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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the claims received on 3/8/2024.
Communications via email (MPEP 502.03)
In order to advance prosecution of the instant application, the Applicants are invited to file a form PTO/SB/439 "Internet Communications Authorized", and to include, in their response, the Applicants’ contact telephone number and e-mail address:
http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf
Claim Interpretation
Plain Meaning (MPEP 2111.01): MPEP 2111.01 states: The plain meaning of a term means the ordinary and customary meaning given to the term by those of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention. The ordinary and customary meaning of a term may be evidenced by a variety of sources, including the words of the claims themselves, the specification, drawings, and prior art. However, the best source for determining the meaning of a claim term is the specification. An applicant is entitled to be their own lexicographer and may rebut the presumption that claim terms are to be given their ordinary and customary meaning by clearly setting forth a definition of the term that is different from its ordinary and customary meaning(s) in the specification at the relevant time. See In re Paulsen, 30 F.3d 1475, 1480, 31 USPQ2d 1671, 1674 (Fed. Cir. 1994). MPEP 2111.01 part III explains that in some cases it is also appropriate to look to how the claim term is used in the prior art, which includes prior art patents, published applications, trade publications, and dictionaries. Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1317, 75 USPQ2d 1321, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2005). In this case:
"Tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium": Claim 43 recites a "tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium". The specification mentions terms "tangible", "non-transitory", "machine-readable storage medium" in par. 66, 155, 195, 249, without redefining these terms; therefore, they have their original meanings. Therefore, claimed "tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium" is interpreted as a memory device, which isn’t a nonce word or a replacement for “means” as explained in MPEP 2181. Claimed "tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium" also excludes transitory embodiments, and therefore, this claim is eligible under 35 USC 101.
Claim Objections
Claims 26-50 are objected to. Claims 26, 36, 43, 49 are objected to due to the following informalities: "to for". The dependent claims incorporate all limitations of the independent claims and intervening claims, and are therefore objected to for the same reasons. Claims 44-48 are objected to due to the following informalities: They recite a "storage medium of claim 43" or "claim 45", which refers back to the "tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium" described in claim 43; however, the claim terminology is inconsistent. MPEP 608.01(m) “Form of the Claims” explains that inconsistent terminology should be objected to, and 37 CFR 1.71(a) requires that the specification, including claims, use "full, clear, concise, and exact terms". Therefore, appropriate correction is required. The Examiner recommends claiming the same "tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium" consistently in claims 44-48.
Subject Matter Eligible under 35 USC 101
Please refer to the Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes in MPEP 2106 and in the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, hereinafter, the “2019 PEG”:
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Step 1: See MPEP 2106.03: 35 U.S.C. 101 enumerates four categories of subject matter that Congress deemed to be appropriate subject matter for a patent: processes, machines, manufactures and compositions of matter. Claims 26-50 include claims directed to a process, and claims directed to a machine, which are statutory categories.
Step 2A: MPEP 2106 subclause II. “ELIGIBILITY STEP 2A: WHETHER A CLAIM IS DIRECTED TO A JUDICIAL EXCEPTION” explains that Step 2A is a two-prong inquiry, in which examiners determine in Prong One whether a claim recites a judicial exception, and if so, then determine in Prong Two if the recited judicial exception is integrated into a practical application of that exception. Together, these prongs represent the first part of the Alice/Mayo test, which determines whether a claim is directed to a judicial exception.
Step 2A prong 1: The 2019 PEG explains that Step 2A prong 1 procedure for determining whether a claim “recites” an abstract idea is: identify the specific limitation(s) in the claim under examination that the examiner believes recites an abstract idea; and determine whether the identified limitation(s) falls within at least one of the groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in the 2019 PEG, which are: Mathematical Concepts (mathematical relationships, mathematical formulas or equations, mathematical calculations), Mental Processes, concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion), and Certain Methods Of Organizing Human Activity fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk), commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations), managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). In this case, the independent claims recite an abstract idea of a mathematical relationship of a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms; therefore, the answer to Step 2 prong 1 is YES.
Step 2A prong 2: Yes, the claim does recite additional elements that integrate the exception into a practical application of the exception. Par. 77 of the specification describes a problem of prior art systems where, for the existing inter-frequency gap pattern, which is used for SSB based inter-frequency measurement, a maximum measurement gap length (MGL) is only up to 6 ms. As a result, a UE may make very limited number of PRS resource repetitions which are captured within an single inter-frequency measurement gap. Depending on PRS resource configuration and gap pattern configuration, the number of PRS resources within a gap can be even less than 1. Par. 83-84 and Table 2 of the specification describe a solution to the problem, which comprises increasing the MGL to values which are greater than 6 ms in order to capture an entire positioning reference signal repetition duration, instead of capturing only a part of the signals. In other words, a value greater than 6ms would enable capturing the PRS completely. Please refer to MPEP 2106.04(d): "Integration of a Judicial Exception Into A Practical Application" under the header "Relevant considerations for evaluating whether additional elements integrate a judicial exception into a practical application": "Limitations the courts have found indicative that an additional element (or combination of elements) may have integrated the exception into a practical application include: • An improvement in the functioning of a computer, or an improvement to other technology or technical field, as discussed in MPEP §§ 2106.04(d)(1) and 2106.05(a)". See for example the court decision in 118 USPQ2d 1684 Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp; U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, page 1689: “much of the advancement made in computer technology consists of improvements to software that, by their very nature, may not be defined by particular physical features but rather by logical structures and processes”. Therefore, the answer to prong 2 is YES, and the claims are eligible in step 2A.
Conditions for Benefit Claims Under 35 U.S.C. 119(e), 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c)
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) as follows: The later-filed application must be an application for a patent for an invention which is also disclosed in the prior application (the parent or earlier-filed nonprovisional application or provisional application for which benefit is claimed). The disclosure of the invention in the parent application and in the later-filed application must be sufficient to comply with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, except for the best mode requirement. See Transco Products, Inc. v. Performance Contracting, Inc., 38 F.3d 551, 32 USPQ2d 1077 (Fed. Cir. 1994). In this case, the disclosure of the prior-filed application, provisional application no. 63/025031, fails to provide adequate support or enablement in the manner provided by 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph for one or more claims of this application. The independent claims require "a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB) to configure the UE to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms". The specification enables this feature in par. 90 in reference to Fig. 5 where, at operation 516, the serving gNB 504 sends a message to the UE to configure the UE with the dedicated, preferred RSTD measurement gap pattern length for PRS measurement; at operation 518, the UE performs the PRS measurement within a gap corresponding with the preferred RSTD measurement gap pattern (e.g. measurement gap length (MGL) of >6ms).
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The provisional application no. 63/025031 mentions "measurement gap sharing" on page 6 and page 7 Table 9.1.2.1a-1, for example, and mentions "MGL" in the list of acronyms on page 26; however, there is no drawing such as Fig. 5 or even Fig. 4, there is no mention of a configuration message for configuring the MGL, and there is no mention of MGL > 6ms. Regarding the dependent claims, they incorporate all limitations of the independent claims; therefore, the same provisional application fails to provide adequate support or enablement for the same above reasons.
Double Patenting
Application number 18/315,165 has the same inventive entity as the instant application, and their claims are similar to the claims of the instant case; however, a double patenting rejection does not need to be applied because this reference application is abandoned.
Double Patenting
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 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 nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the "right to exclude" granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/ patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/ patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer
Rejection, Nonstatutory Double Patenting
Claims 26, 28-31, 36, 38-41, 43, 45-49 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-25 of patent number 11,871,436, hereinafter "reference patent", and further in view of Sahai et al (publication number 2019/0052996), hereinafter Sahai. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because all the claimed limitations recited in the present (instant) application are transparently found in the reference patent with obvious wording variations.
As shown in the table below, the reference patent claims inherently or explicitly teach each and every limitation of, therefore anticipates the examined application claims:
Instant application claims:
Reference patent claims:
26. (New) An apparatus of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), the apparatus including a processing circuitry and a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface to couple the processing circuitry to an RF circuitry of the UE, the processing circuitry to:
decode a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB) to configure the UE to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms;
determine the MGL from the configuration message; and
perform the RSTD measurements based on the MGL.
1. An apparatus of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) including a memory storing instructions, and one or more processors coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to: encode for transmission to a user equipment (UE) a message to configure the UE with a measurement gap pattern for positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements; and set a gap pattern length of a measurement gap corresponding to the measurement gap pattern depending on whether an overlap exists between a PRS to be measured and one or more other NR data scheduled to be received by the UE.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are to set the gap pattern length to be greater than 6 ms in response to a determination that an overlap does not exist, and to be less than 6 ms in response to a determination that the overlap exists.
28. (New) The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the MGL is 10 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
29. (New) The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the MGL is 20 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
30. (New) The apparatus of claim 28, wherein a measurement gap period for the MGL is 80 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
31. (New) The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the MGL is 20 ms and a measurement gap period for the MGL is 160 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
36. (New) An apparatus of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB), the apparatus including a processing circuitry and a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface to couple the processing circuitry to an RF circuitry of the gNB, the processing circuitry to:
encode a configuration message to a NR User Equipment (UE) to configure the UE to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms; and
send the configuration message for transmission to the UE.
1. An apparatus of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) including a memory storing instructions, and one or more processors coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to: encode for transmission to a user equipment (UE) a message to configure the UE with a measurement gap pattern for positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements; and set a gap pattern length of a measurement gap corresponding to the measurement gap pattern depending on whether an overlap exists between a PRS to be measured and one or more other NR data scheduled to be received by the UE.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are to set the gap pattern length to be greater than 6 ms in response to a determination that an overlap does not exist, and to be less than 6 ms in response to a determination that the overlap exists.
38. (New) The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the MGL is 10 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
39. (New) The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the MGL is 20 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
40. (New) The apparatus of claim 38, wherein a measurement gap period for the MGL is 80 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
41. (New) The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the MGL is 20 ms and a measurement gap period for the MGL is 160 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
43. (New) A tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including code which, when executed by processing circuitry of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), causes the processing circuitry to perform operations including:
decoding a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB) to configure the UE to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms;
determining the MGL from the configuration message; and
performing the RSTD measurements based on the MGL.
1. An apparatus of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) including a memory storing instructions, and one or more processors coupled to the memory to execute the instructions to: encode for transmission to a user equipment (UE) a message to configure the UE with a measurement gap pattern for positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements; and set a gap pattern length of a measurement gap corresponding to the measurement gap pattern depending on whether an overlap exists between a PRS to be measured and one or more other NR data scheduled to be received by the UE.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are to set the gap pattern length to be greater than 6 ms in response to a determination that an overlap does not exist, and to be less than 6 ms in response to a determination that the overlap exists.
45. (New) The storage medium of claim 43, wherein the MGL is 10 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
46. (New) The storage medium of claim 43, wherein the MGL is 20 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
47. (New) The storage medium of claim 45, wherein a measurement gap period for the MGL is 80 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
48. (New) The storage medium of claim 43, wherein the MGL is 20 ms and a measurement gap period for the MGL is 160 ms.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement gap pattern for the PRS measurements includes a measurement gap period of 80 ms for a measurement gap length of 10 ms, and a measurement gap period of 160 ms for a measurement gap length of 20 ms, or a measurement gap length of 40 ms.
49. (New) A method to be performed at processing circuitry of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), the method including:
decoding a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB) to configure the UE to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms;
determining the MGL from the configuration message; and
performing the RSTD measurements based on the MGL.
21. A method to be performed at one or more processors of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB), the method including: encoding for transmission to a user equipment (UE) a message to configure the UE with a measurement gap pattern for positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements; and setting a gap pattern length of a measurement gap corresponding to the measurement gap pattern depending on whether an overlap exists between a PRS to be measured and one or more other NR data scheduled to be received by the UE.
22. The method of claim 21, further including setting the gap pattern length to be greater than 6 ms in response to a determination that an overlap does not exists, and to be less than 6 ms in response to a determination that the overlap exists.
The reference patent does not explicitly claim: "radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface"; "measurement gap pattern length (MGL) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements"; "determine the MGL from the configuration message; and perform the RSTD measurements based on the MGL".
Sahai teaches: radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: transceiver 910, e.g., wireless network interface; par. 82: "radio frequency"; "circuits" in par. 161); measurement gap pattern length (MGL, Sahai par. 48 in reference to Fig. 1B: the UE 120 can request measurement gaps of appropriate or a desired length from the eNB 140-1 and the UE may specify that the measurement gaps are being requested for PRS measurements) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (Sahai par. 23: The UE measures time differences in received signals from a plurality of eNBs; to further help location determination, Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are provided by a base station (BS) in order to improve OTDOA positioning; the UE performs RSTD measurements and determines its position); determine the MGL from the configuration message (Sahai par. 96 in reference to Fig. 4A: In block 420, UE 120 determines a desired dedicated gap configuration, for RSTD measurements, based on the assistance data received in 410; par. 30: gap configuration includes gap length); and perform the RSTD measurements based on the MGL (Sahai par. 108 in reference to Fig. 4A: in block 445, the UE 120 measures RSTDs using the dedicated measurement gap length).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure, including the claims of the reference patent, by deploying a transceiver 910 wireless network interface and radio frequency circuits, by configuring the UE to measure time differences in received signals from a plurality of eNBs, by providing Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) to the UE, by configuring the UE to perform RSTD measurements and determine its position, by configuring the UE to determine a desired dedicated gap configuration for RSTD measurements based on the assistance data received, as suggested by Sahai, because methods (e.g. based on terrestrial cellular networks) to provide and improve location related services to UEs are desirable (Sahai par. 3) and in order to improve OTDOA positioning performance (Sahai par. 23). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
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 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 of this title, 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.
7.20.02.aia Joint Inventors, Common Ownership Presumed
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 at the time any inventions covered therein were effectively filed 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 at the time a later invention was effectively filed 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.
7.23.aia Test for Obviousness
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
Claims 26-50 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sahai et al (publication number 2019/0052996), hereinafter Sahai, and further in view of Cui et al (international publication number WO 2018/204383), hereinafter Cui.
Sahai uses terminology and acronyms as follows:
Par. 22: The terms “user equipment” (UE) or “mobile station” (UE), or “target” are used interchangeably and may refer to a device such as a cellular or other wireless communication device.
Par. 23-25: Observed Time Difference of Arrival based positioning (OTDOA); Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD); Positioning Reference Signals (PRS), which are often provided by a base station (BS); Long-Term Evolution (LTE); Resource Blocks (RBs); "base station" is the same as evolved NodeBs (eNBs);
Par. 28: “Measurement gaps” are periods that the UE uses to perform measurements. "Autonomous gaps" are periods where a UE suspends reception and transmission with a base station, while the UEs performs measurements, including PRS measurements, within specified time limits for OTDOA based positioning.
Par. 30: “Dedicated gaps” are two types: dedicated measurement gaps, and dedicated autonomous gaps. Dedicated gaps have a specified configuration, e.g., as requested by a UE and/or as configured by a BS based on a UE request. A dedicated gap configuration includes: a dedicated gap length, a dedicated gap periodicity, and/or a number of dedicated gap instances. Gap configuration includes gap length.
Par. 31: A UE may request dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gaps of a desired length from a base station (eNB).
Par. 57 explains, in reference to FIG. 2A, the structure of a LTE frame with PRS occasions. Time is shown on the X (horizontal) axis; frequency is shown on the Y (vertical) axis. Radio Frames 210 are organized into ten subframes 212 of 1 ms duration each. Each subframe 212 comprises two slots 214, each of 0.5 ms duration.
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Par. 85 explains, in reference to Fig. 3B: conventionally, measurement gaps 310 have duration of 6 ms each and occur with Measurement Gap Periodicity of 80 ms.
Regarding claim 26, Sahai teaches an apparatus of a User Equipment (UE, Sahai par. 157-159: FIG. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of UE 120), the apparatus including a processing circuitry (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: processor 902) and a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: transceiver 910, e.g., wireless network interface; par. 82: "radio frequency"; "circuits" in par. 161) to couple the processing circuitry to an RF circuitry of the UE (Sahai par. 157-159: FIG. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of UE 120), the processing circuitry to (please refer to par. 89-112 in reference to Fig. 4A):
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decode (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB, Sahai par. 106 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 440, eNB140 may configure the dedicated gap and transmit a message indicating the dedicated gap configuration) to configure the UE (Sahai par. 105 in reference to Fig. 4A: UE 120) to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL, Sahai par. 48 in reference to Fig. 1B: the UE 120 can request measurement gaps of appropriate or a desired length from the eNB 140-1 and the UE may specify that the measurement gaps are being requested for PRS measurements) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (Sahai par. 23: The UE measures time differences in received signals from a plurality of eNBs; to further help location determination, Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are provided by a base station (BS) in order to improve OTDOA positioning; the UE performs RSTD measurements and determines its position), wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms (Sahai par. 87 in reference to Fig. 3B: the UE requests dedicated measurement gaps of a desired length from the eNB; upon receiving a response confirming a dedicated measurement gap configuration from the eNB, the UE utilizes the dedicated measurement gaps to perform PRS measurements for a longer time, e.g., greater than 6 ms; par. 97: The desired dedicated gap duration may be longer or shorter than the default 6 ms measurement gap; par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms);
determine the MGL from the configuration message (Sahai par. 96 in reference to Fig. 4A: In block 420, UE 120 determines a desired dedicated gap configuration, for RSTD measurements, based on the assistance data received in 410; par. 30: gap configuration includes gap length); and
perform the RSTD measurements based on the MGL (Sahai par. 108 in reference to Fig. 4A: in block 445, the UE 120 measures RSTDs using the dedicated measurement gap length).
Sahai does not explicitly teach: "New Radio (NR)"; "gNB".
Cui teaches that in 5G New Radio (NR) wireless communication systems, a new synchronization signal (SS) is used for cell identification and measurement (par. 24). In legacy LTE, the synchronization signal's periodicity is fixed as 5ms, so an identical measurement gap pattern with a 6ms gap would apply for all cells on all frequency layers. In 5G networks, since the SS can have different periodicity values on different frequency layers (or frequency points) or for different cells, it is necessary to convey a measurement gap pattern of the SS to the UE by transmitting assistance information to the UE (par. 28). Cui proposes a 5G New Radio system where a Next Generation NodeB (gNB) encodes and transmits measurement assistance information to a user equipment (UE, par. 66). Cui utilizes the following terms and acronyms:
Par. 1: User Equipment (UE). Base Station (BS). Long Term Evolved (LTE) evolved NodeBs (eNB). New Radio (NR) next generation NodeBs (gNB). Third-Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP). Par. 24, 28: 5G New Radio (NR).
Par. 26: synchronization signal (SS) block including one symbol for a primary synchronization signal (PSS), one symbol for a secondary synchronization signal (SSS).
Par. 85 in reference to Fig. 12: application circuitry 1202, baseband circuitry 1204, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1208, one or more antennas 1210, and power management circuitry (PMC) 1212.
Cui teaches:
A radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 in reference to Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208);
an apparatus of a new Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE) capable of encoding (Cui par. 65: The UE can encode measurements for selected frequency layers for reporting to the gNB) and decoding messages (Cui par. 65: a user equipment (UE) operable to decode measurement gap patterns received from a Next Generation NodeB (gNB)); and
a NR Node B (gNB) capable of encoding (Cui par. 66: a Next Generation NodeB (gNB) operable to encode measurement assistance information for transmission to a user equipment (UE)) and decoding messages (Cui par. 85 in reference to Fig. 12: The components of the illustrated device 1200 may be included in a UE or a RAN node; par. 87: The radio control functions include signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, precoding, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by enabling the UE to encode measurements, decode gap patterns, by enabling the gNB to encode measurement assistance information being equipped with an encoder and a decoder, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 27, Sahai teaches: encode (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a message to the gNB, the message including information to indicate the MGL (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 430, UE requests a dedicated gap configuration by transmitting a request for dedicated gaps to eNB 140); and send the message to the gNB for transmission to the gNB (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: Arrow 430 indicating that the UE transmits the requested dedicated gap configuration to eNB 140).
Regarding claim 28, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 10 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms).
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Regarding claim 29, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 20 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 14 ms or 24 ms – it would have been obvious to select a value of 20 ms. Sahai par. 103, 119, 134: The requested dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gap configuration may be based on the length of a positioning occasion (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 subframes) and/or the periodicity of the positioning occasions (e.g. 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 subframes) – each subframe is 1 ms).
Regarding claim 30, Sahai teaches wherein a measurement gap period for the MGL is 80 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values and repetition periods. The repetition period value may be 80 ms).
Regarding claim 31, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 20 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 14 ms or 24 ms – it would have been obvious to select a value of 20 ms. Sahai par. 103, 119, 134: The requested dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gap configuration may be based on the length of a positioning occasion (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 subframes) and/or the periodicity of the positioning occasions (e.g. 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 subframes) – each subframe is 1 ms) and a measurement gap period for the MGL is 160 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values and repetition periods. The repetition period value may be 160 ms).
Regarding claim 32, Sahai does not explicitly teach: "wherein the UE is a dual connectivity UE".
Cui teaches wherein the UE is a dual connectivity UE (Cui par. 1, 70 and Fig. 11: UEs are configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a radio access network (RAN) 1110; the UEs utilize connections 1103 and 1104, respectively, each of which comprises a physical communications interface to enable communicative coupling and are consistent with the following cellular communications protocols: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol, a code-division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a Push-to-Talk (PTT) protocol, a PTT over Cellular (POC) protocol, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a New Radio (NR) protocol – therefore, the UE has dual connectivity capabilities, i.e. the capability to connect with networks of several different technologies).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by enabling the UE's to connect with GSM, CDMA, a Push-to-Talk (PTT), UMTS, LTE, 5G, a New Radio (NR) protocol, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 33, Sahai does not explicitly teach: "further including the RF circuitry".
Cui teaches further including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 and Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208), further including a radio frequency front end (RFFE) coupled to the RF circuitry (Cui par. 85 and Fig. 12: Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1208; par. 90: RF circuitry 1206 includes transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208), wherein the RFFE includes antenna panels (Cui par. 101: FEM circuitry 1208 operates on RF signals transmitted to and received from antennas 1210).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by deploying RF circuitry 1206 including transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208, and deploying antennas 1210, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 34, Sahai does not explicitly teach: "further including a radio frequency front end (RFFE) coupled to the RF circuitry".
Cui teaches further including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 and Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208), further including a radio frequency front end (RFFE) coupled to the RF circuitry (Cui par. 85 and Fig. 12: Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1208; par. 90: RF circuitry 1206 includes transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208), wherein the RFFE includes antenna panels (Cui par. 101: FEM circuitry 1208 operates on RF signals transmitted to and received from antennas 1210).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by deploying RF circuitry 1206 including transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208, and deploying antennas 1210, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 35, Sahai does not explicitly teach: "wherein the RFFE includes antenna panels".
Cui teaches further including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 and Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208), further including a radio frequency front end (RFFE) coupled to the RF circuitry (Cui par. 85 and Fig. 12: Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1208; par. 90: RF circuitry 1206 includes transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208), wherein the RFFE includes antenna panels (Cui par. 101: FEM circuitry 1208 operates on RF signals transmitted to and received from antennas 1210).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by deploying RF circuitry 1206 including transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208, and deploying antennas 1210, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 36, Sahai teaches an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB, Sahai par. 89 in reference to Fig. 4A: base station eNB 140), the apparatus including a processing circuitry (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: processor 902) and a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: transceiver 910, e.g., wireless network interface; par. 82: "radio frequency"; "circuits" in par. 161) to couple the processing circuitry to an RF circuitry of the gNB (Sahai par. 89 in reference to Fig. 4A: base station eNB 140), the processing circuitry to:
encode (Sahai par. 109 in reference to Fig. 4A: the UE decodes a threshold number of PDSCH symbols and, based on the decoding, may send acknowledgment (ACK) or no acknowledgment (NAK) signals to the serving eNB – therefore, the eNB can encode a message) a configuration message (Sahai par. 106 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 440, eNB140 may configure the dedicated gap and transmit a message indicating the dedicated gap configuration) to a NR User Equipment (UE, Sahai par. 105 in reference to Fig. 4A: UE 120) to configure the UE (Sahai par. 105 in reference to Fig. 4A: UE 120) to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL, Sahai par. 48 in reference to Fig. 1B: the UE 120 can request measurement gaps of appropriate or a desired length from the eNB 140-1 and the UE may specify that the measurement gaps are being requested for PRS measurements) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (Sahai par. 23: The UE measures time differences in received signals from a plurality of eNBs; to further help location determination, Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are provided by a base station (BS) in order to improve OTDOA positioning; the UE performs RSTD measurements and determines its position), wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms (Sahai par. 87 in reference to Fig. 3B: the UE requests dedicated measurement gaps of a desired length from the eNB; upon receiving a response confirming a dedicated measurement gap configuration from the eNB, the UE utilizes the dedicated measurement gaps to perform PRS measurements for a longer time, e.g., greater than 6 ms; par. 97: The desired dedicated gap duration may be longer or shorter than the default 6 ms measurement gap; par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms); and
send the configuration message for transmission to the UE (Sahai par. 106 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 440, eNB140 may configure the dedicated gap and transmit a message indicating the dedicated gap configuration to UE 120).
Sahai does not explicitly teach: "New Radio (NR)"; "gNB".
Cui teaches:
A radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 in reference to Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208);
an apparatus of a new Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE) capable of encoding (Cui par. 65: The UE can encode measurements for selected frequency layers for reporting to the gNB) and decoding messages (Cui par. 65: a user equipment (UE) operable to decode measurement gap patterns received from a Next Generation NodeB (gNB)); and
a NR Node B (gNB) capable of encoding (Cui par. 66: a Next Generation NodeB (gNB) operable to encode measurement assistance information for transmission to a user equipment (UE)) and decoding messages (Cui par. 85 in reference to Fig. 12: The components of the illustrated device 1200 may be included in a UE or a RAN node; par. 87: The radio control functions include signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, precoding, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by enabling the UE to encode measurements, decode gap patterns, by enabling the gNB to encode measurement assistance information being equipped with an encoder and a decoder, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 37, Sahai teaches: decode (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a message from the UE, the message including information to indicate the MGL (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 430, UE requests a dedicated gap configuration by transmitting a request for dedicated gaps to eNB 140); and encode (Sahai par. 109 in reference to Fig. 4A: the UE decodes a threshold number of PDSCH symbols and, based on the decoding, may send acknowledgment (ACK) or no acknowledgment (NAK) signals to the serving eNB – therefore, the eNB can encode a message) the configuration message to the UE based on determination of the MGL from the message from the UE (Sahai par. 106 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 440, eNB140 may configure the dedicated gap and transmit a message indicating the dedicated gap configuration to UE 120).
Regarding claim 38, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 10 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms).
Regarding claim 39, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 20 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 14 ms or 24 ms – it would have been obvious to select a value of 20 ms. Sahai par. 103, 119, 134: The requested dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gap configuration may be based on the length of a positioning occasion (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 subframes) and/or the periodicity of the positioning occasions (e.g. 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 subframes) – each subframe is 1 ms).
Regarding claim 40, Sahai teaches wherein a measurement gap period for the MGL is 80 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values and repetition periods. The repetition period value may be 80 ms).
Regarding claim 41, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 20 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 14 ms or 24 ms – it would have been obvious to select a value of 20 ms. Sahai par. 103, 119, 134: The requested dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gap configuration may be based on the length of a positioning occasion (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 subframes) and/or the periodicity of the positioning occasions (e.g. 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 subframes) – each subframe is 1 ms) and a measurement gap period for the MGL is 160 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values and repetition periods. The repetition period value may be 160 ms).
Regarding claim 42, Sahai does not explicitly teach: "further including the RF circuitry, a radio frequency front end (RFFE) coupled to the RF circuitry, the RFFE including antenna panels".
Cui teaches further including a radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 and Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208), further including a radio frequency front end (RFFE) coupled to the RF circuitry (Cui par. 85 and Fig. 12: Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 1208; par. 90: RF circuitry 1206 includes transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208), wherein the RFFE includes antenna panels (Cui par. 101: FEM circuitry 1208 operates on RF signals transmitted to and received from antennas 1210).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by deploying RF circuitry 1206 including transmit and receive signal paths provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 1208 for transmission and also receive RF signals from FEM circuitry 1208, and deploying antennas 1210, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 43, Sahai teaches a tangible non-transitory machine-readable storage medium (Sahai par. 162, 164 in reference to Fig. 9: machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions) including code (Sahai par. 162, 164 in reference to Fig. 9: non-transitory computer-readable media used to store program code 908 in the form of instructions) which, when executed by processing circuitry (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: processor 902) of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE, Sahai par. 157-159: FIG. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of UE 120), causes the processing circuitry to perform operations including:
decoding (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB, Sahai par. 106 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 440, eNB140 may configure the dedicated gap and transmit a message indicating the dedicated gap configuration) to configure the UE (Sahai par. 105 in reference to Fig. 4A: UE 120) to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL, Sahai par. 48 in reference to Fig. 1B: the UE 120 can request measurement gaps of appropriate or a desired length from the eNB 140-1 and the UE may specify that the measurement gaps are being requested for PRS measurements) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (Sahai par. 23: The UE measures time differences in received signals from a plurality of eNBs; to further help location determination, Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are provided by a base station (BS) in order to improve OTDOA positioning; the UE performs RSTD measurements and determines its position), wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms (Sahai par. 87 in reference to Fig. 3B: the UE requests dedicated measurement gaps of a desired length from the eNB; upon receiving a response confirming a dedicated measurement gap configuration from the eNB, the UE utilizes the dedicated measurement gaps to perform PRS measurements for a longer time, e.g., greater than 6 ms; par. 97: The desired dedicated gap duration may be longer or shorter than the default 6 ms measurement gap; par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms);
determining the MGL from the configuration message (Sahai par. 96 in reference to Fig. 4A: In block 420, UE 120 determines a desired dedicated gap configuration, for RSTD measurements, based on the assistance data received in 410; par. 30: gap configuration includes gap length); and
performing the RSTD measurements based on the MGL (Sahai par. 108 in reference to Fig. 4A: in block 445, the UE 120 measures RSTDs using the dedicated measurement gap length).
Sahai does not explicitly teach: "New Radio (NR)"; "gNB".
Cui teaches:
A radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 in reference to Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208);
an apparatus of a new Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE) capable of encoding (Cui par. 65: The UE can encode measurements for selected frequency layers for reporting to the gNB) and decoding messages (Cui par. 65: a user equipment (UE) operable to decode measurement gap patterns received from a Next Generation NodeB (gNB)); and
a NR Node B (gNB) capable of encoding (Cui par. 66: a Next Generation NodeB (gNB) operable to encode measurement assistance information for transmission to a user equipment (UE)) and decoding messages (Cui par. 85 in reference to Fig. 12: The components of the illustrated device 1200 may be included in a UE or a RAN node; par. 87: The radio control functions include signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, precoding, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by enabling the UE to encode measurements, decode gap patterns, by enabling the gNB to encode measurement assistance information being equipped with an encoder and a decoder, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 44, Sahai teaches: encoding (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a message to the gNB, the message including information to indicate the MGL (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 430, UE requests a dedicated gap configuration by transmitting a request for dedicated gaps to eNB 140); and sending the message to the gNB for transmission to the gNB (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: Arrow 430 indicating that the UE transmits the requested dedicated gap configuration to eNB 140).
Regarding claim 45, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 10 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms).
Regarding claim 46, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 20 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 14 ms or 24 ms – it would have been obvious to select a value of 20 ms. Sahai par. 103, 119, 134: The requested dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gap configuration may be based on the length of a positioning occasion (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 subframes) and/or the periodicity of the positioning occasions (e.g. 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 subframes) – each subframe is 1 ms).
Regarding claim 47, Sahai teaches wherein a measurement gap period for the MGL is 80 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values and repetition periods. The repetition period value may be 80 ms).
Regarding claim 48, Sahai teaches wherein the MGL is 20 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 14 ms or 24 ms – it would have been obvious to select a value of 20 ms. Sahai par. 103, 119, 134: The requested dedicated (measurement or autonomous) gap configuration may be based on the length of a positioning occasion (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 subframes) and/or the periodicity of the positioning occasions (e.g. 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 subframes) – each subframe is 1 ms) and a measurement gap period for the MGL is 160 ms (Sahai par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values and repetition periods. The repetition period value may be 160 ms).
Regarding claim 49, Sahai teaches a method (please refer to par. 89-112 in reference to Fig. 4A; the signaling diagram of Fig. 4A represents a method) to be performed at processing circuitry (Sahai par. 157-159 in reference to FIG. 9: processor 902) of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE, Sahai par. 157-159: FIG. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of UE 120), the method including:
decoding (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a configuration message from a NR Node B (gNB, Sahai par. 106 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 440, eNB140 may configure the dedicated gap and transmit a message indicating the dedicated gap configuration) to configure the UE (Sahai par. 105 in reference to Fig. 4A: UE 120) to for a positioning reference signal (PRS) based measurement gap pattern length (MGL, Sahai par. 48 in reference to Fig. 1B: the UE 120 can request measurement gaps of appropriate or a desired length from the eNB 140-1 and the UE may specify that the measurement gaps are being requested for PRS measurements) corresponding to performance by the UE of reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (Sahai par. 23: The UE measures time differences in received signals from a plurality of eNBs; to further help location determination, Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) are provided by a base station (BS) in order to improve OTDOA positioning; the UE performs RSTD measurements and determines its position), wherein the MGL is greater than 6 ms (Sahai par. 87 in reference to Fig. 3B: the UE requests dedicated measurement gaps of a desired length from the eNB; upon receiving a response confirming a dedicated measurement gap configuration from the eNB, the UE utilizes the dedicated measurement gaps to perform PRS measurements for a longer time, e.g., greater than 6 ms; par. 97: The desired dedicated gap duration may be longer or shorter than the default 6 ms measurement gap; par. 115 provides a table of measurement gap length values of, for example, 10 ms);
determining the MGL from the configuration message (Sahai par. 96 in reference to Fig. 4A: In block 420, UE 120 determines a desired dedicated gap configuration, for RSTD measurements, based on the assistance data received in 410; par. 30: gap configuration includes gap length); and
performing the RSTD measurements based on the MGL (Sahai par. 108 in reference to Fig. 4A: in block 445, the UE 120 measures RSTDs using the dedicated measurement gap length).
Sahai does not explicitly teach: "New Radio (NR)"; "gNB".
Cui teaches:
A radio frequency (RF) circuitry interface (Cui par. 90 in reference to Fig. 12: RF circuitry 1206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation; the double arrow to the right from RF circuitry 1206 represents an interface with the front-end module 1208);
an apparatus of a new Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE) capable of encoding (Cui par. 65: The UE can encode measurements for selected frequency layers for reporting to the gNB) and decoding messages (Cui par. 65: a user equipment (UE) operable to decode measurement gap patterns received from a Next Generation NodeB (gNB)); and
a NR Node B (gNB) capable of encoding (Cui par. 66: a Next Generation NodeB (gNB) operable to encode measurement assistance information for transmission to a user equipment (UE)) and decoding messages (Cui par. 85 in reference to Fig. 12: The components of the illustrated device 1200 may be included in a UE or a RAN node; par. 87: The radio control functions include signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, precoding, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Sahai, by deploying Cui's RF circuitry 1206 interfacing with the front-end module 1208, by enabling the UE to encode measurements, decode gap patterns, by enabling the gNB to encode measurement assistance information being equipped with an encoder and a decoder, as suggested by Cui, in order to support the measurement or cell identification in the NR system, conveying the measurement gap pattern to the UE (Cui par. 28); in order to provide measurement assistance information to the UE to indicate a measurement gap pattern to the UE so that the UE can receive SS blocks received from the network (Cui par. 36); because based on the measurement assistance information received from the network, the UE can derive a gap location for each frequency, and the UE can determine a number of gaps that can be used for measurement on this frequency (Cui par. 40). Also in order to provide to the UE the OTDOA assistance information indicating the configuration of dedicated measurement gaps so that the UE can then perform measurements in the dedicated measurement gaps as configured (Sahai par. 55, 56). This motivation is supported by KSR exemplary rationale (G) Some teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention. MPEP 2141 (III).
Regarding claim 50, Sahai teaches: encoding (Sahai par. 82, 84: UE decodes the LTE Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) in order to read the Master Information Block (MIB); par. 100: UE decodes LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) symbols) a message to the gNB, the message including information to indicate the MGL (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: At 430, UE requests a dedicated gap configuration by transmitting a request for dedicated gaps to eNB 140); and sending the message to the gNB for transmission to the gNB (Sahai par. 98 in reference to Fig. 4A: Arrow 430 indicating that the UE transmits the requested dedicated gap configuration to eNB 140).
Conclusion
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/RONALD EISNER/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644