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 .
Art Unit- Location
The Art Unit location of your application in the USPTO has changed. To aid in correlating any papers for this application, all further correspondence regarding this application should be directed to Art Unit 2642.
Response to Amendment
This Action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed on 09/28/2025. Claims 1-20 are still pending in the present application. This Action is made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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:
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.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 6-11, 14, 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being un-patentable over Khoryaev WIPO Application No. :( WO 2020/206021 A1) hereinafter referred as Khoryaev, in view of Yoshioka et al US Patent Application No.:( US 2022/0417867 A1) hereinafter referred as Yoshioka.
For claim 1, Khoryaev teaches a method for increasing an accuracy of position estimation comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment, configuration data of a downlink positioning reference signal resource set (paragraph [0057], lines 1-4), wherein the configuration data indicates an association between a first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a second downlink positioning reference signal resource(paragraph [0057], lines 4-8);
obtaining a first reference signal received power measurement of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a second reference signal received power measurement of the second downlink positioning reference signal resource (paragraph [0164], lines 1-14). However, Khoryaev disclose all the subject matter of the claimed invention with the exemption of the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource as recited in claim 1.
Yoshioka from the same or analogous art teaches the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource (Paragraph [0257], lines 1-11). Therefore, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to use the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource as taught by Yoshioka into the measurement and procedures for NR position device of Khoryaev.
The user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource can be modify/implemented by combining the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource with the device. This process is implemented as a hardware solution or as firmware solutions of Yoshioka into the measurement and procedures for NR position device of Khoryaev. As disclosed in Yoshioka, the motivation for the combination would be to use the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource helping the user device to select the better connection according to the power, becoming more efficient and reliable for a better communication.
For claim 3, Khoryaev teaches the method, further comprising:
obtaining an antenna arrangement of the transmission/reception point, wherein the antenna arrangement indicates spatial adjacencies of transmit beams (paragraph [0104], lines 1-8) ;
determining a set of downlink positioning reference signal resource associations based on the spatial adjacencies of transmit beams (paragraph [0063], lines 10-12) and (paragraph [0071], lines 1-4); and
updating the configuration data based on the set of downlink positioning reference signal resource associations (paragraph [0063], lines 8-13) and (paragraph [0164], lines 1-8).
For claim 6, Khoryaev teaches the method, wherein obtaining the first reference signal received power measurement comprises obtaining the first reference signal received power measurement (paragraph [0171], lines 8-14) and a third reference signal received power measurement with a same spatial domain filter (paragraph [0164], lines 6-14).
For claim 7, Khoryaev teaches the method, wherein the first reference signal received power measurement (paragraph [0181], lines 1-5) and (paragraph [0189], lines 1-5) and the second reference signal received power measurement are associated with a same timestamp (paragraph [0093], lines 7-13).
For claim 8, Khoryaev teaches a system comprising a computer system that comprises one or more processors programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment, configuration data of a downlink positioning reference signal resource set (paragraph [0057], lines 1-4), wherein the configuration data indicates an association between a first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a second downlink positioning reference signal resource (paragraph [0057], lines 4-8);
obtaining a first signal measurement of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a second signal measurement of the second downlink positioning reference signal resource(paragraph [0164], lines 1-14). However, Khoryaev disclose all the subject matter of the claimed invention with the exemption of the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource as recited in claim 8.
Yoshioka from the same or analogous art teaches the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource (Paragraph [0257], lines 1-11). Therefore, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to use the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource as taught by Yoshioka into the measurement and procedures for NR position device of Khoryaev.
The user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource and be modify/implemented by combining the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource with the device. This process is implemented as a hardware solution or as firmware solutions of Yoshioka into the measurement and procedures for NR position device of Khoryaev. As disclosed in Yoshioka, the motivation for the combination would be to use the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource helping the user device to select the better connection according to the power, becoming more efficient and reliable for a better communication.
For claim 9, Khoryaev teaches the system, the operations further comprising sending a time of arrival measurement of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource to the transmission/reception point (paragraph [0018], lines 8-20).
For claim 10, Khoryaev teaches the system, the operations further comprising sending a differential time of arrival of the second downlink positioning reference signal resource to the transmission/reception point, wherein the differential time of arrival is equal to a difference between the time of arrival of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a time of arrival of the second downlink positioning reference signal resource (paragraph [0042], lines 1-4) and (paragraph [0044], lines 1-9).
For claim 11, Khoryaev teaches the system, the operations further comprising: obtaining an antenna arrangement of the transmission/reception point, wherein the antenna arrangement indicates a spatial-adjacencies of transmit beams (paragraph [0104], lines 1-8);
determining a set of downlink positioning reference signal resource associations based on the spatial adjacencies of transmit beams (paragraph [0063], lines 10-12) and (paragraph [0071], lines 1-4); and
updating the configuration data based on the set of downlink positioning reference signal resource associations (paragraph [0063], lines 8-13) and (paragraph [0164], lines 1-8).
For claim 14, Khoryaev teaches the system, the operations further comprising sending a Reference Signal Time Difference of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource to the transmission/reception point (paragraph [0033], lines 3-10).
For claim 16, Khoryaev teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program code that, when executed by a computer system, causes the computer system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment, configuration data of a downlink positioning reference signal resource set (paragraph [0057], lines 1-4), wherein the configuration data indicates an association between a first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a second downlink positioning reference signal resource (paragraph [0057], lines 4-8);
obtaining a first signal measurement of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and a second signal measurement of the second downlink positioning reference signal resource (paragraph [0164], lines 1-14);
determining a first value based on the first signal measurement (paragraph [0187] and [0189], lines 1-4); determining a second value based on the second signal measurement (paragraph [0171], lines 1-14) and (paragraph [0216], lines 1-13) . However, Khoryaev disclose all the subject matter of the claimed invention with the exemption of the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource as recited in claim 16.
Yoshioka from the same or analogous art teaches the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource (Paragraph [0257], lines 1-11). Therefore, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to use the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource as taught by Yoshioka into the measurement and procedures for NR position device of Khoryaev.
The user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource can be modify/implemented by combining the user equipment transmits the first signal measurement, the user equipment is configured to: transmit the second signal measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource with the device. This process is implemented as a hardware solution or as firmware solutions of Yoshioka into the measurement and procedures for NR position device of Khoryaev. As disclosed in Yoshioka, the motivation for the combination would be to use the user equipment transmits the first reference signal received power measurement, the user equipment shall also transmit the second reference signal received power measurement to a transmission/reception point based on the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource helping the user device to select the better connection according to the power, becoming more efficient and reliable for a better communication.
For claim 17, Khoryaev teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the operations further comprise:
determining a user equipment Rx-Tx time difference of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource (paragraph [0063], lines 8-13) and (paragraph [0164], lines 1-8); and transmitting the user equipment Rx-Tx time difference (paragraph [0033], lines 3-10), (paragraph [0039], lines 1-8) and (paragraph [0040], lines 7-9).
For claim 18, Khoryaev teaches the storage medium, wherein: determining the first value comprises determining a category value based on the first signal measurement (paragraph [0024], lines 3-10); and determining the second value comprises determining a category value based on the second signal measurement (paragraph [0033], lines 3-10) and (paragraph [0058], lines 1-7).
For claim 19, Khoryaev teaches the storage medium, wherein the first signal measurement is a reference signal received power measurement (paragraph [0070], lines 1-8).
For claim 20, Khoryaev teaches the storage medium, wherein the operations further comprise: determining an additional signal value associated with the first downlink positioning reference signal resource, wherein the additional signal value comprises at least one of a received signal strength indicator, a reference signal received quality, or a signal-to-noise and interference ratio; and sending the additional signal value to the transmission/reception point (paragraph [0120], lines 1-11) and (paragraph [0164], lines 1-8).
Claim 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable over Khoryaev WIPO Application No. :( WO 2020/206021 A1) hereinafter referred as Khoryaev, in view of Yoshioka et al US Patent Application No.:( US 2022/0417867 A1) hereinafter referred as Yoshioka, in further view of Shreevastav et al US Patent Application No.:( US 2022/0311488 A1) hereinafter referred as Shreevastav.
For claim 2, Khoryaev disclose the association between the first downlink positioning reference signal resource and the second downlink positioning reference signal resource indicates that the first beam is adjacent to the second beam on the transmission/reception point (paragraph [0063], lines 8-13). However, Khoryaev disclose all the subject matter of the claimed invention with the exemption of the first downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a first beam of the transmission/reception point;
the second downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a second beam of the transmission/reception point as recited in claim 2.
Shreevastav from the same or analogous art teaches the first downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a first beam of the transmission/reception point (paragraph [0028], lines 1-8);
the second downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a second beam of the transmission/reception point (paragraph [0029], lines 1-8). Therefore, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling to use the first downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a first beam of the transmission/reception point;
the second downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a second beam of the transmission/reception point as taught by Shreevastav into the measurement and procedures for NR positioning of Khoryaev.
The first downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a first beam of the transmission/reception point;
the second downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a second beam of the transmission/reception point can be modify/implemented by combining the first downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a first beam of the transmission/reception point;
the second downlink positioning reference signal resource is communicated to the user equipment via a second beam of the transmission/reception point with the device. This process is implemented as a hardware solution or as firmware solutions of Shreevastav into the measurement and procedures for NR positioning of Khoryaev. As disclosed in Shreevastav, the motivation for the combination would be to use the separation of the multiple downlink transmission which Increase capacity and spectral efficiency becoming more efficient and reliable for a better communication.
Claim 13 Is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being un-patentable over Khoryaev WIPO Application No. :( WO 2020/206021 A1) hereinafter referred as Khoryaev, in view of Jonsson et al US Patent Application No.:( US 2010/0087219 A1) hereinafter referred as Jonsson.
For claim 13, Khoryaev disclose all the subject matter of the claimed invention with the exemption of the value comprises setting the value as equal to a difference between the first signal measurement and the second signal measurement as recited in claim 13.
Jonsson from the same or analogous art teaches the value comprises setting the value as equal to a difference between the first signal measurement and the second signal measurement (fig 4 and 5) (paragraph [0017], lines 1-6). Therefore, it would have been obvious for the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filling to use the value comprises setting the value as equal to a difference between the first signal measurement and the second signal measurement as taught by Jonsson into the measurement and procedures for NR positioning of Khoryaev.
The value comprises setting the value as equal to a difference between the first signal measurement and the second signal measurement can be modify/implemented by combining the value comprises setting the value as equal to a difference between the first signal measurement and the second signal measurement with the device. This process is implemented as a hardware solution or as firmware solutions of Jonsson into the measurement and procedures for NR positioning of Khoryaev. As disclosed in Jonsson, the motivation for the combination would be to use the value as equal to a difference between the first signal which improves Control and Optimization allowing control loops becoming more efficient for a better communication
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 12 and 15 are objected 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
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH AREVALO whose telephone number is (571)270-3121. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:30-5:00 PM.
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, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on (571)272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOSEPH AREVALO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642