DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/20/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election without traverse of Claims 1-7 and 25-30 in the reply filed on 2/9/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 8-24 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7 and 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Rao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0192304)
Referring to Claim 1, Rao et al. disclose a method for requesting positioning reference signals (par 188, request, PRS), comprising:
receiving positioning assistance data including positioning reference signal configuration information (par 188, receive PRS configuration for helping with positioning; Also, par 261, assistance/configuration);
determining measurement gap information (par 188, measurement gap);
generating a positioning reference signal configuration request based on an alignment between the measurement gap information and the positioning reference signal configuration information (par 188, request for configuring measurement gap for PRS such that measurement gap is aligned with PRS configuration); and
transmitting the positioning reference signal configuration request (par 188, send request).
Referring to Claim 2 as applied to Claim 1 above, Rao et al. disclose the method, wherein the positioning assistance data is received via one or more radio resource control or long term evolution positioning protocol messages (par 261, RRC).
Referring to Claim 3 as applied to Claim 1 above, Rao et al. disclose the method, further comprising receiving the measurement gap information via one or more radio resource control messages (pars 188 and 261, RRC).
Referring to Claim 4 as applied to Claim 1 above, Rao et al. disclose the method, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration information includes at least one positioning reference signal configuration identifier value (pars 188 and 218, configuration/scheme information).
Referring to Claim 5 as applied to Claim 1 above, Rao et al. disclose the method, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration request includes at least one positioning reference signal configuration identifier value (pars 188 and 218, gaps/configuration/scheme information).
Referring to Claim 6 as applied to Claim 1 above, Rao et al. disclose the method, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration information includes a timer value indicating a timeframe when a positioning reference signal configuration is available (pars 135 and 159, time).
Referring to Claim 7 as applied to Claim 1 above, Rao et al. disclose the method, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration request includes a first positioning reference signal configuration and a first measurement gap, wherein the first measurement gap is aligned with the first positioning reference signal configuration (par 188, measurement gap).
Referring to Claim 25, Rao et al. disclose an apparatus (par 188, WTRU), comprising:
a memory (par 36, memory);
at least one transceiver (par 35, transceiver);
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver (pars 35 and 36, processor), and configured to:
receive positioning assistance data including positioning reference signal configuration information (par 188, receive PRS configuration for helping with positioning; Also, par 261, assistance/configuration);
determine measurement gap information (par 188, measurement gap);
generate a positioning reference signal configuration request based on an alignment between the measurement gap information and the positioning reference signal configuration information (par 188, request for configuring measurement gap for PRS such that measurement gap is aligned with PRS configuration); and
transmit the positioning reference signal configuration request (par 188, send request).
Referring to Claim 26 as applied to Claim 25 above, Rao et al. disclose the apparatus, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the measurement gap information via one or more radio resource control messages (pars 188 and 261, RRC).
Referring to Claim 27 as applied to Claim 25 above, Rao et al. disclose the apparatus, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration information includes at least one positioning reference signal configuration identifier value (pars 188 and 218, configuration/scheme information).
Referring to Claim 28 as applied to Claim 25 above, Rao et al. disclose the apparatus, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration request includes at least one positioning reference signal configuration identifier value (pars 188 and 218, gaps/configuration/scheme information).
Referring to Claim 29 as applied to Claim 25 above, Rao et al. disclose the apparatus, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration information includes a timer value indicating a timeframe when a positioning reference signal configuration is available (pars 135 and 159, time).
Referring to Claim 30 as applied to Claim 25 above, Rao et al. disclose the apparatus, wherein the positioning reference signal configuration request includes a first positioning reference signal configuration and a first measurement gap, wherein the first measurement gap is aligned with the first positioning reference signal configuration (par 188, measurement gap).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
The following patents/patent application publications are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to positioning reference signals: U.S. Pat. Application Pub. No. 2021/0135770 to Schober et al.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAIL KHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7187. The examiner can normally be reached on M-TH 8:30am-6:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 5712727915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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/Suhail Khan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642