DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
In response to the application filed on 12/28/2023, claims 1-29 are currently pending for the examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/28/2023 has been placed in the application file, and the information referred therein has been considered as to the merits.
Drawings
Drawing figures submitted on 12/28/2023 have been reviewed and accepted.
Claim Objections
Claims 7, 14 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7 is objected to because it is depending on the canceled claim 6. The claim is further objected because it recites “repeating the steps of claim 5” without providing the detailed steps of the claim.
Claim 14 is further objected to because it recites “OAS network topology” without defining the term “OAS”.
Claim 16 is further objected to because it recites “adjusting timing information” instead of “adjust timing information”.
Appropriate corrections are required. For examinations, the examiner will interpret the claim(s) as best understood.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 7, 11-17, 25 and 27-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by DA et al. (US 2016/0302165 A1).
Regarding claim 1; DA teaches a method by a network node comprising:
determining a timing error (See Fig. 4: Adding additional redundant measurements of the timing offsets performed by multiple cells may be more effective in mitigating errors caused by varying channel conditions, radiofrequency interference, time drifts caused by frequency synchronization errors…¶ [0047]) associated with a closed loop (See Fig. 1 and 4 for closed loop flow charts and network circles. ¶ [0030-0031]) comprising at least one radio link between two radio points (See Figs. 1 and 4: At 410, the first base station transmits the first timing reference signal using the configured resources. At 415, the first base station receives the second timing reference signal that was transmitted by the second base station. At 420, the first base station determines the first timing offset (i.e., timing error) based on the received second timing reference signal. ¶ [0050]), the timing error determined based on at least one timing measurement associated with the at least one radio link (See Fig. 1 and 4: base station 305, 310, 315 is configured to measure the timing offsets from all detectable neighboring base stations. ¶ [0047]); and
adjusting timing information carried over the a timing protocol link based on the timing error associated with the closed loop comprising the at least one radio link (See Fig. 4: determine timing adjustments using timing reference signals transmitted between a pair of base stations, the timing offsets may be provided to one of the base stations. ¶ [0051] and ¶ [0052]).
Regarding claim 2; DA teaches the method wherein the timing protocol link comprises a Precision Time Protocol, PTP, link (See Fig. 1: Base stations may also be synchronized based on a network timing protocol, such as IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), which employs a client/server architecture to maintain synchronization across all network components. ¶ [0017]).
Regarding claim 7; DA teaches the method of Claim 6, further comprising repeating the steps of Claim 5 for all edges in the PTP network topology (See Fig. 1: ¶ [0017]).
Regarding claim 11; DA teaches the method wherein adjusting the PTP link based on the timing error comprises: configuring a PTP link asymmetry compensation on at least one edge of the PTP network topology (See Figs. 1 and 3; the accuracy of the PTP based approach is limited by packet delay variations and network path asymmetry, which makes it difficult or impossible to meet the stringent timing requirements of OTDOA and UTDOA. ¶ [0017]).
Regarding claim 12; DA teaches the method wherein the PTP network topology is obtained from a transport network (See Fig. 1: ¶ [0017]).
Regarding claim 13; DA teaches the method wherein the transport network comprises a fronthaul transport network or an backhaul transport network (See Fig. 1: ¶ [0018-0018]).
Regarding claim 14; DA teaches the method of wherein the OAS network topology (See Fig. 1: Network listening may also be used to synchronize base stations using signals transmitted over an air interface between the base stations. ¶ [0018]) is received from a RAN network (See Fig. 3: ¶ [0043]).
Regarding claim 15; DA teaches the method of wherein the closed loop comprises a plurality of radio links between a plurality of radio points (See Fig. 1: The base stations 105, 110 provide wireless connectivity to one or more user equipment 125 located within one or more of the cells 115, 120. For example, the base stations 105, 110 and the user equipment 125 can exchange data or signaling information over uplink or downlink channels of the air interfaces 130, 135. An interface 140 may be used to exchange data or signaling information between the base stations 105, 110. ¶ [0030]).
Regarding claim 16; DA teaches a network node adapted to:
determine a timing error (See Fig. 4: Adding additional redundant measurements of the timing offsets performed by multiple cells may be more effective in mitigating errors caused by varying channel conditions, radiofrequency interference, time drifts caused by frequency synchronization errors…¶ [0047]) associated with a closed loop (See Fig. 1 and 4 for closed loop flow charts and network circles. ¶ [0030-0031]) comprising at least one radio link between two radio points (See Figs. 1 and 4: At 410, the first base station transmits the first timing reference signal using the configured resources. At 415, the first base station receives the second timing reference signal that was transmitted by the second base station. At 420, the first base station determines the first timing offset (i.e., timing error) based on the received second timing reference signal. ¶ [0050]), the timing error determined based on at least one timing measurement associated with the at least one radio link (See Fig. 1 and 4: base station 305, 310, 315 is configured to measure the timing offsets from all detectable neighboring base stations. ¶ [0047]); and
adjust timing information carried over the a timing protocol link based on the timing error associated with the closed loop comprising the at least one radio link (See Fig. 4: determine timing adjustments using timing reference signals transmitted between a pair of base stations, the timing offsets may be provided to one of the base stations. ¶ [0051] and ¶ [0052]).
Regarding claim 17; DA teaches the method wherein the timing protocol link comprises a Precision Time Protocol, PTP, link (See Fig. 1: Base stations may also be synchronized based on a network timing protocol, such as IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP), which employs a client/server architecture to maintain synchronization across all network components. ¶ [0017]).
Regarding claim 25; Ref#1 teaches the network further adapted to determine that at least one condition for a solution of the at least one unknown value associated with the PTP network topology is satisfied (See Fig. 1: Errors caused by an unknown number of hops may also be reduced because the base station 305, 310, 315 report measurements from all detectable cells and a minimum number of hops is inherently implied by the optimal estimation result after processing of all of the measured timing offsets. ¶ [0047]).
Regarding claim 27; DA teaches the method wherein the PTP network topology is obtained from a transport network (See Fig. 1: ¶ [0017]).
Regarding claim 28; DA teaches the network node wherein the transport network comprises an Elastic- Radio Access Network (E-RAN) transport network (See Fig. 3: The wireless communication system 300 includes base stations 305, 310, 315 that are used to provide wireless connectivity to user equipment (not shown) in corresponding geographic areas or cells. Some embodiments of the base stations 305, 310, 315 may be a portion of an E-UTRAN that provides wireless connectivity according to standards defined by the 3GPP-LTE. ¶ [0043]).
Regarding claim 29; DA teaches the network node wherein the OAS network topology (See Fig. 1: Network listening may also be used to synchronize base stations using signals transmitted over an air interface between the base stations. ¶ [0018]) is received from a RAN network (See Fig. 3: ¶ [0043]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 8-10, 18-20, 23-24, and 26 are objected to as being dependent upon the rejected base claim , but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Manolakos et al. (US 11,800,486 B2).
Contact Information
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/SAI AUNG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416