Method and apparatus for enhanced positioning in 5G-NR using DAOD and DAOA

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11619702-B2
Application number	US-202016992847-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2020
Priority date	Aug 14, 2019
Publication date	Apr 4, 2023
Grant date	Apr 4, 2023

Abstract

The angle of departure (AOD) of directed beams, e.g., beamformed beams, transmitted by one or more base stations, such as a gNB, and the angle of arrival (AOA) of the directed beams received by a UE may be used to improve positioning accuracy by identifying Line Of Sight (LOS) beams and multi-path beams. The differential AOA (DAOA) of a directed beam pair may compared to the differential AOD (DAOD) of the directed beam pair. Matching DAOA and DAOD may be used as an indication that the directed beams in the beam pair are LOS with the UE, whereas a mis-match indicates one or both of the directed beams are multi-path. The location of the UE may be estimated using the measurement information, e.g., AOA, RTT, RSTD, etc., obtained from LOS directed beams.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE), performed by an entity, comprising:
obtaining a differential Angle of Arrival (DAOA) for a pair of directed beams transmitted by at least one base station and received at the UE, wherein the DAOA is obtained from measurements of the pair of directed beams performed by the UE;
obtaining a differential Angle of Departure (DAOD) for the pair of directed beams transmitted by the at least one base station;
comparing the DAOA to the DAOD to determine if each directed beam in the pair of directed beams is Line Of Sight (LOS) between the at least one base station and the UE;
determining a location estimate for the UE using at least one of the directed beams in the pair of directed beams when each directed beam in the pair of directed beams is LOS; and
providing the location estimate to a requesting entity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pair of directed beams are from a single base station.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pair of directed beams are from two different base stations.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the DAOD comprises obtaining a pair of angles of departure (AODs) for the pair of directed beams.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the entity is the UE, wherein obtaining the DAOA comprises measuring the DAOA, wherein obtaining the pair of AODs comprises receiving the pair of AODs from a location server in a point to point message or from a base station in a broadcast message.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the entity is a location server, wherein obtaining the DAOA comprises receiving the DAOA from the UE, wherein obtaining the pair of AODs comprises obtaining the pair of AODs from a local database or receiving the pair of AODs from the at least one base station.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the location estimate for the UE comprises at least one of:
triangulating the location estimate based on the pair of AODs;
using at least one of the pair of AODs and a measured round trip time for the UE; or
obtaining a Reference Signal Time Difference for the pair of directed beams and obtaining the location estimate based on the Reference Signal Time Difference.

8. An entity for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE), the entity comprising:
an external interface for receiving and sending messages in a network;
memory configured to store instructions; and
at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the memory, the at least one processor configured by the instructions stored in the memory to:
obtain a differential Angle of Arrival (DAOA) for a pair of directed beams transmitted by at least one base station and received at the UE, wherein the DAOA is obtained from measurements of the pair of directed beams performed by the UE;
obtain a differential Angle of Departure (DAOD) for the pair of directed beams transmitted by the at least one base station;
compare the DAOA to the DAOD to determine if each directed beam in the pair of directed beams is Line Of Sight (LOS) between the at least one base station and the UE;
determine a location estimate for the UE using at least one of the directed beams in the pair of directed beams when each directed beam in the pair of directed beams is LOS; and
provide the location estimate to a requesting entity.

9. The entity of claim 8 , wherein the pair of directed beams are from a single base station.

10. The entity of claim 8 , wherein the pair of directed beams are from two different base stations.

11. The entity of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the DAOD by being configured to obtain a pair of angles of departure (AODs) for the pair of directed beams.

12. The entity of claim 11 , wherein the entity is the UE, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the DAOA by being configured to measure the DAOA, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the pair of AODs by being configured to receive the pair of AODs from a location server in a point to point message or from a base station in a broadcast message.

13. The entity of claim 11 , wherein the entity is a location server, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the DAOA by being configured to receive the DAOA from the UE, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the pair of AODs by being configured to obtain the pair of AODs from a local database or receiving the pair of AODs from the at least one base station.

14. The entity of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the location estimate for the UE by being configured to at least one of:
triangulate the location estimate based on the pair of AODs;
use at least one of the pair of AODs and a measured round trip time for the UE; or
obtain a Reference Signal Time Difference for the pair of directed beams and obtaining the location estimate based on the Reference Signal Time Difference.

15. An entity for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE), the entity comprising:
means for obtaining a differential Angle of Arrival (DAOA) for a pair of directed beams transmitted by at least one base station and received at the UE, wherein the DAOA is obtained from measurements of the pair of directed beams performed by the UE;
means for obtaining a differential Angle of Departure (DAOD) for the pair of directed beams transmitted by the at least one base station;
means for comparing the DAOA to the DAOD to determine if each directed beam in the pair of directed beams is Line Of Sight (LOS) between the at least one base station and the UE;
means for determining a location estimate for the UE using at least one of the directed beams in the pair of directed beams when each directed beam in the pair of directed beams is LOS; and
means for providing the location estimate to a requesting entity.

16. The entity of claim 15 , wherein the pair of directed beams are from a single base station.

17. The entity of claim 15 , wherein the pair of directed beams are from two different base stations.

18. The entity of claim 15 , wherein the means for obtaining the DAOD comprises means for obtaining a pair of angles of departure (AODs) for the pair of directed beams.

19. The entity of claim 18 , wherein the entity is the UE, wherein the means for obtaining the DAOA comprises means for measuring the DAOA, wherein the means for obtaining the pair of AODs comprises means for receiving the pair of AODs from a location server in a point to point message or from a base station in a broadcast message.

20. The entity of claim 18 , wherein the entity is a location server, wherein the means for obtaining the DAOA comprises means for receiving the DAOA from the UE, wherein the means for obtaining the pair of AODs comprises means for obtaining the pair of AODs from a local database or receiving the pair of AODs from the at least one base station.

21. The entity of claim 18 , wherein the means for determining the location estimate for the UE comprises at least one of:
means for triangulating the location estimate based on the pair of AODs;
means for using at least one of the pair of AODs and a measured round trip time for the UE; or
means for obtaining a Reference Signal Time Difference for the pair of directed beams and obtaining the location estimate based on the Reference Signal Time Difference.

22. A non-transitory storage medium including pr

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Gummadi Bapineedu Chowdary
• Edge Stephen William
• Agnihotri Hem

Classifications

• G01S5/0218

  Multipath in signal reception · CPC title

• H04W64/00 Primary

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• G01S1/042

  Transmitters · CPC title

• H04B7/043

  using best eigenmode, e.g. beam forming or beam steering · CPC title

• G01S5/10

  Position of receiver fixed by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements {, e.g. omega or decca systems}(G01S5/12 takes precedence {; beacons and receivers cooperating therewith G01S1/306, G01S1/308}) · CPC title