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 .
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: There are three “PS5” in instant specification, see US Pub. 2025/0063575 [0073]. Those “PS5” should be replaced with “PC5”, see “PC5 sidelink” in [0044].
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: “PS5” in line 3, 4 and 5 should be replaced with “PC5”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 33 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the first signal” in line 12 should be replaced with “the other first signal”. Appropriate correction is required. The examiner notes “the first signal” is transmitted by the second user equipment (claim 1 line 3), while “the other first signal” is transmitted by the first user equipment (claim 32 line 7).
Claim 47 is objected to because of the following informalities: “transmit a request” in line 28 should be replaced with “receive a request”. Appropriate correction is required. The examiner notes there is similar limitation in line 24.
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 4, 18 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the second apparatus" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The examiner understood it as “the second user equipment” for the purpose of examination.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the two or more frequency components" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 35 recites the limitation "the distance information" in line 14 and 27. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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.
Claims 1-4, 9, 21, 31, 42, 47, 56, 61 and 62 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Khoryaev et al. (US Pub. 2016/0095080).
Regarding claims 1, 61 and 62, Khoryaev teaches a first user equipment (UE 310 in Figure 5) of a wireless communication system, wherein, after a second user equipment (UE 320, 330, 420, 425, 430 in Figure 5) of the wireless communication system has transmitted a first signal, being a reference signal or a control signal or a data signal (“positioning reference signals” in [0056]), to the first user equipment via a sidelink between the second user equipment and the first user equipment (“Sidelink channels” in [0054]), the first user equipment is configured to receive said reference signal or said control signal or said data signal as a second signal from the second user equipment via the sidelink (“receive positioning reference signals from eNBs 340-360 and anchor UEs 320 and 330. The positioning reference signals from anchor UEs 320 and 330 may include signals transmitted over direct Sidelink channels” in [0047]), wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine positioning information depending on difference information, such that the difference information comprises information on one or more differences between the first signal, which has been transmitted by the second user equipment, and the second signal, which has been received by the first user equipment (“Target UE 310 may use the received positioning reference signals (and its synchronized clock) to determine the signal arrival time differences, called the Reference Signal Timing Differences (RSTDs), between the positioning reference signals from the different transmitting devices (e.g., eNBs and UEs)” in [0056]), wherein the positioning information comprises information on a distance and/or a distance change between the first user equipment and the second user equipment and/or a position of the first user equipment and/or a position of the second user equipment and/or an angle which depends on the position of the first user equipment and on the position of the second user equipment (see “differences in the timing information from the various sources (e.g., eNBs 340-360 and anchor UEs 320 and 330) and/or signal time of arrival values may correspond to a distance of target UE 310 from the transmitting source” in [0047] and “position metrics may include or be derived from timing values, such as values estimating the arrival times of the positioning reference signals and/or values representing differences in arrival times. The values representing the differences in arrival times may be estimated relative to the arrival time of a positioning reference signal from serving eNB 340 or from another configured reference cell” in [0058]).
Regarding claim 2, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to conduct one or more measurements on one or more reference symbols or control symbols or data symbols of the second signal to acquire information on at least one difference of the one or more differences between the first signal, which has been transmitted by the second user equipment, and the second signal, which has been received by the first user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the positioning information depending on the information on said at least one difference (“Target UE 310 may use the received positioning reference signals (and its synchronized clock) to determine the signal arrival time differences, called the Reference Signal Timing Differences (RSTDs), between the positioning reference signals from the different transmitting devices (e.g., eNBs and UEs)” in [0056]).
Regarding claim 3, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to transmit information on the one or more measurements to the second user equipment via the sidelink (“target UE 310 may transmit a message, over the Sidelink channel, to an anchor UE, and receive, over the Sidelink channel, a synchronization response message from the anchor UE. The message exchange may be used to measure round trip time and/or establish common timing” in [0077]).
Regarding claim 4, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to transmit information on the positioning information to the second apparatus or to one or more further apparatuses of the wireless communication system (“the relative position of assisting UEs 420-430 and target UE 310 may be estimated jointly by collecting the results of the position metrics obtained from the Sidelink channels (i.e., the UE-UE position metrics)”in [0052]); or wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the positioning information using one of two or more positioning concepts selectable for the first user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is configured to select said one of the two or more positioning concepts to determine the positioning information.
Regarding claim 9, Khoryaev teaches the first signal is one of a PS5-specific reference signal, a PS5-specific control signal, a PS5-specific data signal, a demodulation reference signal, a signal sequence transported by a physical sidelink feedback channel, a synchronization signal, a sidelink positioning reference signal, a phase-tracking reference signal, a channel state information reference signal, a sidelink positioning reference signal comprising one or more pseudo-random sequences and/or one or more constant amplitude zero autocorrelation sequences, and a data transmit signal reconstructed from a decoded data signal (“the positioning reference signals may include, or be based on, Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS)” in [0056]).
Regarding claim 21, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to receive two or more signals as two or more second signals in two or more frequency components transmitted from the second user equipment of the wireless communication system via the sidelink between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, wherein the two or more frequency components comprise different center frequencies, wherein the second user equipment has transmitted said two or more signals as two or more first signals, wherein the two or more second signals comprise said second signal, and wherein the two or more first signals comprise said first signal, wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the positioning information by determining difference information, wherein the difference information comprises information on one or more differences between the first signal and the second signal for each frequency component of the two or more frequency components, wherein, for each frequency component of the two or more frequency components, the first signal of said frequency component is a reference signal or is a control signal or is a data signal and/or the data signal is a reconstructed data signal; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the difference information by employing a recursive approach or a recursive filter; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the positioning information by employing the difference information and by additionally employing information from a Global Navigation Satellite System and/or by additionally employing on-board sensors of the first user equipment; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to synchronize itself with the second user equipment by employing information from a Global Navigation Satellite System, or wherein the first user equipment is configured to synchronize itself with the second user equipment by employing information from a base station (“Target UE 310 may use the received positioning reference signals (and its synchronized clock) to determine the signal arrival time differences, called the Reference Signal Timing Differences (RSTDs), between the positioning reference signals from the different transmitting devices (e.g., eNBs and UEs)” in [0056]), or wherein the first user equipment is configured to synchronize itself with the second user equipment using a synchronization signal block transmitted by the second user equipment, or wherein the first user equipment is configured to synchronize itself with the second user equipment using a synchronization signal block transmitted by another user equipment being different from the first user equipment and from the second user equipment.
Regarding claim 31, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to transmit another first signal to the second user equipment or to another user equipment to allow or support positioning (“target UE 310 may transmit a message, over the Sidelink channel, to an anchor UE, and receive, over the Sidelink channel, a synchronization response message from the anchor UE. The message exchange may be used to measure round trip time and/or establish common timing” in [0077]), wherein the other first signal is a reference signal or is a control signal or is a data signal and/or the data signal is a reconstructed data signal (“the positioning reference signals may include, or be based on, Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS)” in [0056]).
Regarding claim 42, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to transmit and/or to receive sidelink configuration information; wherein the sidelink configuration information comprises information on at least one of: a positioning reference signal frequency pattern, a positioning reference signal time pattern, a periodicity of a positioning reference signal transmission, a bandwidth part configuration, an antenna port, a feedback channel indicator, a source identifier, a destination identifier, a zone identifier, a communication range, and a carrier phase (“target UE 310 may receive information, from serving eNB 340, that indicates a set of potential nearby anchor UEs. The information from serving eNB 310 may include configuration information relating to the positioning reference signal” in [0048]).
Regarding claim 47, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to use a lookup table or a codebook comprising sidelink configuration information, wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive one or more sidelink configuration parameters which specify a selection of the sidelink configuration information being stored in the lookup table or in the codebook; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive and/or to transmit one or more reports on a distance between the first user equipment and the second user equipment and/or on time difference of arrival information and/or on round trip time information to one or more other user equipments; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive a request for transmitting the positioning information via the sidelink, and wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit the positioning information via the sidelink in response to said request; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to stop transmitting the positioning information via the sidelink, if a condition of one or more conditions is fulfilled, wherein the one or more conditions comprise at least one of the following: a target user equipment is located within a predefined zone or within a predefined geographical area, a predefined time duration after a predefined event has occurred has not been lapsed, a predefined threshold indicating a signaling load due to the ranging measurement sharing has been exceeded, a quality of service or a priority is lower than a predefined threshold; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit or to receive a positioning measurement report comprising information on at least one of a user equipment identifier, a measurement identifier, a type of measurement, a value of the measurement (“The first position metrics may include one or more of: positioning reference signal time of arrival; differences in time of arrival between positioning reference signals; differences in time of arrival between a positioning reference signal and a reference clock; positioning reference signal received power; positioning reference signal received quality; timing estimation accuracy indicators; location information; or timing information sufficient for solution of location equations” in [0018]); or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit a request for support in positioning to another user equipment, being different from the first user equipment and from the second user equipment, via the sidelink, and is configured to receive and to process information from said other user equipment in positioning, or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit a request for support in positioning to another user equipment, being different from the first user equipment and from second user equipment, via the sidelink, and is configured to support said other user equipment in positioning on receipt of the request.
Regarding claim 56, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is a first vehicular user equipment; or wherein the second user equipment is a second vehicular user equipment (“support vehicular to vehicular applications, road infrastructure units (based on UE implementation) can be installed and may serve as an anchor nodes for terminal positioning” in [0029]).
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 12-14, 17 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoryaev et al. in view of Huang et al. (US Pub. 2020/0221467).
Regarding claim 12, Khoryaev teaches the limitations in claim 1 as shown above. Khoryaev, however, does not teach the first user equipment is configured to employ sidelink carrier aggregation using a plurality of frequency carriers. Huang teaches the first user equipment is configured to employ sidelink carrier aggregation using a plurality of frequency carriers (“at least two suitable CCs in PC5-CA for SL communications” in [0033]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev to have the first user equipment is configured to employ sidelink carrier aggregation using a plurality of frequency carriers as taught by Huang in order to enable increased peak user data rates and increased overall capacities of networks [0003].
Regarding claim 13, Huang teaches the first user equipment is configured to receive at least one of said reference signal and said control signal and/or said data signal via the plurality of frequency carriers via a fragmented spectrum such that there exist at least two frequency carriers of the plurality of frequency carriers, which are employed for transmitting said reference signal, and/or said control signal, and/or said data signal, wherein each two of the at least two frequency carriers are spaced apart from each other in frequency, and wherein no other frequency carriers of the plurality of frequency carriers exist, which are employed for transmitting said reference signal and/or said control signal and/or said data signal, and which are located between said two of the at least two frequency carriers (“form a first aggregated CCs for the SL transmission to realize higher peak data rates and facilitate efficient use of fragmented spectrum” in [0050]).
Regarding claim 14, Huang teaches the fragmented spectrum comprises at least one of multiple intra-band contiguous component carriers, multiple intra-band non-contiguous component carriers, multiple inter-band component carriers, multiple resource pools, multiple bandwidth parts (“Carriers for combination can be contiguous or in the same frequency band” in [0003]).
Regarding claim 17, Huang teaches the first signal is sparsely spread among the plurality of frequency carriers (“form a first aggregated CCs for the SL transmission to realize higher peak data rates and facilitate efficient use of fragmented spectrum” in [0050]).
Regarding claim 35, Huang teaches the first user equipment is configured to transmit a further first signal to two or more other user equipments as a groupcast message or as a broadcast message for positioning, wherein the further first signal is a reference signal or is a control signal or is a data signal and/or the data signal is a reconstructed data signal (“the UEs 104 that are V-UEs can obtain environmental and traffic information from a road side unit (RSU) and can broadcast periodically to the other UEs” in [0050]); or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit a message to one or more other user equipments, to which the first user equipment wants to measure the distance, for allowing the one more other user equipments to determine a timing of reception, wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive a message from each of the one or more other user equipments, transmitted by each of the one or more other user equipments after a predetermined time period after receiving the message from the first user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is configured to measure a time of arrival for the message from each user equipment of the one or more other user equipments, and wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the distance information from the time of arrival for the message from each user equipment of the one or more other user equipments; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit a message to one or more other user equipments, to which the first user equipment wants to measure the distance, for allowing the one more other user equipments to determine a timing of reception and to adjust its transmitter timing depending on the timing of reception, wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive a message from each of the one or more other user equipments, transmitted by each of the one or more other user equipments after an individual time period after receiving the message from the first user equipment, wherein the first user equipment is configured to measure a time of arrival and/or an angle of arrival for the message from each user equipment of the one or more other user equipments, wherein the first user equipment is configured to receive information on said individual time period from each user equipment of the one or more other user equipments, and wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine the distance information from the time of arrival and/or from the angle of arrival for the message from each user equipment of the one or more other user equipments depending on the information on said individual time period of each user equipment of the one or more other user equipments; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit a request for a transmission for positioning to the second user equipment; wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit the request via two stage sidelink control information; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit a request for a transmission for positioning to the second user equipment; wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit said request depending on a proximity of the second user equipment or of another user equipment and/or depending on a defined use case and/or depending on an environmental condition.
Claims 18, 32 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoryaev et al. in view of Yerramalli et al. (US Pub. 2023/0261814).
Regarding claim 18, Khoryaev teaches the limitations in claim 1 as shown above. Khoryaev, however, does not teach for each frequency component of the two or more frequency components, the first signal depends on subcarriers of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; or wherein at least one of the one or more differences between the first signal and the second signal depends on a difference between a phase of the first signal, which has been transmitted by the second user equipment, and a phase of the second signal, which has been received by the first user equipment, wherein the first signal is the reference signal or is the control signal or is the data signal and/or the data signal is a reconstructed data signal. Yerramalli teaches for each frequency component of the two or more frequency components, the first signal depends on subcarriers of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; or wherein at least one of the one or more differences between the first signal and the second signal depends on a difference between a phase of the first signal, which has been transmitted by the second user equipment, and a phase of the second signal, which has been received by the first user equipment, wherein the first signal is the reference signal or is the control signal or is the data signal and/or the data signal is a reconstructed data signal (“the first reference signal and the second reference signal are received within a specified length of time, within a single OFDM slot, within a specified number of OFDM slots” in [0098]). It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev to have for each frequency component of the two or more frequency components, the first signal depends on subcarriers of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; or wherein at least one of the one or more differences between the first signal and the second signal depends on a difference between a phase of the first signal, which has been transmitted by the second user equipment, and a phase of the second signal, which has been received by the first user equipment, wherein the first signal is the reference signal or is the control signal or is the data signal and/or the data signal is a reconstructed data signal as taught by Yerramalli in order to use frame structure for NR [0061].
Regarding claim 32, Yerramalli teaches the first user equipment is configured to estimate a phase ramp and a carrier phase (“phase characteristic (e.g., phase offset, phase ramp, phase slope, or phase time drift)” in [0085]) depending on the difference information comprising the information on the one or more differences between the first signal, which has been transmitted by the second user equipment, and the second signal, which has been received by the first user equipment (“Sidelink (SL)-assisted positioning comprises signals communicated between the UE 105 and one or more other UEs” in [0059]), and to transmit said other first signal to the second user equipment, which is received by the second user equipment as another second signal; wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit said other first signal by applying the phase ramp and the carrier phase, which has been estimated by the first user equipment, on said other first signal, or is configured to transmit information on the phase ramp and on the carrier phase to the second user equipment; wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit said other first signal with a predefined time delay, wherein said predefined delay is known by the second user equipment.
Regarding claim 33, Khoryaev teaches the first user equipment is configured to transmit said other first signal to the second user equipment, which is received by the second user equipment as said other second signal, so that the second user equipment can estimate a phase ramp and a carrier phase depending on one or more differences between said other first signal and said other second signal, and so that the second user equipment can estimate a round trip time and/or a distance between the first user equipment and the second user equipment, or wherein the first user equipment is configured to transmit said other first signal to the second user equipment, which is received by the second user equipment as said other second signal, so that the phase ramp and the carrier phase, which have been estimated by the first user equipment and that have been transmitted from the first user equipment to the second user equipment, can be combined with the first signal, and so that the second user equipment can estimate a round trip time or a distance between the first user equipment and the second user equipment; or wherein the first user equipment is configured to determine whether or not to transmit said other first signal to the second user equipment for positioning depending on a synchronization configuration (see “target UE 310 may receive information, from serving eNB 340, that indicates a set of potential nearby anchor UEs. The information from serving eNB 310 may include configuration information relating to the positioning reference signal” in [0048] and “target UE 310 may transmit a message, over the Sidelink channel, to an anchor UE, and receive, over the Sidelink channel, a synchronization response message from the anchor UE. The message exchange may be used to measure round trip time and/or establish common timing” in [0077]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLEMENCE S HAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3158. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM EST.
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/CLEMENCE S HAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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