DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on November 24, 2025. Claims 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 15-17, 23-26, and 28-30 have been amended. Claims 3 and 22 have been canceled. Claims 1, 2, 4-21, and 23-30 are pending in the application.
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 .
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, 2, 4-6, 14-19, 23, 24, 29, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (WO 2024/102050) in view of Barbu et al. (US 2024/0155403).
Regarding Claim 1, Li teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination (“The network node 1500 includes a processing circuitry 1502, a memory 1504, a communication interface 1506, and a power source 1508” – See [0189]; “The memory 1504 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1502 and utilized by the network node 1500” – See [0192]), is configured to:
perform the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) (“if the model input is channel impulse response (“CIR”), then the measurement data is the CIR obtained from measuring a reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (“SRS”) on the uplink)” – See [0097]; “the gNB-DU performs measurements on UL SRS” – See [0105]; “The measurement results included in data collection can include one or more of the fields for multiple SRS receptions” – See [0106]; The base station (network node) performs CIR measurements on a set of uplink SRSs);
compress the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs (“The recorded SRS reception can be Channel Impulse Response (“CIR”), ToA, TDoA, AoD, AoA, and/or a RSRP of the SRS. The recorded SRS reception can include the estimated channel by the gNB in some form, either compressed or uncompressed” – See [0117]; “the gNB-DU signals the measurement over the F1 interface to the gNB-CU. The measurements may be compressed” – See [0105]; The base station compresses the CIR measurements); and
report, for the location server or the LMF, one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement for the set of SRSs (“the gNB-DU signals the measurement over the F1 interface to the gNB-CU. The measurements may be compressed or mapped to a standardized format (e.g., a codebook); (3) the gNB-CU signals the measurement data to the LMF over the NRPPa interface” – See [0105]; The base station reports the compress CIR measurements to the LMF).
Li does not explicitly teach receiving, from a location server or a location management function (LMF), a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement, wherein the compressing is performed based on the configuration.
However, Barbu teaches receiving, from a location server or a location management function (LMF), a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement, wherein the CIR or CFR measurement is compressed based on the configuration (“To enable ML-based localization, measurements of the PRS/SRS may need to be transferred from the UE/TRP to the LMF so that the latter may compute the UE location. Such measurements may be indicative of the channel conditions between the UE and the TRP. How the measurements are used in the location computation may be an implementation aspect. However, depending on the underlying localization method, the LMF may require measurements of one or more of the following: delay profile, power delay profile (PDP), channel impulse response (CIR)” – See [0031]; “Generating code H is equivalent to compressing and quantizing several thousands of observed RX signal samples into a matrix H of much smaller dimensions, for example matrix H may have a few hundreds of entries instead of thousands” – See [0043]; “The LMF, after configuring the session and the P/SRS transmission and reception at 210, at 220 may signal to the UE/TRP the configuration of code H. The configuration may indicate the code size and shape: M×N, where M is the number of rows of H and N is the number of columns. This may be configured explicitly via setting M and N or implicitly via setting a code size C=MN” – See [0045]; “The configuration may additionally indicate a compression type via setting the variable compression to one of two values: ML or non-ML. Other compression types are also permitted” – See [0048]; “At 242, the UE/TRP may generate the code H according to the configuration obtained at 220” – See [0051]; See also Figs. 1-3; The TRP (network node), receives a configuration for compressing a CIR measurement from the LMF, wherein the TRP compresses the CIR measurement based on the configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to receive, from a location server or a location management function (LMF), a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement, wherein the CIR or CFR measurement is compressed based on the configuration. Motivation for doing so would be to enable the LMF to provide a reporting framework that is vendor agnostic, giving vendors full flexibility to develop proprietary ML-based positioning solutions without exposing proprietary vendor-specific aspects (See Barbu, [0033] and [0044]).
Regarding Claim 2, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li further teaches that the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement includes at least one of: an absolute value of the at least one compressed CIR measurement, an absolute value of the at least one compressed CFR measurement, a complex value of the at least one compressed CIR measurement, a complex value of the at least one compressed CFR measurement, a timing indicator of the at least one compressed CIR measurement, or a frequency indication of the at least one compressed CFR measurement (“the fields for multiple SRS receptions can include a timestamp for the SRS reception” – See [0109]; “The recorded SRS reception can include Channel Impulse Response(CIR), Timing of arrival (ToA), Timing difference of arrival (TDoA)” – See [0107]; The compressed CIR measurement includes a timestamp, ToA, TDoA, etc. (timing indicator of the measurement)).
Regarding Claim 4, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Barbu further teaches transmitting, for the location server or the LMF, a request for the configuration for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement (“For model configuration and monitoring, the UE may provide details related to the model capability, validity conditions and requirements to the network related to the applied model” – See [0029]; “the apparatus (20) may include one of: a user terminal device, a transmit/receive point or a base station” – See [0104]; The network node transmits a request for model configuration that indicates the capabilities of the network node).
Regarding Claim 5, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Barbu further teaches that the configuration includes at least one of: a compression method and its related parameters for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement, an artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) (AI/ML) model to be used for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement, a periodicity of reporting the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement, or an indication of SRS resources for which the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement is to be reported (“The LMF, after configuring the session and the P/SRS transmission and reception at 210, at 220 may signal to the UE/TRP the configuration of code H. The configuration may indicate the code size and shape: M×N, where M is the number of rows of H and N is the number of columns. This may be configured explicitly via setting M and N or implicitly via setting a code size C=MN” – See [0045]; “The configuration may additionally indicate a compression type via setting the variable compression to one of two values: ML or non-ML. Other compression types are also permitted” – See [0048]; The configuration relates to a compression method (e.g., ML or non-ML) and parameters compressing the CIR or CFR measurement).
Regarding Claim 6, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li further teaches that the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: receive the set of SRSs from a user equipment (UE) (“if the model input is channel impulse response (“CIR”), then the measurement data is the CIR obtained from measuring a reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (“SRS”) on the uplink)” – See [0097]; “the gNB-DU performs measurements on UL SRS” – See [0105]; “The measurement results included in data collection can include one or more of the fields for multiple SRS receptions” – See [0106]; “the UE transmit SRS” – See [0135]; The SRSs are transmitted by a UE).
Regarding Claim 14, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li further teaches that to compress the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to: provide the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs for at one artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) (AI/ML) model; and receive, from the AI/ML model, the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement for the set of SRSs (“Artificial Intelligence (“Al”) and Machine Learning (“ML”) have been investigated as promising tools to optimize the design of air-interface in wireless communication networks. Example use cases include using autoencoders for channel state information (“CSI”) compression to reduce the feedback overhead and improve channel prediction accuracy” – See [0003]; The CIR measurements are input to an AI/ML model to generate the compressed CIR measurements).
Regarding Claim 15, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li further teaches that the network node is a transmission reception point (TRP) or a base station (“the gNB-DU signals the measurement over the F1 interface to the gNB-CU. The measurements may be compressed or mapped to a standardized format (e.g., a codebook); (3) the gNB-CU signals the measurement data to the LMF over the NRPPa interface” – See [0105]; The network node which compresses and reports the CIR measurements is a base station).
Claim 16 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 17, Li teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a location server or a location management function (LMF), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination (“The network node 1500 includes a processing circuitry 1502, a memory 1504, a communication interface 1506, and a power source 1508” – See [0189]; “The memory 1504 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1502 and utilized by the network node 1500” – See [0192]; “the first network node includes at least one of: … a location management function, LMF” – See [0146]), is configured to:
receive, from the network node, one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement for the set of SRSs (“The recorded SRS reception can be Channel Impulse Response (“CIR”), ToA, TDoA, AoD, AoA, and/or a RSRP of the SRS. The recorded SRS reception can include the estimated channel by the gNB in some form, either compressed or uncompressed” – See [0117]; “the gNB-DU signals the measurement over the F1 interface to the gNB-CU. The measurements may be compressed or mapped to a standardized format (e.g., a codebook); (3) the gNB-CU signals the measurement data to the LMF over the NRPPa interface” – See [0105]; The LMF receives, from the gNB/base station (network node), compressed CIR measurements for a set of SRSs).
Li does not explicitly teach that the apparatus is configured to transmit, for a network node, a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement, and transmit, for the network node, an indication to report one or more of at least one compressed channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one compressed channel frequency response (CFR) measurement for a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs), wherein the receiving of the compressed CIR or CFR measurement is performed based on the configuration and the indication.
However, Barbu teaches that the apparatus is configured to transmit, for a network node, a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement, and transmit, for the network node, an indication to report one or more of at least one compressed channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one compressed channel frequency response (CFR) measurement for a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs), wherein the receiving of the compressed CIR or CFR measurement is performed based on the configuration and the indication (“To enable ML-based localization, measurements of the PRS/SRS may need to be transferred from the UE/TRP to the LMF so that the latter may compute the UE location. Such measurements may be indicative of the channel conditions between the UE and the TRP. How the measurements are used in the location computation may be an implementation aspect. However, depending on the underlying localization method, the LMF may require measurements of one or more of the following: delay profile, power delay profile (PDP), channel impulse response (CIR)” – See [0031]; “Generating code H is equivalent to compressing and quantizing several thousands of observed RX signal samples into a matrix H of much smaller dimensions, for example matrix H may have a few hundreds of entries instead of thousands” – See [0043]; “The LMF, after configuring the session and the P/SRS transmission and reception at 210, at 220 may signal to the UE/TRP the configuration of code H. The configuration may indicate the code size and shape: M×N, where M is the number of rows of H and N is the number of columns. This may be configured explicitly via setting M and N or implicitly via setting a code size C=MN” – See [0045]; “The configuration may additionally indicate a compression type via setting the variable compression to one of two values: ML or non-ML. Other compression types are also permitted” – See [0048]; “At 242, the UE/TRP may generate the code H according to the configuration obtained at 220” – See [0051]; “The reporting of the code H, and optionally also the label, may occur at 250” – See [0052]; “a code configuration (220). The code configuration may configure the second apparatus (20) to report collected samples measurements” – See [0106]; See also Figs. 1-3; The LMF transmits, to the TRP (network node), a configuration for compressing a CIR measurement and for reporting the measurement, wherein the LMF receives the report of the compressed CIR measurement based on the configuration and the indication).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li such that the apparatus is configured to transmit, for a network node, a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement, and transmit, for the network node, an indication to report one or more of at least one compressed channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one compressed channel frequency response (CFR) measurement for a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs), wherein the receiving of the compressed CIR or CFR measurement is performed based on the configuration and the indication for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 18, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 17. Li further teaches that the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement includes at least one of: an absolute value of the at least one compressed CIR measurement, an absolute value of the at least one compressed CFR measurement, a complex value of the at least one compressed CIR measurement, a complex value of the at least one compressed CFR measurement, a timing indicator of the at least one compressed CIR measurement, or a frequency indication of the at least one compressed CFR measurement (“the fields for multiple SRS receptions can include a timestamp for the SRS reception” – See [0109]; “The recorded SRS reception can include Channel Impulse Response(CIR), Timing of arrival (ToA), Timing difference of arrival (TDoA)” – See [0107]; The compressed CIR measurement includes a timestamp, ToA, TDoA, etc. (timing indicator of the measurement)).
Regarding Claim 19, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 17. Li further teaches that the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: configure a user equipment (UE) to transmit the set of SRSs to the network node (“the serving gNB signals the SRS transmission configuration to the UE via RRC signalling” – See [0041]).
Claim 23 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 4.
Claim 24 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 5.
Regarding Claim 29, Li in view Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 17. Li further teaches that the configuration configures the network node to provide the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs for at one artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) (AI/ML) model; and wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: receive, from the AI/ML model, the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement for the set of SRSs (“Artificial Intelligence (“Al”) and Machine Learning (“ML”) have been investigated as promising tools to optimize the design of air-interface in wireless communication networks. Example use cases include using autoencoders for channel state information (“CSI”) compression to reduce the feedback overhead and improve channel prediction accuracy” – See [0003]; The CIR measurements are input to an AI/ML model to generate the compressed CIR measurements).
Claim 30 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 17.
Claims 7, 8, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (WO 2024/102050) in view of Barbu et al. (US 2024/0155403) and further in view of Larsson et al. (US 2025/0225435).
Regarding Claim 7, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li and Barbu do not explicitly teach that the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: receive, from the location server or the LMF, a request to indicate a list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement; and transmit, for the location server or the LMF based on the request, the list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement.
However, Larsson teaches receiving, from the location server or the LMF, a request to indicate a list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement and transmitting, for the location server or the LMF based on the request, the list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement (“the network may request a new ML-model or UE capability message, which may include a complete or partial complete list of the UE capabilities ML-model support from the UE … The UE would then respond with UE capability information according to the request” – See [0102]; “network nodes include … positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs))” – See [0207]; The network node receives a request for a list of supported ML models (compression methods) and the network node transmits a capability message including a list of supported ML models).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to receive, from the location server or the LMF, a request to indicate a list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement; and transmit, for the location server or the LMF based on the request, the list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement. Motivation for doing so would be to provide the network with a clear picture of a compression methods that are supported at a given point in time (See Larsson, [0013]).
Regarding Claim 8, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li does not explicitly teach that the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: transmit, for the location server or the LMF, a list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement.
However, Larsson teaches transmitting, for the location server or the LMF, a list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement (“the network may request a new ML-model or UE capability message, which may include a complete or partial complete list of the UE capabilities ML-model support from the UE … The UE would then respond with UE capability information according to the request” – See [0102]; “network nodes include … positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs))” – See [0207]; The network node transmits a capability message including a list of supported ML models (compression methods)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to transmit, for the location server or the LMF, a list of supported compression methods for compressing the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 7.
Claim 20 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 7.
Claim 21 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 8.
Claims 9-13 and 25-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (WO 2024/102050) in view of Barbu et al. (US 2024/0155403) and further in view of Dwivedi et al. (US 2024/0251379).
Regarding Claim 9, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li and Barbu do not explicitly teach that to compress the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to: select a fraction of SRSs from the set of SRSs for the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement, or for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement.
However, Dwivedi teaches selecting a fraction of SRSs from the set of SRSs for the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement, or for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement (“The process may be performed, for instance, by a network node, such as node 104, 610, 800, or 1104. In embodiments, the network node is a gNB. The process may begin with step s410, in which the node (e.g., gNB) receives a signal from a UE (or other similar device). As with the UE, generic or positioning reference signals may be used. In step s420, the node generates a CIR based at least in part on the received signal. In step s430, the node reports the CIR to the LMF” – See [0033]; “Reporting N strongest paths with shorter delay than the strongest path gives useful information in case the first path is misdetected with noise, interference, or an out of range path” – See [0036]; A fraction of the CIR measurements may be reported. For example, N strongest paths with delay shorter than the strongest path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to select a fraction of SRSs from the set of SRSs for the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement, or for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement. Motivation for doing so would be to maximize the amount of useful information for positioning or measurement evaluation (See Dwivedi, [0034]).
Regarding Claim 10, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li and Barbu do not explicitly teach that to compress the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to: select a portion of samples from the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement.
However, Dwivedi teaches selecting a portion of samples from the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement (“The process may be performed, for instance, by a network node, such as node 104, 610, 800, or 1104. In embodiments, the network node is a gNB. The process may begin with step s410, in which the node (e.g., gNB) receives a signal from a UE (or other similar device). As with the UE, generic or positioning reference signals may be used. In step s420, the node generates a CIR based at least in part on the received signal. In step s430, the node reports the CIR to the LMF” – See [0033]; “Reporting N strongest paths with shorter delay than the strongest path gives useful information in case the first path is misdetected with noise, interference, or an out of range path” – See [0036]; A portion of the CIR measurements may be reported. For example, N strongest paths with delay shorter than the strongest path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to select a portion of samples from the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 9.
Regarding Claim 11, Li in view of Barbu and Dwivedi teaches the apparatus of Claim 10. Dwivedi further teaches that to select the portion of samples from the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to: select first N contiguous samples with magnitudes exceeding a magnitude threshold, where N is an integer, select a set of samples whose magnitude is associated with a maximum CIR measurement or a maximum CFR measurement, or select first M peaks in the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement (“The process may be performed, for instance, by a network node, such as node 104, 610, 800, or 1104. In embodiments, the network node is a gNB. The process may begin with step s410, in which the node (e.g., gNB) receives a signal from a UE (or other similar device). As with the UE, generic or positioning reference signals may be used. In step s420, the node generates a CIR based at least in part on the received signal. In step s430, the node reports the CIR to the LMF” – See [0033]; “Reporting N strongest paths with shorter delay than the strongest path gives useful information in case the first path is misdetected with noise, interference, or an out of range path” – See [0036]; A portion of the CIR measurements may be reported. For example, the set of paths with delay (magnitude) shorter than the strongest path (maximum CIR measurement)).
Regarding Claim 12, Li in view of Barbu teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Li and Barbu do not explicitly teach that to compress the at least one CIR measurement or the at least one CFR measurement for the set of SRSs, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to: select a subset of SRSs from the set of SRSs for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement based on at least one of: the subset of SRSs having a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) above an SNR threshold, the subset of SRSs having a reference signal received power (RSRP) above an RSRP threshold, the subset of SRSs having a delay spread above or below a delay spread threshold, or the subset of SRSs having a Rician factor above or below a Rician factor threshold.
However, Dwivedi teaches selecting a subset of SRSs from the set of SRSs for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement based on at least one of: the subset of SRSs having a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) above an SNR threshold, the subset of SRSs having a reference signal received power (RSRP) above an RSRP threshold, the subset of SRSs having a delay spread above or below a delay spread threshold, or the subset of SRSs having a Rician factor above or below a Rician factor threshold (“The process may be performed, for instance, by a network node, such as node 104, 610, 800, or 1104. In embodiments, the network node is a gNB. The process may begin with step s410, in which the node (e.g., gNB) receives a signal from a UE (or other similar device). As with the UE, generic or positioning reference signals may be used. In step s420, the node generates a CIR based at least in part on the received signal. In step s430, the node reports the CIR to the LMF” – See [0033]; “Reporting N strongest paths with shorter delay than the strongest path gives useful information in case the first path is misdetected with noise, interference, or an out of range path” – See [0036]; A subset of the SRS/CIR measurements may be reported. For example, the subset of paths with delay shorter than that of the strongest path (i.e., below a delay spread threshold)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to select a subset of SRSs from the set of SRSs for reporting one or more of the at least one compressed CIR measurement or the at least one compressed CFR measurement based on at least one of: the subset of SRSs having a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) above an SNR threshold, the subset of SRSs having a reference signal received power (RSRP) above an RSRP threshold, the subset of SRSs having a delay spread above or below a delay spread threshold, or the subset of SRSs having a Rician factor above or below a Rician factor threshold for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 9.
Regarding Claim 13, Li in view of Barbu and Dwivedi teaches the apparatus of Claim 12. Dwivedi further teaches that the subset of SRSs corresponds to top L SRSs with highest measurements in the at least one CIR measurements or the at least one CFR measurement, where L is an integer (“The process may be performed, for instance, by a network node, such as node 104, 610, 800, or 1104. In embodiments, the network node is a gNB. The process may begin with step s410, in which the node (e.g., gNB) receives a signal from a UE (or other similar device). As with the UE, generic or positioning reference signals may be used. In step s420, the node generates a CIR based at least in part on the received signal. In step s430, the node reports the CIR to the LMF” – See [0033]; “Reporting N strongest paths with shorter delay than the strongest path gives useful information in case the first path is misdetected with noise, interference, or an out of range path” – See [0036]; N (equivalent to the integer L) strongest paths (highest measurements) are reported).
Claim 25 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 9.
Claim 26 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 10.
Claim 27 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 11.
Claim 28 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 12.
Response to Arguments
On pages 12-13 of the remarks, Applicant argues in substance that Li and Larsson do not teach “receiving, from a location server or location management function (LMF), a configuration for compressing at least one channel impulse response (CIR) measurement or at least one channel frequency response (CFR) measurement; … and compressing, based on the configuration, the at least one CIR or CFR measurement for the set of SRSs,” as recited in independent claims 1, 16, 17, and 30. Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot based on the new grounds of rejection. In response to the amended limitations, the Examiner relies upon the newly-cited Barbu reference.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Scott M Sciacca whose telephone number is (571)270-1919. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday, 7:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Avellino can be reached at (571) 272-3905. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478