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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/24/2025, 2/02/2026, and 2/16/2026 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
In light of Applicant’s amendments, Examiner respectfully withdraws the previous claim objections to claims 50 and 51.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant's arguments, filed on 02/18/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by the newly added claims 27-37. See the rejection below for relevant citations found in Agee disclosing the newly added limitations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
7. Claim(s) 49, 50, 55, 57, 58, 60, 65, and 67-69 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2020/0267508 A1 by Fischer et al. (hereafter referred to as Fischer).
Regarding claim 49, Fischer teaches A method for a positioning node that is external to but communicatively coupled associated with a radio access network (RAN) (see at least Fig. 2 NG-RAN, LMF), the method comprising:
receiving, from a plurality of user equipment (UEs) (see at least Fig. 2 (102); UE set), measurements made by the respective UEs on positioning reference signals (PRS) (see at least ¶ [0051]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”); and
sending, to the plurality of RAN nodes, respective PRS activity reports that include information about measurements made by the UEs on PRS transmitted by TRPs associated with the respective RAN nodes (see at least ¶ [0068] and [0074]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”).
Regarding claim 50, Fischer teaches the method of claim 49. In addition, Fischer teaches wherein:
the method further comprises receiving, from the plurality of UEs, updated measurements made by the UEs on PRS transmitted by the plurality of TRPs (see at least Fig. 6B);
sending respective PRS activity reports comprises sending periodic PRS activity reports to each of the plurality of RAN nodes; and each periodic PRS activity report is based on updated measurements received by the positioning node before sending the periodic PRS activity report (see at least ¶ [0044]; “The NEF 122 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from GMLC 125. NEF 122 may also or instead be connected to AMF 115 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from AMF 115.”).
Regarding claim 55, Fischer teaches the method of claim 49. In addition, Fischer teaches wherein one or more of the following applies: each PRS activity report includes a list of PRS resource sets that can be configured by the RAN node or by TRPs associated with the RAN node; and the information included in the PRS activity report is on beam-level or is aggregated to a resource set level (see at least ¶ [0134] – [0150]).
Regarding claim 57, Fischer teaches A method for a radio access network (RAN) node associated with one or more transmission reception points (TRPs), the method comprising:
receiving, from a positioning node associated with the RAN, one or more PRS activity reports that include information about measurements made by a plurality of user equipment, UEs, on positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by TRPs associated with the RAN node (see at least ¶ [0068] and [0074]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”); and
determining updated PRS transmission configurations for the associated TRPs based on the one or more received PRS activity reports (see at least ¶[0044]; “ The NEF 122 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from GMLC 125. NEF 122 may also or instead be connected to AMF 115 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from AMF 115.”).
Regarding claim 58, Fischer teaches the method of claim 57. In addition, Fischer teaches wherein: receiving one or more PRS activity reports comprises receiving periodic PRS activity reports from the positioning node; and each periodic PRS activity report is based on updated UE measurements received by the positioning node before sending the periodic PRS activity report (see at least ¶ [0044]; “The NEF 122 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from GMLC 125. NEF 122 may also or instead be connected to AMF 115 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from AMF 115.”).
Regarding claim 60, Fischer teaches the method of claim 58. In addition, Fischer teaches further comprising sending, to the positioning node, an action report indicating the updated PRS transmission configurations for the associated TRPs (see at least ¶ [0044]; “The NEF 122 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from GMLC 125. NEF 122 may also or instead be connected to AMF 115 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from AMF 115.”).
Regarding claim 65, Fischer teaches the method of claim 57. In addition, Fischer teaches wherein each PRS activity report includes a list of PRS resource sets that can be configured by the RAN node or TRPs associated with the RAN node (see at least ¶ [0134] – [0150]).
Regarding claim 67, Fischer teaches the method of claim 57. In addition, Fischer teaches wherein the information included in the PRS activity report is on beam-level or is aggregated to a resource set level (see at least ¶ [0134] – [0150]).
Regarding claim 68, Fischer teaches A positioning node configured for operation external to but communicatively coupled with a radio access network (RAN) (see at least Figs. 2, 5 and ¶ [0197]; In some implementations, the CU module 1012 and LMC module 1014 are physically separate, e.g., implemented in separate physical entities. In that case, a first physical entity may be as described for FIG. 10 but may include CU module 1012 and not LMC module 1014) the positioning node comprising:
communication interface circuitry configured to communicate with RAN nodes and with user equipment (UEs) via the RAN nodes; and processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry (see at least ¶ [0197]-[0201]), whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to:
receive, from a plurality of user equipment (UEs) (see at least Fig. 2 (102); UE set), measurements made by the respective UEs on positioning reference signals (PRS) (see at least ¶ [0051]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”); and
send, to the plurality of RAN nodes, respective PRS activity reports that include information about measurements made by the UEs on PRS transmitted by TRPs associated with the respective RAN nodes (see at least ¶ [0068] and [0074]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”).
Regarding claim 69, Fischer teaches A radio access network (RAN) node associated with one or more transmission reception points (TRPs) (see at least Figs. 2 and 5), the RAN node comprising:
communication interface circuitry (see at least Fig. 10) configured to communicate with a positioning node external to the RAN and to transmit positioning reference signals (PRS) via the TRPs (see at least ¶ [0051]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”); and
processing circuitry operatively coupled to the communication interface circuitry (see at least Fig. 10), whereby the processing circuitry and the communication interface circuitry are configured to:
receive, from a positioning node associated with the RAN, one or more PRS activity reports that include information about measurements made by a plurality of user equipment, UEs, on positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by TRPs associated with the RAN node (see at least ¶ [0068] and [0074]; “An RSTD measurement may comprise the difference in the times of arrival at the UE 102 of a signal (e.g. a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110. The UE 102 may send the measurements back to the location server, e.g., to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g. inside a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115 or to the LMC within a node in the NG-RAN 135, such as in serving gNB 110-1.”); and
determine updated PRS transmission configurations for the associated TRPs based on the one or more received PRS activity reports (see at least ¶[0044]; “ The NEF 122 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from GMLC 125. NEF 122 may also or instead be connected to AMF 115 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from AMF 115.”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Claim(s) 52-54, and 61-64 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer as applied to claim 49, 50, 57, and 60 above, in view of US 2022/0132493 A1 by Fakoorian et al. (hereafter referred to Fakoorian).
Regarding claim 52, Fischer teaches the method of claim 49. In addition, Fischer teaches wherein: the method further comprises receiving, from the plurality of RAN nodes, respective action reports indicating updated PRS transmission configurations for TRPs associated with the respective RAN nodes (see at least ¶[0044]; “ The NEF 122 may be connected to the GMLC 125 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from GMLC 125. NEF 122 may also or instead be connected to AMF 115 to support last known location, current location and/or deferred periodic and triggered location for the UE 102 by sending requests to and receiving responses from AMF 115.”); and
Fischer does not appear to specifically teach each of the updated PRS transmission configurations indicates one or more PRS that has been activated or deactivated responsive to a PRS activity report from the positioning node.
In the same field of endeavor, Fakoorian teaches each of the updated PRS transmission configurations indicates one or more PRS that has been activated or deactivated responsive to a PRS activity report from the positioning node (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 53, Fischer teaches the method of claim 50.
Fischer does not appear to specifically teach further comprising: determining positioning assistance data based on the respective action reports received from the plurality of RAN nodes, wherein the positioning assistance data includes indications of active PRS associated with each of the TRPs; and broadcasting, via the plurality of RAN nodes, the positioning assistance data in at least one cell of the RAN.
In the same field of endeavor, Fakoorian teaches further comprising: determining positioning assistance data based on the respective action reports received from the RAN nodes, wherein the positioning assistance data includes indications of active PRS associated with each of the TRPs; and broadcasting, via the one or more RAN nodes, the positioning assistance data in at least one cell of the RAN (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 54, Fischer in view of Fakoorian teaches the method of claim 53.
In the obvious combination, Fakoorian teaches wherein the positioning assistance data broadcast in each cell includes an indication that the RAN node serving the cell is capable of on-demand activation of PRS in the cell (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 61, Fischer teaches the method of claim 60.
Fischer does not appear to specifically teach wherein determining updated PRS transmission configurations comprises: determining whether to deactivate any of the PRS corresponding to the measurements; determining whether to activate transmission of other PRS by the associated TRPs; and activating or deactivating PRS transmissions by the associated TRPs, in accordance with the determinations.
In the same field of endeavor, Fakoorian teaches wherein determining updated PRS transmission configurations comprises: determining whether to deactivate any of the PRS corresponding to the measurements; determining whether to activate transmission of other PRS by the associated TRPs; and activating or deactivating PRS transmissions by the associated TRPs, in accordance with the determinations (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 62, Fischer teaches the method of claim 60.
Fischer does not appear to specifically teach wherein each of the updated PRS transmission configurations indicates one or more PRS that has been activated or deactivated responsive to the one or more received PRS activity reports.
In the same field of endeavor, Fakoorian teaches wherein each of the updated PRS transmission configurations indicates one or more PRS that has been activated or deactivated responsive to the one or more received PRS activity reports (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 63, Fischer teaches the method of claim 57.
Fischer does not appear to specifically teach wherein: the method further comprises receiving, from the positioning node in response to the action report, positioning assistance data for broadcast in a cell served by the RAN node; and
the positioning assistance data includes indications of active PRS transmissions by one or more of the TRPs associated with the RAN node.
In the same field of endeavor, Fakoorian teaches wherein: the method further comprises receiving, from the positioning node in response to the action report, positioning assistance data for broadcast in a cell served by the RAN node; and
the positioning assistance data includes indications of active PRS transmissions by one or more of the TRPs associated with the RAN node (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 64, Fischer in view of Fakoorian teaches the method of claim 63. In the obvious combination, Fakoorian teaches wherein the positioning assistance data includes an indication that the RAN node is capable of on-demand activation of PRS in the cell (see at least ¶ [0078]; “In some embodiments, the control signal may be an activation signal. In these embodiments, the positioning operation may include detecting the activation of the DL-PRS resources (for example, transitioning the DL-PRS resources from an inactive state to an active state), measuring the DL-PRS resources, and transmitting a report to a base station based on the measuring of the DL-PRS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Fischer with Fakoorian in order to aid in calculating a position of a user equipment (UE) (Fakoorian ¶ [0002]).
Allowable Subject Matter
12. Claims 51, 56, 59, and 66 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
13. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATASHA W COSME whose telephone number is (571)270-7225. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATASHA W COSME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465