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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-30 in the reply filed on 12/01/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 31-90 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 12/01/2025.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. 202241065411, filed on 11/15/2022.
Claim Objections
Claims 15-17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 15, line 1, “The measurement” should read “The method”
In claim 16, line 1, “The measurement” should read “The method”
In claim 17, line 2, “The measurement” should read “The method”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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) 1-4, 6-8, 12, 14-22 and 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao (US 20240007984: Filed 06/29/2022) in view of 3GPP-NRPPa (3rd Generation Partnership Project, 5G; NG-RAN; NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa), 3GPP TS 38.455 version 17.1.1 Release 17, August 2022).
Regarding claim 1, Bao teaches a method (Figs. 2B and 12-14) for positioning a third node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, by at least one second node (Fig. 2B, Next Generation Radio Access Network NG-RAN 220; [0076] In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222.), a capability-request signal ([0078] The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location services management for regulatory services, transport for location services messages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transport for location services messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270,) from at least one first node (Fig. 2B, access and mobility management function AMF 264);
transmitting, by the at least one second node, a capability-response signal to the at least one first node ([0159] Referring to FIG. 12, at 1220, the wireless node (e.g., transmitter 314 or 324 or 354 or 364, network transceiver(s) 380, etc.) transmits an indication of the capability to a position estimation entity. The indication may be transmitted in various ways (e.g., a wired or backhaul transmission, a wireless transmission, etc.). In a first specific example, assume that the wireless node corresponds to a TRP. In this case, the transmission at 1220 may be implemented via NRPPa. Examiner’s note - a transmit receive point TRP is an element of eNB [0085]), wherein the capability-response signal comprises at least one of at least one frequency resource supported, at least one supported positioning method, support for carrier phase positioning, at least one measurement supported, at least one granularity of performing the at least one measurement supported and at least one technique supported to resolve integer ambiguity ([0158] Referring to FIG. 12, at 1210, the wireless node determines a capability of the wireless node to support carrier phase measurements of PRSs at one or more carrier frequencies for position estimation of UEs. For example, the capability may be determined at 1210 based on a hardware configuration of the wireless node, a software configuration of the wireless node, or a combination thereof.);
transmitting, by the at least one second node, an assistance information to the at least one first node, wherein the assistance information comprises at least one of the at least one frequency resource to be used for the measurement, the at least one measurement to be used, the at least one granularity of performing the at least one measurement, the at least one technique supported to resolve integer ambiguity, at least one reference signal configuration information and at least one scheduling information of at least one reference signal to be used for the measurement ([0143] For example, the assistance data may include identifiers of the base stations (or the cells/TRPs of the base stations) from which to measure reference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots including PRS, periodicity of the consecutive slots including PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and/or other parameters applicable to the particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base stations themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.).);
transmitting, by the at least one second node, the configuration information of the at least one reference signal to the at least one third node; receiving, by the at least one second node, the at least one reference signal from the at least one third node; performing, by the at least one second node, at least one measurement on the at least one reference signal (Fig. 5, [0175] In FIG. 15, TRP 1505, UE 1510 and PRU 1515 are depicted. TRP 1505 transmits RS 1 (e.g., DL-PRS) on a beam 1520, UE 1510 transmits UL-PRS 1 on beam 1525 and PRU 1515 transmits UL-PRS 2 on beam 1530. In an aspect, UL-PRS 1 is QCLed with RS1 of TRP 1505, and UL-PRS 2 is also QCLed with RS1 of TRP 1505. Hence, the UL-PRSs from UE and PRU may be configured to have spatial relationship (or QCLed) with reference signals (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, DL-PRS) from the same TRP(s), and transmitted at the same symbols in the same slot (or at least close in time).); and
transmitting, by the at least one second node, at least one report comprising the at least one measurement to the at least one first node, wherein the at least one first node estimates a position of the at least one third node based on the at least one report received from the at least one second node, wherein the at least one measurement comprises at least one of at least one carrier phase measurement and at least one timing-based measurement, of the at least one reference signal received from the at least one third node, and wherein the at least one carrier phase measurement comprises of at least one carrier phase of at least one the received reference signal and at least one timestamp of the measurement ([0171] Referring to FIGS. 12-14, in some designs, the position estimation entity may receive at least one measurement report associated with the carrier phase measurement-based PRS procedure (e.g., from the target UE, from one or more wireless nodes such as TRPs or anchor UEs, etc.). In an aspect, the at least one measurement report comprises a single measurement report that indicates both one or more carrier phase measurements and one or more receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements (e.g., for RTT), or the at least one measurement report comprises a first measurement report that indicates the one or more carrier phase measurements and a second measurement report that indicates the one or more Rx-Tx measurements).
Bao does not explicitly teach that the measurement performed by the second node is with respect to an Antenna Reference Point. The 3GPP-NRPPa technical specification for the NRPPa communication protocol for a TRP measurement result includes information elements (IE) of the ARP ID (Pg. 47 9.1.4.2 MEASUREMENT RESPONSE This message is sent by the NG-RAN node to report positioning measurements for the target UE. This message includes the ARP ID) which the LMF can then pull the ARP location information from the TRP information included in TRP information response to the LMF (Pg. 39 9.1.1.15 TRP INFORMATION RESPONSE This message is sent by an NG-RAN node to convey TRP information to an LMF. Includes 9.2.25 which includes 9.2.46 which includes 9.2.46 which includes 9.2.76 (ARP Location Information)).
Bao and the 3GPP-NRPPa are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor of positioning in wireless cellular technology. Therefore, 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 Bao by including the ARP location in the positioning measurements as taught by 3GPP-NRPPa to yield a predictable result of improving the accuracy of the position measurement for the third node since quantities measured would be referenced to the actual position of the antenna transmitting and receiving signals from the UE.
Regarding claim 2, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one first node is one of a positioning server, a location management function server, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) server, and sidelink positioning/ranging server (Fig. 2B, access and mobility management function AMF 264)); the at least one second node is one of a base station, a gNB, an eNB, a relay node, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a Vehicle-to-Everything node, a Transmission Reception Point (TRP), anchor user equipment (UE) and a repeater in a cellular network (Fig. 2B, Next Generation Radio Access Network NG-RAN 220; [0076] In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222.); and the at least one-third node (104) is one of the target UE and Positioning reference unit (PRU), wherein the target UE is the node whose location is to be determined (Abstract; Disclosed are techniques for communication. In an aspect, a wireless node transmits an indication of a capability of the wireless node to support carrier phase measurements of positioning reference signals (PRSs) at one or more carrier frequencies for position estimation of user equipments (UEs).).
Regarding claim 3, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches receiving, by the at least one second node, a positioning-request signal from at least one of the at least one first node and the at least one third node, to assist at least one of the at least one first node and the at least one third node in estimating the position of the at least one third node ([0173] In a further aspect, UE (PRU) may receive assistance data from the position estimation entity, indicating the carrier phase capability of one or more TRPs. This is an alternate way to indicate measurement request, which can be added in the assistance data of DL-PRS or UL-PRS or multi-RTT (mRTT) configuration.).
Regarding claim 4, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the assistance information is transmitted by the at least one second node to the at least one first node upon receiving the assistance information-request from the at least one first node ([0173] In a further aspect, UE (PRU) may receive assistance data from the position estimation entity, indicating the carrier phase capability of one or more TRPs. This is an alternate way to indicate measurement request, which can be added in the assistance data of DL-PRS or UL-PRS or multi-RTT (mRTT) configuration.).
Regarding claim 6, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches
the timing-based measurements comprises at least one of:
second node Rx-Tx time difference, wherein Rx-Tx time difference is the difference between the time at which the at least one reference signal is received by the at least one of second node and the time at which a reference signal is transmitted by the same second node; third node Rx-Tx time difference, wherein Rx-Tx time difference is the difference between the time at which the at least one reference signal is received by the at least one of third node and the time at which a reference signal is transmitted by the same third node ([0141] Rx-Tx]); relative time of arrival (RTOA), wherein the RTOA is the relative time taken by reference signal with respect to a reference time, to reach from the at least one third node to the at least one second node ([0139] RTOA); and reference signal time difference (RSTD), wherein the RSTD is the difference between the relative time taken by reference signal to reach from the at least one second node to the at least one third node and the relative time taken by reference signal to reach from one of an another second node to of the same third node ([0137] RSTD).
Regarding claim 7, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein when at least the at least one carrier phase measurement and timing-based measurements are supported, the capability information comprises at least one indication that the at least one second node is capable of measuring and reporting the at least one carrier phase on the same reference signal resources as configured for timing-based measurements ([0173] For example, the UE may be configured with PRS operation with N TRPs. A subset of M TRPs may be able to measure carrier phase of UL-PRS or able to measure UL-PRS carrier phase of a specific carrier. To enable RTT carrier combination, both UL+DL carrier phases (from same TRP+UE (PRU) pair) may be measured and used. Therefore, in some designs, it is preferable for a UE (PRU) to measure carrier phases from TRPs who can also measure UL-PRS with higher priority.).
Regarding claim 8, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein when at least the at least one carrier phase measurement and timing-based measurements are supported, the configuration signal comprises at least one indication for the at least one second node to report the at least one carrier phase on the same reference signal resources as configured for timing-based measurements ([0157]-[0158]).
Regarding claim 12, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one reference signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS) and the configuration of the at least one reference signal comprises of at least one of the at least one reference signal resource and at least one resource set ([0124] Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). The reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. FIG. 4 illustrates example locations of REs carrying a reference signal (labeled “R”).).
Regarding claim 14, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the position of the at least one third node is one of an absolute position with respect to global coordinates and a relative position ([0139] Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timing of the involved base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.) with respect to the at least one first node or the at least one second node, and distance between the at least one second node, and the at least one third node ([0145] A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. A location estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprise a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A location estimate may further be defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude).).
Regarding claim 15, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one carrier phase is difference between the phase of the received reference signal and the transmitted reference signal ([0173] To enable RTT carrier combination, both UL+DL carrier phases (from same TRP+UE (PRU) pair) may be measured and used. Therefore, in some designs, it is preferable for a UE (PRU) to measure carrier phases from TRPs who can also measure UL-PRS with higher priority.).
Regarding claim 16, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein performing the at least one carrier phase measurement on a plurality of received reference signals from a plurality of nodes is used to estimate the at least one carrier phase difference and report the at least one carrier phase difference to the at least one first node ([0173] In a specific example, a UE (or PRU) may receive a measurement request, indicating a request or preference for carrier phase-based measurements from a subset M of TRPs. For example, the UE may be configured with PRS operation with N TRPs. A subset of M TRPs may be able to measure carrier phase of UL-PRS or able to measure UL-PRS carrier phase of a specific carrier. To enable RTT carrier combination, both UL+DL carrier phases (from same TRP+UE (PRU) pair) may be measured and used.).
Regarding claim 17, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the carrier phase difference is the difference between the at least one carrier phase of the received reference signal form one of the at least one third node and the at least one carrier phase of the received reference signal from one of an another at least one third node ([0176] Referring to FIGS. 12-14, in some designs, the one or more PRSs comprises one or more uplink or sidelink PRSs transmitted by the UE, or the one or more PRSs comprises one or more downlink or sidelink PRSs received at and measured by the UE, or a combination thereof.).
Regarding claim 18, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one second node calibrates and reports the errors occurring at the at least one second node during the at least one carrier phase measurement, and wherein the errors include Transmission-Reception Points (TRP) synchronization error, Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) error, antenna phase center offset, and oscillator drift.
However, the 3GPP-NRPPa teaches wherein the at least one second node calibrates and reports the errors occurring at the at least one second node during the at least one carrier phase measurement, and wherein the errors include Transmission-Reception Points (TRP) synchronization error, Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) error, antenna phase center offset, and oscillator drift (Pg. 77, 9.2.37 TRP Measurement Result includes 9.2.43 time/frequency measurement quality which is defined in TS 137.355). Therefore, 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 Bao by including the timing/frequency calibration and reporting of the 3GPP-NRPPa to yield a predictable result of improved positioning through improved timing with a reasonable expectation of success, as both inventions are directed to the same field of endeavor – 5G based position.
Regarding claim 19, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one second node estimates the quality of the at least one carrier phase measurement wherein the quality of the at least one carrier phase measurement is based on a residual error in the phase based on the at least one carrier phase measured ([0152] While the UE hardware group delay cancels out with differential RTT, the residual gNB group delay (which may be denoted as GD.sub.diff,gNB_2_1 for gNBs 1 and 2, where gNB 1 may correspond to a reference gNB) may remain, which limits the accuracy of RTT-based positioning). Bao does not explicitly teach reporting it to the at least one first node.
However, 3GPP-NRPPa teaches reporting measurements and measurement quality indicators to the first node (Pg. 77, 9.2.37 TRP Measurement Result includes 9.2.43 Measurement Quality). 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 the carrier phase measurement report of Bao by including reporting the carrier phase measurement quality as taught by 3GPP-NRPPa to yield a predictable result of establishing the uncertainty of the measurement so that it can be determined if the method is proceeding as expected.
Regarding claim 20, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the capability information further comprises at least one of frequency ranges supported, Positioning Frequency Layer (PFL), granularity of performing the at least one measurement at carrier level, subcarrier level, ([0156] Not all wireless nodes (e.g., TRPs, anchor UEs, etc.) may be capable of supporting carrier phase measurements (e.g., generally and/or at particular carrier frequencies) for carrier phase-based position estimation. Aspects of the disclosure are directed to a wireless node that reports a capability of the wireless node to support carrier phase measurements of PRSs at one or more carrier frequencies for position estimation of UEs) and both, or able to report the phase measurement of a virtual carrier, positioning methods supported comprising of at least one of a Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDoA) positioning method, Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDoA) positioning method, a Multiple Round Trip Time (Multi-RTT) positioning method, an Uplink Angle of Arrival (UL-AoA) positioning method, a Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) positioning method, Carrier Phased Based Positioning (CPP) method, Enhanced Cell-ID (E-CID) positioning method, capability of identifying and reporting the measurement for Line of Sight (LoS) and Non Line of Sight (NLoS) signals, and at least one technique supported to resolve integer ambiguity ([0137] NR supports a number of cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods.).
Regarding claim 21, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the capability information further comprises at least one of a method to measure the at least one carrier phase ([0156] Not all wireless nodes (e.g., TRPs, anchor UEs, etc.) may be capable of supporting carrier phase measurements (e.g., generally and/or at particular carrier frequencies) for carrier phase-based position estimation. Aspects of the disclosure are directed to a wireless node that reports a capability of the wireless node to support carrier phase measurements of PRSs at one or more carrier frequencies for position estimation of UEs) and a Boolean indicator to indicate possibility of integer ambiguity resolution.
Regarding claim 22, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao teaches wherein the assistance information further comprises at least one of a Physical Cell Identity (PCI), Global Cell Identity (GCI), Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN), an ID of the at least one second node serving the at least one third node, timing information of the at least one second node serving the at least one third node, SRS configuration of the at least one third node served by the at least one second node, SSB information of the at least one third node, Spatial direction information of the SRS resources of the at least one third node served by the at least one second node, Geographical coordinates information of the at least one second node serving the at least one third node, node type, On-demand SRS information, timing advance, at least one technique supported to resolve integer ambiguity, and integer ambiguity value ([0143] To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include identifiers of the base stations (or the cells/TRPs of the base stations) from which to measure reference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive slots including PRS, periodicity of the consecutive slots including PRS, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and/or other parameters applicable to the particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base stations themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbor network nodes itself without the use of assistance data.).
Regarding claim 24, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one report further comprises at least one of channel response in time and frequency ([0142] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base station(s).), difference between two measurements in frequency domain for multiple frequency resources, frequency spacing between the at least one pair of frequency resources, distance between the at least one second node and the at least one third node, slope of the phase measurement when the at least one measurement is performed over plurality of frequency resources ([0066] The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used to provide additional radio resources).
Regarding claim 25, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one carrier phase measurement corresponding to at least one of the first path and the additional paths (). Bao fails to teach the measurement comprises of at least one likelihood value, wherein the likelihood value is at least one of a soft value ranging between 0 and 1, and a hard value comprising of one of 0 and 1, wherein the likelihood values corresponds to likelihood whether the at least one carrier phase measurement is for one of LoS path,and NLoS path.
However, 3GPP-NRPPa teaches reporting measurements and measurement quality indicators to the first node (Pg. 96-97,9.2.77 LoS/NLoS Information contains hard and soft indicators. Examiner’s Note – This information element is contained in the TRP measurement result 9.2.37 on Pg. 77). 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 the carrier phase measurement report of Bao by including reporting the multipath information as taught by 3GPP-NRPPa to yield a predictable result of establishing the amount of multipath intereference so that it can be determined if the method is proceeding as expected.
Regarding claim 26, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one report further comprises signal strength corresponding to the measurement, errors in measurement, wherein the errors include clock error, Timing Error Group (TEG), and initial clock error, a New Radio Cell Global Identity (NCGI) and TRP ID of the measurement, the relative time of arrival (RToA) ([0139] Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the locations and relative timing of the involved base stations. Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.), UL SRS-RSRP, UL SRS-RSRPP, multiple UL Angle of Arrival (AoA) ([0137] In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, illustrated by scenario 810, a UE measures the differences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from pairs of base stations, referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to a positioning entity.), SRS resource type, time stamp of the measurement, quality for each measurement, beam information for each measurement, Antenna Reference Point (ARP) ID of the measurement, the carrier phase over the at least one SRS, integer ambiguity value, carrier phases per antenna port, carrier phases per antenna panel, carrier phases per antenna element, and Phase Correction Offsets ([0170] Referring to FIGS. 12-14, in some designs, the indication is transmitted via New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa), Examiner’s note: NRPPa includes SRS resource type, time stamp of the measurement, quality for each measurement, beam information for each measurement, Antenna Reference Point (ARP) ID of the measurement).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kurras (WO 2022028960: Published 02/10/2022).
Regarding claim 5, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to explicitly teach the Antenna Reference Point comprises at least one of an antenna connector, transceiver array boundary connector, physical antenna, and central radiating region of antenna.
However, Kurras teaches a wireless network positioning through performing positing measurements between entities (Abstract, An apparatus for determining a position of an entity of a wireless communication network, the comprises a position determining processor to determine a position of a first entity (gNB, UE, IoT) in the wireless communication network using one or more position measurements between the first entity and one or more second entities (gNB, UE, IoT)) and that it is known in the art the Antenna Reference Point comprises at least one of an antenna connector, transceiver array boundary connector, physical antenna, and central radiating region of antenna (Pg. 12, 30-34; Embodiments of the present invention ensure that for positioning calculations the antenna reference points/TRRPs, like timing reference points or angular reference points, are considered at least more correctly and not just as an approximate value, e.g., by assuming the antenna connector to be this point.). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made that the ARP can be specified by the position of the antenna connector as taught by Kurras, since such a modification would be a reasonable approximation of the position for the transmission/reception of reference signals.
Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Li (US 20250142518, PCT with Foreign Priority: 02/16/2022).
Regarding claims 9-11, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to explicitly teach where the capability information comprises at least one indication that the measurement is supported for at least one of first path and multiple paths; the configuration signal comprises at least one indication that whether the at least one carrier phase measurement is to be reported for multiple paths or not; the at least one carrier phase measurement for the first path is reported, and additionally the at least one carrier phase measurement for other multiple paths is reported if configured, wherein the first path is a line of sight (LoS) path; and comprises of at least one likelihood value, wherein the likelihood value is at least one of a soft value ranging between 0 and 1, and a hard value comprising of one of 0 and 1, wherein the likelihood values corresponds to likelihood whether the at least one carrier phase measurement is for one of LoS path,and NLoS path.
However, Li teaches a method for carrier phase based positioning measurements for wireless networks ([0009] The method may include acquiring configuration information of a reference signal for positioning, performing a carrier phase-based positioning measurement based on the configuration information, and reporting and/or transmitting a result of the carrier phase-based positioning measurement.) where at least the at least one carrier phase measurement is supported, the capability information comprises at least one indication that the at least one carrier phase measurement is supported for at least one of first path and multiple paths ([0132] The transmitter and/or the receiver determine whether to enable the carrier phase-based positioning measurement method according to a multipath indication signal (e.g., a multipath indicator). The multipath indication signal may be used to indicate whether the reference signal for positioning measurement is propagated through multiple paths or a single path;); the configuration signal comprises at least one indication that whether the at least one carrier phase measurement is to be reported for multiple paths or not ([0132] The transmitter and/or the receiver determine whether to enable the carrier phase-based positioning measurement method according to a multipath indication signal (e.g., a multipath indicator).); the at least one carrier phase measurement for the first path is reported, and additionally the at least one carrier phase measurement for other multiple paths is reported if configured, wherein the first path is a line of sight (LoS) path ([0136] The strongest path may be a first arrival path and/or a first detection path of the reference signal in time and/or a path of the reference signal whose RSRP value is the largest; and the second path may be a second arrival path and/or a second detection path of the reference signal in time and/or a path of the reference signal whose RSRP value is the second largest.); and comprises of at least one likelihood value, wherein the likelihood value is at least one of a soft value ranging between 0 and 1, and a hard value comprising of one of 0 and 1, wherein the likelihood values corresponds to likelihood whether the at least one carrier phase measurement is for one of LoS path,and NLoS path ([0131] When a Light of Sight/Non-Light of Sight indication signal (e.g., LOS/NLOS indicator) is a hard value indicator and the value is “1” or “true”, and/or when the Light of Sight/Non-Light of Sight indication signal (e.g., LOS/NLOS indicator) is a soft value indicator and the value is greater than a fourth threshold value L4, the carrier phase-based positioning measurement method may be performed for positioning measurement, wherein, L4 may be a real number greater than 0; optionally, L4 may be equal to 0.5; and those skilled in the art should understand that, the value of L4 is not limited thereto.).
Bao, 3GPP-NRPPa and Li are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor of carrier phase based positioning for wireless network technology. Therefore, 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 the carrier phase based positioning measurements of Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the multipath measurement techniques of Li to improve measurement quality and likelihood of an accurate measurement by accounting for multipath propagation effects..
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Markhovsky (US 20190285722).
Regarding claims 13, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 12, accordingly the rejection of claim 12 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein receiving the at least one reference signal is a sounding reference signal (SRS) ([0141] Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as “multi-cell RTT” and “multi-RTT”). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), which transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity.) and the at least one second node measures the at least one carrier phase (). Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to explicitly teach the SRS is received in a full stagger pattern, the plurality of SRS signals is concatenated over a full frequency band of transmission and the at least one second node measures the at least one carrier phase over the concatenated resource signals.
However, Markhovsky teaches 5G wireless network positioning systems and methods ([0037] As described in embodiments, a network-centric architecture supports LaaS data delivery, and which is designed for 5G and other networks when all signal processing and position estimates are done in the cloud, i.e., outside of the UE and/or eNodeB.) where the SRS is received in a full stagger pattern (Fig. 1), the plurality of SRS signals is concatenated ([0164] An example of ranging signal is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 1A. The exemplary ranging signal employs different frequency components that are contiguous.) over a full frequency band of transmission ([0775] Assuming a full bandwidth SRS signal, the size of the data in this case is reduced to 1×288×32 bits, or 9216 bits per emitter detected.) and the at least one second node measures the at least one carrier phase over the concatenated resource signals ([0394] Thus, the amplitude and phase of the channel response that is calculated (estimated) by the LTE receiver needs actual phase value at least at one frequency (subcarrier frequency). [0395] In LTE this actual phase value can be determined from one or more RTT measurement(s), TOA measurements).
Bao, 3GPP-NRPPa and Markhovsky are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor of 5G wireless network positioning technology. Therefore, 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 SRS positioning methods of Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the SRS positioning techniques of Markovsky to increase the options for improving the positioning of devices thereby increasing the likelihood that there will be a technique that works as the conditions and environment change – interference, multipath, etc...
Claims 23, 27 and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bao 2023 (US 20230098682; effective filing date 06/29/2022)
Regarding claim 23, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein the at least one carrier phase measurements are performed over a plurality of frequency resources ([0133] FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example PRS configuration 700 for the PRS transmissions of a given base station, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 7, time is represented horizontally, increasing from left to right. Each long rectangle represents a slot and each short (shaded) rectangle represents an OFDM symbol. In the example of FIG. 7, a PRS resource set 710 (labeled “PRS resource set 1”) includes two PRS resources, a first PRS resource 712 (labeled “PRS resource 1”) and a second PRS resource 714 (labeled “PRS resource 2”). The base station transmits PRS on the PRS resources 712 and 714 of the PRS resource set 710). Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to explicitly teach the measurements reported further comprises at least one of the frequency resource values per carrier phase measurement, and the difference between the frequency resource values per carrier phase measurement, and wherein the frequency resource values comprise of at least one of a frequency carrier, a frequency subcarrier, a frequency band, and a frequency range.
However, Bao 2023 teaches carrier phase based positioning in 5G cellular networks wherein the measurements reported ([0107] For example, in some aspects, the phase error related information may be reported to the target node in a measurement report that includes timing measurements and carrier phase measurements obtained by the reference node.) further comprises at least one of the frequency resource values per carrier phase measurement, and the difference between the frequency resource values per carrier phase measurement, and wherein the frequency resource values comprise of at least one of a frequency carrier, a frequency subcarrier, a frequency band, and a frequency range ([0106] In some aspects, the phase error related information may be defined with respect to a positioning frequency layer, a component carrier, a downlink bandwidth part, an uplink bandwidth part, a sidelink bandwidth part, a frequency sub-band, and/or other carrier-related parameters.).
Bao, 3GPP-NRPPa and Bao 2023 are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor of 5GNR wireless network positioning technology. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the carrier phase measurement of Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the integer ambiguity techniques of Bao 2023 in view of to gain the advantage of improved positioning through resolving the integer ambiguity using existing wireless network positioning infrastructure as noted by Bao 2023 ([0029] The error may be reduced, resulting in centimeter or millimeter precision, by using an integer ambiguity resolver (IAR) algorithm to resolve the unknown integer cycle information in the carrier phase measurements. Furthermore, in a cellular positioning system, carrier phase measurements associated with multiple carriers may be combined to reduce a search overhead associated with the IAR algorithm and/or to improve positioning accuracy.); and also since it has been held that if a technique has been used to improve one device, and a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that it would improve similar devices in the same way, using the technique is obvious unless its actual application is beyond his or her skill (MPEP 2143).
Regarding claim 27, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao fails to teach wherein the integer ambiguity value denotes an integer number of wave cycles between the at least one second node and the at least one third node, and wherein the method further comprises at least one of: determining, by the at least one second node, the integer ambiguity value; transmitting, by the at least one second node, the integer ambiguity value to the at least one first node one of implicitly and explicitly; and determining, by the at least one first node, the integer ambiguity value based on the at least one report.
Bao 2023 teaches wherein the integer ambiguity value denotes an integer number of wave cycles ([0066] Accordingly, because the transmitted positioning signals may be shifted in phase by one or more cycles, a positioning node (e.g., the target node in UE-based positioning or an LMF in UE-assisted positioning) may need to use an integer ambiguity resolver (IAR) algorithm to resolve unknown integer cycle information in the carrier phase measurements.) between the at least one second node and the at least one third node, and wherein the method further comprises at least one of: determining, by the at least one second node, the integer ambiguity value; transmitting, by the at least one second node, the integer ambiguity value to the at least one first node one of implicitly and explicitly ([0099] As further shown in FIG. 7, and by reference number 740, the LMF may resolve integer cycle information associated with the carrier phase measurements based on the phase error related information reported by the reference node and/or the target node. For example, in some aspects, the phase error related information may be reported to the LMF in each measurement report that includes timing measurements and carrier phase measurements obtained by the reference node and/or the target node.); and determining, by the at least one first node, the integer ambiguity value based on the at least one report ([0099] and may use an IAR algorithm to resolve the integer cycle information associated with 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 the carrier phase measurement of Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the integer ambiguity measurement of Bao 2023 to yield a predictable result of improved measurement accuracy through techniques to manage phase noise as noted by Bao 2023 ([0029] The error may be reduced, resulting in centimeter or millimeter precision, by using an integer ambiguity resolver (IAR) algorithm to resolve the unknown integer cycle information in the carrier phase measurements. Furthermore, in a cellular positioning system, carrier phase measurements associated with multiple carriers may be combined to reduce a search overhead associated with the IAR algorithm and/or to improve positioning accuracy.).
Regarding claim 29, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches the method further comprises:
receiving, by the at least one second node, at least one of at least one reference signal ([0141] In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or base station), which transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity.) and at least one pseudo-random code sequence on the at least one frequency resource from the at least one third node ([0132] A random-access channel (RACH), also referred to as a physical random-access channel (PRACH), may be within one or more slots within a frame based on the PRACH configuration. The PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a slot. The PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization.);
measuring, by the at least one second node, at least one of the at least one carrier phase of the at least one reference signal and the at least one carrier phase of the at least one pseudo- random code sequence on the at least one frequency resource ([0132] The PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. Examiner’s note: the PRACH is measured on uplink and has the time synchronization information); and transmitting, by the at least one second node, the at least one report comprising of the measurements to the at least one first node, wherein at least one pseudo-random code sequence is at least a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble signal ([0139] Based on the reception-to-reception (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known locations of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE using TDOA.). Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to teach wherein the integer ambiguity is resolved using at least one of the at least one carrier phase of the at least one reference signal and the at least one carrier phase of the at least one pseudo-random code sequence.
Bao 2023 teaches the integer ambiguity is resolved using at least one of the at least one carrier phase of the at least one reference signal and the at least one carrier phase of the at least one pseudo-random code sequence ([0106] Additionally, or alternatively, the phase error related information reported to the target node may include a single estimation error value, a single estimation error range, and/or a single estimation error distribution for the timing and/or carrier phase measurements obtained by the reference node. Examiner’s note – timing errors are evaluated through the pseudorandom PRACH as noted above.). 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 Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the “wide-laning” carrier phase measurement techniques of Bao 2023 to yield a predictable result of reduced computational overhead with calculating the integer ambiguity as noted by Bao 2023 ([0086] In some aspects, a widelane combination may be useful for ambiguity resolution algorithms, such as the IAR algorithm that is used to solve for the integer number of full cycles associated with a carrier wave, as well as cycle-slip and/or outlier detection. For example, as described herein, a widelane combination may reduce ambiguity searching overhead due to the larger effective wavelength).
Regarding claim 30, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao further teaches wherein when the at least one measurement comprise of the at least one carrier phase measurement over a plurality of frequency resources ([0167] Referring to FIG. 14, at 1430, UE 302 (e.g., receiver 312 or 322, transmitter 314 or 324, processor(s) 332, carrier phase measurement component 342, etc.) performs the carrier phase measurement-based PRS procedure.). Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to teach the at least one report comprises of the at least one carrier phase difference between at least one pair of frequency resources, which is used to resolve the integer ambiguity.
Bao 2023 teaches the at least one report comprises of the at least one carrier phase difference between at least one pair of frequency resources ([0099] As further shown in FIG. 7, and by reference number 740, the LMF may resolve integer cycle information associated with the carrier phase measurements based on the phase error related information reported by the reference node and/or the target node.), which is used to resolve the integer ambiguity ([100] Accordingly, because the reference node and the target node obtain the carrier phase measurements on the combination of carriers associated with the PRS configuration, the LMF may determine the PRS configuration (e.g., the carrier combination) based on carriers that are preferred by the reference node and/or carriers that are preferred by the target node.). 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 the carrier phase measurement of Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the integer ambiguity measurement of Bao 2023 to yield a predictable result of improved measurement accuracy through techniques to manage phase noise as noted by Bao 2023 ([0029] The error may be reduced, resulting in centimeter or millimeter precision, by using an integer ambiguity resolver (IAR) algorithm to resolve the unknown integer cycle information in the carrier phase measurements. Furthermore, in a cellular positioning system, carrier phase measurements associated with multiple carriers may be combined to reduce a search overhead associated with the IAR algorithm and/or to improve positioning accuracy.).
Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Li (J. Li, M. Liu, S. Shang, X. Gao and J. Liu, "Carrier Phase Positioning Using 5G NR Signals Based on OFDM System," 2022 IEEE 96th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC2022-Fall), London, United Kingdom, 2022, pp. 1-5, September 2022)
Regarding claim 28, Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa teaches the method of claim 1, accordingly the rejection of claim 1 above is incorporated. Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa fails to explicitly teach, wherein to resolve the ambiguity, the method further comprises: configuring, by the at least one second node, at least one third node to transmit the at least one reference signal in a carrier frequency having wavelength greater than the actual distance between the at least one second node and the at least one third node; measuring, by the at least one second node, the at least one carrier phase of the at least one reference signal in the single carrier frequency using a carrier of wavelength greater than the actual distance between the at least one second node and the at least one third node; and transmitting, by the at least one second node, the at least one report comprising of the measurements to the at least one first node.
However, Li teaches techniques of carrier phase measurement with wherein to resolve the ambiguity, the method further comprises: configuring, by the at least one second node, at least one third node to transmit the at least one reference signal in a carrier frequency having a larger effective wavelength; measuring, by the at least one second node, the at least one carrier phase of the at least one reference signal in the single carrier frequency using a carrier of larger effective wavelength; and transmitting, by the at least one second node, the at least one report comprising of the measurements to the at least one first node (Pg. 4, col. 1, lines 9-16; The multi-frequency carrier phase measurements can be linearly combined to generate a virtual carrier phase measurement corresponding to the virtual frequency, where the virtual carrier phase measurement and the corresponding virtual frequency is the linear combination coefficient and is an integer, corresponding carrier phase integer ambiguity. Low frequency corresponds to long wavelength).
Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa and in view of Li discloses the claimed invention except for the effective wavelength being greater than the actual distance between the at least one second node and the at least one third node. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a subcarrier frequency spacing of 15 kHz (the smallest available with 3GPP-NRPPa (Pg. 81 PRS Resource Set) which is equivalent to a wavelength of 20 km for an electromagnetic wave and since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art. In re Boesch, 617 F.2d 272, 205 USPQ 215 (CCPA 1980)
Bao, 3GPP-NRPPa and Li are all considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of endeavor of positioning in wireless technology. Therefore, 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 Bao as modified by 3GPP-NRPPa by including the virtual carrier techniques of Li to yield a predictable result of improving the positioning accuracy of wireless carrier phase based measurements for positioning as noted by Li (Pg. 1, col. 2, lines 25- 31; Further, a multifrequency carrier phase ranging method is proposed based on the carrier phase measurements on different bands or subcarriers. Based on the system-level simulation, it can be observed that the carrier phase positioning technology can achieve centimeter-level to millimeter-level positioning accuracy in 5G.).
For applicant’s benefit portions of the cited reference(s) have been cited to aid in the review of the rejection(s). While every attempt has been made to be thorough and consistent within the rejection it is noted that the PRIOR ART MUST BE CONSIDERED IN ITS ENTIRETY, INCLUDING DISCLOSURES THAT TEACH AWAY FROM THE CLAIMS. See MPEP 2141.02 VI.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20200408871 discloses a positioning method and related devices. The method includes: measuring, by a UE, PRSs sent by a plurality of positioning reference devices to obtain a plurality of PRS measurement results; measuring, by the UE, SPRSs sent by the plurality of positioning reference devices to obtain a plurality of SPRS measurement results; performing, by the UE, a positioning operation based on the plurality of PRS measurement results and the plurality of SPRS measurement results, wherein the positioning operation includes: sending the plurality of PRS measurement results and the plurality of SPRS measurement results to a positioning server, so that the positioning server determines a position of the UE based on the plurality of PRS measurement results and the plurality of SPRS measurement results; or determining, by the UE, the position of the UE based on the plurality of PRS measurement results and the plurality of SPRS measurement results.
US 20220069953 discloses a positioning method performed by a user equipment where the method include receiving a first reference signal from a first transmitter and a second reference signal from a second transmitter, extracting a first sample vector based on received data of the first reference signal measured at a plurality of sample times and a second sample vector based on received data of the second reference signal measured at the plurality of sample times, calculating a first phase vector and a second phase vector by performing an inner product operation of a DFT coefficient vector for DFT operation with respect to each of the first and second sample vectors, and calculating a difference between a travel distance of the first reference signal and a travel distance of the second reference signal based on phase information of components included in a conjugate multiplication of the first and second phase vectors.
US 20250330283 discloses a positioning method in a 5G (5th Generation Mobile Networks NR (New Radio) system, the method is used for a terminal device and includes: receiving configuration information of a positioning signal which is sent by a network device, where the positioning signal is configured to obtain a carrier phase difference based on carrier phases at different time points.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN BS ABRAHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-4145. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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, 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.
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.
/JBSA/Examiner, Art Unit 3646
/JACK W KEITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3646