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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/16/2026 has been entered.
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) 1-7, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (hereinafter Fischer)(US 2022/0120841) in view of Yerramalli et al. (hereinafter Yerramalli)(US 2023/0179359) and Wakabayashi et al. (hereinafter Wakabayashi)(US 2021/0212124).
Regarding claim 1, Fischer teaches a method performed by a terminal, the method comprising: Receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIBmore information related to a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration(P[0132], broadcast SIB1; DL-PRS); transmitting, to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the base station, a request message for assistance data based on the SIB(P[0132-0133], stage 3, request DL-PRS and stage 4 message to LMF); receiving, from the LMF via the base station, an assistance data message in response to the request message(P[0131], stages 8 and 9; provides PRS configuration parameter).
Fischer did not teach specifically transmitting, to the LMF via the base station, a location information message based on the assistance data, wherein the Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method transmitting, to the LMF via the base station, a location information message based on the assistance data, wherein the equest message includes: preference information related to the configuration; and information indicating that assistance data associated with validity information is requested in order to have improved efficiency.
Fischer in view of Yerramalli did not teach specifically wherein the validity information indicates one or more cells where the associated assistance data is valid. However Wakabayashi teaches in an analogous art and wherein the validity information indicates one or more cells where the associated assistance data is valid(P[0219-0224], validity area of assistance information(that is geographical area over which the assistance information is valid)). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the validity information indicates one or more cells where the associated assistance data is valid in order to have reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 2, Fischer in view of Yerramalli teaches a method wherein the one or more information related to the PRS configuration comprises: an identifier indicating the PRS configuration related to the preference information; first information related to frequency layer; and second information related to resources, wherein the second information is associated with the first information, wherein the first information comprises: a parameter for starting Physical Resource Block (PRB); a parameter for bandwidth; and a parameter for subcarrier spacing, and wherein the second information comprises: an identifier indicating the second information; a parameter for code sequence; and a parameter for starting slot(Yerramalli: P[0097], positioning priority; P[0081], positioning frequency layer, bandwidth, subcarrier spacing, PRS resource set ID. PN code; P[0082], resource blocks within slot; Also Fischer: P[0095], PRS resource identifier (ID); P[0095], starting slot; number of subcarriers; sequence ID; P[0096], PRS resource set is identified by particular TRP ID; P[0097], subcarrier spacing; PRS bandwidth).
Regarding claim 3, Fischer teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first uplink message further comprises a physical cell identifier of primary cell(P[0096], cell ID).
Regarding claim 4, Fischer teaches the 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the PRS configuration information is selected from one or more information(P[0123], SIB1 indicates dl-prs, ul-prs, ul-and-dl-prs; P[0126], SIB1 may include an indicator).
Regarding claim 5, Fischer teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the assistance data message further comprises parameters for one or more positioning methods(P[0101], positioning methods include additional parameters with preferences).
Regarding claim 6, Fischer in view of Yerramalli teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the terminal performs measurement on PRS before the transmitting the location in formation message based on the assistance data message (Fischer: P[0103], UE may determine that a change in DL-PRS is needed; Yerramalli: P[0107], UE may measure PRS; UE may send determined position information in a position information message; P[0108], network entity an LMF determine position based on information provided by the TRP through UE).
Regarding claim 7, Fischer in view of Yerramalli teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the terminal performs measurement on PRS before the transmitting the location information message based on the parameters for one or more positioning methods(Yerramalli: P[0107], UE may measure PRS; UE may send determined position information in a position information message; P[0108], network entity an LMF determine position based on information provided by the TRP through UE).
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (hereinafter Fischer)(US 2022/0120841) in view of Yerramalli et al. (hereinafter Yerramalli)(US 2023/0179359), Wakabayashi et al. (hereinafter Wakabayashi)(US 2021/0212124) and Saily et al. (hereinafter Saily)(US 2022/0299589).
Regarding claim 8, Fischer in view of Yerramalli and Wabayashi teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, wherein the terminal receives an RRCRelease message from the[[a]] base station after receiving the assistance data message and before [[the ]]transmitting the location information message, wherein the RRCRelease message comprises configuration information for RRC INACTIVE, and the configuration information for RRC INACTIVE comprises information related to Small Data Transmission (SDT). However, Saily teaches in an analogous art, wherein the terminal receives an RRCRelease message from the[[a]] base station after receiving the assistance data message and before [[the ]]transmitting the location information message, wherein the RRCRelease message comprises configuration information for RRC INACTIVE, and the configuration information for RRC INACTIVE comprises information related to Small Data Transmission (SDT)(Fig. 3; item 313, assistance data message ; 317 location information message; item 323 RRC connection release P[[0026], positioning assistance information; item 325 RRC INACTIVE; inactive state; small data applications). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the terminal receives an RRCRelease message from the base station after receiving the assistance data message and before transmitting the location information message, wherein the RRCRelease message comprises configuration information for RRC INACTIVE, and the configuration information for RRC INACTIVE comprises information related to Small Data Transmission (SDT) in order to have improved location tracking.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (hereinafter Fischer)(US 2022/0120841) in view of Yerramalli et al. (hereinafter Yerramalli)(US 2023/0179359), Wakabayashi et al. (hereinafter Wakabayashi)(US 2021/0212124), Saily et al. (hereinafter Saily)(US 2022/0299589) and Teyeb et al. (hereinafter Teyeb)(US 2022/0150741).
Regarding claim 14, Fischer in view of Yerramalli, Wakabayashi and Saily teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, wherein the location information message is transmitted on wireless channel in one or more Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (PDUs). However, Teyeb teaches in an analogous art, wherein the measurement information message is transmitted on wireless channel in one or more Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (PDUs)(P[0096], RRC inactive state; P[0099], measurement reporting; P[0100], Medium Access Control (MAC) control element(CE)). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the location information message is transmitted on wireless channel in one or more Medium Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (PDUs)in order to have improved location tracking.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (hereinafter Fischer)(US 2022/0120841) in view of Yerramalli et al. (hereinafter Yerramalli)(US 2023/0179359), Wakabayashi et al. (hereinafter Wakabayashi)(US 2021/0212124), Saily et al. (hereinafter Saily)(US 2022/0299589) and Palat et al. (hereinafter Palat)(US 2023/0189380).
Regarding claim 15, Fischer in view of Yerramalli, Wakabayashi and Saily teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, wherein the second uplink message is transmitted via SRB2. However, Palat teaches in an analogous art wherein the second uplink message is transmitted via SRB2(P[0031], SRB2). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the second uplink message is transmitted via SRB2 in order to have improved efficiency.
Claim(s) 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fischer et al. (hereinafter Fischer)(US 2022/0120841) in view of Yerramalli et al. (hereinafter Yerramalli)(US 2023/0179359), Wakabayashi et al. (hereinafter Wakabayashi)(US 2021/0212124), Saily et al. (hereinafter Saily)(US 2022/0299589) and Liu et al. (hereinafter Liu)(US 2021/0258777).
Regarding claim 16, Fischer in view of Yerramalli, Wakabayashi and Saily teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method, wherein the location information message is ciphered by a first security key. However, Liu teaches in an analogous art wherein the location information message is ciphered by a first security key(P[0104], location report; security key). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the location information message is ciphered by a first security key for improved data protection.
Regarding claim 17, Liu teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the first security key is derived from a second security key(P[0104], deriving new security keys).
Regarding claim 18, Liu teaches the method of claim 17, wherein the second security key is derived based on the configuration information for RRC-INACTIVE(P[0104], security key derived; RRC-inactive).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/MUTHUSWAMY G MANOHARAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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