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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Invention I, claims 1-26, in the reply filed on 05/28/2026 is acknowledged. Because applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 14, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Document D1: ERICSSON: "Summary of offline discussion on common positioning and TRP issues v2", 3GPP DRAFT; R3-204206, vol. RAN WG3, no. Online; 15 June 2020, XP051898707.
Regarding claims 1 and 21, Document D1 teaches a method of wireless communication by a central unit (CU)/ An apparatus for wireless communication at a central unit (CU), comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the at least one processor configured to/ comprising: jointly processing channel information associated with a user equipment (UE) in order to generate a jointly processed report, the channel information collected from a plurality of collocated transmit and receive points (TRPs) of a base station (first sentence of chapter 3.7, page 13: It was also agreed that we shall not specify whether the gNB-CU aggregates measurements from different gNB-DUs "); and transmitting the jointly processed report to a location server (chapter 3.7 on page 13: "Huawei: RAN does its best and LMF does with what it received For Aggregation, the CU should be well aware of the status of the DU in term of resource then it should not be an issue to aggregate " ", table Huawei comment. "Nokia If the LMF includes a new TRP in the Measurement Update Is the CU expected to "remember" the measurement configuration in the original Measurement Request, and then trigger a Measurement Request over F1AP towards that TRP?", table Nokia, chapter 3.7 on page 14, last comment).
Regarding claim 14, Document D1 mentions receiving a TRP report via an F1
control plane and/or an F1 user plane (see 3.7, page 13).
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.
Claim(s) 2, 10-11, 13, 15-20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Document D1: ERICSSON: "Summary of offline discussion on common positioning and TRP issues v2", 3GPP DRAFT; R3-204206, vol. RAN WG3, no. Online; 15 June 2020, XP051898707) in view of MICHALOPOULOS et al. (US 2024/0073730 A1).
Regarding claims 2 and 22, Document D1 does not mention in which the jointly processed report comprises a cross-sector time-angle channel profile. MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach the jointly processed report comprises a cross-sector time-angle channel profile (see par. 0246-0263: For each pair of TRPs belonging to a TRP list provided to the UE by the network via positioning assistance data, the UE may measure, in addition to a configured measurement (e.g., time of arrival (ToA) or reference signal received power—RSRP), the relative DL angle of arrival (AoA) at the UE side; A LMF may receive a request from a 5GC location service (LCS) client to determine the position of a target UE. [0258] The LMF may provide a collinearity detection configuration to the target UE. The collinearity detection configuration may be provided as part of a assistance data. The configuration may be provided separate from the assistance data, for example after providing the assistance data. The assistance data may comprise a list of TRPs. [0259] The collinearity detection configuration may comprise a relative DL AoA threshold that the target UE should apply to any pair of TRPs that belong to the list of TRPs provided in assistance data. For example, any TRP pair with relative DL AoA smaller than the relative DL AoA threshold is classified with a collinearity indicator indicating a collinearity. Conversely, any TRP pair with relative DL AoA greater than the relative DL AoA threshold is classified with a collinearity indicator indicating a non-collinearity. The LMF may define the relative DL AoA threshold as a function of channel conditions, for example as a function of an estimated signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR); The UE conducts relative DL AoA measurements for each TRP pair and classify each TRP pair with a collinearity indicator. [0263] For DL-TDoA, if the target UE classifies a pair of TRPs with a collinearity indicator indicating a collinearity or a high collinearity, the target UE may exclude the RSTD of the pair of TRPs from a RSTD report to the LMF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation the jointly processed report comprises a cross-sector time-angle channel profile of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order for a communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and/or content data and so on.
Regarding claim 10, Document D1 does not mention in which the channel information comprises a power level at each quantized local angle and quantized delay, a set of quantized angles and quantized delay values, and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach the channel information comprises a power level at each quantized local angle and quantized delay, a set of quantized angles and quantized delay values, and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) (see pars. 0246-0263: [0246] For each pair of TRPs belonging to a TRP list provided to the UE by the network via positioning assistance data, the UE may measure, in addition to a configured measurement (e.g., time of arrival (ToA) or reference signal received power—RSRP), the relative DL angle of arrival (AoA) at the UE side; Conversely, any TRP pair with relative DL AoA greater than the relative DL AoA threshold is classified with a collinearity indicator indicating a non-collinearity. The LMF may define the relative DL AoA threshold as a function of channel conditions, for example as a function of an estimated signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation the channel information comprises a power level at each quantized local angle and quantized delay, a set of quantized angles and quantized delay values, and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order for a communication system can be provided for example by means of a communication network and one or more compatible communication devices. The communication sessions may comprise, for example, communication of data for carrying communications such as voice, electronic mail (email), text message, multimedia and/or content data and so on.
Regarding claim 11, MICHALOPOULOS et al. also teach in which the jointly processed report comprises a time-of-arrival estimate (see par. 0246: For each pair of TRPs belonging to a TRP list provided to the UE by the network via positioning assistance data, the UE may measure, in addition to a configured measurement (e.g., time of arrival (ToA) or reference signal received power—RSRP), the relative DL angle of arrival (AoA) at the UE side).
Regarding claim 13, MICHALOPOULOS et al. also teach in which the channel information comprises per-sector time-of-arrival estimates, each associated with a quality metric (see par. 0246: For each pair of TRPs belonging to a TRP list provided to the UE by the network via positioning assistance data, the UE may measure, in addition to a configured measurement (e.g., time of arrival (ToA) or reference signal received power—RSRP), the relative DL angle of arrival (AoA) at the UE side).
Regarding claim 15, Document D1 does not mention transmitting a request to each of the plurality of collocated TRPs requesting each TRP to report channel information for at least one of a specific UE, a specific time period, or a specific reference signal resource. MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach transmitting a request to each of the plurality of collocated TRPs requesting each TRP to report channel information for at least one of a specific UE, a specific time period, or a specific reference signal resource (see pars. 0257-0258: A LMF may receive a request from a 5GC location service (LCS) client to determine the position of a target UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation transmitting a request to each of the plurality of collocated TRPs requesting each TRP to report channel information for at least one of a specific UE, a specific time period, or a specific reference signal resource of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order to decrease a beam collinearity region (CR) while improving coverage.
Regarding claim 16, MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach the request includes a response time for when each TRP reports the channel information (see par. 085: This implementation allows a reduction of “wasted” UE-specific PRS (i.e. that network avoids UE-specific PRS transmissions to a UE from a pair of transmission beams of a pair of TRPs which are identified to be colinear with respect to the UE being at a given time/location).
Regarding claim 17, Document D1 does not mention receiving the channel information
from the plurality of collocated TRPs without transmitting a request for the channel information. MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach receiving the channel information from the plurality of collocated TRPs without transmitting a request for the channel information (see fig. 7 and pars. 0284-0285: wherein a beam-a of TRP-A and beam-b of TRP-B are being reported by one or more UEs as having a beam collinearity indicator indicating a collinearity or a high collinearity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation receiving the channel information from the plurality of collocated TRPs without transmitting a request for the channel information of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order to decrease a beam collinearity region (CR) while improving coverage.
Regarding claim 18, Document D1 does not mention in which the channel information is based on an angle of departure associated with a downlink reference signal. MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach the channel information is based on an angle of departure associated with a downlink reference signal (see par. 0269: For DL-AoD, the target UE may include the RSRPs of each pair of TRPs in a RSRP report to the LMF).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation the channel information is based on an angle of departure associated with a downlink reference signal of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order to decrease a beam collinearity region (CR) while improving coverage.
Regarding claim 19, Document D1 does not mention in which the channel information is based on an angle of arrival associated with an uplink reference signal. MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach the channel information is based on an angle of arrival associated with an uplink reference signal (see par. 0241: Typically, in current specifications the UE selects the measurements with the highest received signal strength, yet without considering the incident AoA per TRP or the relative DL AoA per TRP pair with respect to the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation the channel information is based on an angle of arrival associated with an uplink reference signal of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order to improve the accuracy of the downlink positioning of the UE.
Regarding claim 20, Document D1 does not mention receiving a request for the jointly
processed report from the location server. MICHALOPOULOS et al. teach receiving a request for the jointly processed report from the location server (see pars. 0257-0258: A LMF may receive a request from a 5GC location service (LCS) client to determine the position of a target UE. [0258] The LMF may provide a collinearity detection configuration to the target UE. The collinearity detection configuration may be provided as part of a assistance data. The configuration may be provided separate from the assistance data, for example after providing the assistance data. The assistance data may comprise a list of TRPs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation receiving a request for the jointly processed report from the location server of MICHALOPOULOS et al. to the method of Document D1 in order to improve the accuracy of the downlink positioning of the UE.
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Document D1: ERICSSON: "Summary of offline discussion on common positioning and TRP issues v2", 3GPP DRAFT; R3-204206, vol. RAN WG3, no. Online; 15 June 2020, XP051898707) in view of MICHALOPOULOS et al. (US 2024/0073730 A1) and further in view of Document D2 (CN 101828352 A).
Regarding claim 12, Document D1 does not mention the channel information comprises per-sector one-dimensional truncated power delay profiles (TPDPs). Document D2 (CN 101828352 A) teaches the channel information comprises per-sector one-dimensional truncated power delay profiles (TPDPs) (see par. 0032: transmission quality is one-dimensional, and can be through one of the following variables in the description: signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a signal-to-noise improved ratio (SNIR), a channel quality indicator (CQI), block error rate (BLER) or packet error rate (PER). further dimension of transmission quality may additionally include interference, various power delay profile (PDP) and/or other information related to physical quality of the transmission signal).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective the filling date of claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the limitation the channel information comprises per-sector one-dimensional truncated power delay profiles of Document D2 to the method of Document D1 in order to improve the accuracy of the downlink positioning of the UE.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 and 23-26 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.
Regarding claims 3 and 23, the prior art of record does not mention the channel information comprises per-sector time-angle channel profiles, comprising two-dimensional truncated power delay profiles, as specified in claims 2 and 23. Therefore, they are objected.
Claims 4-9 depend on claim 3. Therefore, they are objected.
Claims 24-26 depend on claim 23. Therefore, they are objected.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID Q NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7844. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
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/DAVID Q NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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