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 .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/30/25 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 09/29/25 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's arguments, on page 8 of applicant's response, it is first noted that the amended claim language applicant references is only contained within independent claims 1 and 16, and the language and arguments do not match the amended language now recited within independent claim 11.
As indicated in the previous Advisory Action mailed 10/03/25, while applicant fails to provide any specific reasoning, in response to applicant's general statement that "No evidence has been provided by Huang, Sosnin and Manolakos to indicate that the above-mentioned distinguishing technical features (a) and (b) have been disclosed.", it is noted that the prior office action mailed 08/04/25 specifically cites Manolakos as disclosing: "generating channel change information" (report including channel quality indicator CQI; paragraph 108-112),
"wherein the channel change information is used to trigger the LMF and/or the base station to reconfigure at least one parameter type of power parameter, multipath parameter threshold or length of the multipath time interval" (receiving second set of reference signals modified, with modified power or bandwidth based on the CQI; paragraph 94-95, 99-102).
As indicated within the rejections, Manolakos discloses measuring and tracking any changes in the channel signal quality, which clearly meets the broad language of "generating channel change information".
That channel information is then used to reconfigure at least one parameter type of power parameter, multipath parameter threshold or length of the multipath time interval" (second set of reference signals with modified power or bandwidth based on the CQI; paragraph 94-95, 99-102). Thus, meeting the current claim limitations, as the current claim language does not include any specific requirement as to what form the “historical information” and “channel change information” must take.
The disclosure of Manolakos meets the limitations of alternative scenario (terminal vs base station) the under the same reasoning.
In response to applicant's additional arguments, on pages 9-10 of applicant's response, that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., channel changes caused by terminal speed changes, terminal movement, etc.) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
In this case, the current claims only recite "channel change information" with no further description or requirement towards the nature of the channel change information, and provide no description or requirement for any specific "terminal scenario changes" as applicant discusses. Thus, as indicated above, Manolakos’ disclosure of measuring and tracking any changes in the channel signal quality clearly meets the broad language of “channel change information".
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., the present application needs to exclude the parameters related to the first detected path) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
It is noted that nothing within the claims precludes “parameters related to the first detected path first” as applicant suggests.
In response to applicant's argument that “the present application is to avoid the waste of transmission resources during positioning”, a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
On pages 10-11, of applicant’s response, applicant argues that “It can be seen from the above recitation that the technical solution of Huang is based on an ideal condition that multipath does not exist. By reporting the received power on the same path, the positioning device can obtain a more accurate DAOD based on the received power on the same path. That is, Huang takes the path with the largest RSRP as the first path, so as to solve the problem that the currently measured received power includes the received powers of multiple paths.
On this basis, Huang only involves the power calculation of one path in its specific operation procedure, and a more accurate DAOD can be obtained directly based on one piece of information about the first path with the highest power.”
In response, it is noted that the references in Huang to the “ideal condition” where “multipath does not exist” are in regards to measurements performed in advance at the a positioning device (paragraph 9, 39, 70, 173). These are later used for comparison to multiple power level signals received over that path for matching comparison.
Regarding claim 1, these steps are performed by the terminal device in Huang, which reports multiple signals for multiple paths (paragraph 162-169). More specifically, Huang discloses wherein M reference signals transmitted over N paths which results in M*N received power signals (paragraph 14, 30-36, 151-154).
Huang then selects a subset of the paths to report, meeting the claim limitation regarding at least one 2nd path (maximum number of paths to report; paragraph 41, 163-164, 176).
Thus, Huang meets the current claim language. While Huang transmits and measures more reference signals than is required by the current claim, which indicates a single reference signal, this still meets the current claim limitations, which does not preclude additional signaling.
In response to applicant’s arguments regarding Sosnin, it is noted that Sosnin explicitly discloses determining power parameters for multiple first paths, wherein the multiple first paths are paths other than a first detected path (first detected arrival path) obtained by detecting a reference signal by the measuring end (strongest multipath components; paragraph 77-80).
Sosnin then discloses selecting and reporting a selected subset of the other paths, such as selecting a set number N or only reporting any above a threshold (paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205).
Thus, Sosnin clearly meets the current claim language. While Sosnin discloses also transmitting information for the “first detected arrival path” along with the other paths, the current claim language does not preclude this as applicant appears to suggest.
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.
Claims 1, 3-4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18-19, 24, 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (Huang) (US 2021/0376940) (of record) in view of Manolakos et al. (Manolakos) (US 2020/0007288) (of record).
As to claim 1, Huang discloses an information transmission method, applied to a measuring end (Fig. 5, terminal device), comprising:
determining power parameters for multiple first paths, wherein the multiple first paths are paths other than a first detected path obtained by detecting a reference signal by the measuring end (paragraph 149-154, 162);
selecting at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on a multipath parameter threshold (maximum number of paths to report; paragraph 41, 163-164, 176) and the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 162-169); and
transmitting measurement information of the at least one second path (transmitting measurement results; paragraph 161),
wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold and the power parameters for the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold (number of signals to report; paragraph 41, 163-164, 176), the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured power levels of the signals; paragraph 162-169), a multipath time interval (paragraph 41, 145, 168, 174, 177) and delays of the multiple first paths (measured delays of each signal; paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177),
wherein the multipath time interval is determined based on a length of the multipath time interval and a delay of the first detected path (setting the first path reference signal as the reference delay and all other delays measured relative to the reference; paragraph 41, 145, 168, 174, 177),
While Huang discloses wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal, the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 149-154, 162), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 149-154, 162) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177), or
wherein in case that the measuring end is a base station (measurements first performed at network device; paragraph 171, 187, 201), the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 149-154, 162), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 149-154, 162) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177),
Huang fails to specifically disclose determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information.
In an analogous art, Manolakos discloses transmission system where a user terminal will receive a first set of multi-path signals (Fig. 9, paragraph 8, 92-93, 105-112), generate channel change information (report including channel quality information (paragraph 108-112), and determine a power parameter (second set of reference signals with modified power parameter; paragraph 94-95, 99-102) based on historical information and channel change information (modified based upon report indicating SNR of prior set and channel quality indicator (CQI); paragraph 94-95, 99-102) so as to more accurately determine the limiting factor in signals and prevent unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Huang’s system to include determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information, as taught in combination with Manolakos, for the typical benefit of more accurately determining the limiting factor in signals and preventing unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
As to claim 3, Huang discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold, the power parameters for the multiple first paths, the multipath time interval and the delays of the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting at least one first candidate path from the multiple first paths, wherein the first candidate path is the first path of which the power parameter is greater than or equal to the multipath parameter threshold (highest powers relative to the reference first path power; paragraph 38, 165-165) and the delay is within the multipath time interval (delay relative to the shortest delay of the reference signal; paragraph 41, 145, 168); and
selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on a delay and/or a power parameter of the at least one first candidate path (paragraph 161-169).
As to claim 4, Huang discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on the delay and/or the power parameter of the at least one first candidate path comprises:
determining a front first number of the first candidate paths in ascending order of the delays as the second paths; or,
determining a front second number of the first candidate paths in descending order of the power parameters as the second paths (descending order of all paths based on received power to only report top powers signals; paragraph 164).
As to claim 9, Huang discloses wherein the parameter type of the power parameter is absolute power or relative power (paragraph 38, 165);
wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal (terminal device, see Fig. 5-7; paragraph 150), the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter (measured signal power; paragraph 162-169), arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception (transmission delays; paragraph 168), or a phase of the second path; or,
in case that the measuring end is a base station, the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter, arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception, an angle of arrival, or a phase of the second path.
As to claim 11, Huang discloses an information transmission method, applied to a position calculating end (Fig. 5, positioning device), comprising:
receiving measurement information of at least one second path transmitted from a measuring end (transmitted measurement results; paragraph 161), wherein the at least one second path is selected from multiple first paths by the measuring end based on a multipath parameter threshold (only reporting paths with greater received power; paragraph 163-164, 176) and the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 162-169); and
positioning a terminal based on the measurement information of the at least one second path (more accurately locating the terminal based upon the measurements; paragraph 29, 33, 170-174),
wherein the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 62-70, 138-144), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 41, 62-70, 138-145) or a length of a multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177), and
transmitting at least one of the parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval to the measuring end (paragraph 138-144).
Huang fails to specifically disclose receiving channel change information transmitted from the terminal and/or a base station, and reconfiguring at least one of the parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval based on the historical information and the channel change information.
In an analogous art, Manolakos discloses transmission system where a user terminal will receive a first set of multi-path signals (Fig. 9, paragraph 8, 92-93, 105-112), generate channel change information (report including channel quality information (paragraph 108-112), wherein the channel change information and historical information (modified based upon report indicating SNR of prior set and channel quality indicator (CQI); paragraph 94-95, 99-102) is used to trigger the LMF and/or the base station to reconfigure at least one parameter type of power parameter, multipath parameter threshold or length of the multipath time interval (receiving second set of reference signals modified, with modified power or bandwidth based on the channel quality information; paragraph 94-95, 99-102) so as to more accurately determine the limiting factor in signals and prevent unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Huang’s system to include receiving channel change information transmitted from the terminal and/or a base station, and reconfiguring at least one of the parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval based on the historical information and the channel change information, as taught in combination with Manolakos, for the typical benefit of more accurately determining the limiting factor in signals and preventing unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
As to claim 14, Huang discloses wherein the parameter type of the power parameter is absolute power or relative power (paragraph 38, 165);
wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal (terminal device, see Fig. 5-7; paragraph 150), the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter (measured signal power; paragraph 162-169), arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception (transmission delays; paragraph 168), or a phase of the second path; or,
in case that the measuring end is a base station, the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter, arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception, an angle of arrival, or a phase of the second path.
As to claim 16, Huang discloses a measuring end (terminal device, Fig. 5, 9-10; paragraph 219-224), comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor (see Fig. 9, paragraph 219-224), wherein the memory is used to store a computer program (paragraph 219-224), the transceiver is used to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (paragraph 219-224), and the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory (paragraph 219-224) and perform the following operations of:
determining power parameters for multiple first paths, wherein the multiple first paths are paths other than a first detected path obtained by detecting a reference signal by the measuring end (paragraph 149-154, 162);
selecting at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on a multipath parameter threshold (maximum number of paths to report; paragraph 41, 163-164, 176) and the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 162-169); and
transmitting measurement information of the at least one second path (transmitting measurement results; paragraph 161),
wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold and the power parameters for the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold (number of signals to report; paragraph 41, 163-164, 176), the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured power levels of the signals; paragraph 162-169), a multipath time interval (paragraph 41, 145, 168, 174, 177) and delays of the multiple first paths (measured delays of each signal; paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177),
wherein the multipath time interval is determined based on a length of the multipath time interval and a delay of the first detected path (setting the first path reference signal as the reference delay and all other delays measured relative to the reference; paragraph 41, 145, 168, 174, 177),
While Huang discloses wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal, the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 149-154, 162), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 149-154, 162) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177), or
wherein in case that the measuring end is a base station (measurements first performed at network device; paragraph 171, 187, 201), the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 149-154, 162), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 149-154, 162) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 145, 168, 174, 177),
Huang fails to specifically disclose determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information.
In an analogous art, Manolakos discloses transmission system where a user terminal will receive a first set of multi-path signals (Fig. 9, paragraph 8, 92-93, 105-112), generate channel change information (report including channel quality information (paragraph 108-112), and determine a power parameter (second set of reference signals with modified power parameter; paragraph 94-95, 99-102) based on historical information and channel change information (modified based upon report indicating SNR of prior set and channel quality indicator (CQI); paragraph 94-95, 99-102) so as to more accurately determine the limiting factor in signals and prevent unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Huang’s system to include determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information, as taught in combination with Manolakos, for the typical benefit of more accurately determining the limiting factor in signals and preventing unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
As to claim 18, Huang discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold, the power parameters for the multiple first paths, the multipath time interval and the delays of the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting at least one first candidate path from the multiple first paths, wherein the first candidate path is the first path of which the power parameter is greater than or equal to the multipath parameter threshold (highest powers relative to the reference first path power; paragraph 38, 41, 165-165) and the delay is within the multipath time interval (delay relative to the shortest delay of the reference signal; paragraph 41, 145, 168); and
selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on a delay and/or a power parameter of the at least one first candidate path (paragraph 161-169).
As to claim 19, Huang discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on the delay and/or the power parameter of the at least one first candidate path comprises:
determining a front first number of the first candidate paths in ascending order of the delays as the second paths; or,
determining a front second number of the first candidate paths in descending order of the power parameters as the second paths (descending order of all paths based on received power to only report top powers signals; paragraph 164).
As to claim 24, Huang discloses wherein the parameter type of the power parameter is absolute power or relative power (paragraph 38, 165);
wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal (terminal device, see Fig. 5-7; paragraph 150), the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter (measured signal power; paragraph 162-169), arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception (transmission delays; paragraph 168), or a phase of the second path; or,
in case that the measuring end is a base station, the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter, arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception, an angle of arrival, or a phase of the second path.
As to claim 26, Huang discloses a position calculating end (positioning device, Fig. 5, 9; paragraph 219-220), comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor (see Fig. 9, paragraph 219-220), wherein the memory is used to store a computer program (paragraph 219-224), the transceiver is used to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (paragraph 219-220), and the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory (paragraph 219-220) and perform the method of claim 11 (see rejection of claim 11 above).
Claims 1, 3-4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18-19, 24, 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sosnin et al. (Sosnin) (US 2022/0113365) (of record) in view of Manolakos et al. (Manolakos) (US 2020/0007288) (of record).
As to claim 1, Sosnin discloses an information transmission method, applied to a measuring end (Fig. 2), comprising:
determining power parameters for multiple first paths, wherein the multiple first paths are paths other than a first detected path obtained by detecting a reference signal by the measuring end (paragraph 77-80, 181-188);
selecting at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on a multipath parameter threshold (paths with power above threshold; paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205) and the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 79, 178, 183, 187, 190, 192); and
transmitting measurement information of the at least one second path (reporting measurement results; paragraph 77-80, 178),
wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold and the power parameters for the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205), the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 79, 178, 183, 187, 190, 192), a multipath time interval (paragraph 37, 83, 178, 187, 190) and delays of the multiple first paths (measured delays of each signal; paragraph 37, 68, 99),
wherein the multipath time interval is determined based on a length of the multipath time interval and a delay of the first detected path (paragraph 26, 37, 83, 178, 187, 190).
While Sosnin discloses wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal, the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 199), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 199) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 199), or
wherein in case that the measuring end is a base station (see Fig. 6, paragraph 81, 145-168), the method further comprises:
receiving at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval transmitted from a location management function (LMF) and/or a terminal (paragraph 177, 179, 199); or,
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 199), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 199) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 199),
Sosnin fails to specifically disclose determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information.
In an analogous art, Manolakos discloses transmission system where a user terminal will receive a first set of multi-path signals (Fig. 9, paragraph 8, 92-93, 105-112), generate channel change information (report including channel quality information (paragraph 108-112), and determine a power parameter (second set of reference signals with modified power parameter; paragraph 94-95, 99-102) based on historical information and channel change information (modified based upon report indicating SNR of prior set and channel quality indicator (CQI); paragraph 94-95, 99-102) so as to more accurately determine the limiting factor in signals and prevent unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sosnin’s system to include determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information, as taught in combination with Manolakos, for the typical benefit of more accurately determining the limiting factor in signals and preventing unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
As to claim 3, Sosnin discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold, the power parameters for the multiple first paths, the multipath time interval and the delays of the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting at least one first candidate path from the multiple first paths, wherein the first candidate path is the first path of which the power parameter is greater than or equal to the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205) and the delay is within the multipath time interval (paragraph 37, 83, 178, 187, 190); and
selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on a delay and/or a power parameter of the at least one first candidate path (paragraph 78-80, 161-169).
As to claim 4, Sosnin discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on the delay and/or the power parameter of the at least one first candidate path comprises:
determining a front first number of the first candidate paths in ascending order of the delays as the second paths (paragraph 78); or,
determining a front second number of the first candidate paths in descending order of the power parameters as the second paths (paragraph 79, 190).
As to claim 9, Sosnin discloses wherein the parameter type of the power parameter is absolute power or relative power (paragraph 79, 190);
wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal (UE, paragraph 178), the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter (paragraph 79, 190), arrival time (paragraph 77-80, 178, 187), a time difference between transmission and reception (paragraph 37, 77-80, 178, 187), or a phase of the second path (paragraph 194); or,
in case that the measuring end is a base station, the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter, arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception, an angle of arrival, or a phase of the second path.
As to claim 11, Sosnin discloses an information transmission method, applied to a position calculating end (Fig. 1, paragraph 177), comprising:
receiving measurement information of at least one second path transmitted from a measuring end (transmitted measurement results from UE; paragraph 77-80, 177-179), wherein the at least one second path is selected from multiple first paths by the measuring end based on a multipath parameter threshold (paths with power above threshold; paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205) and the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 79, 178, 183, 187, 190, 192); and
positioning a terminal based on the measurement information of the at least one second path (determining position based upon the measurements; paragraph 177, 179),
wherein the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 199), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 199) or a length of a multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 199); and
transmitting at least one of the parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval to the measuring end (transmitted configuration information; paragraph 177, 179).
Sosnin fails to specifically disclose receiving channel change information transmitted from the terminal and/or a base station, and reconfiguring at least one of the parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval based on the historical information and the channel change information.
In an analogous art, Manolakos discloses transmission system where a user terminal will receive a first set of multi-path signals (Fig. 9, paragraph 8, 92-93, 105-112), generate channel change information (report including channel quality information (paragraph 108-112), wherein the channel change information and historical information (modified based upon report indicating SNR of prior set and channel quality indicator (CQI); paragraph 94-95, 99-102) is used to trigger the LMF and/or the base station to reconfigure at least one parameter type of power parameter, multipath parameter threshold or length of the multipath time interval (receiving second set of reference signals modified, with modified power or bandwidth based on the channel quality information; paragraph 94-95, 99-102) so as to more accurately determine the limiting factor in signals and prevent unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sosnin’s system to include receiving channel change information transmitted from the terminal and/or a base station, and reconfiguring at least one of the parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval based on the historical information and the channel change information, as taught in combination with Manolakos, for the typical benefit of more accurately determining the limiting factor in signals and preventing unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
As to claim 14, Sosnin discloses wherein the parameter type of the power parameter is absolute power or relative power (paragraph 79, 190);
wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal (UE, paragraph 178), the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter (paragraph 79, 190), arrival time (paragraph 77-80, 178, 187), a time difference between transmission and reception (paragraph 37, 77-80, 178, 187), or a phase of the second path (paragraph 194); or,
in case that the measuring end is a base station, the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter, arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception, an angle of arrival, or a phase of the second path.
As to claim 16, Sosnin discloses a measuring end (Fig. 2, 6; UE), comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor (see Fig. 6, paragraph 145-168), wherein the memory is used to store a computer program (paragraph 145-168), the transceiver is used to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (paragraph 145-168), and the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory (paragraph 145-168) and perform the following operations of:
determining power parameters for multiple first paths, wherein the multiple first paths are paths other than a first detected path obtained by detecting a reference signal by the measuring end (paragraph 77-80, 181-188);
selecting at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on a multipath parameter threshold (paths with power above threshold; paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205) and the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 79, 178, 183, 187, 190, 192); and
transmitting measurement information of the at least one second path (reporting measurement results; paragraph 77-80, 178),
wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold and the power parameters for the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205), the power parameters for the multiple first paths (measured signal power levels; paragraph 79, 178, 183, 187, 190, 192), a multipath time interval (paragraph 37, 83, 178, 187, 190) and delays of the multiple first paths (measured delays of each signal; paragraph 37, 68, 99),
wherein the multipath time interval is determined based on a length of the multipath time interval and a delay of the first detected path (paragraph 26, 37, 83, 178, 187, 190).
While Sosnin discloses wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal, the method further comprises:
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 199), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 199) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 199), or
wherein in case that the measuring end is a base station (see Fig. 6, paragraph 81, 145-168), the method further comprises:
receiving at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold or the length of the multipath time interval transmitted from a location management function (LMF) and/or a terminal (paragraph 177, 179, 199); or,
determining at least one of a parameter type of the power parameter (paragraph 199), the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 199) or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information (paragraph 199),
Sosnin fails to specifically disclose determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information.
In an analogous art, Manolakos discloses transmission system where a user terminal will receive a first set of multi-path signals (Fig. 9, paragraph 8, 92-93, 105-112), generate channel change information (report including channel quality information (paragraph 108-112), and determine a power parameter (second set of reference signals with modified power parameter; paragraph 94-95, 99-102) based on historical information and channel change information (modified based upon report indicating SNR of prior set and channel quality indicator (CQI); paragraph 94-95, 99-102) so as to more accurately determine the limiting factor in signals and prevent unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sosnin’s system to include determining the power parameter, the multipath parameter threshold, or the length of the multipath time interval based on historical information and channel change information, as taught in combination with Manolakos, for the typical benefit of more accurately determining the limiting factor in signals and preventing unnecessary increases in the power of the reference signal and bandwidth (paragraph 90).
As to claim 18, Sosnin discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the multiple first paths based on the multipath parameter threshold, the power parameters for the multiple first paths, the multipath time interval and the delays of the multiple first paths comprises:
selecting at least one first candidate path from the multiple first paths, wherein the first candidate path is the first path of which the power parameter is greater than or equal to the multipath parameter threshold (paragraph 77, 80, 183, 192, 199, 205) and the delay is within the multipath time interval (paragraph 37, 83, 178, 187, 190); and
selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on a delay and/or a power parameter of the at least one first candidate path (paragraph 78-80, 161-169).
As to claim 19, Sosnin discloses wherein selecting the at least one second path from the at least one first candidate path based on the delay and/or the power parameter of the at least one first candidate path comprises:
determining a front first number of the first candidate paths in ascending order of the delays as the second paths (paragraph 78); or,
determining a front second number of the first candidate paths in descending order of the power parameters as the second paths (paragraph 79, 190).
As to claim 24, Sosnin discloses wherein the parameter type of the power parameter is absolute power or relative power (paragraph 79, 190);
wherein in case that the measuring end is a terminal (UE, paragraph 178), the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter (paragraph 79, 190), arrival time (paragraph 77-80, 178, 187), a time difference between transmission and reception (paragraph 37, 77-80, 178, 187), or a phase of the second path (paragraph 194); or,
in case that the measuring end is a base station, the measurement information of the second path comprises at least one of a power parameter, arrival time, a time difference between transmission and reception, an angle of arrival, or a phase of the second path.
As to claim 26, Sosnin discloses a position calculating end (position calculating node, see Fig. 6, paragraph 145-168, 177), comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor (see Fig. 6, paragraph 145-168), wherein the memory is used to store a computer program (see Fig. 6, paragraph 145-168), the transceiver is used to transmit and receive data under control of the processor (see Fig. 6, paragraph 145-168), and the processor is used to read the computer program in the memory (see Fig. 6, paragraph 145-168), and perform the method of claim 11 (see rejection of claim 11 above).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James R Sheleheda whose telephone number is (571)272-7357. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-5 pm CST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Benjamin Bruckart can be reached at (571) 272-3982. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/James R Sheleheda/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2424