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 .
DETAILED ACTION
RESPONSE TO AMENDMENT
Status of Application/Amendments/claims
Applicant’s amendment filed on 7/6/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-2, 34-35, 37-39, 42-43, 45-47, 49-50, 53, 55-61 are amended.
Claims 1-2, 34-35, 37-39, 42-43, 45-47, 49-50, 53, 55-61 are pending and have been examined, of which claim 1 and 57 are independent.
Claim Rejections/Objections Withdrawn
In view of the amendment filed, the following rejections/objections are withdrawn.
Claim objections for claims 2, 42, 53, 60 have been withdrawn.
Claim rejections for claims 2, 34-35, 37-39, 42-43, 45, 49, 53, 56, 61, have been withdrawn.
New Grounds of Rejection Necessitated by the Amendment
The following rejections are new grounds of rejections necessitated by the amendment filed.
Claim Objections
Claims 39, 49 and 61 are objected to because of the following informalities:
It is noted by the examiner that the following claims recite limitations in the parentheses, which are not given patentable weight. For the limitations to have patentable weight in the claim interpretation, the applicant is advised to recite limitations without parentheses:
- Claim 39- (so that a user device is enabled to apply an indication of a spatial filter direction to a transmission or reception of an indicated resource)
- Claim 61: (without prior configuration of the other device)
Claim 49 recites “the coordination performed by to coordinator”, which appears to be typographical error for “the coordination performed by the coordinator”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 46-47, 50, 55, 57-60 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 46 recites multiple recitations of “the user device” and “the UE”, which have lack of antecedent basis in the claim.
Claim 47 recites “the gNB” and “the eNB”, which have lack of antecedent basis in the claim.
Claim 50 recites “the sidelink PRS”, which has lack of antecedent basis in the claim.
Claim 55 recites “the location server”, which has lack of antecedent basis in the claim. Further, claim 55 recites “the second user device”, preceded by “a second user device” in claim 1 and independent claim. It is unclear which recitation is further limited.
Claim 57 recites “the doer”, which has lack of antecedent basis in the claim. Claim 58 is rejected for similar reasons based on dependency.
Claim 58 recites “a sidelink positioning request” “in response to said request”, which is preceded by “a sidelink positioning request” in claim 57. It is unclear if the requests are same and how request to act as coordinator is in response to the same request. Claim 58 recites “the first user equipment”, which is preceded by “first user device” in claim 57, it is unclear if they refer to same device.
Claim 59-60 “the first user equipment” has lack of antecedent basis in the claim. It is preceded by “first user device” in claim 1, it is unclear if they refer to same device.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 34-35, 37-38, 43, 45-47, 49-50, 53, 55-57, 59-61 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (US 20210377906)
Regarding claim 1, Bao teaches a communication system comprising at least a first and second user device (Target UE 500-1 as first user device, Anchor UE2 500-3 as second user device in fig 8-12; system of fig 6b),
wherein the first user device and the second user device are configured to use a sidelink for a sidelink communication (fig 6b, para 114: exchanging PRS with the UEs 611-613 to facilitate determination of the position of the UE 610; fig 8-12 shows the anchor UE2 and target UE communicating with each other directly, which is considered the sidelink communication);
wherein the first user device and the second user device are configured to commonly perform device-to-device positioning or ranging while exchanging signals via the sidelink (fig 6b, para 114: exchanging PRS with the UEs 611-613 to facilitate determination of the position of the UE 610; UE-UE communications in fig 8-12);
wherein the first user device is configured to act as a coordinator and the second user device is configured to act as a doer (fig 8 and 12, the target UE the target UE 500-1 chooses to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange and negotiates with anchor UE2 842, thus target UE is coordinator and anchor UE2 is doer);
the coordinator (Target UE 500-1, fig 8-12) configured to:
coordinate - in response to said request or to said sidelink- positioning demand, the device-to-device positioning or ranging by transmitting measurement resource configuration information and/or measurement configuration information for the device-to-device positioning or ranging to the doer (para 121: if the anchor UE2 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, then the target UE 500-1 and the anchor UE 500-3 may engage in PRS configuration negotiation 842 at stage 840 to determine the PRS configuration, e.g., the PRS parameters that will be used by each of the UEs 500-1, 500-3, for the UE-UE PRS exchange);
optionally trigger a transmission of a reference signal by the doer or trigger a measurement event to be performed by the doer (fig 12, PRS transmission from anchor UE2 to target UE at 1235, PRS transmission from target UE to anchor UE2 at 1231, which triggers PRS measurements 1232, 1234, 1236 and 1237 at the target UE),
receive from the doer via the sidelink - a report on the device-to- device positioning or ranging or on a measurement of the device-to-device positioning or ranging, the report comprising a measurement result generated according to the measurement configuration information (fig 12, para 139: the PRS 1231 may be measured by the anchor UE 500-3, the anchor UE 500-3 may transmit a PRS measurement 1234 of the PRS 1231 to the target UE 500-1).
Bao teaches UE positioning signal measurement and transmission including UE to UE sidelink position reference signal and measurement. The reference does not teach the target UE to receive a sidelink positioning demand (or request). However, the reference teaches that if the target UE 500-1 is operating in SL mode 2 (where the target UE 500-1 (randomly) selects the radio resources from a resource pool sent by the base station), then the target UE 500-1 may choose to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange (para 119), with the target UE 500-1 self-organizing the UE-UE PRS, the target UE 500-1 communicates with one or more UEs to determine whether the UE(s) are available to be anchor UE(s) and if so, then to negotiate UE-UE PRS with the anchor UE(s) (para 121) and the target UE 500-1 sends the UE-UE PRS request to a UE within communication range (e.g., sidelink communication range) of the target UE 500-1 (para 120). Thus, the reference teaches the coordinator configured to determine a sidelink-positioning demand by target UE choosing to self-organize UE-UE PRS and determining if anchor UE in sidelink communication range is available for positioning exchange. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine UE-UE positioning as taught by Bao with self-organizing UE-UE PRS procedure as taught by Bao for the benefit of improving position accuracy as taught by Bao in para 114.
Regarding claim 57, Bao teaches a communication system comprising at least a first user device and a second user device (Target UE 500-1 as first user device, Anchor UE2 500-3 as second user device in fig 8-12; system of fig 6b),
wherein the first user device and the second user device are configured to use a sidelink for a sidelink communication (fig 6b, para 114: exchanging PRS with the UEs 611-613 to facilitate determination of the position of the UE 610; fig 8-12 shows the anchor UE2 and target UE communicating with each other directly, which is considered the sidelink communication);
wherein the first user device and the second user device are configured to commonly perform device-to-device positioning or ranging while exchanging signals via the sidelink (fig 6b, para 114: exchanging PRS with the UEs 611-613 to facilitate determination of the position of the UE 610; UE-UE communications in fig 8-12);
wherein the communication system further comprises a coordinator (fig 8 and 12, the target UE the target UE 500-1 chooses to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange and negotiates with anchor UE2 842, thus target UE is coordinator);
the coordinator (Target UE 500-1, fig 8-12) configured to:
coordinate - in response to said request or to said sidelink- positioning demand, the device-to-device positioning or ranging by transmitting measurement resource configuration information and/or measurement configuration information for the device-to-device positioning or ranging to the doer (para 121: if the anchor UE2 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, then the target UE 500-1 and the anchor UE 500-3 may engage in PRS configuration negotiation 842 at stage 840 to determine the PRS configuration, e.g., the PRS parameters that will be used by each of the UEs 500-1, 500-3, for the UE-UE PRS exchange);
optionally trigger a transmission of a reference signal by the doer or trigger a measurement event to be performed by the doer (fig 12, PRS transmission from anchor UE2 to target UE at 1235, PRS transmission from target UE to anchor UE2 at 1231, which triggers PRS measurements 1232, 1234, 1236 and 1237 at the target UE),
receive from the doer via the sidelink - a report on the device-to- device positioning or ranging or on a measurement of the device-to-device positioning or ranging, the report comprising a measurement result generated according to the measurement configuration information (fig 12, para 139: the PRS 1231 may be measured by the anchor UE 500-3, the anchor UE 500-3 may transmit a PRS measurement 1234 of the PRS 1231 to the target UE 500-1).
Bao teaches UE positioning signal measurement and transmission including UE to UE sidelink position reference signal and measurement. The reference does not teach the target UE to receive a sidelink positioning demand (or request). However, the reference teaches that if the target UE 500-1 is operating in SL mode 2 (where the target UE 500-1 (randomly) selects the radio resources from a resource pool sent by the base station), then the target UE 500-1 may choose to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange (para 119), with the target UE 500-1 self-organizing the UE-UE PRS, the target UE 500-1 communicates with one or more UEs to determine whether the UE(s) are available to be anchor UE(s) and if so, then to negotiate UE-UE PRS with the anchor UE(s) (para 121) and the target UE 500-1 sends the UE-UE PRS request to a UE within communication range (e.g., sidelink communication range) of the target UE 500-1 (para 120). Thus, the reference teaches the coordinator configured to determine a sidelink-positioning demand by target UE choosing to self-organize UE-UE PRS and determining if anchor UE in sidelink communication range is available for positioning exchange. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine UE-UE positioning as taught by Bao with self-organizing UE-UE PRS procedure as taught by Bao for the benefit of improving position accuracy as taught by Bao in para 114.
Regarding claim 2, Bao further teaches wherein the first user device is configured to request the device-to-device positioning or ranging in response to said sidelink-positioning demand (para 121: at stage 840, the target UE 500-1 may send a UE-UE PRS request 841 to the anchor UE 500-3 to request whether the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange).
Regarding claim 34, Bao further teaches wherein the second user device is a doer configured to perform one or more parts of the device-to-device positioning or ranging (para 121: The anchor UE 500-3 is available for the UE-UE PRS exchange if the anchor UE 500-3 is configured to exchange PRS with the target UE 500-1 as desired by the target UE 500-1 and has available resources for such exchange; signaling exchange between anchor UE2 and target UE in fig 8 and 12).
Regarding claim 35, Bao further teaches wherein the coordinator is configured to inform the second user device on one or more of the following information: positioning reference signals (PRS) (para 139: PRS 1231 may be sent from the target UE 500-1 to the anchor UE 500-3).
Regarding claim 37, Bao further teaches wherein the coordinator is configured to provide a report on the device-to-device positioning (para 139: the Target UE 500-1 may measure the PRS 1235 and transmit a PRS measurement 1236 corresponding to the PRS 1235 to the TRP 300-1, which may transmit a PRS measurement 1237, corresponding to the PRS measurement 1236, to the server 400).
Regarding claim 38, Bao further teaches wherein the device-to-device positioning or ranging comprising a sidelink measurement (para 139: at stage 1230, PRS 1231 may be sent from the target UE 500-1 to the anchor UE 500-3, the anchor UE 500-3 may transmit a PRS measurement 1234 of the PRS 1231 to the target UE 500-1).
Regarding claim 43, Bao further teaches wherein the device-to-device positioning or ranging is enhanced by an uplink measurement and/or a downlink measurement (para 102: Positioning accuracy may be improved by using UEs as reference points (i.e., anchor UEs) for determining the location of a target UE, positioning accuracy may be improved by using UE-to-UE sidelink positioning signal transmission and/or measurement, UL-PRS reception and measurement by a target UE and/or one or more anchor UEs, and/or DL-PRS transmission by one or more anchor UEs and/or the target UE, thus adding to the number of positioning signal sources and thus the number of reference points for determining a location of the target UE; fig 6b showing DL-PRS and sidelink PRS for UE 610).
Regarding claim 45, Bao further teaches wherein the first and/or the second user device are configured to generate a report on the sidelink measurement to be forwarded to a localization server (para 139: the Target UE 500-1 may measure the PRS 1235 and transmit a PRS measurement 1236 corresponding to the PRS 1235 to the TRP 300-1, which may transmit a PRS measurement 1237, corresponding to the PRS measurement 1236, to the server 400).
Regarding claim 46, Bao further teaches wherein the first user device out of a plurality of user devices is selected as first user device as coordinator based on one of the following criteria: requirement of the UE for a measurement or position determination (para 102: positioning accuracy may be improved by using UE-to-UE sidelink positioning signal transmission and/or measurement, UL-PRS reception and measurement by a target UE and/or one or more anchor UEs, and/or DL-PRS transmission by one or more anchor UEs and/or the target UE, thus adding to the number of positioning signal sources and thus the number of reference points for determining a location of the target UE).
Regarding claim 47, Bao further teaches wherein the coordinator is configured to receive measurement resource configuration information from the gNB (para 119: the target UE 500-1 is operating in SL mode 2, where the target UE 500-1 (randomly) selects the radio resources from a resource pool sent by the base station).
Regarding claim 49, Bao further teaches wherein the coordination is based on a preconfigured default setting defining measurement resource information (para 119: the target UE 500-1 is operating in SL mode 2, where the target UE 500-1 (randomly) selects the radio resources from a resource pool sent by the base station, then the target UE 500-1 may choose to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange).
Regarding claim 50, Bao further teaches communication system further comprising another network entity, an eNB and/or a localization server (fig 12, serving TRP 300-1, server 400).
Regarding claim 53, Bao further teaches wherein the first user device is configured to act as coordinator (fig 8 and 12, the target UE the target UE 500-1 chooses to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange and negotiates with anchor UE2 842, thus target UE is coordinator) and is configured to report on the sidelink measurement (para 139: the Target UE 500-1 may measure the PRS 1235 and transmit a PRS measurement 1236 corresponding to the PRS 1235 to the TRP 300-1).
Regarding claim 55, Bao further teaches wherein the first user device acting as coordinator (fig 8 and 12, the target UE the target UE 500-1 chooses to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange and negotiates with anchor UE2 842, thus target UE is coordinator) is configured to perform one or more of the following functionalities: forwarding a sidelink measurement report from a second user device to the location server (para 139: The Target UE 500-1 may measure the PRS 1235 and transmit a PRS measurement 1236 corresponding to the PRS 1235 to the TRP 300-1, which may transmit a PRS measurement 1237, corresponding to the PRS measurement 1236, to the server 400).
Regarding claim 56, Bao further teaches wherein the second user device is configured to act as doer (fig 8 and 12, the target UE the target UE 500-1 chooses to self-organize UE-UE PRS exchange and negotiates with anchor UE2 842, thus target UE is coordinator and anchor UE2 is doer) and is configured to:
receive a measurement resource configuration information comprising an information on a sidelink reference signal from the coordinator (para 121: at stage 840, the target UE 500-1 may send a UE-UE PRS request 841 to the anchor UE 500-3 to request whether the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, the anchor UE 500-3 is available for the UE-UE PRS exchange if the anchor UE 500-3 is configured to exchange PRS with the target UE 500-1 as desired by the target UE 500-1 and has available resources for such exchange);
receive a measurement configuration information from the coordinator (para 121: if the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, then the target UE 500-1 and the anchor UE 500-3 may engage in PRS configuration negotiation 842 at stage 840 to determine the PRS configuration, e.g., the PRS parameters that will be used by each of the UEs 500-1, 500-3, for the UE-UE PRS exchange);
apply the measurement configuration to perform the sidelink measurement together with the first user device (para 121, 139: With the PRS configuration determined, PRS exchange may begin, at stage 1230, PRS may be exchanged, measured, and reported, PRS 1231 may be sent from the target UE 500-1 to the anchor UE 500-3, the anchor UE 500-3 may transmit a PRS measurement 1234 of the PRS 1231 to the target UE 500-1).
Regarding claim 59, Bao further teaches a method coordinating the device-to-device positioning or the ranging (communication between Target UE and anchor UE2 in fig 8 and 12) within the system according to claim 1 (Bao teaches the system of claim 1 as described above with respect to the claim), comprising exchanging the measurement configuration information between the first user equipment being a coordinator and at least the second user device (para 121: at stage 840, the target UE 500-1 may send a UE-UE PRS request 841 to the anchor UE 500-3 to request whether the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, if the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, then the target UE 500-1 and the anchor UE 500-3 may engage in PRS configuration negotiation 842 at stage 840 to determine the PRS configuration).
Regarding claim 60, Bao further teaches a non-transitory digital storage medium (memory 530, fig 5) having a computer program stored thereon to perform a method (para 105: the memory 530 may be configured similarly to the memory 211, e.g., including software with processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 510 to perform functions) coordinating the device-to-device positioning or ranging within the system according to claim 1 (Bao teaches the system of claim 1 as described above with respect to the claim), comprising exchanging measurement configuration information between the first user equipment being a coordinator and at least the second user device (para 121: at stage 840, the target UE 500-1 may send a UE-UE PRS request 841 to the anchor UE 500-3 to request whether the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, if the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, then the target UE 500-1 and the anchor UE 500-3 may engage in PRS configuration negotiation 842 at stage 840 to determine the PRS configuration) when said computer program is run by a computer (para 105).
Regarding claim 61, Bao further teaches wherein the first user device is configured to coordinate the device-to-device positioning or ranging by starting the device-to-device positioning or ranging (para 121: at stage 840, the target UE 500-1 may send a UE-UE PRS request 841 to the anchor UE 500-3 to request whether the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, if the UE 500-3 is available for UE-UE PRS exchange, then the target UE 500-1 and the anchor UE 500-3 may engage in PRS configuration negotiation 842 at stage 840 to determine the PRS configuration).
Claims 39, 42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (US 20210377906) in view of Wang et al. (US 20230362874)
Regarding claim 39, Bao teaches the limitations of the parent claim. Bao fails to teach the first or second user device forwarding information on anchor via sidelink. Wang is directed to sidelink positioning and location reference information on sidelink.
Wang further teaches wherein the first and/or the second user device is configured to forward an information on an anchor or reference anchor via the sidelink (fig 2-3; para 147-149: the method 300 consists of the three operations, as shown in FIG. 3, Operation 1: Configure the location reference UE to transmit an indication message and/or configure the target UE to receive an indication message; Operation 2: the location reference UE transmits an indication message, indicating its availability to the vicinity and/or the target UE receives an indication message over sidelink; here, the location reference UE is the anchor for the target UE to use for location reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine UE-UE positioning as taught by Bao with location reference anchor information in sidelink communication as taught by Wang for the benefit of improving the availability of location service as taught by Wang in para 11.
Regarding claim 42, Bao fails to teach, but Wang further teaches wherein the measurement configuration information comprises at least one of the following parameters: information on anchor or reference anchor (fig 2-3; para 147-149: the method 300 consists of the three operations, as shown in FIG. 3, Operation 1: Configure the location reference UE to transmit an indication message and/or configure the target UE to receive an indication message; Operation 2: the location reference UE transmits an indication message, indicating its availability to the vicinity and/or the target UE receives an indication message over sidelink; here, the location reference UE is the anchor for the target UE to use for location reference). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine UE-UE positioning as taught by Bao with location reference anchor information in sidelink communication as taught by Wang for the benefit of improving the availability of location service as taught by Wang in para 11.
Claim 58 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (US 20210377906) in view of Khoryaev et al. (US 20160095092)
Regarding claim 58, Bao teaches the limitations of the parent claim. Bao fails to teach that coordinator receives request. Khoryaev is directed to resource allocation for D2D assisted positioning.
Khoryaev further teaches wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive a sidelink-positioning request so as to act as coordinator in response to said request and to provide sidelink positioning resource configuration (para 81: eNB 125 may also request that a UE, such as one of UEs 110-114 (e.g., a particular target UE), measure the signal location parameters for each Sidelink positioning reference signal time-frequency resource and/or sequence and then report the results of the measurements back to eNB 125 to facilitate further estimation of the UE coordinates by location server 160). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine UE-UE positioning as taught by Bao with network request for UE to act as coordinator as taught by Khoryaev for the benefit of allowing efficient communication of signal location parameters as taught by Khoryaev in abstract.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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 RINA C PANCHOLI whose telephone number is (571)272-2679. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4pm.
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/RINA C PANCHOLI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 8/29/2026
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