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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/19/2025 has been entered.
Claims 25 and 37 have been amended; Claims 43 and 44 have been added. Claims 25-27 and 30-44 are subject to examination.
Acknowledgement is made to the Applicant’s amendment to claim 37 to obviate the previous 112(b) rejection to claim 37. The previous 112(b) rejection to claim 37 is hereby withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 25 and 37 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 25-27, 31-33, 37, and 41-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2023/0276421 A1, hereinafter “Yang”) in view of Chen et al. (US 2021/0373148 A1, hereinafter “Chen”).
Regarding Claim 25, Yang teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a message transmitted by a network node (Yang: At 950, UE 902 may ... receive, from the base station, a base station Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0095]); and
the UE performing: determining a first time difference measurement result (Yang: At 920, UE 902 may determine a UE reception (Rx) transmission (Tx) (Rx-Tx) time difference, see paragraph [0092]);
receiving a second time difference report transmitted by the network node, wherein the second time difference report transmitted by the network node comprises a second time difference measurement result (Yang: At 950, UE 902 may ... receive, from the base station, a base station Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0095]); and
calculating a propagation delay based on the first and the second time difference measurement result (Yang: At 960, when the base station Rx-Tx time difference is received from the base station, UE 902 may calculate a propagation delay value, where the propagation delay value is equal to a sum of the UE Rx-Tx time difference and the base station Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0096]), wherein
determining the first time difference measurement result comprises calculating a time difference (ΔtUE) between a time at which the UE transmits an uplink frame to the network node and a time at which the UE receives a downlink frame transmitted by the network node (Yang: At 920, UE 902 may determine a UE reception (Rx) transmission (Tx) (Rx-Tx) time difference, the UE Rx-Tx time difference being equal to a difference between a downlink subframe reception time and an uplink subframe transmission time, see paragraph [0092]),
the second time difference measurement result is, or is based on, a time difference (ΔtBS) between the time at which the network node transmits the downlink frame to the UE and the time at which the network node receives the uplink frame that was transmitted by the UE (Yang: At 922, base station 904 may determine a base station reception (Rx) transmission (Tx) (Rx-Tx) time difference, the base station Rx-Tx time difference being equal to a difference between an uplink subframe reception time and a downlink subframe transmission time, see paragraph [0092]), and
the propagation delay is calculated as tUE + ΔtBS, where tUE is equal to ΔtUE or is calculated using ΔtUE (Yang: UE 902 may calculate a propagation delay value, where the propagation delay value is equal to a sum of the UE Rx-Tx time difference and the base station Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0096]), wherein
the time at which the UE transmits the uplink frame to the network node is t1, the time at which the network node transmits the downlink frame to the UE is t2, the time at which the network node receives the uplink frame is t3, the time at which the UE receives the downlink frame that was transmitted by the network node is t4 (Yang: t4 may be the UE receive timing of a downlink subframe ... t1 may be the UE transmit timing of an uplink subframe ... t3 may be the base station receive timing of an uplink subframe ... t2 can be the base station transmit timing of a downlink subframe, see paragraph [0066]),
t4 is later than t1 (Yang: see Fig. 4),
ΔtUE is equal to t4-t1 (Yang: the UE Rx-Tx time difference may be defined as t4-t1, see paragraph [0066]), and
ΔtBS is equal to t3-t2 (Yang: the base station Rx-Tx time difference may be defined as t3-t-2, see paragraph [0066]).
Yang does not explicitly teach the message comprising round-trip- time (RTT) based measurement information and at least one measurement reporting configuration.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chen teaches the message comprising round-trip- time (RTT) based measurement information and at least one measurement reporting configuration (Chen: the configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device [UE] may further include ... whether panel RTT reporting is required and information about a maximum quantity of panels to be reported, see paragraph [0129]; the configuration information may further include ... a reporting configuration, see paragraph [0125]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang to include the features as taught by Chen above in order configure the UE for RTT measurement and reporting (Chen: see paragraph [0125]).
Regarding Claim 26, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25, wherein the network node is a base station (Yang: At 950, UE 902 may ... receive, from the base station, a base station Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0095]).
Regarding Claim 27, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25.
Chen further teaches the RTT based measurement information comprises information identifying reference signals to be used for one or more RTT-based measurements (Chen: the configuration information may further include configuration information of a downlink positioning reference signal, configuration information of an uplink positioning reference signal, see paragraph [0125]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Chen is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 25.
Regarding Claim 31, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25.
Chen further teaches the RTT based measurement information comprises: an SRS resource identifier identifying an SRS resource configuration (Chen: The positioning configuration information includes … a type (an SRS ...), a sending bandwidth, a quantity of sending times, a time-frequency resource, see paragraph [0195]); and
a CSI-RS resource identifier identifying a CSI-RS resource configuration (Chen: The positioning configuration information includes … a type (for example ... a CSI-RS), a sending bandwidth, a quantity of sending times, a time-frequency resource, see paragraph [0195]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Chen is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 25.
Regarding Claim 32, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 31.
Chen further teaches the RTT based measurement information comprises a reporting configuration identifier that identifies the measurement reporting configuration (Chen: Optionally, the configuration information may further include ... a reporting configuration, see paragraph [0125]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Chen is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 25.
Regarding Claim 33, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 31, wherein the measurement reporting configuration comprises: report type information identifying a reporting type (Chen: The reporting configuration refers to configurations such as a reporting mode (for example, a single-site reporting mode or a multi-site reporting mode) and a reporting manner (for example, whether differential reporting is used) of the terminal device, see paragraph [0128]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Chen is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 25.
Regarding Claim 37, Yang teaches a method performed by a network node, the method comprising: the network node performing: receiving a first time difference report transmitted by the UE, wherein the first time difference report transmitted by the UE comprises a first time difference measurement result (tUE) (Yang: At 952, base station 904 may ... receive, from the UE, a UE Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0095]);
determining a second time difference measurement result, the second time difference measurement result is, or is based on, a time difference (ΔtBS) between the time at which the network node receives an uplink frame transmitted by the UE and the time at which the network node transmits a downlink frame to the UE (Yang: At 922, base station 904 may determine a base station reception (Rx) transmission (Tx) (Rx-Tx) time difference, the base station Rx-Tx time difference being equal to a difference between an uplink subframe reception time and a downlink subframe transmission time, see paragraph [0092]);
calculating a propagation delay based on the first and the second time difference measurement result, wherein the propagation delay is calculated as tUE + ΔtBS, where tUE is equal to ΔtUE or is calculated using ΔtUE (Yang: At 962, when the UE Rx-Tx time difference is received from the UE, base station 904 may calculate a propagation delay value, where the propagation delay value is equal to a sum of the base station Rx-Tx time difference and the UE Rx-Tx time difference, see paragraph [0096]),
the time at which the UE transmits the uplink frame to the network node is t1, the time at which the network node transmits the downlink frame to the UE is t2, the time at which the network node receives the uplink frame is t3, the time at which the UE receives the downlink frame that was transmitted by the network node is t4 (Yang: t4 may be the UE receive timing of a downlink subframe ... t1 may be the UE transmit timing of an uplink subframe ... t3 may be the base station receive timing of an uplink subframe ... t2 can be the base station transmit timing of a downlink subframe, see paragraph [0066]),
t4 is later than t1 (Yang: see Fig. 4),
ΔtUE is equal to t4-t1 (Yang: the UE Rx-Tx time difference may be defined as t4-t1, see paragraph [0066]), and
ΔtBS is equal to t3-t2 (Yang: the base station Rx-Tx time difference may be defined as t3-t-2, see paragraph [0066]).
Yang does not explicitly teach the network node transmitting to a user equipment (UE), a message comprising round-trip- time (RTT) based measurement information and at least one measurement reporting configuration; and
receiving a report transmitted by the UE in accordance with the measurement reporting configuration.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chen teaches the network node transmitting to a user equipment (UE), a message comprising round-trip- time (RTT) based measurement information and at least one measurement reporting configuration (Chen: the configuration information sent by the network device to the terminal device [UE] may further include ... whether panel RTT reporting is required and information about a maximum quantity of panels to be reported, see paragraph [0129]; the configuration information may further include ... a reporting configuration, see paragraph [0125]; The reporting configuration refers to configurations such as a reporting mode ... and a reporting manner (for example, whether differential reporting is used) of the terminal device, see paragraph [0128]); and
receiving a report transmitted by the UE in accordance with the measurement reporting configuration (Chen:The network device receives a first message from the terminal device, where the first message includes one or more pieces of first time difference information, see paragraph [0185]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang to include the features as taught by Chen above in order configure the UE for measurement reporting (Chen: see paragraph [0125]).
Regarding Claim 41, Yang-Chen teaches a user equipment (UE), the UE comprising: processing circuitry (Yang: The method may be performed by a UE or a component of a UE (e.g., .. a processing system, which may include ... the controller/processor 359), see paragraph [0100]); and
a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, wherein the UE is operative to perform the method of claim 25 (Yang: a processing system, which may include the memory 360, see paragraph [0100]).
Regarding Claim 42, Yang-Chen teaches a network node, the network node comprising: processing circuitry (Yang: The method may be performed by a base station or a component of a base station (e.g., ... a processing system, which may ... the controller/processor 375, see paragraph [0110]); and
a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, wherein the network node is operative to perform the method of claim 37 (Yang: a processing system, which may include the memory 376, see paragraph [0110]).
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang-Chen in view of Epelman et al (US 2016/0210633 A1, hereinafter “Epelman”).
Regarding Claim 30, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25, but does not explicitly teach, wherein the first time difference measurement result is an average value representing the average of a set of time differences calculated by the UE.
However, Epelman teaches the first time difference measurement result is an average value representing the average of a set of time differences calculated by the UE (Epelman: The RTT value for the particular location pair may be a statistical measure (e.g., average) based upon the corresponding time differences of the transaction pairs with those locations, see paragraph [0092]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang-Chen to include the features as taught by Epelman above in order to obtain highly accurate RTT measurements (Epelman: see paragraph [0011]).
Claims 34-35 and 38-39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang-Chen in view of Alawieh (EP 3,648,496 A1, hereinafter “Alawieh”).
Regarding Claim 34, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25, but does not explicitly teach, wherein the method further comprises the UE receiving a trigger message for triggering the UE to start RTT-based measurements using the RTT based measurement information included in the message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Alawieh teaches the UE receiving a trigger message for triggering the UE to start RTT-based measurements using the RTT based measurement information included in the message (Alawieh: receiving from the network node a configuration ... to provide instructions to the target UE on when to perform … at least one measurement on ... Round Trip Time, RTT, parameter of the configured CSI-RS, see paragraph [0016]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang-Chen to include the features as taught by Alawieh above in order to reduce the amount of signaling (Alawieh: see paragraph [0023]).
Regarding Claim 35, Yang-Chen-Alawieh teaches the method of claim 34.
Alawieh further teaches the trigger message identifies a reporting configuration to be used by the UE for reporting the RTT-based measurements (Alawieh: receiving from the network node a configuration ... to provide instructions to the target UE on ... how to report these parameters, see paragraph [0016]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Alawieh is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 34.
Regarding Claim 38, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 37, but does not explicitly teach, wherein the method further comprises the network node, after transmitting the message, transmitting to the UE a trigger message for triggering the UE to start RTT-based measurements using the RTT based measurement information included in the message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Alawieh teaches the network node, after transmitting the message, transmitting to the UE a trigger message for triggering the UE to start RTT-based measurements using the RTT based measurement information included in the message (Alawieh: receiving from the network node a configuration ... to provide instructions to the target UE on when to perform … at least one measurement on ... Round Trip Time, RTT, parameter of the configured CSI-RS, see paragraph [0016]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang-Chen to include the features as taught by Alawieh above in order to reduce the amount of signaling (Alawieh: see paragraph [0023]).
Regarding Claim 39, Yang-Chen-Alawieh teaches the method of claim 38.
Alawieh further teaches the trigger message identifies a reporting configuration to be used by the UE for reporting the RTT-based measurements (Alawieh: receiving from the network node a configuration ... to provide instructions to the target UE on ... how to report these parameters, see paragraph [0016]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Alawieh is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 38.
Claims 36 and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang-Chen-Alawieh in further view of Golitschek Edler von Elbwart (US 2017/0250781 A1, hereinafter “GEVE”).
Regarding Claim 36, Yang-Chen-Alawieh teaches the method of claim 34, but does not explicitly teach, the trigger message is Downlink Control Information.
However, GEVE teaches, the trigger message is Downlink Control Information (GEVE: In an exemplary implementation, the trigger message is in form of a downlink control information, see paragraph [0191]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang-Chen-Alawieh to include the features as taught by GEVE above in order to use the DCI format to include additional control information in the trigger message (GEVE: see paragraph [0104]).
Regarding Claim 40, Yang-Chen-Alawieh teaches the method of claim 38, but does not explicitly teach, the trigger message is Downlink Control Information.
However, GEVE teaches, the trigger message is Downlink Control Information (GEVE: In an exemplary implementation, the trigger message is in form of a downlink control information, see paragraph [0191]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang-Chen-Alawieh to include the features as taught by GEVE above in order to use the DCI format to include additional control information in the trigger message (GEVE: see paragraph [0104]).
Claims 43 and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang-Chen in view of Siomina et al. (WO 2020/153892 A1, hereinafter “Siomina”).
Regarding Claim 43, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25, but does not explicitly teach, the network node transmits the downlink frame to the UE before receiving the uplink frame transmitted by the UE.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Siomina teaches the network node transmits the downlink frame to the UE before receiving the uplink frame transmitted by the UE (Siomina: TA Type 2 measurement is the Rx-Tx (receive-transmit) timing difference (positive or negative value) of radio frame i at the eNB, see pg. 17 line 33 – pg. 18 line 2 and Fig. 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang-Chen to include the features as taught by Siomina above in order to reduce the latency of propagation delay calculation.
Regarding Claim 44, Yang-Chen teaches the method of claim 25, wherein tUE is greater than 0 (Yang: see Fig. 4).
Yang-Chen does not explicitly teach ΔtBS is greater than 0.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Siomina teaches ΔtBS is greater than 0 (Siomina: TA Type 2 measurement is the Rx-Tx (receive-transmit) timing difference (positive or negative value) of radio frame i at the eNB, see pg. 17 line 33 – pg. 18 line 2 and Fig. 5).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Siomina is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 43.
Conclusion
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/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/SHARMIN CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416