In this article, the prospects and enabling technologies for high-efficiency device positioning and location-aware communications in emerging 5G networks are reviewed. We will first describe some key technical enablers and demonstrate through concrete ray-tracing and map based evaluations that positioning accuracies below one meter can be accomplished by properly fusing direction and delay related measurements on the network side, even when tracking moving devices. We will then discuss the possibilities and opportunities that such high-efficiency positioning capabilities can offer, not only for location-based services in general, but also for the radio access network itself. We will particularly demonstrate that geometric location-based beamforming becomes technically feasible, which can offer substantially reduced reference symbol overhead compared to classical full channel state information (CSI)-based beamforming. At the same time, substantial power savings can be realized in future wideband 5G networks where acquiring full CSI calls for wideband reference signals while position estimation and tracking can, in turn, be accomplished with narrowband pilots.
['Mike Koivisto', 'Aki Hakkarainen', 'Mario Costa', 'Petteri Kela', 'Kari Leppanen', 'Mikko Valkama']
High-Efficiency Device Positioning and Location-Aware Communications in Dense 5G Networks