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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/18/2024 and 07/07/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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, 5, 7-9, 12-15, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Barbu et al. (US 20240236916 A1), hereinafter, Barbu.
Regarding Claim 1, Barbu discloses, a positioning method, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, first positioning assistance data, wherein the first positioning assistance data is used to indicate configuration information for an on-demand positioning reference signal (PRS) (Fig. 4, see also, "The UE 110 may perform positioning measurements based on PRSs received from TRPs. The UE 110 may transmit PM data to the LMF 132 according to the position assistance data received at operation 403. The UE 110 may therefore transmit PM data according to the indicated PM content, PM size, and/or PM resolution..." [¶0131], see also, "The information indicated in the acknowledgement of the operation 405 may affect the configuration of the positioning protocol session and/or other operations associated therewith, for example determining the position of the UE 110..." [¶0132], see also, "According to an example embodiment, the LMF 132 may receive an indication of TRP(s) detected by the UE 110 and configure at least one of the detected TRPs to transmit on-demand PRS(s). The LMF 132 may therefore provide the positioning assistance information (e.g. quantization information) to the UE 110 for the purpose of obtaining UE feedback for configuring on-demand PRS resources..."[¶0148]); and/or,
sending, by the terminal, positioning assistance data request information, wherein the positioning assistance data request information is used to indicate related request information for an on-demand PRS.
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Regarding Claim 2, Barbu discloses the method according to claim 1.
Barbu also teaches, wherein the first positioning assistance data comprises at least one of the following:
first key information used for parsing the on-demand PRS;
at least one PRS configuration set used for on-demand selection ("...The LMF 132 may therefore provide the positioning assistance information (e.g. quantization information) to the UE 110 for the purpose of obtaining UE feedback for configuring on-demand PRS resources. This may be applied for example when the UE 110 provides measurement information to the LMF 132 with respect to the reference signals the UE 110 detects from the various available TRPs in the area. This information is used by the LMF 132 to identify which TRPs are detectable, and thus configure downlink PRS from those TRPs. This enables the PRS configuration of the communication network 100 to be adapted to current reception conditions of the UE 110..." [¶0148]);
resource information used for the on-demand PRS; and
response information used for the on-demand PRS.
Regarding Claim 5, Barbu discloses the method according to claim 2.
Barbu also teaches, wherein the response information used for the on-demand PRS comprises at least one of the following:
error indication information;
error type information;
information of no available resource;
error cause information;
acknowledgment (ACK) information ("According to an example embodiment, the LMF 132 may receive an indication of TRP(s) detected by the UE 110 and configure at least one of the detected TRPs to transmit on-demand PRS(s). The LMF 132 may therefore provide the positioning assistance information (e.g. quantization information) to the UE 110 for the purpose of obtaining UE feedback for configuring on-demand PRS resources..." [¶0148], see also "At operation 405, the UE 110 may transmit an acknowledgement of the positioning assistance data to the LMF 132. The acknowledgement may be a positive acknowledgement (ACK), which may indicate that the UE 110 is able to provide a PM report in compliance with the received positioning assistance data, or a negative acknowledgement (NACK), which may indicate that the UE 110 is not able to provide a PM report in compliance with the received positioning assistance data." [¶0127]);
negative acknowledgment (NACK) information;
information of not supporting on-demand PRS;
identification information of a target PRS configuration set, wherein the at least one PRS configuration set comprises the target PRS configuration set;
request success indication information or request failure indication information;
configuration success indication information or configuration failure indication information; and configuration information for the target PRS configuration set.
Regarding Claim 7, Barbu discloses the method according to claim 1.
Barbu also discloses, wherein the positioning assistance data request information carries on-demand PRS request information ("According to an example embodiment, the LMF 132 may receive an indication of TRP(s) detected by the UE 110 and configure at least one of the detected TRPs to transmit on-demand PRS(s). The LMF 132 may therefore provide the positioning assistance information (e.g. quantization information) to the UE 110 for the purpose of obtaining UE feedback for configuring on-demand PRS resources..." [¶0148]); and
the on-demand PRS request information comprises at least one of the following:
identification information of target PRS configuration set;
location information of the terminal ("1) A server (e.g. a positioning server such as the LMF 132), may send a RequestLocationInformation message to a target to request location information. The RequestLocationInformation message may comprise an indication of a type of location information requested. The RequestLocationInformation message may further comprise an indication of quality-of-service (QOS) associated with the request. The RequestLocationInformation message may also comprise other signaling information, such as for example positioning assistance data, as will be further described below. 2) The target (e.g. UE 110) may send a ProvideLocationInformation message to the server to transfer location information. The location information transferred may match or be a subset of the location information requested by the server, unless the server explicitly allows additional location information..." [¶0093-¶0094]); and
configuration parameter.
Regarding Claim 14, Barbu discloses a terminal, comprising a processor, a memory, and a program or instructions stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein when the program or the instructions are executed by the processor ("...According to an example embodiment, the means comprises at least one processor, and at least one memory including program code, the at least one processor, and program code configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause performance of any aspect of the method(s)." [¶0157]), implementing:
receiving, first positioning assistance data, wherein the first positioning assistance data is used to indicate configuration information for an on-demand positioning reference signal PRS; and/or, sending, positioning assistance data request information, wherein the positioning assistance data request information is used to indicate related request information for an on-demand PRS.
Regarding claims 8-9, and 12-13 “Method -Tx Network”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims 1-2, and 5, 7 “Method- Rx Terminal”, where Barbu teaches both “Method -Tx Network” and “Method- Rx Terminal”.
Regarding claims 14-15, 18, and 20 “Apparatus”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims 1-2, and 5, 7 “Method- Rx Terminal”, where Barbu teaches both “Apparatus” and “Method- Rx Terminal”.
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.
Claims 3-4, 6, 10-11, 16-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Barbu in view of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #104b-e (R1-2104676), Agenda item: 8.5.6, hereinafter, R1-2104676)- as disclosed in EPO search report.
Regarding Claim 3, Barbu discloses the method according to claim 2.
Barbu doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein the resource information used for the on-demand PRS comprises at least one of the following:
a time-domain resource used for an on-demand PRS by a network-side device;
a frequency-domain resource used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a bandwidth used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a duration used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a periodicity used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a time-domain offset used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a start time used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a symbol used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device; and
a repetition count used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device.
R1-2104676 in related art relates, wherein the resource information used for the on-demand PRS comprises at least one of the following:
a time-domain resource used for an on-demand PRS by a network-side device (Section 2, Page 1-3, Table of characteristics, see also, Time-domain characteristics of PRS: It will be beneficial for a UE/TRP to be able to request/recommend a different set of repetition factors or duration of a PRS resource (e.g. if a UE has bad coverage, or if a UE is required to perform more Rx beam sweeping on the same PRS resource). Therefore, being able to recommend/ request the duration of PRS, repetition factor, and time gap will be useful).;
a frequency-domain resource used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a bandwidth used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a duration used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a periodicity used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a time-domain offset used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a start time used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a symbol used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device; and
a repetition count used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of Barbu with the idea how a base station (network-side) tells a device exactly when and where (in time and frequency) to expect and use PRS resources as disclosed by R1-2104676. The rationale for doing so is to improve network efficiency, allowing dynamic allocation of resources only when needed for positioning, rather than constantly transmitting.
Regarding Claim 4, Barbu discloses the method according to claim 2.
Barbu doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein the resource information used for the on-demand PRS comprises at least one of the following:
a maximum number of positioning reference signal resources used for the on-demand PRS by a network-side device;
a maximum positioning reference signal resource sets used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum number of TRPs used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum bandwidth used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum duration used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a minimum periodicity used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum periodicity used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
an earliest time-domain offset used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
an earliest start time used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum number of symbols used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device; and
a maximum repetition count used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device.
R1-2104676 in related art relates, wherein the resource information used for the on-demand PRS comprises at least one of the following:
a maximum number of positioning reference signal resources used for the on-demand PRS by a network-side device;
a maximum positioning reference signal resource sets used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum number of TRPs used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device (Section 2, Page 1-3, Table of characteristics, see also, Spatial-domain characteristics of PRS: A UE/LMF should be able to request a different set of TRPs to transmit PRS to accommodate scenarios of bad GDOP, or generally bad positioning geometry. For example, if a UE observes that measurements from a TRP are always very low quality, it could recommend to turn it off, and suggest a TRP in a different direction. Similarly, even across the beams of a specific TRP, a UE/LMF may observe that specific PRS resources are not useful for positioning, or the measurements are of low quality, and suggest to turn them off temporarily. Furthermore, a UE/LMF could request/recommend more beams to be transmitted to try to get a better performance, especially when it comes to DL-AoD methods);
a maximum bandwidth used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum duration used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a minimum periodicity used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum periodicity used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
an earliest time-domain offset used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
an earliest start time used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device;
a maximum number of symbols used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device; and
a maximum repetition count used for the on-demand PRS by the network-side device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of Barbu with the idea of having a set of parameters that are part of the On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations information element (IE) or (LTE Positioning Protocol) that allow UEs to request specific configurations as disclosed by R1-2104676. The rationale for doing so is to allow for dynamic, flexible configuration of signal transmission to improve UE-based or network-based positioning.
Regarding Claim 6, Barbu discloses the method according to claim 1.
Barbu doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein the method further comprises:
sending, by the terminal, on-demand PRS key request information, wherein the on-demand PRS key request information is carried in a preset service request message, a preset registration request message, or a long term evolution positioning protocol message.
wherein the method further comprises:
R1-2104676 in related art relates, sending, by the terminal, on-demand PRS key request information, wherein the on-demand PRS key request information is carried in a preset service request message, a preset registration request message, or a long term evolution positioning protocol message (Section 2, Page 1-3, Table of characteristics, see also, “SSB Configuration for requested TRPs” in “Proposal 2: For on-demand DL-PRS, the LPP Request Assistance Data message can include the explicit parameter list for a desired DL-PRS configuration”) specifies the key request information. Information required for identifying and accessing Transmission Reception Points (TRPs) in 5G NR is provided during the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) configuration, often as part of the RRC Reconfiguration message for handover or multi-TRP scenarios. The SSB configuration, frequently delivered in RRCReconfiguration messages, includes the necessary details for a User Equipment (UE) to identify and access target cells/TRPs. This includes the cell ID and, in some cases, beam-specific information.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teaching of Barbu with the idea how a terminal/ UE requests on-demand Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) as disclosed by R1-2104676. The rationale for using this mechanism, which is part of on-demand PRS configuration aimed at improving positioning accuracy, especially in challenging environments, by reducing latency and overhead.
Regarding claims 10-11 “Method -Tx Network”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims 3-4 “Method- Rx Terminal”, where R1-2104676 teaches both “Method -Tx Network” and “Method- Rx Terminal”.
Regarding claims 16-17, and 19 “Apparatus”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims 3-4, and 6 “Method- Rx Terminal”, where R1-2104676 teaches both “Apparatus” and “Method- Rx Terminal”.
Conclusion
References cited but not used: FISCHER et al. (US-20220120841-A1)
can be used for independent claims 1, 8, and 14 in addition to the one used.
References cited but not used: HWANG; June (US 20240188028 A1)
can be used for independent claims 1, 8, and 14 in addition to the one used.
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/MUHAMMAD AINUL HUDA/Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467