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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
This office acknowledges receipt of the following item(s) from the applicant:
Information Disclosure Statement(s) (IDS) filed on 09 October 2023, 22 February 2024 and 31 October 2025. The references have been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-3, 5, 7-13 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dai et al. (Dai, US PGPub 2022/0271995).
Referring to Claim 1, Dai teaches at least one processor (Fig. 13 #1304; [0105]); and at least one memory ([0105] see the description with respect to processor #1304) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: a transmission (Fig. 12 and 13 #1334 and 1340; [0101] and [0106]) of information relating to one or more reflectors (reflection coefficient related to the RIS) within a scattering environment (Fig. 1 #110; [0040]) to a network apparatus (Fig. 1 and 13 #102; [0035] and [0105]), wherein the information relating to the one or more reflectors can be used by the network apparatus to enable signals reflected from the one or more reflectors to be used for a position determination; [0032] and Fig. 12 #1210; [0101].
Referring to Claims 2 and 10, Dai teaches wherein the information relating to the one or more reflectors is comprised within a scattering environment information report; [0094-0095].
Referring to Claim 3, Dai teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform transmission of information relating to one or more of: a position of the one or more reflectors; an identifier of the one or more reflectors; an indication of a type of reflectors of the one or more reflectors; an indication of a reflecting profile of the one or more reflectors; information relating to a reconfigurable intelligent surface of the one or more reflectors; a reflector confidence of the one or more reflectors; information about one or more other objects in the scattering environment; [0108].
Referring to Claim 5, Dai teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform a transmission of the information relating to one or more reflectors in response to receiving an indication that information about the scattering environment is requested; [0103].
Referring to Claim 7, Dai teaches wherein the apparatus comprises a Transmit/Receive Point (TRP); [0049].
Referring to Claim 8, Dai teaches transmitting information relating to one or more reflectors within a scattering environment to a network apparatus, wherein the information relating to the one or more reflectors can be used by the network apparatus to enable signals reflected from the one or more reflectors to be used for a position determination; see the citations of Claim 1 above as this claim is the method equivalent to the processor instructions in Claim 1.
Referring to Claim 9, Dai teaches at least one processor (Fig. 13 #1304; [0105]); and at least one memory ([0105] see the description with respect to processor #1304) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving (Fig. 12 and 13 #1330 and 1340; [0100] and [0106]) information relating to one or more reflectors (reflection coefficient related to the RIS) within a scattering environment (Fig. 1 #110; [0040]), wherein the information relating to the one or more reflectors can be used by the network apparatus Fig. 1 and 13 #102; [0035] and [0105]) to enable signals reflected from the one or more reflectors to be used for a position determination; [0032] and Fig. 12 #1210; [0101].
Referring to Claims 11 and 15, Dai teaches wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network apparatus to perform; a transmission of the received information relating to the one or more reflectors to at least one of: an access node apparatus; a User Equipment (UE); a sensing node; [0032] and [0100-0101].
Referring to Claim 12, Dai teaches wherein the network apparatus comprises a management function; [0047].
Referring to Claim 13, Dai teaches at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: receiving information relating to one or more reflectors within a scattering environment from a network entity, wherein the information relating to the one or more reflectors can be used by the node apparatus to enable signals reflected from the one or more reflectors to be used for a position determination; see citations of Claim 9 as the only difference is claim 9 is directed to a network apparatus and claim 13 is directed to a node apparatus which are essentially the same.
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(s) 4 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai in view of Haustein et al. (Haustein, US PGPub 2024/0414558).
Referring to Claim 4, Dai teaches the information about the one or more other objects in the scattering environment, but does not explicitly disclose nor suggest it facilitates generation of a digital twin of the scattering environment.
However, Haustein teaches the generation of a digital twin of the scattering environment; [0013-0014].
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Dai with the digital twin as taught by Haustein so as to have virtual copy of the environment to allow for optimization of operations within the environment.
Referring to Claim 14, Dai as modified by Haustein teaches wherein the information relating to the one or more reflectors within a scattering environment comprises one or more angle of arrival search windows; [0204] of Haustein.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dai.
Referring to Claim 6, Dai teaches the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform a transmission, but does not explicitly disclose nor limit the transmission of an enquiry as to whether information relating to the one or more reflectors is requested.
However, Dai teaches the transmission of multiple messages prior to the RIS waking up and maintaining a reduced power state; [0134].
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Dai with the enquiry transmission so as to predictably allow the apparatus to maintain a reduced power state until the request confirmation is received.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US PGPub 2025/0167864 also teaches the generation and use of a digital twin to capture the network environment using RIS information and is another representation of the state of the art. EP4134696 teaches a similar concept for localization using reconfigurable intelligent surfaces and is a good representation of the state of the art.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WHITNEY T MOORE whose telephone number is (571)270-3338. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday from 7am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jack Keith can be reached at (571) 272-6878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WHITNEY MOORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3646