Interface enhancements for timing advance-based multilateration for user device positioning measurements

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

• receive, by a user device from a serving base station, a list of base stations including base station identities and/or respective information about their physical channels, wherein the user device is a GSM user device, the serving base station is a GSM base station, and the list of base stations is a list of GSM base stations;
• receive, by the user device, a positioning reference identifier associated with a timing advance measurement procedure with respect to the user device and multiple base stations, the multiple base stations being identified in the list;
• and
• send, by the user device to the multiple base stations, either:
• an access burst including a synchronization sequence and the positioning reference identifier;
• or
• a first access burst including a synchronization sequence and a first part of the positioning reference identifier and a second access burst including a synchronization sequence and a second part of the positioning reference identifier.

A method comprising:

• transmitting, by a serving base station to a user device, a list of base stations and/or respective information about their physical channels used for broadcast signaling, wherein the user device is a GSM device, the serving base station is a GSM base station, and the list of base stations is a list of GSM base stations;
• and
• transmitting, by the serving base station to the user device, a positioning reference identifier associated with a timing advance measurement procedure with respect to the user device and multiple base stations, the multiple base stations being identified in the list;
• wherein the positioning reference identifier is small enough to be transmitted by the user device within one access burst or within two access bursts.

A method comprising:

• receiving, by a base station from a user device, an access burst, the access burst including including:
• a synchronization sequence;
• a positioning reference identifier associated with a timing advance measurement procedure with respect to the user device;
• and
• a flag that indicates a presence of the positioning reference identifier in the access burst
• measuring, by the base station, a timing advance with respect to the user device;
• and
• reporting, by the base station, the measured timing advance to a network entity.

An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

• receive, by a base station from a user device, an access burst, the access burst including:
• a synchronization sequence;
• a positioning reference identifier associated with a timing advance measurement procedure with respect to the user device;
• and
• a flag that indicates a presence of the positioning reference identifier in the access burst;
• measure, by the base station, a timing advance with respect to the user device;
• and
• report, by the base station, the measured timing advance to a network entity.