An Efficient Uplink 3D AoA Positioning Framework for 5G RedCap UEs in Indoor Factory Environments

This paper addresses the challenge of Reduced Capability (RedCap) User Equipment (UE) positioning within indoor 5G networks. While conventional approaches rely on time-domain ranging, the limited signal bandwidth associated with RedCap devices compromises the capability of these methods to satisfy stringent accuracy requirements. To overcome this limitation, we propose a positioning framework based on uplink Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) measurements. By performing AoA estimation at the Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), the proposed approach maintains hardware simplicity, requiring only a single antenna at the UE. The framework incorporates a computationally efficient AoA estimation algorithm derived from the analysis of the spatial covariance matrix, eliminating the need for the exhaustive beam scanning typically required for angular grid search. This procedure inherently generates a link quality metric which, alongside the AoA estimate, is utilized for final UE localization. The localization algorithm employs a Weighted Least Squares (WLS) estimator to provide a unified approach to UE positioning in both 2D and 3D physical spaces. The framework’s efficacy is confirmed via numerical simulations under the dense multipath conditions defined by standard 5G Indoor Factory (InF) environments.