Described herein is a method of setting-up a range-based tracking system utilising a tracking coordinate system that uses a plurality of spaced apart stationary nodes for tracking objects within a tracking environment. The method includes the step of transmitting signals between the stationary nodes to obtain range information between at least a subset of pairs of the nodes and determining coordinates for all of the stationary nodes in a node coordinate system using these range information. The method also includes the step of obtaining spatial information related to at least one of the nodes, the spatial information being indicative of one or more features or locations within the tracking environment and determining the location of all stationary nodes in the tracking coordinate system, wherein some or all of the coordinates of the stationary nodes are used for tracking objects in the tracking system.

This disclosure provides methods, devices, and systems for beam group reporting for positioning in new radio (NR) wireless communications systems. In some wireless communications systems, multiple PRS resources, e.g., a beam group, received by a user equipment (UE) from the same network entity may be used to produce a combined Time of Arrival (TOA) measurement for the reference or target to derive an Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) estimate. The UE provides to a network entity an indication of the PRS resources in the beam group, which may be specifically or generally identified. Additionally, parameters associated with the beam group are provided, such as a relative quality of the TOA measurement for each PRS resource in the subset, a spread of the TOA measurements in the subset, a relative signal strength of each PRS resource in the subset, or a spread of the signal strength in the subset.

A system, computer software and method for collecting, in addition to position data, additional positioning data in a user terminal served by a communication network. The method includes initiating, by generating a message within the user terminal, collection of the positioning data, where the positioning data includes information based on which a physical location of the user terminal is determined; measuring, by the user terminal, at least one parameter related to the physical location of the user terminal in response to the message; producing, within the user terminal, measurement reports that include the at least one parameter; selecting, within the user terminal, one or more measurement reports that were generated in response to the message generated by the user terminal; reporting the selected one or more measurement reports to an interface within the user terminal; and transmitting, from the interface, the reported one or more measurement reports to an external server or to the communication network.

An external client requests the location of a UE using control plane signaling. The UE sends downlink location measurements, such as Reference Signal Time Differences, for a plurality of base stations (BSs) to a serving BS at a layer 1 or layer 2 protocol level and at first periodic intervals. The UE and the plurality of BSs send additional location measurements, such as receive time-transmission time differences, to the serving BS at second periodic intervals, which are longer than the first periodic intervals. The serving BS uses the additional location measurements and downlink location measurements to determine timing information, such as Real Time Differences, for the plurality of BSs. The serving BS determines the location of the UE using the downlink location measurements and the timing information at the first periodic intervals and sends the location to the external client using user plane signaling to reduce delay.

This application provides communication methods for a terminal device and a network side device. In an example method, a terminal device establishes a primary communication link with a network side device. The terminal device detects one or more other terminal devices, determines, from the one or more other terminal devices, one or more terminal devices as one or more coordinated communication devices, and notifies the network side device of information indicating that a coordinated communication device is used for coordinated communication. The terminal device establishes a device-to-device (D2D)-based virtual multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communication connection with the coordinated communication device, to form, between the terminal device and the network side device, a coordinated communication link relayed by the coordinated communication device. The terminal device performs parallel communication with the network side device based on the primary communication link and the coordinated communication link, or performs communication based on the coordinated communication link.

A method of operating a wireless communication device (102) connectable to a communications network is provided. The communications network includes an access node (101, 101-1, 101-2, 101-3). The method includes: monitoring for a plurality of reference signals (121, 122, 123) of a transmission (351) in a plurality of resources, the transmission being provided by the access node (101, 101-1, 101-2, 101-3); and based on said monitoring: participating in positioning of the wireless communication device (102) depending on an indicator indicative of at least one of a magnitude or a phase of at least one first path component (810) of an impulse response (800, 801) of a radio channel, the at least one first path component being associated with at least one reference signal (121, 122, 123) of the plurality of reference signals (121, 122, 123) of the transmission (351).

A method, at a transmission/reception point (TRP), of producing a positioning reference signal muting pattern includes: obtaining, at the TRP, one or more positioning reference signal criteria, the one or more positioning reference signal criteria regarding at least one of positioning reference signal transmission or positioning reference signal reception; and producing, at the TRP, the positioning reference signal muting pattern such that the positioning reference signal muting pattern meets the one or more positioning reference signal criteria.

The present disclosure relates to a pre-5.sup.th-Generation (5G) or 5G communication system to be provided for supporting higher data rates Beyond 4.sup.th-Generation (4G) communication system such as Long Term Evolution (LTE). According to various embodiments of the disclosure, an operation method of a terminal in a wireless communication system includes: receiving positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration information related to a reference cell and one or more neighboring cells with respect to the terminal; receiving a message for requesting PRS measurement; in response to the receiving of the message, determining, based on the PRS configuration information, an RSTD between transmission time of a PRS received through a first beam of the reference cell, and transmission time of a PRS received through a second beam of each of the one or more neighboring cells; and transmitting measurement information including the RSTD to a base station.

This disclosure provides methods, devices, and systems for beam group reporting for positioning in new radio (NR) wireless communications systems. In some wireless communications systems, multiple PRS resources, e.g., a beam group, received by a user equipment (UE) from the same network entity may be used to produce a combined Time of Arrival (TOA) measurement for the reference or target to derive an Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) estimate. The UE provides to a network entity an indication of the PRS resources in the beam group, which may be specifically or generally identified. Additionally, parameters associated with the beam group are provided, such as a relative quality of the TOA measurement for each PRS resource in the subset, a spread of the TOA measurements in the subset, a relative signal strength of each PRS resource in the subset, or a spread of the signal strength in the subset.

A user equipment (UE) periodically obtains its location using UE based Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA). The location is based on Reference Signal Time Differences (RSTDs) measured by the UE for downlink (DL) signals transmitted by each of a plurality of base stations, and the most current Real Time Differences (RTDs) for pairs of base stations. The RTDs may be determined by the UE using the RSTD measurements and Round Trip Time (RTT) measurements determined by a network entity or by the UE. The RTDs may be determined less frequently than the UE location to reduce network and UE load. Location of the UE may be improved based on testing a rate of change for each of the RTDs. The RTD determination may be improved using measurements from a plurality of UEs.