DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 4/29/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
The previously indicated allowability of Claims 1-4, 6-13, and 15-18 is withdrawn in view of the IDS with references filed on 4/29/2025. Rejections based on the cited reference(s) follow.
Claims 6-8 and 15-17 are now objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 6-8 and 15-17 are allowed because the prior art of record singly or in combination failed to teach the limitations of the claims in their entirety as related to the claimed thresholds, and as applied to the independent claims.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4, 9-13, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0275726) in view of Noh et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0191133)
Referring to Claim 1, Lee et al. disclose a method performed by a user equipment (UE) for positioning the UE comprising: receiving assistance data that includes at least a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for receiving one or more PRS beams (pars 291-296, PRS, configured, beam; Also, par 249, DL PRS resource), the PRS configuration comprising an azimuth angle, elevation angle and beam width information for each PRS beam; receiving the one or more PRS beams based on the PRS configuration; and performing positioning measurements with the one or more PRS beams (pars 296-297, azimuth/plane/beam width).
However, Lee et al. do not disclose selecting one or more antennas for receiving one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam.
In the same field of endeavor, Noh et al. disclose selecting one or more antennas for receiving one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam (pars 49 and 50, specifying using beam width).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate selecting one or more antennas for receiving one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam, as taught by Noh et al., in the method of Lee et al., for the purpose of forming beams according to multiplexed RF signal (Noh et al., Abstract).
Referring to Claim 2 as applied to Claim 1 above, Lee et al. disclose the method, wherein the beam width information for each PRS beam comprises a beam width of each beam (par 296, beam width, corresponding beam).
Referring to Claim 3 as applied to Claim 1 above, Lee et al. disclose the method, wherein the beam width information for each PRS beam comprises a boresight direction uncertainty and a beam width uncertainty (pars 296, 319 and par 185, boresights, beamwidth, uncertainty).
Referring to Claim 4 as applied to Claim 1 above, Lee et al. disclose the method, wherein the beam width information for each PRS beam comprises beam information for one or more side lobes and back lobe associated with each PRS beam (par 296, beam width - PRS related to beam - lobes).
Referring to Claim 9 as applied to Claim 10 above, Lee et al. disclose the method, wherein the one or more PRS beams are transmitted in a millimeter wave frequency band (pars 291-296, PRS, configured, beam; Also, par 249, DL PRS resource; par 518, mmW), and wherein the UE comprises multiple antenna panels (pars 362-364, UE, panel/elements).
Lee et al. further disclose a panel may be multiple antenna elements (par 364).
However, Lee et al. do not disclose selecting a number of antennas for receiving the one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam comprises selecting a number of antenna panels at least partially based on the beam width information for each beam.
In the same field of endeavor, Noh et al. disclose selecting a number of antennas for receiving the one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam comprises selecting a number of antenna panels at least partially based on the beam width information for each beam (pars 49 and 50, specifying using beam width).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate selecting a number of antennas for receiving the one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam comprises selecting a number of antenna panels at least partially based on the beam width information for each beam, as taught by Noh et al., in the method of Lee et al., for the purpose of forming beams according to multiplexed RF signal (Noh et al., Abstract).
Referring to Claim 10, Lee et al. disclose a user equipment (UE) configured for positioning, comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in a wireless network: at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory. wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive assistance data that includes at least a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for receiving one or more PRS beams (pars 291-296, PRS, configured, beam; Also, par 249, DL PRS resource), the PRS configuration comprising an azimuth angle and elevation angle and beam width information for each PRS beam; receive the PRS beams based on the PRS configuration; and perform positioning measurements with the PRS beams (pars 296-297, azimuth/plane/beam width).
However, Lee et al. do not disclose selecting one or more antennas for receiving one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam.
In the same field of endeavor, Noh et al. disclose selecting one or more antennas for receiving one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam (pars 49 and 50, specifying using beam width).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate selecting one or more antennas for receiving one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam, as taught by Noh et al., in the UE of Lee et al., for the purpose of forming beams according to multiplexed RF signal (Noh et al., Abstract).
Referring to Claim 11 as applied to Claim 10 above, Lee et al. disclose the UE, wherein the beam width information foreach PRS beam comprises a beam width of each beam (par 296, beam width, corresponding beam).
Referring to Claim 12 as applied to Claim 10 above, Lee et al. disclose the method, wherein the beam width information for each PRS beam comprises a boresight direction uncertainty and a beam width uncertainty (pars 296, 319 and par 185, boresights, beamwidth, uncertainty).
Referring to Claim 13 as applied to Claim 10 above, Lee et al. disclose the UE, wherein the beam width information for each PRS beam comprises beam information for one or more side lobes and back lobe associated with each PRS beam (par 296, beam width - PRS related to beam - lobes).
Referring to Claim 18 as applied to Claim 11 above, Lee et al. disclose the UE, wherein the one or more PRS beams are transmitted in a millimeter wave frequency band (pars 291-296, PRS, configured, beam; Also, par 249, DL PRS resource; par 518, mmW), and wherein the UE comprises multiple antenna panels (pars 362-364, UE, panel/elements).
Lee et al. further disclose a panel may be multiple antenna elements (par 364).
However, Lee et al. do not disclose selecting a number of antennas for receiving the one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam comprises selecting a number of antenna panels at least partially based on the beam width information for each beam.
In the same field of endeavor, Noh et al. disclose selecting a number of antennas for receiving the one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam comprises selecting a number of antenna panels at least partially based on the beam width information for each beam (pars 49 and 50, specifying using beam width).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate selecting a number of antennas for receiving the one or more beams based on the beam width information for each beam comprises selecting a number of antenna panels at least partially based on the beam width information for each beam, as taught by Noh et al., in the UE of Lee et al., for the purpose of forming beams according to multiplexed RF signal (Noh et al., Abstract).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAIL KHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7187. The examiner can normally be reached on M-TH 8:30am-6:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 5712727915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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/Suhail Khan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
Prosecution Insights