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 claiming the benefit of PCT/CN2022/086957, filed on 04/15/2022, which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 03/27/2024 and 11/01/2024
has been considered by the examiner.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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 1-11 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by YERRAMALLI et al. (US 2021/0400626 A1, hereinafter Yerramalli).
Regarding claim 1, Yerramalli teaches a method comprising: sending, by a wireless communication device to a wireless communication node, at least a first positioning-related information of a first time instance ([Figure 10] and [0093] transmitting a DL PRS 1002 at time T1 with the first base station 902, which is received by the second UE 912 at time T2. The first UE 910 is in a position to receive the DL PRS 1002 at time T3. The second UE 912 is configured to transmit an UL PRS or UL SRS 1004 at time T4, which is received by the first base station 902 at time T5, i.e. positioning-related transmissions with corresponding time instances, transmitted via a wireless communication device 912 to a wireless communication node 902), and a second positioning-related information of a second time instance ([0092] describes how UE 912 may receive and send a plurality of DL and UP location-related signals, in a scenario such as shown in FIG. 9), to use collectively to perform a network based determination of a single location of the wireless communication device ([0006] a location may be received from the user equipment, such that the location may be based at least in part on the first positioning reference signal and the second positioning reference signal, and the respective time instances, also described in [0093] in reference to FIG. 10, the first base station 902 and/or the second UE 912 may be configured to indicate (e.g., via broadcasting or other signaling) the turnaround time (i.e., T4−T2), the time of flight (i.e., T2−T1), and other assistance data (e.g., locations of the first base station 902 and the UE 912)).
Regarding claim 2, Yerramalli teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, at least a first measurement of a receipt time of a first downlink reference signal ([Figure 10, 1002] the first downlink reference signal 1002 is associated with transmission time T1 and receipt time T2, being transmitted to UE 912), and a second measurement of a receipt time of a second downlink reference signal ([Figure 10, 1002] the second downlink reference signal (also depicted as 1002) is associated with transmission time T1 and receipt time T3); and determining, by the wireless communication device, at least a first time gap between the first receipt time and a first transmit time of a first uplink reference signal, and a second time gap between the second receipt time and a second transmit time of a second uplink reference signal ([0073] Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, example downlink PRS resource sets are shown, a first PRS resource set 502 includes 4 resources and a repetition factor of 4, with a time-gap equal to 1 slot. A second PRS resource set 504 includes 4 resources and a repetition factor of 4 with a time-gap equal to 4 slots, the time-gap represents the offset in units of slots between two repeated instances of a PRS resource corresponding to the same PRS resource ID within a single instance of the PRS resource set (e.g., values of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32), i.e. the ability to associate time gaps with each transmission).
Regarding claim 3, Yerramalli teaches receiving, by the wireless communication device ([Figure 10, 912]) from the wireless communication node ([Figure 10, 902]) via at least a first signaling ([Figure 10, 1002]), at least one of: a first trigger to support the network based determination of the single location, a second trigger of a round trip time (RTT) measurement, a third trigger of a timing advance (TA) report, a fourth trigger of periodic transmission of reference signals (RSs), at least one type of information to be reported by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node, a reporting method for the wireless communication device to report the at least one type of information, a scheduling configuration for the wireless communication device to report the at least one type of information, a number of positioning-related measurements or reports, to be utilized to determine the single location of the wireless communication device, or a time window for positioning-related measurements or reports, to be utilized for collecting positioning-related measurements to determine the single location of the wireless communication device ([0048 and 0050] with a network-based position method or UE-based position method, one or more base stations( or UEs) (e.g., the gNBs 110a, 110b, and/or the ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ or Time Of Arrival (TOA) for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and/or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105, i.e. the ability to determine RTT measurements and to be reported by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node).
Regarding claim 4, Yerramalli teaches the at least a first signaling ([Figure 10, 1002]) comprises at least one of: a radio resource control (RRC) signaling or a system information block (SIB) signaling ([0100] the turnaround and distance values associated with the base station and reference UEs may be broadcast or provided in network signaling or higher layer protocols (e.g., RRC, LPP, NRPP, MAC-CE, SIBs, etc.)).
Regarding claim 5, Yerramalli teaches the first positioning-related information and the second positioning-related information ([Figure 10, 1002] DL 1002 transmitted twice, i.e. two positioning-related information signals) further comprises at least one of: a time gap between receipt of a downlink reference signal and transmission of a corresponding uplink reference signal, a coherence level between different uplink reference signals, a timing advance (TA) value, trajectory information of the wireless communication device, a mobility status of the wireless communication device, a capability or type of the wireless communication device, or a timestamp corresponding to any preceding type of information ([0045] the AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, i.e. mobility status of the wireless communication device, further described the LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures/methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AOA), angle of departure (AOD), and/or other position methods, and a node/system that implements the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location-support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP), i.e. trajectory/mobility information of the wireless communication device).
Regarding claim 6, Yerramalli teaches the mobility status of the wireless communication device comprises at least one of: a speed value, a movement direction, a velocity vector, or an indication of speed range, of the wireless communication device ([0045] The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, i.e. mobility status of the wireless communication device, and the LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support position procedures/methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Real Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AOA), angle of departure (AOD), and/or other position methods, and a node/system that implements the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location-support modules, such as an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP), and [0060] describes the linear acceleration and speed of rotation measurements of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine an instantaneous direction of motion as well as a displacement of the UE 200, i.e. capable of comprising a speed value, a movement direction, a velocity vector, or an indication of speed range of the wireless communication device).
Regarding claim 7, Yerramalli teaches the coherence level between the different uplink reference signals comprises a level of coherence between the different uplink reference signals’ phase values, carrier frequency values, or timing values ([0048] With a UE-assisted position method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105, wherein the location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and/or carrier phase for the SVs 190-193, and all position measurements are in association with timing values, as shown in FIG. 10).
Regarding claim 8, Yerramalli teaches receiving, by the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node, a single trigger to perform a plurality of round trip time (RTT) measurements on a periodic or aperiodic sequence of reference signals ([0048 and 0050] with a network-based position method or UE-based position method, one or more base stations (e.g., the gNBs 110a, 110b, and/or the ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ or Time Of Arrival (TOA) for signals transmitted by the UE 105) and/or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., the LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for the UE 105, i.e. the ability to determine RTT measurements and to be reported to the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node).
Regarding claim 9, Yerramalli teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, a time gap between receipt of a downlink reference signal and transmission of a corresponding uplink reference signal, and sending, by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node, the time gap ([0073] describes how time gap values may be calculated between receipt and transmission of DL and UL signals, and [0093] describes how timing information is recorded and transmitted/received by the wireless communication node via the wireless communication device).
Regarding claim 10, Yerramalli teaches the first positioning-related information of the first time instance is with respect to a wireless communication node, and the second positioning-related information of the second time instance is with respect to the wireless communication node or another wireless communication node ([Figure 10] the first and second positioning-related information associated with corresponding time instances, are in association with network node 902).
Regarding claim 11, Yerramalli teaches the first positioning-related information and the second positioning-related information are part of a defined number of positioning-related measurements or reports, to be utilized to determine the single location of the wireless communication device ([0085] the passive positioning start message 802 may be a broadcast message, or other signaling such as RRC, to inform the UE of a PRS transmission schedule and may include transmission information (e.g., channel information, muting patterns, PRS bandwidth, PRS identification information, etc.), i.e. the transmission schedule may include a defined number of measurement request transmissions, which is utilized to acquire a defined number of positioning-related measurements to determine the location of the wireless communication device).
Regarding claim 18, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 1, further in view of Yerramalli teaches a wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor configured to: send, via a transmitter ([Figure 10, UEs 912] UE 912 capable of transmitting various signals, and FIG. 2 depicts UE 912 as UE 200, which includes a plurality of processors coupled with a transceiver/transmitter).
Regarding claim 19, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 1, further in view of Yerramalli teaches receiving, by a wireless communication node ([Figure 10, 902]) from a wireless communication device ([Figure 10, 912]), at least a first positioning-related information of a first time instance ([Figure 10, 1004] UL transmission from T4 to T5 depicts UE 912 transmitting to communication node 902), and a second positioning-related information of a second time instance ([0092] describes how UE 912 may receive and send a plurality of DL and UP location-related signals, in a scenario such as shown in FIG. 9).
Regarding claim 20, the claimed limitations of claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 19, further in view of Yerramalli teaches a wireless communication node, comprising: at least one processor configured to: receive (FIG. 3 depicts wireless communication node 902 as TRP 300, which includes a plurality of processors coupled with a transceiver, capable of receiving/transmitting positioning-related information).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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 as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) 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 as of the effective filing date of the later invention 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.
Claims 12-14 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YERRAMALLI et al. (US 2021/0400626 A1, hereinafter Yerramalli) in view of Andersson (US 2011/0140950 A1, hereinafter Andersson).
Regarding claim 12, Yerramalli teaches the network based determination of the single location of the wireless communication- -if a number of positioning-related measurements or reports is lower than the defined number of positioning-related measurements or reports (as depicted in FIG. 10, each transmission is associated with first transmission time, a second receive time, a third turnaround time (not shown), and a plurality of other time measurements such as described in [0045], and the methods may include the use of a threshold value as described in [0117]).
Yerramalli is not relied on for the claim language -device is unreliable-. However, Andersson teaches [abstract] a method for validating positional data in vehicle surveillance applications wherein vehicles transmit positional data indicating their own position to surrounding vehicles using a data link over which a transmission is initiated at a given transmission point in time that is known by all users of the data link. Andersson also teaches -device is unreliable- ([Figure 5, step S3] and [0080] a determined deviation value, based on time calculations and locations, is an indicator of the reliability of the received positional data and can be used as a basis for deciding whether the received positional data should be used or discarded by the receiving unit, and therefore [0017] the method is used to discard received positional data that is found unreliable, i.e. defining a device capturing positioning-related information is unreliable).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yerramalli to include the ability for a device/location information to be indicated as “unreliable”, as taught by Andersson, in order to [0037] allow for a validity check for the positional data contained in the received message and therefore [0061] increase the accuracy of positional data.
Regarding claim 13, Yerramalli teaches the first positioning-related information and the second positioning-related information- (FIG. 10 and [0092] describes a plurality of positioning-related information transmissions as described in claim 1).
Yerramalli is not relied on for the claim language -are provided within a defined time window for collecting positioning-related measurements or reports, to be utilized to determine the single location of the wireless communication device. However, Andersson teaches as such ([0039] to validate positional data and determine the location of an object, time-synchronized data link is the STDMA data link which is divided into a plurality of timeslots, each starting at a well-defined point in time that is known by all data link users, and defined such that a transmission within a given timeslot is initiated directly upon start of that timeslot, i.e. defined time window for positioning-related measurements to determine the location of an object).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yerramalli to include a defined time window for collecting positioning-related measurements or reports, as taught by Andersson, in order to [0037] allow for a validity check for the positional data contained in the received message and therefore [0061] increase the accuracy of positional data.
Regarding claim 14, Yerramalli is not relied on for the claim language the network based determination of the single location of the wireless communication device is unreliable if a time for collecting positioning-related measurements or reports is shorter than the defined time window for collecting positioning-related measurements or reports. However, Andersson teaches as such ([0047-0049] describes an example in which if the reported position P.sub.ADS-B(5) is found somewhere within its acceptance window AW.sub.5, the received positional data can be considered reliable, it should be understood that the "acceptance window" is calculated based partially on distance, but works in correlation with timeslots as described [0055-0057] and further described in claim 13).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yerramalli to include a defined time window for collecting positioning-related measurements or reports, and determine a device/location information to be indicated as “unreliable,” as taught by Andersson, in order to [0037] allow for a validity check for the positional data contained in the received message and therefore [0061] increase the accuracy of positional data.
Regarding claim 16, Yerramalli teaches the wireless communication node- -corresponding to the wireless communication device according to the network based determination of the single location ([Figure 10] depicts 902 the wireless communication node corresponding with the wireless communication device UE 912, communicating positioning-related information).
Yerramalli is not relied on for the claim language -receives or sets a reliability flag-. However, Andersson teaches as such ([0072-0074] describes the ability to add a flag indicating that the received ADS-B position may not be trustworthy to the ADS-B data before forwarding the data to the information unit 37 and the decision and maneuvering unit 39) and the reliability flag indicating whether the wireless communication device is reliable for a defined period of time ([Figure 5, step S2/S3] and [0079-0080] the reliability flag determined may be associated with a defined period of time according to the positioning-related information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yerramalli to include the use of a reliability flag, as taught by Andersson, in order to [0037] allow for a validity check for the positional data contained in the received message and therefore [0061] increase the accuracy of positional data.
Regarding claim 17, Yerramalli teaches -an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), a radio network temporary identity (RNTI), or other defined virtual identity (ID) ([0073] describes PRS resource ID within a single instance of the PRS resource set (e.g., values of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32), i.e. the resource signals used to send positioning-related information include a defined virtual identity (ID)).
Yerramalli is not relied on for the claim language the reliability flag-. However, Andersson teaches as such ([0072-0074] the reliability flag as described in claim 16, i.e. the reliability flag’s transmission may include a defined virtual identity (ID) as mentioned above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yerramalli to include the use of a reliability flag, as taught by Andersson, in order to [0037] allow for a validity check for the positional data contained in the received message and therefore [0061] increase the accuracy of positional data.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YERRAMALLI et al. (US 2021/0400626 A1, hereinafter Yerramalli) in view of Dawson et al. (US 2007/0293239 A1, hereinafter Dawson).
Regarding claim 15, Yerramalli teaches receiving, by the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node ([Figure 10] UE 912 receives from the wireless communication node via DL 1002), and sending, by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node ([Figure 10] UE 912 transmits to the wireless communication node 902 via UL 1004).
Yerramalli is not relied on for the claim language one or more trigger signals for a plurality of timing advance (TA) reports, and the plurality of TA reports each at a respective time instance. However, Dawson teaches (abstract) a method that determines the position of a mobile device using information obtained by employing a first location determination protocol (or modality) to control the efficient or advantageous invocation of a second location determination protocol (or modality), and said location measurements are associated with [0006-0007] a plurality of time related measurements. Dawson also teaches one or more trigger signals for a plurality of timing advance (TA) reports, and the plurality of TA reports each at a respective time instance ([0070] if the Quality of Position (QoP) indicates a coarse or rapid position fix is desired by the requestor, the Timing Advance (TA) or Network Measurement Report (NMR) values will be provided as part of the PLR from the BSC, i.e. the QoP may trigger to request a plurality of TA reports to be included in PLR responses from the base station controller (BCS), in association with time instances).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yerramalli to include the use of timing advance (TA) reports in association with time instances, as taught by Dawson, in order to aid in [0094] improving the overall latency and yield of the location services infrastructure, and the accuracy and yield of individual location requests.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ghimire, Birendra et al. (2024). Apparatus comprising a transceiver, method for performing position determination and positioning system (US 2024/0323903 A1). Filed 2024-05-30. Discloses a first apparatus that is configured to transmit first and second reference signal also referred to as double burst forward link to the second apparatus so that the second apparatus receives the first and the second reference signal in order to calculate a first phase difference. (abstract)
Kim, Heejin et al. (2023). Method for transmitting and receiving, by user equipment, signals by using plurality of distributed antennas in wireless communication system supporting sidelink, and apparatus therefor (US 2023/0337157 A1). Filed 2021-09-14. Discloses a method for transmitting and receiving, by user equipment, signals by using a plurality of distributed antennas in a wireless communication system supporting sidelink, in accordance with time gap information. (abstract)
Yerramalli, Srinivas et al. (2021). Passive positioning with analog beamforming (US 2021/0389410 A1). Filed 2021-05-04. Discloses a technique to provide for passive positioning of user equipment (UE) with analog beamforming. (abstract)
Yerramalli, Srinivas et al. (2022). Signaling timing offset between stations for user equipment based positioning (US 2022/0014327 A1). Filed 2021-06-30. Discloses a method for calibrating device timelines for use in passive positioning of user equipment (UE). (abstract)
Zhang, Xiaoxia et al. (2021). Passive positioning with sidelink assistance (US 2021/0410103 A1). Filed 2021-06-22. Discloses passive positioning of user equipment (UE) with sidelink assistance. (abstract)
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/MATTHEW JAMES DWYER/Examiner, Art Unit 2649
/GEORGE ENG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2699