Positioning of mobile devices

1. A base station, comprising:

an interface configured to communicate on a wireless channel, and

at least one processor configured

to transmit, in a repetitive first sequence of transmission frames of the wireless channel, first positioning reference signals and

to transmit, in a repetitive second sequence of transmission frames of the wireless channel which is at least partly different from the first sequence, second positioning reference signals,

wherein the first positioning reference signals and the second positioning reference signals each facilitate determining a time of arrival of signals communicated on the wireless channel, and

wherein a count of the first positioning reference signals in the transmission frames of the first sequence is different from a count of the second positioning reference signals in the transmission frames of the second sequence.

2. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the count of the first positioning reference signals per subframe of the transmission frames of the first sequence is different from the count of the second positioning reference signals per subframe of the transmission frames of the second sequence.

3. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the count of the first positioning reference signals per resource block of the transmission frames of the first sequence is different from the count of the second positioning reference signals per resource block of the transmission frames of the second sequence.

4. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the first positioning reference signals are encoded based on a first sequence code,

wherein the second positioning reference signals are encoded based on a second sequence code, and

wherein the first sequence code and the second sequence code are the same.

5. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the first positioning reference signals are indicative of a respective transmission frame, and/or

wherein the second positioning reference signals are indicative of a respective transmission frame.

6. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the first positioning reference signals do not occupy at least the last resource of each one of the respective transmission frames, preferably at least the last two resources, more preferably at least the last three resources, and/or

wherein the second positioning reference signals do not occupy at least the last resource of each one of the respective transmission frames, preferably at least the last two resources, more preferably at least the last three resources.

7. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the time-frequency density of the first positioning reference signals in the transmission frames of the first sequence is different from the time-frequency density of the second positioning reference signals in the transmission frames of the second sequence.

8. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the frequency band of the first positioning reference signals is different from the frequency band of the second positioning reference signals.

9. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein a repetition rate of the first sequence is different from a repetition rate of the second sequence.

10. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the first sequence and the second sequence are at least partially overlapping in time.

11. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the length of the first sequence is longer than the length of the second sequence.

12. The base station of claim 1 ,

wherein the first sequence is associated with a first resource mapping of orthogonal time-frequency resources,

wherein the second sequence is associated with a second resource mapping of orthogonal time-frequency resources,

wherein the first resource mapping and the second resource mapping are at least partially different from each other.

13. The base station of claim 12 ,

wherein the first resource mapping and/or the second resource mapping are uniquely allocated to the base station.

14. The base station of claim 12 ,

wherein the resources of the first resource mapping allocated for transmission of the first positioning reference signals are varied as a function of repetitions of the first sequence, and/or

wherein the resources of the second resource mapping allocated for transmission of the second positioning reference signals are varied as a function of repetitions of the second sequence.

15. A device, comprising:

an interface configured to communicate on a wireless channel, and

at least one processor configured

to select between a repetitive first sequence of transmission frames of the wireless channel and a repetitive second sequence of transmission frames of the wireless channel prior to receiving the first or second sequence of transmission frames,

to selectively receive, based on said selecting, one of:

first positioning reference signals in the first sequence; or

second positioning reference signals in the second sequence, and

to determine a time of arrival of signals communicated on the wireless channel selectively based on the first positioning reference signals or the second positioning reference signals depending on said selecting.

16. The device of claim 15 ,

wherein the device is configured to select between the first sequence and the second sequence based on at least one of a receive power of signals communicated on the wireless channel and a receive bandwidth of the interface.

17. The device of claim 15 ,

wherein the device is configured to determine at least one first value indicative of the first positioning reference signals based on a combination of at least some of the first positioning reference signals and to determine the time of arrival based on the at least one first value, and/or

wherein the device is configured to determine at least one second value indicative of the second positioning reference signals based on a combination of at least some of the second positioning reference signals and to determine the time of arrival based on the at least one second value.

18. A network node, comprising:

an interface configured to communicate with at least one of a plurality of base stations and a device,

at least one processor configured to communicate at least one control message to at least one of a given one of the plurality of base stations and the device, the at least one control message being indicative of a repetitive first sequence of transmission frames of a wireless channel, in which the given base station is to transmit first positioning reference signals to a device and further indicative of a repetitive second sequence of transmission frames of the wireless channel, in which the given base station is to transmit second positioning reference signals to the device,

wherein the first positioning reference signals and the second positioning reference signals each facilitate determining of a time of arrival of signals communicated on the wireless channel, and wherein a count of the first positioning reference signals in the transmission frames of the first sequence is different from a count of the second positioning reference signals in the transmission frames of the second sequence.