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 .
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.
Claims 1-4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kumar et al. (US 2021/0109188).
Regarding claim 1, Kumar discloses a positioning method performed by a node device, the positioning method comprising: receiving, by a first node device, a positioning reference signal transmitted from a second node device ([0065], “In some examples, the base stations 105 may transmit one or more additional downlink reference signals for communication, including a positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission.”), wherein the positioning reference signal comprises a time error and a propagation delay ([0094], “Phase noise is produced by clock changes in the UE 115, which results in phase offsets between the symbols in the PRS frame structure. The phase noise may manifest itself as jitter, and may increase the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) for a modulation constellation.”); determining, by the first node device, a synch-vector based on the time error and the propagation delay, wherein the synch-vector is configured to remove at least one of the time error or the propagation delay from the positioning reference signal ([0101], “The separation between lines 702 and 704, e.g., arrow 706, illustrates the phase error between the symbol 4 and symbol 5 due to phase noise. If additional symbols are used in the PRS frame structure, the phase difference between each symbol relative to an anchor symbol, e.g., symbol 4, may be similarly determined. The UE or base station may thus determine if phase noise is present. If the impact of phase noise is large, e.g. greater in magnitude than a threshold of e.g. 5 degrees, the UE or base station may determine if correction of phase noise is required.”); and applying, by the first node device, the synch-vector to the positioning reference signal to generate a synchronized positioning reference signal, wherein the synchronized positioning reference signal comprises the positioning reference signal corrected for the time error or the propagation delay ([0105], “Once the phase offset is estimated, e.g., using the phase ramp discussed in FIGS. 7A and 7B or using PTRS discussed in FIG. 8B, the phase offset in the PRS signals may be corrected and the DL-PRS processed coherently to generate positioning measurements.”).
Regarding claim 2, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 1, wherein the second node device determines a position of the first node device based on the synchronized positioning reference signal transmitted by the first node device ([0104], “A UE 115 or base station 105 may estimate phase noise error of symbol 5 with respect to symbol 4 by making observations on PTRS (one sub-carrier per RB), then correct the phase error of all sub-carriers of symbol 5 based on that phase error estimate. After correction, a somewhat limited PRS (lacking 1 sub-carrier per RB) may be processed coherently using both symbols to generate the positioning measurement.”).
Regarding claim 3, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 1, wherein the positioning reference signal comprises a plurality of subcarriers ([0179], “In some implementations, the method may further include receiving positioning reference signals with the reference symbols, the positioning reference signals comprising a plurality of symbols where each symbol is comprised of a plurality of sub-carriers, e.g., as discussed at stage 6 of FIG. 9 or stage 10 of FIG. 10, and FIGS. 8A and 8B.”), the method further comprising determining phase difference information based on frequencies of the plurality of subcarriers, and wherein the phase difference information comprises a phase vector based on a wavelength or a frequency of at least one subcarrier among the plurality of subcarriers ([0101], “FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate one implementation of determining the presence of phase noise by the UE 115 or base station 105 using a phase ramp of staggered symbols in the PRS frame structure. FIG. 7A illustrates a comb 2, symbol 2 PRS frame structure that may be received by a UE or base station. The post-correlation phase estimate is illustrated by the number in each Resource Element (RE). For example, symbol 4 has a 0° phase in the first sub-carrier, a 2° phase in the third sub-carrier, etc., while symbol 5 has a 230 phase in the second sub-carrier, a 25° phase in the fourth sub-carrier, etc.”).
Regarding claim 4, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 3, wherein determining the synch-vector is further based on the phase difference information, wherein the phase difference information further comprises a carrier phase difference information or a subcarrier phase difference information ([0104], “As illustrated, the PTRS may be included unstaggered in the same symbol subframes as the DL-PRS, e.g., symbol 4 and symbol 5, in one of the sub-carriers. A UE 115 or base station 105 may estimate phase noise error of symbol 5 with respect to symbol 4 by making observations on PTRS (one sub-carrier per RB), then correct the phase error of all sub-carriers of symbol 5 based on that phase error estimate.”).
Regarding claim 7, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by a third node device, a second positioning reference signal transmitted from the second node device ([0187], “In one implementation, the positioning reference signals with the comb value received from the second entity are a second set of positioning reference signals with a second comb value”); and selecting one or the first node device, the second node device, or the third node device to be a server node and others of the first node device, the second node device, or the third node device to be client nodes ([0070], “FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram illustrating some entities in a system 200 capable of determining the location of UE 115. Referring to FIG. 2, location server 201 (e.g., LMF 196 or E-SMLC 164) may provide location assistance data 202 to UE 115, e.g., via base station 105 shown in FIG. 1, which may be used to assist UE 115 in acquiring and measuring signals 204 from reference source(s) 210 (e.g. which may base stations 105 or satellite vehicles (SVs) for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 105), and/or in deriving or refining a location estimate 208 from measurements 206.”).
Regarding claim 8, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by a third node device, a second positioning reference signal transmitted from the second node device ([0187], “reference signals with the first comb value, e.g., as discussed at stage 7 of FIG. 10. Requesting the second set of positioning reference signals are transmitted with the second comb value is in response to the presence of the phase noise in the first set of positioning reference signals with the first comb value, e.g., as discussed at stage 8 of FIG. 10.”); and selecting the second node device to be a server node and the first node device and the third node device to be client nodes ([0070], “Referring to FIG. 2, location server 201 (e.g., LMF 196 or E-SMLC 164) may provide location assistance data 202 to UE 115, e.g., via base station 105 shown in FIG. 1, which may be used to assist UE 115 in acquiring and measuring signals 204 from reference source(s) 210 (e.g. which may base stations 105 or satellite vehicles (SVs) for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 105), and/or in deriving or refining a location estimate 208 from measurements 206.”).
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.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar et al. (US 2021/0109188) in view of Vassilovski et al. (US 2025/0106799).
Regarding claim 6, Kumar does not disclose the first or second node comprising a vehicle. Vassilovski discloses the positioning method of Claim 1, wherein at least one of the first node device or the second node device comprises a vehicle ([0044], “For example, some aspects may be implemented via integrated chip embodiments or other non-module-component based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail/purchasing devices, medical devices, and/or artificial intelligence devices).”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kumar in view of Vassilovski to have the first or second node comprising a vehicle. The motivation would have been to increase success and accuracy of communications between nodes (e.g., Vassilovski [0124]).
Claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar et al. (US 2021/0109188) in view of Manolakos et al. (US 2025/0199109).
Regarding claim 10, Kumar does not disclose the unknown integer of carriers. Manolakos discloses a positioning method performed by a node device, the positioning method comprising: receiving, by a first node device, a positioning reference signal transmitted from a second node device ([0095], “FIG. 3 illustrates carrier phase based ranging between the UE 105 and a base station 102. As illustrated, a signal transmitted by the base station 102 includes the carrier signal 110 in the form of a continuous radio-frequency sinusoidal waveform. In some implementations, the UE 105 may transmit an UL positioning signal that is received by the base station 102 and may likewise include a carrier signal, or a SL UE (in place of base station 102) may transmit an UL positioning signal that is received by the UE 105.”); and determining an unknown integer number of carrier wavelengths based on a phase difference value of a synchronized positioning reference signal, a time error, and a propagation delay ([0118], “FIG. 5, by way of example, is a block diagram 500 illustrating a sequential search of distance between a receiving entity and transmitting entity in which the results from a wide lane combination of the carrier phase measurements are used in one or more subsequent searches. In block diagram 500, the range estimate from the wide lane combination of the carrier phase measurements (e.g., m=1 in this example) is used to resolve an integer ambiguity of one or more subsequent narrow lane combinations of the carrier phase measurements.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kumar in view of Manolakos to have the unknown integer of carriers. The motivation would have been to have better accuracy and resource utilization (e.g., Manolakos [0075]).
Regarding claim 11, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 10, wherein the synchronized positioning reference signal is generated by: receiving, by the first node device, a positioning reference signal transmitted from a second node device ([0065], “In some examples, the base stations 105 may transmit one or more additional downlink reference signals for communication, including a positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission.”), wherein the positioning reference signal comprises a time error and a propagation delay ([0094], “Phase noise is produced by clock changes in the UE 115, which results in phase offsets between the symbols in the PRS frame structure. The phase noise may manifest itself as jitter, and may increase the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) for a modulation constellation.”); determining, by the first node device, a synch-vector based on the time error and the propagation delay, wherein the synch-vector is configured to remove at least one of the time error or the propagation delay from the positioning reference signal ([0101], “The separation between lines 702 and 704, e.g., arrow 706, illustrates the phase error between the symbol 4 and symbol 5 due to phase noise. If additional symbols are used in the PRS frame structure, the phase difference between each symbol relative to an anchor symbol, e.g., symbol 4, may be similarly determined. The UE or base station may thus determine if phase noise is present. If the impact of phase noise is large, e.g. greater in magnitude than a threshold of e.g. 5 degrees, the UE or base station may determine if correction of phase noise is required.”); and applying, by the first node device, the synch-vector to the positioning reference signal to generate the synchronized positioning reference signal, wherein the synchronized positioning reference signal comprises the positioning reference signal corrected for the time error or the propagation delay ([0105], “Once the phase offset is estimated, e.g., using the phase ramp discussed in FIGS. 7A and 7B or using PTRS discussed in FIG. 8B, the phase offset in the PRS signals may be corrected and the DL-PRS processed coherently to generate positioning measurements.”).
Regarding claim 12, Kumar does not disclose the unknown integer of carriers for the first and second node. Manolakos discloses the positioning method of Claim 10, further comprising: determining, by the second node device, a position of the first node device based on the unknown integer number of carrier wavelengths; and determining, by the second node device, a position of the second node device based on the unknown integer number of carrier wavelengths ([0118], “In block diagram 500, the range estimate from the wide lane combination of the carrier phase measurements (e.g., m=1 in this example) is used to resolve an integer ambiguity of one or more subsequent narrow lane combinations of the carrier phase measurements. The sequential search is performed for a plurality of positioning signals, e.g., from each base station 102, received by the UE 105. The positioning signals may be PRS, as illustrated in FIG. 2, or other reference signals used for positioning, such as CSI-RS, TRS, DMRS, etc.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kumar in view of Manolakos to have the unknown integer of carriers for the first and second node. The motivation would have been to have better accuracy and resource utilization (e.g., Manolakos [0075]).
Regarding claim 13, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 10, further comprising: receiving, by a third node device, a second positioning reference signal transmitted from the second node device ([0187], “In one implementation, the positioning reference signals with the comb value received from the second entity are a second set of positioning reference signals with a second comb value”); and selecting the second node device to be a server node and the first node device and the third node device to be client nodes ([0070], “FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram illustrating some entities in a system 200 capable of determining the location of UE 115. Referring to FIG. 2, location server 201 (e.g., LMF 196 or E-SMLC 164) may provide location assistance data 202 to UE 115, e.g., via base station 105 shown in FIG. 1, which may be used to assist UE 115 in acquiring and measuring signals 204 from reference source(s) 210 (e.g. which may base stations 105 or satellite vehicles (SVs) for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 105), and/or in deriving or refining a location estimate 208 from measurements 206.”).
Regarding claim 14, Kumar discloses the positioning method of Claim 13, wherein the client nodes transmit ([0102], “The UE 115 or base station may report to the location server, e.g., LMF 196 or E-SMLC 164, if it is determined that positioning measurements are limited by phase noise, e.g., based on a determination using collected positioning measurements or based on the capabilities of the UE 115 or base station 105.”) synchronized positioning reference signals based on the positioning reference signal from the server node ([0102], “In other implementations, the UE may request that a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) is provided along with the PRS signals. The PTRS may be used to estimate phase offset in the PRS signals, which can then be corrected accordingly.”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 9, and 15-20 objected to 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nick A Sundara whose telephone number is (571)272-6749. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 7:30-5:30 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jae Y. Lee can be reached at (571) 270-3936. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NICK ANON SUNDARA/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479