DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.
The amendment filed on July 17, 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 10, and 16 are amended.
Claim 3 and 15 are cancelled.
Claims 1-2, 4-14, and 16-21 are pending this application.
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.
Claims 1-4, 9-11, 13-14, 16-17, and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guenais (WO 2018/083160 A1) in view of Gaal (US 2008/0183384 B1).
Regarding Claim 1, Guenais teaches a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver comprising [page 7, second paragraph]:
a signal processing unit, configured to make a plurality of phase measurements at a first epoch, each phase measurement being made from a respective different GNSS signal [page 7, paragraphs 10-12];
and at least one processor, configured to: select a first subset of the phase measurements [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N (first) phase measurements];
select a second subset of the phase measurements [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N’ (second) phase measurements];
for each phase measurement of the first subset, write first bits of the phase measurement to at least one data message for transmission to a remote device for processing [page 7, paragraph 10-12 for using number of bits allocated to the N code information];
for each phase measurement of the second subset, write second bits of the phase measurement to the at least one data message [page 7, paragraph 10-13 for using number of bits allocated to the N code information];
and output the at least one data message containing at least the first and the second bits, wherein the first bits include a coarse part and a fine part of the respective phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 10-13 and page 20, 10th paragraph for getting coarse location from a beacon (remote) device].
Guenais fails to explicitly teach and wherein the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal, and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurements, and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing a lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signals.
Gaal has a first and a second navigation satellite system (abstract) and teaches a first and wherein the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal [0092 for whole chip code phase measurement, a fractional chip code phase measurements],
and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurements [figure 4A and Table 1 for having upto three measurement sets reported],
and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing a lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signals [0091 for multiple sets parameter can include information as to the number of measurement sets sent by the mobile station, which can range between one and at least three sets per request].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the pseudorange calculations as taught by Gaal for the purpose to allow measurement requests can be combined into a single additional positioning instructions [Gaal, 0088].
Regarding Claim 2, Guenais discloses the first subset comprises at least four phase measurements [page 23, last two paragraphs for using four code phase measurements].
Regarding Claim 4, Guenais fails to explicitly teach the at least one processor is configured to: obtain at least one quality indicator associated with each phase measurement; and select, as the first subset, the phase measurements having the highest quality, according to the at least one quality indicator.
Gaal has a first and a second navigation satellite system (abstract) and teaches the at least one processor is configured to: obtain at least one quality indicator associated with each phase measurement; and select, as the first subset, the phase measurements having the highest quality, according to the at least one quality indicator [figure 7A, Table 4, column A for the position response message having multiple elements].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the pseudorange calculations as taught by Gaal for the purpose to allow measurement requests can be combined into a single additional positioning instructions [Gaal, 0088].
Regarding Claim 9, Guenais teaches the at least one processor is configured to write to the at least one data message, with the first bits and the second bits, at least one of [page 16, paragraphs 9-12 for using messages with code phase measurements and page 17, first paragraph for using number of bits]
a value of a monotonic counter maintained by the at least one processor [page 7, paragraphs 10-12];
and a timestamp according to a local clock of the GNSS receiver [page 14 last paragraph to page 15 first paragraph].
Regarding Claim 10, Guenais discloses a method of processing a plurality of phase measurements made at a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver, to calculate a position fix, the method comprising [page 7, second paragraph]:
obtaining a coarse position estimate for the GNSS receiver [page 7, paragraphs 10-12];
receiving at least one data message comprising at least, for each phase measurement in a first subset of the plurality of phase measurements, first bits of the phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N (first) phase measurements],
and for each phase measurement in a second subset of the plurality of phase measurements, second bits of the phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N’ (second) phase measurements];
obtaining GNSS assistance data [page 7, paragraphs 2-4];
and processing the coarse position estimate, the first bits, the second bits and the GNSS assistance data, wherein each phase measurement of the plurality of phase measurements was made by the GNSS receiver from a respective different GNSS signal [page 8, paragraph 8-11 with page 82, Table 4],
wherein the first bits include a coarse part and a fine part of the respective phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 10-13 and page 20, 10th paragraph for getting coarse location from a beacon (remote) device].
Guenais fails to explicitly teach and the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal, and wherein the second bits describe at least a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurement, and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing the lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signal.
Gaal has a first and a second navigation satellite system (abstract) and teaches a first and wherein the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal [0092 for whole chip code phase measurement, a fractional chip code phase measurements],
and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurements [figure 4A and Table 1 for having upto three measurement sets reported],
and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing a lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signals [0091 for multiple sets parameter can include information as to the number of measurement sets sent by the mobile station, which can range between one and at least three sets per request].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the pseudorange calculations as taught by Gaal for the purpose to allow measurement requests can be combined into a single additional positioning instructions [Gaal, 0088].
Regarding Claim 11, Guenais discloses the coarse position estimate is based on at least one of: a previous position estimate calculated for the GNSS receiver; or a known geographical area of operation of the GNSS receiver [page 14, 7th paragraph].
Regarding Claim 13, Guenais discloses receiving the at least one data message comprising a temporal sequence marker comprising at least one of [page 15, 9th paragraph]:
a monotonic counter value produced by the GNSS receiver, associated with an epoch at which the plurality of phase measurements have been made [page 15, 6th paragraph];
or a timestamp produced by the GNSS receiver, associated with the epoch at which the plurality of phase measurements have been made, comparing the temporal sequence marker with a previous temporal sequence marker associated with a previous data message obtained from the GNSS receiver [page 14 last paragraph to page 15 first paragraph],
to determine whether the temporal sequence marker is valid or invalid, and responsive to determining that the temporal sequence marker is invalid, detecting a replay attack [page 14 last paragraph to page 15 first paragraph].
Regarding Claim 14, Guenais discloses obtaining the coarse position estimate comprises receiving user input of the coarse position estimate [page 23, paragraphs 4-5].
Regarding Claim 16, Guenais discloses an apparatus comprising one or more tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising [page 7, paragraphs 10-12]:
obtaining a coarse position estimate for a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver [page 7, paragraphs 10-12];
receiving at least one data message comprising at least, for each phase measurement in a first subset of a plurality of phase measurements, first bits of the phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N (first) phase measurements],
and for each phase measurement in a second subset of the plurality of phase measurements, second bits of the phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N’ (second) phase measurements];
obtaining GNSS assistance data [page 7, paragraphs 2-4];
and processing the coarse position estimate, the first bits, the second bits and the GNSS assistance data, wherein each phase measurement of the plurality of phase measurements was made by the GNSS receiver from a respective different GNSS signal [page 8, paragraph 8-11 with page 82, Table 4],
wherein the first bits include a coarse part and a fine part of the respective phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 10-13 and page 20, 10th paragraph for getting coarse location from a beacon (remote) device].
Guenais fails to explicitly teach and wherein the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal, and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurements, and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing a lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signals.
Gaal has a first and a second navigation satellite system (abstract) and teaches a first and wherein the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal [0092 for whole chip code phase measurement, a fractional chip code phase measurements],
and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurements [figure 4A and Table 1 for having upto three measurement sets reported],
and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing a lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signals [0091 for multiple sets parameter can include information as to the number of measurement sets sent by the mobile station, which can range between one and at least three sets per request].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the pseudorange calculations as taught by Gaal for the purpose to allow measurement requests can be combined into a single additional positioning instructions [Gaal, 0088].
Regarding Claim 17, Guenais teaches the coarse position estimate is based on at least one of: a previous position estimate calculated for the GNSS receiver; or a known geographical area of operation of the GNSS receiver [page 14, 7th paragraph].
Regarding Claim 19, Guenais discloses the operations further comprise [page 16, paragraphs 9-12 for using messages with code phase measurements and page 17, first paragraph for using number of bits]:
responsive to receiving the at least one data message comprising a temporal sequence marker comprising at least one of (i) a monotonic counter value produced by the GNSS receiver, associated with an epoch at which the plurality of phase measurements have been made (ii) or a timestamp produced by the GNSS receiver, associated with the epoch at which the plurality of phase measurements have been made, comparing the temporal sequence marker with a previous temporal sequence marker associated with a previous data message obtained from the GNSS receiver, to determine whether the temporal sequence marker is valid or invalid, and responsive to determining that the temporal sequence marker is invalid, detecting a replay attack [page 14 last paragraph to page 15 first paragraph].
Regarding Claim 20, Guenais discloses obtaining the coarse position estimate comprises receiving user input of the coarse position estimate [page 23, paragraphs 4-5].
Regarding Claim 21, Guenais teaches a method of gathering GNSS measurements and writing at least one data message for transmission to a remote device for processing, the method comprising [page 7, paragraphs 10-12]:
obtaining a plurality of phase measurements, each phase measurement being made from a respective different GNSS signal [page 7, paragraphs 10-12];
selecting a first subset of the phase measurements [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N (first) phase measurements];
selecting a second subset of the phase measurements [page 8, paragraph 8-11 with page 82, Table 4];
for each phase measurement of the first subset, writing first bits of the phase measurement to the at least one data message [page 16, paragraphs 9-12 for using messages with code phase measurements and page 17, first paragraph for using number of bits];
for each phase measurement of the second subset, writing second bits of the phase measurement to the at least one data message [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N’ (second) phase measurements];
and outputting the at least one data message containing at least the first and the second bits, wherein the first bits include a coarse part and a fine part of the respective phase measurement [page 7, paragraph 10-13 and page 20, 10th paragraph for getting coarse location from a beacon (remote) device].
Guenais fails to explicitly teach and the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal, and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurement, wherein the second bits consist of least significant bits describing the lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signal.
Gaal has a first and a second navigation satellite system (abstract) and teaches a first and wherein the first bits describe an integer number of chips and a fractional chip of a spreading code of the respective GNSS signal [0092 for whole chip code phase measurement, a fractional chip code phase measurements],
and wherein the second bits describe a portion of the fine part of and none of the coarse part of the respective phase measurements [figure 4A and Table 1 for having upto three measurement sets reported],
and the second bits consist of least significant bits describing a lowest part of the fractional chip of the spreading code of the respective GNSS signals [0091 for multiple sets parameter can include information as to the number of measurement sets sent by the mobile station, which can range between one and at least three sets per request].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the pseudorange calculations as taught by Gaal for the purpose to allow measurement requests can be combined into a single additional positioning instructions [Gaal, 0088].
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guenais (WO 2018/083160 A1) in view of Gaal (US 2008/0183384 B1) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of France (US 2011/0057833 A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Guenais teaches the at least one processor is configured to select the second subset from among the phase measurements remaining after the first subset has been selected [page 7, paragraph 10-13 and page 20, 10th paragraph for getting coarse location from a beacon (remote) device].
Guenais fails to explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to select, as the second subset, the phase measurements having the next highest quality, according to the at least one quality indicator.
France has raw measurements for a plurality of GNSS satellites (abstract) and teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to select, as the second subset, the phase measurements having the next highest quality, according to the at least one quality indicator [0132-0134 for the sorted initial candidate list of raw measurements which have an elevation value greater than a preset elevation quality threshold are chosen to be the begin second selection process].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the precision calculations as taught by France for the purpose to produce or achieve a sorted initial candidate list of raw measurements [France, 0132].
Regarding Claim 6, Guenais fails to explicitly teach the at least one processor is configured to: obtain at least one quality indicator associated with each phase measurement; assess a first quality criterion for some or all of the phase measurements, wherein the quality criterion is based at least in part on the quality indicators; and responsive to the first quality criterion being satisfied, proceed proceeding to output the at least one data message.
France has raw measurements for a plurality of GNSS satellites (abstract) and teaches the at least one processor is configured to: obtain at least one quality indicator associated with each phase measurement [0128 for DOP quality threshold is being utilized];
assess a first quality criterion for some or all of the phase measurements, wherein the quality criterion is based at least in part on the quality indicators [0114 for tracking code and carrier signals and to form code and carrier phase measurements];
and responsive to the first quality criterion being satisfied, proceed proceeding to output the at least one data message [0134 for the sorted initial candidate list of raw measurements which have an elevation value greater than a preset elevation quality threshold are chosen to be the begin second selection process].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the precision calculations as taught by France for the purpose to produce or achieve a sorted initial candidate list of raw measurements [France, 0132].
Claim 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guenais (WO 2018/083160 A1) in view of Gaal (US 2008/0183384 B1) as applied to claim 1 above, and in further view of Dierendonck et al (US 2015/0036724 A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Guenais discloses the signal processing unit is configured to make a plurality of second phase measurements at a second epoch, each second phase measurement being made from a respective different GNSS signal, and the at least one processor is configured to [page 7, paragraph 7-10 for using N (first) and N’ (second) phase measurements].
Guenais fails to explicitly teach obtain at least one second quality indicator associated with each second phase measurement; assess a second quality criterion for some or all of the second phase measurements, wherein the second quality criterion is based at least in part on the second quality indicators; and responsive to the second quality criterion not being satisfied, suppress the output of a data message for the second epoch.
Dierendonck has a method for an advanced GNSS receiver that is operable to provide an ultra-fast, autonomous and reliable TTFF that does not require an initial position (abstract) and teaches obtain at least one second quality indicator associated with each second phase measurement [0064 for quality of phase measurements];
assess a second quality criterion for some or all of the second phase measurements, wherein the second quality criterion is based at least in part on the second quality indicators [0077 for starting with coarse estimates (quality) and correlating values];
and responsive to the second quality criterion not being satisfied, suppress the output of a data message for the second epoch [0076 for correlating (quality) at different thresholds (criterion), 0149-0154].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the precision calculations as taught by Dierendonck for the purpose to derive accurate code phase measurement based on a very short data length [Dierendonck, 0079].
Claims 8, 12, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guenais (WO 2018/083160 A1) in view of Gaal (US 2008/0183384 B1), as applied to Claim 1, 10, and 16 above, and further in view of Krasner et al (WO 2013/019986 Al).
Regarding Claim 8, Guenais fails to explicitly teach the at least one processor is configured to apply a cryptographic signature to the first bits and second bits, and to write the cryptographic signature to the at least one data message for transmission to a remote device for processing.
Krasner has a position location system comprises transmitters that broadcast positioning signals (abstract) and teaches the at least one processor is configured to apply a cryptographic signature to the first bits and second bits, and to write the cryptographic signature to the at least one data message for transmission to a remote device for processing [page 91, lines 1-12].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the encryptions key calculations as taught by Krasner for protection from unauthorized access [Krasner, page 91, lines 1-10].
Regarding Claim 12, Guenais fails to explicitly teach receiving the at least one data message comprising a cryptographic signature associated with the plurality of phase measurements; and verifying an authenticity of the cryptographic signature.
Krasner has a position location system comprises transmitters that broadcast positioning signals (abstract) and teaches receiving the at least one data message comprising a cryptographic signature associated with the plurality of phase measurements [page 91, lines 15-25 for using encrypted messages that are parity protected];
and verifying the authenticity of the cryptographic signature [page 91, lines 1-12].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the encryptions key calculations as taught by Krasner for protection from unauthorized access [Krasner, page 91, lines 1-10].
Regarding Claim 18, Guenais fails to explicitly teach the operations further comprise: responsive to receiving the at least one data message comprising a cryptographic signature associated with the plurality of phase measurements, verifying an authenticity of the cryptographic signature.
Krasner has a position location system comprises transmitters that broadcast positioning signals (abstract) and teaches the operations further comprise: responsive to receiving the at least one data message comprising a cryptographic signature associated with the plurality of phase measurements, verifying the authenticity of the cryptographic signature [page 91, lines 1-12].
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the applicant’s invention for modifying the satellite position techniques, as disclosed by Guenais, further including the encryptions key calculations as taught by Krasner for protection from unauthorized access [Krasner, page 91, lines 1-10].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-2, 4-14, and 16-21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
In applicant’s arguments page 2, last paragraph of applicant’s arguments, the applicant states that van Digglen fails to teach the least significant bits describing the lowest part of the factional chip of the spreading code. The examiner thanks the applicant for the amendments. New reference Gaal teaches reducing the number of measurements to determine the position of the mobile device (reducing the processing load) [Gaal, 0044, 0091].
In applicant’s arguments page 4, first paragraph of applicant’s arguments, the applicant states that Dierendonck and Van Digglen fail to teach the least significant bits describing the lowest part of the factional chip of the spreading code. The examiner respectfully disagrees. New reference Gaal teaches whole chip code phase measurement, a fractional chip code phase measurement, a multipath indicator and a root-mean-square (RMS) pseudo-range error measurement [Gaal, 0092].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fuchs et al (US 2002/0072854 A1) has a method and apparatus for locating mobile device over a broad coverage area using a wireless communications link that may have large and unknown latency (for receivers).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMARINA MAKHDOOM whose telephone number is (703)756-1044. The examiner can normally be reached Monday – Thursdays from 8:30 to 5:30 pm eastern time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha Desai can be reached on 571-270-7792 The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMARINA MAKHDOOM/
Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Prosecution Insights