DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/25/2025 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 50 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 50 recites the positioning entity is a serving base station of the UE. the positioning entity is a base station with integrated location server capabilities.”. There are two periods in claim 50, for clarity purposes, it is suggested to remove one period “.”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-13, 16-18, 23-38, 41-43 and 48-52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2019/0165847 A1, hereinafter “Kim”) in view of Cha et al. (US 2022/0003830 A1, hereinafter “Cha”).
As to claim 1:
Kim disclose a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (“a method of reporting, by a UE, CSI in a wireless communication system”; Abstract; Fig. 6; [0135]), comprising:
receiving, during one or more time units up to a first time, a configuration to provide a report (“a terminal (e.g., a UE) receives CSI related configuration information from a base station (e.g., a general node B (gNB)) through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (S610)”; [0135] “The CSI-related configuration information may include … CSI report configuration-related information”; see Fig. 6; [0136] the examiner interprets the time CSI-related configuration information (S610) is received (up to beginning of S620) as the claimed “during one or more time units up to a first time”);
measuring, after the first time up to a second time, one or more reference signal (RS) transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”); and
transmitting, at a third time after the second time, the report on an uplink physical channel (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; Fig. 6; [0162]; [0135]-[0136]; [0154]-[0155]; [0385]; “CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125] the examiner interprets the time the CSI Report S630 is transmitted (which is after the end of measuring S620) as the claimed “at a third time after the second time”), the report including measurements of the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; [0162]; “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; Fig. 6; [0154]-[0155]), wherein a length of time between the second time and the third time is greater than a timing requirement Z' (“T′ between the time at which the AP CSI-RS used for channel measurement or interference measurement is last received and the start time at which CSI is reported is smaller than Z′, the UE determines that time for calculating CSI is not sufficient and does not calculate CSI”; [0385]; “T′>=Z-(decoding time) and T>=Z, the UE calculates CSI and reports the calculated CSI to the eNB”; [0389]; [0474]-[0478]).
Kim does not explicitly disclose the report is a PSI report and the reference signal (RS) is a positioning reference signal (PRS).
However, Cha discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a positioning state information (PSI) report and the reference signal (RS) to be a positioning reference signal (PRS). Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 2:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the configuration comprises a trigger, the configuration is received in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the report is an aperiodic report (“The aperiodic CSI feedback means temporarily transmitting a feedback only when a base station needs CSI feedback information, and the base station triggers the CSI feedback via a DL control channel such as a PDCCH/ePDCCH”; Abstract; [0125]-[0126]; “aperiodic CSI reporting”; [0226]). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a positioning state information (PSI) report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 3:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the one or more RS transmissions are aperiodic RS transmissions (“an aperiodic CSI-RS”; [0274]), and a length of time between the first time and the third time is greater than a timing requirement Z (“T′ between the time at which the AP CSI-RS used for channel measurement or interference measurement is last received and the start time at which CSI is reported is smaller than Z′, the UE determines that time for calculating CSI is not sufficient and does not calculate CSI”; [0385]; “T′>=Z-(decoding time) and T>=Z, the UE calculates CSI and reports the calculated CSI to the eNB”; [0389]; [0474]-[0478]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 4:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the timing requirement Z and the timing requirement Z' are specified in a wireless communications standard (see [0045]-[0046]; [0249]-[0250];[0389]; [0424]; [0474]-[0478].
As to claim 5:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the one or more RS transmissions are periodic or semi-persistent RS transmissions (“a periodic CSI-RS”; [0437]; [0440]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 6:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the configuration is received in a medium access control control element (MAC- CE) (“In the case of SP CSI on a short/long PUCCH, a periodicity and a slot offset are configured by RRC, and CSI reporting to an additional MAC CE is activated/deactivated”; [0231]), the report is a periodic or semi-persistent report (“periodic CSI reporting”; [0229]), and the one or more RS transmissions are periodic or semi-persistent RS transmissions (“a periodic CSI-RS”; [0437]; [0440]). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 7:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the configuration includes the second time at which the UE is expected to stop measuring the one or more RS transmissions (“CSI measurement configuration-related information”; [0136]; Abstract), and the configuration includes the third time at which the UE is expected to transmit the report (“CSI report configuration-related information”; [0136]; Abstract). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 8:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the first time is a last time unit containing the configuration (“a terminal (e.g., a UE) receives CSI related configuration information from a base station (e.g., a general node B (gNB)) through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (S610)”; [0135] “The CSI-related configuration information may include … CSI report configuration-related information”; see Fig. 6; [0136] see also Fig. 16; [0387]; [0443]), the second time is a last time unit during which the UE is expected to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”; see also [0394]), and
the third time is a first time unit during which the UE is expected to transmit the report (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; Fig. 6; [0162]; [0135]-[0136]; [0154]-[0155]; [0385]; “CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125] the examiner interprets the time the CSI Report S630 is transmitted (which is after the end of measuring S620) as the claimed “at a third time after the second time” see also Fig. 16 “first OFDM symbol”). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 9:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein a time unit is a symbol, a slot, a subframe, or a millisecond (see Fig. 16 “last OFDM symbol” and “first OFDM symbol”).
As to claim 10:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the one or more RS transmissions comprise one or more RS resources, one or more repetitions of a single RS resource, one or more RS resource sets, one or more RS frequency layers, or any combination thereof (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] “regarding the CSI-RS, resource element (RE) mapping of CSI-RS resources of the CSI-RS is performed in time and frequency domains by higher layer parameter CSI-RS-ResourceMapping”; [0159]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 11:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the physical uplink channel comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (“CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125]).
As to claim 12:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses receiving a configuration of a plurality of RS transmissions to measure (“the CSI resource configuration-related information includes a CSI-RS resource set list, and the CSI-RS resource set list may include at least one of a NZP CSI-RS resource set list, a CSI-IM resource set list, or a CSI-SSB resource set list”; [0141]; [0623]; [0635]; Abstract), the plurality of RS transmissions including the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”), wherein at least one RS transmission of the plurality of RS transmissions is after the second time (“channel measurement or interference measurement is not allowed to be performed after the reference resource”; [0412]); and refraining from measuring the at least one RS transmission (“channel measurement or interference measurement is not allowed to be performed after the reference resource”; [0412]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 13:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses receiving a configuration of a plurality of RS transmissions to measure, the plurality of RS transmissions including the one or more RS transmissions, wherein none of the plurality of RS transmissions are after the second time (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 16:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the report is associated with a first latency class based on the UE being configured with one or more measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (For examination purposes, this limitation has not been selected by the examiner as it is optional/alternative), or the report is associated with a second latency class based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“The low latency CSI is WB CSI that includes up to 4-ports Type-I codebook or up to 4-ports non-PMI feedback CSI”; [0246] the examiner interprets no measurement gap configured in Kim as not being configured with measurement gaps). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 17:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the report is associated with a low or high latency class (“CSI latency classes (low latency class and high latency class)”; [0245]; [0426]), and
the report is associated with a first latency sub-class based on the UE being configured with one or more measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (For examination purposes, this limitation has not been selected by the examiner as it is optional/alternative), or the report is associated with a second latency sub-class based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“The low latency CSI is WB CSI that includes up to 4-ports Type-I codebook or up to 4-ports non-PMI feedback CSI”; [0246] the examiner interprets no measurement gap configured in Kim as not being configured with measurement gaps).
Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 18:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the report is associated with a low or high latency class (“CSI latency classes (low latency class and high latency class)”; [0245]; [0426]). Cha further discloses the report is a report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report), and the UE is configured with an additional measurement gap based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“The UE connected to the gNB may request measurement gaps to perform OTDOA measurement from a TP. If the UE is not aware of an SFN of at least one TP in OTDOA assistance data, the UE may use autonomous gaps to obtain an SFN of an OTDOA reference cell prior to requesting measurement gaps for performing reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement”; [0187]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report, and the UE to be configured with an additional measurement gap based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more PRS transmissions. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 23:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses wherein the measurements of the one or more PRS transmissions comprise one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE reception- to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more velocity measurements, one or more time of arrival measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and/or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, one or more signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements, one or more positioning fixes, one or more trajectory measurements, or any combination thereof (see RSTD; [0170]; [0219]; [0229]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the measurements of the one or more PRS transmissions to comprise one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE reception- to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more velocity measurements, one or more time of arrival measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and/or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, one or more signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements, one or more positioning fixes, one or more trajectory measurements, or any combination thereof. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 24:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses wherein the UE transmits the PSI report to a positioning entity (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the UE to transmit the PSI report to a positioning entity. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 25:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further wherein: the positioning entity is a serving base station of the UE, or the positioning entity is a base station with integrated location server capabilities (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the positioning entity to be a serving base station of the UE, or the positioning entity to be a base station with integrated location server capabilities. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 26:
Kim disclose a user equipment (UE) (“a method of reporting, by a UE, CSI in a wireless communication system”; Abstract; Fig. 6; [0135]), comprising:
a memory (“memory”; see Figs. 19-20; [0014]);
at least one transceiver (“a radio frequency (RF) module”; see Figs. 19-20; [0014]); and
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (“at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations”; see Figs. 19-20; [0014]), the at least one processor configured to:
receive, via the at least one transceiver, during one or more time units up to a first time, a configuration to provide a report (“a terminal (e.g., a UE) receives CSI related configuration information from a base station (e.g., a general node B (gNB)) through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (S610)”; [0135] “The CSI-related configuration information may include … CSI report configuration-related information”; see Fig. 6; [0136] the examiner interprets the time CSI-related configuration information (S610) is received (up to beginning of S620) as the claimed “during one or more time units up to a first time”);
measure, after the first time up to a second time, one or more reference signal (RS) transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”); and
cause the at least one transceiver to transmit, at a third time after the second time, the report on an uplink physical channel (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; Fig. 6; [0162]; [0135]-[0136]; [0154]-[0155]; [0385]; “CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125] the examiner interprets the time the CSI Report S630 is transmitted (which is after the end of measuring S620) as the claimed “at a third time after the second time”), the report including measurements of the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; [0162]; “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; Fig. 6; [0154]-[0155]), wherein a length of time between the second time and the third time is greater than a timing requirement Z' (“T′ between the time at which the AP CSI-RS used for channel measurement or interference measurement is last received and the start time at which CSI is reported is smaller than Z′, the UE determines that time for calculating CSI is not sufficient and does not calculate CSI”; [0385]; “T′>=Z-(decoding time) and T>=Z, the UE calculates CSI and reports the calculated CSI to the eNB”; [0389]; [0474]-[0478]).
Kim does not explicitly disclose the report is a PSI report and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal.
However, Cha discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a positioning state information (PSI) report and the reference signal to be a positioning reference signal (PRS). Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 27:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the configuration comprises a trigger, the configuration is received in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), and the report is an aperiodic report (“The aperiodic CSI feedback means temporarily transmitting a feedback only when a base station needs CSI feedback information, and the base station triggers the CSI feedback via a DL control channel such as a PDCCH/ePDCCH”; Abstract; [0125]-[0126]; “aperiodic CSI reporting”; [0226]). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a positioning state information (PSI) report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 28:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the one or more RS transmissions are aperiodic RS transmissions (“an aperiodic CSI-RS”; [0274]), and a length of time between the first time and the third time is greater than a timing requirement Z (“T′ between the time at which the AP CSI-RS used for channel measurement or interference measurement is last received and the start time at which CSI is reported is smaller than Z′, the UE determines that time for calculating CSI is not sufficient and does not calculate CSI”; [0385]; “T′>=Z-(decoding time) and T>=Z, the UE calculates CSI and reports the calculated CSI to the eNB”; [0389]; [0474]-[0478]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 29:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the timing requirement Z and the timing requirement Z' are specified in a wireless communications standard (see [0045]-[0046]; [0249]-[0250];[0389]; [0424]; [0474]-[0478].
As to claim 30:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the one or more RS transmissions are periodic or semi-persistent RS transmissions (“a periodic CSI-RS”; [0437]; [0440]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 31:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the configuration is received in a medium access control control element (MAC- CE) (“In the case of SP CSI on a short/long PUCCH, a periodicity and a slot offset are configured by RRC, and CSI reporting to an additional MAC CE is activated/deactivated”; [0231]), the report is a periodic or semi-persistent report (“periodic CSI reporting”; [0229]), and the one or more RS transmissions are periodic or semi-persistent RS transmissions (“a periodic CSI-RS”; [0437]; [0440]). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 32:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the configuration includes the second time at which the UE is expected to stop measuring the one or more RS transmissions (“CSI measurement configuration-related information”; [0136]; Abstract), and the configuration includes the third time at which the UE is expected to transmit the report (“CSI report configuration-related information”; [0136]; Abstract). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 33:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the first time is a last time unit containing the configuration (“a terminal (e.g., a UE) receives CSI related configuration information from a base station (e.g., a general node B (gNB)) through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (S610)”; [0135] “The CSI-related configuration information may include … CSI report configuration-related information”; see Fig. 6; [0136] see also Fig. 16; [0387]; [0443]), the second time is a last time unit during which the UE is expected to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”; see also [0394]), and
the third time is a first time unit during which the UE is expected to transmit the report (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; Fig. 6; [0162]; [0135]-[0136]; [0154]-[0155]; [0385]; “CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125] the examiner interprets the time the CSI Report S630 is transmitted (which is after the end of measuring S620) as the claimed “at a third time after the second time” see also Fig. 16 “first OFDM symbol”). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 34:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein a time unit is a symbol, a slot, a subframe, or a millisecond (see Fig. 16 “last OFDM symbol” and “first OFDM symbol”).
As to claim 35:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the one or more RS transmissions comprise one or more RS resources, one or more repetitions of a single RS resource, one or more RS resource sets, one or more RS frequency layers, or any combination thereof (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] “regarding the CSI-RS, resource element (RE) mapping of CSI-RS resources of the CSI-RS is performed in time and frequency domains by higher layer parameter CSI-RS-ResourceMapping”; [0159]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 36:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the physical uplink channel comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (“CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125]).
As to claim 37:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a configuration of a plurality of RS transmissions to measure (“the CSI resource configuration-related information includes a CSI-RS resource set list, and the CSI-RS resource set list may include at least one of a NZP CSI-RS resource set list, a CSI-IM resource set list, or a CSI-SSB resource set list”; [0141]; [0623]; [0635]; Abstract), the plurality of RS transmissions including the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”), wherein at least one RS transmission of the plurality of RS transmissions is after the second time (“channel measurement or interference measurement is not allowed to be performed after the reference resource”; [0412]); and refrain from measuring the at least one RS transmission (“channel measurement or interference measurement is not allowed to be performed after the reference resource”; [0412]). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 38:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a configuration of a plurality of RS transmissions to measure, the plurality of RS transmissions including the one or more RS transmissions, wherein none of the plurality of RS transmissions are after the second time (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”). Cha further discloses the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 41:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the report is associated with a first latency class based on the UE being configured with one or more measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (For examination purposes, this limitation has not been selected by the examiner as it is optional/alternative), or the report is associated with a second latency class based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“The low latency CSI is WB CSI that includes up to 4-ports Type-I codebook or up to 4-ports non-PMI feedback CSI”; [0246] the examiner interprets no measurement gap configured in Kim as not being configured with measurement gaps). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 42:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the report is associated with a low or high latency class (“CSI latency classes (low latency class and high latency class)”; [0245]; [0426]), and
the report is associated with a first latency sub-class based on the UE being configured with one or more measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (For examination purposes, this limitation has not been selected by the examiner as it is optional/alternative), or the report is associated with a second latency sub-class based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more RS transmissions (“The low latency CSI is WB CSI that includes up to 4-ports Type-I codebook or up to 4-ports non-PMI feedback CSI”; [0246] the examiner interprets no measurement gap configured in Kim as not being configured with measurement gaps).
Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the RS is a PRS (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report and the RS to be a PRS. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 43:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Kim further discloses wherein: the report is associated with a low or high latency class (“CSI latency classes (low latency class and high latency class)”; [0245]; [0426]). Cha further discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report), and the UE is configured with an additional measurement gap based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more PRS transmissions (“The UE connected to the gNB may request measurement gaps to perform OTDOA measurement from a TP. If the UE is not aware of an SFN of at least one TP in OTDOA assistance data, the UE may use autonomous gaps to obtain an SFN of an OTDOA reference cell prior to requesting measurement gaps for performing reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement”; [0187]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a PSI report, and the UE to be configured with an additional measurement gap based on the UE not being configured with measurement gaps to measure the one or more PRS transmissions. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 48:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses wherein the measurements of the one or more PRS transmissions comprise one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE reception- to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more velocity measurements, one or more time of arrival measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and/or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, one or more signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements, one or more positioning fixes, one or more trajectory measurements, or any combination thereof (see RSTD; [0170]; [0219]; [0229]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the measurements of the one or more PRS transmissions to comprise one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE reception- to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more velocity measurements, one or more time of arrival measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and/or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, one or more signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements, one or more positioning fixes, one or more trajectory measurements, or any combination thereof. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 49:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses wherein the UE transmits the PSI report to a positioning entity (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the UE to transmit the PSI report to a positioning entity. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 50:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further wherein: the positioning entity is a serving base station of the UE. the positioning entity is a base station with integrated location server capabilities (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the positioning entity to be a serving base station of the UE. the positioning entity to be a base station with integrated location server capabilities. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 51:
Kim disclose a user equipment (UE) (“a method of reporting, by a UE, CSI in a wireless communication system”; Abstract; Fig. 6; [0135]), comprising:
means for receiving (RF module (or RF unit); see Figs. 19-20; [0014]), during one or more time units up to a first time, a configuration to provide a report (“a terminal (e.g., a UE) receives CSI related configuration information from a base station (e.g., a general node B (gNB)) through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (S610)”; [0135] “The CSI-related configuration information may include … CSI report configuration-related information”; see Fig. 6; [0136] the examiner interprets the time CSI-related configuration information (S610) is received (up to beginning of S620) as the claimed “during one or more time units up to a first time”);
means for measuring (processor; see Figs. 19-20; [0014]), after the first time up to a second time, one or more reference signal (RS) transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”); and
means for transmitting (RF module (or RF unit); see Figs. 19-20; [0014]), at a third time after the second time, the on an uplink physical channel (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; Fig. 6; [0162]; [0135]-[0136]; [0154]-[0155]; [0385]; “CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125] the examiner interprets the time the CSI Report S630 is transmitted (which is after the end of measuring S620) as the claimed “at a third time after the second time”), the report including measurements of the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; [0162]; “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; Fig. 6; [0154]-[0155]), wherein a length of time between the second time and the third time is greater than a timing requirement Z' (“T′ between the time at which the AP CSI-RS used for channel measurement or interference measurement is last received and the start time at which CSI is reported is smaller than Z′, the UE determines that time for calculating CSI is not sufficient and does not calculate CSI”; [0385]; “T′>=Z-(decoding time) and T>=Z, the UE calculates CSI and reports the calculated CSI to the eNB”; [0389]; [0474]-[0478]).
Kim does not explicitly disclose the report is a PSI report and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal.
However, Cha discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a positioning state information (PSI) report and the reference signal to be a positioning reference signal (PRS). Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
As to claim 52:
Kim disclose a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions (“at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations”; [0014]; [0725]), the computer-executable instructions comprising:
at least one instruction instructing a user equipment (UE) to (“at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations”; [0014]; [0725]) receive, during one or more time units up to a first time, a configuration to provide a report (“a terminal (e.g., a UE) receives CSI related configuration information from a base station (e.g., a general node B (gNB)) through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (S610)”; [0135] “The CSI-related configuration information may include … CSI report configuration-related information”; see Fig. 6; [0136] the examiner interprets the time CSI-related configuration information (S610) is received (up to beginning of S620) as the claimed “during one or more time units up to a first time”);
at least one instruction instructing the UE to (“at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations”; [0014]; [0725]) measure, after the first time up to a second time, one or more reference signal (RS) transmissions (“the UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S620)”; [0154] “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; see Fig. 6; [0155]; [0385] the examiner interprets the time after CSI-related configuration information (S610) up to the end of measuring S620 as the claimed “after the first time up to a second time”); and
at least one instruction instructing the UE to (“at least one processor; and at least one computer memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations”; [0014]; [0725]) transmit, at a third time after the second time, the report on an uplink physical channel (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; Fig. 6; [0162]; [0135]-[0136]; [0154]-[0155]; [0385]; “CSI report on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”;[0014]; [0125] the examiner interprets the time the CSI Report S630 is transmitted (which is after the end of measuring S620) as the claimed “at a third time after the second time”), the report including measurements of the one or more RS transmissions (“the UE reports the measured CSI to the base station (S630)”; [0162]; “Measuring the CSI may include (1) receiving a CSI-RS by the UE (S621) and (2) computing CSI based on the received CSI-RS (S622)”; Fig. 6; [0154]-[0155]), wherein a length of time between the second time and the third time is greater than a timing requirement Z' (“T′ between the time at which the AP CSI-RS used for channel measurement or interference measurement is last received and the start time at which CSI is reported is smaller than Z′, the UE determines that time for calculating CSI is not sufficient and does not calculate CSI”; [0385]; “T′>=Z-(decoding time) and T>=Z, the UE calculates CSI and reports the calculated CSI to the eNB”; [0389]; [0474]-[0478]).
Kim does not explicitly disclose the report is a PSI report and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal.
However, Cha discloses the report is a PSI report (“a report on the at least one of the PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS (S1505)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214] note: PRS report = PSI report) and the reference signal is a positioning reference signal (“The BS may transmit at least one of a PRS, SS/PBCH block, and CSI-RS to the UE (S1807)”; Figs. 15-18; [0206]; [0211]-[0214]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow the report to be a positioning state information (PSI) report and the reference signal to be a positioning reference signal (PRS). Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
Claims 14-15 and 39-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2019/0165847 A1) in view of Cha (US 2022/0003830 A1) and further in view of Faxer et al. (US 2022/0352950 A1, hereinafter “Faxer”).
As to claim 14:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses receiving a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions (“the BS may forward the PRS resource configuration information to the UE (S1801 to S1805)”; [0211] “PRS resource group/set may be defined as a PRS configuration unit, which is similar to a PRS configuration parameter “PRS-Info” in 3GPP TS36.355. In such a PRS configuration, each PRS resource may include, for example, a PRS resource ID, an occupied bandwidth, a periodicity, the number of consecutive slots for PRS transmission, etc. In addition, one PRS resource group/set may be defined by grouping one or more PRSs (e.g., PRS resources or PRS IDs). For example, a plurality of PRS IDs may be configured as one PRS group/set”; [0213][0214]; [0238] see also Figs. 8 and 18; [0006]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow receiving a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the PSI report is a stale PSI report.
However, Faxer discloses wherein at least one RS transmission of the plurality of RS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the report is a stale report (“If there are not enough CPUs available due to that, the UE already has ongoing processing of other CSI reports; an additional CSI reporting allocated by the gNB does not have to be calculated by the UE, and the UE can instead report stale CSI to the gNB, such as a previously calculated CSI report stored in memory or simply padding the CSI report with dummy bits”; [0043]; [0047]; [0058] “the UE aborts or deprioritizes calculation of already ongoing CSI report, implying that the UE is allowed to report stale CSI”; [0140]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Faxer into the combined system/method of Kim and Cha as it would allow at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions to be after the second time, and wherein the PSI report is a stale PSI report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to improve triggering of CSI reports and reduce CSI latency (Faxer; [0060]; Abstract).
As to claim 15:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses receiving a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions (“the BS may forward the PRS resource configuration information to the UE (S1801 to S1805)”; [0211] “PRS resource group/set may be defined as a PRS configuration unit, which is similar to a PRS configuration parameter “PRS-Info” in 3GPP TS36.355. In such a PRS configuration, each PRS resource may include, for example, a PRS resource ID, an occupied bandwidth, a periodicity, the number of consecutive slots for PRS transmission, etc. In addition, one PRS resource group/set may be defined by grouping one or more PRSs (e.g., PRS resources or PRS IDs). For example, a plurality of PRS IDs may be configured as one PRS group/set”; [0213][0214]; [0238] see also Figs. 8 and 18; [0006]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow receiving a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the UE is expected to drop the PSI report.
However, Faxer discloses wherein at least one RS transmission of the plurality of RS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the UE is expected to drop the report (“when determining that it has been triggered with a CSI report utilizing the second CSI timeline requirement, and the CSI report timeline meets the minimum latency requirements if any ongoing CSI reports are aborted, the UE aborts or deprioritizes calculation of already ongoing CSI report, implying that the UE is allowed to report stale CSI or alternatively drop the CSI for those reports.”; [0140]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Faxer into the combined system/method of Kim and Cha as it would allow at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions to be after the second time, and wherein the UE is expected to drop the PSI report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to improve triggering of CSI reports and reduce CSI latency (Faxer; [0060]; Abstract).
As to claim 39:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses wherein the at least one processor (processor; [0019]) is further configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver (transceiver; [0019]), a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions (“the BS may forward the PRS resource configuration information to the UE (S1801 to S1805)”; [0211] “PRS resource group/set may be defined as a PRS configuration unit, which is similar to a PRS configuration parameter “PRS-Info” in 3GPP TS36.355. In such a PRS configuration, each PRS resource may include, for example, a PRS resource ID, an occupied bandwidth, a periodicity, the number of consecutive slots for PRS transmission, etc. In addition, one PRS resource group/set may be defined by grouping one or more PRSs (e.g., PRS resources or PRS IDs). For example, a plurality of PRS IDs may be configured as one PRS group/set”; [0213][0214]; [0238] see also Figs. 8 and 18; [0006]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow receiving a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the PSI report is a stale PSI report.
However, Faxer discloses wherein at least one RS transmission of the plurality of RS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the report is a stale report (“If there are not enough CPUs available due to that, the UE already has ongoing processing of other CSI reports; an additional CSI reporting allocated by the gNB does not have to be calculated by the UE, and the UE can instead report stale CSI to the gNB, such as a previously calculated CSI report stored in memory or simply padding the CSI report with dummy bits”; [0043]; [0047]; [0058] “the UE aborts or deprioritizes calculation of already ongoing CSI report, implying that the UE is allowed to report stale CSI”; [0140]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Faxer into the combined system/method of Kim and Cha as it would allow at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions to be after the second time, and wherein the PSI report is a stale PSI report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to improve triggering of CSI reports and reduce CSI latency (Faxer; [0060]; Abstract).
As to claim 40:
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha discloses the invention set forth above. Cha further discloses wherein the at least one processor (processor; [0019]) is further configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver (transceiver; [0019]), a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions (“the BS may forward the PRS resource configuration information to the UE (S1801 to S1805)”; [0211] “PRS resource group/set may be defined as a PRS configuration unit, which is similar to a PRS configuration parameter “PRS-Info” in 3GPP TS36.355. In such a PRS configuration, each PRS resource may include, for example, a PRS resource ID, an occupied bandwidth, a periodicity, the number of consecutive slots for PRS transmission, etc. In addition, one PRS resource group/set may be defined by grouping one or more PRSs (e.g., PRS resources or PRS IDs). For example, a plurality of PRS IDs may be configured as one PRS group/set”; [0213][0214]; [0238] see also Figs. 8 and 18; [0006]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cha into Kim’s system/method as it would allow receiving a configuration of a plurality of PRS transmissions to measure, the plurality of PRS transmissions including the one or more PRS transmissions. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to estimate the location of a user equipment (UE) more efficiently and to improve the performance of positioning (Cha; [0020]; [0221]; [0227]-[0229]).
The combined system/method of Kim and Cha does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the UE is expected to drop the PSI report.
However, Faxer discloses wherein at least one RS transmission of the plurality of RS transmissions is after the second time, and wherein the UE is expected to drop the report (“when determining that it has been triggered with a CSI report utilizing the second CSI timeline requirement, and the CSI report timeline meets the minimum latency requirements if any ongoing CSI reports are aborted, the UE aborts or deprioritizes calculation of already ongoing CSI report, implying that the UE is allowed to report stale CSI or alternatively drop the CSI for those reports.”; [0140]).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Faxer into the combined system/method of Kim and Cha as it would allow at least one PRS transmission of the plurality of PRS transmissions to be after the second time, and wherein the UE is expected to drop the PSI report. Such combination would have been obvious as the references are from analogous art, where a motivation would have been to improve triggering of CSI reports and reduce CSI latency (Faxer; [0060]; Abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19-22 and 44-47 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/MARIELA VIDAL CARPIO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476