DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present U.S. non-provisional application is being examined under the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the AIA . The present U.S. non-provisional application, filed on July 17, 2024, is the U.S. national stage of an international PCT application, filed on January 27, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 17, 2024 was filed before the mailing of a first Office action in the present U.S. non-provisional application, in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 102 that forms the basis for all anticipation rejections set forth in this Office action:
(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.
Claims 1, 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by Manolakos et al. (US 2020/0235877 A1).
1. A terminal (Manolakos, FIG. 16) comprising:
a transmission unit (Manolakos, FIG. 16, Id.) configured to transmit, in uplink, a reference signal for positioning (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0203], “The uplink PRS configuration 400 may be an example of non-contiguous uplink PRS transmission. […] A UE 115 may transmit a set of uplink PRS in each of the shown uplink PRS resources 410. A base station 105 receiving the set of uplink PRS for each of the uplink PRS resources 410 and generate a combined signal 415…”); and
a control unit (Manolakos, FIG. 16, Id.) configured to assume that resources of the reference signal for positioning are to be non-contiguously allocated (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0203], “The uplink PRS configuration 400 may be an example of non-contiguous uplink PRS transmission. […] Uplink PRS may be configured, activated, or triggered. In some cases, the uplink PRS may be configured by RRC signaling. The UE 115 may maintain uplink PRS transmission throughout the entire duration of the connection. In this example, the uplink PRS transmission may be periodic, where the periodicity and periodic characteristics of the uplink PRS are configurable.”)
5. A base station (Manolakos, FIG. 20) comprising:
a reception unit (Manolakos, FIG. 20, Id.) configured to receive, from a terminal, a reference signal for positioning (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0203], Id.); and
a control unit (Manolakos, FIG. 20, Id.) configured to assume that resources of the reference signal for positioning are to be non-contiguously allocated (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0203], Id. cf. Claim 1).
6. A communication method performed by a terminal (Manolakos, FIG. 16, Id.), the communication method comprising:
transmitting, in uplink, a reference signal for positioning (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0203], Id.); and
assuming that resources of the reference signal for positioning are to be non-contiguously allocated (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0203], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos et al. (US 2020/0235877 A1).
2. The terminal as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a reception unit (Manolakos, FIG. 16, Id.) configured to receive, in downlink, information indicating allocation of the resources of the reference signal for positioning, wherein the control unit allocates resources of the reference signal for the positioning based on the information indicating the allocation of the resources (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0205], “…In some examples, uplink PRS may be triggered. For example, a base station 105 may transmit DCI to the UE 115, which triggers the UE 115 to transmit an uplink PRS. The transmission may be for one occasion, or the UE 115 may be configured to transmit uplink PRS for a fixed number of occasions with a configured periodicity. After transmitting the uplink PRS for the configured number of occasions, the UE 115 may stop transmitting the uplink PRS. The base station 105 may later transmit a second DCI to re-trigger the UE 115 to transmit uplink PRS. In some cases, this may be an example of dynamic transmission of uplink PRS.”) In additional examples, the prior art disclosure and suggestions of Manolakos et al. are for reasons of dynamic uplink PRS (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0205], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of dynamic uplink PRS.
3. The terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the reception unit receives, in downlink, information indicating an allocation pattern of the resources of the reference signal for positioning, and the control unit allocates resources of the reference signal for the positioning based on the allocation pattern (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0205], Id.)
4. The terminal as claimed in claim 2, wherein the reception unit receives, in downlink, a parameter indicating non-contiguous positions of the resources of the reference signal for positioning, and the control unit allocates the resources of the reference signal for positioning at non-contiguous locations based on the parameter (Manolakos, paras. [0199], [0205], Id.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (PTO-1449, PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the subject matter of the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Zhou et al. (US 2022/0252690 A1) provides prior art disclosure considered as relevant to the subject matter of the claimed invention (Zhou, Abstract, “A method may include generating a receive timing error group (Rx TEG) based on a time delay of a receive (Rx) signal, wherein the time delay is a time measured from an arrival of the Rx signal at a Rx antenna to a time of the Rx signal being digitized and time-stamped at a baseband processor of a user equipment (UE), determining a timing error group (TEG) index corresponding to the generated Rx TEG, determining a positioning measurement associated with the Rx antenna used to generate the Rx TEG, and reporting the positioning measurement associated with the Rx TEG index.”)
Go et al. (US 2023/0275730 A1) provides prior art disclosure considered as relevant to the subject matter of the claimed invention (Go, Abstract, “A method of transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system comprises receiving configuration information related to a sounding reference signal (SRS), and transmitting the SRS based on the configuration information. The configuration information includes information related to an antenna switching, and the SRS is transmitted based on a plurality of SRS resource sets. Based on the plurality of SRS resource sets being configured in one or more slots, each of the plurality of SRS resource set is configured not to overlap with a guard period for the antenna switching in the one or more slots.”)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Timothy J. Weidner whose telephone number is (571) 270-1825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing by using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, the applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) form provided at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached on (571) 272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. In order to file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for more information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TIMOTHY J WEIDNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights