Positioning reference signal (PRS) generation for multiple transmit antenna systems

• US 9,482,742 B1
• Filed: 10/23/2015
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Fischer, Sven
• Primary Examiner(s): Ajibade Akonai, Olumide T
• Application Number:
  US14/921,836
• Publication Number:
  US 20160334499A1
• Time in Patent Office: 375 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/0428 Signal details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 1/20 using a comparison of transit time of synchronised signals transmitted from non-directional antennas or antenna systems spaced apart, i.e. path-difference systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0236 Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0263 by combining or switching between positions derived from two or more separate positioning systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/10 Position of receiver fixed by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements , e.g. omega or decca systemsG01S5/12 takes precedence ; beacons and receivers cooperating therewith G01S1/306, G01S1/308
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/00 Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field H04B10/00, H04B15/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/024 Co-operative use of antennas of several sites, e.g. in co-ordinated multipoint or co-operative multiple-input multiple-output [MIMO] systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/04 using two or more spaced independent antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0604 with predefined switching scheme
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/00 Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• 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: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• 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 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/046 the resource being in the space domain, e.g. beams

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments pertain to a method of generating a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) sequence for a system comprising a plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements serving a single cell. In some embodiments, the method may comprise: assigning a distinct Physical Antenna Port (PAP) identifier (ID) to a subset of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements; and generating PRS sequences for the subset of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein each PRS sequence corresponds to a physical transmitting antenna element in the subset of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, and each PRS sequence has a corresponding frequency shift based, at least in part, on the PAP ID (h) of the corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

Claims

1. A processor-implemented method of generating a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) sequence, the method comprising:

assigning a distinct Physical Antenna Port (PAP) identifier (ID) to each physical transmitting antenna element in a plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements serving a single cell; and

generating a plurality of PRS sequences, each PRS sequence in the plurality of PRS sequences corresponding to a distinct physical transmitting antenna element in the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein each PRS sequence has a corresponding frequency shift based, at least in part, on a corresponding PAP ID (h) of a corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the corresponding frequency shift is based on a corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) of the corresponding PAP ID (h) of the corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating a plurality of PRS sequences comprises:

setting, for one of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) to 0.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) is based further on a Cell Portion ID, wherein the Cell Portion ID comprises an identifier associated with a geographic portion of the single cell.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements comprise one of:

a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), or

small cells.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements are realized using Remote Radio Heads (RRHs).

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

initiating transmission of Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) assistance information for one or more physical transmitting antenna elements of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein, OTDOA assistance information for a physical transmitting antenna element in the one or more physical transmitting antenna elements comprises a corresponding PAP ID (h).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein initiating transmission of the OTDOA assistance information comprises:

initiating transmission of the OTDOA assistance information to a User Equipment (UE), in response to received information from the UE indicating a capability to receive the OTDOA assistance information comprising the corresponding PAP ID (h).

9. An apparatus comprising:

a transceiver, the transceiver capable of transmitting Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) information; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to;

assign a distinct Physical Antenna Port (PAP) identifier (ID) to each physical transmitting antenna element in a plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements serving a single cell; and

generate a plurality of PRS sequences, each PRS sequence in the plurality of PRS sequences corresponding to a distinct physical transmitting antenna element in the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein each PRS sequence has a corresponding frequency shift based, at least in part, on a corresponding PAP ID (h) of a corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the corresponding frequency shift is based on a corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) of the corresponding PAP ID (h) of the corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, to generate a plurality of PRS sequences, the processor is configured to:

set, for one of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) to 0.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) is based further on a Cell Portion ID, wherein the Cell Portion ID comprises an identifier associated with a geographic portion of the single cell.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements comprise one of:

a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), or

small cells.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements are realized using Remote Radio Heads (RRHs).

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

initiate transmission of the PAP ID (h) as part of Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) assistance information for the corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein to initiate transmission of the OTDOA assistance information, the processor is configured to:

intitiate transmission of the OTDOA assistance information to a User Equipment (UE), in response to received information from the UE indicating a capability to receive the OTDOA assistance information comprising the corresponding PAP ID (h).

17. A apparatus comprising:

transceiver means capable of transmitting Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) information; and

processing means, the processing means comprising;

means for assigning a distinct Physical Antenna Port (PAP) identifier (ID) to each physical transmitting antenna element in a plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements serving a single cell; and

means for generating a plurality of PRS sequences, each PRS sequence in the plurality of PRS sequences corresponding to a distinct physical transmitting antenna element in the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein each PRS sequence has a corresponding frequency shift based, at least in part, on a corresponding PAP ID (h) of a corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the corresponding frequency shift is based on a corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) of the corresponding PAP ID (h) of the corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein means for generating comprises:

means for setting, for one of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) to 0.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) is based further on a Cell Portion ID, wherein the Cell Portion ID comprises an identifier associated with a geographic portion of the single cell.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements comprise one of:

a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), or

small cells.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements are realized using Remote Radio Heads (RRHs).

23. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

means for initiating transmission of Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) assistance information for one or more physical transmitting antenna elements of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein, OTDOA assistance information for a physical transmitting antenna element in the one or more physical transmitting antenna elements comprises a corresponding PAP ID (h).

24. An article comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions to that are executable by a processor to;

assign a distinct Physical Antenna Port (PAP) identifier (ID) to each physical transmitting antenna element in a plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements serving a single cell; and

generate a plurality of Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) sequences, each PRS sequence in the plurality of PRS sequences corresponding to a distinct physical transmitting antenna element in the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein each PRS sequence has a corresponding frequency shift based, at least in part, on a corresponding PAP ID (h) of a corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

25. The article of claim 24, wherein the corresponding frequency shift is based on a corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) of the corresponding PAP ID (h) of the corresponding physical transmitting antenna element.

26. The article of claim 25, wherein the instructions to generate a plurality of PRS sequences comprise instructions to:

set, for one of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) to 0.

27. The article of claim 25, wherein the corresponding function ƒ

(PAP_h) is based further on a Cell Portion ID, wherein the Cell Portion ID comprises an identifier associated with a geographic portion of the single cell.

28. The article of claim 24, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements comprise one of:

a Distributed Antenna System (DAS);

or

small cells.

29. The article of claim 24, wherein the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements are realized using Remote Radio Heads (RRHs).

30. The article of claim 24, wherein the instructions that are executable by the processor further comprise instructions to:

initiate transmission of Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) assistance information for one or more physical transmitting antenna elements of the plurality of physical transmitting antenna elements, wherein, OTDOA assistance information for a physical transmitting antenna element in the one or more physical transmitting antenna elements comprises a corresponding PAP ID (h).