A method and apparatus of a first network entity in a wireless communication system is provide. The method and apparatus comprises: identifying at least one set of bit strings to generate a ranging scrambled timestamp sequence (STS); identifying at least one initialization vector (IV) field corresponding to the at least one set of bit strings, wherein the at least one IV field comprises a 4-octet string; generating a ranging STS key and IV information element (RSKI IE) that includes the at least one IV field to convey and align a seed that is used to generate the ranging STS; and transmitting, to a second network entity, the generated RSKI IE for updating the ranging STS of the second network entity.