Granted Patent B2

US 12,732,942 · App. 18/359,670 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Ryan Keating (Naperville, IL); Diomidis Michalopoulos (Munich, DE); Stepan Kucera (Munich, DE); Jürgen Hofmann (Munich, DE); Berthold Panzner (Munich, DE)

Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy

H04W64/00H04L5/0051

Abstract

Claims (51)

1 . A terminal device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device at least to:

receive, from a network element, information comprising a plurality of characteristics of a geo-fence having two or more precision zones configured for two or more positioning uncertainties for the terminal device;

apply a precision zone selected from the two or more precision zones in accordance with a current location of the terminal device in communication of a reference signal for positioning of the terminal device.

2 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more precision zones are each associated with a corresponding frequency bandwidth.

3 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the information comprises two or more of zone boundaries, zone boundary uncertainty, and a frequency bandwidth to be used in transmitting and/or receiving the reference signal for positioning of the terminal device in a corresponding precision zone of the two or more precision zones.

4 . The terminal device of claim 3 , wherein the zone boundary uncertainty is based on at least one of a quality of position estimation of the current location of the terminal device, and one or more of the plurality of characteristics of the two or more precision zones.

5 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

switch between the two or more precision zones upon a zone change at the terminal device during the communication of the reference signal for the positioning of the terminal device.

6 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

select the precision zone from the two or more precision zones in accordance with the current location of the terminal device; and

receive transmissions of the reference signal by applying the first precision zone for the positioning of the terminal device.

7 . The terminal device of claim 6 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

detect the zone change at the terminal device; and

receive subsequent transmissions of the reference signal by applying a different precision zone corresponding to the zone change, wherein the different precision zone having a different positioning uncertainty.

8 . The terminal device of claim 7 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

indicate, to the network element, the zone change detected at the terminal device; and

receive the subsequent transmissions of the reference signal by applying the different precision zone corresponding to the zone change.

9 . The terminal device of claim 8 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

switch from the precision zone to the different precision zone to receive the subsequent transmissions of the reference signal.

10 . The terminal device of claim 9 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to measure the received reference signal through one of the following:

measure with lower frequency bandwidth when the precision zone or the different precision zone is determined or detected to be in a low precision configuration, and

measure with higher frequency bandwidth or a full frequency bandwidth of a configured channel when the precision zone or the different precision zone is determined or detected to be in a high precision configuration.

11 . The terminal device of claim 10 , wherein the measurement with the higher frequency bandwidth or the measurement with the full frequency bandwidth is performed through at least one or both of: frequency hopping and time multiplexing in the lower frequency bandwidth.

12 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal is a positioning reference signal.

13 . The terminal device of claim 5 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

receive, from the network element, an indication of the precision zone corresponding to the current location of the terminal device; and

transmit, to the network element, the reference signal by applying the precision zone.

14 . The terminal device of claim 13 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

send, to the network element, an indication of a different precision zone corresponding to the zone change at the terminal device; and

manage subsequent transmission of the reference signal, to the network element, by applying the different precision zone.

15 . The terminal device of claim 14 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

switch from the precision zone to the different precision zone corresponding to managing the subsequent transmission of the reference signal to the network element.

16 . The terminal device of claim 15 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to transmit the reference signal through one of the following:

transmit with lower frequency bandwidth when the precision zone or the different precision zone is determined or detected to be in a low precision configuration, and transmit with higher frequency bandwidth or a full frequency bandwidth of a configured channel when the precision zone or the different precision zone is determined or detected to be in a high precision configuration.

17 . The terminal device of claim 1 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

transmit, over a sidelink with a peer terminal device and to the peer terminal device, the reference signal for the positioning of the terminal device.

18 . The terminal device of claim 17 , wherein the terminal device is at least caused to:

obtain an indication of a different precision zone corresponding to the zone change at the terminal device; and

manage subsequent transmission of the reference signal to the peer terminal device via the sidelink by applying the different precision zone.

19 . A network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to:

receive configuration information of a location of a terminal device relative to a geo-fence having two or more precision zones configured for two or more positioning uncertainties for the terminal device; and

generate and transmit, to the terminal device, a positioning reference signal configured for a precision zone selected from one of the two or more precision zones in which the terminal device is located for positioning of the terminal device.

20 . A network device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network device at least to:

determine information comprising a plurality of characteristics of a geo-fence having two or more precision zones configured for two or more positioning uncertainties for a terminal device; and

transmit, to the terminal device, the determined plurality of characteristics of the two or more precision zones to cause the terminal device to apply a precision zone selected from the two or more precision zones in accordance with a current location of the terminal device in communication of a reference signal for positioning of the terminal device.

Assignments (4)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (25)