NPRS transmission method and device therefor

• US 10,680,777 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2017
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Ko, Hyunsoo, Ahn, Joonkui
• Primary Examiner(s): Smarth, Gerald A
• Application Number:
  US16/320,452
• Publication Number:
  US 20190245667A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2607 Cyclic extensions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/00 Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0051 of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0083 symbol-by-symbol
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

In the transmission of a narrowband positioning reference signal (NPRS), by a base station, in a cellular mobile communication system supporting narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the base station transmits an NPRS by using a predetermined part of a sequence defined by a generation formula, which is the same as a positioning reference signal (PRS) generation formula, and when a PRS and the NPRS are transmitted through the same cell, the base station transmits, to a terminal, information indicating whether the PRS and the NPRS can be used together.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a narrowband positioning reference signal (NPRS) from a base station in a cellular mobile communication system supporting narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the method comprising:

transmitting a positioning reference signal (PRS) by using a sequence defined by a first equation;

transmitting the NPRS by using a predetermined part of the sequence defined by the first equation; and

transmitting, to a UE, information indicating whether the PRS and the NPRS can be used together when the PRS and the NPRS are transmitted through the same cell.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the NPRS is transmitted using a predetermined part determined in accordance with a physical resource block (PRB) of the sequence, which includes the NPRS, if the cell is operated in an in-band mode, and the NPRS is transmitted using a predetermined part determined regardless of a position of the PRB which includes the NPRS if the cell is operated in a stand-alone mode.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the NPRS is transmitted per symbol by extracting two components of the sequence.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting position information of the PRB, which includes the NPRS, to the UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the NPRS is transmitted per symbol from a first symbol of a first subframe if the cell is operated in a stand-alone mode or a guard band mode, and the NPRS is transmitted from a symbol except first one or more predetermined number of symbols of a second subframe if the cell is operated in an in-band mode.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, when a frequency domain position to which the NPRS is transmitted is k,

k=6m+(6−

l+v_shift)mod 6 is satisfied, where m is 0 or 1, 1 denotes a symbol index to which the NPRS is transmitted, and v_shift is determined based on ID of a cell to which the NPRS is transmitted.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first equation is a pseudo-random sequence generation equation in which an initial value is determined by an identifier of the cell.

8. A method for receiving a narrowband positioning reference signal (NPRS) by a user equipment (UE) from a base station in a cellular mobile communication system supporting narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the method comprising:

receiving, from the base station, a positioning reference signal (PRS) corresponding to a sequence defined by a first equation;

receiving, from the base station, the NPRS corresponding to a predetermined part of the sequence defined by the first equation; and

performing position estimation by using the PRS and the NPRS if information indicating that the PRS and the NPRS can be used together is received from the base station.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the NPRS is received using a predetermined part determined in accordance with a physical resource block (PRB) of the sequence, which includes the NPRS, if the cell is operated in an in-band mode, and the NPRS is transmitted using a predetermined part determined regardless of a position of the PRB which includes the NPRS if the cell is operated in a stand-alone mode.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the NPRS corresponds to two components of the sequence, and is transmitted per symbol.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving position information of the PRB, which includes the NPRS, from the base station.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the NPRS is transmitted per symbol from a first symbol of a first subframe if the cell is operated in a stand-alone mode or a guard band mode, and the NPRS is transmitted per symbol from a symbol except first one or more predetermined number of symbols of a second subframe if the cell is operated in an in-band mode.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein, when a frequency domain position to which the NPRS is transmitted is k,

k=6m+(6−

l+v_shift)mod 6 is satisfied, where m is 0 or 1, 1 denotes a symbol index to which the NPRS is transmitted, and v_shift is determined based on ID of a cell to which the NPRS is transmitted.

14. A base station for transmitting a narrowband positioning reference signal (NPRS) in a cellular mobile communication system supporting narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the base station comprising:

a processor configured to configure a positioning reference signal (PRS) by using a sequence defined by a first equation and configure the NPRS by using a predetermined part of the sequence defined by the first equation; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the PRS and the NPRS to one or more user equipments (UEs),

wherein the processor is configured to transmit, to the UE, information indicating whether the PRS and the NPRS can be used together, through the transceiver when the PRS and the NPRS are transmitted through the same cell.

15. A user equipment (UE) for receiving a narrowband positioning reference signal (NPRS) from a base station in a cellular mobile communication system supporting narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the UE comprising:

a transceiver configured to receive, from the base station, a positioning reference signal (PRS) corresponding to a sequence defined by a first equation and receive, from the base station, the NPRS corresponding to a predetermined part of the sequence defined by the first equation; and

a processor configured to perform position estimation by using the PRS and the NPRS if information indicating that the PRS and the NPRS can be used together is received from the base station through the transceiver.