IP Library › Granted Patent US 12674857

Granted Patent B2

US 12674857 · App. 18/548,183 · Granted Jul 7, 2026

Broadcasting positioning assistance data for aerial user equipment

Inventors: Chiranjib Saha (Lakeside, CA); Alberto Rico Alvarino (San Diego, CA); Le Liu (San Jose, CA); Kazuki Takeda (Tokyo, JP); Alexandros Manolakos (Escondido, CA); Umesh Phuyal (San Diego, CA)

Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated

G01S5/0236 G01S5/10 H04W36/322 H04W84/06

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12674857
App. No.: 18/548,183
Granted: Jul 7, 2026
Kind: B2

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Abstract

Positioning assistance data is broadcast by Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) that includes information that is specific for aerial user equipment (UEs) and information that is for terrestrial UEs. The positioning assistance data may be included in positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs), and the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs may be provided together in the posSIB or may be provided in separate posSIBs. The positioning assistance data, for example, may separately list, e.g., the TRPs, resource sets, or resources to be used for positioning aerial UEs.

Claims (60)

1 . A method performed by a network entity in a wireless network for positioning one or more user equipments (UEs) including an aerial UE, the method comprising:

obtaining positioning assistance data to be broadcast by one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs), the positioning assistance data comprising information for aerial UEs and information for terrestrial UEs; and

sending the positioning assistance data;

wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first list of positioning assistance data per frequency layer for aerial UEs that is different than a second list of positioning assistance data per frequency layer for terrestrial UEs.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network entity is a location server, and obtaining positioning assistance comprises configuring the positioning assistance data, and wherein the positioning assistance data is sent to one or more TRPs for broadcasting.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network entity is a TRP, and obtaining the positioning assistance comprises receiving the positioning assistance data from a location server, and sending the positioning assistance data comprises broadcasting the positioning assistance data.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are provided together in the posSIBs.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are provided separately in different posSIBs.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information for aerial UEs comprises a first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning aerial UEs, wherein the first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP is listed separately from a second set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning terrestrial UEs.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs, and the information for aerial UEs comprises identifiers for the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs from the first set of TRPs.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs and an indication of a priority of the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises downlink reference signal configurations per TRPs, and wherein the information for the aerial UEs comprises identifiers for downlink reference signal configurations that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

10 . A network entity in a wireless network configured for positioning one or more user equipments (UEs) including an aerial UE, comprising:

an external interface;

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory and configured to:

obtain, via the external interface, positioning assistance data to be broadcast by one or more Transmission Reception Points (TRPs), the positioning assistance data comprising information for aerial UEs and information for terrestrial UEs; and

send, via the external interface, the positioning assistance data;

11 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the network entity is a location server, and the at least one processor is configured to obtain positioning assistance by being configured to configure the positioning assistance data, and wherein the positioning assistance data is sent to one or more TRPs for broadcasting.

12 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the network entity is a TRP, and the at least one processor is configured to obtain the positioning assistance by being configured to receive, via the external interface, the positioning assistance data from a location server, and the at least one processor is configured to send the positioning assistance data by being configured to broadcast the positioning assistance data.

13 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are provided together in the posSIBs.

14 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are provided separately in different posSIBs.

15 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the information for aerial UEs comprises a first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning aerial UEs, wherein the first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP is listed separately from a second set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning terrestrial UEs.

16 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs, and the information for aerial UEs comprises identifiers for the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs from the first set of TRPs.

17 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs and an indication of a priority of the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

18 . The network entity of claim 10 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises downlink reference signal configurations per TRPs, and wherein the information for the aerial UEs comprises identifiers for downlink reference signal configurations that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

19 . A method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network for positioning, the method comprising:

receiving positioning assistance data broadcast by a Transmission Reception Points (TRP), the positioning assistance data comprising information for aerial UEs and information for terrestrial UEs; and

obtaining downlink measurements using the positioning assistance data;

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) broadcast by the TRP and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are received together in the posSIBs.

21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) broadcast by the TRP and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are received separately in different posSIBs.

22 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the UE is an aerial UE and accesses the information for the aerial UEs based on a subscription.

23 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the UE is an aerial UE, the method further comprising:

determining a vertical coordinate for the aerial UE;

determining if the vertical coordinate for the aerial UE is greater than a threshold;

wherein the information for the aerial UEs is accessed if the vertical coordinate for the aerial UE is greater than the threshold and the information for the terrestrial UEs is accessed if the vertical coordinate for the aerial UE is less than the threshold.

24 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the information for aerial UEs comprises a first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning aerial UEs, wherein the first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP is listed separately from a second set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning terrestrial UEs.

25 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs, and the information for aerial UEs comprises identifiers for the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs from the first set of TRPs.

26 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs and an indication of a priority of the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

27 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises downlink reference signal configurations per TRPs, and wherein the information for the aerial UEs comprises identifiers for downlink reference signal configurations that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

28 . A user equipment (UE) in a wireless network configured for positioning, the UE comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with entities in the wireless network;

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory and configured to:

receive, via the wireless transceiver, positioning assistance data broadcast by a Transmission Reception Points (TRP), the positioning assistance data comprising information for aerial UEs and information for terrestrial UEs; and

obtain, via the wireless transceiver, downlink measurements using the positioning assistance data;

29 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) broadcast by the TRP and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are received together in the posSIBs.

30 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the positioning assistance data is partitioned into a plurality of positioning System Information Blocks (posSIBs) broadcast by the TRP and wherein the information for the aerial UEs and information for the terrestrial UEs are received separately in different posSIBs.

31 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the UE is an aerial UE and accesses the information for the aerial UEs based on a subscription.

32 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the UE is an aerial UE, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine a vertical coordinate for the aerial UE;

determine if the vertical coordinate for the aerial UE is greater than a threshold;

33 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the information for aerial UEs comprises a first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning aerial UEs, wherein the first set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP is listed separately from a second set of downlink reference signal configurations per TRP that are configured for positioning terrestrial UEs.

34 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs, and the information for aerial UEs comprises identifiers for the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs from the first set of TRPs.

35 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises a first set of TRPs that are configured for positioning both aerial UEs and terrestrial UEs and an indication of a priority of the TRPs that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.

36 . The UE of claim 28 , wherein the positioning assistance data comprises downlink reference signal configurations per TRPs, and wherein the information for the aerial UEs comprises identifiers for downlink reference signal configurations that are configured for positioning aerial UEs.