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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3 and 5-7 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 1-3 and 5-7 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 1, 5, and 6 recite the limitation "a plurality of the sets" in lines 12, 12, and 14, respectively. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claim 1, claim 1 recites “a plurality of the sets”, whereas line 7 of the claim recites “a set of the positioning preamble”. It is unclear whether “a plurality of the sets” is intended to refer to or is related to “a set of the positioning preamble”. Claims 5 and 6 are rejected for the same reasons. Claims 2-3 and 7 are rejected as being dependent upon rejected claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 3, and 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goyal et al. (US 2022/0167301 A1)(hereinafter “Goyal”) in view of Khoryaev et al. (US 2022/0110085 A1)(hereinafter “Khoryaev”) and further in view of Li (US 2023/0292281 A1)(hereinafter “Li”).
Regarding claim 1, Goyal discloses a terminal (Fig. 1B, [¶0043]: WTRU 102) comprising:
a transmitting section (Fig. 1B, [¶0043]: transceiver 120) that transmits a positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0134]: a WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG1 1114, which may be referred to herein as a positioning request, to the reference BS 1101. The positioning request 1114 may be conveyed (e.g., transmitted) using any of transmitting a positioning specific preamble and transmitting in a positioning specific resource.);
a receiving section (Fig. 1B, [¶0043]: transceiver 120) that receives information related to timing advance for uplink transmission with a base station determined based on the positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0135]: after sending a positioning request 1114 (e.g., any of a positioning preamble transmission and a transmission in a positioning resource), the WTRU 1110 may monitor for reception of a positioning MSG2 RAR 1116 (e.g., a PRAR), for example in a PRAR (e.g., time) window 1115. [¶0136]: a PRAR 1116 may include any of a timing advance (TA) value, a temporary WTRU identifier (e.g., temporary cell (T-CRNTI), a bandwidth part (BWP), a set of resources (e.g., time/frequency resources) to transmit the WTRU (e.g., unique) ID, the UL configuration (e.g., time/frequency resources) to transmit the uplink reference signals (e.g. any of the uplink positioning reference signals UL PRS, UL SRS, UL DM-RS).); and
a control section (Fig. 1B, [¶0043]: processor 118) that controls, based on the information, uplink transmission to the base station (Fig. 11, [¶0138]: if a WTRU 1110 receives a PRAR 1116 that may be intended for it (e.g., indicating a positioning preamble transmitted by the WTRU 1110 in the positioning request 1114), the WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG3 1118 including its (e.g., unique) WTRU ID and a repetition 1120 of UL PRS transmissions 1118 on the indicated resources. [¶0139]: the WTRU 1110 may apply the indicated TA to its transmission (e.g., in the UL).),
wherein the transmitting section transmits… a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0138]: if a WTRU 1110 receives a PRAR 1116 that may be intended for it (e.g., indicating a positioning preamble transmitted by the WTRU 1110 in the positioning request 1114), the WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG3 1118 including its (e.g., unique) WTRU ID and a repetition 1120 of UL positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions 1118 on the indicated resources.),
wherein the positioning preamble and the positioning signal are multiplexed by frequency division multiplexing in the same time (Fig. 7, [0120]: according to embodiments, the WTRU may modulate the data as (e.g., QPSK) symbols and may multiplex the data in time with the RACH preamble (e.g., the data may be appended to the RACH preamble). In a step 772, the WTRU may transmit the RACH preamble appended with the positioning measurement report in the (e.g., target) PRACH resource. [0125]: the measurement may be multiplexed (e.g. any of time, frequency, code multiplexing) with other physical channels (e.g. any of PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH, etc.). Accordingly, Goyal discloses multiplexing of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal, and that frequency division multiplexing may be used to multiplex signals. [0029]: the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.)….
Although Goyal discloses transmitting a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble, Goyal does not explicitly disclose transmitting the set of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble. However, Khoryaev discloses wherein the transmitting section transmits, during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble (Fig. 1, [0046]: at 102, a UE can provide a MsgA to a gNB node. The MsgA can include a physical random access channel preamble and a random positioning request. The random positioning request can be included within message 1 from 4-step RACH. At 104, the gNB detects PRACH preamble and positioning request, and sends a positioning response as MsgB. The positing response can be incorporated, for instance, within message 2 of 4-step RACH. Examiner respectfully submits that a broadest reasonable interpretation of “a positioning signal” encompasses the random positioning request disclosed by Khoryaev.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a set of a positioning preamble and a positioning signal, as taught by Goyal, to include transmitting of the set of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning signal, as taught by Khoryaev. Doing so allows for more efficient use of system resources (see Khoryaev [¶0056]).
Goyal in view of Khoryaev does not explicitly disclose wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble. However, Li discloses wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble (Fig. 7, [0098]: in block 641, the terminal device sends the at least one preamble corresponding to the n positioning random access resources with the at least one random access channel resource corresponding to the n positioning random access resources. [0103]: in an implementation, n preambles are sent to different TRPs of different cells. In another implementation, n preambles are sent to different TRPs of a same cell. In yet another implementation, n preambles are sent to a same TRP of a same cell. Fig. 8, [0104]: in a case where n is 3, the terminal device sends 3 preambles to the network device(s). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 3 of the neighboring cell (i.e., the same TRP of the same cell). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 1 and TRP 2 of the serving cell (i.e., different TRPs of the same cell). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 1 and TRP 2 of the serving cell and TRP 3 of the neighboring cell (i.e., different TRPs of different cells). [0105]: in block 650, the one or more network devices receive the at least one preamble corresponding to the n positioning random access resources with the at least one random access channel resource corresponding to the n positioning random access resources.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a set of a positioning preamble and a positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, as taught by the combination of Goyal and Khoryaev, to include wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, as taught by Li. Doing so allows improving the accuracy of positioning and reducing the positioning delay (see Li [0125]).
Regarding claim 3, Goyal in view of Khoryaev and further in view of Li discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Goyal also disclose wherein the transmitting section transmits the positioning preamble on the basis of a configuration different from a configuration of a normal random access preamble ([¶0133]: the positioning preambles may be different from other preambles assigned to (e.g., any other) RACH procedures.).
Regarding claim 5, Goyal discloses a radio communication method for a terminal (Fig. 1B, [¶0043]: WTRU 102), the radio communication method comprising:
transmitting a positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0134]: a WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG1 1114, which may be referred to herein as a positioning request, to the reference BS 1101. The positioning request 1114 may be conveyed (e.g., transmitted) using any of transmitting a positioning specific preamble and transmitting in a positioning specific resource.);
receiving information related to timing advance for uplink transmission with a base station determined based on the positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0135]: after sending a positioning request 1114 (e.g., any of a positioning preamble transmission and a transmission in a positioning resource), the WTRU 1110 may monitor for reception of a positioning MSG2 RAR 1116 (e.g., a PRAR), for example in a PRAR (e.g., time) window 1115. [¶0136]: a PRAR 1116 may include any of a timing advance (TA) value, a temporary WTRU identifier (e.g., temporary cell (T-CRNTI), a bandwidth part (BWP), a set of resources (e.g., time/frequency resources) to transmit the WTRU (e.g., unique) ID, the UL configuration (e.g., time/frequency resources) to transmit the uplink reference signals (e.g. any of the uplink positioning reference signals UL PRS, UL SRS, UL DM-RS).). [¶0140]: the reference BS 1101, after receiving a positioning preamble from a WTRU 1110, may send 1130 the assigned temporary identifier (e.g., T-CRNTI or TP-RNTI) and the UL configuration (related to WTRU ID and UL PRS) to the positioning server 1103, which, the positioning server 1103 may further send 1132 to the neighboring BSs 1102.); and
controlling, based on the information, uplink transmission to the base station (Fig. 11, [¶0138]: if a WTRU 1110 receives a PRAR 1116 that may be intended for it (e.g., indicating a positioning preamble transmitted by the WTRU 1110 in the positioning request 1114), the WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG3 1118 including its (e.g., unique) WTRU ID and a repetition 1120 of UL PRS transmissions 1118 on the indicated resources. [¶0139]: the WTRU 1110 may apply the indicated TA to its transmission (e.g., in the UL).), and
transmitting… a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0138]: if a WTRU 1110 receives a PRAR 1116 that may be intended for it (e.g., indicating a positioning preamble transmitted by the WTRU 1110 in the positioning request 1114), the WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG3 1118 including its (e.g., unique) WTRU ID and a repetition 1120 of UL positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions 1118 on the indicated resources.),…
wherein the positioning preamble and the positioning signal are multiplexed by frequency division multiplexing in the same time (Fig. 7, [0120]: according to embodiments, the WTRU may modulate the data as (e.g., QPSK) symbols and may multiplex the data in time with the RACH preamble (e.g., the data may be appended to the RACH preamble). In a step 772, the WTRU may transmit the RACH preamble appended with the positioning measurement report in the (e.g., target) PRACH resource. [0125]: the measurement may be multiplexed (e.g. any of time, frequency, code multiplexing) with other physical channels (e.g. any of PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH, etc.). Accordingly, Goyal discloses multiplexing of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal, and that frequency division multiplexing may be used to multiplex signals. [0029]: the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.)….
Although Goyal discloses transmitting a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble, Goyal does not explicitly disclose transmitting the set of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble. However, Khoryaev discloses wherein the transmitting section transmits, during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble (Fig. 1, [0046]: at 102, a UE can provide a MsgA to a gNB node. The MsgA can include a physical random access channel preamble and a random positioning request. The random positioning request can be included within message 1 from 4-step RACH. At 104, the gNB detects PRACH preamble and positioning request, and sends a positioning response as MsgB. The positing response can be incorporated, for instance, within message 2 of 4-step RACH. Examiner respectfully submits that a broadest reasonable interpretation of “a positioning signal” encompasses the random positioning request disclosed by Khoryaev.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a set of a positioning preamble and a positioning signal, as taught by Goyal, to include transmitting of the set of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning signal, as taught by Khoryaev. Doing so allows for more efficient use of system resources (see Khoryaev [¶0056]).
Goyal in view of Khoryaev does not explicitly disclose wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble. However, Li discloses wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble (Fig. 7, [0098]: in block 641, the terminal device sends the at least one preamble corresponding to the n positioning random access resources with the at least one random access channel resource corresponding to the n positioning random access resources. [0103]: in an implementation, n preambles are sent to different TRPs of different cells. In another implementation, n preambles are sent to different TRPs of a same cell. In yet another implementation, n preambles are sent to a same TRP of a same cell. Fig. 8, [0104]: in a case where n is 3, the terminal device sends 3 preambles to the network device(s). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 3 of the neighboring cell (i.e., the same TRP of the same cell). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 1 and TRP 2 of the serving cell (i.e., different TRPs of the same cell). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 1 and TRP 2 of the serving cell and TRP 3 of the neighboring cell (i.e., different TRPs of different cells). [0105]: in block 650, the one or more network devices receive the at least one preamble corresponding to the n positioning random access resources with the at least one random access channel resource corresponding to the n positioning random access resources.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a set of a positioning preamble and a positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, as taught by the combination of Goyal and Khoryaev, to include wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, as taught by Li. Doing so allows improving the accuracy of positioning and reducing the positioning delay (see Li [0125]).
Regarding claim 6, Goyal discloses a base station (Fig. 11, BS 1101) comprising:
a receiving section ([¶0190]: according to embodiments, an apparatus comprising circuitry, including any of a transmitter, receiver, processor and memory, may be configured to carry out a method according to any of FIG. 16, FIG. 17 and FIG. 18. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be any of a WTRU and a base station.) that receives a positioning preamble from a terminal (Fig. 11, [¶0134]: a WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG1 1114, which may be referred to herein as a positioning request, to the reference BS 1101. The positioning request 1114 may be conveyed (e.g., transmitted) using any of transmitting a positioning specific preamble and transmitting in a positioning specific resource.);
a control section ([¶0190]: according to embodiments, an apparatus comprising circuitry, including any of a transmitter, receiver, processor and memory, may be configured to carry out a method according to any of FIG. 16, FIG. 17 and FIG. 18. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be any of a WTRU and a base station.) that judges the base station is determined as a base station to perform communication with the terminal on the basis of the positioning preamble [¶0134]: the WTRU 1110 may transmit the selected positioning specific preamble to the reference BS 1101 using a (e.g., time/frequency) resource or may transmit a (e.g., any) preamble (e.g., assigned for idle/inactive mode positioning or for other purposes such as RACH procedure) in positioning specific resources (e.g., specially) reserved for positioning request transmission. Examiner notes that the reference BS determines that is the one involved in the positioning procedure. [¶0135]: after sending a positioning request 1114 (e.g., any of a positioning preamble transmission and a transmission in a positioning resource), the WTRU 1110 may monitor for reception of a positioning MSG2 RAR 1116 (e.g., a PRAR), for example in a PRAR (e.g., time) window 1115. [¶0136]: a PRAR 1116 may include any of a timing advance (TA) value, a temporary WTRU identifier (e.g., temporary cell (T-CRNTI), a bandwidth part (BWP), a set of resources (e.g., time/frequency resources) to transmit the WTRU (e.g., unique) ID, the UL configuration (e.g., time/frequency resources) to transmit the uplink reference signals (e.g. any of the uplink positioning reference signals UL PRS, UL SRS, UL DM-RS).); and
a transmitting section ([¶0190]: according to embodiments, an apparatus comprising circuitry, including any of a transmitter, receiver, processor and memory, may be configured to carry out a method according to any of FIG. 16, FIG. 17 and FIG. 18. In an embodiment, the apparatus may be any of a WTRU and a base station.) that transmits information related to timing advance for uplink transmission, wherein the receiving section receives uplink transmission controlled based on the information (Fig. 11, [¶0138]: if a WTRU 1110 receives a PRAR 1116 that may be intended for it (e.g., indicating a positioning preamble transmitted by the WTRU 1110 in the positioning request 1114), the WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG3 1118 including its (e.g., unique) WTRU ID and a repetition 1120 of UL PRS transmissions 1118 on the indicated resources. [¶0139]: the WTRU 1110 may apply the indicated TA to its transmission (e.g., in the UL).),
wherein a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble is transmitted… (Fig. 11, [¶0138]: if a WTRU 1110 receives a PRAR 1116 that may be intended for it (e.g., indicating a positioning preamble transmitted by the WTRU 1110 in the positioning request 1114), the WTRU 1110 may transmit a positioning MSG3 1118 including its (e.g., unique) WTRU ID and a repetition 1120 of UL positioning reference signal (PRS) transmissions 1118 on the indicated resources.),
wherein the positioning preamble and the positioning signal are multiplexed by frequency division multiplexing in the same time (Fig. 7, [0120]: according to embodiments, the WTRU may modulate the data as (e.g., QPSK) symbols and may multiplex the data in time with the RACH preamble (e.g., the data may be appended to the RACH preamble). In a step 772, the WTRU may transmit the RACH preamble appended with the positioning measurement report in the (e.g., target) PRACH resource. [0125]: the measurement may be multiplexed (e.g. any of time, frequency, code multiplexing) with other physical channels (e.g. any of PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH, etc.). Accordingly, Goyal discloses multiplexing of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal, and that frequency division multiplexing may be used to multiplex signals. [0029]: the communications systems 100 may employ one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), zero-tail unique-word DFT-Spread OFDM (ZT UW DTS-s OFDM), unique word OFDM (UW-OFDM), resource block-filtered OFDM, filter bank multicarrier (FBMC), and the like.)….
Although Goyal discloses transmitting a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble, Goyal does not explicitly disclose transmitting the set of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble. However, Khoryaev discloses wherein the transmitting section transmits, during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, a set of the positioning preamble and a positioning signal different from the positioning preamble (Fig. 1, [0046]: at 102, a UE can provide a MsgA to a gNB node. The MsgA can include a physical random access channel preamble and a random positioning request. The random positioning request can be included within message 1 from 4-step RACH. At 104, the gNB detects PRACH preamble and positioning request, and sends a positioning response as MsgB. The positing response can be incorporated, for instance, within message 2 of 4-step RACH. Examiner respectfully submits that a broadest reasonable interpretation of “a positioning signal” encompasses the random positioning request disclosed by Khoryaev.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a set of a positioning preamble and a positioning signal, as taught by Goyal, to include transmitting of the set of the positioning preamble and the positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning signal, as taught by Khoryaev. Doing so allows for more efficient use of system resources (see Khoryaev [¶0056]).
Goyal in view of Khoryaev does not explicitly disclose wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble. However, Li discloses wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble (Fig. 7, [0098]: in block 641, the terminal device sends the at least one preamble corresponding to the n positioning random access resources with the at least one random access channel resource corresponding to the n positioning random access resources. [0103]: in an implementation, n preambles are sent to different TRPs of different cells. In another implementation, n preambles are sent to different TRPs of a same cell. In yet another implementation, n preambles are sent to a same TRP of a same cell. Fig. 8, [0104]: in a case where n is 3, the terminal device sends 3 preambles to the network device(s). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 3 of the neighboring cell (i.e., the same TRP of the same cell). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 1 and TRP 2 of the serving cell (i.e., different TRPs of the same cell). These 3 preambles may be sent to TRP 1 and TRP 2 of the serving cell and TRP 3 of the neighboring cell (i.e., different TRPs of different cells). [0105]: in block 650, the one or more network devices receive the at least one preamble corresponding to the n positioning random access resources with the at least one random access channel resource corresponding to the n positioning random access resources.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a set of a positioning preamble and a positioning signal during a random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, as taught by the combination of Goyal and Khoryaev, to include wherein a plurality of the sets are transmitted during the random access procedure related to the positioning preamble, as taught by Li. Doing so allows improving the accuracy of positioning and reducing the positioning delay (see Li [0125]).
Claims 2 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Goyal in view of Khoryaev and further in view of Li, and still further in view of Wong et al. (US 2019/0182794 A1)(hereinafter “Wong”)(submitted with IDS filed 07/01/2025).
Regarding claim 2, Goyal in view of Khoryaev and further in view of Li discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Goyal in view of Khoryaev and further in view of Li does not disclose wherein the base station is determined from a plurality of base stations on the basis of a reception timing of the positioning preamble. However, Wong discloses wherein the base station is determined from a plurality of base stations on the basis of a reception timing of the positioning preamble (Fig. 11, [¶0086]: moving to step 11d, the UE transmits the Positioning Preamble, which is received by both eNB1 and eNB2, and the times of reception noted. After this first preamble transmission, the network calculates a first estimate of the UE's location, using triangulation based on the reception times at the various eNBs and their positions (step 11e). In this example, the UE is estimated to be within eNB1's coverage area (cell). Accordingly, Wong discloses the UE determining a particular eNB from a plurality of eNBs (e.g., base stations) based on reception timing of the positioning preamble.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a positioning preamble, as taught by Goyal, to determine a base station from a plurality of base stations on the basis of reception timing of the positioning preamble, as taught by Wong. Doing so allows for more accurate estimation of the UEs position (See Wong [¶0086]).
Regarding claim 7, Goyal in view of Khoryaev and further in view of Li, and still further in view of Wong discloses all features of claim 2 as outlined above.
Goyal also discloses wherein the transmitting section transmits the positioning preamble on the basis of a configuration different from a configuration of a normal random access preamble ([¶0133]: the positioning preambles may be different from other preambles assigned to (e.g., any other) RACH procedures.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the procedure including transmitting of a positioning preamble wherein the transmitting section transmits the positioning preamble on the basis of a configuration different from a configuration of a normal random access preamble, as taught by the combination of Goyal, Khoryaev, and Li, to determine a base station from a plurality of base stations on the basis of reception timing of the positioning preamble, as taught by Wong. Doing so allows for more accurate estimation of the UEs position (See Wong [¶0086]).
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.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 MICHAEL W MADDOX whose telephone number is (571)272-5834. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5:00pm, 1st F 7:30am-4:00pm, 2nd F off.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad M Nawaz can be reached at 571-272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL WAYNE MADDOX/Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/CHI TANG P CHENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
Prosecution Insights