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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/29/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (WO2023056152A1), hereinafter Bao, in view of Chiang et al. (CA2325644A1), hereinafter Chiang and further in view of Jatunov et al (US20230074373A1) hereinafter Jatunov.
Regarding Claim 1, Bao discloses a method to a first network entity for operating multiple carriers, the first network entity comprising: a processor (Bao, par. 54; At the base station 110, a transmit processor 220) examiner notes, see also par. 54 configured to: identify a plurality of carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases from a set of predefined carrier frequencies (Bao, fig. 6, par. 84; Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating examples 600, 620 of lane combinations that may reduce ambiguity searching overhead and/or reduce phase errors when using carrier phase measurements of multiple carriers to estimate a position, in accordance with the present disclosure.) estimate, based on the measured carrier phases, a distance between the first network entity and a second network entity using a carrier ranging operation that is performed between the first network entity and the second network entity (Bao, par. 27 The UE may then determine a range (or distance) to each satellite (e.g., by multiplying the time that each GNSS signal took to travel from the satellite to the UE by the speed of light). The ranges or distances between the UE and the satellites are typically referred to as “pseudoranges” to account for errors in the timing measurements (e.g., due to satellite orbital error, satellite clock errors, and/or propagation errors, among other examples)) examiner notes, see also par. 30, and fig. 9, par. 99, select, based on the estimated distance, historical information, a variation of measured distance, and channel status information, (Bao, fig. 3, par. 65; carrier phase measurements may use a carrier wave as a signal without regard to information contained within the carrier wave, whereby a range or distance to a transmitter may be calculated by multiplying the wavelength of the carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the target node and adding a fractional phase difference) at least one carrier frequency from the plurality of carrier frequencies to refine distance measurement (Bao, par. 99, fig. 7 the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors) examiner notes, see also pars. 67-68, 98-99 and 130 wherein measurement of the channel status information and measurement of range are identified for a multi carrier fine range estimation performed based on valid range estimation of the measurement of the range and the measurement of the channel status information corresponding to the valid range estimation (Bao, pars 55 and 57; the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports that include RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and/or CQI) from the controller/processor 280); and a transceiver operably coupled to the processor, the transceiver configured to transmit to and receive from, the second network entity, signals over the selected at least one carrier frequency entity (Bao, par. 57; the UE 120 includes a transceiver)
Bao does not explicitly disclose the selection of a carrier frequency, however, Chiang discloses a method for network enhancement using geolocation information which uses a position determining unit to assist beam steering and selection of intelligent antennas (Chiang, figs. 8-9; network enhancement module 905 receives the geographical position of the mobile from PDE 803 to assist in beam steering/selection of intelligent antennas.) examiner notes, it is well known in the art that beam selection is tied to carrier frequency selection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chiang’s network enhancement method using geolocation and distance estimation with Bao’s device and techniques for carrier selection based on channel quality indicators to improve ranging accuracy and handoff via geolocation on cellular networks using error based carrier configuration.
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The combination of Bao and Chiang does not explicitly teach the range estimation is based on a valid range estimation corresponding to the CSI measurement. However, Jatunov discloses a method range estimation in a multi-frequency phase difference of arrival using range validity (Jatunov, fig. 5, par. 164; At 514, the device checks if the essential and redundant pairs are all in agreement, where there are selected range bins for each of the redundant pairs that are consistent with the “essential range”, the estimated range is declared valid at 516) and uses that information to increase robustness against channel impairments or attain a finer range resolution (Jatunov, par. 128; the PRS may have a default/baseline configuration for coarse range estimation or a configuration that is customized with additional, or alternate, CW's and specific characteristics to meet more stringent WTRU requirements (e.g., either to increase robustness against channel impairments or to attain finer range resolution) examiner notes, see also pars. 137, 152 and 179.
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine Chiang’s network enhancement method using geolocation and distance estimation with Bao’s device and techniques for carrier selection based on channel quality indicators and Jatunov methods for range estimation in a multi-frequency phase difference of arrival to enhance UE range estimation in a wireless network.
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Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the network entity of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine the plurality of carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases based on an availability of channels, interference of the channels (Chiang, Detailed description; In the case of fixed-beam antennas, geolocation information is used to assign a mobile to one of the available antennas based on the alignment of the beam directivity and the mobile's position. The assignment is made after considering a plurality of factors including availability of antennas, number of mobiles, and the geolocation information), and existing channel selection results based on a channel selection algorithm (Bao, par. 30; 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 3, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the network entity of Claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine one or two carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases from the plurality of carrier frequencies based on initial estimation of distance, a variance of distance, historic estimation results, and use cases; select one carrier frequency (Chiang, Detailed Description; Geolocation information is used to enhance load-balancing capabilities in a wireless system. Currently, in a wireless system, load balancing is accomplished by monitoring the number of mobiles trying to access a particular base station and, if the base station seems overloaded, by transferring the mobiles having relatively weak signal strength to other base station … The dynamic load-balancing scheme of the present invention incorporates geolocation information in the decision-making of load balancing. In addition to measuring radio signal strength, the geographical location and the velocity of the moving mobiles are considered in the decision of which mobiles should be transferred) for measuring carrier phase when a carrier wavelength is more than a predefined threshold that multiplies a variance of distance error (Bao, Detailed Description, par. 99; 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 select two carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases when the carrier wavelength of a beat frequency is more than a predefined threshold that multiplies the variance of distance error (Bao, Detailed Description, par. 99; the IAR algorithm may be performed using a carrier phase combination (e.g., a combination of carriers used to transmit the reference signals) to minimize a combined error in the combined carrier phase measurements. Accordingly, based on the variance of the measurement errors for the combined carriers, σ2φL1 and σ2φL the LMF may select a carrier phase combination associated with carrier phase combination coefficients, a and a2, that minimizes the combined measurement error)
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the network entity of Claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: estimate, based on the measured carrier phase or carrier phases, a fractional number of cycles of a carrier wavelength or a beat carrier wavelength estimate, based on a previously estimated distance, a carrier wavelength of the selected carrier phase or phases (Bao, fig. 6, par 84; using carrier phase measurements to estimate a position may generally depend on using an IAR algorithm to solve for the variable N, which represents an integer number of full cycles associated with a carrier wave during transmit from a transmitter to a receiver), and the estimated fractional number of cycles of the carrier wavelength or a beat carrier wavelength, an integer number of cycles of the carrier wavelength or beat carrier wavelength; and determine the updated distance measurement between the first network entity and the second network entity based on at least one of the estimated fractional number of cycles, an integer number of cycles, the carrier wavelength, or beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors)).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the network entity of Claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a distance measurement variance based on at least one of a variance of system phase measurement (Chiang, fig. 9; In general, the information is gathered from two sources: the mobile and the base stations. In a typical wireless system, the mobile reports back to the serving base station the round trip delay measurements in the downlink. The; RTD measurement is used to calculate the distance between the mobile and the serving base station. Directly coupled to MSC 801 is PDE 803 which computes the location of a mobile), a carrier wavelength, or a beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors)); select, another carrier frequency from the plurality of carrier frequencies based on the determined distance measurement variance and previously used carrier frequencies (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may select a carrier phase combination associated with carrier phase combination coefficients, a and a2, that minimizes the combined measurement error)); estimate, based on the measured carrier phase, a fractional number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 71; carrier phase measurements are based on the general principle that any range or distance (e.g., from a receiver to a transmitter) may be calculated by multiplying a wavelength of a carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the receiver and adding a fractional carrier phase); estimate, based on a previously estimated distance, the carrier wavelength of the selected carrier phase, and the estimated fractional number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength, an integer number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par 73; A receiver may directly measure the carrier wavelength A and the fractional carrier phase 9. and may further resolve the distance p to the transmitter by eliminating or mitigating errors from the carrier phase measurement and solving for the integer number of full cycles using the IAR algorithm); and determine, the updated distance measurement between the first network entity and the second network entity based on the estimated fractional number of cycles, the integer number of cycles, and the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par 73; a resolution of the carrier phase measurement may be determined by the carrier wavelength and the fractional carrier phase measurement, which results in a much finer resolution than a pseudo-range)
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the network entity of Claim 5, wherein the variance of estimated distance is calculated by multiplying the variance of system carrier phase with the carrier wavelength or the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 71; carrier phase measurements are based on the general principle that any range or distance (e.g., from a receiver to a transmitter) may be calculated by multiplying a wavelength of a carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the receiver and adding a fractional carrier phase)
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the network entity of Claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine, based on estimated distance measurement variance, a distance estimation frequency, and a distance measurement accuracy requirement, a stop condition for a carrier frequency selection (Chiang, Detailed Description; Geolocation information is used to enhance load-balancing capabilities in a wireless system. Currently, in a wireless system, load balancing is accomplished by monitoring the number of mobiles trying to access a particular base station and, if the base station seems overloaded, by transferring the mobiles having relatively weak signal strength to other base station … The dynamic load-balancing scheme of the present invention incorporates geolocation information in the decision-making of load balancing. In addition to measuring radio signal strength, the geographical location and the velocity of the moving mobiles are considered in the decision of which mobiles should be transferred); and output the estimated distance measurement and the estimated measurement variance (Bao, par. 65; carrier phase measurements may use a carrier wave as a signal without regard to information contained within the carrier wave, whereby a range or distance to a transmitter may be calculated by multiplying the wavelength of the carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the target node and adding a fractional phase difference. Accordingly, positioning based on carrier phase measurements may be associated with a measurement error based on the carrier phase wavelength)
Regarding Claim 8, Bao discloses a method of a first network entity for operating multiple carriers, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases from a set of predefined carrier frequencies; estimating, based on the measured carrier phase, a distance between the first network entity and a second network entity using a carrier ranging operation that is performed between the first network entity and the second network entity (Bao, par. 27 The UE may then determine a range (or distance) to each satellite (e.g., by multiplying the time that each GNSS signal took to travel from the satellite to the UE by the speed of light). The ranges or distances between the UE and the satellites are typically referred to as “pseudoranges” to account for errors in the timing measurements (e.g., due to satellite orbital error, satellite clock errors, and/or propagation errors, among other examples)) examiner notes, see also par. 30, and fig. 9, par. 99, select, based on the estimated distance, historical information, a variation of measured distance, and channel status information, (Bao, fig. 3, par. 65; carrier phase measurements may use a carrier wave as a signal without regard to information contained within the carrier wave, whereby a range or distance to a transmitter may be calculated by multiplying the wavelength of the carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the target node and adding a fractional phase difference) at least one carrier frequency from the plurality of carrier frequencies to refine distance measurement (Bao, par. 99, fig. 7 the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors) examiner notes, see also pars. 67-68, 98-99 and 130 wherein measurement of the channel status information and measurement of range are identified for a multi carrier fine range estimation performed based on valid range estimation of the measurement of the range and the measurement of the channel status information corresponding to the valid range estimation (Bao, pars 55 and 57; the UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports that include RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and/or CQI) from the controller/processor 280); and transmitting, to and receive from the second network entity, signals over the selected at least one carrier frequency (Bao, par. 57; the UE 120 includes a transceiver)
Bao does not explicitly disclose the selection of a carrier frequency, however, Chiang discloses a method for network enhancement using geolocation information which uses a position determining unit to assist beam steering and selection of intelligent antennas (Chiang, figs. 8-9; network enhancement module 905 receives the geographical position of the mobile from PDE 803 to assist in beam steering/selection of intelligent antennas.) examiner notes, it is well known in the art that beam selection is tied to carrier frequency selection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chiang’s network enhancement method using geolocation and distance estimation with Bao’s device and techniques for carrier selection based on channel quality indicators to improve ranging accuracy and handoff via geolocation on cellular networks using error based carrier configuration.
The combination of Bao and Chiang does not explicitly teach the range estimation is based on a valid range estimation corresponding to the CSI measurement. However, Jatunov discloses a method range estimation in a multi-frequency phase difference of arrival using range validity (Jatunov, fig. 5, par. 164; At 514, the device checks if the essential and redundant pairs are all in agreement, where there are selected range bins for each of the redundant pairs that are consistent with the “essential range”, the estimated range is declared valid at 516) and uses that information to increase robustness against channel impairments or attain a finer range resolution (Jatunov, par. 128; the PRS may have a default/baseline configuration for coarse range estimation or a configuration that is customized with additional, or alternate, CW's and specific characteristics to meet more stringent WTRU requirements (e.g., either to increase robustness against channel impairments or to attain finer range resolution) examiner notes, see also pars. 137, 152 and 179.
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine Chiang’s network enhancement method using geolocation and distance estimation with Bao’s device and techniques for carrier selection based on channel quality indicators and Jatunov methods for range estimation in a multi-frequency phase difference of arrival to enhance UE range estimation in a wireless network.
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising: determining the plurality of carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases based on an availability of channels, interference of the channels (Chiang, Detailed description; In the case of fixed-beam antennas, geolocation information is used to assign a mobile to one of the available antennas based on the alignment of the beam directivity and the mobile's position. The assignment is made after considering a plurality of factors including availability of antennas, number of mobiles, and the geolocation information), and existing channel selection results based on a channel selection algorithm (Bao, par. 30; 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 10, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising: determining one or two carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases from the plurality of carrier frequencies based on initial estimation of distance, a variance of distance, historic estimation results, and use cases; selecting one carrier frequency (Chiang, Detailed Description; Geolocation information is used to enhance load-balancing capabilities in a wireless system. Currently, in a wireless system, load balancing is accomplished by monitoring the number of mobiles trying to access a particular base station and, if the base station seems overloaded, by transferring the mobiles having relatively weak signal strength to other base station … The dynamic load-balancing scheme of the present invention incorporates geolocation information in the decision-making of load balancing. In addition to measuring radio signal strength, the geographical location and the velocity of the moving mobiles are considered in the decision of which mobiles should be transferred)for measuring carrier phase when a carrier wavelength is more than a predefined threshold that multiplies a variance of distance error (Bao, Detailed Description, par. 99; 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 selecting two carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases when the carrier wavelength of a beat frequency is more than a predefined threshold that multiplies the variance of distance error (Bao, Detailed Description, par. 99; the IAR algorithm may be performed using a carrier phase combination (e.g., a combination of carriers used to transmit the reference signals) to minimize a combined error in the combined carrier phase measurements. Accordingly, based on the variance of the measurement errors for the combined carriers, σ2φL1 and σ2φL the LMF may select a carrier phase combination associated with carrier phase combination coefficients, a and a2, that minimizes the combined measurement error).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the method of claim 8 comprising: estimating, based on the measured carrier phase or carrier phases, a fractional number of cycles of a carrier wavelength or a beat carrier wavelength; estimating, based on a previously estimated distance, a carrier wavelength of the selected carrier phase or phases (Bao fig. 6, par 84; using carrier phase measurements to estimate a position may generally depend on using an IAR algorithm to solve for the variable N, which represents an integer number of full cycles associated with a carrier wave during transmit from a transmitter to a receiver), and the estimated fractional number of cycles of the carrier wavelength or a beat carrier wavelength, an integer number of cycles of the carrier wavelength or beat carrier wavelength; and determining, the updated distance measurement between the first network entity and the second network entity, based on the estimated fractional number of cycles and integer number of cycles and the carrier wavelength or beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors)).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the method of claim 8 comprising: determining a distance measurement variance based on at least one of a variance of system phase measurement (Chiang, fig. 9; In general, the information is gathered from two sources: the mobile and the base stations. In a typical wireless system, the mobile reports back to the serving base station the round trip delay measurements in the downlink. The; RTD measurement is used to calculate the distance between the mobile and the serving base station. Directly coupled to MSC 801 is PDE 803 which computes the location of a mobile), a carrier wavelength, or a beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors)); selecting, another carrier frequency from the plurality of carrier frequencies based on the determined distance measurement variance and previously used carrier frequencies (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may select a carrier phase combination associated with carrier phase combination coefficients, a and a2, that minimizes the combined measurement error)); estimating, based on the measured carrier phase, a fractional number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par 73; A receiver may directly measure the carrier wavelength A and the fractional carrier phase 9. and may further resolve the distance p to the transmitter by eliminating or mitigating errors from the carrier phase measurement and solving for the integer number of full cycles using the IAR algorithm); estimating, based on a previously estimated distance, the carrier wavelength of the selected carrier phase, and the estimated fractional number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength, an integer number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength; and determining, the updated distance measurement between the first network entity and the second network entity based on the estimated fractional number of cycles, an integer number of cycles, and the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par 73; a resolution of the carrier phase measurement may be determined by the carrier wavelength and the fractional carrier phase measurement, which results in a much finer resolution than a pseudo-range).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the method of claim 12, wherein the variance of estimated distance is calculated by multiplying the variance of system carrier phase with the carrier wavelength or the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 71; carrier phase measurements are based on the general principle that any range or distance (e.g., from a receiver to a transmitter) may be calculated by multiplying a wavelength of a carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the receiver and adding a fractional carrier phase).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the method of claim 8 comprising: determining, based on estimated a distance measurement variance distance, a distance estimation frequency, and a distance measurement accuracy requirement, a stop condition for carrier frequency selection (Chiang, Detailed Description; Geolocation information is used to enhance load-balancing capabilities in a wireless system. Currently, in a wireless system, load balancing is accomplished by monitoring the number of mobiles trying to access a particular base station and, if the base station seems overloaded, by transferring the mobiles having relatively weak signal strength to other base station … The dynamic load-balancing scheme of the present invention incorporates geolocation information in the decision-making of load balancing. In addition to measuring radio signal strength, the geographical location and the velocity of the moving mobiles are considered in the decision of which mobiles should be transferred); and outputting the estimated distance measurement and the estimated measurement variance (Bao, par. 65; carrier phase measurements may use a carrier wave as a signal without regard to information contained within the carrier wave, whereby a range or distance to a transmitter may be calculated by multiplying the wavelength of the carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the target node and adding a fractional phase difference. Accordingly, positioning based on carrier phase measurements may be associated with a measurement error based on the carrier phase wavelength).
Regarding Claim 15, Bao discloses a computer-readable medium comprising program code, that when executed by at least one processor, causes an electronic device to: identify a plurality of carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases from a set of predefined carrier frequencies estimate, based on the measured carrier phases, a distance between the first network entity and a second network entity using a carrier ranging operation that is performed between the first network entity and the second network entity entity (Bao, par. 27 The UE may then determine a range (or distance) to each satellite (e.g., by multiplying the time that each GNSS signal took to travel from the satellite to the UE by the speed of light). The ranges or distances between the UE and the satellites are typically referred to as “pseudoranges” to account for errors in the timing measurements (e.g., due to satellite orbital error, satellite clock errors, and/or propagation errors, among other examples)) examiner notes, see also par. 30, and fig. 9, par. 99, select, based on the estimated distance, historical information, a variation of measured distance, and channel status information, (Bao, fig. 3, par. 65; carrier phase measurements may use a carrier wave as a signal without regard to information contained within the carrier wave, whereby a range or distance to a transmitter may be calculated by multiplying the wavelength of the carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the target node and adding a fractional phase difference)) at least one carrier frequency from the plurality of carrier frequencies to redefine distance measurement, wherein measurement of the channel status information and measurement of range are identified for a multi carrier fine range estimation performed based on valid range estimation of the measurement of the range and the measurement of the channel status information corresponding to the valid range estimation (Bao, par. 99, fig. 7 the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors) examiner notes, see also pars. 67-68, 98-99 and 130 and a transceiver operably coupled to the processor, the transceiver configured to transmit to and receive from, the second network entity, signals over the selected at least one carrier frequency entity (Bao, par. 57; the UE 120 includes a transceiver)
Bao does not explicitly disclose the selection of a carrier frequency, however, Chiang discloses a method for network enhancement using geolocation information which uses a position determining unit to assist beam steering and selection of intelligent antennas (Chiang, figs. 8-9; network enhancement module 905 receives the geographical position of the mobile from PDE 803 to assist in beam steering/selection of intelligent antennas.) examiner notes, it is well known in the art that beam selection is tied to carrier frequency selection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chiang’s network enhancement method using geolocation and distance estimation with Bao’s device and techniques for carrier selection based on channel quality indicators to improve ranging accuracy and handoff via geolocation on cellular networks using error based carrier configuration.
The combination of Bao and Chiang does not explicitly teach the range estimation is based on a valid range estimation corresponding to the CSI measurement. However, Jatunov discloses a method range estimation in a multi-frequency phase difference of arrival using range validity (Jatunov, fig. 5, par. 164; At 514, the device checks if the essential and redundant pairs are all in agreement, where there are selected range bins for each of the redundant pairs that are consistent with the “essential range”, the estimated range is declared valid at 516) and uses that information to increase robustness against channel impairments or attain a finer range resolution (Jatunov, par. 128; the PRS may have a default/baseline configuration for coarse range estimation or a configuration that is customized with additional, or alternate, CW's and specific characteristics to meet more stringent WTRU requirements (e.g., either to increase robustness against channel impairments or to attain finer range resolution) examiner notes, see also pars. 137, 152 and 179.
Therefore, a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to combine Chiang’s network enhancement method using geolocation and distance estimation with Bao’s device and techniques for carrier selection based on channel quality indicators and Jatunov methods for range estimation in a multi-frequency phase difference of arrival to enhance UE range estimation in a wireless network.
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 15, further comprising program code, that when executed by at least one processor, causes an electronic device to: determine the plurality of carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases based on an availability of channels, interference of the channels (Chiang, Detailed description; In the case of fixed-beam antennas, geolocation information is used to assign a mobile to one of the available antennas based on the alignment of the beam directivity and the mobile's position. The assignment is made after considering a plurality of factors including availability of antennas, number of mobiles, and the geolocation information), and existing channel selection results based on a channel selection algorithm (Bao, par. 30; 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 17, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 15, further comprising program code, that when executed by at least one processor, causes an electronic device to: determine one or two carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases from the plurality of carrier frequencies based on initial estimation of distance, a variance of distance, historic estimation results, and use cases; select one carrier frequency (Chiang, Detailed Description; Geolocation information is used to enhance load-balancing capabilities in a wireless system. Currently, in a wireless system, load balancing is accomplished by monitoring the number of mobiles trying to access a particular base station and, if the base station seems overloaded, by transferring the mobiles having relatively weak signal strength to other base station … The dynamic load-balancing scheme of the present invention incorporates geolocation information in the decision-making of load balancing. In addition to measuring radio signal strength, the geographical location and the velocity of the moving mobiles are considered in the decision of which mobiles should be transferred) for measuring carrier phase when a carrier wavelength is more than a predefined threshold that multiplies a variance of distance error (Bao, Detailed Description, par. 99; 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 select two carrier frequencies for measuring carrier phases when the carrier wavelength of a beat frequency is more than a predefined threshold that multiplies the variance of distance error (Bao, Detailed Description, par. 99; the IAR algorithm may be performed using a carrier phase combination (e.g., a combination of carriers used to transmit the reference signals) to minimize a combined error in the combined carrier phase measurements. Accordingly, based on the variance of the measurement errors for the combined carriers, σ2φL1 and σ2φL the LMF may select a carrier phase combination associated with carrier phase combination coefficients, a and a2, that minimizes the combined measurement error)
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 15, further comprising program code, that when executed by at least one processor, causes an electronic device to: estimate, based on the measured carrier phase or carrier phases, a fractional number of cycles of a carrier wavelength or a beat carrier wavelength estimate, based on a previously estimated distance, a carrier wavelength of the selected carrier phase or phases (Bao, fig. 6, par 84; using carrier phase measurements to estimate a position may generally depend on using an IAR algorithm to solve for the variable N, which represents an integer number of full cycles associated with a carrier wave during transmit from a transmitter to a receiver), and the estimated fractional number of cycles of the carrier wavelength or a beat carrier wavelength, an integer number of cycles of the carrier wavelength or beat carrier wavelength; and determine the updated distance measurement between the first network entity and the second network entity based on at least one of the estimated fractional number of cycles, an integer number of cycles, the carrier wavelength, or beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors)).
Regarding Claim 19, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 15, further comprising program code, that when executed by at least one processor, causes an electronic device to: determine a distance measurement variance based on at least one of a variance of system phase measurement (Chiang, fig. 9; In general, the information is gathered from two sources: the mobile and the base stations. In a typical wireless system, the mobile reports back to the serving base station the round trip delay measurements in the downlink. The; RTD measurement is used to calculate the distance between the mobile and the serving base station. Directly coupled to MSC 801 is PDE 803 which computes the location of a mobile), a carrier wavelength, or a beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may be able to refine the coarse position estimate for the target node (e.g., by multiplying the carrier wavelength(s) by the integer number of cycles and the fractional phase measured at the receiver to determine distances or ranges between the target node and one or more anchors)); select, another carrier frequency from the plurality of carrier frequencies based on the determined distance measurement variance and previously used carrier frequencies (Bao, par. 99; the LMF may select a carrier phase combination associated with carrier phase combination coefficients, a and a2, that minimizes the combined measurement error)); estimate, based on the measured carrier phase, a fractional number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par. 71; carrier phase measurements are based on the general principle that any range or distance (e.g., from a receiver to a transmitter) may be calculated by multiplying a wavelength of a carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the receiver and adding a fractional carrier phase); estimate, based on a previously estimated distance, the carrier wavelength of the selected carrier phase, and the estimated fractional number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength, an integer number of cycles of the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par 73; A receiver may directly measure the carrier wavelength A and the fractional carrier phase 9. and may further resolve the distance p to the transmitter by eliminating or mitigating errors from the carrier phase measurement and solving for the integer number of full cycles using the IAR algorithm); and determine, the updated distance measurement between the first network entity and the second network entity based on the estimated fractional number of cycles, the integer number of cycles, and the beat carrier wavelength (Bao, par 73; a resolution of the carrier phase measurement may be determined by the carrier wavelength and the fractional carrier phase measurement, which results in a much finer resolution than a pseudo-range)
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Bao, Chiang and Jatunov further discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of Claim 15, further comprising program code, that when executed by at least one processor, causes an electronic device to: determine, based on estimated distance measurement variance, a distance estimation frequency, and a distance measurement accuracy requirement, a stop condition for a carrier frequency selection (Chiang, Detailed Description; Geolocation information is used to enhance load-balancing capabilities in a wireless system. Currently, in a wireless system, load balancing is accomplished by monitoring the number of mobiles trying to access a particular base station and, if the base station seems overloaded, by transferring the mobiles having relatively weak signal strength to other base station … The dynamic load-balancing scheme of the present invention incorporates geolocation information in the decision-making of load balancing. In addition to measuring radio signal strength, the geographical location and the velocity of the moving mobiles are considered in the decision of which mobiles should be transferred); and output the estimated distance measurement and the estimated measurement variance (Bao, par. 65; carrier phase measurements may use a carrier wave as a signal without regard to information contained within the carrier wave, whereby a range or distance to a transmitter may be calculated by multiplying the wavelength of the carrier wave by an integer number of full cycles between the transmitter and the target node and adding a fractional phase difference. Accordingly, positioning based on carrier phase measurements may be associated with a measurement error based on the carrier phase wavelength)
It is noted that any citations to specific pages, columns, lines or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to a person of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Choi et al. (US-20210377907-A1), SIDELINK POSITIONING FOR DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEMS, 2021.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIO R CAMPERO MIRAMONTES whose telephone number is (571)272-5792. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Thursday 0600 - 1600.
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/MARIO R CAMPERO MIRAMONTES/Examiner, Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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