A.2 SUPL 2.0 and NR Architecture

38.3053GPPNG Radio Access Network (NG-RAN)Release 17Stage 2 functional specification of User Equipment (UE) positioning in NG-RANTS

This clause describes interworking between the control-plane LCS architecture, as defined in the main body of this specification, and SUPL 2.0. Similarly, to the E-SMLC in the LTE architecture (TS 36.305 [25]), the LMF either includes or has an interface to an SPC function, as defined in OMA SUPL V2.0 ([15], [16]). It can thus provide a consistent set of positioning methods for deployments utilizing both control-plane and user-plane.

The interworking does not enable use of user-plane signalling for part of a control-plane positioning session. The user plane in the interworking here is not intended as an alternative path for control-plane signalling that would be needed between UE and NG-RAN for mechanisms such as A-GPS in a standalone control-plane solution.

This interworking does enable the SPC to retrieve measurements (e.g., GNSS-to-RAN time relations) from the NG-RAN.

The underlying architecture is shown in Figure A.2-1 (TS 23.501 [2]). Note that, for interworking between user-plane and control-plane positioning, no new interfaces need to be defined as compared to those in the figure, assuming the SPC is either integrated in the LMF or attached to it with a proprietary interface.

Figure A.2-1: System reference architecture reference for Location Services in reference point representation

The Lup and Llp interfaces shown in this architecture are part of the user-plane solution only and are not required for control-plane positioning.