Methods and apparatuses for receiver (Rx)—transmitter (Tx) round trip time estimation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12593293-B2
Application number	US-202218260552-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 11, 2022
Priority date	Jan 20, 2021
Publication date	Mar 31, 2026
Grant date	Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for Rx-Tx RTT estimation are provided. One method may include transmitting, by a network element, the reference signal to another network element and recording a time stamp (t 0 ) of a time of transmission of the reference signal, and receiving an estimated Rx-Tx measurement from said another network element and recording a time stamp (t 3 ) of a time of receipt of the estimated Rx-Tx measurement. The method may also include calculating a Rx-Tx measurement at the network element based on a difference between the time stamp (t 0 ) of the time of transmission of the reference signal and the time stamp (t 3 ) of the receipt of the estimated Rx-Tx measurement, and determining a propagation delay based on a difference between the received estimated Rx-Tx measurement and the calculated Rx-Tx measurement.

First claim

We claim:

1 . An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive, at a network element, a signal from another network element and record a time of receipt (t1) of the signal;
predict, by the network element, a transmit time based on allocated resources, applied difference between downlink to uplink transmission timing, and internal errors at the network element;
estimate Rx-Tx measurement based on a difference between the time of receipt and the predicted transmit time;
transmit the estimated Rx-Tx measurement to said another network element on a shared channel;
calculate a difference in estimated Rx-Tx measurements and track a delta Rx-Tx measurement;
transmit, when a change in the estimated Rx-Tx measurements is above a range and threshold of the delta Rx-Tx measurement, the difference or delta in the estimated Rx-Tx measurement to said another network element;
transmit an intra-symbol offset on the shared channel to said another network element;
measure an actual value of Rx-Tx based on actual transmission of the shared channel;
determine whether there is an error between the actual Rx-Tx measurement and the estimated Rx-Tx measurement; and
transmit, when there is an error, a correction of the error to said another network element,
wherein the signal comprises one of a reference signal, positioning reference signal (PRS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signal (DM-RS), or sidelink signal, and wherein the transmitting comprises transmitting a difference or delta in the estimated Rx-Tx measurement and transmitting an intra-symbol offset using a reference signal.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network element comprises a user equipment (UE) and said another network element comprises a gNB.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network element comprises a gNB and said another network element comprises a user equipment (UE).

Assignees

• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Ashraf Muhammad Ikram
• Jacobsen Thomas Haaning
• Li Zexian
• Keating Ryan

Classifications

• H04J3/0661

  using timestamps · CPC title

• H04W56/009

  Closed loop measurements · CPC title

• H04W56/0045 Primary

  compensating for timing error by altering transmission time · CPC title

• H04W56/0065 Primary

  using measurement of signal travel time · CPC title