# US 11,451,928 B2 · Hierarchical reporting of location assistance information for positioning reference signal (PRS) resources in a multi-beam user equipment-based positioning scenario > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,451,928 B2 - Document ID: US11451928B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/927,401 - Filed: 2020-07-13 - Published: 2021-02-18 - Granted: 2022-09-20 - Earliest claimed: 2019-08-14 - Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Inventors: Alexandros Manolakos; Guttorm Ringstad Opshaug; Sony Akkarakaran; Sven Fischer; Tao Luo - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11451928B2 ## CPC - G01S 1/0428: {Signal details} - H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services - G01S 5/0205: {Details} - G01S 5/0236: {Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac} - G01S 5/0289: {of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks} - G01S 5/14: Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location - H04W 64/00: Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management - G01S 2205/008: using a mobile telephone network - G01S 2205/01: specially adapted for specific applications - H04W 4/02: Services making use of location information - H04W 48/12: using downlink control channel - H04W 48/16: Discovering, processing access restriction or access information - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Disclosed are techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives assistance data for enabling the UE to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point, receives, from each of at least a subset of the plurality of transmission points, at least one positioning reference signal, and estimates the location of the UE based on characteristics of reception of the at least one positioning reference signal from each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points and the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point for each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receive, from a positioning entity via the at least one transceiver, assistance data for enabling the UE to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location of each of the plurality of transmission points is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a lower level of description is relative to a higher level of description, and wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point; receive, via the at least one transceiver, from each of at least a subset of the plurality of transmission points, at least one positioning reference signal; and estimate the location of the UE based on characteristics of reception of the at least one positioning reference signal from each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points and the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point for each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein each of the two or more levels of description comprises a vector representing a range and direction from a location calculated based on a higher level of description. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The UE of claim 2, wherein the range and direction are expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The UE of claim 2, wherein the range and direction are expressed in Cartesian coordinates. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein, for each transmission point: a first level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location of a transmission-reception point (TRP) relative to the fixed reference point, and a second level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set relative to the location corresponding to the TRP. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The UE of claim 5, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resource sets. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The UE of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor being configured to calculate comprises the at least one processor being configured to: combine, for each transmission point, the first and second levels of description with the fixed reference point to calculate an absolute location of the transmission point. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The UE of claim 5, wherein, for each transmission point: a third level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource set. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The UE of claim 8, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resources. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The UE of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor being configured to calculate comprises the at least one processor being configured to: combine, for each transmission point, the first, second, and third levels of description with the fixed reference point to calculate an absolute location of the transmission point. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The UE of claim 8, wherein: each PRS resource corresponds to an antenna subpanel of an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, each PRS resource set corresponds to an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, and each TRP corresponds to a cell of a base station. ### Claim 12 (depends on 8) The UE of claim 8, wherein, for each transmission point: a fourth level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents an orientation corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The UE of claim 12, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The UE of claim 12, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in a local coordinate system (LCS). ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein the fixed reference point is external to a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points and is shared by a plurality of base stations. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein the fixed reference point is a center point of a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein, based on a change in location of a transmission point of the plurality of transmission points, the at least one processor is configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, an updated lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description for the transmission point. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein, based on a change to a non-lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, the at least one processor is configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, an updated level of description for the non-lowest level of description, wherein levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description lower than the non-lowest level of description do not change based on reception of the updated level of description. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein a single lower level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description is associated with each of a set of a next higher level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The UE of claim 19, wherein the assistance data includes only one representation of the single lower level of description for the set of the next higher level of description, and not one representation of the single lower level of description for each of the set of the next higher level of description. ### Claim 21 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein, based on a lower level of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description not being provided in the assistance data, the UE treats the lower level as being equal to zero. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein the assistance data includes only two levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, and wherein subsequent assistance data includes additional levels of description. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein the characteristics of reception comprise a round-trip-time (RTT) estimate or a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement between reference signals received from pairs of transmission points, angle information, or any combination thereof. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: calculate, for each transmission point of the subset of the plurality of transmission points, an absolute location of the transmission point based on the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point, wherein the at least one processor being configured to estimate the location of the UE based on the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point for each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points comprises the at least one processor being configured to estimate the location of the UE based on the absolute location of each transmission point of the subset of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 25 A positioning entity, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: cause the at least one transceiver to transmit assistance data for enabling a user equipment (UE) to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location of each of the plurality of transmission points is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a lower level of description is relative to a higher level of description, wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point, and wherein, for each transmission point: a first level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location of a transmission-reception point (TRP) relative to the fixed reference point, and a second level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set relative to the location corresponding to the TRP. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein each of the two or more levels of description comprises a vector representing a range and direction from a location calculated based on a higher level of description. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The positioning entity of claim 26, wherein the range and direction are expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The positioning entity of claim 26, wherein the range and direction are expressed in Cartesian coordinates. ### Claim 29 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resource sets. ### Claim 30 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein, for each transmission point: a third level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource set. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The positioning entity of claim 30, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resources. ### Claim 32 (depends on 30) The positioning entity of claim 30, wherein: each PRS resource corresponds to an antenna subpanel of an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, each PRS resource set corresponds to an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, and each TRP corresponds to a cell of a base station. ### Claim 33 (depends on 30) The positioning entity of claim 30, wherein, for each transmission point: a fourth level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents an orientation corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The positioning entity of claim 33, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 35 (depends on 33) The positioning entity of claim 33, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in a local coordinate system (LCS). ### Claim 36 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein the fixed reference point is external to a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points and is shared by a plurality of base stations. ### Claim 37 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein the fixed reference point is a center point of a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 38 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein, based on a change in location of a transmission point of the plurality of transmission points, the at least one processor is configured to: cause the at least one transceiver to transmit an updated lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description for the transmission point. ### Claim 39 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein, based on a change to a non-lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, the at least one processor is configured to: cause the at least one transceiver to transmit an updated level of description for the non-lowest level of description, wherein levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description lower than the non-lowest level of description do not change based on reception of the updated level of description. ### Claim 40 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein a single lower level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description is associated with each of a set of a next higher level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The positioning entity of claim 40, wherein the assistance data includes only one representation of the single lower level of description for the set of the next higher level of description, and not one representation of the single lower level of description for each of the set of the next higher level of description. ### Claim 42 (depends on 25) The positioning entity of claim 25, wherein the assistance data includes only two levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, and wherein subsequent assistance data includes additional levels of description. ### Claim 43 A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a positioning entity, assistance data for enabling the UE to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location of each of the plurality of transmission points is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a lower level of description is relative to a higher level of description, and wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point; receiving, from each of at least a subset of the plurality of transmission points, at least one positioning reference signal; and estimating the location of the UE based on characteristics of reception of the at least one positioning reference signal from each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points and the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point for each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 44 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein each of the two or more levels of description comprises a vector representing a range and direction from a location calculated based on a higher level of description. ### Claim 45 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44, wherein the range and direction are expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 46 (depends on 44) The method of claim 44, wherein the range and direction are expressed in Cartesian coordinates. ### Claim 47 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein, for each transmission point: a first level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location of a transmission-reception point (TRP) relative to the fixed reference point, and a second level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set relative to the location corresponding to the TRP. ### Claim 48 (depends on 47) The method of claim 47, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resource sets. ### Claim 49 (depends on 47) The method of claim 47, wherein the calculating comprises: combining, for each transmission point, the first and second levels of description with the fixed reference point to calculate an absolute location of the transmission point. ### Claim 50 (depends on 47) The method of claim 47, wherein, for each transmission point: a third level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource set. ### Claim 51 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resources. ### Claim 52 (depends on 51) The method of claim 51, wherein the calculating comprises: combining, for each transmission point, the first, second, and third levels of description with the fixed reference point to calculate an absolute location of the transmission point. ### Claim 53 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, wherein: each PRS resource corresponds to an antenna subpanel of an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, each PRS resource set corresponds to an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, and each TRP corresponds to a cell of a base station. ### Claim 54 (depends on 50) The method of claim 50, wherein, for each transmission point: a fourth level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents an orientation corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource. ### Claim 55 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 56 (depends on 54) The method of claim 54, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in a local coordinate system (LCS). ### Claim 57 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein the fixed reference point is external to a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points and is shared by a plurality of base stations. ### Claim 58 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein the fixed reference point is a center point of a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 59 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, further comprising: based on a change in location of a transmission point of the plurality of transmission points, receiving an updated lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description for the transmission point. ### Claim 60 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, further comprising: based on a change to a non-lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, receiving an updated level of description for the non-lowest level of description, wherein levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description lower than the non-lowest level of description do not change based on reception of the updated level of description. ### Claim 61 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein a single lower level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description is associated with each of a set of a next higher level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description. ### Claim 62 (depends on 61) The method of claim 61, wherein the assistance data includes only one representation of the single lower level of description for the set of the next higher level of description, and not one representation of the single lower level of description for each of the set of the next higher level of description. ### Claim 63 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein, based on a lower level of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description not being provided in the assistance data, the UE treats the lower level as being equal to zero. ### Claim 64 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein the assistance data includes only two levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, and wherein subsequent assistance data includes additional levels of description. ### Claim 65 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, wherein the characteristics of reception comprise a round-trip-time (RTT) estimate or a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement between reference signals received from pairs of transmission points, angle information, or any combination thereof. ### Claim 66 (depends on 43) The method of claim 43, further comprising: calculating, for each transmission point of the subset of the plurality of transmission points, an absolute location of the transmission point based on the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point, wherein estimating the location of the UE based on the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point for each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points comprises estimating the location of the UE based on the absolute location of each transmission point of the subset of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 67 A method of wireless communication performed by a positioning entity, comprising: transmitting assistance data for enabling a user equipment (UE) to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location of each of the plurality of transmission points is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a lower level of description is relative to a higher level of description, wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point, and wherein, for each transmission point: a first level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location of a transmission-reception point (TRP) relative to the fixed reference point, and a second level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set relative to the location corresponding to the TRP. ### Claim 68 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein each of the two or more levels of description comprises a vector representing a range and direction from a location calculated based on a higher level of description. ### Claim 69 (depends on 68) The method of claim 68, wherein the range and direction are expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 70 (depends on 68) The method of claim 68, wherein the range and direction are expressed in Cartesian coordinates. ### Claim 71 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resource sets. ### Claim 72 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein, for each transmission point: a third level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource set. ### Claim 73 (depends on 72) The method of claim 72, wherein the plurality of transmission points corresponds to a plurality of PRS resources. ### Claim 74 (depends on 72) The method of claim 72, wherein: each PRS resource corresponds to an antenna subpanel of an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, each PRS resource set corresponds to an antenna panel of a cell of a base station, and each TRP corresponds to a cell of a base station. ### Claim 75 (depends on 72) The method of claim 72, wherein, for each transmission point: a fourth level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents an orientation corresponding to a PRS resource relative to the location corresponding to the PRS resource. ### Claim 76 (depends on 75) The method of claim 75, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in polar coordinates. ### Claim 77 (depends on 75) The method of claim 75, wherein the fourth level of description is expressed in a local coordinate system (LCS). ### Claim 78 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein the fixed reference point is external to a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points and is shared by a plurality of base stations. ### Claim 79 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein the fixed reference point is a center point of a base station associated with at least one of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 80 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, further comprising: based on a change in location of a transmission point of the plurality of transmission points, transmitting an updated lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description for the transmission point. ### Claim 81 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, further comprising: based on a change to a non-lowest level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, transmitting an updated level of description for the non-lowest level of description, wherein levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description lower than the non-lowest level of description do not change based on reception of the updated level of description. ### Claim 82 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein a single lower level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description is associated with each of a set of a next higher level of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description. ### Claim 83 (depends on 82) The method of claim 82, wherein the assistance data includes only one representation of the single lower level of description for the set of the next higher level of description, and not one representation of the single lower level of description for each of the set of the next higher level of description. ### Claim 84 (depends on 67) The method of claim 67, wherein the assistance data includes only two levels of description of the hierarchy of two or more levels of description, and wherein subsequent assistance data includes additional levels of description. ### Claim 85 A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving, from a positioning entity, assistance data for enabling the UE to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location of each of the plurality of transmission points is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a lower level of description is relative to a higher level of description, and wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point; means for receiving, from each of at least a subset of the plurality of transmission points, at least one positioning reference signal; and means for estimating the location of the UE based on characteristics of reception of the at least one positioning reference signal from each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points and the two or more levels of description and the fixed reference point for each of the subset of the plurality of transmission points. ### Claim 86 A positioning entity, comprising: means for transmitting assistance data for enabling a user equipment (UE) to estimate a location of the UE, the assistance data including a relative location of each of a plurality of transmission points, wherein the relative location of each of the plurality of transmission points is represented as a hierarchy of two or more levels of description, wherein a lower level of description is relative to a higher level of description, wherein a highest level of description is relative to a fixed reference point, and wherein, for each transmission point: a first level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location of a transmission-reception point (TRP) relative to the fixed reference point, and a second level of description of the hierarchy of the two or more levels of description representing the relative location of the transmission point represents a location corresponding to a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set relative to the location corresponding to the TRP.