WO2024125754A1

WO2024125754A1 - Devices, methods, system, positioning assistance data and computer program for localization

Info

Publication number: WO2024125754A1
Application number: PCT/EP2022/085281
Authority: WO
Inventors: Xitao Gong; Anastasios KAKKAVAS; Richard Stirling-Gallacher; Qi Wang; Anastasios FOLIADIS
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2022-12-12
Filing date: 2022-12-12
Publication date: 2024-06-20

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to localization in a wireless network. For performing the localization, a first device receives positioning assistance data from a second device. The positioning assistance data comprises useful data for assisting the localization, which includes virtual station location information. The first device then performs the localization based on the virtual station location information. The virtual station location information comprises a virtual station ID, coordinate information of the virtual station, and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station. A virtual station may be a virtual anchor or a virtual reflector. Based on the information comprised in the virtual station location information, the localization may utilize additional NLOS measurements. Thus, localization accuracy can be improved.

Description

DEVICES, METHODS, SYSTEM, POSITIONING ASSISTANCE DATA AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR LOCALIZATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the field of communications technology. For instance, the present disclosure provides devices and methods for localization in a wireless network.

BACKGROUND

Localization (or positioning) and sensing have been identified as important enabling technologies for the next generation wireless networks. Localization and sensing may refer to technologies of retrieving information about objects from measurements of emitted or reflected signals. Exemplary information of interest for localization and sensing may comprise one or more of: presence, position, distance/range, direction, motion, shape, and velocity of an object.

In current localization solutions (e.g., location services (LCS)) provided in cellular networks such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR) networks, both time-based positioning schemes (e.g., time-of-arrival (ToA) and time-difference-of arrival (TDoA)) and anglebased schemes (e.g., AoA (angle-of-arrival) and AoD (angle-or-departure)) have been and will be continually supported for downlink (DL), uplink (UL) and sidelink (SL) channels.

SUMMARY

Conventional localization solutions may be subject to performance deterioration due to non- line-of-sight (NLOS) effects. For instance, traditional geometry-based methods (e.g., trilateration based on ToA, TDoA) usually assume that reference signals (for localization) are received in line-of-sight (LOS) channels. This assumption, however, may not always hold, especially in urban-canyon or indoor positioning/sensing environments. For instance, heavy NLOS may be observed in indoor positioning due to dominant/static blockage, e.g., high racks inside warehouses, concealed remote radio unit (RRU) in the ceiling, or furniture/walls/floor/robots.

Current solutions proposed to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) may include a LOS/NLOS indicator, which indicates LOS or NLOS property of a corresponding wireless link (or channel/path) between a base station (BS) and user equipment (UE). In this disclosure, BS may be referred to as eNB, gNB, transmission-reception point (TRP), radio access network (RAN). Two forms of NLOS indicator may be used: hard indicator and soft indicator. The hard indicator indicates whether a channel is LOS or NLOS using a Boolean value. The soft indicator indicates the LOS/NLOS probability of a channel.

Further, multipath reporting is used to allow reporting multiple measurements (e.g., an- gles/PRS-RSRP) per link. The measurements correspond to a plurality of paths between the BS and UE. Multipath reporting also supports path reporting mechanism of multiple tuples, e.g., {ToA, TDoA, one or multiple AoA or ZoA, Power}.

Further, an information element (IE) describing the environment (e.g., “CommonlEsRequest- Locationlnformation”) is used to provide a target device with information about expected multipath and NLOS in a current area. The IE may indicate: badArea: possibly heavy multipath and NLOS conditions (e.g. bad urban or urban); notBadArea: no or light multipath and usually LOS conditions (e.g. suburban or rural); or mixedArea: an environment that is mixed or not defined.

When such information is absent, a default value of “mixedArea” applies.

However, using the LOS/NLOS indicator only provides a probability of a channel or indicates whether a channel is LOS or NLOS. For a positioning determination entity, such information is able to exclude NLOS channels, but not enough to proactively use NLOS channels for localization. The multipath report can provide multipath information of a NLOS link. However, the information conveyed by the multipath reporting is not sufficient to leverage information that the NLOS link can provide. Because no concrete reference point is defined. Further, the IE describing the environment can only define a general property of the environment. No detailed information can be provided on how the environment is characterized.

Thus, conventional solutions are not sufficient to direct leverage LOS information for localization to integrate NLOS path information into position estimation. It is still not yet known how to represent and deliver the scene-awareness information, e.g., in NLOS environment.

In view of the above-mentioned problems and disadvantages, the present disclosure aims to improve localization services. An objective may be to deliver scene-awareness information to enhance UE-assisted or UE-based localization in NLOS environment. These and other objectives are achieved by this disclosure, for instance, as described in the independent claims. Advantageous implementations are further described in the dependent claims.

A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a first device for localization. The first device is configured to: receive positioning assistance data from a second device, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information; and perform the localization based on the virtual station location information.

The virtual station location information comprises: a virtual station identity (ID) identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

Optionally, the virtual station may be referred to as a virtual signal transmission/reception point in space where the path of a signal forms a LOS path to a target. The virtual station may be in a mirrored location of the physical anchor with respect to a blockage. Alternatively, the virtual station may be in a position where a signal is reflected.

Optionally, the coordinate information may comprise absolute coordinates (e.g., GPS coordinates) of the virtual station. Alternatively, the coordinate information may comprise relative coordinates with respect to a reference location, such as distance and orientation with respect to the reference location.

In this way, based on the received virtual station location information, the first device 101 may support the utilization of NLOS path for performing the localization. Optionally, the virtual station location information may be combined with multipath reporting or a LOS-NLOS indicator.

Moreover, the positioning accuracy of SLAM or conventional positioning method (e.g., fingerprinting) can be further increased. Further, the virtual station location information can provide a priori information to the first device, which can lead to less power consumption and/or reduced latency for performing localization.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the first device may be further configured to send a request to the second device. The request may be for requesting the positioning assistance data and may comprise one or more of: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; and a maximum number of virtual stations.

Optionally, the zone ID may be used to identify a zone or area. The zone or area may provide information on a rough location where the target physical anchor is located.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the virtual station location information further may comprise one or more of: information of one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information of one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the virtual station clustering information may comprise one or more of: a reference location of the virtual station, and a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations.

Optionally, the virtual station clustering information may further comprise a respective confidence of the reference location and/or the relative location.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the positioning assistance data may further comprise virtual station information and/or virtual station set information.

The virtual station information may comprise information of one or more virtual station sets. Each virtual station set may comprise a plurality of virtual stations. The virtual station set information may comprise one or more of: a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the virtual station may be a virtual anchor (VA). The virtual station location information may be VA location information.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the virtual station may be a virtual reflector (VR). The virtual station location information may be VR location information.

In an implementation form of the first aspect, the virtual station location information may further comprise orientation information associated with the VR.

A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a second device for localization. The second device is configured to provide positioning assistance data to a first device. The positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information, which comprises: a virtual station ID identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

In an implementation form of the second aspect, the second device may be further configured to receive a request from the first device. The request may be for requesting the positioning assistance data and may comprise one or more of: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; and a maximum number of virtual stations.

In an implementation form of the second aspect, the virtual station location information further may comprise one or more of: information of one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information of one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information. In an implementation form of the second aspect, the virtual station clustering information may comprise one or more of a reference location of the virtual station, a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations, and a confidence of the reference location or the relative location.

In an implementation form of the second aspect, the positioning assistance data may further comprise virtual station information and/or virtual station set information.

The virtual station information may comprise information of one or more virtual station sets, each virtual station set comprising a plurality of virtual stations.

The virtual station set information may comprise one or more of: a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set.

In an implementation form of the second aspect, the virtual station may be a VA. The virtual station location information may be VA location information.

In an implementation form of the second aspect, the virtual station may be a VR. The virtual station location information may be VR location information.

In an implementation form of the second aspect, the virtual station location information may further comprise orientation information associated with the VR.

A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a system. The system comprises at least one first device according to the first aspect or any implementation form thereof, and at least one second device according to the second aspect or any implementation form thereof.

Optionally, the first device may be a UE or a radio access network device. The second device may be a network entity of a core network, a location server, a radio access network device (when the first device is not a radio access network), or a UE (when the first device is not a UE).

A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a positioning assistance data for localization. The positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information, which comprises: a virtual station ID identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

In an implementation form of the fourth aspect, the virtual station location information may further comprise one or more of information on one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information on one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information.

In an implementation form of the fourth aspect, the virtual station clustering information may comprise one or more of a reference location of the virtual station, a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations, and a confidence of the reference location or the relative location.

In an implementation form of the fourth aspect, the positioning assistance data may further comprise virtual station information and/or virtual station set information.

The virtual station information may comprise information of one or more virtual station sets. Each virtual station set may comprise a plurality of virtual stations.

The virtual station set information may comprise one or more of a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set. In an implementation form of the fourth aspect, the virtual station location information may be VA or VR location information.

In an implementation form of the fourth aspect, when the virtual station location information is VR location information, the virtual station location information may further comprise orientation information associated with the virtual station as a VR.

A fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for localization. The method comprises the following steps: receiving, by a first device, positioning assistance data from the second device, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information; and performing, by the first device, the localization based on the virtual station location information.

The virtual station location information comprises: a virtual station ID identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the method may further comprise sending, by the first device, a request to the second device. The request may be for requesting the positioning assistance data and may comprise one or more of: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; and a maximum number of virtual stations.

In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the virtual station location information further may comprise one or more of: information of one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information of one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information. In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the virtual station clustering information may comprise one or more of: a reference location of the virtual station, and a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations.

In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the positioning assistance data may further comprise virtual station information and/or virtual station set information.

In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the virtual station may be a VA. The virtual station location information may be VA location information.

In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the virtual station may be a VR. The virtual station location information may be VR location information.

In an implementation form of the fifth aspect, the virtual station location information may further comprise orientation information associated with the VR.

A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for localization. The method comprises sending, by a second device to a first device, positioning assistance data. The positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information that comprises: a virtual station ID identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the method may further comprise receiving, by the second device, a request from the first device. The request may be for requesting the positioning assistance data and may comprise one or more of: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; and a maximum number of virtual stations.

In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the virtual station location information further may comprise one or more of: information of one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information of one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information.

In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the virtual station clustering information may comprise one or more of: a reference location of the virtual station, a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations, and a confidence of the reference location or the relative location.

In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the positioning assistance data may further comprise virtual station information and/or virtual station set information.

The virtual station set information may comprise one or more of: a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set. In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the virtual station may be a VA. The virtual station location information may be VA location information.

In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the virtual station may be a VR. The virtual station location information may be VR location information.

In an implementation form of the sixth aspect, the virtual station location information may further comprise orientation information associated with the VR.

A seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer program comprising a program code for performing the method according to the fifth aspect or any of its implementation forms.

An eighth aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory storage medium storing executable program code which, when executed by a processor, causes the method according to the fifth aspect or any of its implementation forms to be performed.

A ninth aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer program comprising a program code for performing the method according to the sixth aspect or any of its implementation forms.

A tenth aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory storage medium storing executable program code which, when executed by a processor, causes the method according to the sixth aspect or any of its implementation forms to be performed.

It has to be noted that all devices, elements, units and means described in the present disclosure could be implemented in the software or hardware elements or any kind of combination thereof. All steps which are performed by the various entities described in the present application as well as the functionalities described to be performed by the various entities are intended to mean that the respective entity is adapted to or configured to perform the respective steps and functionalities. Even if, in the following description, a specific functionality or step to be performed by external entities is not reflected in the description of a specific detailed element of that entity which performs that specific step or functionality, it should be clear for a skilled person that these methods and functionalities can be implemented in respective software or hardware elements, or any kind of combination thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above-described aspects and implementation forms will be explained in the following description in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a first device and a second device according to this disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows an example of positioning assistance data according to this disclosure;

FIG. 3 shows a further example of positioning assistance data according to this disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows a possible structure of an information element representing positioning assistance data according to this disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows an example of a system according to this disclosure;

FIGs. 6A-6C shows signalings of collecting virtual station information;

FIG. 7 a signaling for localization according to this disclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a combination of RF -based localization and SLAM based on virtual station information according to this disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of a method according to this disclosure;

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of a method according to this disclosure;

FIG. 11 shows an example of VA for a wireless network; and

FIG. 12 shows an example of VR for a wireless network;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In wireless networks, an anchor node is a node that is adapted to transmit and/or receive signals used for positioning/sensing. The anchor node may also be referred to as a reference node according to which the positioning/sensing is calculated. In this disclosure, an anchor node that physically exists may also be referred to as a real anchor or a physical anchor. Generally, a physical anchor can be either TRP or UE type.

A virtual anchor (VA) is a point in space where a virtual signal transmi ssion/receiving node is located. The signal transmission between the VA and a corresponding target (e.g., UE) is directly transmitted/received in a LOS link. That is, the signal between the VA and the target shall not be diffracted or reflected. For example, the virtual anchor may be a mirror point of a physical anchor with respect to a blockage, wherein the blockage reflects the signal from the physical anchor to a target, and vice versa. The mirror point of the physical anchor and the target has a LOS link as if the blockage did not exist. A virtual reflector (VR) is a reflection point in space where a virtual signal transmission/receiv- ing node is located. The reflection point is a point where a signal transmission from a physical anchor via the VR and then to a corresponding target (e.g. UE) follows as if the signal is transmitted via specular reflection. For example, the virtual reflector may be a reflection point where the signal between a physical anchor and a target is reflected.

The VA and VR are closely related and may both contribute to localization/sensing. In this disclosure, unless specified otherwise, any feature disclosed with respect to the VA may be similarly applied to the VR, and vice versa.

FIG. 11 shows an example of VA for a wireless network. The wireless network may comprise one or more TRPs (e.g., TRP 1 in FIG. 11) and one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1 and UE 2). In FIG. 11, TRP 1 is a physical anchor. TRP 1 may be adapted to transmit or receive reference signals for positioning (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRSs). Correspondingly, one or more target UEs (UE 1 and/or UE 2) may be adapted to receive or transmit the reference signals. A receiving end (TRP or UE) receiving the reference signals may be adapted to measure the reference signals. The measurements of the reference signals may be time-based, power-based, or anglebased measures (e.g., SINR, RSRP, RSSI, RSTD, TOA, DOA/AOA). These measurements and any positioning/sensing assistant data are provided to a location server (LS) or sensing server (SS), where the positioning/sensing result is estimated. The LS or SS may be reside in an application domain, core network, radio access network (RAN), or UE side. In this disclosure, the LS is used as an example to show how the positioning is performed. Similarly, the present disclosure also applies to the SS.

As depicted in FIG.l 1, TRP 1 is served as a physical anchor transmitting several PRSs to UE 1 and UE 2. The several PRSs may be transmitted using different directed beams (e.g., spatial filters) to UE 1 and UE 2 via DL transmission. Alternatively, TRP 1 may be adapted to receive several PRSs with different directed beams from UE1 UE2 via UL transmission. Those PRSs are transmitted via NLOS paths between TRP 1 and UE 1/UE 2. The left-hand side of FIG. 11 shows a first type of VA in case of a specular reflection. The PRSs are reflected in two paths by a left blockage via specular reflection for TRP 1 -UE 1 and TRP 1 -UE 2, respectively. Thus, a VA corresponding to these two paths has a fixed VA position. The right-hand side of FIG. 11 shows a second type of VA in case of a diffuse reflection. The PRSs experience diffuse reflection by the right blockage. Thus, the VAs corresponding to different PRSs are not in the same position. Therefore, the second type of VA has variable VA positions, which may depend on the UE position.

The scenarios in FIG. 11 may be similarly extended to multiple blockages and/or multiple anchors.

It is noted that one VA shall be associated with one real anchor (TRP or UE). One real anchor may be associated with one or more VAs. VA position may be independent of UE position or may depend on the UE position.

FIG. 12 shows an example of VR for a wireless network. Similar to the wireless network in FIG. 11, TRP 1 is served as a physical anchor transmitting several PRSs to UE 1 and UE 2. The several PRSs may be transmitted using different directed beams (e.g., spatial filters) to UE 1 and UE 2 via DL transmission. Alternatively, TRP 1 may be adapted to receive several PRSs with different directed beams from UE1 UE2 via UL transmission. Those PRSs are transmitted via NLOS paths between TRP 1 and UE 1/UE 2. The PRSs are transmitted via NLOS paths between TRP 1 and the UEs by diffuse reflection. Specifically, the PRS is reflected by the blockage via a VR reflection plane to UE1 and UE2, respectively. Thus, the VRs corresponding to different PRSs may share a same position but have distinct VR planes with different orientations (e.g., a and a₂ in FIG. 12) with respect to a reference plane (e.g., the horizontal plane). The scenarios in FIG. 12 may be similarly extended to multiple blockages and/or multiple anchors.

Similar to VA, one VR is associated with one real anchor (TRP or UE). One real anchor may be associated with one or more VRs. A VR may be a combination of the reflection point and/or its orientation angle. VR position may be independent of UE position or may depend on UE position.

FIG. 1 shows a first device 101 and a second device 102 according to the present disclosure.

The first device 101 is configured to receive positioning assistance data 110 from the second device 102. The positioning assistance data 110 comprises virtual station location information 111. The first device 101 is configured to perform localization based on the virtual station location information 111. In this disclosure, the terms “localization”, “positioning”, and “sensing” may be used interchangeably.

The virtual station location information comprises the following information: a virtual station ID identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

In this way, based on the received virtual station location information, the first device 101 may support utilization of NLOS path for performing the localization. Optionally, the virtual station location information may be combined with one or more of a multipath reporting and a LOS- NLOS indicator. In this way, the property of each path can be precisely determined. The property of each path may be helpful for the localization.

Moreover, the positioning accuracy of SLAM or conventional positioning method (e.g., fingerprinting) can be further increased. Further, the virtual station location information can provide a priori information to the first device 101, which can lead to less power consumption and/or reduced latency for performing localization.

Optionally, the positioning assistance data 110 may further comprise virtual station information 111 and/or virtual station set information 112. The virtual station information 111 comprises information of one or more virtual station sets. Each virtual station set comprises a plurality of virtual stations. The virtual station set information 112 comprises one or more of a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set.

Optionally, the first device 101 may be further configured to send a request 120 to the second device 102. The request 120 is for requesting the positioning assistance data. The request 120 may comprise one or more of the following: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; a maximum number of virtual stations.

Optionally, the request may comprise one or more target physical anchor IDs. The virtual station location information may comprise one or more physical anchor IDs, which may be at least a subset of the target anchor IDs. For instance, the request may comprise target physical anchor IDs {ID 1, ID 2, ID 3}. The virtual station location information may comprise anchor ID(s) of {ID 1 }, or {ID 1, ID 3}, or {ID 1, ID 2, ID3}.

Optionally, the zone ID may be used to indicate a zone (or area) where the target physical anchor is located.

Optionally, the maximum number of virtual stations may be used to indicate a maximum number of virtual stations needed by the first device 101 for performing the localization. This maximum number may be pre-configured in the first device 101, or may be determined by the first device 101.

Optionally, the virtual station may be a VA or a VR. Correspondingly, the virtual station location information may be VA location information (VA-Loclnfo) or VR location information (VR-Loclnfo). In this disclosure, these two kinds of information may be jointly represented as VA/R (or VA/VR) location information. In this disclosure, the terms “virtual station” and “VA/R” may be used interchangeably.

FIG. 2 shows an example of positioning assistance data according to this disclosure. The positioning assistance data may correspond to one or more VAs. The positioning assistance data 210 is built based on the positioning assistance data 110 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, corresponding elements may share similar features and function likewise.

The positioning assistance data 210 comprises VA-Loclnfo 211. The VA-Loclnfo 211 is an example of the virtual station location information 111 in FIG. 1. The VA-Loclnfo 211 is represented using Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.l) protocol and comprises VA ID identifying a VA, physical anchor ID (e.g., TRP-ID/PRS-ID or UE-ID), and coordinate information of the VA (e.g., VA reference point). Optionally, the physical anchor ID may be used to uniquely identify a specific physical anchor, such as a TRP, base station (BS), and UE.

Optionally, the VA reference point may comprise (geo-)coordinates of the VA, which is associated with a specific TRP/base station/UE identified by the physical anchor ID. The coordinate information may comprise one or more of mean, variance, uncertainty, and confidence of the coordinates.

Optionally, the VA-Loclnfo 211 may further comprise one or more of: association of the VA with the area/zone/cell/UE-specific information or identity (e.g. associated-zone-ID-list) association of VA with the blockage (e.g., associated-reflector-ID). VA clustering information.

The VA clustering information may be represented in two formats: option 1 : VA reference location + Relative location of other VAs to VA reference location in a single VA clustering, (e.g., VA-relativelocationlist, associated-VA- IDlist). option 2: Each VA cluster has a single VA ID (e.g. re-use VA-reference point by setting one of the following: mean, variance, min/max value etc, to cover the VA cluster).

Optionally, the positioning assistance data 210 may further comprise VA (group) information (VA-Info) 213 (as an example of the virtual station information 113 in FIG. 1) and/or VS set information (VA-set) 212 (as an example of the virtual station set information 112 in FIG. 1).

The VA information 213 may comprise information of one or more VA sets. Each VA set may be associated with one physical anchor (e.g., one TRP/BS/UE). The maximum number of the one or more VA sets may be pre-configured. The VA set information 212 may comprise a VA set ID identifying a VA set, location information of VAs of the VA set, and associated physical anchor (e g., TRP -ID, PRS-ID, or UE-ID).

FIG. 3 shows an example of positioning assistance data according to this disclosure. The positioning assistance data may correspond to one or more VRs. The positioning assistance data 310 is built based on the positioning assistance data 110 in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, corresponding elements may share similar features and function likewise. Similar to FIG. 2, the positioning assistance data 310 comprises VR location information (VR-Loclnfo) 311. Optionally, the positioning assistance data 310 may further comprise VR (group) information (VR-Info) 313 and/or VR set information (VR-Set) 312. Features disclosed with respect to VA in FIG. 2 can be similarly applied to VR in FIG. 3, which are not repeated herein.

One possible difference between positioning assistance data of VA and VR may be that each VR location information may additionally comprise orientation information and/or VR plane information, such as the “VROrientation” shown in FIG. 3. Uncertainty or confidence of the orientation information may be additionally and optionally comprised in the VR location information, such as the “Uncertainty VROrientation”.

It is noted that the parameters defined in the present disclosure, e.g., in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 may not be strictly limited to the exact naming convention as illustrated. Other forms may be used to convey the same or similar notion in the virtual station location information. For instance, words of a parameter may be delimited by capital letters, or by symbols such as or Different words may be used to define a same parameter. For example, “Associated-Zone-ID- List” in VR-Loclnfo 311 may be alternatively named as “AssociatedZonelDLisf’ or “List_of_Associated_Zone_ID”. The same applied to other parameters.

FIG. 4 shows a possible structure of an information element representing positioning assistance data according to this disclosure. In FIGs. 1-4, corresponding elements may share similar features and function likewise.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the virtual station information 113 of FIG. 1 may be adapted to indicate a VA group. Thus, the virtual station information 113 may also be referred to as virtual station group information (e.g., VA group information and VR group information). The virtual station group may comprise one or more VA/R set. Each VA/R set is associated with a physical anchor. The virtual station set information 112 of FIG. 1 may be adapted to indicate one or more VA/R sets. In FIG. 4, a number of P VA set(s) is illustrated. The P VA set(s) is associated with P physical anchor(s) { 1, ..., P}, respectively. P is a positive integer. A virtual station set may comprise one or more virtual stations. The virtual station location information 111 of FIG. 1 may be adapted to indicate the one or more virtual stations. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a number of M VA/R is defined in VA/R set of real anchor 1, and a number of N VA/R is defined in VA/R set of real anchor P. In a VA/R set, various types of VA/R may be defined, such as VA/R due to specular reflection and diffuse reflection.

One aspect of this disclosure provides a positioning assistance data for localization defined with respect to FIGs. 1-4.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a system according to this disclosure. The system comprises a location server, a radio access network (RAN), and a UE. In FIGs. 1-5, corresponding elements may share similar features and function likewise.

The location server of FIG. 5 may be adapted to function as the second device 102 of FIG. 1. The RAN and the UE may be respectively adapted to function as a first device 101 of FIG. 1. That is, the RAN (or a network device of the RAN) may send a request 520 to the LS requesting VA/R information, e.g., when the positioning is performed at the RAN. Similarly, the UE may also send the request 520 to the LS, e.g., when the positioning is performed at the UE. Optionally, the LS may be a location management function (LMF) entity, or a further RAN, or a further UE. The request 520 may be referred to as a request of positioning data (e.g., defined by IE named “commonlEProvideAssistanceData” or xxPosMethod-RequestAssitanceData” (wherein xxPosMethod may be TDOA, AOA, carrier-phase, Doppler, AOD, TOA, etc.)). The request 520 may comprise a request of VA location information (RequestofVALocInfo). Optionally, the request 520 may further comprise one or more of the following: one-bit indication to indicate whether VA Location information is required or not; associated physical anchor (TRP/UE/PRS) ID; indicator of field of view (FOV) (e.g., zone/area/cell ID list of the target, an ellipsoid point, or an ellipsoid point with uncertainty circle); and maximum number of requested VAs per UE/RAN, which may be (pre-)configured.

An example of IES in the request of VA location information is as follows:

- ASN1 START

NR-DL-TDOA-RequestAssistanceData ::= SEQUENCE { nr-PosCalcAssistanceRequest BIT STRING {trpLoc (0), . . . VALoc (N)}, RequestVALocInfo-AssociatedTRPID SEQUENCE (SIZE { 1, Ml }) OF TRP-ID Optional, RequestVALocInfo-AssociatedZonelDList SEQUENCE ( SIZE { 1, M2} ) OF Zone-ID Optional, nrMAXVAsPerT arget

}

— ASN1STOP

As a response to the request 520, the LS is adapted to send virtual station location information 510 to the RAN/UE. The virtual station location information 510 may be an independent message, or may be enclosed in a message of positioning assistance data (e.g., nr-PositionCalcula- tionAssistance).

An example of IES in providing the virtual station location information is given as follows:

- ASN1 START

NR-DL-AoD-ProvideAssistanceData ::= SEQUENCE {

VA-AssistanceData SEQUENCE (SIZE { E . nrMAXVAsPerTarget} OF VA- Loclnfo, nr-PositionCalculationAssistance

}

NR-PositionCalculationAssistance ::= SEQUENCE {

VA-AssistanceData SEQUENCE (SIZE { E . nrMAXVAsPerTarget} OF VA-Loclnfo

}

— ASN1STOP

Optionally and alternatively, FIG. 5 may be used to illustrate a signaling of updating virtual station location information in positioning assistance data. In this case, the RAN/UE may be adapted to send an update request 520 to the LS requesting to update virtual station location information as part of positioning assistance data. As a response, the LS may be adapted to send an updated virtual station location information 510 to the RAN/UE. In this case, only updated information may be comprised in the updated virtual station location information 510. Similar representations disclosed with respect to FIGs. 1-4 may be similarly used in this case for updating the virtual station location information.

FIGs. 6A-6C shows signalings of collecting virtual station information.

FIG. 6A shows LS collecting VA information from a RAN. For instance, the LS sends a request (e.g., RequestVAInformation) to the RAN through NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa). The request may be used to request VA information associated with the RAN or a UE(s) for a further target UE(s) . As a response, the RAN may be adapted to provide information on VA-Set, VA- Loclnfo and optionally, its association with BS/TRP-ID, UE-ID and/or Zone ID to the LS.

FIG. 6B shows LS collecting VA information from a UE. For instance, the LS sends a request (e.g., RequestVAInformation) to the UE through LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP). The request may be used to request VA information of the UE and/or other UEs. As a response, the UE may be adapted to provide information on VA-Set, VA-Loclnfo and optionally, its association with UE-ID and/or Zone ID to the LS.

FIG. 6C shows LS collecting VA information from a network function (NF) of a core network or application domain (APP). For instance, the LS sends a request (e.g., RequestVAInformation) to the NF. The request may be used to request VA information of a zone or a physical anchor. As a response, the NF may be adapted to provide information on VA-Set, VA-Loclnfo, and optionally, its association with BS/TRP/UE-ID and/or Zone ID to the LS.

It is noted that the signalings of collecting virtual station information illustrated in FIGs. 6A- 6C may be similarly applied for collecting VR information.

FIG. 7 shows signaling for localization according to this disclosure. The signaling may comprise the following steps:

Step 701 : LS requests to collect VA/R information (including VA/R location information), e.g., according to FIGs. 6A-6C.

Step 702: RAN/UE/NF provides VA/R information to the LS e.g., according to FIGs. 6A-6C. Step 703. LS provides relevant VA/R location information to one or more location determination entity entities (RAN/UE). Such providence of information may be initiated by a corresponding request or may be sent unsolicited.

Step 704: Legacy procedure for PRS transmission, measurement report, position determination. In addition to the legacy procedure, the positioning determination may be further based on NLOS measurement based on the provided VA/R location information.

Step 705: LS updates the relevant VA/R location information to the location determination entity unsolicited or based on request. This step is optional and is not essential.

Optionally, the VA/R information according to this disclosure may combine with multipath reporting and LOS/NLOS indicator in 3GPP standards to enhance NLOS positioning.

For instance, for multipath reporting: current 3 GPP allows for reporting the measurements from multiple paths, e.g., {TOA, RSRPP} per path for UE or {TOA, RSRPP, AoA} tuple as per path for gNB. On top of it, the VA/R information according to this disclosure is provided to the location determination entity (RAN/UE) and may be used for path-VA/R association. With such association, the location determination (or estimation) may explore geometrical-based localization methods to determine location or sensing parameters.

Optionally, a LOS/NLOS indicator may be used inside triggering condition to trigger the request of VA/R information or request to update VA/R information. The LOS/NLOS indicator is used to indicate whether an NLOS or a LOS takes place. The LOS/NLOS may be a soft indicator (with values) or a hard indicator (with true/false). For example, when a soft LOS/NLOS indicator is smaller or equal to some (pre-) configured threshold, or a hard LOS/NLOS indicator is “false” (NLOS), then it triggers LS to collect the VA/R information, or LS to provide VA/R information to the RAN/UE/location determination entity.

FIG. 8 shows a combination of RF-based localization and SLAM based on virtual station information according to this disclosure.

The VA/R information according to this disclosure (including the VA/R location information) may be used in combination with RF-based localization methods like fingerprinting. For instance, the fingerprinting-based positioning comprises two phases. In the first phase, RF measurements (e.g., RSSI, RSRP, CSLrelated measures, AOA, TOA) at a known position are used for training to learn and build a fingerprint database. In the second phase, the location in determined based on a real RF measurement and inference from the fingerprinting database. The database also needs to be updated based on the environment changes. One important feature embedded in the fingerprinting database and learned by the RF measurements is the multipath propagation properties. The multipath propagation properties may be characterized by the VA/R information according to this disclosure. For example, the multiple delay (if resolvable) may be characterized by the distance from a signal receiving end to each VA/R. Therefore, by the providence of VA/R information as auxiliary information in combination with the finger- printing-based methods, the location accuracy will be further improved.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the VA/R information may be used with positioning methods like simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). SLAM is a method used for autonomous terminals (or UEs) like robots/vehicles. In the SLAM, a UE builds a map and localizes itself in the map at the same time. SLAM allows the UE to map out unknown environments. SLAM is extremely important for robotic applications such as in industry environments (e.g., safe zone area, assess tracking/delivery/control), consumer applications, etc. With a priori knowledge of VA/R information being delivered to a mapping entity performing SLAM, the mapping entity may compare an inference result of VA/R estimation with a-prior information. For instance, the mapping entity may assign a position/sensing estimate that is close to provided VA information with higher confidence Thus, the positioning/ sensing performance can be improved.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of a method 900 according to this disclosure.

The method 900 is for localization and comprises the following steps: step 901 : receiving, by a first device, positioning assistance data from the second device, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information; and step 902: perform the localization based on the virtual station location information.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of a further method 1000 according to this disclosure. The method 1000 is for localization and comprises: step 1001 : sending, by a second device to a first device, positioning assistance data, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information.

The virtual station location information comprises:

- a virtual station ID identifying a virtual station;

- coordinate information of the virtual station; and

- a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

Optionally, prior to step 1001, the method 1000 may further comprises: step 1002: receiving, by the first device, positioning assistance data from the second device, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information.

It is noted that the steps of methods 900 and 1000 may share the same functions and details from the perspective of FIGs. 1-8 described above. Therefore, the corresponding method implementations are not described in detail again at this point.

The present disclosure may be applied to any wireless communication systems, such as but not limited to WLAN, 4G, 5G, 5G-Advanced, 6G, private mobile network, and campus network. Application scenarios of the present disclosure include but are not limited to: industrial asset/ro- bot positioning and tracking, environment mapping, vulnerable road user protection, intruder detection, remote health monitoring (e.g. respiration/heart rate measurement, fall detection), etc.

It is noted that devices (including the first device and the second device) of the present disclosure (as described above) may comprise processing circuitry configured to perform, conduct, or initiate the various corresponding operations described herein, respectively. The processing circuitry may comprise hardware and software. The hardware may comprise analog circuitry or digital circuitry, or both analog and digital circuitry. The digital circuitry may comprise components such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or multi-purpose processors. The processing circuitry may comprise one or more processors and a non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory may carry executable program code which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the device to perform, conduct or initiate the operations or methods described herein, respectively. The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with various examples as well as implementations. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed matter, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the independent claims. In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.

Claims

1. A first device (101) for localization, the first device (101) being configured to: receive positioning assistance data (110) from a second device (102), wherein the positioning assistance data (110) comprises virtual station location information; and perform the localization based on the virtual station location information (111); wherein the virtual station location information (111) comprises: a virtual station identity, ID, identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

2. The first device (101) according to claim 1, wherein the first device (101) is further configured to send a request to the second device (102), wherein the request is for requesting the positioning assistance data (110), and the request comprises one or more of: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; a maximum number of virtual stations.

3. The first device (101) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the virtual station location information (111) further comprises one or more of: information of one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information of one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information.

4. The first device (101) according to claim 3, wherein the virtual station clustering information comprises one or more of: a reference location of the virtual station, a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations, and a confidence of the reference location or the relative location.

5. The first device (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the positioning assistance data (110) further comprises virtual station information (113) and/or virtual station set information (112), wherein the virtual station information (113) comprises information of one or more virtual station sets, each virtual station set comprising a plurality of virtual stations; and wherein the virtual station set information (112) comprises one or more of: a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set.

6. The first device (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the virtual station is a virtual anchor, VA, and the virtual station location information (111) is VA location information (211).

7. The first device (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the virtual station is a virtual reflector, VR, and the virtual station location information (111) is VR location information (311).

8. The first device (101) according to claim 7, wherein the virtual station location information (111) further comprises orientation information associated with the VR.

9. A second device (102) for localization, the second device (102) being configured to provide positioning assistance data (110) to a first device (101), wherein the positioning assistance data (110) comprises virtual station location information (111), wherein the virtual station location information (111) comprises: a virtual station identity, ID, identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

10. The second device (102) according to claim 9, wherein the second device (102) is further configured to receive a request from the first device (101), wherein the request is for requesting the positioning assistance data (110), and the request comprises one or more of: a target physical anchor ID identifying a target physical anchor; a zone ID; and a maximum number of virtual stations.

11. The second device (102) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the virtual station location information (111) further comprises one or more of: information of one or more zones associated with the virtual station; information of one or more blockages associated with the virtual station; and virtual station clustering information.

12. The second device (102) according to claim 11, wherein the virtual station clustering information comprises one or more of a reference location of the virtual station, a relative location of a further virtual station in a cluster of virtual stations, and a confidence of the reference location or the relative location.

13. The second device (102) according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the positioning assistance data (110) further comprises virtual station information (113) and/or virtual station set information (112), wherein the virtual station information (113) comprises information of one or more virtual station sets, each virtual station set comprising a plurality of virtual stations; and wherein the virtual station set information (112) comprises one or more of: a virtual station set ID identifying a respective virtual station set; location information of each virtual station in the respective virtual station set; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with each virtual station in the respective virtual station set.

14. The second device (102) according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the virtual station is a virtual anchor, VA, and the virtual station location information (111) is VA location information (211).

15. The second device (102) according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the virtual station is a virtual reflector, VR, and the virtual station location information (111) is VR location information (311).

16. The second device (102) according to claim 15, wherein the virtual station location information (111) further comprises orientation information associated with the VR.

17. A system comprising a first device (101) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, and a second device (102) according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

18. Positioning assistance data (110) for localization, the positioning assistance data (110) comprising virtual station location information (111), wherein the virtual station location information (111) comprises: a virtual station identity, ID, identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

19. A method (900) for localization, the method comprises: receiving (901), by a first device, positioning assistance data from the second device, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information; and performing (902), by the first device, the localization based on the virtual station location information; wherein the virtual station location information comprises: a virtual station identity, ID, identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

20. A method (1000) for localization, the method comprises: sending (1001), by a second device to a first device, positioning assistance data, wherein the positioning assistance data comprises virtual station location information, wherein the virtual station location information comprises: a virtual station identity, ID, identifying a virtual station; coordinate information of the virtual station; and a physical anchor ID identifying a physical anchor associated with the virtual station.

21. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to claim 19 or 20.