An ultra-wideband (“UWB”) communication system comprising a transmitter having two transmit antennas and a receiver having a single receive antenna. Respective selected portions of the UWB signal are transmitted by the transmitter via each of transmit antennas is received at the receive antenna. By comparing the phases of the received signal portions, the phase difference of departure can be determined. From this phase difference and the known distance, d, between the transmit antennas, the Cartesian (x,y) location of the transmitter relative to the receiver can be directly determined.

A mobile device supports positioning with positioning reference signals (PRS) on multiple beam by dividing the PRS processing into two separate modes, an acquisition mode and a tracking mode. In acquisition mode, the mobile device performs a fast scan of all of the beams from a base station transmitting PRS using less than the full set of resources for the PRS, i.e., less than the full bandwidth and/or less than the full number of repetitions of the PRS. The mobile device may select the best beams to use for positioning, e.g., based on signal strength metric. In tracking mode, the mobile device tracks the PRS from only the selected beams using the full set of resources for the PRS. The mobile device may return to acquisition mode after a predetermined number of positioning occasions or if the selected beams are no longer valid due to movement or change in conditions.

Frequency-dependent changes in beam shapes of transmitted RF signals can be provided to a receiving device. Beam shape information can include, for example, gain of a beam and a plurality of azimuth and elevation directions, boresight and width of a main lobe (and optionally side lobes) of the beam, information regarding a pattern of antenna elements of an antenna panel used to transmit the beam, and/or similar information. The type of information provided can dictate the amount of overhead required, and we therefore vary depending on the means by which the information is conveyed. Additional detail is provided in the embodiments described herein.

A method, apparatus and computer readable storage medium are provided for reconfiguring a radio positioning support system. In a method, one or more observation reports are received. Each observation report is associated with a respective radio positioning support device of a radio positioning support system. Each observation report contains an indication for a number of radio positioning support devices and/or for each radio positioning support device from which a radio positioning support signal is observable at a position of said respective radio positioning support device. The method also determines, based on said observation reports, whether a predetermined radio positioning support criterion is met by said radio positioning support system. If it is determined that the predetermined radio positioning support criterion is not met by the radio positioning support system, the method at least partially reconfigures and/or causes at least partially reconfiguration of the radio positioning support system.

A signal measurement method and a communication apparatus to measure a downlink angle of departure (DAOD) more accurately. The method includes: receiving resource configuration information, where the resource configuration information includes configuration information of a first reference signal set, the first reference signal set includes M reference signals, N reference signals in the M reference signals are reference reference signals, M is greater than 1, and N is greater than or equal to 1; receiving the M reference signals; determining N first paths corresponding to the N reference reference signals, and separately determining M*N received powers of the M reference signals on the N first paths; and reporting a measurement result, where the measurement result includes K*N received powers in M*N received powers, K≤M, and the first path is one of a plurality of paths corresponding to a reference reference signal.

A mobile device supports positioning with positioning reference signals (PRS) on multiple beam by dividing the PRS processing into two separate modes, an acquisition mode and a tracking mode. In acquisition mode, the mobile device performs a fast scan of all of the beams from a base station transmitting PRS using less than the full set of resources for the PRS, i.e., less than the full bandwidth and/or less than the full number of repetitions of the PRS. The mobile device may select the best beams to use for positioning, e.g., based on signal strength metric. In tracking mode, the mobile device tracks the PRS from only the selected beams using the full set of resources for the PRS. The mobile device may return to acquisition mode after a predetermined number of positioning occasions or if the selected beams are no longer valid due to movement or change in conditions.

Apparatus and methods are presented for synchronising a slave device signal to a reference timebase, in situations where the slave device lacks knowledge of the propagation delay for signals from the reference device, e.g. if the positions of one or both of the devices are unknown or classified, or the inter-device signal propagation distance is otherwise a-priori unknown. Reference signal propagation delay is determined using an exchange of signals between the devices, with each device using a differencing procedure for eliminating effects of receiver line bias and other hardware delays. In another aspect an exchange of signals between the devices is used to detect a time residual arising from an inaccurate propagation delay estimate. The synchronisation methods can be applied to a plurality of slave devices for providing a synchronised location network. In certain embodiments signals are transmitted wirelessly, while in other embodiments they are transmitted via a fixed line.

Methods and systems related to an antenna orientation are disclosed herein. In one specific embodiment, a system comprises a positioning device configured to generate a positioning signal, a control object, and an object antenna configured to receive the positioning signal. The object antenna has a first polarization axis and is located on the control object. The system also comprises a positioning device antenna configured to transmit the positioning signal. The positioning device antenna has a second polarization axis and is located on the positioning device. The first polarization axis and the second polarization axis are offset from parallel by greater than thirty degrees when the positioning device and control object are in a standard operating mode. The first polarization axis and the second polarization axis are offset from perpendicular by greater than thirty degrees when the positioning device and control object are in a standard operating mode.

A device and method for improving the accuracy of angle of arrival and departure computations is disclosed. The device and method rely on manipulation of the antenna switching pattern to achieve an improved calculation of arrival angle. In one embodiment, the device calculates an estimate angle of arrival using conventional methods. The device then determines which of a plurality of different antenna switching pattern yields the more accurate results at this estimated angle of arrival. The AoA measurement is then repeated using the preferred antenna switching pattern. In another embodiment, the device captures the amplitude and/or phase of the signal from each antenna element. The device then sorts these antenna elements and defines a preferred antenna switching pattern based on the sort list. The AoA measurement is then performed using the preferred antenna switching pattern. In another embodiment, neural networks may be utilized to determine the preferred antenna switching pattern.

Disclosed are techniques for wireless positioning. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration indicating one or more PRS resources transmitted on one or more antenna ports of at least one antenna panel of a base station, measures the one or more PRS resources over a set of angles, wherein the UE is configured to search for the one or more PRS resources over the set of angles based on the PRS configuration, and determines an angle of the set of angles over which at least one PRS resource of the one or more PRS resources was measured as a downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) between the base station and the UE.