CN119948800A

CN119948800A - Positioning using positioning reference signal transmission using a frequency hopping pattern

Info

Publication number: CN119948800A
Application number: CN202380069596.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 巴苏基·普里扬托; 张宇杰; 安德斯·贝里格伦
Original assignee: Sony Group Corp
Current assignee: Sony Group Corp
Priority date: 2022-09-30
Filing date: 2023-09-26
Publication date: 2025-05-06
Also published as: WO2024068632A1; EP4595320A1

Abstract

Repeated transmission (300) of reference signals for locating wireless terminals employs a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) that partially overlap (321).

Description

Positioning using positioning reference signal transmission employing frequency hopping pattern

Technical Field

Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to techniques related to positioning of wireless terminals connectable to a cellular network. Various examples relate specifically to techniques related to positioning of wireless terminals with limited device bandwidth.

Background

To facilitate positioning of wireless communication devices, sometimes also referred to as User Equipment (UE), polygonal ranging and polygonal measurement techniques may be employed. An example of a multi-angle measurement is triangulation. In this regard, a plurality of (e.g., three) access nodes (AN, which may also be referred to as Base Stations (BS) in a cellular Network (NW)) having well-defined orientations in a reference frame transmit Reference Signals (RSs) (P-RSs) for positioning. The UE may receive the P-RS and then trigger a multi-edge ranging or multi-angle measurement for UE location estimation. This is a scenario corresponding to the transmission of the downlink P-RS, and furthermore, similar concepts can be applied also to the uplink direction, in which uplink direction the positioning based on the uplink P-RS is known.

For example, the positioning procedure is available when communicating according to the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) 5G New Radio (NR) protocol. In this regard, the positioning procedure is supported by transmitting Positioning Reference Signals (PRS), sounding Reference Signals (SRS) for downlink-based positioning and uplink-based positioning, respectively. Accordingly, PRS and SRS are example implementations of P-RS.

According to the 3GPP NR protocol (see 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 37.355V17.0.0 (2022-03)), PRSs may be allocated at any Physical Resource Block (PRB) within a system bandwidth, and the bandwidth may be configured from 24 PRBs to 276 PRBs in steps of 4 PRBs. The equivalent maximum bandwidths are about 100MHz (for the case of 30kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS)) and about 400MHz (for the case of 120kHz SCS). Some UEs are designed to receive PRSs across carrier/system bandwidths. That is, the device bandwidth of these UEs covers the system bandwidth. Such a UE will be referred to as a broadband UE hereinafter.

Furthermore, some types of UEs do not support reception of PRSs or other P-RSs across the entire carrier frequency band. Such UEs may only monitor a relatively narrow bandwidth or a fractional portion of the system bandwidth if compared to wideband UEs. Such UEs will be referred to as band-limited UEs hereinafter.

In 3gpp NR rel.17 (see TS 38.300v17.0.0 (2022-03)), a new UE type has been introduced and is referred to as a reduced capability (Redcap) UE. This is an example of a band-limited UE. RedCap UE is that the reduced maximum device bandwidth RedCap UE the maximum device bandwidth of frequency range 1 (FR 1) during and after initial access is 20MHz. RedCap UE the maximum device bandwidth of the frequency range (FR 2) during and after the initial access is 100MHz. Thus, in the case of FR1, redCap device bandwidth is significantly reduced from 100MHz to 20MHz, i.e., significantly lower than the system bandwidth. RedCap UE can receive and perform positioning measurements based on only a portion of the system bandwidth (i.e., a maximum of 20 MHz). This will significantly reduce the positioning accuracy of RedCap UE.

Techniques for mitigating the reduced device bandwidth of band-limited UEs are known in the art. For example, WO 2022/036585 A1 discloses that a UE measures reference signals on a first sub-band of an effective reference signal bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme and on a second sub-band of the effective reference signal bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second sub-bands of the effective reference signal bandwidth partially overlapping. This enables the UE to estimate the phase difference associated with the first and second hops and compensate for the estimated phase difference on the reference signal measured on the first and/or second sub-bands of the effective reference signal bandwidth. Other prior art documents are WO 2022/076086A1 and US2019/253282.

Such techniques have certain drawbacks. For example, the configuration and signaling associated with the subbands of the frequency hopping pattern may be relatively static and result in significant control signaling overhead.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, there is a need for advanced techniques to facilitate positioning of UEs having relatively limited device bandwidth (in particular, positioning of band-limited UEs having device bandwidth less than the system bandwidth). There is a need for advanced techniques that overcome or alleviate at least some of the limitations and disadvantages identified above.

This need is met by the features of the independent claims. Features of the dependent claims define embodiments.

Hereinafter, techniques for allocating time-frequency resources to P-RSs in a manner such that a band-limited UE can monitor the P-RSs or transmit the P-RSs using the time-frequency resources are disclosed. The transmission P-RS adopts a frequency hopping pattern including a plurality of subbands. The multiple subbands overlap in the frequency domain. This enables the UE to form a virtual wideband by stitching together measurements made on multiple subbands and compensating for phase offsets. The phase offset may be compensated by comparing the received phases of the P-RSs in the respective overlapping regions in the different subbands. In other words, the overlap region is used to calculate/estimate phase discontinuities/phase errors that may occur between hops due to radio frequency hardware retuning at the band-limited UE.

According to an example, one or more configurations of one or more repeated transmissions of a P-RS are obtained at a wireless communication node.

The wireless communication node may be implemented by a UE or a base station in a cellular network or a location management server in a cellular network.

Obtaining one or more configurations may include loading the one or more configurations from local memory (e.g., where the one or more configurations are pre-configured, for example, according to a communication protocol).

Obtaining one or more configurations may include obtaining a control message (e.g., via a radio link) from another wireless communication node, the control message indicating the one or more configurations.

The one or more repeated transmissions may include a first transmission employing a frequency hopping pattern that includes a plurality of subbands.

The one or more repeated transmissions may include a second transmission. The bandwidth of the wideband employed by the second transmission may be wider than the bandwidth of each of the plurality of subbands.

The subbands may be arranged to have overlap in the frequency domain. That is, a plurality of subbands may be partially overlapped in pairs in the frequency domain. This means that pairs of subbands may be allocated a common frequency in the frequency domain, i.e. an overlap region.

The first transmission may include a plurality of corresponding repetitions offset in the time domain by, for example, a plurality of slots or subframes.

The second transmission may include a plurality of corresponding repetitions offset in the time domain by, for example, a plurality of slots or subframes.

It will be understood that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respective combination indicated, but also in other combinations or independently of one another, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates transmission of a P-RS according to various examples.

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates positioning of a UE using multiple transmissions from multiple base stations in a cellular network, according to various examples.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates wideband transmission of a P-RS and band-limited transmission of the P-RS, employing a frequency hopping pattern comprising a plurality of subbands, according to various examples.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a communication node, such as a UE or BS, according to various examples.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a method according to various examples.

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates wideband transmission of a P-RS and band-limited transmission of the P-RS, employing a frequency hopping pattern comprising a plurality of subbands, according to various examples.

Fig. 7 schematically illustrates a muting pattern for muting repetition of band-limited transmissions of a P-RS, according to various examples.

Fig. 8 schematically illustrates reception of a fractional portion of a wideband transmission of a P-RS at a UE, in accordance with various examples.

Fig. 9 is a signaling diagram of communication between a UE, a BS, and a location management server, according to various embodiments.

Fig. 10 is a flow chart of a method according to various examples.

Detailed Description

Some examples of the present disclosure generally provide a plurality of circuits or other electrical devices. All references to circuits and other electrical devices, and the functions provided by each, are not intended to be limited to only encompass the content shown and described herein. While specific reference numerals may be assigned to the various circuits or other electrical devices disclosed, such reference numerals are not intended to limit the scope of operation for the circuits and other electrical devices. Such circuits and other electrical devices may be combined with and/or separated from each other in any manner based on the particular type of electrical implementation desired. It is appreciated that any of the circuits or other electrical devices disclosed herein may comprise any number of microcontrollers, graphics Processor Units (GPUs), integrated circuits, memory devices (e.g., flash memory, random Access Memory (RAM), read Only Memory (ROM), electrically Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), or other suitable variations of these devices), and software that cooperate with each other to perform the operations disclosed herein. Additionally, any one or more of the electrical devices may be configured to execute program code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed to perform any number of the disclosed functions.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be appreciated that the following description of examples is not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited by the examples described below or by the drawings, which are to be regarded as illustrative only.

The figures are to be regarded as schematic representations and the elements shown in the figures are not necessarily to scale. Rather, the various elements are represented such that their function and general purpose will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any connection or coupling between functional blocks, devices, components, or other physical or functional units shown in the figures or described herein may also be achieved by indirect connection or coupling. The coupling between the components may also be established through a wireless connection. The functional blocks may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, techniques to facilitate positioning of a UE are described. Positioning allows determining the geographic position and/or velocity of the UE based on measuring the received UL and/or DL P-RS. The location/position estimate of the UE may be requested by and reported to a client (e.g., an application) associated with the UE, or by a client within or attached to the core network of the cellular Network (NW). Along with the estimation errors (uncertainty) of the UE's position and velocity, and the positioning method (or list of methods) for obtaining the position estimate, if available, the position estimate may be reported in a standard format, such as those for cell-based or geographic coordinates.

There are many different possible use cases for position estimation. The positioning estimation may be used internally by the communication system, such as a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell NW or a 5GNR cell NW, by value added network services, by the UE itself or through the network, and by a "third party" service. These functions may also be used by emergency services, but location services are not dedicated to emergency situations.

The techniques disclosed herein may be generally applied to various kinds and types of cellular NWs. Hereinafter, however, for illustrative purposes, reference will be made to the cellular NW specified by 3 GPP. Specifically, reference will be made to a 3GPP NR cell NW.

The techniques described herein generally rely on the transmission of P-RSs. Various implementations of P-RS can be envisaged. For example, the P-RS (e.g., 3GPP PRS, 3GPP CSI-RS) may be transmitted in the DL or the P-RS (e.g., 3GPP SRS) may be transmitted in the UL. DL-based positioning and/or UL-based positioning may be used in accordance with the present disclosure. For DL positioning, DL P-RS is transmitted by multiple BSs or Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) (e.g., a gNB for 3GPP NR) and may be received by a target UE to be positioned. On the other hand, for UL positioning, UL RS (e.g., SRS) is transmitted by a target UE to be positioned and may be received by a plurality of BSs or TRPs.

The P-RS may be broadcast. Cell-specific P-RS may be employed. Resources supporting multiple beams may be allocated to transmission of the P-RS. For example, the P-RS may be arranged in an interlace mode (e.g., a comb N mode) to multiplex different Transmission Reception Points (TRP) with the BS. The P-RSs from TRPs are transmitted on every nth subcarrier and are interleaved with P-RSs from other TRPs. In this regard, the UE may perform positioning measurements on multiple TRPs simultaneously.

Hereinafter, various examples will be specifically given in the context of implementing P-RS by PRS. However, it should be understood that the corresponding techniques may also be applied to different kinds and types of P-RSs in other scenarios.

Next, some examples will be disclosed regarding the transmission of PRSs and signal design in conjunction with PRSs.

The transmission of PRSs is defined per resource. The set of PRS resources is referred to as a PRS resource set. Within the PRS resource set, each resource may represent a transmission and/or a repeated transmission in a different beam (also referred to as a spatial filter). The PRS resource set may be repeated with a period of 4 milliseconds to 10.24 seconds. Thus, according to an example, duplicate transmissions of PRS are employed. Some PRS resource sets with the same PRS characteristics (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), cyclic Prefix (CP), PRS reference point) are referred to as PRS frequency layers.

The PRS signals are generated using a golde (gold) sequence generator as described in section 7.4.1.7 of release 17.1.0 of the 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.211. PRS signals are placed in NR resource blocks in certain time-frequency Resource Elements (REs) such that PRSs are allocated with a certain comb structure in a certain subcarrier k and an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol L. K_comb=4 means that PRS are allocated every fourth subcarrier K.

PRS transmission 200, resource allocation, and transmission/reception are shown in fig. 1. Fig. 1 illustrates PRS resource sets 201 of PRS transmissions 200 (in the illustrated example, PRS transmissions 200 include seven PRS resource sets 201).

PRS is allocated to have a certain wideband 209. The wideband 209 may cover the entire maximum carrier bandwidth of the carrier, i.e. the system bandwidth (which may be smaller than the maximum carrier bandwidth specified in the communication protocol, e.g. in 3GPP NR the maximum carrier bandwidth is 100MHz for frequency range 1 and 400MHz for frequency range 2). Accordingly, PRS transmission 200 will be referred to as PRS wideband transmission 200 or simply as wideband transmission 200. The PRS resources include a plurality of PRBs. Each PRB includes a plurality of time-frequency resource elements 208 (see inset of fig. 1). The inset of fig. 1 shows the comb structure of PRS transmissions within PRS, i.e. comb size 205 specifying the time-frequency domain density of time-frequency resource elements 208 allocated for PRS transmissions (in the example shown, comb size 205 is four). In the example of fig. 1, two PRSs 251, 252 with different offsets are allocated for two TRPs/gnbs.

The broadband transmission 200 is repeated. Two repetitions 611, 612 of the broadband transmission 200 are shown. A period 690 is shown. This enables the UE to monitor the PRSs 251, 252 multiple times (which facilitates improving positioning accuracy), and/or this enables the UE to monitor the PRSs 251, 252 in different time opportunities.

Referring to fig. 2, a PRS resource set 201 generally corresponds to PRS transmissions utilizing a certain beam 131, 132. The UE 121 is expected to measure multiple PRS resources from multiple BSs 111, 112, 13. The UE 121 reports the best beam (e.g., represented by PRS resource ID) and timing measurements to a location management server (e.g., location Management Function (LMF) 115 in a 3GPP NR implementation). Thus, the LMF may perform multi-edge ranging for location estimation.

The band-limited UE cannot monitor PRSs 251, 252 across the entire wideband 209. Let us now assume that UE 121 is a band limited UE. The band-limited UE can only monitor a fractional portion of the wideband 209, which may reduce the positioning estimation accuracy.

To alleviate this, according to an example, a frequency hopping pattern comprising a plurality of subbands is employed. This is shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 3 shows that wideband transmission 200 (over wideband 209) is concurrent with band-limited transmission 300. The band limited transmission 300 employs a plurality of sub-bands 311, 312, 313, 314 arranged in a frequency hopping pattern 310. This is the transmit hopping pattern 310 employed by the BSs 111, 112, 113 for transmitting PRSs 251, 252. Corresponding frequency hops 301, 302, 303 are shown. Accordingly, the UE 121 measures the sub-band 311 (i.e., attempts to receive PRSs 251, 252/monitor PRSs 251, 252) before measuring the sub-band 312.

Each of the subbands 311, 312, 313, 314 has a respective bandwidth that is smaller than the bandwidth of the wideband 209. Thus, the band-limited receiver of the band-limited UE 121 is able to receive signals on the subbands 311, 312, 313, 314. One or more bandwidths of the sub-bands 311, 312, 313, 314 match the device bandwidth of the band-limited UE 121.

To compensate for the phase error (introducing a random phase error at the UE each time the phase locked loop is switched to another frequency), there is an overlap region 321 in the frequency domain where multiple sub-bands overlap. Since the subbands partially overlap in pairs in the frequency domain, the UE 121 may estimate the phase offset by comparing the phase of PRSs received on a given frequency in a first subband with the phase of PRSs received on the same given frequency in a second subband in the overlapping region. This enables the UE 121 to form a virtual wideband 390. Measurements are obtained throughout the bandwidth 391 of the virtual wideband 390. This corresponds to stitching multiple subbands.

The pair-wise partial overlapping in the frequency domain may mean that the sub-bands are different from each other, but have overlapping regions in the frequency domain. For example, subband a may span from frequency a to frequency B, and subband B may span from frequency B-d to frequency C. The overlap is d. Typically, d is much smaller than the distance from A to B and the distance from B-d to C.

According to an example, the BS successively transmits one or more PRSs in different subbands. The UE monitors one or more PRSs individually in the subbands. The UE combines measurements of one or more PRSs in the subbands.

This is a framework to significantly mitigate the performance penalty of band-limited UEs. For example, by stitching PRS measurements made in five different 20MHz sub-bands, a band limited UE may achieve similar performance as a wideband UE monitoring PRS in a 100MHz wideband. In addition to the framework of using multiple subbands for PRS transmission, further details of fig. 3 will be explained below with additional reference to fig. 4 and 5.

Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a communication node 90 according to various examples. For example, communication node 90 may implement a band-limited UE, such as UE 121 (see fig. 2). It would also be possible for the communication node 90 to implement a BS, e.g., one of the BSs 111, 112, 113 (see fig. 2) that transmitted the positioning reference signals 251, 252.

The communication node 90 comprises a processor 91 and a memory 92. The communication node 90 further comprises an interface 93. Using interface 93, communication node 90 may communicate wirelessly with other communication nodes using a wireless carrier (e.g., using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing modulation). Processor 91 may load program code from memory 92 and execute the program code. The processor 91, when loading and executing the program code, may perform techniques as disclosed herein, such as obtaining a configuration of one or more repeated transmissions of a P-RS (e.g., PRS or SRS), transmitting and/or receiving the P-RS according to the configuration, participating in a positioning procedure for positioning a UE, and so forth.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a method according to various examples. For example, the method of fig. 5 may be performed by a communication node (e.g., a UE or a BS of a cellular network). For example, the method of fig. 5 may be performed by UE 121 of fig. 2, or it may be performed by a BS (such as BS111 or BS112 or BS 113). Alternatively, the BS may be configured and provide the configuration to the LMF. Subsequently, the LMF provides the configuration to the UE. The method of fig. 5 may be performed by processor 91 when loading program code from memory 92 and executing the program code (see fig. 4).

At block 3005, a configuration or configurations are obtained. The configuration or configurations are for one or more repeated transmissions of PRS. For example, a configuration may be obtained that jointly defines a band-limited transmission and a broadband transmission. It would also be possible to obtain multiple configurations (one configuration for band limited transmission and other configurations for broadband transmission).

Example parameters that may be set by the configuration include, for example, the number of resource sets per frequency layer, the number of PRBs, frequency hopping patterns, comb structures, sequence designs of PRSs, timing of repetition of corresponding transmissions, and so forth.

In general, obtaining a configuration may involve loading the configuration from memory. For example, the configuration may be predefined according to a communication protocol (such as 3gpp 5g NR). Alternatively or additionally, obtaining the configuration may comprise receiving a configuration message from another communication node indicating at least part of the configuration. For example, at least part of the configuration may be determined at a BS in the cell NW and then provided to one or more UEs served by the BS by using a corresponding configuration message. For example, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) control message may be used to provide the configuration. Obtaining the configuration may include determining/generating the configuration. For example, the BS may determine a configuration and then provide the configuration to the UE using a corresponding control message. In another example, at least part of the configuration may be determined at the LMF in the cellular NW and then provided to the one or more UEs via one of the BSs using a corresponding configuration message. For example, an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) message may be used to provide configuration.

At block 3010, PRSs are then transmitted according to one or more configurations obtained at block 3005. One or more PRS transmissions are performed.

Block 3010 may include transmitting one or more PRSs according to a configuration. Block 3010 may include one or more repetitions of implementing transmission of PRSs according to a configuration. Block 3010 may include attempting to receive (monitor) PRSs transmitted according to a configuration. For example, the UE may attempt to receive downlink PRSs and thereby participate in transmissions. The BS may transmit DL PRS and thereby participate in the transmission. At block 3010, the UE may implement one or more positioning measurements and thereby participate in the transmission.

Specifically, at block 3010, the UE may monitor downlink PRSs on a plurality of subbands of a frequency hopping pattern. As previously discussed in connection with fig. 3, the subbands are overlapping in pairs (see fig. 3: where overlapping regions 321 in the frequency domain have been shown). Based on the received phases of PRSs received in the first sub-band and in the second sub-band (more specifically, in frequency overlap), phase offsets between adjacent sub-bands may be estimated and compensated.

At block 3015, positioning of the UE is then facilitated based on transmitting the one or more PRSs at block 3010. The UE may provide measurement reports to a BS or a location management server, such as a 3GPP NR LMF (see fig. 2: LMF 115). Based on these measurement reports, then, multilateral ranging is possible.

Next, various example implementations of blocks 3005 and 3010 will be explained. For this purpose, reference will be made to fig. 3 and other figures.

As shown in fig. 3, coexistence between wideband transmission 200 and band-limited transmission 300 is possible. In particular, it is possible to interleave the repetition of the wideband transmission 200 and the repetition of the band-limited transmission 300 in the time domain. This means that it is possible to alternate between wideband transmission 200 and band limited transmission 300. Thus, both wideband UEs and band-limited UEs may be served.

Next, example details regarding reuse of a portion of the broadband transmission 200 by the band-limited UE 121 and participation in the band-limited transmission 300 will be disclosed.

In some examples, UE 121 monitors PRS in a band limited fraction portion 380 of wideband 209 of wideband transmission 200. Thus, the overall spectral efficiency can be improved.

In some examples, the configuration may define the band limited fraction portion 380 of the wideband 209 as part of the frequency hopping pattern 310. Accordingly, the configuration of block 3005 may include a frequency hopping pattern comprising a plurality of subbands, and wideband 209. By defining the band-limited fraction portion 380 as part of the frequency hopping pattern, compact control signaling for configuring band-limited UEs is possible. Further, the band-limited fraction portion 380 has an overlap region 321 with the sub-band 311 to compensate for the phase error. Thus, legacy transmissions of PRSs may be configured as a first hop of a hopping pattern. The band-limited UE may begin using wideband transmissions such that fewer subbands are needed. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, there are only four sub-bands 311 through 314, which enables the UE to monitor the band limited fraction 380 of the wideband 209. In an alternative example, the UE would not monitor the band-limited score portion 380, in which case it would be possible for the band-limited transmission 300 to include a frequency hopping pattern 310 comprising a total of five subbands, located in the first subband and corresponding to the frequencies covered by the band-limited score portion 380 in fig. 3.

Next, example details about the structure of the configuration obtained at block 3005 of the method of fig. 5 (e.g., information content about the corresponding configuration data) will be explained.

According to an example, separate configurations are provided for broadband transmission 200 and limited-bandwidth transmission 300 (see block 3005 of fig. 5). This would enable adapting the properties of the PRS band limited transmission 300 to the requirements of the band limited UE.

For example, separate control messages may be used, with the separate control messages carrying two configurations for wideband transmission 200 and for band limited transmission 300.

In some examples, different PRSs are used for the band limited transmission 300 and the wideband transmission 200. For example, one or more PRSs of the band limited transmission 300 may have a different transmit power than one or more PRSs of the wideband transmission 200 (e.g., power boosting in the band limited transmission 300). For example, the sequence design (e.g., different sequence identification) of one or more PRSs of the band limited transmission 300 may be at least partially different from the sequence design of one or more PRSs of the wideband transmission 200.

As other examples, the comb structure may differ between band limited transmission 300 and wideband transmission 200.

For example, the length (number of symbols) of each repetition may differ between wideband transmission 200 and band-limited transmission 300. The number of resource sets may be different.

As other examples, the period of repetition of the band-limited transmission 300 is different from (specifically, less than) the period of repetition of the wideband transmission 200. This means that PRSs are transmitted more frequently on the wideband 209 than on repetitions of subbands.

As other examples, different muting patterns may be used.

In general, it is also possible that the band-limited transmission 300 and the broadband transmission 200 are configured to use at least partially identical parameters. In such a scenario, it would be possible to implement a joint configuration, for example using a single configuration message.

In an example, a common configuration is provided for both broadband transmission 200 and band limited transmission 300. The configuration may jointly set one or more values of one or more parameters of both wideband transmission 200 and band-limited transmission 300. This may reduce control signaling overhead because fewer information elements are required to configure the band-limited transmission 300 and the wideband transmission 200.

Examples of parameters for which different values may be used for the band limited transmission 300 and the wideband transmission 200 have been disclosed above. In other examples, the same value may be used for both the band limited transmission 300 and the wideband transmission 200 for such parameters. Examples of parameters that may be jointly set include subcarrier allocation, i.e., comb structure, of PRSs 251, 252. Other examples include sequence designs of PRSs 251, 252. The same sequence ID may be used. It would be possible to use the same muting pattern. The same repetition period may be used. Other examples include one or more resource sets, i.e., resource sets that may use the same count.

The size (i.e., number of PRBs) of each sub-band 311, 312, 313, 314 may be configured (configurable) for each frequency layer or predefined (static). For example, redCap UE with a 20MHz bandwidth can accommodate up to 110 RBs for SCS15 KHz. RedCap UE may be configured to have other numbers of PRBs (not necessarily 110 RBs), particularly in order to optimize hopping operations related to the total bandwidth and overlapping BW for hopping operations.

According to an example, the subbands 311 to 314 of the frequency hopping pattern 310 may each have the same bandwidth or a varying bandwidth. The bandwidths of the sub-bands 311 to 314 are defined by the configuration of the band-limited transmission 300.

The bandwidth of the sub-bands may be smaller than the device bandwidth of the band-limited UE 121. This enables matching the bandwidths of the sub-bands 311 to 314 to the sizes of the PRBs and adapting to the corresponding overlap region 321.

Next, example details regarding the relationship between wideband transmission 200 and band-limited transmission 300 will be disclosed. Examples of how the respective configurations relate to each other will be disclosed.

In general, the band-limited transmission 300 may have the same properties as the broadband transmission 200. More specifically, it is possible that PRSs 251, 252 transmitted as part of a band limited transmission 300 have the same properties as PRSs 251, 252 transmitted as part of a wideband transmission 200. Thus, a single configuration for PRS may be sufficient. Signaling is reduced.

For example, the band-limited transmission 300 may be configured to have the same set of resources as the broadband transmission 200. It would also be possible to use a fractional part of the set of resources of the broadband transmission 200 for the band-limited transmission 300. For example, if the resource set of the wideband transmission 200 has eight PRBs allocated to PRSs 251, 252, the resource set of the band-limited transmission 300 may have four PRBs allocated to PRSs 251, 252. Thus, the overhead of resource elements allocated by the BS to PRSs may be reduced, freeing up resources for other tasks. In practice, N resource blocks of a wideband transmission may be mapped to M resource blocks of a band-limited transmission 300. That is, for the band-limited transmission 300, the count of time-frequency resource elements per resource set may be lower than the wideband transmission 200.

In particular, it is possible that the count of time-frequency resource elements per set of resources for the band-limited transmission 300 is a fraction of the corresponding count for the wideband transmission 200. The score may be indicated by the configuration obtained at block 3005 of fig. 5. For example, the configuration may indicate PRBs per set of resources for wideband transmission 200 and also indicate a corresponding score, whereby UE 122 may derive resource blocks per set of resources for band-limited transmission 300 from the configuration.

More generally, according to an example, there is a predefined mapping between the count of time-frequency REs per set of resources for wideband transmission and the count of time-frequency REs for the set of resources for band-limited transmission (or vice versa). This enables the configuration to explicitly indicate the value of the count of time-frequency resource elements per resource set for wideband transmission, and then the UE may employ a predefined mapping to reduce/infer the value of the count of time-frequency resource elements per resource set for band-limited transmission 300.

Such a mapping also applies to other parameters of the band-limited transmission 300 and the broadband transmission 200, respectively. An example would be a count of the resource set 201.

Thus, in some examples, the configuration explicitly indicates the value for wideband transmission 200 for a given parameter, and then sets the corresponding value for band-limited transmission 300 for that given parameter based on a corresponding predefined mapping. The mapping may be indicated by a configuration, e.g. the mapping may be transmitted from the BS to the UE or from the LMF to the UE, alternatively it will be possible that the mapping is specified by a communication protocol for communicating on the radio carrier, i.e. the mapping is predefined according to a communication standard.

The mapping may be from a wideband transmission 200 to a band limited transmission 300 or vice versa. An example is shown, for example, in fig. 6. In this regard, a mapping 900 is defined between the number of resource sets 201 for the broadband transmission 200 and the limited transmission 300 (see inset to fig. 6). For example, the count of the resource sets 201 for the band-limited transmission 300 may be obtained by multiplying the count of the resource sets 201 for the wideband transmission 200 by a score given by the count of repeated PRBs of the wideband transmission 200 divided by the count of repeated PRBs of the band-limited transmission 300.

Next, details regarding the time domain configuration and relative arrangement of the wideband transmission 200 and the band-limited transmission 300 are disclosed. In fig. 3, a time gap 325 between the wideband 209 and the sub-band 311 and a time gap 322 between adjacent ones of the sub-bands 311 to 314 are shown. In the example shown in fig. 3, these time gaps 322, 325 are all similarly sized. Different time slots may be used depending on the digital scheme of PRS transmissions.

The duration of the time gap may be expressed as a number of time slots of the communication protocol. A slot includes a predefined number of symbols for OFDM modulation.

The configuration may specify one or more such time gaps 322 between portions of the repeated transmission 200. Alternatively or additionally, the configuration may specify a time gap 325 between the wideband transmission 200 and the duplicate transmission 300.

By properly configuring the time slots 322, 325, it is possible to enable the UE 120, 121 to re-tune its RF receiver (or RF transmitter for UL P-RS). At the same time, a scheduling policy may be implemented to accommodate other transmissions in the band-limited transmission 300 than the wideband transmission.

For example, time slots 322 and/or time slots 325 are specified by a configuration as a function of the subcarrier spacing of the carriers. For example, a larger subcarrier spacing (SCS) may have a shorter duration time gap 322 and/or time gap 325, and vice versa. For example, 15kHz SCS has 1 slot, while 60kHz has 4 slots. With this arrangement, the operation of a wideband carrier with multiple digital schemes can be properly arranged to achieve time alignment across different transmissions with different digital schemes. Such a configuration may be predefined in the specification. For example, a table representing time slots depending on NR digital scheme parameters (i.e., SCS). Accordingly, both the UE and the BS (implemented by the gNB in the 3GPP NR) employ this configuration.

The time gap 322 may be configured as part of the configuration of the frequency hopping pattern 310.

Next, example details regarding the frequency hopping pattern 310 are disclosed.

The configuration may indicate a frequency hopping pattern 310. For example, frequency offsets may be defined between the respective hopped sub-bands 311, 312, 314, 315 relative to each other or relative to a common reference frequency. As shown in fig. 3, it will be possible that the center frequency 706 of the sub-band 312 (corresponding to the second transition) is defined relative to the reference frequency 701, which is defined relative to the sub-band 311 (which is the lower frequency). Likewise, the center frequency 702 of the subband 313 may be defined relative to the frequency 705 (which is the lower frequency of the subband 312 of the previous hop). It would also be possible to define the frequencies of the sub-bands 311 to 314 using a common reference frequency (e.g. the lower limit of the system bandwidth).

More generally, the configuration may indicate the frequency of a given subband (i.e., the frequency range occupied by the subband) by indicating a relative frequency shift with respect to a reference frequency, e.g., the reference frequency is defined with respect to other subbands or globally for all fields as such.

In some examples, the frequency offset between adjacent subbands 311-314 is uniform. Alternatively, the configuration indicates a change in frequency offset from subband to subband. Thus, the relative frequency offset between hops 301 through 303 of hopping pattern 310 can be configurable. This change in the values of the parameters from subband to subband is not limited to frequency offset. Other parameters that may vary from subband to subband include the number of time-frequency resources (e.g., PRBs or REs) allocated per subband to PRS, e.g., by defining the number of resource sets 201 and/or by defining a comb structure.

In some examples, the size of the overlap region 321 is fixed, e.g., a single PRB or some fraction thereof. It would also be possible to vary the size of the overlap region 321. For example, the number of REs defining the overlap region may vary as a function of the comb size and the number of symbols per slot. The configuration may indicate an overlap bandwidth (i.e., a frequency domain extension/size of the overlap region 321) that may be defined based on (i.e., as a function of) a frequency domain density of time-frequency resource elements allocated to the PRS.

This is based on the discovery that due to the nature of the comb structure, the time-frequency REs 208 within the overlap region 321 may not be fully occupied by PRSs from a given gNB/TRP. Only occupied REs 208 in the overlap can be effectively used for phase error calibration. The number of valid REs 208 in the overlap may be calculated by the following equation:

Wherein L _oRE is the number of overlapping effective resource elements, L _oPRB is the number of overlapping physical resource blocks, L _PRS is the number of occupied PRS symbols per slot, and Is the comb size. For DL-PRS configurations, only these L _PRS may be selected,Combinations of {2,2}, {4,2}, {6,2}, {12,2}, {4,4}, {12,4}, {6,6}, {12,6}, and {12,12}.

The number of overlapping PRBs L _oPRB may be dynamically adapted to ensure that the number of effective REs L _oRE remains the same for different comb structures. The following list is a list of different L _PRS,A table of all possible L _oPRB in.

Table 1 the number of overlapping physical resource blocks L _oPRB as L _PRS,Function of }

Given the above function, the total amount of overlapping effective REs is always 72N. This helps to reliably compensate for phase errors.

According to an example, the frequency hopping pattern is static. The frequency hopping pattern may be preconfigured. The frequency hopping pattern may be defined in the specification of the communication protocol (e.g., four hops at some overlap and at some frequencies at all times). Thus, no dedicated signaling is required to signal the corresponding configuration (part of the configuration). In other examples, the frequency hopping pattern is configurable in that a number of possible patterns may be predefined. The network (e.g., LMF 115) informs the UE of the frequency hopping pattern. Thus, it will be possible to provide a configuration of one or more values of one or more parameters indicative of the frequency hopping pattern by means of a codebook index comprising a predefined codebook of a plurality of predefined candidate frequency hopping patterns. This reduces the control signaling overhead required for signaling the configuration.

Accordingly, the codebook may include a plurality of entries associated with different frequency hopping patterns. By indicating a specific entry of the codebook, a specific hopping pattern can be selected. Next, details regarding muting repetitions of the band-limited transmission 300 are disclosed.

It will be possible that some repetitions of the band-limited transmission 300 are muted. This means that the configuration may specify a periodic repetition of the band-limited transmission 300, or more generally, a plurality of repetitions. Then, after the configuration is made, some of these repetitions are skipped. Thus, the spectrum allocation of PRS may be reduced. The configuration of the limited transmission 300 may accordingly specify whether one or more of the multiple repetitions of the limited transmission 300 are muted. This is shown in fig. 7. Fig. 7 shows a plurality of repetitions 601 to 603 of the band-limited transmission 300 and a plurality of repetitions 611 to 613 of the broadband transmission 200.

In general, according to an example, periodic muting is possible. Thus, the period of transmitting PRS using band limited transmission 300 may be longer than the period of transmitting PRS using wideband transmission 200. In particular, for RedCap UE, this may be a viable option, as the latency requirements associated with positioning may be relaxed. This may be due to, for example, reduced mobility of such devices (such as IoT devices). Accordingly, the configuration may include a repeated mute mode that specifies a period of repeated muting.

In other examples, the band limited transmission may be aperiodically muted. For example, if the BS needs to use time-frequency resource elements for other transmissions, an instance-specific mute command may be provided. Accordingly, the configuration may include an aperiodic mute command that specifies the individual repetition 601, 602, 603 to be muted.

It will also be possible that muting according to the muting pattern is triggered by non-periodic commands. For example, the mute mode may specify a certain period of muting, and this may be preconfigured and then activated by a corresponding command.

The scenarios have been disclosed above, according to which the transmitter-side hopping pattern is implemented. The transmitter side hopping pattern is not required in all scenarios. For example, as shown in fig. 8, in other examples, the UE may implement a frequency hopping pattern at the receiver side. In this regard, wideband transmission 200 is repeated (repetitions 611, 612, 613, 614), and UE 121 may monitor different fractional portions 381, 382, 383, 384 of the respective wideband in subsequent repetitions 611, 612, 613, 614. The examples disclosed above with respect to the configuration of the transmitter-side hopping pattern 310 also apply to the receiver-side hopping pattern (e.g., with respect to the overlap region 321, etc.).

Fig. 9 is a signaling diagram of communications between band-limited UE 121, serving BS111, and other BSs 112, 113, and LMF 115.

At block 5005, the serving BS determines PRS configurations for both the wideband transmission 200 and the band limited transmission 300. Accordingly, block 5005 implements block 3005 for BS angles. In other examples, the PRS configuration is determined (at least in part) at LMF 115. It would also be possible to determine at least part of the PRS configuration at the UE 121.

BS111 then provides configuration 70 to LMF 115 at 5015 using a corresponding positioning protocol control message 4010, which is triggered (optionally) by a corresponding request 4005 provided by LMF 152 to BS111 at 5010.

At 5020, the UE 121 provides its one or more capabilities associated with monitoring PRSs to the LMF 115 in a respective control message 4015.

For example, the UE 121 may indicate whether it can monitor band limited PRS transmissions (such as PRS transmission 300) over multiple subbands. The UE may indicate whether it can perform virtual bandwidth calculations including, for example, compensating for phase offsets based on phase comparisons between PRSs received over different subbands in the same overlap region. In general, a higher number of subbands will increase UE complexity. The UE may also indicate that it is not capable of virtual bandwidth calculation, where positioning may be limited to PRSs received on a single subband.

In the case illustrated in fig. 9, the UE 121 is able to perform virtual bandwidth calculations, and accordingly, at 5025, the LMF 115 provides the configuration 70 to the UE 121 in a respective control message 4020. Thus, UE 121 obtains configuration 70.

This is followed by a measurement request 4025 provided by LMF 152 to UE 121 at 5030.

One or more PRSs (e.g., PRSs 251, 252) are then transmitted in the respective PRS transmissions 200, 300 at 5035, and the UE monitors PRSs 251, 252. Thus, BS111 and UE 121 participate in PRS transmissions 200, 300. At 5035, it will be possible to send multiple repetitions of the corresponding PRS transmission 200, 300. At 5040, UE 121 implements corresponding PRS measurements. The UE implements PRS measurements on multiple subbands of the frequency hopping pattern of the band-limited PRS transmission 300.

The UE then provides a measurement report message 4030 to the LMF 115 at 5045. This may include a dedicated information element associated with PRS measurements on the band limited transmission 300.

LMF 115 may then locate the UE.

It is possible that collisions may occur between PRS transmissions 200, 300 (specifically, band limited PRS transmissions 300) and other transmissions. Other transmissions may be, for example, synchronization signal blocks, tracking reference signals or common search space transmissions, data transmissions (particularly data for ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) applications). There are a number of options for determining that a conflict has occurred. For example, the UE may perform PRS measurements and determine that PRS transmissions are interfered with or absent (i.e., PRS is not present) based on the PRS measurements. Alternatively or additionally, the BS may indicate the collision by means of a signaled collision indicator. For example, the layer 1 indication may be provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI).

In such cases, various measures may be taken to mitigate the conflict. For example, a portion or the entire repetition of the band-limited PRS transmission 300 may be discarded or deferred in the time domain. Silence may be applied (see fig. 7). It would also be possible to rearrange the frequency hopping patterns, for example, from an ascending order of frequency (see fig. 3) to a descending order of frequency. In this regard, it is possible to provide a collision indicator from BS111 to UE 121 or from LMF 115 to UE 121. The collision indicator may indicate that another transmission occurs in a PRB or RE that has been pre-allocated to the repeated band-limited transmission 300. Adjustment of at least one of timing or frequency hopping pattern of the repeated band-limited transmission 300 may then be indicated and performed.

Such a rearrangement of the frequency hopping pattern may be explicitly notified to the UE. If the UE is not informed of such a collision, the UE may also indicate in its measurement report that the measurement is affected or corrupted by the collision. To illustrate, at block 5040, when the UE performs PRS measurements, the UE may decide at some point in time to partially or fully discard PRS measurements for a given sub-band of a given repetition of band limited PRS transmissions. This may be in response to detecting a collision in the corresponding sub-band. In case PRS measurements are partly discarded, i.e. some values determined based on the reception properties of PRSs transmitted in the corresponding subbands are used, this may also be indicated in the measurement report.

Fig. 10 is a flow chart of a method according to various examples. The method of fig. 10 may be performed by a wireless communication node, such as a BS (e.g., a serving BS of a band-limited UE). The method of fig. 10 may be performed by BS 111. The method of fig. 10 may be performed by processor 91 when loading program code from memory 92 and when executing the program code.

The method of fig. 10 illustrates aspects related to obtaining a configuration of duplicate transmissions. More specifically, the method of FIG. 10 illustrates aspects related to obtaining a configuration for repeating band limited PRS transmissions and for repeating wideband PRS transmissions, such as band limited transmission 300 and wideband transmission 200.

At block 3105, the BS determines a configuration for wideband PRS transmission. This may include setting values for parameters such as period, count of resource sets, muting pattern, sequence ID of PRS, comb structure. Thereby, the BS obtains the configuration.

Then, at block 3110, the BS transmits a corresponding configuration message indicating the configuration that has been determined at block 3105. The configuration message may be sent directly to the UE or through a location management server (such as a 3GPP LMF). The UE receives the configuration message and obtains the configuration therefrom.

Then, at block 3115, the BS determines other configurations for band limited PRS transmission. This may be in response to a need to provide band-limited PRS transmissions, for example, because one or more band-limited UEs have requested positioning.

It is possible that at least one value for one or more parameters differs between band-limited PRS transmissions and wideband PRS transmissions. It is also possible that all values are different.

Further, the configuration determined at block 3115 may include a configuration of a frequency hopping pattern. This may include one or more parameters such as a count of subbands, a frequency of subbands, overlap between subbands, a time gap between subbands, a sequence of subbands. In other examples, the configuration of the frequency hopping pattern may also be predetermined (e.g., in a communication protocol). In some examples, it will be possible that the hopping pattern is configured by a codebook that depends on the candidate hopping pattern. This may be a table of candidate configurations for the frequency hopping pattern, and the corresponding index may then be signaled.

At block 3120, the BS transmits another configuration message indicating the configuration that has been determined at block 3115. For example, it would be possible that the configuration message only indicates values of those one or more parameters that differ between band limited transmission and wideband transmission. Thus, by default, the values for band-limited PRS transmissions may be inherited from wideband PRS transmissions. Accordingly, the configuration message at block 3120 may be considered an "incremental update" of the values of the one or more parameters using wideband PRS transmissions as a reference. This is particularly useful if the band-limited PRS transmissions of the wideband PRS transmissions have repetitions that are staggered in the time domain.

A scenario where multiple values of a given parameter vary from subband to subband is conceivable. For example, the number of time-frequency resources (e.g., comb pattern, bandwidth, resource set, or number of symbols) may vary from subband to subband. It would also be possible to vary the frequency offset between adjacent subbands. According to an example, it is then possible to indicate a plurality of values by signaling a rule set that provides as output the values for a given subset. Accordingly, the rule set may indicate a change from subband to subband. Thus, instead of signaling all values for all subbands, the rule set may be signaled, and the UE may infer the expected values for each subband by applying the rule set. Thereby, control signaling overhead is reduced.

The method of fig. 10 is merely one example of configuring band limited PRS transmissions. In some examples, all parameters of the band limited PRS transmission may be preconfigured according to a communication protocol. In such a scenario, no configuration message need be sent. The configuration may be obtained by loading the configuration from memory. In other examples, there may be a preconfigured mapping from values of wideband PRS transmissions to values of band-limited PRS transmissions, in which case, a configuration message may not need to be sent at block 3120 because the UE may use the mapping to infer values of corresponding parameters of the band-limited PRS transmissions from values of parameters of the wideband PRS transmissions.

In summary, techniques for locating a UE using P-RS transmissions have been disclosed. A frequency hopping pattern comprising a plurality of subbands is used to provide band-limited transmission of one or more P-RSs. There is overlap between adjacent subbands in the frequency domain. A time gap is provided between adjacent subbands to provide time for receiver re-tuning of the UE.

Various attributes of band-limited transmissions of one or more P-RSs have been disclosed. For example, it has been disclosed that the bandwidth of the sub-bands of the frequency hopping pattern may be configured, for example, by the BS. Alternatively, it will also be possible that the bandwidth of the sub-bands is static, e.g. the bandwidth of the sub-bands is predefined according to the communication protocol. It has been disclosed that band limited transmissions of one or more PRSs can be supplemented/co-located with wideband transmissions of one or more PRSs. This means that multiple repetitions of the band-limited transmission can be interleaved with multiple repetitions of the wideband transmission in the time domain.

Techniques have been disclosed that allow muting of individual repetitions of band limited transmissions of PRSs.

According to an example, details about frequency hopping operation have been disclosed. For example, details about the frequency arrangement or in particular about the starting frequency of the sub-bands of the frequency hopping pattern have been disclosed. For example, the frequency may be fixed or may be configurable (e.g., by the BS). Indexing sub-bands of a frequency hopping pattern has been disclosed. Techniques have been disclosed that enable flexible reconfiguration of the frequency hopping pattern to avoid collisions with other transmissions.

Details about the overlap between adjacent subbands of the frequency hopping pattern in the frequency domain have been disclosed. For example, the amount of overlap may be configured and/or may be a function of the configuration of the band limited transmission or PRS, e.g., the amount of overlap may be a function of the comb size.

Aspects have been disclosed regarding collision handling for band-limited transmissions of one or more PRSs.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, equivalents and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of the specification. The invention includes all such equivalents and modifications, and is limited only by the scope of the following claims.

For example, various examples have been disclosed in the context of examples employing downlink PRSs to locate UEs. The techniques described herein may be equally applicable to uplink P-RSs, e.g., UL SRS, transmitted by a UE and received by multiple BSs. In this case, the measurement report is not provided to the location management server by the UE, but is provided by the BS receiving the uplink positioning reference signal.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

-obtaining (3005) information for locating the use of the radio carrier via the access node (111, 112),

113 A configuration of a repeated transmission (300) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) of a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network, the configuration comprising a frequency hopping pattern (310) for the repeated transmission (300), the frequency hopping pattern comprising a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier, the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) overlapping in pairs in the frequency domain,

Wherein a plurality of repetitions (601, 602, 603) of the repeated transmission (300) are interleaved in the time domain with a plurality of repetitions (611, 612, 613) of other repeated transmissions (200) of the one or more reference signals (251, 252), the other repeated transmissions (200) being over a wideband (209) having a bandwidth greater than each of the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314).

2. The method according to claim 1,

Wherein the configuration specifies whether one or more repetitions (602) of the plurality of repetitions (601, 602, 603) of the repeated transmission (300) are muted.

3. The method according to claim 2,

Wherein the configuration comprises a repeated mute mode specifying a period of the muting of repetitions (601, 602, 603) of the repeated transmission (300).

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3,

Wherein the configuration comprises an aperiodic mute command specifying an individual repetition to be muted in a repetition (601, 602, 603) of the repeated transmission (300).

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims,

Wherein the configuration specifies one or more time gaps (322) between portions of the repeated transmission (300) on adjacent ones of the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314), and/or

Wherein the configuration specifies other time gaps (325) between the other repeated transmissions (200) and the repeated transmissions (300).

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, the method comprising:

-obtaining (3005) other configurations of said other repeated transmissions (200).

7. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

113 A configuration of a plurality of repeated transmissions (200, 300) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) connectable to a wireless terminal (121) of a communication network, the configuration comprising a frequency hopping pattern (310) for the plurality of repeated transmissions (200, 300), the frequency hopping pattern (310) comprising a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier frequency band for a first repeated transmission (300) of the plurality of repeated transmissions (200, 300), the plurality of sub-bands overlapping in pairs in the frequency domain, and the frequency hopping pattern further comprising a wideband (200) for a second repeated transmission (200) of the plurality of repeated transmissions (200, 300), the wideband having a bandwidth greater than each sub-band of the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314).

8. A method of operating a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network via an access node (111, 112, 113) using a wireless carrier, the method comprising:

-obtaining (3005) a configuration of repeated transmissions (300) of one or more reference signals for locating the wireless terminal (121), the configuration being indicative of a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier that overlap in pairs in the frequency domain and also indicative of a wideband (209) having a bandwidth that is larger than each of the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314), and

-Based on the configuration, monitoring the one or more reference signals (251, 252) in at least one of the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314) and also in a band-limited fractional part (380) of the wideband (209).

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the method comprises,

Wherein a band-limited fraction portion (380) of the wideband (209) overlaps (321) one or more of the at least one of the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314).

10. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

113 A configuration of repeated transmissions (300) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) of a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network, the configuration comprising a frequency hopping pattern (310) for the repeated transmissions, the frequency hopping pattern (310) comprising a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier, the plurality of sub-bands overlapping in pairs in the frequency domain,

Wherein a bandwidth of at least one of the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314) is less than a device bandwidth associated with the wireless terminal (121).

11. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

Obtaining (3005) a configuration for locating a plurality of repeated transmissions (200, 300) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) of a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network via an access node (111, 112, 113) using a wireless carrier,

Wherein the configuration indicates a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier for a first retransmission (300) of the plurality of retransmissions (200, 300), the plurality of sub-bands overlapping in pairs in the frequency domain,

Wherein the configuration indicates a wideband (209) for a second of the plurality of repeated transmissions (200, 300), the wideband having a bandwidth greater than each of the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314),

Wherein the configuration jointly sets one or more values of one or more parameters of the first repeated transmission (300) and the second repeated transmission (200).

12. The method according to claim 11,

Wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of a subcarrier allocation of the one or more reference signals (251, 252) on both the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314) for the first repeated transmission (300) and the wideband (209) for the second repeated transmission (200), or a sequence design of the one or more reference signals (251, 252) for both the first repeated transmission (300) and for the second repeated transmission (200).

13. The method according to any one of claim 10 to 12,

Wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more resource sets (201) of time-frequency resources (208) for both the first repeated transmission (300) and for the second repeated transmission (200).

14. The method according to claim 13,

Wherein a first count of the time-frequency resources (208) per set of resources (201) of the first retransmission (300) is a fraction of a second count of the time-frequency resources (208) per set of resources (201) of the second retransmission (200).

15. The method according to claim 14,

Wherein the score is specified by a predefined mapping between a count of time-frequency resources (208) per set of resources (201) for the second repeated transmission (200) to a count of time-frequency resources (208) per set of resources (201) for the first repeated transmission (300).

16. The method according to any one of claim 11 to 14,

Wherein the configuration explicitly indicates a value of the one or more values for a given parameter of the one or more parameters for one of the first transmission (300) or the second transmission (200),

Wherein other values of the given parameter for the other of the first transmission or the second transmission are set based on a mapping (900).

17. The method according to claim 16,

Wherein the mapping is indicated by the configuration or fixed by a communication protocol used for communication over the wireless carrier.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17,

Wherein the given parameter is a count of a set of frequencies (201).

19. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

113 A configuration of a repeated transmission (300) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) of a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network, the configuration comprising a frequency hopping pattern (310) for the repeated transmission (300), the frequency hopping pattern (310) comprising a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier, the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) overlapping in pairs in the frequency domain,

Wherein the configuration indicates that the value of at least one parameter is selected from the sub-bands (311, 312, 313),

314 A) to subbands (311, 312, 313, 314).

20. The method according to claim 19,

Wherein the at least one parameter comprises a number of time-frequency resources (208) per subband (311, 312, 313, 314) allocated to the one or more reference signals (251, 252).

21. The method according to claim 19 or 20,

Wherein the at least one parameter comprises a given subband (311, 312, 313, 314) of the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314) to the plurality of subbands (311),

312. 313, 314) Adjacent subbands (311, 312, 313, 314).

22. The method according to any one of claim 19 to 21,

Wherein the obtaining (3005) comprises receiving a configuration message indicating a rule set defining the change in the value as a function of the subband.

23. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

113 A configuration of a repeated transmission (200) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) of a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network, the configuration comprising a frequency hopping pattern (310) for the repeated transmission (200), the frequency hopping pattern (310) comprising a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier, the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) overlapping (321) in pairs in the frequency domain,

Wherein the configuration comprises a time gap (322) between adjacent subbands as a function of the subcarrier spacing of the carriers.

24. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

Wherein the configuration indicates one or more values of one or more parameters of the frequency hopping pattern (310) by a codebook index of a predefined codebook comprising a plurality of predefined candidate frequency hopping patterns.

25. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

Wherein the configuration indicates a bandwidth of an overlap region (321) defined based on a frequency domain density of time-frequency resource elements (208) allocated to the one or more reference signals (251, 252).

26. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

113 A configuration of repeated transmission of one or more reference signals (251, 252) of a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network, the configuration comprising a frequency hopping pattern (310) for the repeated transmission (300), the frequency hopping pattern (310) comprising a plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) of a carrier band of the wireless carrier, the plurality of sub-bands (311, 312, 313, 314) overlapping in pairs in the frequency domain,

Wherein the configuration indicates the frequency (702, 703, 706) of a given subband of the plurality of subbands (311, 312, 313, 314) by indicating a relative frequency shift with respect to a reference frequency (701, 705, 709).

27. The method according to claim 26,

Wherein the reference frequency (701, 705) is relative to the plurality of subbands (311),

312. 313, 314) Adjacent to the given subband (311, 312, 313, 314).

28. A method of operating a wireless communication node (90, 111, 112, 113, 115, 121), the method comprising:

-Based on the configuration, participating in the repeated transmission (300), and

-Determining that a collision with another transmission occurs in a time-frequency resource (208) pre-allocated to the one or more reference signals (251, 252) when participating in the repeated transmission.

29. The method according to claim 28,

Wherein the determining that the collision occurred includes receiving a collision indicator indicating that another transmission occurred in a time-frequency resource (208) pre-allocated to the one or more reference signals (251, 252).

30. The method according to claim 29,

Wherein the collision indicator indicates an adjustment to at least one of timing of the repeated transmission or the frequency hopping pattern (310).

31. The method according to any one of claim 28 to 30,

Wherein the determining that the collision occurs includes performing a positioning measurement based on the one or more reference signals (251, 252).

32. A method of operating a wireless terminal (121) connectable to a communication network via an access node (111, 112, 113) using a wireless carrier, the method comprising:

-obtaining (3005) a configuration of repeated transmissions (200) of one or more reference signals (251, 252) in a frequency band (209) for locating the wireless terminal (121),

-Based on the configuration, monitoring the one or more reference signals (251, 252) in different band-limited fractional parts (381, 382, 383, 384) of the frequency band (209) in subsequent repetitions (611, 612, 613) of the repeated transmission (200).