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
Claims 3-6 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species group (Species Group I) , there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/20/2026.
Claims 16-18 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species group (Species Group III) , there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/20/2026.
Claims 21-23 and 27 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention (Invention Group II) , there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 03/20/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/22/2024, 07/25/2024, 06/25/2025 and 01/22/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim reads "comprises at least one of: an area identifier (ID), offset position information, or an anchor ID" based on applicant election of species (species group II, referring to offset position information) the claim should read "comprising: offset position information". Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
Claims 1-2, 8 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being clearly anticipated by Luo et al. (US-12557067-B2, filing date: 08/05/2020) hereinafter Luo.
Regarding Claim 1, Luo discloses a method for reporting position information of a terminal in a Non- Territorial Network (NTN), performed by the terminal, comprising (Luo par. 49;The terminal device obtains location coordinates Sat_pos of the NTN device and location coordinates UE_pos of the terminal device): obtaining position information of the terminal; and reporting the position information to a network device (Luo, par. 50; The terminal device calculates, based on the location coordinates Sat_pos of the NTN device and the location coordinates UE_pos of the terminal device, a TA of sending uplink data by the terminal device) Examiner notes, Luo inherently discloses the reporting the position of the terminal (UE) during the uplink transmission to determine the location of both the terminal and satellite (NTN).
Regarding Claim 2, Luo further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the position information comprises at least one of: an area identifier (ID), offset position information, or an anchor ID (Luo, par. 51; In addition, during calculation of the TA, an offset of the TA usually needs to be further considered. Herein, offset may be used to reflect another parameter that affects the value of the TA and that is different from the location coordinates Sat_pos of the NTN device and the location coordinates UE_pos of the terminal device).
Regarding Claim 8, Luo further teaches the method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the offset position information of the terminal comprises one of: generating a first offset angle and a first offset length (Luo, par. 54; In addition, offset may be further used to reflect a parameter such as a timing advance offset N.sub.TA_offset of a time-division duplex (TDD) system or a distance between the NTN device and a virtual coordinate location); and obtaining the offset position information of the terminal according to the first offset angle and the first offset length based on a polar coordinate system by taking an absolute geographical position of the terminal as a pole (Luo, fig. 5, par. 53; offset may be used to reflect a positioning error of the NTN device or the terminal device. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, O represents a location determined by the terminal device based on a positioning system (positioning based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)), O′ represents a location determined by the NTN device based on an ephemeris (positioning based on ephemeris), H represents an obit altitude of the NTN device, S represents a distance of the terminal device to a sub-satellite point of the NTN device (distance from sub-satellite point), D represents a range of a positioning error of the terminal device, E represents a range of a positioning error of the NTN device, and a distance for calculating the TA may be |Sat_pos−UE_pos|); generating a second offset angle; and obtaining the offset position information of the terminal according to the second offset angle and a preset second offset length based on a polar coordinate system by taking an absolute geographical position of the terminal as a pole (Luo, par. 56; a virtual coordinate location may be notified to the terminal device, and the distance from the NTN device to the terminal device may also be determined based on the virtual coordinate location. In addition, UE_pos represents a location of the terminal device); or generating an offset longitudinal length and an offset latitudinal length (Luo, par. 66; a distance is used as a dimension of the offset, and the TA is calculated in a calculation manner of Formula 1. When another dimension is used for the offset, the TA may be calculated in a corresponding calculation manner ); and obtaining the offset position information of the terminal according to the offset longitudinal length, the offset latitudinal length and a geographical coordinate of the terminal (Luo, pars. 64-65; Obtaining the location parameter and the time point to, the terminal device may calculate, based on Formula 2 and Formula 3, the location coordinates Sat_pos of the NTN device and offset at a moment t at which the uplink data is sent. Then, when the location coordinates Sat_pos of the NTN device and offset and the location coordinates UE_pos of the terminal device are known, the TA of sending MSG1 by the terminal device at the moment t can be calculated based on Formula 1), Examiner notes, Luo inherently discloses the generation/calculation of angles as observed in figure 5, in addition to inherently disclose the generation of multiple offset values as they are calculated over time.
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Regarding Claim 26, Luo further discloses a communication device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing computer programs executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain position information of the terminal (Luo, fig. 9, par. 189; The communication apparatus 70 includes at least one processor 701 and at least one interface circuit 704. In addition, the communication apparatus 70 may further include a communication line 702 and a memory 703); and report the position information to a network device (Luo, par. 104; in the NTN, the location parameter of the NTN device is usually used only when the terminal device accesses a network or performs mobility management; in addition, an updating period of the location parameter of the NTN device is shorter than an updating period of other system information).
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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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 9-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al. (US-12557067-B2, filing date: 08/05/2020) hereinafter Luo in view of Myung et al. (US-20240073842-A1, filing date: 05/24/2021) hereinafter Myung.
Regarding Claim 9, Luo further discloses the method of claim 8, wherein generating the first offset angle and the first offset length comprises: generating a first random angle between a first angle and a first maximum angle, and determining the first random angle as the first offset angle; and generating a first random length between a first length and a first maximum length, and determining the first random length as the first offset length (Luo, par. 123; The terminal device calculates, based on the end time point t0, the location parameter of the NTN device, and an offset-related parameter, a distance between the NTN device and the terminal device at a moment t at which uplink data is sent, and further determines a TA at the moment t).
Luo does not explicitly disclose the generating a first random angle between a first angle and a first maximum angle, and determining the first random angle as the first offset angle. However, Myung discloses a system performed by a Non-terrestrial network for transferring system information, including position information and a timing advance offset (Myung, abstract; method performed by a terminal in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) system may include receiving, from a base station, system information including position information about the base station and information about a common timing advance (TA) offset) which uses the NTN elevation angle and the maximum difference value of round trip delay (Myung, par. 41; a maximum difference value of round trip delay times which varies according to a location of a user within one beam) to calculate the offset (Myung, fig. 27, par. 250; continuous movement of a satellite with respect to a UE located on the ground or on the earth as the satellite revolves around the earth along a satellite orbit. Since the distance between the UE and the satellite varies depending on an elevation angle at which the UE views the satellite, the propagation delay between the UE, the satellite, and the base station may be different) see also figs. 21-22 and 31.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Luo’s methods for determining a location of a non-terrestrial device with Myung’s methods for applying timing advance offset in a communication system to enhance the NTN and UE terminal positioning determination and provide better quality of service to users in the coverage area.
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Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Luo and Myung further teach the method of claim 8, wherein generating the second offset angle comprises: generating a second random angle between a second angle and a second maximum angle, and determining the second random angle as the second offset angle (Myung, figs. 17-18, par. 246; The speed of the satellite may be calculated from the altitude of the satellite, which corresponds to a speed making the gravity, which is the force that the earth pulls the satellite, the same as the centripetal force generated according to the revolution of the satellite, and may be calculated as shown in FIG. 18. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a speed of a satellite calculated at an altitude of the satellite. As identified in FIG. 17, an angle α is determined by an elevation angle Θ, and thus a value of Doppler shift is determined according to the elevation angle Θ) Examiner notes, it is inherent the system will generate multiple offset angles at each will be performed at a different point in time, where there will be a difference in location, elevation angle, distance, etc. of the NTN and UE terminal, which both Luo and Myung disclose.
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Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Luo and Myung further teach the method of claim 8, wherein generating the offset longitudinal length and the offset latitudinal length comprises: generating a second random length between a second length and a second maximum length, and determining the second random length as the offset longitudinal length (Luo, par. 28; the location parameter of the NTN device includes longitude and latitude of the NTN device and a height of the NTN device); and generating a third random length between a third length and a third maximum length, and determining the third random length value as the offset latitudinal length (Luo, figs. 4-5, par. 63; the location parameter sent by the network device to the terminal device may include the location coordinates {x, y, z} of the NTN device, a velocity {Vx, Vy, Vz}, acceleration {ax, ay, az}, a value d of the offset, a change rate v.sub.o of the offset, a derivative a_d of the change rate of the offset, and the like. In addition, the network device further notifies the terminal device of a time point t0 corresponding to the location parameter) Examiner notes it is inherent the system will generate multiple lengths or distances between the NTN and the UE as they are calculated over time, see Luo, par 47.
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Luo and Myung further teach the method of claim 8, further comprising: in response to a change in a position of the terminal and a distance between updated position information and position information reported last time being greater than a threshold, reporting the updated position information (Myung, par. 325; The UE calculates, determines, and reports N.sub.TA,UE-specific described through the first example embodiment and the second example embodiment. A value of N.sub.TA,UE-specific may be calculated based on the distance between the UE and a non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite. The UE may calculate its own location by receiving signals from navigation satellites in a satellite navigation system, and the navigation satellite may be different from the NTN satellite); or in response to the change in the position of the terminal and the distance between the updated position information and the position information reported last time being greater than the threshold for a second preset time period, reporting the updated position information to the network device (Luo, par.61; because an updating period of the location parameter of the NTN device may be shorter than that of another type of system information, when the network device sends, to the terminal device, the system information carrying the location parameter of the NTN device, the system information may be frequently updated, and consequently, SI update is very frequently prompted).
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Luo and Myung further teach the method of claim 1, wherein reporting the position information to the network device comprises: reporting the position information to the network device (Myung, par. 12; The UE may calculate a portion of the time offset, based on locations of the UE and the satellite and time information, apply same, and report same to the base station) based on control information of the network device (Myung, par. 145; The PDSCH may be transmitted after the control channel transmission interval, and scheduling information, such as a specific mapping position in the frequency domain and a modulation scheme, is determined based on the DCI transmitted through the PDCCH); wherein the control information of the network device comprises at least one of: a position reporting indication sent by the network device to the terminal via a dedicated signaling (Myung par. 208; The position in which the SSB block is transmitted may be configured in the UE through system information or dedicated signaling); a position reporting indication carried in a system broadcast by the network device (Myung, par. 326; the satellite may transmit information on the location of the satellite through broadcast information, and the UE may receive the information on the location of the satellite transmitted by the satellite and compare the information on the location with its own location); an indication for periodically reporting position information configured for the terminal by the network device through a dedicated signaling (Luo, par. 61; the system information may be frequently updated, and consequently, SI update is very frequently prompted); and an area range provided by the network device in a system broadcast or a dedicated signaling (Luo, fig. 4, par. 35; . A user equipment (UE) may check, using the field, whether a previously stored SI message is still valid (for example, whether the UE goes back to a coverage area of the cell from an outside of coverage of the cell)) Examiner notes, see also Myung’s figs. 12, 14-15, 27C-27D, .
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Conclusion
It is important to note that, although not relied upon, Myung fully anticipates Claim 20. As seen below:
Regarding Claim 20, Myung discloses A communication device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing computer programs executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain position information of the terminal; and report the position information to a network device (Myung, figs. 32-34; the base station of the disclosure may include a base station receiver 3400, a base station transmitter 3420, and a base station processor 3410. The base station may be the ground base station or a part of the satellite. The base station receiver 3400 and the base station transmitter 3420 may be collectively referred to as a transceiver in an embodiment of the disclosure. The transceiver may transmit or receive a signal to or from a UE. Here, the signal may include control information and data).
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The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Park et al. (US-20240080737-A1), NTN Related Communication, 2024.
Atungsiri et al. (US-20240064735-A1), Methods, Communications Device And Infrastructure Equipment For A Non-Terrestrial Network, 2024.
Yan et al. (US-20240064677-A1), Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Timing Advance (Ta) Report, 2024.
Hosseinian et al. (US-20210352606-A1), Method For Enabling Communication Between A User Equipment, Such As A Mobile Device, And A Non-terrestrial Network, Involves Receiving Satellite Position Data Of A Non-terrestrial Network At A User Equipment, And Determining A UE Position At The UE, 2021.
Hsieh et al. (US-20210297149-A1), Group Timing Adjustment For Uplink Transmission And Command Activation In Non-Terrestrial Networks, 2021.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIO R CAMPERO MIRAMONTES whose telephone number is (571)272-5792. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Thursday 0730 - 1730.
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, Yuwen Pan can be reached at (571) 272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MRCM/Examiner, Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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