CTNF 18/702,567 CTNF 78754 DETAILED ACTION This Office action is in response to the preliminary amendment and the application filed on 18 April 2024. Claims 1-30 are cancelled. Claims 31-44 are new and presented for examination. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-16-aia AIA Claim s 31-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) based upon a public use or sale or other public availability of the invention. HUAWEI et al., “Positioning support in RRC-_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE”, R2-2101230 . As to claim 31, HUAWEI discloses, substantially in invention as claimed, including a method performed by a User Equipment, UE (the UE) , for performing positioning measurements, the method comprising: being configured to perform a positioning measurement in a first Radio Resource Control, RRC, state (RRC1) ( section 4.3.1, “ the UE may only need to send its PRS capability in the first time when the UE performs positioning in RRC_CONNECTED and LMP can keep its PRS capability ever since”, wherein “RRC_CONNECTED” is an example of the a first RRC state; “capability distinction between UEs positioning procedures while in Connected and Inactive/Idle state” ; section 4.3.2, “ while the UE is initially in RCC_CONNECTED, the network can send LPP message with DL-PRS configuration to the UE. The UE can then keep this configuration when the UE transits to RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE”, “reused for PRS measurement IDLE/INACTIVE positioning” ; section 4.4.1, “LMF can provide assistant information to NG-RAN to help NG-RAN to decide configuring the UE to continuing sending SRS when the UE is released to INACTIVE” , which means that prior to the release to INACTIVE, the UE was sending SRS and thus performing a positioning measurement in RRC1) ; being triggered to transition from RRC1 to a second RRC state (RRC2), wherein RRC1 comprises an RRC_INACTIVE state and RRC2 comprises an RRC_CONNECTED state ( sections: 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.4.1 as cited, wherein the release, see “when the UE is released to INACTIVE” , is a trigger to transition to RRC2 ; also see in section 4.3.2 , “As such RRC release should not be massive message. The PRS AD may be large and we need to see if RRC release msg is good to carry such info.” , and in section 4.4.1 , “ to help the NG-RAN to decide to include the SRS configurations in the RRC release message, or help the NG_RAN to decide to release the UE to INACTIVE to sending SRS when there is no data service” ; section 4.3.3 , “It can also be sent along with the DL-PRS assistance information sent in RRCRelease” ; section 4.4.2 ) ; in response to the trigger, adapting an ongoing positioning measurement procedure based on one or more rules; wherein the one or more rules comprise continuing the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (see again section 4.3.2, as cited, wherein keeping/reusing the DL-PRS configuration and also using the PRS AD imply adapting the ongoing positioning measurement, wherein “ adapting” is in line with the example dependent claim 34 of this instant application understood in a broad sense ; section 4.3.3 , “ The LMF can send the message to the UE while the UE in CONNECTED by setting the type for the request as periodicalReporting and the UE can continue the measurement in IDLE/INACTIVE” ; section 4.4. 1, as cited. wherein the UE continuing sending SRS according to the SRS configurations in the RRC release message is an adaptation, too ; sections 4.3.1, 4.4.2 ) ; and performing the positioning measurement based on the adapted measurement procedure ( sections 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.4.1 as cited, sections 4.3.4 , “after the receiving the RequestLocationInformation message and the indication of continuing the measurement in IDLE/INACTIVE, the UE can then measure PRS of multiple TRPs and report the measurement results to the network in RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE” ) . As to claim 32, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: informing a network node about the results of the measurement adaptation (sections 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.4.1) . As to claim 33, HUAWEI discloses, wherein the one or more rules are pre-defined and/or configured by the network node (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . As to claim 34, HUAWEI discloses, wherein the one or more rules comprise one or more of: abandoning or discarding the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; restarting the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; and abandoning or discarding the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 and restarting the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . As to claim 35, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises only a downlink measurement component (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . As to claim 36, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises: Reference Signal Time Difference, RSTD, and/or Positioning Reference Signal-Reference Signal Received Power, PRS-RSRP (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . As to claim 37, HUAWEI discloses, a method performed by a network node (Figure 2, the gNB), in section 4.2) for enabling positioning measurements, the method comprising: configuring a User Equipment, UE, (Figure 2, the UE) to perform a positioning measurement in a first Radio Resource Control, RRC, state (RRC1) ( section 4.3.1, “ the UE may only need to send its PRS capability in the first time when the UE performs positioning in RRC_CONNECTED and LMP can keep its PRS capability ever since”, wherein “RRC_CONNECTED” is an example of the a first RRC state; “capability distinction between UEs positioning procedures while in Connected and Inactive/Idle state” ; section 4.3.2, “ while the UE is initially in RCC_CONNECTED, the network can send LPP message with DL-PRS configuration to the UE. The UE can then keep this configuration when the UE transits to RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE”, “reused for PRS measurement IDLE/INACTIVE positioning” ; section 4.4.1, “LMF can provide assistant information to NG-RAN to help NG-RAN to decide configuring the UE to continuing sending SRS when the UE is released to INACTIVE” , which means that prior to the release to INACTIVE, the UE was sending SRS and thus performing a positioning measurement in RRC1) ; triggering the user equipment to transition from RRC1 to a second RRC state (RRC2), wherein RRC1 comprises an RRC_INACTIVE state and RRC2 comprises an RRC_CONNECTED state ( sections: 4.3.1, 4.3.2, 4.4.1 as cited, wherein the release, see “when the UE is released to INACTIVE” , is a trigger to transition to RRC2 ; also see in section 4.3.2 , “As such RRC release should not be massive message. The PRS AD may be large and we need to see if RRC release msg is good to carry such info.” , and in section 4.4.1 , “ to help the NG-RAN to decide to include the SRS configurations in the RRC release message, or help the NG_RAN to decide to release the UE to INACTIVE to sending SRS when there is no data service” ; section 4.3.3 , “It can also be sent along with the DL-PRS assistance information sent in RRCRelease” ; section 4.4.2 ) ; in response to the trigger, the user equipment adapting ongoing positioning measurement procedure based on one or more rules, wherein the one or more rules comprise continuing the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (see again section 4.3.2, as cited, wherein keeping/reusing the DL-PRS configuration and also using the PRS AD imply adapting the ongoing positioning measurement, wherein “ adapting” is in line with the example dependent claim 34 of this instant application understood in a broad sense ; section 4.3.3 , “ The LMF can send the message to the UE while the UE in CONNECTED by setting the type for the request as periodicalReporting and the UE can continue the measurement in IDLE/INACTIVE” ; section 4.4. 1, as cited; wherein the UE continuing sending SRS according to the SRS configurations in the RRC release message is an adaptation, too ; sections 4.3.1, 4.4.2 ) ; and receiving the positioning measurement based on the adapted measurement procedure ( sections 4.3.2, 4.3.3, 4.4.1 as cited, sections 4.3.4 , “after the receiving the RequestLocationInformation message and the indication of continuing the measurement in IDLE/INACTIVE, the UE can then measure PRS of multiple TRPs and report the measurement results to the network in RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE” ) . As to claim 38, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: configuring the user equipment with one or more rules (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) .. As to claim 39, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: receiving information about the results of the measurement adaptation (sections 4.3.3, 4.3.4, 4.4.1) .. As to claim 40, HUAWEI discloses, wherein the one or more rules comprise one or more of: abandoning or discarding the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; restarting the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2; and abandoning or discarding the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 and restarting the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . As to claim 41, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises only a downlink measurement component (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . As to claim 42, HUAWEI discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises: Reference Signal Time Difference, RSTD, and/or Positioning Reference Signal-Reference Signal Received Power, PRS-RSRP (sections 4.3.1 - 4.3.4, 4.4.1, 4.4.2) . . Claim 43 corresponds to the UE claim of the method claim 31; therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale as in the method claim 31 shown above . Claim 44 corresponds to the Network Device claim of the method claim 37; therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale as in the method claim 37 shown above . ----------------------------- Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – 07-12-aia AIA (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 31-42 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by SAILY et al. US 2022/0299589 A1 . As to claim 31, SAILY discloses substantially the invention as claimed, including a method performed by a User Equipment, UE , (Figures 3, the UE 350) for performing positioning measurements, the method comprising: being configured to perform a positioning measurement in a first Radio Resource Control, RRC, state (RRC1) (Figure 3, and associated paragraphs, “in step 323, the UE 350 receives from the Network Entity 360, the at least one RRCConnectionRelease message comprising at least one positioning during an inactive state, such as RRC_INACTIVE state) and additionally the RRCReconfiguration message comprising at least one measurement configuration configured for positioning measurement and/or mobility”, [41]) ; being triggered to transition from RRC1 (an RRC_INACTIVE, step 325 in Figure 3) to a second RRC state (RRC2) (an RRC_CONNECTED, step 347 in Figure 3) , wherein RRC1 comprises an RRC_INACTIVE state and RRC2 comprises an RRC_CONNECTED state (“in step 323, t he UE 350 receives from the Network Entity 360, the at least one RRCConnectionRelease message comprising at least one positioning during an inactive state, such as RRC_INACTIVE state) and additionally the RRCReconfiguration message comprising at least one measurement configuration configured for positioning measurement and/or mobility ”; the UE 350 receives the at least one location aware trigger from the NE 360 to cause the UE 350 to report, based on at least one positioning method used by the UE 350, at least one UE location and/or at least one UE positioning measurement data. This may be performed during a transition to a connected state, such as RRC_CONNECTED , [41]); in step 333, while in an RRC_INACTIVE STATE, UE 350 may trigger at least one state transition operation to transition to at least ONE CONNECTED STATE, such as RRC_CONNECTED, …, [50];..[56]) ; in response to the trigger, adapting (applying) an ongoing positioning measurement procedure (applying a position measurement procedure # 3) based on one or more rules (Figure 3, one or more the procedure #1, the procedure#2, the procedure#3) ; wherein the one or more rules comprise continuing the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (Figures 3, 4, and associated paragraphs, steps 321-347) ; and performing (reporting) the positioning measurement based on the adapted measurement procedure (Figures 3, 4, and associated paragraphs, steps 321-347). As to claim 32, SAILY discloses, comprising: informing a network node (Figure 3, the Network Entity 360) about the results of the measurement adaptation (Figure 3, and associated paragraphs) . As to claim 33, SAILY discloses, wherein the one or more rules are pre-defined and/or configured by the network node (Figures 3-4, and associated paragraphs, [27]-[29]) . As to claim 34, SAILY discloses, wherein the one or more rules comprise one or more of: abandoning (stopping) or discarding (stopping) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; restarting (resuming) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; and abandoning (stopping) or discarding (stopping) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 and restarting (resuming) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (Figures 1-6, and associated paragraphs, [27]-[32]) . As to claim 35, SAILY discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises only a downlink measurement component (Figures 1-6, and associated paragraphs, [27]-[31]) . As to claim 36, SAILY discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises: Reference Signal Time Difference, RSTD , and/or Positioning Reference Signal-Reference Signal Received Power, PRS-RSRP (Figures 3-6, and associated paragraphs, [91]) . As to claim 37, SAILY discloses, a method performed by a network node (Figure 3, the Network Entity (NE) 360) for enabling positioning measurements, the method comprising: configuring a User Equipment, UE, (The UE 350) to perform a positioning measurement in a first Radio Resource Control, RRC, state (RRC1) (Figure 3, and associated paragraphs, “in step 323, the Network Entity (NE) 360 transmits to the UE 350, the at least one RRCConnectionRelease message comprising at least one positioning during an inactive state, such as RRC_INACTIVE state) and additionally the RRCReconfiguration message comprising at least one measurement configuration configured for positioning measurement and/or mobility”, [41]) ; triggering the user equipment to transition from RRC1 (an RRC_INACTIVE, step 325 in Figure 3) to a second RRC state (RRC2) , wherein RRC1 comprises an RRC_INACTIVE state and RRC2 comprises an RRC_CONNECTED state (an RRC_CONNECTED, step 347 in Figure 3) , in response to the trigger, the user equipment adapting ongoing positioning measurement procedure (applying a position measurement procedure # 3) based on one or more rules (Figure 3, one or more the procedure #1, the procedure#2, the procedure#3) , wherein the one or more rules comprise continuing the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (Figures 3, 4, and associated paragraphs, steps 321-347) ; and receiving the positioning measurement based on the adapted measurement procedure (Figures 3, 4, and associated paragraphs, steps 321-347) . As to claim 38, SAILY discloses, further comprising: configuring the user equipment with one or more rules (Figures 3-4, and associated paragraphs, [27]-[29]) . As to claim 39, SAILY discloses, comprising: receiving information about the results of the measurement adaptation (Figure 3, and associated paragraphs) . As to claim 40, SAILY discloses, wherein the one or more rules comprise one or more of: abandoning (stopping) or discarding (stopping) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; restarting (resuming) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2; and abandoning (stopping) or discarding (stopping) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 and restarting (resuming) the ongoing positioning measurement in RRC1 after the transition to RRC2 (Figures 1-6, and associated paragraphs, [27]-[32]) . As to claim 41, SAILY discloses, further comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises only a downlink measurement component (Figures 1-6, and associated paragraphs, [27]-[31]) . As to claim 42, SAILY discloses, comprising: continuing the ongoing positioning measurement after the transition to RRC2 if the positioning measurement comprises: Reference Signal Time Difference, RSTD , and/or Positioning Reference Signal-Reference Signal Received Power, PRS-RSRP (Figures 3-6, and associated paragraphs, [91]) . Claim 43 corresponds to the UE claim of the method claim 31; therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale as in the method claim 31 shown above . Claim 44 corresponds to the Network Device claim of the method claim 37; therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale as in the method claim 37 shown above. The prior art cited in this Office are: HUAWEI et al., “Positioning support in RRC-_IDLE and RRC_INACTIVE”, R2-2101230; SAILY et al. US 2022/0299589 A1. ------------------------- Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAI V NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3901. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:00AM -3:30PM. 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, Kevin Pan can be reached at 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /HAI V NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 2 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 3 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 4 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 5 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 6 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 7 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 8 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 9 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 10 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 11 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 12 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 13 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 14 Art Unit: 2649 Application/Control Number: 18/702,567 Page 15 Art Unit: 2649
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