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 .
This action is in response to the filing of 1/25/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending and have been considered below.
Examiner’s Note: claim 1 has steps of calculating, sorting, calculating, generating that are mathematical calculations.
However, the steps including: receiving a set of communication events from a user equipment to a base station; obtaining a set of geocoordinates corresponding to the user equipment; and assigning the predicted location as a current location of the user equipment in a cellular core network. These steps amount to significantly more by integrating the mathematical calculations into practical application. Independent claims 8,11 have similar steps, thus no 101 rejection is given in this office communication.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (US 2013/0178235).
Regarding claim 8:
Chen discloses a system and method (abstract; figures) comprising:
receiving a set of communication events from a user equipment to a base station (fig 1A; para 25-30 [steps 202-206, obtaining angle and line of arrival from mobile device communicating with bases station]; fig 2);
obtaining a set of geocoordinates corresponding to the user equipment (para 36 partially reproduced herein {generate first coordinate points…}; figs 2-3);
computing an average geocoordinate based on the set of geocoordinates (para 49 {Calculate average coordinates according to the plurality of second coordinate points…}; step 402 in figure 4; fig 5);
sorting the set of geocoordinates based on distances between the set of geocoordinates and the average geocoordinate to generate an ordered list of geocoordinates (para 50 {Obtain a plurality of weighting values according to a plurality of relative distances generated by differences between the second coordinate points and the average coordinates...}; figures 4-6);
selecting a subset of the ordered list of geocoordinates (para 51 {Select the plurality of weighting values as a plurality of sorting weighting values…}; para 54 {... initial M sorting weighting values of the N weighting values are selected}; figures 4-5);
computing a second average geocoordinate based on the subset of the ordered list of geocoordinates (para 54 {M sorting weighting values of the N weighting values are selected … In step 408, the formula… can be utilized to calculate an average value of the intersectional points} [the average value of selected M sorted weighting values is equivalent to claimed second average]); and
assigning the second average geocoordinate as a current location of the user equipment in a cellular core network (para 54 {…calculate an average value of the intersectional points to be the estimated position (X.sub.M, Y.sub.M) of the mobile device..}[to be the position is equivalent to the assigning the position/location]; see para 52-54; figures 4-5; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claim 9:
Chen discloses all of the subject matter as described above and further comprising weighting the subset of the ordered list of geocoordinates (para 54 {initial M sorting weighting values}; figure 4; and throughout the disclosure).
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 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.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2013/0178235) in view of Georgiou et al. (US 2017/0356979).
Regarding claim 10:
Chen discloses all of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching that weighting the subset of the ordered list of geocoordinates using a monotonic function.
However, Georgiou in the same field of endeavor discloses a system and method for wireless communication where weighting the subset of the ordered list of geocoordinates using a monotonic function (para 139 { the present arrangement sets the weights of each intersection point equal to … where f(X,Y) is a monotonically decreasing positive function of X and Y where the indices i and j correspond to the pair of anchors which whose range circles intersect at coordinate…}; figs; and throughout).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use teachings of Georgiou in Chen in order to provide accurate determination of position (KSR: Combining Prior Art Elements According to Known Methods to Yield Predictable Results).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-7, 11-20 are allowable over the prior art of record.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The closes prior art references include:
Chen et al. (US 12,279,178) discloses a system and method for automated cell azimuth estimation and validation.
Shin (US 2024/0114315) discloses a system and method for indoor positioning using Ultra wide band communication.
Peng (US 2024/0085514) discloses a system and method for determining an orientation of a user equipment with a cellular network.
Sui (CN 117528406) discloses system and method for position fingerprint indoor positioning method fused with Bluetooth and geomagnetism.
Yoon (US 11864153) discloses system and method for estimating cellular site locations.
Olson et al. (US 2014/0128094) discloses system and method for enhancing geo-location precision in wireless systems.
The prior art references fails to disclose a device and method comprising receiving a set of communication events from a user equipment to a base station, obtaining a set of geocoordinates corresponding to the user equipment, calculating an angular mean for the set of geocoordinates, sorting the set of geocoordinates based on distances between the set of geocoordinates and a location of the base station to generate an ordered list of geocoordinates, calculating a k-th order statistic of the ordered list of geocoordinates, generating a predicted location based on the angular mean and the k-th order statistic, and assigning the predicted location as a current location of the user equipment in a cellular core network.
Conclusion
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah S Wang can be reached on (571) 272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HIRDEPAL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631