Timing based UE positioning in shared cell environment

1. A method of operation of one or more network nodes to determine a location of a wireless device in a shared cell environment, comprising:

obtaining separate samples of at least a portion of one or more uplink transmissions received by at least a subset of a plurality of receive/transmit, R/T, points in a shared cell from the wireless device, the separate samples comprising, for each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell, a sample of at least a portion of an uplink transmission received by the R/T point from the wireless device; and

performing multilateration based on range estimates for ranges between the wireless device and the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points determined from the separate samples of the at least a portion of the one or more uplink transmissions received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell from the wireless device to thereby determine a location of the wireless device;

where obtaining the separate samples comprises:

scheduling an uplink transmission by the wireless device;

during a time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device, muting received signals output by all but one of the plurality of R/T points to thereby provide a non-muted receive signal corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the one of the plurality of R/T points and muted receive signals for all of the other R/T points of the plurality of R/T points, the one of the plurality of R/T points being one of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points;

combining the non-muted receive signal and the muted receive signals during the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device to provide the sample of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the one of the plurality of R/T points from the wireless device; and

repeating operations of scheduling, muting, and combining for all of the other R/T points in the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device is a time window corresponding to an uplink sounding reference symbol included in the uplink transmission by the wireless device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein performing multilateration comprises:

computing a range estimate for a range between the wireless device and each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points based on the corresponding sample; and

computing the location of the wireless device based on the range estimates.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the separate samples comprises:

scheduling an uplink transmission by the wireless device; and

during the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device, prior to combining the received signals output by the plurality of R/T points to provide a combined receive signal for the shared cell, simultaneously obtaining portions of the received signals received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points during the time window as the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device is a time window corresponding to an uplink sounding reference symbol included in the uplink transmission by the wireless device.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein obtaining the separate samples further comprises time-multiplexing the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points to provide a time-multiplexed signal.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein performing multilateration comprises:

computing a range estimate for a range between the wireless device and each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points based on the corresponding sample; and

computing the location of the wireless device based on the range estimates.

8. A system operable to determine a location of a wireless device in a shared cell environment, comprising:

a processing system for a shared cell of a cellular communications network operable to:

obtain separate samples of at least a portion of one or more uplink transmissions received by at least a subset of a plurality of receive/transmit, R/T, points in the shared cell from the wireless device, the separate samples comprising, for each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell, a sample of at least a portion of an uplink transmission received by the R/T point from the wireless device; and

perform multilateration based on range estimates for ranges between the wireless device and the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points determined from the separate samples of the at least a portion of the one or more uplink transmissions received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell from the wireless device to thereby determine the location of the wireless device;

where, in order to obtain the separate samples, the processing system is further operable to:

schedule an uplink transmission by the wireless device;

during a time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device, mute received signals output by all but one of the plurality of R/T points to thereby provide a non-muted receive signal corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the one of the plurality of R/T points and muted receive signals for all of the other R/T points of the plurality of R/T points, the one of the plurality of R/T points being one of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points;

combine the non-muted receive signal and the muted receive signals during the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device to provide the sample of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the one of the plurality of R/T points from the wireless device; and

repeat operations of scheduling, muting, and combining for all of the other R/T points in the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device is a time window corresponding to an uplink sounding reference symbol included in the uplink transmission by the wireless device.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein, in order to perform multilateration, the processing system is further operable to:

compute a range estimate for a range between the wireless device and each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points based on the corresponding sample; and

compute the location of the wireless device based on the range estimates.

11. The system of claim 8 wherein, in order to obtain the separate samples, the processing system is further operable to:

schedule an uplink transmission by the wireless device; and

during the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device, prior to combining received signals output by the plurality of R/T points to provide a combined receive signal for the shared cell, simultaneously obtain portions of the received signals received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points during the time window as the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the time window corresponding to the at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device is a time window corresponding to an uplink sounding reference symbol included in the uplink transmission by the wireless device.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein, in order to obtain the separate samples, the processing system is further operable to time-multiplex the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points to provide a time-multiplexed signal.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein, in order to perform multilateration, the processing system is further operable to:

compute a range estimate for a range between the wireless device and each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points based on the corresponding sample; and

compute the location of the wireless device based on the range estimates.

15. A method of operation of one or more network nodes to determine a location of a wireless device in a shared cell environment, comprising:

obtaining separate samples of at least a portion of one or more uplink transmissions received by at least a subset of a plurality of receive/transmit, R/T, points in a shared cell from the wireless device, the separate samples comprising, for each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell, a sample of at least a portion of an uplink transmission received by the R/T point from the wireless device; and

performing multilateration based on range estimates for ranges between the wireless device and the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points determined from the separate samples of the at least a portion of the one or more uplink transmissions received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell from the wireless device to thereby determine a location of the wireless device;

where obtaining the separate samples comprises:

scheduling an uplink transmission by the wireless device;

during a time window corresponding to at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device, prior to combining received signals output by the plurality of R/T points to provide a combined receive signal for the shared cell, simultaneously obtaining portions of the received signals received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points during the time window as the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points; and

time-multiplexing the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points to provide a time-multiplexed signal.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the one or more network nodes comprise a first network node and a second network node;

obtaining the separate samples comprises obtaining the separate samples at the first network node;

performing multilateration comprises performing multilateration at the second network node; and

obtaining the separate samples further comprising sending the time-multiplexed signal from the first network node to the second network node.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein sending the time-multiplexed signal from the first network node to the second network node comprises sending the time-multiplexed signal from the first network node to the second network node over a common link with the combined receive signal for the shared cell.

18. A system operable to determine a location of a wireless device in a shared cell environment, comprising:

a processing system for a shared cell of a cellular communications network operable to:

obtain separate samples of at least a portion of one or more uplink transmissions received by at least a subset of a plurality of receive/transmit, R/T, points in the shared cell from the wireless device, the separate samples comprising, for each R/T point of the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell, a sample of at least a portion of an uplink transmission received by the R/T point from the wireless device; and

perform multilateration based on range estimates for ranges between the wireless device and the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points determined from the separate samples of the at least a portion of the one or more uplink transmissions received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points in the shared cell from the wireless device to thereby determine the location of the wireless device;

where, in order to obtain the separate samples, the processing system is further operable to:

schedule an uplink transmission by the wireless device;

during a time window corresponding to at least a portion of the uplink transmission by the wireless device, prior to combining received signals output by the plurality of R/T points to provide a combined receive signal for the shared cell, simultaneously obtain portions of the received signals received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points during the time window as the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points; and

time-multiplex the separate samples of the at least a portion of the uplink transmission received by the at least a subset of the plurality of R/T points to provide a time-multiplexed signal.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein:

the system comprises a first network node and a second network node, the processing system being distributed across the first network node and the second network node such that:

the separate samples are obtained at the first network node; and

multilateration is performed at the second network node based on the separate samples obtained at the first network node;

wherein the first network node is operable to send the time-multiplexed signal from the first network node to the second network node.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein, in order to send the time-multiplexed signal from the first network node to the second network node, the processing system is further operable to send the time-multiplexed signal from the first network node to the second network node over a common link with the combined receive signal for the shared cell.