireless communication device may be any device equipped with circuitry for wireless communication according to any relevant standard for communication.
As used herein, the non-limiting term “network node” may refer to base stations, access points, radio units, network control nodes such as network controllers, radio network controllers, base station controllers, access controllers, and the like. In particular, the term “base station” may encompass different types of radio base stations including standardized base station functions such as Node Bs, or evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and/or gNodeBs, and also macro/micro/pico radio base stations, home base stations, also known as femto base stations, relay nodes, repeaters, radio access points, Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), and even radio control nodes controlling one or more Remote Radio Units (RRUs), or the like.
As used herein, the term “network device” may refer to any device located in connection with a communication network, including but not limited to devices in access networks, core networks and similar network structures. The term network device may also encompass computer-based network devices such as cloud-based network devices for implementation in cloud-based environments.
As used herein, the term “location server” may refer to any computer-implemented device, unit or node that is configured for positioning and/or location of a target device.
As mentioned, the inventors have realized that with the current positioning techniques, the serving node is limited to estimate the position and/or AoD from its own antenna beam pattern based on the measurement report from a wireless device such as UE. There is no spatial diversity in angular estimation because the serving node is not aware of the beam pattern in other network nodes such as the neighboring network node(s). Additionally, the serving node does not exploit information related to neighboring beams for angular estimation. Hence, possible improvement(s) can be implemented to enhance the positioning estimation accuracy by exploiting information on the beam level corresponding to multiple network nodes in an efficient manner, e.g. from neighboring network node(s) and neighboring beams.
S1: obtaining beam quality information relating to reference beams transmitted from at least two network nodes according to specific beam patterns;
S2: obtaining beam pattern information representative of the specific beam patterns;
S3: determining a position of the target device based on the beam quality information and the beam pattern information.
For example, the beam quality information may include information representative of beam quality measurements on the reference beams by the target device.
By way of example, the beam quality information may include information representative of Beam Reference Signal Received Power, BRSRP, and/or Beam Reference Signal Received Quality, BRSRQ.
For example, the beam quality information may be associated with beam identification information allowing identification of the reference beams.
By way of example, the beam pattern information may include information representative of main lobe, beam width and/or beam angle.
In a particular example, the beam pattern information for each reference beam corresponds to the specific beam pattern used at the time of measurement of the reference beam.
As an example, the beam quality information may be associated with time stamp information representative of the time of measurement of each reference beam, and the beam pattern information for each reference beam corresponds to the specific beam pattern used at the time of measurement as indicated by the time stamp information.
The proposed technology is generally applicable for exploiting beam-related information corresponding to multiple networks nodes to improve the positioning accuracy. For example, the at least two network nodes referred to above comprises a serving network node of the target device and at least one neighboring network node.
In a first set of examples outlined below, the method may be performed by the target device.
In this particular example, the step S1 of obtaining beam quality information comprises performing S1-1A beam quality measurements on the reference beams, and the step S2 of obtaining beam pattern information comprises receiving S2-1A the beam pattern information from the wireless communication system.
In this particular example, the method may further comprise sending S4 a request to the wireless communication system for obtaining the beam pattern information.
Optionally, the method further comprises reporting S5 the position of the target device to the wireless communication system.
In another set of examples outlined below, the method may be performed by a location server in the wireless communication system.
In this example, the step S1 of obtaining beam quality information comprises receiving S1-1B the beam quality information from the target device, and the step S2 of obtaining beam pattern information comprises receiving S2-2B the beam pattern information from said at least two network nodes.
Optionally, as further outlined in
In this example, the method may further comprise requesting S6 the beam quality information from the target device and/or requesting S7 the beam pattern information from the at least two network nodes.
By way of example, the step S6 of requesting the beam pattern information may be performed before the step S7 of requesting the beam quality information, wherein the beam quality measurements of the requested beam quality information correspond in time to the specific beam patterns used when transmitting the reference beams.
Optionally, the method further comprises reporting S8 the position of the target device to the target device.
S11: the target device performing beam quality measurements on reference beams transmitted from at least two network nodes according to specific beam patterns;
S12: the target device reporting beam quality information comprising information representative of the beam quality measurements and information representative of said at least two network nodes to a location server in the wireless communication system to enable positioning of the target device based on the beam quality information and beam pattern information representative of the specific beam patterns.
For example, the beam quality information may include information representative of Beam Reference Signal Received Power, BRSRP, and/or Beam Reference Signal Received Quality, BRSRQ.
By way of example, the beam quality information may be associated with beam identification information allowing identification of the reference beams.
For example, the beam pattern information may include information representative of main lobe, beam width and/or beam angle.
In a particular example, the beam pattern information for each reference beam corresponds to the specific beam pattern used at the time of measurement of the reference beam.
As an example, the beam quality information may be associated with time stamp information representative of the time of measurement of each reference beam.
As mentioned, the at least two network nodes may include, e.g. a serving network node of the target device and at least one neighboring network node.
Optionally, the method may further comprise receiving S10 a request from the location server for performing the beam quality measurements and reporting the beam quality information.
S21: a network node receiving a request for beam pattern information;
S22: the network node providing, in response to the request, beam pattern information representative of at least one specific beam pattern used for transmission of at least one reference beam that allows beam quality measurements by the target device; and
S23: the network node reporting the beam pattern information to the target device or a location server in the wireless communication system for enabling positioning of the target device based on the beam pattern information and corresponding beam quality measurements.
Optionally, the method further comprises transmitting S24 the reference beams according to the specific beam pattern.
By way of example, the beam pattern information may include information representative of main lobe, beam width and/or beam angle.
S31: a location server receiving a positioning request from the target device; and
S32: the location server requesting at least two network nodes to send, to the target device or to the location server, beam pattern information representative of specific beam patterns used for transmission, from the at least two network nodes, of corresponding reference beams that allow beam quality measurements by the target device.
By way of example, the beam pattern information may be requested for a specific time as indicated by time stamp information.
For example, the beam pattern information for each reference beam may correspond to the specific beam pattern used at the time of the beam quality measurement of the reference beam.
As an example, the location server receives the requested beam pattern information and sends the beam pattern information to target device.
For example, the beam pattern information may include information representative of main lobe, beam width and/or beam angle.
In the following, the proposed technology will be described with reference to a set of non-limiting examples serving illustrative purposes only.
One of the probable considerations of the future positioning architecture is to have a location server unit in the core network, and to have a dedicated protocol on positioning between the target device and the location server. Certain aspects of the proposed technology may be used for introducing signaling and exchange of beam quality information including assistance information (e.g. time stamp of measurement) between such a location server and UE/network nodes (e.g. serving and neighboring network nodes). The location server has access to (e.g. by signaling from the serving and neighboring network nodes) beam pattern information and/or BRSRP-to-angle mapping algorithm for the serving and neighboring nodes. By way of example, this would allow multiple angle estimations between the UE and the nodes which leads to better positioning accuracy.
In order to exploit the beam information at the location server, two components may be useful: Beam pattern information and beam quality information. As an example, the beam quality information may include assistance information such as beam ID, reference signal information and time stamp. There are several different aspects and/or embodiments for realizing the objective of estimating the position of a target device and/or assisting such positioning. For example, there may be location-server-based and target-device-based implementations, e.g. depending on where the computation of position is selected to be performed. For each aspect and/or embodiment, the functions of the target device, network node and location server differ slightly.
The examples illustrated in
S-100: Send a positioning request to location server (optional).
S-110: Receive request on providing beam quality information (optional).
S-120: Measure beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar).
S-130: Report beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar info).
S-140: Receive position information such as positioning coordinates (optional).
S-200: Transmit reference signal.
S-210: Receive beam pattern request from location server.
S-220: Send beam pattern information to location server.
S-300: Receive beam pattern request from location server.
S-310: Activate beams and transmit reference signal(s) (optional).
S-320: Send beam pattern information to location server.
S-400: Receive beam pattern request from target device.
S-410: Send beam pattern information to location server.
S-500: Receive positioning request from target device (optional).
S-510: Send request on providing beam quality information to target device.
S-520: Receive beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar info) from target device.
S-530: Select a set of network nodes.
S-540: Request beam pattern(s) of selected network nodes.
S-550: Receive beam pattern(s) from selected network nodes.
S-560: Compute positioning of target device.
S-570: Send position information such as positioning coordinates to target device (optional).
S-600: Receive positioning request from target device (optional).
S-610: Request beam pattern.
S-620: Receive beam pattern.
S-630: Send request on providing beam quality information to target device.
S-640: Receive beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar info) from target device.
S-650: Compute positioning of target device.
S-660: Send position information such as positioning coordinates to target device (optional).
S-700: Receive beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar info)
S-710: Receive beam pattern(s).
S-720: Compute positioning of target device.
S-730: Send position information such as positioning coordinates to target device (optional).
The examples illustrated in
S-800: Send positioning request to location server (optional).
S-810: Receive beam pattern information from network node.
S-820: Measure beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar).
S-830: Compute positioning of target device.
S-840: Report position information such as positioning coordinates to location server (optional).
S-900: Send positioning request to location server (optional).
S-910: Receive beam pattern information from location server.
S-920: Measure beam RSRP/RSRQ (or similar).
S-930: Compute positioning of target device.
S-940: Report position information such as positioning coordinates to location server (optional).
S-1000: Receive beam pattern request from location server.
S-1010: Activate beams and transmit reference signals (optional).
S-1020: Send beam pattern information to target device.
S-1100: Receive beam pattern request from location server.
S-1110: Send beam pattern information to target device.
In this example, the beams have already been transmitted and/or are to be transmitted at a later specified time.
S-1200: Receive positioning request from target device.
S-1210: Request the network nodes to send beam pattern.
S-1220: Receive position information such as positioning coordinates from target device (optional).
S-1300: Receive positioning request from target device.
S-1310: Request the network nodes to send beam pattern.
S-1320: Send beam pattern information to target device.
S-1330: Receive position information such as positioning coordinates from target device (optional).
The proposed technology provides better positioning accuracy because of one or more of the following features:
In the following, non-limiting examples of some of the concepts and features that may be useful in the overall positioning procedure(s) will now be discussed:
Positioning Request
The location server receives a positioning request from either another core unit or optionally from the target device. This request may contain current position information depending on the indicator.
Beam Quality Information Request
The location server sends this signaling request in order to obtain the beam RSRP/RSRQ (i.e. BRSRP/BRSRQ) of a set of highest quality beams at the target device. In the request, the location server may indicate the maximum number of required measurements from the target device. The signaling request may also comprise information of the reference signals for beam measurements. For example, the location of the time-frequency resources for the said reference signals.
The beam quality information may also include assistance information such as:
Target Device Measurement
The target device mainly when it is in connected mode periodically, or on demand measures the BRSRP/BRSRQ of the surrounding network nodes to provide efficient mobility. Similar approach is used here, meaning that when the target device receives the request from the location server, it provides a set of beams with corresponding BRSRP/BRSRQ, in one embodiment, the set is the beams with highest BRSRP/BRSRQ. As the network nodes which transmit those reference signals may dynamically change their beam pattern, it is important that the target device also consider the time at which the beam measurements are done, and that the network node stores the beam pattern information for the said time instance.
By way of example, the reference signal may be Primary, Secondary Synchronization Signals PSS/SSS or Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS).
Beam Quality Information Report
The target device sends all the beam quality information in one report to the location server. The report contains a list of beams which may be from both the serving node or one or more neighbor nodes. For each beam the report data may comprise:
Selection of the Network Nodes
In order for the location server to compute the positioning of the target device based on the beam measurement information, the location sever needs to collect the beam pattern information of the reported network nodes. Here are the steps the location server performs at this stage:
Beam Pattern Request
The location server sends one (i.e. serving node) or more (i.e. set of neighbor nodes) requests for beam pattern of certain time stamp and reference signal measured by the target device. Here we have considered a similar approach for both the serving node and the neighboring node, however, in another embodiment the neighbor node may consider less prioritization in responding to this request. As an example, the beam pattern information may include:
In a directional antenna in which the objective is to emit the radio waves in one direction, the lobe in that direction has a larger field strength than the others; this is the “main lobe”. The other lobes are called “side lobes”, and usually represent unwanted radiation in undesired directions. Grating lobes are a special case of a side lobe. In such a case, the side lobes should be considered all the lobes lying between the main lobe and the first grating lobe, or between grating lobes. It is conceptually useful to distinguish between side lobes and grating lobes because grating lobes have larger amplitudes than most, if not all, of the other side lobes. The term beam width is the half power beam width of the point where is (−3 dB) below the peak of main lobe. Beam width is usually but not always expressed in degrees and for the horizontal plane.
As shown in
In an example embodiment, the beam pattern comprises the antenna gain for each angle, that is, reporting each data point in
Angle of Departure (AoD) Estimation
At the location server or device based on the BRSRP/BRSRQ and the obtained beam pattern from each network node it is possible to compute the Angle of Departure (AoD) of the reference signal of each network node. This can be done by algorithms, such as MUSIC.
As the beams are both horizontally and vertically distributed the AoD can be computed both on the horizontal axis (covering the azimuth) or also at the vertical axis (covering the tilt of the antenna). The angle for the vertical can be referenced by a line perpendicular to the ground level, and the angle for horizontal can be defined referring to its relation to the North of the geographical location.
Positioning Estimation at the Location Server
The network nodes' location coordinates and heights are available at the location server, and while having the AoD of several different beams from two or more nodes that are not on the same geographical coordinates, it is possible to compute the position. In case the positioning request was sent from the target device this estimation can be reported to the target device or any other node from which the request has been sent.
By computing the vertical AoD, it is possible to compute the distance (D) between the target device and the network node if considering the UE is at ground level (i.e. D=H×tan(π−θ)). With the horizontal AoD, it is possible to estimate the position of the UE in correspondence to a point on the circle with the estimated distance from the network node.
In the following, non-limiting examples of different aspects and/or embodiments of the proposed technology will be described with reference to the signaling and/or action diagrams of
In this example, a UE sends positioning request to the location server. Upon receiving the request, location server sends a Beam Quality Info Request to the UE, UE respond to the location server by sending Beam Quality Info Report. With the beam quality info report, location server conduct network node selection procedure as described in this invention. With the selected nodes, the location server sends the Beam Pattern Request, and receive the Beam Pattern Report from the selected network node. Location server then perform AoD and position estimation and sends the Position Estimation Report back to the UE.
In this example, the target device sends a positioning request to the location Server, optionally with current position information depending on the indicator. The location Server then sends request to the network node for beam quality info report which may contains information on beam ID etc. Upon receiving the request, network node optionally activates the beam and sends beam quality info response and beam pattern back to the location server. The location server also sends beam quality info request to the target device, and receive the response from the target device. It then estimates the position, and optionally sends the position estimate report back to the target device.
In this example, the target device sends the positioning request to the network node, then receives a beam quality info request from the network node. The target device will perform BRSRP measurement and reports this back to the location server as beam quality info response. Network node will also send a beam pattern response to the location server. With all these information, the location server will perform AoD and position estimate. Finally, a position estimate report is sent back to the target device optionally.
In this example, the target device interacts with the location server to request beam quality info and beam pattern. Optionally, the location server request the network node to send beam pattern and beam quality info to the target device. The target device perform BRSRP measurement and compute the position estimate. It optionally send the position estimate report back to the location server.
In this example, the target device sends a positioning request to the location server. The location server then request beam quality info and beam patter from the network node. Beams are activated upon request and beam quality info and beam pattern is sent back as a response to the location server. The location server sends the beam quality info and beam pattern response back to the target device. The target device will perform BRSRP measurement and estimate position, finally, optionally, the position estimate is sent back to the location server.
In this example, the target device sends the positioning request to the network node. Upon request, the network node respond with beam quality info and beam pattern information. These can be sent via unicast or broadcast channel. The target device measure BRSRP values, and estimate the position. Optionally, it sends back the position estimate to the location server.
In a sense, a basic idea is to exploit target device measurements of reference beams from two or more nodes with different geographical location in order to compute useful information such as the AoD of the reference beams at those network nodes, and to further use this information for positioning estimation.
It will be appreciated that the methods and arrangements described herein can be implemented, combined and re-arranged in a variety of ways.
For example, embodiments may be implemented in hardware, or in software for execution by suitable processing circuitry, or a combination thereof.
The steps, functions, procedures, modules and/or blocks described herein may be implemented in hardware using any conventional technology, such as discrete circuit or integrated circuit technology, including both general-purpose electronic circuitry and application-specific circuitry.
Alternatively, or as a complement, at least some of the steps, functions, procedures, modules and/or blocks described herein may be implemented in software such as a computer program for execution by suitable processing circuitry such as one or more processors or processing units.
Examples of processing circuitry includes, but is not limited to, one or more microprocessors, one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more Central Processing Units (CPUs), video acceleration hardware, and/or any suitable programmable logic circuitry such as one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), or one or more Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs).
The actual hardware-software partitioning can be decided by a system designer based on a number of factors including processing speed, cost of implementation and other requirements.
It should also be understood that it may be possible to re-use the general processing capabilities of any conventional device or unit in which the proposed technology is implemented. It may also be possible to re-use existing software, e.g. by reprogramming of the existing software or by adding new software components.
According to an aspect, there is provided a device configured to determine a position of a target device in a wireless communication system. The device is configured to obtain beam quality information relating to reference beams transmitted from at least two network nodes according to specific beam patterns. The device is further configured to obtain beam pattern information representative of the specific beam patterns. The device is also configured to determine a position of the target device based on the beam quality information and the beam pattern information.
In a particular example, the device may be configured to obtain the beam quality information by performing beam quality measurements on the reference beams, and the device may also be configured to obtain the beam pattern information by receiving the beam pattern information from the wireless communication system.
In another example, the device may be configured to obtain the beam quality information by receiving the beam quality information from the target device, and the device is configured to obtain the beam pattern information by receiving the beam pattern information from said at least two network nodes.
In this particular example, the device 100 comprises a processor 110 and a memory 120, the memory 120 comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to determine the position of the target device.
The device 100 may also include a communication circuit 130. The communication circuit 130 may include functions for wireless communication with other network units and/or devices in the network. In a particular example, the communication circuit 130 may be based on radio circuitry for communication with one or more other nodes, including transmitting and/or receiving information. The communication circuit 130 may be interconnected to the processor 110 and/or memory 120. By way of example, the communication circuit 130 may include any of the following: a receiver, a transmitter, a transceiver, input/output (I/O) circuitry, input port(s) and/or output port(s).
According to another aspect, there is provided a device configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The device is configured to perform beam quality measurements on reference beams transmitted from at least two network nodes according to specific beam patterns. The device is also configured to report beam quality information comprising information representative of the beam quality measurements and information representative of the at least two network nodes to a location server in the wireless communication system to enable positioning of the target device based on the beam quality information and beam pattern information representative of the specific beam patterns.
In this particular example, the device 200 comprises a processor 210 and a memory 220, the memory 220 comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to assist in the positioning of the target device. Optionally, the device 200 may also include a communication circuit 230.
According to yet another aspect, there is provided a network node configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The network node is configured to receive a request for beam pattern information. The network node is also configured to provide, in response to the request, beam pattern information representative of at least one specific beam pattern used for transmission of at least one reference beam that allows beam quality measurements by the target device. The network node is further configured to report the beam pattern information to the target device or a location server in the wireless communication system for enabling positioning of the target device based on the beam pattern information and corresponding beam quality measurements.
By way of example, the request for beam pattern information comprises time stamp information, and the network node may be configured to provide beam pattern information by providing beam pattern information representative of at least one specific beam pattern used for transmission of at least one reference beam at a time indicated by the time stamp information.
For example, the network node may be configured to transmit the reference beams according to the specific beam pattern.
In this particular example, the network node 20 comprises a processor 21 and a memory 22, the memory 22 comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to assist in the positioning of the target device. The network node 20 may also include a communication circuit 23.
According to still another aspect, there is provided a location server configured to assist in the positioning of a target device in a wireless communication system. The location server is configured to receive a positioning request from the target device. The location server is also configured to request at least two network nodes to send, to the target device or to the location server, beam pattern information representative of specific beam patterns used for transmission, from the at least two network nodes, of corresponding reference beams that allow beam quality measurements by the target device.
In this particular example, the location server 30 comprises a processor 31 and a memory 32, the memory 32 comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to assist in the positioning of the target device. The location server 30 may also include a communication circuit 33.
The term ‘processor’ should be interpreted in a general sense as any system or device capable of executing program code or computer program instructions to perform a particular processing, determining or computing task.
The processing circuitry including one or more processors 310 is thus configured to perform, when executing the computer program 325, well-defined processing tasks such as those described herein.
The processing circuitry does not have to be dedicated to only execute the above-described steps, functions, procedure and/or blocks, but may also execute other tasks.
In a particular embodiment, the computer program 325; 335 comprises instructions, which when executed by at least one processor 310, cause the processor(s) 310 to perform the actions described herein.
According to an aspect, there is provided a computer program 325, 335 comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor 310, cause the at least one processor 310 to:
According to another aspect, there is provided a computer program 325, 335 comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor 310, cause the at least one processor 310 to:
According to yet another aspect, there is provided a computer program 325, 335 comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor 310, cause the at least one processor 310 to:
According to still another aspect, there is provided a computer program 325, 335 comprising instructions, which when executed by at least one processor 310, cause the at least one processor 310 to:
The proposed technology also provides a carrier comprising the computer program, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.
By way of example, the software or computer program 325; 335 may be realized as a computer program product, which is normally carried or stored on a computer-readable medium 320; 330, in particular a non-volatile medium. The computer-readable medium may include one or more removable or non-removable memory devices including, but not limited to a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), a Blu-ray disc, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory, a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) storage device, a flash memory, a magnetic tape, or any other conventional memory device. The computer program may thus be loaded into the operating memory of a computer or equivalent processing device for execution by the processing circuitry thereof.
The flow diagram or diagrams presented herein may be regarded as a computer flow diagram or diagrams, when performed by one or more processors. A corresponding apparatus may be defined as a group of function modules, where each step performed by the processor corresponds to a function module. In this case, the function modules are implemented as a computer program running on the processor.
The computer program residing in memory may thus be organized as appropriate function modules configured to perform, when executed by the processor, at least part of the steps and/or tasks described herein.
In this example, the apparatus 400 comprises:
In this example, the apparatus 500 comprises:
In this example, the apparatus 600 comprises:
In this example, the apparatus 700 comprises:
Alternatively it is possible to realize the module(s) in
It is becoming increasingly popular to provide computing services (hardware and/or software) in network devices such as network nodes and/or servers where the resources are delivered as a service to remote locations over a network. By way of example, this means that functionality, as described herein, can be distributed or re-located to one or more separate physical nodes or servers. The functionality may be re-located or distributed to one or more jointly acting physical and/or virtual machines that can be positioned in separate physical node(s), i.e. in the so-called cloud. This is sometimes also referred to as cloud computing, which is a model for enabling ubiquitous on-demand network access to a pool of configurable computing resources such as networks, servers, storage, applications and general or customized services.
There are different forms of virtualization that can be useful in this context, including one or more of:
Although it may often desirable to centralize functionality in so-called generic data centers, in other scenarios it may in fact be beneficial to distribute functionality over different parts of the network.
A Network Device (ND) may generally be seen as an electronic device being communicatively connected to other electronic devices in the network.
By way of example, the network device may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination thereof. For example, the network device may be a special-purpose network device or a general purpose network device, or a hybrid thereof.
A special-purpose network device may use custom processing circuits and a proprietary operating system (OS), for execution of software to provide one or more of the features or functions disclosed herein.
A general purpose network device may use common off-the-shelf (COTS) processors and a standard OS, for execution of software configured to provide one or more of the features or functions disclosed herein.
By way of example, a special-purpose network device may include hardware comprising processing or computing resource(s), which typically include a set of one or more processors, and physical network interfaces (NIs), which sometimes are called physical ports, as well as non-transitory machine readable storage media having stored thereon software. A physical NI may be seen as hardware in a network device through which a network connection is made, e.g. wirelessly through a wireless network interface controller (WNIC) or through plugging in a cable to a physical port connected to a network interface controller (NIC). During operation, the software may be executed by the hardware to instantiate a set of one or more software instance(s). Each of the software instance(s), and that part of the hardware that executes that software instance, may form a separate virtual network element.
By way of another example, a general purpose network device may for example include hardware comprising a set of one or more processor(s), often COTS processors, and network interface controller(s) (NICs), as well as non-transitory machine readable storage media having stored thereon software. During operation, the processor(s) executes the software to instantiate one or more sets of one or more applications. While one embodiment does not implement virtualization, alternative embodiments may use different forms of virtualization—for example represented by a virtualization layer and software containers. For example, one such alternative embodiment implements operating system-level virtualization, in which case the virtualization layer represents the kernel of an operating system (or a shim executing on a base operating system) that allows for the creation of multiple software containers that may each be used to execute one of a sets of applications. In an example embodiment, each of the software containers (also called virtualization engines, virtual private servers, or jails) is a user space instance (typically a virtual memory space). These user space instances may be separate from each other and separate from the kernel space in which the operating system is executed; the set of applications running in a given user space, unless explicitly allowed, cannot access the memory of the other processes. Another such alternative embodiment implements full virtualization, in which case: 1) the virtualization layer represents a hypervisor (sometimes referred to as a Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM)) or the hypervisor is executed on top of a host operating system; and 2) the software containers each represent a tightly isolated form of software container called a virtual machine that is executed by the hypervisor and may include a guest operating system.
A hypervisor is the software/hardware that is responsible for creating and managing the various virtualized instances and in some cases the actual physical hardware. The hypervisor manages the underlying resources and presents them as virtualized instances. What the hypervisor virtualizes to appear as a single processor may actually comprise multiple separate processors. From the perspective of the operating system, the virtualized instances appear to be actual hardware components.
A virtual machine is a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine; and applications generally do not know they are running on a virtual machine as opposed to running on a “bare metal” host electronic device, though some systems provide para-virtualization which allows an operating system or application to be aware of the presence of virtualization for optimization purposes.
The instantiation of the one or more sets of one or more applications as well as the virtualization layer and software containers if implemented, are collectively referred to as software instance(s). Each set of applications, corresponding software container if implemented, and that part of the hardware that executes them (be it hardware dedicated to that execution and/or time slices of hardware temporally shared by software containers), forms a separate virtual network element(s).
The virtual network element(s) may perform similar functionality compared to Virtual Network Element(s) (VNEs). This virtualization of the hardware is sometimes referred to as Network Function Virtualization (NFV)). Thus, NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which could be located in data centers, NDs, and Customer Premise Equipment (CPE). However, different embodiments may implement one or more of the software container(s) differently. For example, while embodiments are illustrated with each software container corresponding to a VNE, alternative embodiments may implement this correspondence or mapping between software container-VNE at a finer granularity level; it should be understood that the techniques described herein with reference to a correspondence of software containers to VNEs also apply to embodiments where such a finer level of granularity is used.
According to yet another embodiment, there is provided a hybrid network device, which includes both custom processing circuitry/proprietary OS and COTS processors/standard OS in a network device, e.g. in a card or circuit board within a network device ND. In certain embodiments of such a hybrid network device, a platform Virtual Machine (VM), such as a VM that implements functionality of a special-purpose network device, could provide for para-virtualization to the hardware present in the hybrid network device.
The embodiments described above are merely given as examples, and it should be understood that the proposed technology is not limited thereto. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations and changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the present scope as defined by the appended claims. In particular, different part solutions in the different embodiments can be combined in other configurations, where technically possible.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SE2017/050899 | 9/13/2017 | WO | 00 |
