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
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March 31, 2026 has been entered.
This Office Action is in response to claim amendment filed on February 26, 2026. Wherein claims 1, 6, 7, 13, 16, 21 and 22 being amended, claims 4, 5, 19 and 20 being cancelled, claims 23-26 being added.
In virtue of this communication, claims 1-3, 6-8, 10, 12-18 and 21-26 are currently pending in this Office Action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argue Andersson does not disclose, teach, or suggest the use of an Al agent to modify "a radiation pattern of one or more antennas of the radio access communication network," as is recited in claim (Remarks, Page 8-9). Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Andersson disclose "the invention pertains to handling measurements data from wireless devices located in the wireless communication network using geospatial clustering techniques in combination with Artificial Intelligence, AI and/or machine learning.", see Page 2, line 4-6, Anderson further disclose "The features of the embodiments described herein may be combined in all possible combinations of methods, apparatus, modules, systems, and computer program products", see page 2, line 8-9, thus, the combination of apparatus/modules/systems with clustering techniques is appropriate reading as "AI agent".
Andersson disclose altering the azimuth, elevation and/or beam width via changing antenna configuration, a change in tile angle will affect the main lobe coverage area. See Fig. 12, element S17, [page 18, lines 24-26], "In step S17 actions are initiated to reduce deviations. According to some embodiments, actions comprise changing the antenna configuration for a cell, e.g. by altering the azimuth, elevation and/or beam width" and Fig. 5, 6, [page 11, lines 15-29], "A change in tile angle will affect the main lobe coverage area". Wherein tilt angle changing or changing antenna configuration is performing the similar as "modify a radiation pattern of an antenna".
Andersson further teaches using machine learning techniques applying latitude/longitude/altitude information. And see Fig. 12, element S15, [page 18, lines 15-16], “the distance function is determined using machine learning techniques applying latitude/longitude/altitude information”. Fig. 12, element S14, [page 19, lines 3-4], “the step of removing S14 outliers is performed using a machine learning technique”. Since Step 17 is performed based on step 14 and step 15, thus step 17 is performed by using machine learning technique.
Based on the aforementioned reasoning, Andersson disclose the use of an Al agent to modify a radiation pattern of one or more antennas of the radio access communications network.
Applicant argue Gunn fails to make any mention of pixel centroids, and thus fails to discuss that "the geographical coordinates associated to each pixel comprise the geographical coordinates of a centroid of such pixel," as is recited in the amended claim (Remarks, page) has been have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of YUN.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 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 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.
Claim 1-3, 8, 10, 12, 13-14, 17, 18, 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ertimo et al. (US 20200178085 A1, hereinafter Ertimo) in view of Andersson et al. (WO 2020007750 A1, hereinafter Andersson) and further in view of YUN et al. (US 20200186265 A1, hereinafter YUN).
Claim 1: Ertimo teaches a method for managing a radio access communications network, comprising (Fig.1, Fig.2, abstract, “ In response to receiving information on results of the downlink measurements, the network deployment analysis apparatus calculates one or more values of traffic absorption capability associated with one or more potential cell deployments in a wireless communications network of the second type based on the received information and the information maintained in the database”):
receiving, from each of a plurality of mobile user terminals in a determined geographical area, at least one report signal including (Fig. 3, element 303, [0050], “Once the reference signal has been received by a terminal device (and stored to a memory of the terminal device), said terminal device may report the measurement results back to the access node. Each access node may further report the measurement results to the core network and consequently to the network deployment analysis apparatus (block 303)”):
a first data item representative of a geographical position of the mobile user terminal ([0048], “The information on results of the downlink measurements may further comprise, … Global Positioning system (GPS) information relating to the location of the terminal device”); a second data item representative of a power at which transmission signals, sent by the radio access communications network, are received by the mobile user terminal (Fig.3, [0048], “information on results of the downlink measurements comprising at least downlink reference signal received power (RSRP) measured by each of the plurality of terminal devices …. The information on results of the downlink measurements may further comprise, for example, information on downlink reference signal received quality (RSRQ), downlink received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Global Positioning system (GPS) information relating to the location of the terminal device”);
making first comparisons between a power at which the transmission signals are transmitted, and the second data items (wherein calculating pathloss is reading as comparing transmitted power and received power. Fig. 4, element 404, [0055], “ the calculation of the measured pathloss may be based on the downlink reference signal received power, transmission power provided by an access node for a corresponding cell and possibly (depending on the definition of pathloss) antenna gains of the terminal device and/or the access node (for the corresponding cell)”, [0055-0057], disclose the method to calculate the pathloss.);
determining a radio coverage map of the determined geographical area based on the first data items (wherein determining geographic area based on GPS data. [0072], “The information on results of the downlink measurements (as described in relation to block 303 of FIG. 3 or block 403 of FIG. 3) may comprise, … a set of coordinates of terminal devices corresponding to a first set of downlink measurements. The coordinates may be GPS coordinates and the terminal devices associated with said coordinates may correspond to terminal devices which were GPS-enabled at the time of the downlink measurements in the first set”) and the first comparisons (wherein comparing pathlosses with maximum allowed pathlosses. Fig. 4, elements 405,406, 407, [0059], “maximum allowed pathlosses in the wireless communications network of the first type and in the wireless communications network of the second type for satisfying a pre-defined Quality of Service, QoS, criterion (e.g., a pre-defined user throughput). This determining may be based on link budget information maintained in the database”, [0065], “coverage with the wireless communications network of the first type and with the wireless communications network of the second type when a corresponding cell is deployed by comparing each pathloss distribution of the wireless communication network of the first type to the maximum allowed pathloss for the wireless communications network of the first type and to the maximum allowed pathloss for the wireless communications network of the second type taking into account the pathloss difference.”);
making a second comparison between the radio coverage map and reference data (wherein comparing the coverage difference between current cell and existed deployed cell. Fig. 4, Elements 408, [0066], “the network deployment analysis apparatus calculates, for each cell, the traffic absorption capability as a difference (or a ratio) of the coverage by the wireless communications network of the first type and the coverage by the wireless communications network of the second type when a corresponding cell is deployed”);
and applying modifications to the radio access communications network based on the second comparison (wherein the network deployment analysis apparatus outputs calculated traffic absorption capability to a user device. Fig.4, element 409, [0068], “block 409 may comprise, … maximum allowed pathloss for the wireless communications network of the first type, maximum allowed pathloss for the wireless communications network of the second …, the coverage with the wireless communications network of the first type, the coverage with the wireless communications network of the second type …, traffic absorption capability”, Fig. 3, element 305, [0053], “The network deployment analysis apparatus outputs, in block 305, results of the calculating (i.e., values of the traffic absorption capability and possibly results of one or more secondary calculations) to a user device (or a terminal device) for facilitating network planning of the wireless communications network of the second type”).
Ertimo does not explicitly teach determining the radio coverage map comprises: dividing the geographical area into a plurality of pixels, each associated with respective geographical coordinates, wherein the geographical coordinates associated to each pixel comprise the geographical coordinates of a centroid of such pixel; associating, to each pixel, respective mobile user terminals whose geographical position is within such pixel; and determining a radio coverage parameter for each pixel based on the second data items included in the report signals transmitted by the respective mobile user terminals.
wherein the modifications comprise modifying a radiation pattern of one or more antennas of the radio access communications network, and wherein the modifications are applied to the radio access communications network by an artificial intelligence agent based on the report signals.
However, Andersson, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches wherein the modifications comprise modifying a radiation pattern of one or more antennas of the radio access communications network (Fig. 12, element S17, [page 18, lines 24-26], “In step S17 actions are initiated to reduce deviations. According to some embodiments, actions comprise changing the antenna configuration for a cell, e.g. by altering the azimuth, elevation and/or beam width”. Fig. 5, 6, [page 11, lines 15-29], “A change in tile angle will affect the main lobe coverage area”, Wherein tilt angle changing or changing antenna configuration is performing the similar as "modify a radiation pattern of an antenna"), and wherein the modifications are applied to the radio access communications network by an artificial intelligence agent (Fig. 12, element S15, [page 18, lines 15-16], “the distance function is determined using machine learning techniques applying latitude/longitude/altitude information”. Fig. 12, element S14, [page 19, lines 3-4], “the step of removing S14 outliers is performed using a machine learning technique”. Step 17 is performed based on step 14 and step 15, thus step 17 is performed by using machine learning technique) based on the report signals ([page 19, lines 15-16] disclose the processor performs the Fig. 12 flow. see Fig. 12, element S11, [page 18, lines 3-5], disclose close the flow starts in step S10 and in step Sll geospatially located measurements from wireless devices are retrieved. Page 2, line 4-6, “the invention pertains to handling measurements data from wireless devices located in the wireless communication network using geospatial clustering techniques in combination with Artificial Intelligence, AI and/or machine learning.").
Ertimo and Andersson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of the control unit with an artificial intelligence agent as taught by Andersson, for the benefit of removing unreliable measurement, which establish a more reliable and accurate cell coverage plan with a calculated performance when setting up a wireless network ([page 8, line 23-27], [page 9, line 6-11]).
YUN, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches determining the radio coverage map comprises: dividing the geographical area into a plurality of pixels, each associated with respective geographical coordinates ([0019], “the grid comprises a plurality of shapes that represent the pixels, and the grid is associated with a geographic area that includes all of the multi-sector cell sites”), wherein the geographical coordinates associated to each pixel comprise the geographical coordinates of a centroid of such pixel (Fig. 6A, [0097], wherein receiver antenna gain, GR, can be obtained by calculating the Angle of Arrival (AoA) , and the AoA may be established to a center of each pixel, [0120], “in FIG. 9C, θ is the angle between line 916 that runs between a location of cell site 918 and the center point 920 of a pixel”, Fig. 14, [0158], “coverage area of an omnidirectional cell site may be represented as a circle centered at the site, and the size of the circle may be scaled based on the coverage area of the omnidirectional cell”, [0011], “The first probability map may have a plurality of pixels, where each pixel has an assigned probability value that represents a probability that the source of interference is located in a geographic
area corresponding to the pixel”); associating, to each pixel, respective mobile user terminals whose geographical position is within such pixel ( Fig. 14, [0158], “coverage area of an omnidirectional cell site may be represented as a circle centered at the site, and the size of the circle may be scaled based on the coverage area of the omnidirectional cell” ,[0015], “receiving signal strength measurement data from a plurality of cellular antennas of multi-sector cell site … establishing a grid of pixels that represents an area associated with the plurality of cellular antennas”, [0009], “generates and refines a probability map for identifying a source of interference …. the search is refined using a contour map created using data from omni-directional cell sites.” ) ; and determining a radio coverage parameter for each pixel based on the second data items included in the report signals transmitted by the respective mobile user terminals (Fig, 14, [0158], “coverage area of an omnidirectional cell site may be represented as a circle centered at the site, and the size of the circle may be scaled based on the coverage area of the omnidirectional cell. The interference detected by the omnidirectional antenna may be correlated with the interference detected by the multi-sector cell before re-assigning probabilities of the probability map”, [0015], “receiving signal strength measurement data from a plurality of cellular antennas of multi-sector cell sites, determining that an external interference signal is present in the measurement data, establishing a grid of pixels that represents an area associated with the plurality of cellular antennas, determining respective first signal strength values for the pixels in the grid, and determining respective probability values for the pixels in the grid by comparing the signal strength measurement data to the first signal strength values”, [0083], “ interference measurement data stored in network elements includes not only the external interference signal, but also traffic interference coming from mobile users connected to neighbor cell sites as well”).
Ertimo and YUN are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of the geographical coordinates associated to each pixel comprise the geographical coordinates of a centroid of such pixel as taught by YUN, for the benefit of determining an angle of arrival for a pair of antennas of a cell site for each of the pixels and determining an expected interference power for each of the pixels using the associated angles of arrival ([0016]), and generating a heat map indicating probability values of at least a portion of the pixels in the grid ([0019-0020]), thus accurately locating a source of interference (abstract).
Claim 13 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Ertimo further teaches a radio access communications network (Fig. 2, Fig.1); a control unit (Fig. 11, element 1120) comprising an apparatus (Fig. 11, element 1101) installed at a radio base station and in remote locations (Fig. 2, Fig. 1).
Claim 2: Ertimo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the reference data are representative of a minimum acceptable radio coverage in at least a portion of the determined geographical area ([0059], “maximum allowed pathlosses in the wireless communications network of the first type and in the wireless communications network of the second type for satisfying a pre-defined Quality of Service, QoS, criterion (e.g., a pre-defined user throughput). This determining may be based on link budget information maintained in the database”, [0065], disclose coverage is calculated base on maximum allowed pathloss).
Claim 17 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 13 and claim 2.
Claim 3: Ertimo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the report signals are sent from the mobile user terminals according to Minimization of Drive Test, MDT, technology ([0049], “The terminal device measurements may be based on the layer-3 data collection minimization of drive test (L3DC MDT) measurements. As the name implies, the intention of L3DC MDT measurements is to minimize the need for drive tests, that is, tests where a testing vehicle is driven around a pre-defined route in order to measure various network performance metrics”).
Claim 18 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 13 and claim 3.
Claim 8: Ertimo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the following steps are repeated in time ([0051], teach operations support system (OSS) performance management (PM) may be defined as the collection, processing and distribution of performance related information that is periodically collected from a wireless communications network. Furthermore, Fig.5 illustrate pathloss distribution versus different samples).
Claim 10: Ertimo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the radio access communications network is a Self-Organizing Network, SON, comprising a control unit (Fig. 11, elements 1120,1121 ) configured to automatically apply the modifications based on the report signals (Fig. 3, element 305, [0053], “The network deployment analysis apparatus outputs, in block 305, results of the calculating (i.e., values of the traffic absorption capability and possibly results of one or more secondary calculations) to a user device (or a terminal device) for facilitating network planning of the wireless communications network of the second type”, [0101], “the network deployment analysis circuitry 1121 of the network deployment analysis apparatus 1101 is configured to carry out functionalities described above by means of any of FIGS. 3 to 10 using one or more individual circuitries”, [0100], “with the at least one processor, to cause the network deployment analysis apparatus to carry out any one of the exemplified functionalities of the network deployment analysis apparatus described above”).
Claim 12: Ertimo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the managing the radio access communications network comprises planning and/or organizing the radio access communications network (Fig. 6, [0076], “the network deployment analysis apparatus outputs, in block 606, each calculated azimuth angle distribution to the user device for further facilitating the planning of the wireless communications network of the second type. Specifically, the calculated azimuth angle distribution(s) may facilitate the decision making regarding massive MIMO antenna deployments for the wireless communications network of the second type”, [0082], “ Another potential functionality of the network deployment analysis apparatus for further facilitating the network planning for the wireless communications network of the second type (e.g., 5G network) involves using the results of the downlink measurement for assessing the cell capacity (e.g., active cell throughput) that the new cell (i.e., new deployment) may provide”).
Claim 14: the combination of Ertimo and Andersson teaches the method according to claim 1, Andersson additionally teaches wherein the modifications further comprise installing new antennas within the radio access communications network (Fig.16a, 16b, [page 15, lines 25-29], [page 16, lines 1-20], disclose adjusting coverage area and/or fixing installation fault via rewiring Antennas based on the measurement. Rewiring Antenna is reading as installing new antennas).
Ertimo and Andersson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of rewiring antenna as taught by Andersson, which adjusting coverage via rewiring antenna is well known in the field.
Claim 23: Ertimo teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting radio multipath affecting non-line-of-sight (NLOS) urban radio propagation based on an absolute difference between: a first distance between the mobile user terminals and a radio base station, calculated from geographical coordinates of the mobile user terminals, and a second distance between the mobile user terminals and the radio base station, calculated using timing advance (TA) (Fig. 6, [0073], “ for each downlink measurement in the first set, a bearing from the location of the access node to the reported coordinates of a corresponding terminal device … Each calculated bearing (or associated downlink measurement sample) may be associated with (or mapped to) a timing advance bin … Timing advance is defined to correspond to the length of time a signal takes to reach an access node from the terminal device”, [0078], “ the information on results of the downlink measurements … comprise …source cell identifier, source cell RSRP and/or RSRQ source cell TA information, target cell N PCI and EARFCN, target cell N RSRP and/or RSRQ and GPS coordinate information … The source cell TA information may comprise information on at least the distance from which each sample is received (i.e., the TA value). TA value may be reported with a 78 meter resolution defined according to d[m]=78*N, where N is the TA class which may be defined to have values N=0 . . . 9 ”, wherein bin with “N=0” is reading as “a first distance”, and other bin with “N>0” is reading as “a second distance”).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ertimo et al. (US 20200178085 A1, hereinafter Ertimo) in view of Andersson et al. (WO 2020007750 A1, hereinafter Andersson) and further in view of YUN et al. (US 20200186265 A1, hereinafter YUN), and further in view of Bader et al. (US 20140323119 A1, hereinafter Bader) and in view of Chande et al. (US 20160360493 A1, hereinafter Chande).
Claim 15: Ertimo teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the second data item further includes reference signal received power ([0046], “the information on the wireless communications network of the first type may comprise measurement data, for example, in the form of previously measured reference signal received power (RSRP) values”), reference signal received quality ([0048], “The information on results of the downlink measurements may further comprise, for example, information on downlink reference signal received quality (RSRQ)”), energy to noise ratio (Fig. 8, element 802, [0084], “in block 802, for each cell in the wireless communications network of the second type, a signal-to-interference-plus-noise (SINR) distribution based on the information on results of downlink measurements … a signal-to-noise (SNR) distribution may be calculated instead of the SINR distribution”), received signal level( [0046], “ the information on the wireless communications network of the first type may comprise measurement data, for example, in the form of previously measured reference signal received power (RSRP) values … the information on the wireless communications network of the first type may comprise raw measurement data from which the measurement data (e.g., the RSRP data) may be derived.”, [0048], “downlink received signal strength indicator (RSSI)”).
However, Ertimo does not explicitly teach received signal code power, primary common control physical channel received signal code power, pilot pseudorandom noise phase, and pilot strength.
Bader, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches received signal code power ([0057], “ CPICH RSCP (Common Pilot Channel Received Code Power) measurements”) , primary common control physical channel received signal code power ([0057], “ CPICH RSCP (Common Pilot Channel Received Code Power) measurements”), pilot pseudorandom noise phase ([0057], “CPICH Ec/No (Common Pilot Channel chip signal to noise ratio) values”, wherein No is derived from CPICH Ec/No and RSCP . [0062], “CPICH Ec/No (Common Pilot Channel chip signal to noise ratio) value and Received total wide band power values may typically be used as radio environment measurements”).
Ertimo and Bader are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of received signal code power, primary common control physical channel received signal code power and pilot pseudorandom noise phase as taught by Bader, for the benefit of optimizing the service coverage of the radio communication network (abstract).
Chande, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches pilot strength ([0064], “where RSCP_strongest_macro is the pilot signal strength at a macro node 206 received in one or more measurement reports from UE 202”).
Ertimo and Chande are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of pilot strength as taught by Chande, for the benefit of determining the pathloss edge, which allowing better adjusting transmitting power to serve UE (paragraph [0064]).
Claim 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ertimo et al. (US 20200178085 A1, hereinafter Ertimo) in view of Andersson et al. (WO 2020007750 A1, hereinafter Andersson) and further in view of YUN et al. (US 20200186265 A1, hereinafter YUN), and further in view of Friis et al. (“The Friis Equation”, Copyright antenna-theory.com, 2009-2015, hereinafter Friis).
Claim 16: the combination of Ertimo and Andersson does not explicitly teach the method of claim 1, wherein a relationship between a power at which the transmission signals are sent and the power at which the transmission signals are received is defined by the formula:
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344
760
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However, Friis, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches the method of claim 1, wherein a relationship between a power at which the transmission signals are sent and the power at which the transmission signals are received is defined by the formula:
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344
760
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(Page 2, Equation 2
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226
1178
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406
1716
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Wherein PLF is serving the same functionality as (cell antenna cable loss) and γ(r,f,t).)
Ertimo and Friis are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of calculate radar incoming power as taught by Friis, which friis Transmission Formula is well-known antenna theory in wireless communication field (Page 1).
Claims 6-7, 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ertimo et al. (US 20200178085 A1, hereinafter Ertimo) in view of Andersson et al. (WO 2020007750 A1, hereinafter Andersson) and further in view of YUN et al. (US 20200186265 A1, hereinafter YUN), and further in view of Gunn et al. (US 20160353309 A1, hereinafter Gunn).
Claim 6: Ertimo does not explicitly teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the radio coverage parameter of a determined pixel is a function of one or more of the following variables: a distance from a radio base station which serves the determined pixel and which has received the report signals; a frequency at which the transmission signals are transmitted; and time.
However, Gunn, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches wherein the radio coverage parameter of a determined pixel is a function of one or more of the following variables: a distance from a radio base station which serves the determined pixel and which has received the report signals (Fig. 11, [0148], “visualizes 1101 signal measurements with respect to a radio node versus the distance between the position at which the measurement was obtained to the position of the radio node”, [0052], “ The determination may be based on a comparison of the path starting position and the current terminal position”); a frequency at which the transmission signals are transmitted (Fig. 5, [0092], “the configuration received also comprises information about radio frequency measurements”, [0095], “The measurement configuration may list which RATs and frequency carriers that the wireless devices 10 should consider”); and time ([0096], “the base station may need to configure measurement gaps (idle periods when the wireless device can expect no scheduled data).”).
Ertimo and Gunn are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of visualization of determined position and coverage as taught by Gunn, for the benefit of providing a user-friendly interface to perceive a need to perform further radio coverage measurements with visualization of determined coverage (paragraph [0015]).
Claim 21 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 19 and claim 6.
Claim 7: Ertimo does not explicitly teach the method according to claim 1, wherein the radio coverage parameter of a determined pixel is indicative of an electromagnetic pathloss between a radio base station which serves the determined pixel and a generic position within the determined pixel.
However, Gunn teaches wherein the radio coverage parameter of a determined pixel is indicative of an electromagnetic pathloss between a radio base station which serves the determined pixel and a generic position within the determined pixel (Fig. 11, [0086], “A signal propagation model, for example a signal power loss in dB per meter or per logarithm of the distance to the node in meters. The use of signal propagation models is discussed in more detail in connection with FIG. 11”, [0148], “visualizes 1101 signal measurements with respect to a radio node versus the distance between the position at which the measurement was obtained to the position of the radio node. The signal propagation may be associated to a propagation model, either with pre-configured or configurable parameters, or parameters that are estimated based on measurements”).
The motivation regarding to the obviousness to claim 6 is also applied to claim 7.
Claim 22 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 19 and claim 7.
Claim 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ertimo et al. (US 20200178085 A1, hereinafter Ertimo) in view of Andersson et al. (WO 2020007750 A1, hereinafter Andersson) and further in view of YUN et al. (US 20200186265 A1, hereinafter YUN), and further in view of Stola et al. (US 20070281706 A1, hereinafter Stola).
Claim 25: Ertimo does not explicitly teaches the method of claim 1, wherein each pixel has one of a square shape or a rectangle shape, and wherein a side of the square shape or the rectangle shape is between one meter and two hundred meters.
Stola, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches wherein each pixel has one of a square shape or a rectangle shape, and wherein a side of the square shape or the rectangle shape is between one meter and two hundred meters ([0013], “referred to as cell coverage prediction, is carried out by using a low environment resolution … generally known as pixels, having a side of 50 or 100 meters”, [0035], “developed for short distances from the radio base station, in particular distances shorter than 1 or 2 kilometers, and consequently they involve a territorial analysis which is entirely carried out using a high environment resolution, i.e., considering pixels having a side of 5 or 10 meters”, claim 39, “wherein said first areas have a square shape, and wherein the distance between the center of said first area and said circumference arc is correlated to the diagonal of said first area”).
Ertimo and Stola are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, 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 system of Ertimo and the features of pixel shape as taught by Stola, for the benefit of allowing to plan a radiocommunications network with different resolutions, corresponding to different environment (paragraph [0037]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims [24, 26 ] 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONGHONG ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)272-4089. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 9:00 am - 5:00pm.
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/Y.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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