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 .
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract is merely one sentence in length. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by PENG et al. (US 2025/0350988 A1; hereafter PENG).
With respect to claim 1, PENG discloses an apparatus (104 in FIG. 1; 204 in FIG. 2; UE in FIG. 3 or gNB in FIG. 4) comprising:
at least one processor (paragraphs [0027] and[0028]); and at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions (paragraphs [0027] and[0028]) that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive a request to report a carrier phase measurement for a first detected arrival signal path of a reference signal (Report Request, PRS in FIG. 3; Report Request, SRS in FIG. 4);
detect multiple arrival signal paths from the reference signal including the first detected arrival signal path (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]);
determine line of sight indicator values for the detected multiple arrival signal paths including the first detected arrival signal path (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]); and
transmit (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4), based on the determined line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path not being greater than at least one other line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for at least one other detected arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths, a report (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4) comprising at least one carrier phase measurement for at least one arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 2, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
transmit (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4), to a network entity, an indication that the line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path is not greater than the at least one other line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for the at least one other detected arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 3, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine that the line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path is greater than a threshold value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]);
determine a carrier phase measurement for the first detected arrival signal path; and determine to include, within the report, the carrier phase measurement for the first detected arrival signal path, in response to the determining that the line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path is greater than the threshold value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]).
With respect to claim 4, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine a carrier phase measurement for one arrival signal path of the detected multiple arrival signal paths, wherein the one arrival signal path has the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) among the determined line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]); and
determine to include, within the report, the carrier phase measurement for the one arrival signal path having the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) among the determined line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 5, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 4, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine to include, within the report (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4), an indication of the one arrival signal path having the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]).
With respect to claim 6, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine an average carrier phase measurement (paragraph [0084]) for one or more arrival signal paths of the multiple arrival signal paths; and
determine to include, within the report, the average carrier phase measurement (paragraph [0084]) for the one or more arrival signal paths of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 7, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine a set of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]), wherein the line of sight indicator values for arrival signal paths within the set are the same, or differences between the line of sight indicator values for arrival signal paths within the set are less than a threshold value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]);
wherein determining the average carrier phase measurement (paragraph [0084]) for the one or more arrival signal paths of the multiple arrival signal paths comprises determining an average carrier phase measurement for the arrival signal paths within the set of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 8, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine one arrival signal path that has the largest line of sight indicator value among the determined line of sight indicator values (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]); and
wherein determining the average carrier phase measurement (paragraph [0084]) for the one or more arrival signal paths of the multiple arrival signal paths comprises determining an average carrier phase measurement for the one arrival signal path that has the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) among the determined line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 9, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one carrier phase measurement for the at least one arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths comprises a reference signal carrier phase measurement (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]).
With respect to claim 10, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
prioritize, for carrier phase measurement reporting, a downlink positioning reference signal resource associated with the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) among the determined line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 11, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
prioritize, for carrier phase measurement reporting, an uplink sounding reference signal resource associated with the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) among the determined line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 12, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the first detected arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths is detected by the apparatus at a first time, and other arrival signal paths of the multiple arrival signal paths other than the first detected arrival signal path (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) are detected by the apparatus at times later than the first time;
and the line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path is not greater than at least one of the line of sight indicator values for the other arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]).
With respect to claim 13, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the reference signal comprises a positioning reference signal (PRS in FIG. 3; paragraph [0039]); and
the apparatus comprises a user equipment (UE in FIG. 3), or the user equipment comprises the apparatus.
With respect to claim 14, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the reference signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS in FIG. 4; paragraph [0039]); and
the apparatus comprises a transmission reception point (gNB in FIG. 4), or the transmission reception point comprises the apparatus.
With respect to claim 15, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the request to report the carrier phase measurement for the first detected arrival signal path of the reference signal is received from a network entity (gNB in FIG. 4); and
the report comprising the at least one carrier phase measurement for the at least one arrival signal path is transmitted (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4) to the network entity (gNB in FIG. 4);
wherein the network entity comprises a location management function (paragraph [0037]).
With respect to claim 16, PENG discloses an apparatus comprising:
at least one processor (paragraphs [0027] and[0028]); and
at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions (paragraphs [0027] and[0028]) that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
transmit a request to report a carrier phase measurement for a first detected arrival signal path of a reference signal (Report Request, PRS in FIG. 3; Report Request, SRS in FIG. 4);
receive (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4), based on a line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path not being greater than at least one other line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for at least one other arrival signal path of multiple arrival signal paths of the reference signal, a report (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4) comprising at least one carrier phase measurement for at least one arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]); and
estimate a location of a user equipment (paragraph [0046]), based on the at least one carrier phase measurement for the least one arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 17, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one carrier phase measurement received within the report comprises a carrier phase measurement for the first detected arrival signal path, when the line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path is greater than a threshold value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]).
With respect to claim 18, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the at least one carrier phase measurement received within the report comprises a carrier phase measurement for one arrival signal path having the largest line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) among line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 19, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
transmit (805 of FIG. 8), to the user equipment, an indication to prioritize, for carrier phase measurement reporting, a downlink positioning reference signal resource associated with the largest line of sight indicator value among line of sight indicator values (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 20, PENG further discloses the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
transmit (805 of FIG. 8), to a transmission reception point, an indication to prioritize, for carrier phase measurement reporting, an uplink sounding reference signal resource associated with the largest line of sight indicator value among line of sight indicator values (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
With respect to claim 21, PENG discloses an apparatus (104 in FIG. 1; 204 in FIG. 2; UE in FIG. 3 or gNB in FIG. 4) comprising:
at least one processor (paragraphs [0027] and[0028]); and
at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions (paragraphs [0027] and[0028]) that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive a request to report a carrier phase measurement for a first detected arrival signal path of a reference signal (Report Request, PRS in FIG. 3; Report Request, SRS in FIG. 4);
detect multiple arrival signal paths from the reference signal including the first detected arrival signal path (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]);
determine line of sight indicator values for the detected multiple arrival signal paths including the first detected arrival signal path; and
transmit (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4), based on the determined line of sight indicator value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for the first detected arrival signal path not being greater than at least one of the line of sight indicator values (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]) for the other arrival signal paths,
a report (Result Report in FIG. 3; Result Report in FIG. 4) comprising one of:
a carrier phase measurement for the first detected arrival signal path, when the line of sight indicator value for the first detected arrival signal path is greater than a threshold value (paragraphs [0013], [0103], [0104], and [0105]), or
a carrier phase measurement for one arrival signal path of the detected multiple arrival signal paths, wherein the one arrival signal path has the largest line of sight indicator value among the determined line of sight indicator values for the multiple arrival signal paths, or
an average carrier phase measurement (paragraph [0084]) for at least one arrival signal path of the multiple arrival signal paths (paragraphs [0067] and [0107]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brian T O'Connor whose telephone number is (571)270-1081. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri Flex 10am-6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached at 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRIAN T O CONNOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465 January 28, 2026