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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8, 15-17, 20, 26-29, 31, 35, 40-43, 45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by EDGE et al. (U.S. 2020/0154240 A1).
1, EDGE teaches a method comprising: determining, by a managing entity, a plurality of sensing access points to enable a scan of an area [abstract, par 0043, 0116,The increase in the transmission of PRS may be performed by a server, such as a location management function (LMF) or location management component (LMC), a base station, such as a gNB, ng-eNB, or eNB, or by a combination of the server and base station. The entity may determine the increase in transmission of the PRS in response to location requests for a plurality of user equipments (UEs), notification reports from a plurality of base stations, or requests for increased PRS from a plurality of UEs, . The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network based position methods such as ECID (e.g. when used with measurements obtained by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location related information from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114.FIG. 7, based on the request in stage 3 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs) or on the requirements for the location procedure in stage 4 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs), and the criteria provided in stage 1 (in FIG. 7) for sending a notification, gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa PRS Notification Report to the LMF 120 to request increased PRS transmission and may include preferred or supported PRS configurations and possibly a preferred number of gNBs, the abstract shows the entity determines location of plurality of UEs and notification reports from a plurality of base stations. The examiner interprets the access points as a gNB and TRP as described in applicant’s specification para 0018],
and providing, by the managing entity, a first request to a first sensing access point to receive at least one probing signal transmitted by a second sensing access point [par 0069, 0070, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The examiner interprets the PRs as the probing signal according to the applicant specification para 0024],
wherein the request shares configuration information about the at least one probing signal transmitted by the second sensing access point to enable configuration of at least the first sensing access point for reception of the transmitted at least one probing signal [par 0070,0071, At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). At stage 7, each of the gNBs 110 which acknowledged support of a new PRS configuration at stage 6 changes from an old PRS configuration to a new PRS configuration either after (or just before) sending the acknowledgment at stage 6 if no start time was provided or at the start time indicated in stage 5].
2, EDGE discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the managing entity, at least one scan measurement obtained from the at least one probing signal received by the first sensing access point to provide information about the area [para 0043, 0116, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110 and/or with the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. The LPP and/or NPP protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE assisted and/or UE based position methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, AOD, RTT and/or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network based position methods such as ECID (e.g. when used with measurements obtained by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location related information from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114.
FIG. 7, based on the request in stage 3 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs) or on the requirements for the location procedure in stage 4 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs), and the criteria provided in stage 1 (in FIG. 7) for sending a notification, gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa PRS Notification Report to the LMF 120 to request increased PRS transmission and may include preferred or supported PRS configurations and possibly a preferred number of gNBs],
3, EDGE reveals the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing, by the managing entity, a second request to the second sensing access point to transmit the at least one probing signal, wherein the second request includes the configuration information to configure at least the second sensing access point to transmit the at least one probing signal [par 0070, In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The LMF 120 may then repeat stages 5 and 6 for some or all of the determined gNBs 110 with different new PRS configurations].
4, EDGE illustrate the method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information includes one or more of the following: a frame number, a subframe number, transmit beam direction information, a direction, a beamwidth, a beam identifier, one or more resource elements carrying the at least one probing signal, a bandwidth, a burst size, a period, and a start time indicating a transmission time of the at least one probing signal [par 0069, 0089, The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. The new PRS configuration for each gNB 110 may use increased PRS bandwidth, a longer duration of PRS positioning occasions, PRS transmission on new frequencies, and/or a higher frequency of PRS positioning occasions and may, in some cases, be selected from a set of one or more preconfigured sets of PRS configuration parameters to support increased PRS transmission. In the case of support for directional PRS beams, the serving or camped-on gNB 110-1 may determine directional PRS beams for each gNB 110 which should be received by the target UE 105, or by any UE 105 in a set of target UEs when the gNB 110 increases PRS transmission for multiple target UEs, and may provide a new PRS configuration only for these directional PRS beams].
8, EDGE demonstrates the method of claim 1, wherein the determining comprises determining at least the first sensing access point to receive the at least one probing signal, and determining at least the second sensing access point to transmit the at least one probing signal [abstract, The increase in the transmission of PRS may be performed by a server, such as a location management function (LMF) or location management component (LMC), a base station, such as a gNB, ng-eNB, or eNB, or by a combination of the server and base station. The entity may determine the increase in transmission of the PRS in response to location requests for a plurality of user equipments (UEs), notification reports from a plurality of base stations, or requests for increased PRS from a plurality of UEs, the abstract shows the entity determines location of plurality of UEs and notification reports from a plurality of base stations].
15, EDGE reveals a method comprising: receiving, by a first sensing access point, a first request to receive at least one probing signal transmitted by a second sensing access point to enable a scan of an area[par 0069, 0070, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The examiner interprets the PRs as the probing signal according to the applicant specification para 0024],
wherein the request shares configuration information about the at least one probing signal transmitted by the second sensing access point [par 0070, If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported, the LMF 120 may perform stages 15 and 16 to restore the old PRS configurations in each of the gNBs 110 which indicated a new PRS configuration can be supported in order to avoid interference between gNBs 110 which support the new PRS configuration and gNBs 110 which do not. In this case, the LMF 120 would provide the old PRS configurations to the UE 105 at stage 8 instead of the new PRS configurations. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6],
the shared configuration information enabling configuration of the first sensing access point for reception of the transmitted at least one probing signal [par 0071, At stage 7, each of the gNBs 110 which acknowledged support of a new PRS configuration at stage 6 changes from an old PRS configuration to a new PRS configuration either after (or just before) sending the acknowledgment at stage 6 if no start time was provided or at the start time indicated in stage 5]
16, EDGE reveals the method of claim 15 further comprising: sending, by the first sensing access point, at least one scan measurement to a managing entity to provide information about the area to enable aggregation of the at least one scan measurement with other scan measurements from other sensing access points [par 0108, For example, in the case of directional PRS transmission, gNBs 110 that are well inside the target area of increased PRS transmission can transmit increased PRS omni-directionally, whereas gNBs 110 at or near the periphery of the target area can transmit increased PRS only within the target area and not outside the target area, by increasing PRS transmission only for PRS beams directed into the target area (and not for PRS beams directed outside the target area). FIG. 6, by way of example, illustrates a zone A, which is a target area 602 of increased PRS transmission directed within the area, and a surrounding zone B that is an area 604 with normal PRS transmission. In FIG. 6, arrows represent a direction of increased PRS transmission from a gNB],
wherein the at least one scan measurement is obtained from the at least one probing signal received by the first sensing access point [par 0069, At stage 5, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration].
17. EDGE creates the method of claim 15, wherein the configuration information includes one or more of the following: a frame number, a subframe number, transmit beam direction information, a direction, a beamwidth, a beam identifier, one or more resource elements carrying the at least one probing signal, a bandwidth, a burst size, a period, and a start time indicating a transmission time of the at least one probing signal[par 0069, 0089, The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. The new PRS configuration for each gNB 110 may use increased PRS bandwidth, a longer duration of PRS positioning occasions, PRS transmission on new frequencies, and/or a higher frequency of PRS positioning occasions and may, in some cases, be selected from a set of one or more preconfigured sets of PRS configuration parameters to support increased PRS transmission. In the case of support for directional PRS beams, the serving or camped-on gNB 110-1 may determine directional PRS beams for each gNB 110 which should be received by the target UE 105, or by any UE 105 in a set of target UEs when the gNB 110 increases PRS transmission for multiple target UEs, and may provide a new PRS configuration only for these directional PRS beams].
20. EDGE provide the method of claim 15, wherein the at least one probing signal comprises a sensing signal and/or a position reference signal [par 0023, However, location of a mobile device can require usage of resources by a network for transmitting a downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) from network base stations and/or other transmission points (TPs) that can be measured by a mobile device to obtain location measurements. When no mobile devices need to obtain location measurements of PRSs, the transmission of these signals by the wireless network may waste power and/or may waste signaling resources which could be better used for other purposes such as sending and receiving voice and data. It may therefore be advantageous to use methods that enable PRS transmission to be responsive to whether or not PRS measurement by mobile devices is needed and to reduce or stop transmission of PRS when location measurements by mobile devices are not needed].
26, EDGE describe an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor [par 0007, In one aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code is operable to configure at least one processor in a first entity in a wireless network for supporting location of a user equipment (UE)],
cause the apparatus to at least: determine a plurality of sensing access points to enable a scan of an area [abstract, par 0043, 0116,The increase in the transmission of PRS may be performed by a server, such as a location management function (LMF) or location management component (LMC), a base station, such as a gNB, ng-eNB, or eNB, or by a combination of the server and base station. The entity may determine the increase in transmission of the PRS in response to location requests for a plurality of user equipments (UEs), notification reports from a plurality of base stations, or requests for increased PRS from a plurality of UEs, . The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network based position methods such as ECID (e.g. when used with measurements obtained by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location related information from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114.FIG. 7, based on the request in stage 3 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs) or on the requirements for the location procedure in stage 4 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs), and the criteria provided in stage 1 (in FIG. 7) for sending a notification, gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa PRS Notification Report to the LMF 120 to request increased PRS transmission and may include preferred or supported PRS configurations and possibly a preferred number of gNBs, the abstract shows the entity determines location of plurality of UEs and notification reports from a plurality of base stations. The examiner interprets the access points as a gNB and TRP as described in applicant’s specification para 0018];
and provide a first request to a first sensing access point to receive at least one probing signal transmitted by a second sensing access point[par 0069, 0070, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The examiner interprets the PRs as the probing signal according to the applicant specification para 0024],
wherein the request shares configuration information about the at least one probing signal transmitted by the second sensing access point to enable configuration of at least the first sensing access point for reception of the transmitted at least one probing signal[par 0070,0071, At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). At stage 7, each of the gNBs 110 which acknowledged support of a new PRS configuration at stage 6 changes from an old PRS configuration to a new PRS configuration either after (or just before) sending the acknowledgment at stage 6 if no start time was provided or at the start time indicated in stage 5].
27, EDGE discloses the apparatus of claim 26, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive at least one scan measurement obtained from the at least one probing signal received by the first sensing access point to provide information about the area[para 0043, 0116, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110 and/or with the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. The LPP and/or NPP protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE assisted and/or UE based position methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, AOD, RTT and/or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network based position methods such as ECID (e.g. when used with measurements obtained by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location related information from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114.
FIG. 7, based on the request in stage 3 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs) or on the requirements for the location procedure in stage 4 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs), and the criteria provided in stage 1 (in FIG. 7) for sending a notification, gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa PRS Notification Report to the LMF 120 to request increased PRS transmission and may include preferred or supported PRS configurations and possibly a preferred number of gNBs],
28, EDGE conveys the apparatus of claim 26, wherein the apparatus is further caused to provide a second request to the second sensing access point to transmit the at least one probing signal, wherein the second request includes the configuration information to configure at least the second sensing access point to transmit the at least one probing signal[par 0070, In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The LMF 120 may then repeat stages 5 and 6 for some or all of the determined gNBs 110 with different new PRS configurations].
29, EDGE demonstrates the apparatus of claim 26, wherein the configuration information includes one or more of the following: a frame number, a subframe number, transmit beam direction information, a direction, a beamwidth, a beam identifier, one or more resource elements carrying the at least one probing signal, a bandwidth, a burst size, a period, and a start time indicating a transmission time of the at least one probing signal[par 0069, 0089, The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. The new PRS configuration for each gNB 110 may use increased PRS bandwidth, a longer duration of PRS positioning occasions, PRS transmission on new frequencies, and/or a higher frequency of PRS positioning occasions and may, in some cases, be selected from a set of one or more preconfigured sets of PRS configuration parameters to support increased PRS transmission. In the case of support for directional PRS beams, the serving or camped-on gNB 110-1 may determine directional PRS beams for each gNB 110 which should be received by the target UE 105, or by any UE 105 in a set of target UEs when the gNB 110 increases PRS transmission for multiple target UEs, and may provide a new PRS configuration only for these directional PRS beams].
31. EDGE defines the apparatus of claim 26, wherein the apparatus comprises or is comprised in at least one of a managing entity, a location management function, or a sensing access point [par 0026, Increased DL PRS transmission could be simplified by restricting PRS transmission by a base station (e.g. gNB) or in a cell to only certain PRS configurations, which might be configured in a gNB and/or in an LMF using Operations and Maintenance (O&M)].
35, EDGE reveals the apparatus of claim 26, wherein the apparatus determines the configuration information based on a quality of service with respect to accuracy and/or resolution [par 0044, For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Round Trip signal propagation Time (RTT), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), AOA, and/or AOD for gNBs 110, ng-eNB 114 and/or a WLAN access point (AP)].
40. EDGE discloses an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor [par 0007, a non-transitory computer readable medium including program code stored thereon, the program code is operable to configure at least one processor in a first entity in a wireless network for supporting location of a user equipment (UE), includes program code to determine an increase in transmission of a positioning reference signal (PRS) at each of a plurality of transmitters, wherein the increase in transmission of PRS at each of the plurality of transmitters is coordinated to avoid interference to or from non-PRS transmission in the wireless network; program code to send a first message to the each transmitter],
cause the apparatus to at least: receive a first request to receive at least one probing signal transmitted by a second sensing access point to enable a scan of an area [par 0069, 0070, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The examiner interprets the PRs as the probing signal according to the applicant specification para 0024],
wherein the request shares configuration information about the at least one probing signal transmitted by the second sensing access point[par 0070, If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported, the LMF 120 may perform stages 15 and 16 to restore the old PRS configurations in each of the gNBs 110 which indicated a new PRS configuration can be supported in order to avoid interference between gNBs 110 which support the new PRS configuration and gNBs 110 which do not. In this case, the LMF 120 would provide the old PRS configurations to the UE 105 at stage 8 instead of the new PRS configurations. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6],
the shared configuration information enabling configuration of the apparatus for reception of the transmitted at least one probing signal[par 0071, At stage 7, each of the gNBs 110 which acknowledged support of a new PRS configuration at stage 6 changes from an old PRS configuration to a new PRS configuration either after (or just before) sending the acknowledgment at stage 6 if no start time was provided or at the start time indicated in stage 5]
41, EDGE demonstrates the apparatus of claim 40, wherein the apparatus is further caused to send at least one scan measurement to a managing entity to provide information about the area to enable aggregation of the at least one scan measurement with other scan measurements from other sensing access points [par 0108, For example, in the case of directional PRS transmission, gNBs 110 that are well inside the target area of increased PRS transmission can transmit increased PRS omni-directionally, whereas gNBs 110 at or near the periphery of the target area can transmit increased PRS only within the target area and not outside the target area, by increasing PRS transmission only for PRS beams directed into the target area (and not for PRS beams directed outside the target area). FIG. 6, by way of example, illustrates a zone A, which is a target area 602 of increased PRS transmission directed within the area, and a surrounding zone B that is an area 604 with normal PRS transmission. In FIG. 6, arrows represent a direction of increased PRS transmission from a gNB],
wherein the at least one scan measurement is obtained from the at least one probing signal received by the apparatus point [par 0069, At stage 5, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration].
42, EDGE displays the apparatus of claim 40, wherein the configuration information includes one or more of the following: a frame number, a subframe number, transmit beam direction information, a direction, a beamwidth, a beam identifier, one or more resource elements carrying the at least one probing signal, a bandwidth, a burst size, a period, and a start time indicating a transmission time of the at least one probing signal [par 0069, 0089, The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration. The new PRS configuration for each gNB 110 may use increased PRS bandwidth, a longer duration of PRS positioning occasions, PRS transmission on new frequencies, and/or a higher frequency of PRS positioning occasions and may, in some cases, be selected from a set of one or more preconfigured sets of PRS configuration parameters to support increased PRS transmission. In the case of support for directional PRS beams, the serving or camped-on gNB 110-1 may determine directional PRS beams for each gNB 110 which should be received by the target UE 105, or by any UE 105 in a set of target UEs when the gNB 110 increases PRS transmission for multiple target UEs, and may provide a new PRS configuration only for these directional PRS beams].
43, EDGE conveys the apparatus of claim 40, of the apparatus and the second sensing access point comprise or are comprised in at least one of a base station, a gNB, a distributed unit, a radio unit, or a transmit receive point [par 0063, The LMF 120 could control PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or from TPs 111 and/or TRPs within gNBs 110. Thus, one or more of gNBs 110 in FIG. 2 could each be replaced by a TP 111 or a TRP. In addition or instead, in some embodiments, LMF 120 in FIG. 2 may be replaced by an LMC 117].
45, EDGE describes the apparatus of claim 40, wherein the at least one probing signal comprises a sensing signal and/or a position reference signal[par 0023, However, location of a mobile device can require usage of resources by a network for transmitting a downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) from network base stations and/or other transmission points (TPs) that can be measured by a mobile device to obtain location measurements. When no mobile devices need to obtain location measurements of PRSs, the transmission of these signals by the wireless network may waste power and/or may waste signaling resources which could be better used for other purposes such as sending and receiving voice and data. It may therefore be advantageous to use methods that enable PRS transmission to be responsive to whether or not PRS measurement by mobile devices is needed and to reduce or stop transmission of PRS when location measurements by mobile devices are not needed].
Response to Arguments
Edge does not teach or even suggest "determining.. a plurality of sensing access points to enable a scan of an area. The Office Action's rejection asserts that this is taught by Edge in paragraphs [0027], [0043], and [0063], where "UEs or other elements in a network may indicate to a controlling entity (e.g., a gNB or LMF) when downlink (DL) PRS transmission is needed for location determination" and that the access points are gNBs and TRPs. This assertion is technically incorrect.
The examiner respectfully disagrees the abstract shows, The increase in the transmission of PRS may be performed by a server, such as a location management function (LMF) or location management component (LMC), a base station, such as a gNB, ng-eNB, or eNB, or by a combination of the server and base station. The entity may determine the increase in transmission of the PRS in response to location requests for a plurality of user equipments (UEs), notification reports from a plurality of base stations, or requests for increased PRS from a plurality of UEs, the abstract shows the entity determines location of plurality of UEs and notification reports from a plurality of base stations. The examiner interprets the access point according to the applicant’s specification paragraphs 0004, 0018, Each of the plurality of sensing access points may comprise or be comprised in at least one of a base station, a gNB, a distributed unit, a radio unit, or a transmit receive point., therefore the examiner interprets the base station as access points.
The claimed "scan of an area" is directed to active environmental sensing where the network's own access points cooperatively transmit and receive probing signals to map, scan, or analyze a physical environment (e.g., detecting obstacles, mapping terrain, or tracking objects via radar-like physical reflections).
Edge contains no disclosure of configuring or utilizing access points to perform an environmental scan of a physical area. Finding the geographic coordinates of a mobile device in a network is functionally and structurally distinct from performing a radio-frequency scan of a physical area.
The examiner’s response the abstract shows the entity receives reports from plurality of base stations. Paragraph 0043, 0116 of Edge shows, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110 and/or with the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. The LPP and/or NPP protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE assisted and/or UE based position methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, AOD, RTT and/or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network based position methods such as ECID (e.g. when used with measurements obtained by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location related information from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114.
FIG. 7, based on the request in stage 3 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs) or on the requirements for the location procedure in stage 4 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs), and the criteria provided in stage 1 (in FIG. 7) for sending a notification, gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa PRS Notification Report to the LMF 120 to request increased PRS transmission and may include preferred or supported PRS configurations and possibly a preferred number of gNBs, the paragraphs show a NPPa or NRPPa report being sent to a LMF within the entity, by one of the plurality base stations. The report is shown to provide location related information from gNBs and/or ng-eNB, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs and/or ng-eNB.
The location information is shown paragraph 0044, the location measurements may include one or more of a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), Round Trip signal propagation Time (RTT), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), AOA, and/or AOD for gNBs 110, ng-eNB 114 and/or a WLAN access point (AP). The location measurements may also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase and/or carrier phase for SVs 190. With a network based position method, one or more base stations (e.g. gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g. measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA or Time Of Arrival (TOA)) for signals transmitted by UE 105, and/or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105, and may send the measurements to a location server (e.g. LMF 120) for computation of a location estimate for UE 105. The examiner interprets the information received from the gnbs/APs as signals to map, scan, or analyze a physical environment.
Edge does not teach or even suggest "providing... a first request to a first sensing access point to receive at least one probing signal transmitted by a second sensing access point.' The Office Action's rejection cites paragraph [0063] of Edge, noting that "An LMF 120 would then determine changes to PRS transmission and send a message (e.g. an NRPPa message) to affected gNBs 110 to request a change to PRS transmission.' This citation fails to satisfy the claim limitation.
There is absolutely no teaching or suggestion in Edge of the LMF 120 requesting a first gNB to receive and measure a probing signal (such as PRS) transmitted by a second gNB. In the architecture of Edge, the gNBs do not monitor or receive each other's PRS transmissions. Because the receiver of the PRS in Edge is always the mobile UE 105 (and never a cooperating network node/sensing access point), Edge cannot and does not disclose this limitation.
The examiner respectfully disagrees in paragraphs 0069, 0070, 0071, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration.
At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The LMF 120 may then repeat stages 5 and 6 for some or all of the determined gNBs 110 with different new PRS configurations,
At stage 7, each of the gNBs 110 which acknowledged support of a new PRS configuration at stage 6 changes from an old PRS configuration to a new PRS configuration either after (or just before) sending the acknowledgment at stage 6 if no start time was provided or at the start time indicated in stage 5, according to specifications paragraph 0024, a probing signal is equivalent to one probing signal (e.g., a position reference signal (PRS). The paragraphs show the entity sending request to each of the GNBs/AP to receive a new a new PRS signal, and each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported. Therefore a second or another GNB/AP that can support respond with an indication that the new PRS configuration can be supported.
In addition, Edge Fails to teach or suggest "wherein the request shares configuration information. to enable configuration of at least the first sensing access point for reception "
The LMF 120 in Edge does not share configuration information regarding a second gNB's PRS transmission with a first gNB to configure that first gNB for reception. The gNBs in Edge are only configured for transmission of PRS, not for reception. Edge's failure to disclose this cooperative limitation is complete.
The examiner respectfully disagrees in paragraph 0070, 0071, shows the LMF of the entity share PRS configuration information of whether multiple GNBs/APs can support a new PRS configuration, the paragraph further shows, the old PRS configurations in each of the gNBs 110 which indicated a new PRS configuration can be supported in order to avoid interference between gNBs 110 which support the new PRS configuration and gNBs 110 which do not. In this case, the LMF 120 would provide the old PRS configurations to the UE 105 at stage 8 instead of the new PRS configurations. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The LMF 120 may then repeat stages 5 and 6 for some or all of the determined gNBs 110 with different new PRS configurations.
Independent apparatus claim 26 directly mirrors the functional steps of independent method claim 1. Because claim 26 relies on the exact same cooperative limitations, e.g., requiring a managing entity to determine a plurality of sensing access points for a spatial scan and request node-to-node signal reception, the prior art Edge fails to disclose the elements of claim 26 for the same reasons detailed in connection with claim 1.
The examiner respectfully disagree according to the examiner’s response to arguments and office action.
Specifically, the gNB of Edge never receives a request to receive and measure a probing signal transmitted by another gNB to enable an environmental scan of an area. In Edge, the gNBs are configured to transmit PRS (or receive uplink SRS from a mobile device), but they are never configured for reception of PRS transmitted by neighboring gNBs. The receiver of the PRS in Edge is always the UE 105. Consequently, Edge does not teach or suggest a first access point receiving a request to receive a probing signal transmitted by a second access point, or configuring itself for reception of such a signal based on shared configuration information. Claims 15 and 40 are therefore not anticipated by Edge.
The examiner respectfully disagrees in paragraphs 0069, 0070, the LMF 120 sends an NRPPa PRS Reconfiguration Request message to each of the gNBs 110 determined at stage 4 and includes the new PRS configuration determined for that gNB 110. The request may also include a start time for each new PRS configuration and/or a duration.
At stage 6, each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted). If some gNBs 110 indicate that a new PRS configuration cannot be supported. In one embodiment, if a gNB 110 is not able to support the requested new PRS configuration (e.g. due to a lack of resources at the current time), it may provide a list of possible alternative PRS configurations in the response at stage 6 or may switch to transmitting some other new PRS configuration that supports increased PRS transmission and indicate this new PRS configuration at stage 6. The LMF 120 may then repeat stages 5 and 6 for some or all of the determined gNBs 110 with different new PRS configurations, according to specifications paragraph 0024, a probing signal is equivalent to one probing signal (e.g., a position reference signal (PRS). The paragraphs show the entity sending request to each of the GNBs/AP to receive a new a new PRS signal, and each of the gNBs 110 returns a response to the LMF 120 indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported. Therefore a second or another GNB/AP that can support respond with an indication that the new PRS configuration can be supported.
With respect to claims 2 and 27, the Office Action cites paragraph [0046] of Edge, where the LMF 120 receives measurements from the UE 105. However, in Edge, the measurements are obtained and transmitted by the target UE 105, not by a "first sensing access point" that has received a probing signal from a second access point. Edge completely lacks the claimed feature of a managing entity receiving scan measurements from a network access point that acts as a receiver for active sensing of an area.
The examiner respectfully disagrees paragraph 0043, 0116 of Edge shows, the LMF 120 may communicate with the gNBs 110 and/or with the ng-eNB 114 using a New Radio Position Protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. The LPP and/or NPP protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE assisted and/or UE based position methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, AOD, RTT and/or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network based position methods such as ECID (e.g. when used with measurements obtained by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location related information from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114.
FIG. 7, based on the request in stage 3 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs) or on the requirements for the location procedure in stage 4 for FIG. 3 (when this stage occurs), and the criteria provided in stage 1 (in FIG. 7) for sending a notification, gNB 110-1 sends an NRPPa PRS Notification Report to the LMF 120 to request increased PRS transmission and may include preferred or supported PRS configurations and possibly a preferred number of gNBs, the paragraphs show a NPPa or NRPPa report being sent to a LMF within the entity, by one of the plurality base stations. The report is shown to provide location related information from gNBs and/or ng-eNB, such as parameters defining PRS transmission from gNBs and/or ng-eNB.
With respect to claim 8, the Office Action cites paragraphs [0063] and [0067] of Edge, where the LMF determines nearby gNBs to transmit PRS to the UE. In Edge, the LMF only determines which gNBs will transmit PRS; it never determines a first gNB (sensing access point) to receive and measure the PRS of a second gNB. Edge fails to disclose this limitation.
The examiner respectfully disagrees the abstract shows, The increase in the transmission of PRS may be performed by a server, such as a location management function (LMF) or location management component (LMC), a base station, such as a gNB, ng-eNB, or eNB, or by a combination of the server and base station. The entity may determine the increase in transmission of the PRS in response to location requests for a plurality of user equipments (UEs), notification reports from a plurality of base stations, or requests for increased PRS from a plurality of UEs, the abstract shows the entity determines location of plurality of UEs and notification reports from a plurality of base stations.
With respect to claim 16 and 41, the Office Action cites paragraph [0068] of Edge, which describes gNBs transmitting directional PRS beams to the UE. As discussed, the gNB in Edge does not receive probing signals from other gNBs, and therefore cannot and does not send scan measurements of such signals to a managing entity. In Edge, only the UE 105 sends location measurements to the LMF.
The examiner respectfully disagrees paragraphs 0070, 0071, At stage 7, each of the gNBs 110 which acknowledged support of a new PRS configuration at stage 6 changes from an old PRS configuration to a new PRS configuration either after (or just before) sending the acknowledgment at stage 6 if no start time was provided or at the start time indicated in stage 5, shows the entity received receive probing signals from other gNBs that indicating whether the new PRS configuration can be supported (or is now being transmitted).
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 JASON A HARLEY whose telephone number is (571)270-5435. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-300 6:30-8:30.
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/JASON A HARLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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