Positioning assistance data procedures

A method for performing positioning assistance operations at a positioning entity, comprising:

• receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a request for positioning assistance data message, the request for positioning assistance data message identifying a serving cell of the UE and one or more neighboring cells of the UE with which the UE is attempting to perform a positioning procedure, the request for positioning assistance data message further including a request for base station almanac information for each of the one or more neighboring cells;
• and
• transmitting, to the UE, a positioning assistance data message in response to the request, the positioning assistance data message including at least positioning reference signal configurations for the serving cell and the one or more neighboring cells identified in the request for positioning assistance data message, the positioning assistance data message further including the base station almanac information for each of the one or more neighbor cells, the base station almanac information comprising a geographic location of an antenna array of each neighboring cell of the one or more neighboring cells, an orientation, tilt, and height of the antenna array, an antenna and beam pattern, an extent to which the neighboring cell is synchronized with the serving cell, an extent to which a neighboring cell group-delay is calibrated, or any combination thereof.

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:
• transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to a positioning entity, a request for positioning assistance data message, the request for positioning assistance data message identifying a serving cell of the UE and one or more neighboring cells of the UE with which the UE is attempting to perform a positioning procedure, the request for positioning assistance data message further including a request for base station almanac information for each of the one or more neighboring cells;
• receive, via the at least one transceiver, from the positioning entity, a positioning assistance data message in response to the request, the positioning assistance data message including at least positioning reference signal configurations for the serving cell and the one or more neighboring cells identified in the request for positioning assistance data message, the positioning assistance data message further including the base station almanac information for each of the one or more neighbor cells, the base station almanac information comprising a geographic location of an antenna array of each neighboring cell of the one or more neighboring cells, an orientation, tilt, and height of the antenna array, an antenna and beam pattern, an extent to which the neighboring cell is synchronized with the serving cell, an extent to which a neighboring cell group-delay is calibrated, or any combination thereof;
• obtain positioning measurements of positioning reference signals transmitted from the serving cell and the one or more neighboring cells based on the positioning reference signal configurations;
• and
• enable a location of the UE to be determined based on at least the positioning measurements and the geographic location of the antenna array of each neighboring cell of the one or more neighboring cells.

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:
• receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a user equipment (UE), a request for positioning assistance data message, the request for positioning assistance data message identifying a serving cell of the UE and one or more neighboring cells of the UE with which the UE is attempting to perform a positioning procedure, the request for positioning assistance data message further including a request for base station almanac information for each of the one or more neighboring cells;
• and
• transmit, via the at least one transceiver, to the UE, a positioning assistance data message in response to the request, the positioning assistance data message including at least positioning reference signal configurations for the serving cell and the one or more neighboring cells identified in the request for positioning assistance data message, the positioning assistance data message further including the base station almanac information for each of the one or more neighbor cells, the base station almanac information comprising a geographic location of an antenna array of each neighboring cell of the one or more neighboring cells, an orientation, tilt, and height of the antenna array, an antenna and beam pattern, an extent to which the neighboring cell is synchronized with the serving cell, an extent to which a neighboring cell group-delay is calibrated, or any combination thereof.