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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because Figure 6 labeled as “FIG. 6” with separate (a), (b), (c), and (d); and Figure 13 labeled as “FIG. 13” with separate (a), (b), (c), and (d) are not comply with 37 CFR 1.84(j) and/or 1.84(p). For example, Figure 6 should be labeled as FIG. 6(A), FIG. 6(B), FIG. 6(C), and FIG. 6(D), and Figure 13 should be labeled as FIG. 13(A), FIG. 13(B), FIG. 13(C), and FIG. 13(D). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
At least paragraphs [0045] to [0048] and [0055] to [0058], FIG. 6(a) to FIG. 6(d) and FIG. 13(a) to FIG. 13(d) described in the specification should be changed to FIG. 6(A) to FIG. 6(D) and FIG. 13(A) to FIG. 13(D) for the reasons described in the drawing objections above.
Paragraph [0060], line 2, the word “function” should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 50-69 are objected to because of the following informalities:
50. (Proposed Amendment) A user equipment (UE) configured for New Radio (NR) frequency range two (FR2) operation with a three-by-three planar antenna array operating at twenty-eight gigahertz and without awareness of a direction to any base station, the UE comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to:
transmit, in UE capability signaling to a location management function, a capability indicating a maximum antenna delta gain of twenty decibels for phase- center-offset variation assessment;
receive, from the location management function, a probability parameter fixed at 90 percent and a list consisting only of two antenna delta-gain thresholds comprising 20 decibels and 10 decibels;
calculate, for a broad boresight transmit beam used for sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) transmissions and over an entire evaluated radiation sphere down to each of the received thresholds, two timing error-group margins based on locally stored phase-center-offset variation characterization data for the selected beam, wherein a first timing error group is associated with a first margin of the two timing error-group margins of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond when evaluated at an antenna delta-gain threshold of 20 decibels, and a second timing error group is associated with a second margin of the two timing error-group margins of plus or minus 1 nanosecond when evaluated at an antenna delta-gain threshold of 10 decibels, each of the first and second margins being a worst-case value with a likelihood of at least 90 percent and independent of any reference-direction identifier; and
transmit, to the location management function, a timing-error-group report that (i) includes the two antenna delta-gain thresholds, (ii) associates [[a]] the first timing error group with the first margin of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of 20 decibels and associates the second timing error group with the second margin of plus or minus 1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of 10 decibels, and (iii) expressly declares validity over the entire evaluated radiation sphere without any angular reference window.
51. (Proposed Amendment) The UE of claim 50, wherein the at least one memory stores a characterized mapping of phase-center-offset (PCO) variation over an entire radiation sphere down to a maximum antenna delta-gain threshold of twenty decibels, and wherein the calculating of the two timing error-group margins is based on the characterized mapping.
52. (Proposed Amendment) The UE of claim 51, wherein the calculating comprises deriving each timing error-group margin of the two timing error-group margins from a cumulative distribution function of a PCO vector and selecting a percentile corresponding to the received probability parameter of ninety percent, and wherein the timing-error-group report further includes an indication that the first and second margins correspond to the ninety-percent likelihood.
53. (Proposed Amendment) The UE of claim 52, wherein the timing-error-group report further includes explicit identifiers for the first and second timing error groups, and the timing-error-group report associates the first identifier with the first margin of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of twenty decibels and the second identifier with the second margin of plus or minus 1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of ten decibels.
55. (Proposed Amendment) The UE of claim 54, wherein the at least one memory stores PCO-variation characterization used for the calculating, and wherein, responsive to a subsequent request from the location management function identifying a reduced subset of the two antenna delta-gain thresholds, the UE is further configured to transmit a new timing-error-group report computed from the stored characterization without retransmitting any sounding reference signal for positioning.
56. (Proposed Amendment) The UE of claim 55, wherein the calculating further comprises computing a mean PCO offset over the entire evaluated radiation sphere and applying a local time-of-departure compensation with respect to the mean PCO offset for the sounding reference signal for positioning transmissions used in deriving the two timing error-group margins.
57. (Proposed Amendment) A system comprising:
a user equipment (UE) configured for New Radio (NR) frequency range two (FR2) operation with a three-by-three planar antenna array operating at twenty-eight gigahertz and without awareness of a direction to any base station, wherein the UE comprises:[[;]]
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to:
transmit, in UE capability signaling to a location management function, a capability indicating a maximum antenna delta gain of twenty decibels for phase- center-offset variation assessment;
receive, from the location management function, a probability parameter fixed at 90 percent and a list consisting only of two antenna delta-gain thresholds comprising 20 decibels and 10 decibels;
calculate, for a broad boresight transmit beam used for sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) transmissions and over an entire evaluated radiation sphere down to each of the received thresholds, two timing error-group margins based on locally stored phase-center-offset variation characterization data for the selected beam, wherein a first timing error group is associated with a first margin of the two timing error-group margins of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond when evaluated at an antenna delta-gain threshold of 20 decibels, and a second timing error group is associated with a second margin of the two timing error-group margins of plus or minus 1 nanosecond when evaluated at an antenna delta-gain threshold of 10 decibels, each of the first and second margins being a worst-case value with a likelihood of at least 90 percent and independent of any reference-direction identifier; and
transmit, to the location management function, [[a]] the timing-error-group report that (i) includes the two antenna delta-gain thresholds, (ii) associates a first timing error group with the first margin of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of 20 decibels and associates the second timing error group with the second margin of plus or minus 1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of 10 decibels, and (iii) expressly declares validity over the entire evaluated radiation sphere without any angular reference window.
58. (Proposed Amendment) The system of claim [[50]] 57, wherein the at least one memory stores a characterized mapping of phase-center-offset (PCO) variation over an entire radiation sphere down to a maximum antenna delta-gain threshold of twenty decibels, and wherein the calculating of the two timing error-group margins is based on the characterized mapping.
59. (Proposed Amendment) The system of claim 58, wherein the calculating comprises deriving each timing error-group margin of the two timing error-group margins from a cumulative distribution function of a PCO vector and selecting a percentile corresponding to the received probability parameter of ninety percent, and wherein the timing-error-group report further includes an indication that the first and second margins correspond to the ninety-percent likelihood.
60. (Proposed Amendment) The system of claim 59, wherein the timing-error-group report further includes explicit identifiers for the first and second timing error groups, and the timing-error-group report associates the first identifier with the first margin of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of twenty decibels and the second identifier with the second margin of plus or minus 1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of ten decibels.
62. (Proposed Amendment) The system of claim 61, wherein the at least one memory stores PCO-variation characterization used for the calculating, and wherein, responsive to a subsequent request from the location management function identifying a reduced subset of the two antenna delta-gain thresholds, the UE is further configured to transmit a new timing-error-group report computed from the stored characterization without retransmitting any sounding reference signal for positioning.
63. (Proposed Amendment) The system of claim 62, wherein the calculating further comprises computing a mean PCO offset over the entire evaluated radiation sphere and applying a local time-of- departure compensation with respect to the mean PCO offset for the sounding reference signal for positioning transmissions used in deriving the two timing error-group margins.
64. (Proposed Amendment) A method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured for New Radio (NR) frequency range two (FR2) operation with a three-by-three planar antenna array operating at twenty-eight gigahertz and without awareness of a direction to any base station, the method comprising:
transmitting, in UE capability signaling to a location management function, a capability indicating a maximum antenna delta gain of twenty decibels for phase- center-offset variation assessment;
receiving, from the location management function, a probability parameter fixed at 90 percent and a list consisting only of two antenna delta-gain thresholds comprising 20 decibels and 10 decibels;
calculating, for a broad boresight transmit beam used for sounding reference signal for positioning (SRS-P) transmissions and over an entire evaluated radiation sphere down to each of the received thresholds, two timing error-group margins based on locally stored phase-center-offset variation characterization data for the selected beam, wherein a first timing error group is associated with a first margin of the two timing error-group margins of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond when evaluated at an antenna delta-gain threshold of 20 decibels, and a second timing error group is associated with a second margin of the two timing error-group margins of plus or minus 1 nanosecond when evaluated at an antenna delta-gain threshold of 10 decibels, each of the first and second margins being a worst-case value with a likelihood of at least 90 percent and independent of any reference-direction identifier; and
transmitting, to the location management function, a timing-error-group report that (i) includes the two antenna delta-gain thresholds, (ii) associates [[a]] the first timing error group with the first margin of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond at the antenna delta- gain threshold of 20 decibels and associates the second timing error group with the second margin of plus or minus 1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of 10 decibels, and (iii) expressly declares validity over the entire evaluated radiation sphere without any angular reference window.
65. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 64, wherein the at least one memory stores a characterized mapping of phase-center-offset (PCO) variation over an entire radiation sphere down to a maximum antenna delta-gain threshold of twenty decibels, and wherein the calculating of the two timing error-group margins is based on the characterized mapping.
66. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 65, wherein the calculating comprises deriving each timing error-group margin of the two timing error-group margins from a cumulative distribution function of a PCO vector and selecting a percentile corresponding to the received probability parameter of ninety percent, and wherein the timing-error-group report further includes an indication that the first and second margins correspond to the ninety-percent likelihood.
67. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 66, wherein the timing-error-group report further includes explicit identifiers for the first and second timing error groups, and the timing-error-group report associates the first identifier with the first margin of plus or minus 0.1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold of twenty decibels and the second identifier with the second margin of plus or minus 1 nanosecond at the antenna delta-gain threshold often decibels.
69. (Proposed Amendment) The method of claim 68, wherein the at least one memory stores PCO-variation characterization used for the calculating, and wherein, responsive to a subsequent request from the location management function identifying a reduced subset of the two antenna delta-gain thresholds, the UE is further configured to transmit a new timing-error-group report computed from the stored characterization without retransmitting any sounding reference signal for positioning, and wherein the calculating further comprises computing a mean PCO offset over the entire evaluated radiation sphere and applying a local time-of-departure compensation with respect to the mean PCO offset for the sounding reference signal for positioning transmissions used in deriving the two timing error-group margins.
Claim 54 depends from claim 53, therefore it is also objected.
Claim 61 depends from claim 60, therefore it is also objected.
Claim 68 depends from claim 67, therefore it is also objected.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 50-69 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 50 (lines 15 and 16-17), claim 53 (lines 2-3 and 4), claim 57 (lines 16 and 17-18), claim 60 (lines 2-3 and 4), claim 64 (lines 13 and 14-15), claim 65 (line 1), claim 67 (lines 2-3 and 4), and claim 69 (line 1), the phrases “the received thresholds”, “the selected beam”, “the first identifier”, “the second identifier”, and “the at least one memory” all lack antecedent basis.
Claim 51 depends from claim 50, and recites “an entire radiation sphere” in line 2 while claim 50 recites “an entire evaluated radiation sphere” in lines 14-15. Clarification is required to clarify whether they are the same or different sphere. Clarification is also required for claims 58 and 65 for the similar reasons described in claim 51.
Claims 52 and 54-56 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 50, therefore they are also rejected.
Claims 59 and 61-63 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 57, therefore they are also rejected.
Claims 66 and 68 depend either directly or indirectly from claim 64, therefore they are also rejected.
Double Patenting
Applicant is advised that should claims 57-63 be found allowable, claims 50-56 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 57-69 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the objection(s) set forth in this Office action.
Claims 57-69 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
YAMADA et al. (US 2020/0154239 A1) relates to a physical signal generating unit configured to generate first positioning reference signal and second positioning reference signal, and a transmitter configured to transmit the first positioning reference signal and the second positioning reference signal to a terminal apparatus, wherein the first positioning reference signal is mapped on one resource block and the second positioning reference signal is mapped on at least six resource blocks.
MANOLAKOS et al. (US 2021/0041522 A1) relates to a user equipment (UE) receives a positioning measurement request from a network entity, the positioning measurement request including a request to receive and/or to transmit a plurality of positioning reference signals from and/or to one or more transmission-reception points (TRPs) using the same receive (RX) beam and/or transmit (TX) beam, attempts, in response to reception of the positioning measurement request, to use the same RX beam and/or TX beam to receive and/or to transmit the plurality of positioning reference signals to perform positioning measurements, and provides a positioning measurement report to the network entity in response to the positioning measurement request, the positioning measurement report indicating using the same RX beam and/or the same TX beam and/or a degree of success with using the same RX beam and/or the same TX beam.
MANOLAKOS et al. (US 2021/0099965 A1) relates to a user equipment (UE) receives, from a location server, identifiers of a set of transmission-reception points (TRPs), the set of TRPs including a first reference TRP and a plurality of neighboring TRPs, receives a configuration to report reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements for the plurality of neighboring TRPs with respect to a receive time of a reference signal from the first reference TRP and UE reception-to-transmission (UE Rx-Tx) measurements for a second reference TRP and the plurality of neighboring TRPs, and transmits, to the location server, based on one or more of a plurality of conditions being satisfied, a single UE Rx-Tx measurement for the second reference TRP and the RSTD measurements for the plurality of neighboring TRPs with respect to the receive time of the reference signal from the first reference TRP.
BAO et al. (US 2022/0322267 A1) relates to techniques for signaling timing error group (TEG) updates for positioning; for providing reference signal measurement values with a mobile device includes measuring one or more reference signals; for determining a timing error change associated with one or more reference signal measurement values; and for transmitting the one or more reference signal measurement values and an indication of the timing error change.
FAKOORIAN et al. (US 2024/0057011 A1) relates to a location management function (LMF) of a network provides timing errors to user equipment and/or base stations for positioning purposes. The LMF receives an indication of an effective timing error for a downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) positioning technique, wherein the effective timing error is associated with a set of base stations configured to transmit positioning reference signals for the DL-TDOA and provides the effective timing error to a user equipment (UE) performing operations related to the DL-TDOA.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Young T. Tse whose telephone number is (571)272-3051. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10:30am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh M Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Young T. Tse/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632