CTNF 18/725,278 CTNF 83277 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 28 th June 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. ========== ========== ========== Drawings 06-22 The figures 1A, 4, 5, 7A and 7B are objected to because the drawings are blurry / illegible. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance. ---------- ---------- ---------- Claim Objections 07-29-01 AIA Claim s 9, 11, 15, 17, 21, 22 and 34 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 9 and 21: please insert – Protocol Data Unit -- prior to the “PDU” term and insert -- Physical Uplink Shared Channel -- prior to the “PUSCH” term; Claims 11 and 22: please rephrase the term “resent” to, for example, -- sent again --; Claims 15 and 34: please insert -- User Equipment -- prior to the first occurrence of the “UE” term; and Claim 17: please insert -- Early Data Transmission -- prior to the “EDT” term . Appropriate correction is required. ========== ========== ========== Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 1, 2, 4 – 6 ,8 – 9, 11, 15, 17,19, 21, 22 ,24, 26 – 28 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shin et al (US 2021/0352690 A1) . Claim 32 (similarly Claim 1 ). Shin shows a user equipment (UE) for location provisioning (figs. 1 and 21: UE 100 ; abstract ), the UE comprising: processing circuitry (fig. 21: communication circuit ) configured to determine to send location information ([0700]: if the UE transmits something such as MSG3 through a PUR , it may be configured to receive a DL grant in a legacy common search space ); and a communication interface (fig. 21: transceiver(s) ) configured to, as a result of determining to send location information, send the location information to a network node ( see above ; [0700]: the UE may configure that which legacy common search space the UE should monitor ; [0706]: if the feedback DCI has been received in a search space (or search space candidate) of a specific location while the UE is monitoring as much as the corresponding feedback window, it may be configured that other search spaces (or other search space candidates) in the next feedback window do not need to be monitored ), wherein sending the location information to the network node comprises: sending the location information using one or more preconfigured uplink resources, PURs ([0706]: the UE may transmit PUR and shall monitor whether feedback DCI is transmitted for a time corresponding to N times the search space period… if the feedback DCI has been received in a search space (or search space candidate) of a specific location while the UE is monitoring as much as the corresponding feedback window, it may be configured that other search spaces (or other search space candidates) in the next feedback window do not need to be monitored ), or sending a connection establishment procedure message as part of a connection establishment procedure ([0729]: self-release the corresponding PUR and perform a fallback operation wherein the fallback operation may include attempting to transmit data through an EDT procedure, performing a RACH procedure for entering an RRC connected mode ), wherein the connection establishment procedure message comprises the location information ([0729]: it may be configured that data transmission is performed in a PUR at a preset location ). Claim 2. Shin shows the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving location reporting configuration information ([0706]: if the base station has set N number of times of the search space period in which feedback DCI can be transmitted as the feedback window ), wherein the determination as to whether to send the location information or refrain from sending the location information is based on the location reporting configuration ([0706]: the UE may transmit PUR and shall monitor whether feedback DCI is transmitted for a time corresponding to N times the search space period ). Claim 4. Shin shows the method of claim 2, wherein the location reporting configuration information is applicable for an early data transmission, EDT, ([0687]: if the base station can indicate the EDT in the (N)PDCCH order, the UE may be configured to transmit retransmission of the previous PUR through the EDT ) or a PUR transmission ( see above ). Claim 5. Shin shows the method of claim 1, wherein sending the location information comprises sending the connection establishment procedure message ([0683]: if a UE transmits MSG3 or the like through a PUR, then an NPDSCH can be subsequently scheduled, and the UE can receive an RRC connection message such as connection (re-)establishment through the corresponding NPDSCH ), and the connection establishment procedure message is a message transmitted in response to receiving a random access response message transmitted by the network node ([0633]: for NPUSCH (re)transmissions corresponding to a random access response grant ). Claim 6. Shin shows the method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the user equipment needs to report its location ([0699]: when the UE indicates the PUR release on the (N)PDSCH(s), the UE may report ACK (or NACK) therefor or transmit a response thereto on the (N)PUSCH ). Claim 8. Shin shows the method of claim 2, wherein receiving the location reporting configuration information comprises receiving a broadcast system information ([0418]: the UE monitors the NPDCCH UE-specific search space on the same NB-IoT carrier on which NPSS/NSSS/ NPBCH are detected ), wherein the system information comprises the location reporting configuration information ([0451]: if resource element (k, l’) is used for Narrowband IoT , and 0 otherwise, and f NB-IoT is the frequency location of the carrier of the narrowband IoT PRB minus the frequency location of the center of the LTE signal ). Claim 9. Shin shows the method of claim 1, wherein the location information is sent in a UE Information Response message that is an independent PDU that is sent in Msg3 of EDT ([0731]: if PUR configuration is not proceeded in the connected mode (e.g. if the PUR configuration is indicated through EDT ), it may be configured to use as it is TX power values used for PUSCH transmission containing MSG3 ) or in the PUR PUSCH ( see above ). Claim 11. Shin shows the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a feedback message from the network node indicating that the location information needs to be resent or that more detailed location information needs to be sent ([0722]: the base station may be configured to give feedback for the corresponding UL data, and the base station may be configured to indicate, to the UE, a location at which the corresponding feedback is given ), wherein the feedback message comprises a request for a new location ([0724]: the base station may newly configure a UE-specific PUR to the corresponding UE ) or a rejection of the prior location information ( n/a ). ---------- ---------- ---------- Claim 34 (similarly Claim 15 ). Shin shows a network node for location provisioning (figs. 1: base station 200 ; abstract ), the network node comprising: processing circuitry (fig. 21: communication circuit ) configured to determine location reporting configuration information to be reported to a UE ([0666]: it may be configured such that an ACK/NACK mapping order is determined depending on a UL data transmission time/frequency/code/spatial resource location of a PUR configured by the base station (i.e. a relative location between resources within the PUR or a location of a PRB/base station transmit antenna port resource within absolute time/system BW) ; [0676]: the base station may indicate to the UE that the UE performs adaptive retransmission through a specific field of DCI indicating ACK/NACK wherein the UE receiving this indication may be configured to perform retransmission of UL data to a location scheduled by the corresponding DCI field ); and a communication interface (fig. 21: transceiver(s) ) configured to provide location reporting configuration information to the UE ([0722]: the base station may be configured to indicate, to the UE, a location at which the corresponding feedback is given ); and receive location information from the UE ([0700]: the UE may configure that which legacy common search space the UE should monitor ; [0706]: if the feedback DCI has been received in a search space (or search space candidate) of a specific location while the UE is monitoring as much as the corresponding feedback window, it may be configured that other search spaces (or other search space candidates) in the next feedback window do not need to be monitored ), wherein receiving the location information comprises: receiving the location information using one or more preconfigured uplink resources, PURs ([0706]: the UE may transmit PUR and shall monitor whether feedback DCI is transmitted for a time corresponding to N times the search space period… if the feedback DCI has been received in a search space (or search space candidate) of a specific location while the UE is monitoring as much as the corresponding feedback window, it may be configured that other search spaces (or other search space candidates) in the next feedback window do not need to be monitored ), or receiving a connection establishment procedure message as part of a connection establishment procedure ([0729]: self-release the corresponding PUR and perform a fallback operation wherein the fallback operation may include attempting to transmit data through an EDT procedure, performing a RACH procedure for entering an RRC connected mode ), wherein the connection establishment procedure message comprises the location information ([0729]: it may be configured that data transmission is performed in a PUR at a preset location ). Claim 17. Shin shows the method of claim 15, wherein the location reporting configuration information is applicable for EDT ([0687]: if the base station can indicate the EDT in the (N)PDCCH order, the UE may be configured to transmit retransmission of the previous PUR through the EDT ) or PUR ( see above ). Claim 19. Shin shows the method of claim 18, further comprising: receiving a random access preamble transmitted by the UE ([0181]: to indicate a random access response that is a response to transmission of a random access preamble of the UE, a random access-RNTI (RA-RNTI) can be masked to the CRC ); after receiving the random access preamble, transmitting to the UE a random access response, RAR ( see above ); and after transmitting to the UE the random access response RAR , receiving a message responsive to the RAR ([0519]: the UE is preferentially informed in which subframes the SPS is to be transmitted/received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling ), wherein the message responsive to the RAR comprises a Radio Resource Control, RRC, connection resume request message that comprises the location information ([0519]: since the UE is allocated only the time resource domain via RRC signaling, even if the UE has received the RRC signaling , the UE does not immediately perform transmission/reception by the SPS, and completes the allocation of time-frequency resources by allocating the frequency resource domain, if necessary ). Claim 21. Shin shows the method of claim 15, wherein the location information is received in a UE Information Response message that is an independent PDU that is received in Msg3 of EDT ([0731]: if PUR configuration is not proceeded in the connected mode (e.g. if the PUR configuration is indicated through EDT ), it may be configured to use as it is TX power values used for PUSCH transmission containing MSG3 ) or in the PUR PUSCH ( see above ). Claim 22. Shin shows the method of claim 15, further comprising sending a feedback message to the UE indicating that the location information needs to be resent or that more detailed location information needs to be sent ([0722]: the base station may be configured to give feedback for the corresponding UL data, and the base station may be configured to indicate, to the UE, a location at which the corresponding feedback is given ) wherein the feedback message comprises a request for a new location or a rejection of the prior location information ([0724]: the base station may newly configure a UE-specific PUR to the corresponding UE ). Claim 26. Shin shows the method of claim 15, wherein the type of location information is based on the amount of movement since the last report ([0056]: identifying an object in the dark and notifying a driver of the distance and movement of the object , over a thing seen by the driver through a front window ). Claim 27. Shin shows the method of claim 25, further comprising determining that the received location information is insufficient or unsatisfactory ([0666]: it may be configured such that an ACK/ NACK mapping order is determined depending on a UL data transmission time/frequency/code/spatial resource location of a PUR configured by the base station ; [0698]: when it is determined that new resources to be allocated for retransmission by the UE are insufficient or that the reason for the failure to detect data previously received from the PUR is a transmission timing of the UE or that it is determined that there is a problem with the transmit power, the base station may fallback to a legacy operation so that transmission timing and power can be readjusted rather than allocating new uplink resources ). Claim 28. Shin shows the method of claim 15, further comprising determining that the UE has not moved ([0145]: the map data may include object identification information for fixed objects – fixed objects do not move ) . ---------- ---------- ---------- Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 3, 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al in view of Kudekar et al (US 2016/0088584 A1) . Claim 3. Shin shows the method of claim 2; Shin does not expressly describe wherein the location reporting configuration information comprises an indication of whether to send coarse location information, fine location information, or no location information. Kudekar teaches feature of location reporting configuration information comprising indication of whether to send coarse location or fine location information ([0051]: the determination of whether the location estimate is sufficiently accurate may be based on a predetermined threshold criterion ; [0032]: the server can then receive from the first surveyor device a coarse location estimate of the unknown AP based on this coarse signal information … the server can then receive from the second surveyor device a fine location estimate of the unknown AP ).It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the location information indication feature as taught by Kudekar in the reporting configuration information of Shin to give more accurate location estimates. Claim 14. Shin shows the method of claim 1; Shin does not expressly describe wherein determining whether to send location information comprises determining whether to send coarse location information or fine location information. Kudekar teaches feature of location reporting configuration information comprising indication of whether to send coarse location or fine location information ([0051]: the determination of whether the location estimate is sufficiently accurate may be based on a predetermined threshold criterion ; [0032]: the server can then receive from the first surveyor device a coarse location estimate of the unknown AP based on this coarse signal information … the server can then receive from the second surveyor device a fine location estimate of the unknown AP ).It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the location information indication feature as taught by Kudekar in the reporting configuration information of Shin to give more accurate location estimates. Claim 16. Shin shows the method of claim 15; Shin does not expressly describe wherein the location reporting configuration information comprises an indication of whether to send coarse location information, fine location information, or no location information. Kudekar teaches feature of location reporting configuration information comprising indication of whether to send coarse location or fine location information ([0051]: the determination of whether the location estimate is sufficiently accurate may be based on a predetermined threshold criterion ; [0032]: the server can then receive from the first surveyor device a coarse location estimate of the unknown AP based on this coarse signal information … the server can then receive from the second surveyor device a fine location estimate of the unknown AP ).It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the location information indication feature as taught by Kudekar in the reporting configuration information of Shin to give more accurate location estimates. ========== ========== ========== Conclusion The prior art made of record is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. 1. Sha et al, US 2021/0345344 A1: a method for wireless communication, comprising transmitting, by a communication node, a terminal-specific dedicated message including a pre-configured transmission resource information indicating a time domain location to a core network node; and receiving, by the communication node, transmission data from the core network node. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Xavier Szewai Wong whose telephone number is 571.270.1780. The examiner can normally be reached on 11:30 am - 8:30 pm Mon to Fri. 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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on 571.270.1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /XAVIER S WONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415 22 nd April 2026 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 2 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 3 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 4 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 5 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 6 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 7 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 8 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 9 Art Unit: 2415 Application/Control Number: 18/725,278 Page 10 Art Unit: 2415
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