IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,363,664
Granted Patent B2
US 12,363,664 · App. 17/554,916 · Granted Jul 15, 2025

Positioning in a non-terrestrial network

Inventors: Majid Ghanbarinejad (Chicago, IL); Robin Thomas (Frankfurt am Main, DE); Sher Ali Cheema (Ilmenau, DE)
Assignee: LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
H04W56/004H04W72/0446H04W72/21
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,363,664
App. No.
17/554,916
Granted
Jul 15, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to a user equipment (UE) that receives first control signaling indicating position information associated with a non-terrestrial station (NTS), the position information including an altitude of the NTS, a distance between the NTS and the apparatus, and/or an indication of a timing delay between the NTS and the apparatus. The UE also receives second control signaling indicating a first configuration identifying a first reference signal occasion. The UE determines a temporal range of an expected reference signal time difference duration based in part on the position information and the first configuration, and receives a reference signal during the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration.

Claims (59)

1. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to:

receive first control signaling indicating an expected reference signal time difference duration and position information associated with a non-terrestrial station, the position information comprising one or more of an altitude of the non-terrestrial station, a distance between the non-terrestrial station and the UE, or a velocity of the non-terrestrial station;

receive second control signaling indicating a reference signal occasion;

obtain an updated expected reference signal time difference duration by adding a temporal offset to the expected reference signal time difference duration, wherein the temporal offset is associated with a reference period of the non-terrestrial station that is based at least in part on the reference signal occasion;

receive a reference signal during a temporal range of the updated expected reference signal time difference duration;

perform a measurement on the reference signal to determine a Doppler frequency of the reference signal based at least in part on the position information associated with the non-terrestrial station; and

transmit, to a network equipment (NE) based at least in part on a capability of the UE, the temporal offset and the Doppler frequency, wherein an estimate of a position of the UE with respect to the non-terrestrial station is based at least in part on the Doppler frequency.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to adjust the expected reference signal time difference duration according to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) architecture that includes a terrestrial network (TN) transmission-reception point (TRP) and an NTN TRP, one or both of the TN TRP or the NTN TRP being a primary TRP or a secondary TRP.

3. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the expected reference signal time difference duration is determined based at least in part on a primary transmission-reception point (TRP) and a secondary TRP signaling intra-frequency.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the expected reference signal time difference duration is determined based at least in part on a primary transmission-reception point (TRP) and a secondary TRP signaling inter-frequency.

5. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to:

receive third control signaling indicating an additional reference signal occasion; and

determine the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration based at least in part on the additional reference signal occasion.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to:

receive third control signaling indicating additional position information associated with at least an additional non-terrestrial station;

receive fourth control signaling indicating at least an additional reference signal occasion; and

determine the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration based at least in part on the position information, the additional position information, the reference signal occasion, and the additional reference signal occasion.

7. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to:

determine an estimated distance between the non-terrestrial station and the UE based at least in part on multi-round trip time measurements; and

obtain the distance between the non-terrestrial station and the UE based at least in part on the estimated distance and the position information associated with the non-terrestrial station.

8. A network equipment (NE) for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one memory; and

at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NE to:

transmit first control signaling indicating an expected reference signal time difference duration and position information associated with a non-terrestrial station, the position information comprising one or more of an altitude of the non-terrestrial station, a velocity of the non-terrestrial station, or a distance between the non-terrestrial station and a user equipment (UE);

transmit second control signaling indicating a reference signal occasion, wherein an updated expected reference signal time difference duration comprises a sum of a temporal offset and the expected reference signal time difference duration, and wherein the temporal offset is associated with a reference period of the non-terrestrial station that is based at least in part on the reference signal occasion; and

receive, from the UE and based at least in part on a capability of the UE, the temporal offset and a Doppler frequency of a reference signal associated with a temporal range of the updated expected reference signal time difference duration, wherein the Doppler frequency of the reference signal is based at least in part on the position information associated with the non-terrestrial station, and wherein an estimate of a position of the UE with respect to the non-terrestrial station is based at least in part on the Doppler frequency.

9. The NE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the NE to transmit third control signaling indicating an additional reference signal occasion, wherein the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration based at least in part on the additional reference signal occasion.

10. The NE of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the NE to:

transmit third control signaling indicating additional position information associated with at least an additional non-terrestrial station; and

transmit fourth control signaling indicating at least an additional reference signal occasion, wherein the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration based at least in part on the position information, the additional position information, the reference signal occasion, and the additional reference signal occasion.

11. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving first control signaling indicating an expected reference signal time difference duration and position information associated with a non-terrestrial station, the position information comprising one or more of an altitude of the non-terrestrial station, a distance between the non-terrestrial station and the UE, or a velocity of the non-terrestrial station;

receiving second control signaling indicating a reference signal occasion;

obtaining an updated expected reference signal time difference duration by adding a temporal offset to the expected reference signal time difference duration, wherein the temporal offset is associated with a reference period of the non-terrestrial station that is based at least in part on the reference signal occasion;

receiving a reference signal during a temporal range of the updated expected reference signal time difference duration;

performing a measurement on the reference signal to determine a Doppler frequency of the reference signal based at least in part on the position information associated with the non-terrestrial station; and

transmitting, to a network equipment (NE) based at least in part on a capability of the UE, the temporal offset and the Doppler frequency, wherein an estimate of a position of the UE with respect to the non-terrestrial station is based at least in part on the Doppler frequency.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

adjusting the expected reference signal time difference duration according to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) architecture that includes a terrestrial network (TN) transmission-reception point (TRP) and an NTN TRP, one or both of the TN TRP or the NTN TRP being a primary TRP or a secondary TRP.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the expected reference signal time difference duration is determined based at least in part on a primary transmission-reception point (TRP) and a secondary TRP signaling intra-frequency.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the expected reference signal time difference duration is determined based at least in part on a primary transmission-reception point (TRP) and a secondary TRP signaling inter-frequency.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving third control signaling indicating an additional reference signal occasion, wherein the determining the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration is based at least in part on the additional reference signal occasion.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving third control signaling indicating additional position information associated with at least an additional non-terrestrial station; and

receiving fourth control signaling indicating at least an additional reference signal occasion, wherein the determining the temporal range of the expected reference signal time difference duration is based at least in part on the position information, the additional position information, the reference signal occasion, and the additional reference signal occasion.

17. A processor for wireless communication, comprising:

at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to:

receive first control signaling indicating an expected reference signal time difference duration and position information associated with a non-terrestrial station, the position information comprising one or more of an altitude of the non-terrestrial station, a distance between the non-terrestrial station and the processor, or a velocity of the non-terrestrial station;

receive second control signaling indicating a reference signal occasion;

obtain an updated expected reference signal time difference duration by adding a temporal offset to the expected reference signal time difference duration, wherein the temporal offset is associated with a reference period of the non-terrestrial station that is based at least in part on the reference signal occasion;

receive a reference signal during a temporal range of the updated expected reference signal time difference duration;

perform a measurement on the reference signal to determine a Doppler frequency of the reference signal based at least in part on the position information associated with the non-terrestrial station; and

transmit, to a network equipment (NE) based at least in part on a capability of the processor, the temporal offset and the Doppler frequency, wherein an estimate of a position of the processor with respect to the non-terrestrial station is based at least in part on the Doppler frequency.

18. The processor of claim 17 , wherein the at least one controller is further configured to cause the processor to adjust the expected reference signal time difference duration according to a non-terrestrial network (NTN) architecture that includes a terrestrial network (TN) transmission-reception point (TRP) and an NTN TRP, one or both of the TN TRP or the NTN TRP being a primary TRP or a secondary TRP.

19. The processor of claim 17 , wherein the expected reference signal time difference duration is determined based at least in part on a primary transmission-reception point (TRP) and a secondary TRP signaling intra-frequency.

20. The processor of claim 17 , wherein the expected reference signal time difference duration is determined based at least in part on a primary transmission-reception point (TRP) and a secondary TRP signaling inter-frequency.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2022
From: LENOVO (UNITED STATES) INC.
To: LENOVO (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
Reel/Frame 061880/0110 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 20, 2021
From: GHANBARINEJAD, MAJID; THOMAS, ROBIN; CHEEMA, SHER ALI
To: LENOVO (UNITED STATES) INC.
Reel/Frame 058430/0094 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230199685A1 · Jun 22, 2023
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