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 .
Priority
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 8 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without first location, a first and second message or first through third information, which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). Here claim 8 discloses a third message without mention of a first or second message. Furthermore, it discloses a “fourth information” without teaching a first, second or third information. Additionally, it discloses a second location without representation of a first location. Here, it is essential to the practice and comprehension of the invention for these prerequisite elements to be described for the scope of the invention can be fully comprehended.
Claim 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without first though fourth message, which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). Here claim 15, skips to a “fifth message”, “wherein the fifth message comprises fifth information”. There is no previous disclosures of first through fourth messages and likewise first through fourth information. Here, it is essential to the practice and comprehension of the invention for these prerequisite elements to be described for the scope of the invention can be fully comprehended.
Claim 18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph, as based on a disclosure which is not enabling. The disclosure does not enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention without first though fourth message, which is/are critical or essential to the practice of the invention but not included in the claim(s). See In re Mayhew, 527 F.2d 1229, 188 USPQ 356 (CCPA 1976). Here claim 18, skips to a “third message”, ”fourth information” and “second location”. There are no previous disclosures preceding elements and positions. Here, it is essential to the practice and comprehension of the invention for these prerequisite elements to be described for the scope of the invention can be fully comprehended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sahlin et al. (US 2023/0232365 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Sahlin discloses a positioning method, comprising: receiving, by a first network (see network node in fig. 3-4) element, a first message from a first location management network element (see LMF in fig. 2), wherein the first message is used to request the first network element to provide information about a positioning reference device (see [0033], “A gNB may broadcast assistance data information, received from an LMF, in positioning System Information messages.”), wherein information about one or more positioning reference devices exists in the first network element, and wherein the positioning reference device is used for positioning measurement (see [0111], “in particular other vehicles also travelling at speed, but not limited to vehicular devices, and may receive a plurality of messages providing further positioning information from the plurality of neighboring devices. As a result the wireless device can determine enhanced positioning information on its own location and estimation accuracy and its neighboring wireless device's positions and estimation accuracies.”);
determining, by the first network element, one or more first positioning reference devices based on the first message (see [0041], “first aspect the reference signal is a positioning reference signal received from a network node”); and
sending, by the first network element, information about the one or more first positioning reference devices to the first location management network element (see [0109], “include the wireless device transmitting at step 760 further positioning information. In some examples the further positioning information is transmitted to a serving (cooperating) network node”).
PNG
media_image1.png
723
436
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 8, Sahlin a positioning method, comprising: receiving, by a positioning reference device (see fig. 3), a third message from a first network element (see [0033], “ A gNB may broadcast assistance data information, received from an LMF, in positioning System Information messages.”), wherein the third message is used to request the positioning reference device to perform positioning measurement (see[ 0109], “ the wireless device may transmit the same information to the served network node as to other wireless devices or simply the same signal can be detected by the other wireless devices or in other examples separate messages are transmitted wherein some the information may be the same or a subset of the information is provided.”); and sending, by the positioning reference device, fourth information to the first network element, wherein the fourth information comprises (see separate messages, [0109], therefore more than 1) at least one of second location information or positioning measurement information (see fig. 4, note location around car 2), the second location information indicates a location of a first device that is measured by the positioning reference device (see measurements [0093]), and the positioning measurement information is used for timing correction ([0094] 3. Car2 performs Sitelink based measurements—RSTD measurements involving TOA (Timing Of Arrival) measurement from the neighboring wireless devices, e.g. Car1).
Regarding claim 10, Sahlin a positioning method, comprising: sending, by a first location management network element (see LMF in fig. 2), a fifth message to a network repository network element (see [0033], “ A gNB may broadcast assistance data information, received from an LMF, in positioning System Information messages.”), wherein the fifth message comprises fifth information, the fifth information is used to discover a first network element in which a positioning reference device exists (see [00109], for example the wireless device may transmit the same information to the served network node as to other wireless devices or simply the same signal can be detected by the other wireless devices or in other examples separate messages are transmitted wherein some the information may be the same or a subset of the information is provided.), and the positioning reference device is used for positioning measurement (see positing measurement [0035]); and receiving, by the first location management network element from the network repository network element (see memory, fig. 9), information about one or more first network elements in which the positioning reference device exists, a configuration of the one or more first network elements in which the positioning reference device exists (see configuration [0049]), or a network function instance of the one or more first network elements in which the positioning reference device exists.
Regarding claim 15, Sahlin positioning method, comprising: receiving, by a network repository network element (see network element in fig. 3-4), a fifth message from a first location management network element, wherein the fifth message comprises fifth information, the fifth information is used to discover a first network element in which a positioning reference device exists (see [0007], “The UE is requested to transmit a specific waveform that is detected by multiple location measurement units (e.g. an eNB) at known positions.”), and the positioning reference device is used for positioning measurement (see positioning measurement [0054]); and sending, by the network repository network element (see memory of fig. of network node) to the first location management network element (LMF fig. 2), information about one or more first network elements in which the positioning reference device exists, a configuration (see configuration [0049]) of the one or more first network elements in which the positioning reference device exists (see “network node configuration i”) , or a network function instance of the one or more first network elements in which the positioning reference device exists (see [0049], “network node configuration i”).
Regarding claim 18, Sahlin communication apparatus, comprising at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is coupled to at least one memory, and the at least one processor (see processing circuitry, fig. 9-10) is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the at least one memory (see memory figs 9-10) to enable the communication apparatus to perform operations comprising:
receiving a third message from a first network element (see network element in fig. 3-4), wherein the third message is used to request the communication apparatus to perform positioning measurement (see positioning measurements [0036]); and sending fourth information to the first network element, wherein the fourth information comprises at least one of second location information or positioning measurement information (see location information [0048]), the second location information indicates a location of a first device that is measured by the communication apparatus (see fig. 4, car, [0053], “comprising positioning information to neighboring wireless devices; and an indication corresponding to a neighboring wireless device from which a measurement report is to be received;”), and the positioning measurement information is used for timing correction (Car2 performs Sidelink based measurements—RSTD measurements involving TOA (Timing Of Arrival) measurement from the neighboring wireless devices, e.g. Car1).
Regarding claim 2, Sahlin the method according to claim 1, wherein the first message comprises at least one of the following information: information about a reference area of a first device, information about a neighboring reference area of the reference area of the first device (see car 2 in fig. 4), or first location information of the first device, wherein the first device is a positioned device (see location fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, Sahlin the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the first network element, one or more first positioning reference devices based on the first message comprises: determining, by the first network element, the one or more first positioning reference devices based on the first message and information about a reference area of the one or more positioning reference devices (see [0109], “ These procedures are not exclusive to each other, for example the wireless device may transmit the same information to the served network node as to other wireless devices or simply the same signal can be detected by the other wireless devices or in other examples separate messages are transmitted wherein some the information may be the same or a subset of the information is provided”).
Regarding claim 4, Sahlin the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the first network element, first information from the positioning reference device, wherein the first information indicates a capability of the positioning reference device (see [0028], “ UE Positioning may be considered as a network-provided enabling technology consisting of standardized service capabilities”).
Regarding claim 5, Sahlin the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first network element, a second message to a network repository network element, wherein the second message indicates that the positioning reference device exists in the first network element.
Regarding claim 6, Sahlin the method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first network element, at least one of second location information or positioning measurement information to the first location management network element, wherein the first location management network element computes location information of at least one of the one or more first positioning reference devices or the first device (see [0035] In this disclosure at least one of the embodiments comprises listening to positioning measurements of neighboring wireless devices. In certain examples the wireless devices are vehicular type devices, e.g. cars. In such examples, cars report positioning measurements of neighboring cars to the network or they utilize these measurements to compute position by themselves. These overheard measurements when combined with other information sources provide more accurate position estimation and information on position of surrounding cars.).
Regarding claim 7, Sahlin the method according to claim 1, wherein the first network element comprises: an access and mobility management function network element or a location management function network element (see LMF and AMF in fig. 2).
Regarding claim 9, Sahlin the method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the positioning reference device, first information to the first network element, wherein the first information indicates a capability of the positioning reference device (see capabilities [0028]).
Regarding claim 11, Sahlin the method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the first location management network element, a seventh message, wherein the seventh message is used to request location information of the positioning reference device or a first device, the seventh message is used to request to determine the location information of the positioning reference device or the first device, or the seventh message is used to provide the location information of the positioning reference device or the first device (see [0109], “These procedures are not exclusive to each other, for example the wireless device may transmit the same information to the served network node as to other wireless devices or simply the same signal can be detected by the other wireless devices or in other examples separate messages are transmitted wherein some the information may be the same or a subset of the information is provided. ”).
Regarding claim 12, Sahlin the method according to claim 11, wherein the fifth message further comprises at least one of the following information: information about a reference area of the first device or information about a neighboring reference area of the reference area of the first device, wherein the first device is a device on which positioning measurement is performed (see [0035], “cars report positioning measurements of neighboring cars to the network or they utilize these measurements to compute position by themselves. These overheard measurements when combined with other information sources provide more accurate position estimation and information on position of surrounding cars.”).
Regarding claim 13, Sahlin the method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the first location management network element, a first message to the first network element, wherein the first message is used to request the first network element to provide information about the positioning reference device, and the first network element belongs to one or more network elements in which the positioning reference device exists (see [0035], “cars report positioning measurements of neighboring cars to the network or they utilize these measurements to compute position by themselves. These overheard measurements when combined with other information sources provide more accurate position estimation and information on position of surrounding cars.”).
Regarding claim 14, Sahlin the method according to claim 13, wherein the first message comprises at least one of the following information: the information about the reference area of the first device, the information about the neighboring reference area of the reference area of the first device, or first location information of the first device (see [0035], “cars report positioning measurements of neighboring cars to the network or they utilize these measurements to compute position by themselves. These overheard measurements when combined with other information sources provide more accurate position estimation and information on position of surrounding cars.”).
Regarding claim 16, Sahlin the method according to claim 15, wherein the fifth message further comprises at least one of the following information: information about a reference area of a first device or information about a neighboring reference area of the reference area of the first device, wherein the first device is a device on which positioning measurement is performed (see [0035], “positioning measurements”).
Regarding claim 17, Sahlin the method according to claim 15, wherein the first network element comprises: an access and mobility management function network element or a location management function network element (see LFM in fig. 2).
Regarding claim 19, Sahlin the communication apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the operations comprise: sending first information to the first network element, wherein the first information indicates a capability of the communication apparatus (see capabilities, [0028]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jain et al. (US Pat. No. 11,985,567 B2)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to K. WILFORD SHAHEED whose telephone number is (469) 295-9175. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9 am-6pm; CST; ALT Friday. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. The examiner’s Supervisor, Jinsong Hu, can be reached at (571)272-3965, where attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful.
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.
/KHALID W SHAHEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
Prosecution Insights