DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restriction
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, Claims 1-4 and 9-12 in the reply filed on 1/28/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal, in part, is on the ground(s) that Group I and Group II are obvious variants. See reply filed 1/28/2026 page 3 (“Office Action further asserts that Group I and Group II are not obvious variants of each other. This is incorrect.” And “The claimed UE-side and network-side methods are merely mirror images of a single communication protocol.”).
As applicant correctly notes, “If there is an express admission that the claimed inventions would have been obvious over each other within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 103, restriction should not be required. In re Lee, 199 USPQ 108 (Comm’r Pat. 1978).” MPEP § 803
This is found persuasive. The requirement is thus withdrawn.
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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55. Claims have priority to foreign filing date 05/10/2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/08/2023 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
Applicant has expressly admitted on the record that Group I. Claims 1-4 and 9-12 and Group II. Claims 5-8 and 13-15 are obvious variants. See reply filed 1/28/2026 page 3 ( e.g. “Office Action further asserts that Group I and Group II are not obvious variants of each other. This is incorrect.” And “The claimed UE-side and network-side methods are merely mirror images of a single communication protocol.”).
Thus the rejection of Group I. Claims 1-4 and 9-12 (UE) also applies to Group II. Claims 5-8 and 13-15 (base station) since they are expressly admitted to be obvious variants.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 10433275 B2 Edge; Stephen William et al. in view of US 20220120841 A1 FISCHER; Sven et al.
Claims 1 and 9
A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Fig. 4 UE 105 system as shown in Figs. 1 and 4), the UE comprising:
a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor (UE of Fig. 11 with transceiver and processing Units, and accompanying text) is configured to:
receive, from a network entity (Fig. 4, any entity shown, a long-term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) request capabilities message requesting information about a capability of the UE for each of one or more location estimation methods(See Fig. 4 402—403 and Col. 14 ¶2 “. . . the LPP Request Capabilities message within a 5G NAS transport message, which is sent to the UE 105 at action 403. . .” where UE responds with capability for each of one or more estimation methods as seen Col. 14 ¶3 “indicate the positioning capabilities of the UE 105 (e.g., position methods supported by the UE 105 such as A-GNSS positioning, RTK positioning, OTDOA positioning, ECID positioning, WLAN positioning, etc.)”; See generally Fig. 4, Col. 14-Col.15), and
transmit, to the network entity, an LPP provide capabilities message including information about a capability of the UE for at least one location estimation method the UE supports among the one or more location estimation methods (See Fig. 4 404—405, Col. 14 ¶2 “. . . the LPP Request Capabilities message within a 5G NAS transport message, which is sent to the UE 105 at action 403. . .” where UE responds with capability for each of one or more estimation methods as seen Col. 14 ¶3 “indicate the positioning capabilities of the UE 105 (e.g., position methods supported by the UE 105 such as A-GNSS positioning, RTK positioning, OTDOA positioning, ECID positioning, WLAN positioning, etc.)”).
Edge does not explicitly teach wherein the LPP provide capabilities message comprises information indicating whether the UE supports a response time of 10 milliseconds for each of the at least one location estimation methods.
Fischer teaches wherein the LPP provide capabilities message comprises information indicating whether the UE supports a response time for each of the at least one location estimation methods (Fischer Fig. 8 2 UL NAS Transport MO-LR Request; ¶101—103; ¶101 “. . . The message flow 800 may be used to extend existing MO-LR procedures for requesting assistance data (e.g., for DL-TDOA, DL-AoD or multi-RTT). For example, the UE 105 may be configured to request assistance data from the LMF 120 for UE assisted or UE based positioning using one or more of the positioning methods and may include additional parameters for indicating preferences for DL-PRS. The additional parameters may describe, . . .. . .a Quality of Service (QoS) parameter describing the target location accuracy and latency (e.g., desired accuracy and response time for any location estimate based on PRS measurements (e.g., as requested by an UE internal client (e.g., an App))), and the PRS capabilities of the UE (e.g. as defined for LPP). Other parameters may also be used based on the configurations and capabilities of the respective gNBs and UEs. . ..”; ¶103 “the UE 105 is configured to send an MO-LR Request message . . . The request may include the DL-PRS capabilities of the UE 105 (e.g. in an embedded LPP Provide Capabilities message) and . . .may also include a Quality of Service (QoS) indicator, such as required accuracy of the location estimate and/or a response time indicating when the internal client requires the location estimate. The MO-LR Request message may also include a time duration for how long the requested DL-PRS configuration is required at the UE (e.g., number of seconds or minutes for which the DL-PRS configuration is required). . .”)
Where the combination of Edge and Fischer teaches a response time of 10 milliseconds since Edge further teaches transmit, to the network entity, information indicating whether the UE supports a response time of 10 milliseconds for each of the at least one location estimation methods (Col. 18 ¶1 “(51) UE 105 may then send an NR RRC measurement gap request to gNB 110-1 at action 508 to request measurements gaps (e.g. which may comprise a series of periodic short periods of around 5-10 ms, in some embodiments) with respect to NR timing.” Where measurement gaps used for location estimation Col. 18 ¶2 The UE 105 can then periodically (when each measurement gap occurs) tune away from NR access to gNB 110-1 to acquire and measure a Time of Arrival (TOA) for a PRS broadcast for a reference or neighbor cell for ng-eNB 180-1, at action 511, and acquire and measure a TOA for a PRS broadcast for a reference or neighbor cell for eNB 170-1, at action 512. UE 105 may then obtain an OTDOA RSTD measurement at block 513 from the difference of the two TOA measurements as described later for FIGS. 6 and 7”).
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 invention of Edge to include the noted teachings of Fischer in order to provide improvements in position related signaling may improve the accuracy, latency and/or efficiency of locating a mobile device (Fischer ¶3).
Last, Examiner notes that the LPP provide capabilities message comprises information indicating whether the UE supports a response time of 10 milliseconds for each of the at least one location estimation methods is recited merely as printed matter or nonfunctional descriptive material where the content of LPP provide capabilities message does not cause an effect or functional transformation in the product and/or merely produces a predictable result that does not distinguish from the prior art (See MPEP 2115.05 Functional and Nonfunctional Descriptive Material and MPEP 2112.01 Nonfunctional printed matter does not distinguish claimed product from otherwise identical prior art product).
Claims 2 and 10.
The UE of claim 1, wherein: the LPP provide capabilities message comprises a provide capabilities information element (IE) for each of the at least one location estimation method, and the provide capabilities IE comprises information indicating (See Edge Col. 34 ¶1 “Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those of ordinary skill in the signal processing or related arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, is considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing leading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels.” ) whether the UE supports a response time of 10 milliseconds for each of the at least one location estimation methods. (See rejection of claim 1 in view of Edge and Fischer supra).
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 invention of Edge to include the noted teachings of Fischer in order to provide improvements in position related signaling may improve the accuracy, latency and/or efficiency of locating a mobile device (Fischer ¶3).
Last, Examiner notes that the LPP provide capabilities message comprises a provide capabilities information element (IE) for each of the at least one location estimation method, and the provide capabilities IE comprises information indicating whether the UE supports a response time of 10 milliseconds for each of the at least one location estimation methods is recited merely as printed matter or nonfunctional descriptive material where the content of LPP provide capabilities message does not cause an effect or functional transformation in the product and/or merely produces a predictable result that does not distinguish from the prior art (See MPEP 2115.05 Functional and Nonfunctional Descriptive Material and MPEP 2112.01 Nonfunctional printed matter does not distinguish claimed product from otherwise identical prior art product).
Claims 3 and 11.
The UE of claim 1, wherein: the at least one processor is configured to receive, from the network entity, an LPP request location information message requesting at least one of location measurement data or location estimation data, and
(Edge Fig. 4, Col. 15 ¶2 “This may be followed by an LPP Request Location Information message, again sent from the LMF 120 to AMF 115, at action 416, which is relayed to the UE 105 in a 5G NAS transport message by AMF 115, and via gNB 110-1, at action 417. The LPP Request Location Information message may request one or more location measurements from UE 105 and/or a location estimate according to the position capabilities of UE 105 sent to LMF 120 at actions 404 and 405”)
the LPP request location information message comprises a response time determined based on the information indicating whether the UE supports a response time of 10 milliseconds (Edge 5-10ms response time as taught supra Claim 1, and Fischer [0108] “At stage 11., the AMF 115 forwards the response from stage 10 to the target UE 105 in the form of an MO-LR response that may indicate whether the MO-LR Request from stage 2 can be supported (i.e. fulfilled) and may include the start time for each new DL-PRS configuration and a duration if received at stage 10 or may include any failure indication received at stage 10”).
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 invention of Edge to include the noted teachings of Fischer in order to provide improvements in position related signaling may improve the accuracy, latency and/or efficiency of locating a mobile device (Fischer ¶3).
Claims 4.
The combination teaches The UE of claim 1 (supra), wherein the at least one location estimation method comprises at least one of: a new radio enhanced cell identity (NR ECID) location estimation method; a new radio downlink time difference of arrival (NR DL-TDOA) location estimation method; a new radio downlink angle of departure (NR DL-AoD) location estimation method; or a new radio multi round-trip time positioning (NR multi-RTT) location estimation method (Edge Col. 13 ¶2 “It can be noted that use of the existing LPP protocol for positioning of UE 105 with access to NG-RAN 135 as described and illustrated previously with reference to FIGS. 1-3 could be adapted or replaced by new or modified protocols for NG-RAN 135 (or another RAN, if utilized). In some embodiments, adaptations might include an extension of LPP or a replacement of LPP which may be needed to support position methods in which UE 105 obtains measurements of NR signals transmitted by one or more gNBs 110. Such NR related measurements could include measurements of RSRP, RSRQ, RSTD, round trip signal propagation time (RTT) and/or angle of arrival (AOA). In one embodiment, referred to as Alternative A1, LPP may be extended to support new NR RAT-dependent (and possible other RAT-independent) position methods such as NR RAT-dependent position methods similar to OTDOA or ECID for LTE access..”).
Claims 5-8 and 13-15 (base station)
The rejections of Group I. Claims 1-4 and 9-12 (UE) supra are incorporated herein and applied to Group II. Claims 5-8 and 13-15 since applicant has expressly admitted Group II. Claims 5-8 and 13-15 to be obvious variants of Group I. Claims 1-4 and 9-12.
Applicant has expressly admitted on the record that Group I. Claims 1-4 and 9-12 and Group II. Claims 5-8 and 13-15 are obvious variants. See reply filed 1/28/2026 page 3 ( e.g. “Office Action further asserts that Group I and Group II are not obvious variants of each other. This is incorrect.” And “The claimed UE-side and network-side methods are merely mirror images of a single communication protocol.”).
Pertinent Prior Art(s)
The prior art made of record though not relied upon in the current rejection is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 20190349881 A1 Choi; Hyung-Nam et al.
[0132] Example 12 is an apparatus of a location server, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry arranged to: decode a capability message from a narrowband (NB) user equipment (UE), the capability message comprising position capabilities of the NB UE to support different positioning methods; encode, for transmission to the NB UE, a request for location information Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) message, the request for location information LPP message comprising a request for positioning measurements and a NB response time to provide the positioning measurements dependent on the position capabilities received in the capability message, wherein the NB response time is longer than a response time for a non-NB UE; decode, from the NB UE, at least one LPP Provide Location Information message containing the positioning measurements; and determine a location of the NB UE based on the positioning measurements; a memory configured to store the positioning measurements.
[0113] If the NB-IoT UE 1002 capabilities received by the E-SMLC 1008 (e.g., access type NB-IoT) indicate that the positioning measurements are to occur during the idle state, the E-SMLC 1008 may determine additional response time is to be used by the NB-IoT UE 1002 to obtain the location measurements. The E-SMLC 1008 may send one or more LPP Request Location Information messages to the NB-IoT UE 1002 requesting positioning measurements or a location estimate. The LPP Request Location Information messages may include the response time. The LPP Request Location Information messages may include the response time, message size, QoS information and other information in a CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation IE given by
US 20170279899 A1 Jain; Amit et al.
[0047] A session may comprise one or more transactions. Transactions within a session may be said to be transactions of or belonging to that session. A transaction may be the performance of an operation conducted within and in support of its session. For example a transaction may comprise an operation involving the exchange of capabilities of devices. Capabilities in this context may refer to positioning and protocol capabilities related to LPP and the positioning methods supported by LPP. One transaction (e.g., often an initial transaction) of a location session may be a capability exchange (e.g., LPP Request/Provide Capabilities). This information exchange can make a server aware of the positioning capabilities of a UE (e.g., GNSS support, supported cellular network measurements, etc.). Based on this information, the server can make a decision on the positioning method to be used, based on both the UE capabilities and the requested quality-of-position (e.g., response time, accuracy).
Conclusion
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/UMAIR AHSAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647