Request of no-downlink-scheduling gaps and sounding reference signal (srs) positioning transmission for prioritized and efficient positioning reference signal (prs) processing

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 serving base station, in one or more active bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the UE, a request for a no-downlink-scheduling gap, the request including at least time-domain parameters related to scheduling the no-downlink-scheduling gap;
• and
• receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a neighboring base station, in the one or more active BWPs, a downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) during the no-downlink-scheduling gap, wherein:
• the UE does not receive any downlink transmissions from the serving base station during the no-downlink-scheduling gap inside the one or more active BWPs, or
• the UE ignores any downlink transmissions from the serving base station during the no-downlink-scheduling gap in the one or more active BWPs, or
• the UE prioritizes DL-PRS processing over any other downlink transmissions from the serving base station during the no-downlink-scheduling gap in the one or more active BWPs.

A base station, 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), in one or more active bandwidth parts (BWPs) of the UE, a request for a no-downlink-scheduling gap, the request including at least time-domain parameters of the no-downlink-scheduling gap;
• and
• refrain from transmitting to the UE during the no-downlink-scheduling gap.