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 Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on July 28, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1-2, 9, 12-13, 20 and 24 have been amended. Claims 3, 8, 10-11, 16, 19, 22 and 27-31 were previously canceled. Claim 32 has been added. Claims 1-2, 4-7, 9, 12-15, 27-21, 23-26 and 32 are still pending in this application, with claims a, 12 and 20 being independent.
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 12-15 and 17-18 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. In claim 12, Applicants’ indicate that the first indication is sent to the location management function and the access network device. Then in claim 12, it becomes one or the other. The specification supports sending the first message to one or the other as well as figure 6. Additionally the first indication sent to the LMF is a different message than what is sent to the access network device as shown in [00127] and [00135] of the filed specification. Therefore claim 12 is indefinite and not supported by the specification or the figures.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claims 20, 23-24 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Manolakos et al. (U.S. PGPub 2021/0385766), hereinafter referred to as ‘766.
Regarding claim 20, ‘766 discloses a method for processing information, performed by a Location Management Function (LMF) (LMF; See Fig. 1, #120), comprising:
receiving a first indication from a user equipment (UE) (the UE transmitting, to the location server, capabilities information indicating that the UE supports transmission of a reference signal for positioning transmissions with at least the timing accuracy; See [0119]), wherein the first indication indicates whether a UE has a capability of performing positioning in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) non-connected state (the UE transmitting, to the location server, capabilities information indicating that the UE supports transmission of a reference signal for positioning transmissions with at least the timing accuracy; See [0119]), wherein the capability of performing positioning in the RRC non- connected state comprises at least one of: the UE transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) in a RRC inactive state (where the network entity receives a reference signal for positioning the UE, the reference signal transmitted by the UE while the UE is in a power saving state. In an example, the reference signal may comprise an uplink SRS for positioning. Additionally or alternatively, the power saving state may correspond to a DRX-inactive state, an RRC-idle state, or an RRC-inactive state; See [0125]), or the UE measuring a positioning reference signal (PRS) in the RRC inactive state and a RRC idle state.
Regarding claim 23, ‘766 further discloses the method of claim 20, wherein the first indication is used to indicate at least one of: whether the UE supports to send an uplink positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state (Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL, DL, or DL-UL based) the types of reference signals used can vary. For DL-based positioning, for example, these signals may comprise PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by base stations or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for OTDOA, AOD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include Sounding Reference Signal (SRS); See [0053]); whether the UE supports to receive a positioning reference signal in the RRC non- connected state (Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL, DL, or DL-UL based) the types of reference signals used can vary. For DL-based positioning, for example, these signals may comprise PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by base stations or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for OTDOA, AOD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include Sounding Reference Signal (SRS); See [0053]); or whether the UE supports to use a Small Data Transmission (SDT) to send positioning data in the RRC non-connected state.
Regarding claim 24, ‘766 further discloses the method of claim 20, wherein the first indication is used to indicate at least one of: whether the UE supports to send an uplink
positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state (Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL, DL, or DL-UL based) the types of reference signals used can vary. For DL-based positioning, for example, these signals may comprise PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by base stations or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for OTDOA, AOD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include Sounding Reference Signal (SRS); See [0053]); whether the UE supports to receive a downlink positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state (Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL, DL, or DL-UL based) the types of reference signals used can vary. For DL-based positioning, for example, these signals may comprise PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by base stations or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for OTDOA, AOD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include Sounding Reference Signal (SRS); See [0053]); or whether the UE supports to use a Small Data Transmission (SDT) to send positioning data in the RRC non-connected state.
Regarding claim 26, ‘766 further discloses the method of claim 20, further comprising: determining the first indication based on a positioning capability of the UE (the network resource 450 may configure the UE 410 to enable the use of one of the timing accuracies. The UE transmitting, to the location server, capabilities information indicating that the UE supports transmission of a reference signal for positioning transmissions with at least the timing accuracy; See [0080] and [0119]).
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 9, 12-14, 17-18 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Edge et al. (U.S. PGPub 2022/0120842), hereinafter referred to as ‘842.
Regarding claim 1, ‘842 teaches a method for processing information, performed by an access network device (serving gNB; See Fig. 4A, #110-S) , comprising:
obtaining a first indication from a User Equipment (UE), wherein the first indication indicates whether the UE has a capability of performing positioning in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) non-connected state (At stage 13, the LMF 152 may perform a positioning procedure with the UE 102. During this stage, the LMF 152 may obtain the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also obtain an (initial) UE 102 location, e.g. by exchanging LPP messages with UE 102. The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state. The LMF 152 may then determine whether to enable, at stages 14 and 16, uplink positioning, downlink positioning and/or uplink and downlink positioning in an RRC Inactive, based on the UE 102 positioning capabilities. At stage 14, if UL positioning (e.g. Ul-TDOA or UL-AOA) or UL-DL positioning (e.g. multi-cell RTT) will be used while the UE 102 is in RRC Inactive state, the LMF 152 may either (i) provide an UL SRS configuration, in a variant referred to here as “Option A”, or (ii) may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to here as “Option B”, to the serving gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112, e.g., via an NRPPa Positioning Information Request message.; See Fig. 3, [0104]-[0105]).
wherein the capability of performing positioning in the RRC non-connected state comprises at least one of: the UE transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) in an RRC inactive state, or the UE measuring a positioning reference signal (PRS) in the RRC inactive state and an RRC idle state (Positioning methods (also referred to as position methods) can be classified as “uplink” (UL), “downlink” (DL) and “uplink and downlink” (UL-DL). A UL position method makes use of UL measurements of signals (e.g. PRS or SRS) transmitted by a target UE. The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state; See [0045] and [0104]-[0105]); and
sending an RRC release message to the UE according to the first indication (The UE may further receive an uplink (UL) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration in an RRC Release message. The UL SRS configuration may be compressed and may be based on UL SRS configurations previously received by the UE, e.g., in the request for periodic or triggered location. The UE may receive a first uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from the gNB, the first UL SRS configuration either received in the RRC Release or received just before or just after receiving the RRC Release; See [0053] and [0239]).
Regarding claim 2, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:
in response to the first indication indicating that the UE supports to send an uplink positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state, sending an RRC release message containing an uplink positioning signal configuration to the UE (the UE receives an RRC Release from the gNB, e.g., as discussed at stages 22.6 and 23.10 of FIG. 4A, stages 8 and 19b of FIG. 4B, and stages 7 and 11b of FIG. 4C. A; See Fig. 8, #810 and [0235]), or
in response to the first indication indicating that the UE does not support to send an uplink positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state, triggering the UE in the RRC non-connected state to enter an RRC connected state, and sending an RRC reconfiguration message containing an uplink positioning signal configuration to the UE in the RRC connected state.
Regarding claim 4, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 1,wherein the first indication is used to indicate at least one of:
whether the UE supports to send an uplink positioning reference signal in the RRC non- connected state (The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state; See [0104]);
whether the UE supports to receive a downlink positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state (The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state; See [0104]); or
whether the UE supports to use a Small Data Transmission (SDT) to send positioning data in the RRC non-connected state.
Regarding claim 5, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 1,wherein obtaining the first indication from the UE comprises:
receiving the first indication sent by a Location Management Function (LMF) (At stage 14, if UL positioning (e.g. Ul-TDOA or UL-AOA) or UL-DL positioning (e.g. multi-cell RTT) will be used while the UE 102 is in RRC Inactive state, the LMF 152 may either (i) provide an UL SRS configuration, in a variant referred to here as “Option A”, or (ii) may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to here as “Option B”, to the serving gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112, e.g., via an NRPPa Positioning Information Request message; See [0105]), wherein the first indication is sent by the UE to the LMF (At stage 13, the LMF 152 may perform a positioning procedure with the UE 102. During this stage, the LMF 152 may obtain the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also obtain an (initial) UE 102 location, e.g. by exchanging LPP messages with UE 102. The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state. The LMF 152 may then determine whether to enable, at stages 14 and 16, uplink positioning, downlink positioning and/or uplink and downlink positioning in an RRC Inactive, based on the UE 102 positioning capabilities; See Fig. 3, [0104]), or the first indication is determined by the LMF based on a positioning capability of the UE and sent to the access network device; or
receiving the first indication from the UE (At stage 22.3, the UE 102 sends an RRC Resume message to the serving gNB 110-S, which includes a location event indication to trigger UL positioning. The location event indication, for example, may be a bit sequence, flag or a bit that is set in the RRC Resume message to indicate a location event was detected; See [0116]).
Regarding claim 6, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 5, wherein receiving the first indication sent by the LMF comprises:
receiving a New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) positioning information request message containing the first indication from the LMF (At stage 14, if UL positioning (e.g. Ul-TDOA or UL-AOA) or UL-DL positioning (e.g. multi-cell RTT) will be used while the UE 102 is in RRC Inactive state, the LMF 152 may either (i) provide an UL SRS configuration, in a variant referred to here as “Option A”, or (ii) may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to here as “Option B”, to the serving gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112, e.g., via an NRPPa Positioning Information Request message; See [0105]), or
wherein receiving the first indication from the UE comprises:
receiving a connection resume request message containing the first indication (At stage 22.3, the UE 102 sends an RRC Resume message to the serving gNB 110-S, which includes a location event indication to trigger UL positioning. The location event indication, for example, may be a bit sequence, flag or a bit that is set in the RRC Resume message to indicate a location event was detected; See [0116]).
Regarding claim 9,’842 further discloses the method of claim 1,further comprising:
receiving a second indication from the UE (At stage 22.3, the UE 102 sends an RRC Resume message to the serving gNB 110-S, which includes a location event indication to trigger UL positioning. The location event indication, for example, may be a bit sequence, flag or a bit that is set in the RRC Resume message to indicate a location event was detected; See [0116]), wherein the second indication indicates at least one of:
whether the UE has a positioning service to be executed or whether the UE is executing a positioning service currently (At stage 22.3, the UE 102 sends an RRC Resume message to the serving gNB 110-S, which includes a location event indication to trigger UL positioning; See [0116]);
whether the UE has positioning data to be sent; or
whether the UE has positioning data to be received
further comprising:
instructing, based on the second indication, the UE in the RRC non-connected state to enter an RRC idle state or to stay in the RRC non-connected state (At block 812, the UE remains in the RRC Inactive state, e.g., as discussed at block 404 of FIG. 4A, block 454 of FIG. 4B, and block 464 of FIG. 4C. At block 906, the gNB sends an RRC Release to the UE, wherein the UE remains in the RRC Inactive state, e.g., as discussed at stage 22.6 and 23.10 of FIG. 4A, stages 8 and 19b of FIG. 4B, and stages 7 and 11b of FIG. 4C; See Fig. 8, #812, Fig. 9, #906, [0236] and [0247]);
wherein instructing, based on the second indication, the UE in the RRC non-connected state to enter the RRC idle state or to stay in the RRC non-connected state comprises at least one of:
in response to the second indication indicating that the UE has a positioning service to be executed or the UE is executing a positioning service currently (At stage 22.3, the UE 102 sends an RRC Resume message to the serving gNB 110-S, which includes a location event indication to trigger UL positioning; See [0116]), instructing the UE in the RRC non-connected state to stay in the RRC non-connected state (the UE receives an RRC Release from the gNB, e.g., as discussed at stages 22.6 and 23.10 of FIG. 4A, stages 8 and 19b of FIG. 4B, and stages 7 and 11b of FIG. 4C. A; See Fig. 8, #810 and [0235]);
in response to the second indication indicating that the UE has data to be sent, instructing the UE in the RRC non-connected state to stay in the RRC non-connected state;
in response to the second indication indicating that the UE has data to be received, instructing the UE in the RRC non-connected state to stay in the RRC non-connected state;
in response to the second indication indicating that the UE has no positioning service to be executed or the UE is not executing a positioning service currently, instructing the UE in the RRC non-connected state to enter the RRC idle state;
in response to the second indication indicating that the UE has no data to be sent, instructing the UE in the RRC non-connected state to enter the RRC idle state; or
in response to the second indication indicating that the UE has no data to be received, instructing the UE in the RRC non-connected state to enter the RRC idle state.
Regarding claim 12, ‘842 discloses a method for processing information, performed by a User Equipment (UE) (See Fig. 3, #102), comprising:
sending a first indication to a location management function (LMF; See Fig. 3, #152) (LMF) (the LMF 152 may obtain the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also obtain an (initial) UE 102 location, e.g. by exchanging LPP messages with UE 102; See [0104]), wherein the first indication indicates whether the UE has a capability of performing positioning in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) non-connected state (At stage 13, the LMF 152 may perform a positioning procedure with the UE 102. During this stage, the LMF 152 may obtain the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also obtain an (initial) UE 102 location, e.g. by exchanging LPP messages with UE 102. The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state. The LMF 152 may then determine whether to enable, at stages 14 and 16, uplink positioning, downlink positioning and/or uplink and downlink positioning in an RRC Inactive, based on the UE 102 positioning capabilities; See Fig. 3, [0104]), wherein the capability of performing positioning in the RRC non-connected state comprises at least one of: the UE transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) in an RRC inactive state, or the UE measuring a positioning reference signal (PRS) in the RRC inactive state and an RRC idle state (Positioning methods (also referred to as position methods) can be classified as “uplink” (UL), “downlink” (DL) and “uplink and downlink” (UL-DL). A UL position method makes use of UL measurements of signals (e.g. PRS or SRS) transmitted by a target UE. The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state; See [0045] and [0104]-[0105]); and
the method further comprising:
sending the first indication to an access network device (At stage 23.3, the UE 102 may send an RRC Resume Request message to the serving gNB 110-S that includes an event report that may contain an LPP Provide Location Information (PLI) message which may include DL PRS and/or other DL measurements obtained at stage 23.1b; See [0135]); and
receiving a RRC release message sent by the access network device based on the first indication (The UE may further receive an uplink (UL) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration in an RRC Release message. The UL SRS configuration may be compressed and may be based on UL SRS configurations previously received by the UE, e.g., in the request for periodic or triggered location. The UE may receive a first uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from the gNB, the first UL SRS configuration either received in the RRC Release or received just before or just after receiving the RRC Release; See [0053] and [0239]).
Regarding claim 13, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 12, wherein sending the first indication comprises:
sending the first indication to an LMF (the LMF 152 may obtain the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also obtain an (initial) UE 102 location, e.g. by exchanging LPP messages with UE 102; See [0104]); or,
sending the first indication to an access network device.
Regarding claim 14, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 13, wherein sending the first indication to the LMF comprises:
sending a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) message containing the first indication to the LMF (the LMF 152 may obtain the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also obtain an (initial) UE 102 location, e.g. by exchanging LPP messages with UE 102; See [0104]): or
wherein sending the first indication to the access network device comprises:
sending a connection resume message containing the first indication to the access network device.
Regarding claim 17, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 12,wherein the first indication is used to indicate at least one of:
whether the UE supports to send an uplink positioning reference signal in the RRC non- connected state (The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state; See [0104]);
whether the UE supports to receive a downlink positioning reference signal in the RRC non-connected state (The UE 102 positioning capabilities may indicate UE 102 support for at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof while in an RRC Inactive state; See [0104]); or
whether the UE supports to use a Small Data Transmission (SDT) manner to send positioning data in the RRC non-connected state.
Regarding claim 18, ‘’842 further discloses the method of claim 12,further comprising:
sending a second indication to an access network device (At block 808, the UE sends an RRC Resume Request message to a gNB (e.g. a gNB 110), the RRC Resume Request including an indication of the event, e.g., as discussed at stages 22.3 and 23.3 of FIG. 4A, stages 4 and 14b of FIG. 4B, and stage 4 of FIG. 4C; See Fig. 8, #808 and [0234]), wherein the second indication indicates at least one of:
whether the UE has a positioning service to be executed or whether the UE is executing a positioning service currently (At stage 22.3, the UE 102 sends an RRC Resume message to the serving gNB 110-S, which includes a location event indication to trigger UL positioning; See [0116]);
whether the UE has positioning data to be sent; or
whether the UE has data to be received;
wherein the method further comprises:
receiving an indication returned based on the second indication (the UE receives an RRC Release from the gNB, e.g., as discussed at stages 22.6 and 23.10 of FIG. 4A, stages 8 and 19b of FIG. 4B, and stages 7 and 11b of FIG. 4C. A; See Fig. 8, #810 and [0235]), wherein the indication instructs the UE to enter an RRC idle state or stay in the RRC non-connected state (At block 812, the UE remains in the RRC Inactive state, e.g., as discussed at block 404 of FIG. 4A, block 454 of FIG. 4B, and block 464 of FIG. 4C. At block 906, the gNB sends an RRC Release to the UE, wherein the UE remains in the RRC Inactive state, e.g., as discussed at stage 22.6 and 23.10 of FIG. 4A, stages 8 and 19b of FIG. 4B, and stages 7 and 11b of FIG. 4C; See Fig. 8, #812, Fig. 9, #906, [0236] and [0247]).
Regarding claim 32, ‘842 further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein sending the RRC release message to the UE according to the first indication comprises: sending the RRC release message comprising an SRS configuration to the UE according to the first indication (The UE may further receive an uplink (UL) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration in an RRC Release message. The UL SRS configuration may be compressed and may be based on UL SRS configurations previously received by the UE, e.g., in the request for periodic or triggered location. The UE may receive a first uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from the gNB, the first UL SRS configuration either received in the RRC Release or received just before or just after receiving the RRC Release; See [0053] and [0239]), wherein the RRC release message is configured to instruct the UE to be in the RRC non-connected state (The UE may further receive an uplink (UL) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration in an RRC Release message. The UL SRS configuration may be compressed and may be based on UL SRS configurations previously received by the UE, e.g., in the request for periodic or triggered location. The UE may receive a first uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from the gNB, the first UL SRS configuration either received in the RRC Release or received just before or just after receiving the RRC Release; See [0053] and [0239]).
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 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.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘842 as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Edge et al. (U.S. PGPub 2022/0039053), hereinafter referred to as ‘053.
Regarding claim 7, ‘842 fails to teach the method of claim 6, wherein the NRPPa positioning information request message is further used to instruct the access network device to provide an uplink positioning reference signal configuration of the UE to the LMF.
‘053 teaches sending a New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) positioning information request message containing the indication to the access network device (the LMF 120 sends a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1 to request UL information for the UE 102; See [0107]); wherein the NRPPa positioning information request message is further used to instruct the access network device to provide an uplink positioning reference signal configuration of the UE to the LMF (the LMF 120 sends a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1 to request UL information for the UE 102. At stage 5, the serving gNB 110-1 determines the resources available for UL SRS and configures the UE 102 with the UL-SRS resource sets using RRC at stage 5a. At stage 6, the serving gNB 110-1 provides the UL SRS configuration information to the LMF 120 in a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION RESPONSE message; See [0107]-[0109]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of ‘842 to include wherein the NRPPa positioning information request message is further used to instruct the access network device to provide an uplink positioning reference signal configuration of the UE to the LMF taught by ‘053 in order to provide a time position fix for a mobile device that meets applicable latency requirements.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘842 as applied to claim 14 above, and further in view of Manolakos et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0319767), hereinafter referred to as ‘767.
Regarding claim 15, ‘842 fails to teach the method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving an LPP request message sent by the LMF; wherein sending the LPP message containing the indication to the LMF comprises: sending, based on the LPP request message, an LPP Provide Capability message containing the first indication to the LMF.
‘767 receiving an LPP request message sent by the LMF (the UE 504 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities from the LMF 570 at stage 510 (e.g., an LPP Request Capabilities message); See Fig. 5, #510 and [0126]); wherein sending the LPP message containing the indication to the LMF comprises: sending, based on the LPP request message, an LPP Provide Capability message containing the first indication to the LMF (At stage 520, the UE 504 provides its positioning capabilities to the LMF 570 relative to the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Provide Capabilities message to LMF 570 indicating the position methods and features of these position methods that are supported by the UE 504 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Provide Capabilities message may, in some aspects, indicate the type of positioning the UE 504 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) and may indicate the capabilities of the UE 504 to support those types of positioning. ; See [0126]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of ‘842 to include receiving an LPP request message sent by the LMF; wherein sending the LPP message containing the indication to the LMF comprises: sending, based on the LPP request message, an LPP Provide Capability message containing the first indication to the LMF taught by ‘767 in order to enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘766 as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of ‘053.
Regarding claim 21, ‘766 fails to teach the method of claim 20, wherein sending the first indication to the access network device comprises: sending a New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) positioning information request message containing the indication to the access network device; wherein the NRPPa positioning information request message is further used to instruct the access network device to provide an uplink positioning reference signal configuration of the UE to the LMF.
‘053 teaches wherein sending the first indication to the access network device comprises: sending a New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) positioning information request message containing the indication to the access network device (the LMF 120 sends a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1 to request UL information for the UE 102; See [0107]); wherein the NRPPa positioning information request message is further used to instruct the access network device to provide an uplink positioning reference signal configuration of the UE to the LMF (the LMF 120 sends a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to the serving gNB 110-1 to request UL information for the UE 102. At stage 5, the serving gNB 110-1 determines the resources available for UL SRS and configures the UE 102 with the UL-SRS resource sets using RRC at stage 5a. At stage 6, the serving gNB 110-1 provides the UL SRS configuration information to the LMF 120 in a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION RESPONSE message; See [0107]-[0109]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of ‘766 to include wherein sending the first indication to the access network device comprises: wherein the NRPPa positioning information request message is further used to instruct the access network device to provide an uplink positioning reference signal configuration of the UE to the LMF taught by ‘053 in order to provide a time position fix for a mobile device that meets applicable latency requirements.
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ‘766 as applied to claim 24 above, and further in view of ‘767.
Regarding claim 25, ‘766 further teaches the method of claim 24, further comprising: returning, based on the LPP request message, an LPP Provide Capability message containing the first indication (the capability is signaled by sending capabilities information in a message according to a protocol of the positioning session (e.g., an LPP protocol, where this message may be an LPP provide capabilities information message); See [0079]).
While ‘766 teaches communicating using LPP messaging (LPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and a serving gNB 110-1 or serving ng-eNB 114 for UE 105; See [0046]), it fails to explicitly state sending a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) request message to the UE.
‘767 teaches sending a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) request message to the UE (the UE 504 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities from the LMF 570 at stage 510 (e.g., an LPP Request Capabilities message); See Fig. 5, #510 and [0126]); wherein sending the LPP request message to the LMF comprises: returning, based on the LPP request message, an LPP Provide Capability message containing the first indication (At stage 520, the UE 504 provides its positioning capabilities to the LMF 570 relative to the LPP protocol by sending an LPP Provide Capabilities message to LMF 570 indicating the position methods and features of these position methods that are supported by the UE 504 using LPP. The capabilities indicated in the LPP Provide Capabilities message may, in some aspects, indicate the type of positioning the UE 504 supports (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, E-CID, etc.) and may indicate the capabilities of the UE 504 to support those types of positioning. ; See [0126]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of ‘766 to include sending a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) request message to the UE; wherein sending the LPP request message to the LMF comprises: returning, based on the LPP request message, an LPP Provide Capability message containing the first indication taught by ‘767 in order to enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages , filed July 28, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim 1, 12 and 20 under Edge et al. (U.S. PGPub 2022/0120842), hereinafter referred to as ‘842 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made using Manolakos et al. (U.S. PGPub 2021/0385766).
On pages 9-11 of the Applicants’ Response, Applicants state that ‘842 fails to teach sending a RRC release message to the UE according to the first indication.
Examiner respectfully disagrees in that ‘842 indicates that the UE may further receive an uplink (UL) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration in an RRC Release message. The UL SRS configuration may be compressed and may be based on UL SRS configurations previously received by the UE, e.g., in the request for periodic or triggered location. The UE may receive a first uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from the gNB, the first UL SRS configuration either received in the RRC Release or received just before or just after receiving the RRC Release (See [0053] and [0239]).
On pages 10-12 of the Applicants’ Response, Applicants state that’842 fails to teach the capability of performing positioning in the RRC non- connected state comprises at least one of: the UE transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) in a RRC inactive state, or the UE measuring a positioning reference signal (PRS) in the RRC inactive state and a RRC idle state.
Examiner agrees and has thus introduced Manolakos et al. (U.S. PGPub 2021/0385766), which teaches receiving a first indication from a user equipment (UE) (the UE transmitting, to the location server, capabilities information indicating that the UE supports transmission of a reference signal for positioning transmissions with at least the timing accuracy; See [0119]), wherein the first indication indicates whether a UE has a capability of performing positioning in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) non-connected state (the UE transmitting, to the location server, capabilities information indicating that the UE supports transmission of a reference signal for positioning transmissions with at least the timing accuracy; See [0119]), wherein the capability of performing positioning in the RRC non- connected state comprises at least one of: the UE transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) in a RRC inactive state (where the network entity receives a reference signal for positioning the UE, the reference signal transmitted by the UE while the UE is in a power saving state. In an example, the reference signal may comprise an uplink SRS for positioning. Additionally or alternatively, the power saving state may correspond to a DRX-inactive state, an RRC-idle state, or an RRC-inactive state; See [0125]), or the UE measuring a positioning reference signal (PRS) in the RRC inactive state and a RRC idle state.
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.
Conclusion
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/ASHLEY SHIVERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 9/5/2026
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