WO2024077603A1

WO2024077603A1 - Positioning reference signal transmission indication

Info

Publication number: WO2024077603A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/125418
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yong Liu; Tao Tao; Dong Li
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.; Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy; Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2022-10-14
Filing date: 2022-10-14
Publication date: 2024-04-18

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication. A terminal device obtains configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) PRS transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. Moreover, the terminal device detects the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information. As a result, resource utilization can be improved.

Description

POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION INDICATION

FIELD

Various example embodiments relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to methods, devices, apparatuses, and computer readable storage media for positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication.

BACKGROUND

In communication technology, there is a constant evolution ongoing in order to provide efficient and reliable solutions for utilizing wireless communication networks. Each new generation has its own technical challenges for handling different situations and processes that are needed to connect and serve devices connected to wireless networks. To meet the demand for increased wireless data traffic since the deployment of 4th generation (4G) communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5th generation (5G) , pre-5G, or 5G-advanced communication system. The new communication systems can support various types of service applications for terminal devices.

The positioning of a terminal device or a mobile device may be useful or essential to a number of applications including emergency calls, navigation, direction finding, asset tracking, internet service, and V2X applications. In order to improve the positioning performance of terminal devices, sidelink (SL) positioning has been proposed. However, there are still some open problems in SL positioning in 5G New Radio (NR) that will be studied in the near future.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for PRS transmission indication.

In a first aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to: obtain configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and detect the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In a second aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to: determine configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and transmit the configuration information to at least one terminal device.

In a third aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a terminal device. The method comprises obtaining configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and detecting the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network device. The method comprises determining configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and transmitting the configuration information to at least one terminal device.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for obtaining, at a terminal device, configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and means for detecting the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus. The apparatus comprises means for determining, at a network device, configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and means for transmitting the configuration information to at least one terminal device.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to any one of the above third to fourth aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus at least to perform at least the method according to any one of the above third to fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a terminal device. The terminal device comprises obtaining circuitry configured to obtain configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and detecting circuitry configured to detect the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a network device. The network device comprises determining circuitry configured to determine configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit the configuration information to at least one terminal device.

It is to be understood that the summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of resource allocation with the SL PRS transmission indication FDMed with a PSFCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of resource allocation with the SL PRS transmission indication near the end of a slot prior to the SL PRS resource according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of resource allocation with the SL PRS transmission indication in a slot of the SL PRS resource according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling flow among the terminal devices and the network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof. As used herein, “at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>” and “at least one of <a list of two or more elements>” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or” , mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and

(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :

(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and

(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and

(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR NB (also referred to as a gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology.

The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a Subscriber Station (SS) , a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS) , or an Access Terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

Some discussions have been made on SL positioning in Release 18 (Rel-18) . In the standardization progress of SL positioning in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) Radio access network (RAN) , some approved agreements on enhanced positioning include SL positioning as a crucial part for positioning with the following objective:

● Study solutions for SL positioning considering the following: [RAN1, RAN2]

● Scenario/requirements

– Coverage scenarios to cover: in-coverage, partial-coverage and out-of-coverage

– Requirements: Based on requirements identified in TR38.845 and TS22.261 and TS22.104

– Use cases: V2X (TR38.845) , public safety (TR38.845) , commercial (TS22.261) , IIOT (TS22.104)

– Spectrum: ITS, licensed

● Identify specific target performance requirements to be considered for the evaluation based on existing 3GPP work and inputs from industry forums [RAN1]

● Define evaluation methodology with which to evaluate SL positioning for the uses cases and coverage scenarios, reusing existing methodologies from SL communication and from positioning as much as possible [RAN1] .

● Study and evaluate performance and feasibility of potential solutions for SL positioning, considering relative positioning, ranging and absolute positioning: [RAN1, RAN2]

– Evaluate bandwidth requirement needed to meet the identified accuracy requirements [RAN1]

– Study of positioning methods (e.g. TDOA, RTT, AOA/D, etc. ) including combination of SL positioning measurements with other RAT dependent positioning measurements (e.g. Uu based measurements) [RAN1]

– Study of SL reference signals for positioning purposes from physical layer perspective, including signal design, resource allocation, measurements, associated procedures, etc., reusing existing reference signals, procedures, etc. from SL communication and from positioning as much as possible [RAN1]

– Study of positioning architecture and signalling procedures (e.g. configuration, measurement reporting, etc. ) to enable SL positioning covering both UE based and network based positioning [RAN2, including coordination and alignment with RAN3 and SA2 as required]

In addition, in Release 16 (Rel-16) , the physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) for SL communication is specified to carry hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback over the SL (at the physical layer) from a UE (also referred to a Receiver (Rx) UE) which is an intended recipient of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmission to a UE (also referred to as a Transmitter (Tx) UE) which performed the PSSCH transmission.

For example, the PSFCH transmits a sequence in one physical resource block (PRB) repeated over two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, the first of which may be used for automatic gain control (AGC) , near the end of the SL resource in a slot.

The time resources for the PSFCH are (pre-) configured to occur once in every 1, 2, or 4 slots. The resources for the PSFCH may be derived from the resource location of the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) /PSSCH. As an example, for PSSCH-to-HARQ timing, the gNB configures a parameter K with the unit of slot. The time occasion for the PSFCH may be determined from the parameter K. For a PSSCH transmission with its last symbol in slot n, the HARQ feedback may be in slot n+a where a is the smallest integer larger than or equal to K with a condition that slot n+a contains PSFCH resources.

Since a subchannel which is the minimum granularity of a PSSCH occupies at least 10 PRBs and a PSFCH occupies one PRB, PSFCHs usually only need to occupy part of frequency resources in PSFCH symbols to carry HARQ feedbacks to PSSCHs. The unused frequency resources are wasted, which, otherwise, can be used for other purposes.

Moreover, to ensure compatibility with Rel-16 SL communication, one way of SL PRS resource allocation is to assign dedicated SL PRS resource, herein refering to SL PRS slots in time domian for SL PRS transmissions. SL PRS transmissions from multiple UEs may be time division multiplexed (TDMed) (and/or frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) ) in a slot.

To accommodate positioning services, periodic slots (e.g., a slot every 10ms) are usually needed to be configured for the SL PRS. The SL PRS slot configuration is rather static. On the one hand, if the SL PRS slot period is large, UEs may not be able to find a resource for PRS transmission in time which will lead to large latency. On the other hand, if the SL PRS period is small, when there are not many service requests for SL positioning, some configured SL PRS slots may not be used, which may lead to resource waste.

Therefore, optimizing the SL positioning procedure to further improve transmission efficiency is still an important issue to be solved.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, there is providing a scheme for SL PRS transmission indication. With this scheme, a terminal device obtains configuration information associated with a resource of an SL PRS transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. Moreover, the terminal device detects the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

This scheme optimizes SL positioning by transmitting an SL PRS transmission indication in advance to indicate the actual usage of the SL PRS resource. This scheme provides a dynamic scheme on top of the static configuration of the SL PRS resource. In this way, it is allowed to reduce the waste of resources. As such, it is possible to improve resource utilization.

Hereinafter, principle and embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Reference is first made to FIG. 1, which illustrates an example environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.

The environment 100, which may be a part of a communication network, comprises

terminal devices

110 and 120, and a network device 130. Each of the

terminal devices

110 and 120 communicates with the network device 130. Besides, the

terminal devices

110 and 120 communicate with each other or with other devices.

The communication environment 100 may comprise any suitable number of devices and cells. In the communication environment 100, the

terminal device

110 or 120 and the network device 130 can communicate data and control information with each other. A link from the network device 130 to the

terminal device

110 or 120 is referred to as a downlink (DL) , while a link from the

terminal device

110 or 120 to the network device 130 is referred to as an uplink (UL) .

It is to be understood that two devices are shown in the environment 100 only for the purpose of illustration, without suggesting any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. In some example embodiments, the environment 100 may comprise a further device to communicate with the terminal device 110, the terminal device 120, or the network device 130.

The communications in the environment 100 may follow any suitable communication standards or protocols, which are already in existence or to be developed in the future, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) , long term evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , the fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) , Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standards, and employs any suitable communication technologies, including, for example, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) , Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) , time division multiplexing (TDM) , frequency division multiplexing (FDM) , code division multiplexing (CDM) , Bluetooth, ZigBee, and machine type communication (MTC) , enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) , massive machine type communication (mMTC) , ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) , Carrier Aggregation (CA) , Dual Connectivity (DC) , and New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) technologies.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart 200 of a method implemented at a terminal device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 200 will be described from the perspective of the terminal device 110 with reference to FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, at block 210, the terminal device 110 obtains configuration information associated with a resource of an SL PRS transmission indication. The SL PRS transmission indication indicates if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. For example, the SL PRS transmission indication may be a common indication signal to announce the actual usage of the SL PRS resource.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may obtain the configuration information from the network device 130. In this case, the configuration information may be configured by the network device 130, and the terminal device 110 may receive the configuration information from the network device 130.

In some other example embodiments, the configuration information may be specified in the standard. In this case, the terminal device 110 may obtain the configuration information from the standard.

In some example embodiments, the SL PRS resource may comprise a resource in a slot in time domain. In another example, the SL PRS resource may comprise a resource in more than one slot in time domain. Alternatively or additionally, the SL PRS resource may comprise a resource in the frequency domain.

In some example embodiments where the terminal device 110 is in a positioning session with the terminal device 120, if the terminal device 110 is going to transmit SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information, the terminal device 110 may transmit the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication prior to transmitting the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. Then, the terminal device 110 may transmit the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. For example, the SL PRS may be transmitted using all of the SL PRS resource. As a further example, the SL PRS may be transmitted using part of the SL PRS resource.

As shown in FIG. 2, at block 220, the terminal device 110 detects the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In some example embodiments, if the SL PRS transmission indication is not detected in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication, the terminal device 110 may reuse the SL PRS resource by transmitting at least one of a PSCCH or a PSSCH in the SL PRS resource. In this case, the terminal device 110 may consider the SL PRS resource switching back to be a legacy resource and go ahead to transmit the PSCCH and/or PSSCH in the SL PRS resource. For example, the least one of the PSCCH or the PSSCH may be transmitted using all of the SL PRS resource. As another example, the least one of the PSCCH or the PSSCH may be transmitted using part of the SL PRS resource.

In some example embodiments where the terminal device 110 is in a positioning session with the terminal device 120, if the SL PRS transmission indication is detected in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication, the terminal device 110 may then receive the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource from the terminal device 120. In this case, the terminal device 110 should refrain from transmitting in the SL PRS resource.

In some example embodiments, prior to the SL PRS resource, the network device 130 may configure the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication for at least one terminal device to transmit the SL PRS transmission indication to announce the actual usage of the SL PRS resource. For example, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may be in at least one symbol in a slot prior to the SL PRS resource.

As an example, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may be a resource in the PSFCH symbols of a slot prior to the SL PRS slot, for example, the nearest slot with PSFCH symbols. In this case, for example, the SL PRS transmission indication may be FDMed with a PSFCH. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of resource allocation with the SL PRS transmission indication FDMed with a PSFCH according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, the SL PRS transmission indication is FDMed with a PSFCH in slot 5. In this way, the resource configuration can be resource efficient and has little impact on standardization.

As another example, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may occupy symbols near the end of a slot prior to the SL PRS resource. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of resource allocation with the SL PRS transmission indication near the end of a slot prior to the SL PRS resource according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in slot 4, and the SL PRS resource is in slot 7. As shown in FIG. 4, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may occupy all of frequency bandwidth of an SL resource pool. Alternatively or additionally, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may occupy part of frequency bandwidth of an SL resource pool.

In some example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may be in at least one symbol in a slot of the SL PRS resource. For example, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may be at the beginning of the SL PRS resource. As an example, the SL PRS transmission indication may be FDMed with an SL PRS. For example, the SL PRS transmission indication may be FDMed with PRS (s) with both the SL PRS transmission indication and PRS (s) having a comb structure. For example, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication may occupy all of or part of the frequency bandwidth of an SL resource pool.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of resource allocation with the SL PRS transmission indication in a slot of the SL PRS resource according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in the 1st and 2nd symbols. In this case, if the terminal device 110 intends to transmit a PSCCH/PSSCH in the SL PRS resource, it may try to detect the SL PRS transmission indication at the beginning of the slot. If the terminal device 110 doesn’t detect the SL PRS transmission indication, it may start transmitting the PSCCH/PSSCH in a symbol after the first guard symbol, for example, in the 4th symbol.

In some example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication may be in a format of a sequence occupying one or more PRBs.

In this way, it is allowed to enable the dynamic usage of resources configured for SL PRS for SL positioning by configuring a resource that is used for a terminal device to transmit a common indication signal to announce the actual usage of the SL PRS resource. In this way, it is allowed to reduce the waste of resources. As such, it is possible to improve resource utilization.

FIG. 6 illustrates a signaling flow 600 among the terminal devices and the network device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the process 600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 600 involves the

terminal devices

110 and 120, and the network device 130. It would be appreciated that although the process 600 has been described in the example environment 100 of FIG. 1, this process flow may be likewise applied to other communication scenarios.

In the process 600, the network device 130 determines (605) configuration information associated with a resource of an SL PRS transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. The SL PRS resource, the SL PRS transmission indication and the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication have been discussed in details with reference to FIGS. 2-5. Thus, for the purpose of simplification, the details will be omitted.

Then, the network device 130 transmits (610) the configuration information to the terminal device 110. Accordingly, the terminal device 110 receives (615) the configuration information from the network device 130. Likewise, the network device 130 transmits (620) the configuration information to the terminal device 120. Accordingly, the terminal device 120 receives (625) the configuration information from the network device 130. Then, the terminal device 110 detects (630) the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device 110 may be in a positioning session with the terminal device 120. In this case, for example, if the terminal device 120 is going to transmit SL PRS in the SL PRS resource, it may transmit the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication first. Then, as shown in FIG. 6, if the SL PRS transmission indication is detected in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication, it means that the terminal device 120 may transmit (635) , to the terminal device 110, the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource. Accordingly, the terminal device 110 may receive (640) the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource from the terminal device 120.

In some other example embodiments, if the SL PRS transmission indication is not detected in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication, the terminal device 110 may reuse the SL PRS resource. For example, the terminal device 110 may transmit at least one of a PSCCH or a PSSCH in the SL PRS resource in response.

In some example embodiments where the terminal device 110 is in a positioning session with the terminal device 120, the terminal device 110 may transmit the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication prior to transmitting the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource. Then, the terminal device 110 may transmit, to the terminal device 120, the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. For example, the SL PRS may be transmitted using all of or part of the SL PRS resource.

All operations and features as described above with reference to FIGS. 2-5 are likewise applicable to the process 600 and have similar effects. For the purpose of simplification, the details will be omitted.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart 700 of a method implemented at a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 700 will be described from the perspective of the network device 130 with reference to FIG. 1.

At block 710, the network device 130 determines configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. At block 720, the network device 130 transmits the configuration information to at least one terminal device.

In some other example embodiments, the SL PRS resource comprises a slot in time domain.

In some other example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot prior to the SL PRS resource. In some other example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication is frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) .

In some other example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot of the SL PRS resource. In some other example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication is FDMed with an SL PRS.

In some other example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication occupies all of or part of frequency bandwidth of a sidelink resource pool.

In some other example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication is in a format of a sequence occupying one or more physical resource blocks.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 200 (for example, the terminal device 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for obtaining configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and means for detecting the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.

In some example embodiments, the SL PRS resource comprises a slot in time domain.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device further transmits at least one of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) in the SL PRS resource in response to that the SL PRS transmission indication is not detected in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication. In some example embodiments, the least one of the PSCCH or the PSSCH is transmitted using all of or part of the SL PRS resource.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device is in a positioning session with another terminal device, and the terminal device further receives the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource in response to the detection of the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication.

In some example embodiments, the terminal device is in a positioning session with another terminal device, and the terminal device further transmits the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication prior to transmitting the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information. In some example embodiments, the terminal device further transmits the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication. In some example embodiments, the SL PRS is transmitted using all of or part of the SL PRS resource.

In some example embodiments, the means for obtaining the configuration information comprises: means for receiving the configuration information from a network device.

In some example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot prior to the SL PRS resource. In some example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication is frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) .

In some example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot of the SL PRS resource. In some example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication is FDMed with an SL PRS.

In some example embodiments, the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication occupies all of or part of frequency bandwidth of a sidelink resource pool.

In some example embodiments, the SL PRS transmission indication is in a format of a sequence occupying one or more physical resource blocks.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 200. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 700 (for example, the network device 130) may comprise means for determining configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and means for transmitting the configuration information to at least one terminal device.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises means for performing other steps in some embodiments of the method 700. In some embodiments, the means comprises at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the performance of the apparatus.

FIG. 8 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device 800 that is suitable for implementing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 800 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example, the

terminal devices

110 and 120, or the network device 130 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 800 includes one or more processors 810, one or more memories 820 coupled to the processor 810, and one or more communication modules 840 coupled to the processor 810.

The communication module 840 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 840 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.

The processor 810 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 800 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

The memory 820 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 824, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 822 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

A computer program 830 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 810. The program 830 may be stored in the ROM 824. The processor 810 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 830 into the RAM 822.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 830 so that the device 800 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 830 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 800 (such as in the memory 820) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 800. The device 800 may load the program 830 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 822 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a computer readable medium 900 in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer readable medium 900 has the program 830 stored thereon. It is noted that although the computer readable medium 900 is depicted in form of CD or DVD in FIG. 9, the computer readable medium 900 may be in any other form suitable for carry or hold the program 830.

Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the method as described above with reference to any of FIGS. 2 and 7. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term “non-transitory, ” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM) .

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

A terminal device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to:

obtain configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and

detect the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.
The terminal device of claim 1, wherein the SL PRS resource comprises a slot in time domain.
The terminal device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

transmit at least one of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) or a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) in the SL PRS resource in response to that the SL PRS transmission indication is not detected in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication.
The terminal device of claim 3, wherein the least one of the PSCCH or the PSSCH is transmitted using all of or part of the SL PRS resource.
The terminal device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal device is in a positioning session with another terminal device, and wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

receive the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource in response to the detection of the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication.
The terminal device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal device is in a positioning session with another terminal device, and wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

transmit the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication prior to transmitting the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.
The terminal device of claim 6, wherein the terminal device is further caused to:

transmit the SL PRS in the SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication.
The terminal device of claim 6 or 7, wherein the SL PRS is transmitted using all of or part of the SL PRS resource.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-8, wherein the terminal device is caused to obtain the configuration information by:

receiving the configuration information from a network device.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-9, wherein the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot prior to the SL PRS resource.
The terminal device of claim 10, wherein the SL PRS transmission indication is frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) .
The terminal device of any of claims 1-9, wherein the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot of the SL PRS resource.
The terminal device of claim 12, wherein the SL PRS transmission indication is FDMed with an SL PRS.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-13, wherein the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication occupies all of or part of frequency bandwidth of a sidelink resource pool.
The terminal device of any of claims 1-14, wherein the SL PRS transmission indication is in a format of a sequence occupying one or more physical resource blocks.
A network device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to:

determine configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and

transmit the configuration information to at least one terminal device.
The network device of claim 16, wherein the SL PRS resource comprises a slot in time domain.
The network device of claim 16 or 17, wherein the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot prior to the SL PRS resource.
The network device of claim 18, wherein the SL PRS transmission indication is frequency division multiplexed (FDMed) with a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) .
The network device of claim 16 or 17, wherein the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication is in at least one symbol in a slot of the SL PRS resource.
The network device of claim 20, wherein the SL PRS transmission indication is FDMed with an SL PRS.
The network device of any of claims 16-21, wherein the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication occupies all of or part of frequency bandwidth of a sidelink resource pool.
The network device of any of claims 16-22, wherein the SL PRS transmission indication is in a format of a sequence occupying one or more physical resource blocks.
A method comprising:

obtaining, at a terminal device, configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and

detecting the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.
A method comprising:

determining, at a network device, configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and

transmitting the configuration information to at least one terminal device.
An apparatus comprising:

means for obtaining, at a terminal device, configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and

means for detecting the SL PRS transmission indication in the resource of the SL PRS transmission indication based on the configuration information.
An apparatus comprising:

means for determining, at a network device, configuration information associated with a resource of a sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission indication indicating if an SL PRS is to be transmitted in an SL PRS resource corresponding to the SL PRS transmission indication; and

means for transmitting the configuration information to at least one terminal device.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 24 or 25.