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 .
The previous final Office Action has been vacated and is replaced by this instant Final Office Action.
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, 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 1-3, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Wang (US 2023/0254811) in view of Manolakos (US 2023/0041767).
Regarding claim 1, Wang describes a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (fig. 7, UE), the method comprising:
receiving positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration information (fig. 7 #703 & para. 540, UE receives PRS configuration information from base station); and
receiving one or more PRS-related information based on the PRS configuration information (fig. 7 #704, UE receives PRS activation signal after receiving the previous received configuration info for the UE to measure PRS – equals to UE receiving signal related to configuration inform in instant application, fig. 13 #1307),
wherein based on reception of information on triggering an aperiodic PRS, the one or more PRSs are aperiodically received (para. 65, the PRSs are part of the trigger group), the PRSs received by UE to be measured & reported being aperiodic, para. 4 & 64).
Wang fail to further explicitly describe:
receiving one or more PRSs based on the PRS configuration information.
Manolakos also describes control of aperiodic signals in positioning (para. 101, communication signals for aperiodic PRS), further describing:
receiving one or more PRSs based on the PRS configuration information (fig. 11 steps 1102 & 1106 & para. 123, UE receiving PRS in step 1106 after receiving PRS configuration in step 1102, see also fig. 10 step 6 in view of step 3, or para. 195 or claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to specify that the UE of Wang to receive PRSs based on receiving PRS configuration as in Manolakos.
The motivation is that this implementation enhances signal efficiencies and reduces latencies vs. current wireless standards (Manolakos, para. 3).
Regarding claim 2, Wang and Manolakos combined describe:
wherein the PRS configuration information comprises:
information on positioning frequency layers; information on a specific transmission and reception point (TRP) among a plurality of first TRPs; information on PRS resource sets of the specific TRP; and information on PRS resources of the specific TRP (Wang, para. 62, settings include 1+ frequency layers of a plurality of TRPs, where the network-side may activate only PRS resource set/PRS resource/frequency layer of [selected] one TRP);
wherein the information on the PRS resource sets of the specific TRP and the information on the PRS resources of the specific TRP are included in a higher layer parameter for assistance data related to the specific TRP, and wherein the higher layer parameter further comprises information for configuring a triggering state of the aperiodic PRS (Wang para. 60-62, such activation (configuration) state may be indicated by high-layer signaling or protocol).
Regarding claim 3, Wang and Manolakos combined describe:
wherein the information on triggering the aperiodic PRS is received in downlink control information (DCI), and wherein the information on triggering the aperiodic PRS is related to the triggering state of the aperiodic PRS configured based on the information for configuring the triggering state of the aperiodic PRS (Manolakos fig. 12 & para. 134, wake up signal (information on triggering aperiodic PRS) is received in the DCI for transitioning to the DRX ON mode (state) for receiving the aperiodic PRS in step 1204 sub-step ‘c’).
Regarding claim 5, Wang and Manolakos combined describe:
wherein the specific TRP is a plurality of second TRPs included in the plurality of first TRPs, and wherein for each of the plurality of second TRPs, an offset for triggering the aperiodic PRS is configured in units of at least one of symbols or slots (Wang, para. 53, configuration information of the 3rd PRS group (plurality of second TRPs within the plurality of all [first] TRPs) includes: TRP time offset. Such time offset is a time domain parameter including: [time] slot offset, para. 69).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 and 6 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.
Claims 7-10 are apparatus (UE) claims comprising transceiver & processor to execute the steps in method for UE claims 1-3 and 5 respectively. Hence, they are rejected under the same rationale.
Claim 11 recites the UE configured to communicate with the network, which is already described in either prior art of Wang or Munier. Hence, it is rejected under the same rationale.
Claim 12 is the method for base station claim comprising mirroring transmitting steps to that of method for UE claim 1 comprising such receiving steps. Hence, it is rejected under the same rationale.
Claim 13 is a base station apparatus claim comprising transceiver and processor for executing the steps recited in method for base station claim 12. Hence, it is rejected under the same rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Bao (US 2022/0053461) describing receive configuration of first/second PRS resources (steps 910 & 920) & receives first/second PRS resources (fig. 9, & step 940), and Guo (WO 2021/036508) serving cell sends, to the terminal device, positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration information of the serving cell and neighbor cells; the terminal device receives and measures PRSs of the serving cell and the neighbor cells, and reports measurement results to the serving cell; (abstract),
(fig. 3 steps 302 & 305).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WARNER WONG whose telephone number is (571)272-8197. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am - 3:30pm.
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.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
WARNER WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/WARNER WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469