Procedures and signalling to enhance positioning integrity using PRU measurements

1 . An apparatus comprising an Integrity Management Function (IMF) for a wireless positioning system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

receive, from a Location Management Function (LMF) of a core network, a request for at least one positioning integrity result using positioning reference unit (PRU) measurements, wherein the request comprises an indication to perform at least one positioning integrity check using measuring device positioning information and Transmission Reception Point (TRP) positioning information;

request, from a plurality of measuring devices or the LMF, the measuring device positioning information, wherein the request for the measuring device positioning information comprises:

measuring device measurement quantities comprising a list of requested measuring device information parameters,

a measurement periodicity comprising a periodicity of realizations of the requested measuring device measurement quantities, and

a measurement amount comprising a number of realizations of the requested measuring device measurement quantities;

receive, from the plurality of measuring devices or the LMF, the measuring device positioning information comprising:

a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal Received Signal Received Power (DL PRS-RSRP) measurement, and

spatial direction information of uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) resources;

request, from the LMF, the TRP positioning information, wherein the request for the TRP positioning information comprises:

TRP measurement quantities comprising a list of requested measuring device information parameters,

a measurement periodicity comprising a periodicity of realizations of the requested transmission reception point measurement quantities, and

a measurement amount comprising a number of realizations of the requested transmission reception point measurement quantities;

receive, from the LMF, the TRP positioning information;

based on the measuring device positioning information and the TRP positioning information that is received, perform the at least one positioning integrity check, that identifies a source of a positioning error in either one of the plurality of measuring devices or a TRP, wherein performing the at least one positioning integrity check comprises:

deriving a first beam orientation error for the TRP based on Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements from a first measuring device of the plurality of measuring devices; and

deriving a second beam orientation error for the TRP based on RSRP measurements from a second measuring device of the plurality of measuring devices;

comparing a difference between the first and second beam orientation errors to a threshold to determine that the source of the positioning error is the TRP or one of the plurality of measuring devices, and

responsive to the difference between the first and second beam orientation errors exceeding the threshold, identifying a source measuring device of the plurality of measuring devices as the source of the positioning error based on a correlation of RSRP measurements among at least three measuring devices of the plurality of measuring devices;

based on the at least one positioning integrity check determine the at least one positioning integrity result indicating whether an inaccuracy is detected for the source measuring device or the TRP wherein the at least one positioning integrity result comprises:

at least one measuring device positioning integrity result, and

at least one transmission reception point positioning integrity result;

determine measuring device correction information for the source measuring devices based on the at least one positioning integrity check, wherein the measuring device correction information comprises:

beam correction information comprising:

a correction to at least one parameter related to beam antenna information of the source measuring device, or

a correction to at least one parameter related to sounding reference signal beam information of the source measuring device, and

location correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to location information of the source measuring device;

determine TRP correction information for the TRP based on the at least one positioning integrity check, wherein the TRP correction information comprises:

beam correction information further comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to:

beam antenna information of the radio access network node, or

positioning reference signal beam information of the radio access network node,

location correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to location information of the radio access network node, and

a correction for a beam orientation error of the transmission reception point;

transmit, to each of the plurality of measuring devices, the at least one measuring device positioning integrity result, the at least one TRP positioning integrity result, and the measuring device correction information;

transmit, to the TRP of the radio access network node, the TRP correction information; and

transmit, to the LMF, the at least one positioning integrity result.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one measuring device positioning integrity result comprises:

an indication of whether inaccurate measuring device beam antenna information has been detected by the apparatus, wherein the beam antenna information comprises beam direction information, a beam power profile, or other information,

an indication of whether inaccurate measuring device location information has been detected by the apparatus, and

an indication of whether inaccurate measuring device sounding reference signal beam information has been detected by the apparatus.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmission reception point positioning integrity result comprises:

an indication of whether inaccurate transmission reception point beam antenna information has been detected by the apparatus, wherein the beam antenna information comprises beam direction information, a beam power profile, or other information,

an indication of whether inaccurate transmission reception point location information has been detected by the apparatus, and

an indication of whether inaccurate transmission reception point positioning reference signal beam information has been detected by the apparatus.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the at least one measuring device positioning integrity result, the at least one transmission reception point positioning integrity result, and the measuring device correction information to each of the plurality of measuring devices occurs over a sidelink positioning protocol (SLPP) connection.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the measuring device positioning information further comprises: Downlink Positioning Reference Signal Received Path Power (DL PRS-RSRPP), Downlink Angle-of-Departure (DL-AOD), or Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA).

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the transmission reception point positioning information comprises at least one of: Uplink Angle-of-Arrival (UL-AoA), Uplink Relative Time of Arrival (UL-RTOA), or a gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the request for the at least one positioning integrity result received from the location management function is initiated in response to a location service request from a location services client.

8 . An apparatus comprising:

a radio access network node hosting a transmission reception point (TRP), the radio access network node comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the radio access network node at least to:

receive, from an integrity management function (IMF) implemented by a location management function (LMF) or by a user equipment, a request for TRP positioning information, wherein the request comprises one of:

TRP measurement quantities comprising a list of requested parameters including at least one of:

a gNB-RxTxTimeDiff,

an uplink sounding reference signal reference signal received power (UL-SRS-RSRP),

an uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), or

an uplink relative time of arrival (UL-RTOA),

a measurement periodicity, or

a measurement amount;

transmit, to the IMF, the TRP positioning information, wherein the TRP positioning information comprises at least one of:

a measurement result,

positioning reference signal (PRS) beam information comprising spatial direction information of downlink (DL) PRS resources, including a PRS azimuth angle and a PRS elevation angle,

beam antenna information comprising a TRP identifier, a TRP azimuth angle, a TRP elevation angle, and a TRP beam power profile, or

location information of the radio access network node comprising geographical coordinates for the TRP and an associated Antenna Reference Point (ARP);

receive, from the IMF, TRP correction information,

wherein the TRP correction information is generated by the IMF based on an integrity check comparing the TRP positioning information with measuring device positioning information received from a plurality of Positioning Reference Units (PRUs), the TRP correction information comprising:

beam correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to the beam antenna information of the radio access network node, wherein the beam antenna information comprises a beam direction or a beam power profile,

location correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to the location information of the radio access network node,

a correction for a beam orientation error of the TRP, and

beam correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to the PRS beam information of the radio access network node; and

apply the received TRP correction information to update at least one stored parameter of the radio access network node to improve positioning accuracy, wherein the at least one stored parameter comprises: a beam azimuth angle, a beam elevation angle, a beam power profile, or geographical coordinates of the radio access network node.

9 . An apparatus operating as a measuring device comprising a positioning reference unit (PRU), the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

receive, from an integrity management function (IMF) implemented by a location management function or by a user equipment, a request for measuring device positioning information, wherein the request for the measuring device positioning information comprises:

measuring device measurement quantities,

a measurement periodicity, and

a measurement amount;

transmit, to the IMF, the measuring device positioning information comprising:

a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal Received Signal Received Power (DL PRS-RSRP) measurement,

a timestamp,

a Downlink Positioning Reference Signal Received Path Power (DL PRS-RSRPP) measurement,

a Downlink Angle-of-Departure (DL-AOD) measurement,

a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) measurement,

a Multi-cell Round Trip Time (Multi-cell RTT) measurement,

spatial direction information of uplink sounding reference signal (SRS) resources,

beam antenna information of the apparatus comprising a PRU-antenna azimuth angle, a PRU-antenna elevation angle, and a PRU-antenna beam power profile, and

location information comprising geographical coordinates for the apparatus;

receive, from the IMF, measuring device correction information, wherein the measuring device correction information comprises at least one of:

beam correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to the beam antenna information of the apparatus,

location correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to location information of the apparatus, or

sounding reference signal correction information comprising a correction to at least one parameter related to the spatial direction information of the uplink SRS resources; and

receive, from the IMF, at least one measuring device positioning integrity result and at least one transmission reception point (TRP) positioning integrity result, wherein the at least one measuring device positioning integrity result comprises at least one of:

a first flag indicating detection of misleading beam antenna information of the apparatus,

a second flag indicating detection of misleading location information of the apparatus, or

a third flag indicating detection of misleading sounding reference signal beam information of the apparatus.

10 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

receive, from a location services client, a request for at least one positioning integrity result based on at least one measurement of a measuring device, wherein the request comprises an Integrity UsingPRUMeasurementsFlag to trigger at least one positioning integrity check;

request, from a plurality of measuring devices, measuring device positioning information, wherein the request for measuring device positioning information comprises a list of PRU-Measurement Quantities, and wherein each of the plurality of measuring devices comprises a positioning reference unit (PRU);

receive, from the plurality of measuring devices, the measuring device positioning information comprising PRU-BeamAntennaInformation and a PRU-MeasurementResult for each of the plurality of measuring devices;

request, from a radio access network node hosting a transmission reception point (TRP), TRP positioning information;

receive, from the radio access network node, the TRP positioning information;

based on the measuring device positioning information and the TRP positioning information, perform the at least one positioning integrity check that identifies a source of a positioning error in either the TRP or one of the plurality of measuring devices, wherein performing the at least one positioning integrity check comprises:

deriving a first beam orientation error for the TRP based on Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurements from a first measuring device of the plurality of measuring devices; and

deriving a second beam orientation error for the TRP based on RSRP measurements from a second measuring device of the plurality of measuring devices;

comparing a difference between the first and second beam orientation errors to a first threshold;

in response to the difference being below the first threshold, comparing the first and second beam orientation errors to a second threshold to identify the TRP as the source of the positioning error; and

in response to the difference exceeding the first threshold, identifying one of the first or second measuring devices as the source of the positioning error based on a correlation of RSRP measurements among at least three of the plurality of measuring devices;

based on the at least one positioning integrity check, determine at least one positioning integrity result

based on the identified source of the positioning error, determine correction information comprising a beam orientation error value;

wherein the at least one positioning integrity result comprises at least one measuring device positioning integrity result or at least one TRP positioning integrity result,

wherein the at least one measuring device positioning integrity result comprises:

an indication of whether inaccurate measuring device beam antenna information has been detected, wherein the beam antenna information comprises beam direction information, and a beam power profile,

an indication of whether inaccurate measuring device location information has been detected, and

an indication of whether inaccurate measuring device sounding reference signal beam information has been detected, and

wherein the at least one TRP positioning integrity result comprises a MisleadingBeamInformationFlag indicating whether misleading TRP beam information is detected;

transmit, to at least one of the plurality of measuring devices, the following:

at least one measuring device positioning integrity result and the at least one TRP positioning integrity result;

the correction information to the identified specific source of the positioning error; and

transmit, to the location services client, the at least one positioning integrity result,

wherein the apparatus comprises a location management function that implements an integrity management function (IMF).