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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Appeal Brief, filed 5/20/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-57 under 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Zhongfeng et. al. WO 2019/0197036 A1, hereinafter, ‘Zhongfeng’.
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.
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) 1-57 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thomas et al. WO 2022/180599, hereinafter, ‘Thomas’ in view of Zhongfeng et. al. WO 2019/0197036 A1, hereinafter, ‘Zhongfeng’.
Consider Claims 1, and as applied to the method of the UE in claim 16, and as applied to the Server in claim 31, and as applied to the UE in claim 45, the method comprising: receiving a request for location related information for the a UE, the request associated with a first UE of the plurality of UEs, the request based on one of: (i) a Mobile Originated Location Request (MO-LR) sent by the first UE, or (ii) a Mobile Terminated Location Request (MT-LR) or a periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by an external client (, 0094-0098 “the following relative location requests (“LR”) are supported in the network to initiate ranging session:…”); obtaining, from the first UE of the plurality of UEs, capability information of each UE of the plurality of UEs (e.g., see at least 0131-0149 – “the capability information may be transmitted along with the ranging request and response messages”); obtaining the location related information (e.g., see information related to positioning in at least 0078, 0094-0094 and 0131-0149 ); and sending the location related information, wherein the sending comprises one of: sending the location related information to the first UE, responsive to the request of location related information being based on (i) MO-LR ( see at least 0094-0098 “the following relative location requests (“LR”) are supported in the network to initiate ranging session:…”), wherein the location related information supports the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see sidelink services supported in at least 0131-0149- see also 0073, 0078 and 0094-0098 regarding supported services); or sending the location related information to the external client, responsive to the request of location related information being based on (ii) MT-LR or periodic or triggered MT-LR, wherein the location related information is based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see sidelink services supported in at least 0131-0149- see also 0073, 0078 and 0094-0098 regarding supported services).
However, Thomas does not specifically teach performed at a location server for supporting sidelink positioning of a plurality of user equipments (UEs).
In analogous art, Zhongfeng teaches a method for determining the location of a target user equipment (UE) (401) (see lines 18 and 19 on page 20 and figure 19), the target UE receives responses on a CP initial request from a plurality of candidate UEs to acquire availability information about location context information (see lines 22 to 24 on page 20 and figure 19); a subset of the plurality of candidate UEs is determined on the basis of the availability information, and a CP TX request is transmitted (see lines 26 to 32 on page 20 and figure 19); and the location of the target UE is determined on the basis of location context information from the subset of UEs (see lines 34 and 35 on page 20 and figure 19). The distinction of Location Server support (i.e., receiving a location request message) is suggested wherein location measurement of a target UE can be requested by a network (i.e., a device in a network) (see lines 35 and 36 on page 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to try at a location server for supporting sidelink positioning of a plurality of user equipments (UEs) for the purpose of determining the position of a target UE.
Consider Claims 2, 17, and 32, Thomas teaches the claimed invention wherein the location server does not communicate with any UEs of the plurality of UEs, other than the first UE, for the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(i.e., see initiator and responder and unicast, group and broadcast messages in at least 0131-0149).
Consider Claims 3, 18, 33 and 46, Thomas teaches wherein the location related information comprises one or more location results for the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs, wherein a location result comprises one or more of: a range between a pair of UEs of the plurality of UEs (e.g., see positioning scenarios as noted in 0073,0078 and 0094-0098 ); a direction between one UE and another UE of the plurality of UEs; a location of a UE of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see motion events as noted in 0073,0078 and 0094-0098 ); a location of a one UE relative to the location of another UE of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see location including relative location as noted in 0073,0078 and 0094-0098 ); a velocity of a UE of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see motion events as noted in 0073,0078 and 0094-0098 ); or a velocity of one UE relative to the velocity of another UE of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see motion events as noted in 0073,0078 and 0094-0098 ).
Consider Claims 4, 19, 34 and 47, Thomas teaches wherein the location related information comprises at least one location result for each UE of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see location including relative location as noted in 0073,0078 and 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 5 and 35, Thomas teaches wherein obtaining the location related information comprises: sending a request for location measurements to the first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs based on the request for the location measurements, wherein the first UE obtains the location measurements based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see sidelink positioning as supported by 0073, 0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149 ); receiving the location measurements from the first UE(e.g., see location reporting/response as supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149 ); and calculating the location related information based on the location measurements(e.g., see location reporting/response as supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149 ).
Consider Claims 6 and 36, Thomas teaches wherein obtaining the location related information comprises: sending a request for the location related information to the first UE, wherein the first UE coordinates the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs based on the request for the location related information, wherein the first UE obtains the location related information based on the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see sidelink positioning services as supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149); and receiving the location related information from the first UE(e.g., see location reporting/response as supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149).
Consider Claims 7, 20, 37 and 48, Thomas teaches wherein each UE of the plurality of UEs comprises a target UE (e.g., see target UEs in figure 5).
Consider Claims 8, 22, 38 and 50, Thomas teaches wherein the request is based on (i) the MO-LR sent by the first UE, wherein the location related information comprises assistance data (e.g., see MO and assistance data supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149).
Consider Claims 9, 23, 39 and 51, Thomas teaches the claimed invention further comprising: receiving a request for specific assistance data from the first UE(e.g., see assistance data supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149); determining the specific assistance data based at least in part on the request for the specific assistance data and the capability information of each UE of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see capability information and assistance data supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149); and sending the specific assistance data to the first UE, wherein the specific assistance data enables the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see sidelink support assistance data supported by 0073,0078, 0094-0098, and 0131-0149).
Consider Claims 10 and 40, Thomas teaches wherein the request for location related information includes an application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs(see Application layer function in at least 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 11 and 26, Thomas teaches wherein the request is based on (ii) the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by the external client (see at least 0094-0098 see triggers as noted in section beginning “the following relative location requests (“LR”) are supported in the network to initiate ranging session:…”), wherein the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR is received by a GMLC (i.e., this is met based on the Network supported functionality and equivalent architecture noted with respect to 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098), wherein the GMLC determines the first UE based on at least one of: a preferred ordering of UEs of the plurality of UEs indicated in the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by the external client(as best understood by the Examiner this would be met based on the “Target UE/Responder”)(i.e., this is met based on the Network supported functionality noted with respect to 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098); the first UE having a same home PLMN as a PLMN for the GMLC; or the first UE being served by the same home PLMN as the PLMN for the GMLC(i.e., this is met based on the Network supported functionality and equivalent architecture noted with respect to 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 12 and 41, Thomas teaches wherein the request is based on the periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by the external client, wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR includes a periodic event or a trigger event, the trigger event based on ranges or relative velocities of UEs of the plurality of UEs(i.e., see triggered events in 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 13, 28, 42 and 55, Thomas teaches the claimed invention further comprising: obtaining the location related information at each of a succession of different times (i.e., see reporting times in 0094-0098); and sending the location related information to the external client in an event report at each of the succession of different times(i.e., see reporting times in 0094-0098).
Consider Claim 14, 29, 43 and 56, Thomas teaches wherein the request is based on (ii) the MT-LR or the periodic or triggered MT-LR sent by the external client(i.e., this is met based on the Network supported functionality and equivalent architecture noted with respect to 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098), and further comprising: prior to obtaining the capability information, sending a separate MT-LR request or a periodic or triggered MT-LR request to the first UE, the separate MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request including identities for other UEs of the plurality of UEs to enable the first UE to discover the other UEs of the plurality of UEs based on the identities for the other UEs of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see figures 8 and context of 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098); and receiving, from the first UE, an MT-LR response or a periodic or triggered MT-LR response, wherein the MT-LR response or the periodic or triggered MT-LR response indicates whether the first UE has discovered the other UEs of the plurality of UEs and whether the other UEs of the plurality of UEs are available for the sidelink positioning of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see figures 8 and context of 0073, 0078, 0094-0098, 0131-0149 – sidelink ranging).
Consider Claims 15, 30, 44 and 57, Thomas teaches further comprising, prior to obtaining the capability information of each UE of the plurality of UEs, sending a capability request to the first UE for the capability information of each UE of the plurality of UEs, wherein obtaining the capability information of each UE of the plurality of UEs is responsive to the capability request(e.g., see figures 8 and context of capabilities exchange).
Consider Claims 21 and 49, Thomas teaches wherein the message comprises a request for the location measurements or the location results and further comprising sending the location measurements or the location results to the location server in response to the request for the location measurements or the location results i.e., this is met based on the Network supported functionality and equivalent architecture noted with respect to 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 25, Thomas teaches wherein the first UE performs the operation comprising (i) sending the MO-LR request for the location related information (i.e., see MO as supported based on the context of 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098), and wherein the method further comprises: obtaining an application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs based on the discovering the other UEs of the plurality of UEs(i.e., see Application layer functionality and discovery as supported based on the context of 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098); and including the application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs in the MO-LR request for the location related information(i.e., see Application layer functionality and discovery as supported based on the context of 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 27 and 54, Thomas teaches wherein the first UE performs the operation comprising (ii) receiving the MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request, the MT-LR request comprising the periodic or triggered MT-LR request (e.g., see triggered events in at least 0094-0098); and wherein the periodic or triggered MT-LR request includes a periodic event or a trigger event, the trigger event based on ranges or relative velocities of the UEs of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see triggered events, relative location and motion in at least 0094-0098).
Consider Claims 24 and 52, Thomas teaches wherein: to perform the operation comprising (ii) receiving the MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request(e.g., see triggered events, relative location and motion in at least 0094-0098), the one or more processors are configured to receive, in the MT-LR request or the periodic or triggered MT-LR request for the location related information, an application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs; and the one or more processors are configured to discover the other UEs of the plurality of UEs based on the application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs(i.e., see Application layer functionality and discovery as supported based on the context of 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098).
Consider Claim 53, Thomas teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to, prior to performing the operation comprising (i) sending the MO-LR request for the location related information: obtain an application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs based on the discovering the other UEs of the plurality of UEs(e.g., see figures 8 and context of capabilities exchange); and include the application layer identity for each UE of the plurality of UEs in the MO-LR request for the location related information(i.e., see Application layer functionality and discovery as supported based on the context of 0073, 0078, and 0094-0098).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Pub. No.: 20220229146 teaches a method for a first terminal carrying out wireless communication. The method may comprise a step for receiving, from a plurality of second terminals, a plurality of orthogonally-multiplexed positioning reference signals (PRSs), measuring a plurality of time-of-arrival (TOA) values on the basis of the times when the plurality of PRSs were received, and determining the location of a first terminal on the basis of location information of the plurality of second terminals and the plurality of TOA values.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHARLES TERRELL SHEDRICK whose telephone number is (571)272-8621. The examiner can normally be reached 8A-5P.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D Anderson can be reached at 571 272 4177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHARLES T SHEDRICK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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