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 .
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)(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.
Claim(s) 13 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Dwivedi (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2022/0229143).
-Regarding claim 13, Dwivedi discloses a terminal (UE 700, FIG. 7) comprising: a transmitter that transmits, to a network, capability information on a capability of reporting an indicator concerning a line of sight of a reference signal (transceiver circuitry 701, FIG. 7; LOS detection measurements, paragraph 87); and a processor that performs a position measurement based on the reference signal (perform LOS detection measurements associated with the plurality of base stations, paragraph 88), wherein the transmitter transmits, to the network, a report including a result of the position measurement and an indicator concerning a line of sight of the reference signal (results of the LOS detection measurements towards the network node, paragraph 89).
-Regarding claim 18, Dwivedi discloses a radio communication method comprising: transmitting, to a network, capability information on a capability of reporting an indicator concerning a line of sight of a reference signal (transceiver circuitry 701, FIG. 7; LOS detection measurements, paragraph 87); performing a position measurement based on the reference signal (perform LOS detection measurements associated with the plurality of base stations, paragraph 88); and transmitting, to the network, a report including a result of the position measurement and an indicator concerning a line of sight of the reference signal (results of the LOS detection measurements towards the network node, paragraph 89).
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) 14-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dwivedi (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2022/0229143) in view of Zhou (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2022/0113364).
-Regarding claim 14, Dwivedi is silent to teaching that the capability information includes information indicating at least one of whether the reporting format of the indicator supports a binary value, a soft value, or both the binary value and the soft value. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by Zhou.
In the same field of endeavor, Zhou teaches the capability information includes information indicating at least one of whether the reporting format of the indicator supports a binary value, a soft value, or both the binary value and the soft value (the indicator is a binary value, paragraph 43).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Dwivedi with the teaching of Zhou in order to provide positioning capable of adapting to line-of-sight and non-line-of sight environments.
-Regarding claim 15, the combination further discloses a value of the indicator indicates that a small value is a poor line of sight and a large value is a good line of sight (Zhou, paragraph 43).
-Regarding claim 16, the combination further discloses the report includes a plurality of indicators (Zhou, paragraph 44).
-Regarding claim 17, the combination further discloses a receiver that receives information specifying a format for reporting the indicator from the network (Zhou, abstract).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 5/12/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In pages 5-6 of the remarks, applicant argues that Dwivedi fails to disclose a report including both the position measurement result and the LOS indicator.
The examiner respectfully disagrees. Dwivedi indeed discloses that the UE transmits a measurement report to the network (reported over LPP or RRC [0066, 0073-0074]); the UE transmits via transceiver circuitry 701, results of the LOS detection measurements towards the network node ([0089]), and the contents of that single report include, in the same transmission, results of position measurement (e.g., the time of arrival of the first path ([0046], [0052]), angle of arrival ([0049]), and RSRP ([0050]), which Dwivedi expressly identifies as positioning measurements used for UE position estimation (the position measurements may include measurements from the LOS detection measurements, ([0084])). Dwivedi further discloses line-of-sight indicators, such as the relative strength of the first PDP peak ([0044]), the dynamic range of the first path ([0047]), and the channel impulse response and its Rician K-factor ([0051]) (the measurements described above in the first through ninth LOS detection method are LOS/NLOS indicators, [0055]), all derived from reference signals received by the UE ([0041]) and reported together in response to a single network request specifying a plurality of detection methods “to be used in measuring and reporting” ([0079]).
In pages 7-8 of the remarks, applicant further argues Zhou fails to cure the deficiency of Dwivedi.
The examiner respectfully disagrees. Dwivedi indeed disclosed the claimed limitations in claims 13 and 18 as set forth above.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PING Y HSIEH whose telephone number is (571)270-3011. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Mehmood can be reached at (571) 272-2976. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PING Y HSIEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2664
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