DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined in this application. This NON-FINAL communication is the first action on the merits.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application filed in PRO 63/536860 on 09/06/2023 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
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 1, 3-4, 6-9, 11-12, 14-17, 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (US 20200132829) in view of Ramachandran (US 20250164598).
Regarding Claims 1, 9, Jiang teaches the following limitations:
A method of wireless communication performed by a first station (STA), the method comprising: (Jiang – [Abstract] Embodiments of an access point (AP), station (STA) and method of communication are generally described herein. In a null data packet (NDP) based ranging procedure between a responding STA and an initiating STA that is unassociated with the responding STA, the responding STA may: transmit a broadcast frame that indicates one or more ranging parameters; receive, from the initiating STA, an NDP announcement (NDPA) frame that indicates transmission of a first NDP from the initiating STA; detect the first NDP from the initiating STA; transmit a second NDP for transmission to the initiating STA; and transmit, to the initiating STA, a location measurement report (LMR) that indicates: a reception time of the first NDP at the responding STA, and a transmission time of the second NDP at the responding STA.)
(Claim 9) A first station (STA) comprising: a transceiver; and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: (Jiang – [Abstract], [0083] The wireless device 700 may include processing circuitry 708. The processing circuitry 708 may include a transceiver 702,)
negotiating, with a second STA, a duration of a time window for performing Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113] In some cases, existing ranging schemes are the FTM-based in 11mc and the NDP-based in 11az, which may require association and negotiation. For 802.11bd, two moving vehicles may pass by within a second. There may not be enough time for the association and negotiation in some cases. [0126] Some embodiments may be related to FTM-Based Ranging. An example scheme in 1020 in FIG. 10 requires 4 or 5 frames. The upside is the flexibility and the downside is the overhead. For reducing the overhead, we modify the FTM protocol defined 802.11mc. Again, the broadcast/multicast/unicast message 1023 is used to announce the device ID and the ranging capabilities/parameters for removing or reducing the association and negotiation overheads. Jiang does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
negotiating, with the second STA, a desired maximum speed of the first STA to be tracked; and (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113], [0126] “desired maximum speed” is interpreted as a speed that will allow negotiation.)
negotiating, with the second STA, one or more inter-packet time parameters for use within the time window based on the desired maximum speed of the first STA to be tracked. (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113], [0126], [0114] The ranging capability and related parameters are announced in the broadcast message or some other similar frame like beacon frame in 802.11ax such that device discovery and ranging parameter acquisition happen at the same time… Furthermore, an early indication of the ranging frame is set in the NGV-SIG so that the channel estimate buffering and ToD preparation can start immediately thereafter… Finally, the one-way reporting of the existing FTM scheme is modified to be bi-directional so that both of the ranging devices can get the distance timely.)
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080] Some standardized mechanisms using an RTT based technique include Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) as defined in IEEE 802.11-2016, and Enhanced Cell-ID (E-CID) as defined in 3GPP TS 36.133. [0204] In an embodiment, upon discovering a ranging capable device within the ranging distance, the device UE 10 can measure the distance and angle with the ranging capable device… This allows the device UE 10 to estimate its relative velocity and/or movement pattern/trajectory. [0248] In an embodiment related to carrier phase based ranging in sidelink direction that can be combined with any other embodiment or implemented independently, two or more anchor UEs 14 may transmit positioning signals featured by a very specific carrier signature over sidelink. A device UE 10 gets tightly time-synchronized with the two or more anchor UEs 14 and receives the positioning signals from the two or more anchor UEs, measures the number of carrier cycles CCi of each anchor UE positioning signal since transmission, and may derive the distance Di to each anchor UE 14 as Di=CCi*λ where λ denotes the wavelength of the positioning signals, and may estimate its position P based on the measured Di and the knowledge of the positions of the anchor UEs 14.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claims 3, 11, Jiang further teaches:
further comprising: negotiating, with the second STA, a multi-level pattern for inter-packet times of FTM-based Ranging (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126] Jiang does not explicitly teach “carrier phase measurements to maximize a detectable first STA speed”.)
wherein the multi-level pattern includes a smaller inter-packet time type to (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113-0114], [0126] Jiang does not explicitly teach “track coarse speed up to a maximum detectable first speed and a larger time type to refine fine speed”.)
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier phase measurements to maximize a detectable first STA speed (Ramachandran – [0248], [0163] The (required) timing of these signals (e.g. the start time of the first signal) may depend on or determine a configured timing/delay, sending/receiving of a synchronization signal, sensing of a quiet period, QoS or quality of experience (QoE) information (e.g., of the ranging/location service or e.g. of other traffic), scheduled resources (e.g., semi-persistent resources), DRX/sleep information that may be configured and/or exchanged between the devices, a timing randomization function, signal quality measurements, doppler-shift/coherence time/hysteresis of measured signals, speed of the devices, etc.). The device UE and/or anchor UE(s) 14 perform ranging measurements on the received ranging reference signals (e.g. determine the arrival time of the ranging reference signal(s), measure angle of arrival of the ranging reference signals), and may calculate a distance or angle based on the techniques described earlier or in other embodiments.)
track coarse speed up to a maximum detectable first speed and a larger time type to refine fine speed (Ramachandran – [0163], [0167] Such policies/criteria may include whether the UE has the ability to determine its position (e.g. through GNSS), and/or whether the position of the UE is stable (e.g., with a certain allowable deviation threshold, and/or fluctuating within a sufficiently small (geographical) area), and/or whether the UE moves at a fixed speed or a speed fluctuating between minimum and maximum deviation thresholds, and/or whether measured signal quality/strength by the UE of positioning/ranging signals or signals from an access device are above a certain minimum threshold, and/or whether measured doppler-shift/hysteresis by the UE of positioning/ranging signals or signals from an access device (possibly indicated as a scaling factor, expressed in dB, on top of a signal strength/quality threshold, whereby the scaling factor may be different for different (relative) speeds) are within certain thresholds, and/or whether the UE is in coverage of a base station, and/or whether it has a connection with a location/ranging service, and/or whether it supports an accurate clock, and/or whether it is synchronized with a certain reference clock, and/or based on which ranging mechanisms (e.g. TDOA, Round-Trip Time) the UE supports… the UE may receive velocity and direction information from one or more device UEs 10 or anchor UEs 14 in vicinity or may receive such information from a location service. The UE may compare the received velocity and direction information, and then based on a (pre-configured) policy (e.g. a policy that indicates a maximum relative speed difference or maximum direction difference) determine if the UE can become an anchor UE 14. [0249] The measuring of the number of carrier cycles may be achieved by using a decoding of a code in the signal, and a computation and a phase measurement. The computation of the number of cycles may be based on decoding a known pseudo random code (PRC) inside the signal, and for each signal looking at which ‘point in time’ the PRC is as compared to the internal clock reference, from which a coarse number of cycles CC can be calculated. The fine part of CC (fractions of carrier cycles) can be obtained from a carrier signal phase measurement.)
carrier-phase (CP) measurements (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claims 4, 12 Jiang further teaches:
further comprising: negotiating, with the second STA, a periodic exchange of multiple Physical Protocol Data Units (PPDUs) in a transmit opportunity (TXOP) to enable accurate carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation, including at least one of: 1) a number of PPDUs exchanged within the TXOP, 2) one or more inter-PPDU time parameters, or (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126], [0049] In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle (the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some embodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. [0088] In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 is configured to decode and/or encode signals, packets, and/or frames as described herein, e.g., PPDUs.)
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claims 6, 14, Jiang further teaches:
wherein the time window is a subset of a Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) ranging session. (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126])
Regarding Claims 7, 15, Jiang further teaches:
further comprising: receiving, from a third STA and prior to negotiating: (i) the duration of the time window, (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 15], [0113-0114], [0126], [0147] After receiving the polling response, the AP may solicit the uplink soundings by sending a ranging trigger frame to the scheduled users as illustrated in FIG. 15.)
(ii) the desired maximum speed, and (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113], [0126] “desired maximum speed” is interpreted as a speed that will allow negotiation.)
(iii) the one or more inter-packet time parameters, an indication including parameters for (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9, 15], [0113-0114], [0126], [0147] Jiang does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claims 8, 16, Jiang further teaches:
wherein the first STA is an initiating station (ISTA) and the second STA is a responding station (RSTA). (Jiang – [Abstract])
Regarding Claim 17, Jiang teaches the following limitations:
A responding station (RSTA) comprising: (Jiang – [Abstract])
a transceiver; and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: (Jiang – [0083])
receive a message from an initiating station (ISTA) requesting FTM-based Ranging (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113], [0126] Jiang does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) measurement”.)
transmit, to the ISTA, an indication for support of the CP measurement; (Jiang – [0114])
negotiate, with the ISTA, a duration of a time window for performing FTM-based Ranging (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113], [0126] Jiang does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
negotiate, with the ISTA, a desired maximum speed of the ISTA to be tracked; and (Jiang – [Abstract], [0113] “desired maximum speed” is interpreted as a speed that will allow negotiation.)
negotiate, with the ISTA, one or more inter-packet time parameters for use within the time window based on the desired maximum speed of the ISTA to be tracked. (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126])
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claim 19, Jiang further teaches:
wherein the processor is further configured to: negotiate, with the ISTA, a multi-level pattern for inter-packet times of FTM-based Ranging (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126] Jiang does not explicitly teach “carrier phase measurements to maximize a detectable ISTA speed”.)
wherein the multi-level pattern includes a smaller inter-packet time type to (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 10], [0113-0114], [0126] Jiang does not explicitly teach “track coarse speed up to a maximum detectable first speed and a larger time type to refine fine speed”.)
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier phase measurements to maximize a detectable ISTA speed (Ramachandran – [0163], [0248])
track coarse speed up to a maximum detectable first speed and a larger time type to refine fine speed (Ramachandran – [0163], [0167], [0249])
carrier-phase (CP) measurements (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claim 20, Jiang further teaches:
wherein the processor is further configured to: (Jiang – [0083])
negotiate, with the ISTA, a periodic exchange of multiple Physical Protocol Data Units (PPDUs) in a transmit opportunity (TXOP) to enable accurate carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation, including at least one of: 1) a number of PPDUs exchanged within the TXOP, 2) one or more inter-PPDU time parameters, or (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0049], [0113-0114], [0088], [0126])
3) an interval between successive CFO estimations. (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0049], [0113-0114], [0088], [0126], [0167] signaling of the mask at fixed frequency offsets from a center frequency.)
Claims 2, 5, 10, 13, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (US 20180313880) in view of Ramachandran (US 20250164598), as applied to claim 1, 9, 17 above, and further in view of Frusina (US 20140337473).
Regarding Claims 2, 10, Jiang further teaches:
wherein the one or more inter-packet time parameters includes (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126])
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Frusina, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
an average value for the inter-packet times of (Frusina - [0175] Latency jitter--A filtered average of inter-packet time differences in network latency L1 352. This is not the traditional calculation of jitter used for VoIP and other real-time protocols. For those protocols they maintain an expected arrival time for packets (e.g. every 20 ms), and jitter is calculated as a filtered average of the differences between actual and expected packet arrival times; Frusina does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
a jitter parameter that indicates an average time value by which each (Frusina - [0175], [0178] Padding may be used to smooth the data rate and help ensure a consistent level of network service. [0215] In some cases, clock drift between the transmitter and receiver may be so severe that the period of time synchronization (5 minutes or otherwise) may not be frequent enough to result in a usable value for the measured distance between the transmitter and receiver clocks. The example embodiment compensates for this scenario by calculating an average velocity for the measured distance. Each time the synchronization algorithm completes, an additional data point for distance is recorded--when there are at least two distance measurements, a least squares trend line for velocity can be calculated, which is then used to approximate the current distance until the next time the synchronization algorithm is run. Frusina does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the measurements, padding, and synchronization algorithm of Frusina in order to smooth data and determine a least squares trend line for velocity (Frusina – [0178], [0215]).
Frusina does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claims 5, 13, Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Frusina, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the one or more inter-packet time parameters includes an average value for the inter-packet times for CFO estimation, and (Frusina – [0175], [0216] Once an embodiment has synchronized the time between the transmitter and the receiver, determining the network latency, on a per data packet basis, is straightforward. Each data packet may be time stamped with the current time at the transmitter before sending. Once the packet arrives at the receiver, the time stamp is adjusted using the calculated offset, compared against the current time, and the network latency determined by a simple mathematical calculation.)
a jitter parameter that indicates an average time value by which each (Frusina - [0175], [0178], [0215], [0216] Frusina does not explicitly teach “CP ranging”.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the measurements, padding, and synchronization algorithm of Frusina in order to smooth data and determine a least squares trend line for velocity (Frusina – [0178], [0215]).
Frusina does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Regarding Claim 18, Jiang further teaches:
wherein the one or more inter-packet time parameters includes (Jiang – [Abstract], [Fig. 9-10], [0113-0114], [0126])
Jiang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Frusina, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
an average value for the inter-packet times of (Frusina - [0175] Frusina does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
a jitter parameter that indicates an average time value by which each (Frusina - [0175], [0178], [0215] Frusina does not explicitly teach “carrier-phase (CP) ranging”.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the measurements, padding, and synchronization algorithm of Frusina in order to smooth data and determine a least squares trend line for velocity (Frusina – [0178], [0215]).
Frusina does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however Ramachandran, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
carrier-phase (CP) ranging (Ramachandran – [0080], [0204], [0248])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the Fine Timing Measurement (FTM)-based Ranging of Jiang with the velocity measurements and carrier phase based ranging of Ramachandran in order to synchronize one or more user equipment (Ramachandran – [0248]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure or directed to the state of art is listed on the enclosed PTO-892.
The following is a brief description for relevant prior art that was cited but not applied:
El Ferkouss (US 20220110084) teaches techniques for handling multiple fine time measurement ranging requests.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON JAMES HENSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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/BRANDON JAMES HENSON/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/BERNARR E GREGORY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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