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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/02/2024; 04/10/2025; 09/08/2025 have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Claim 1 is directed to the abstract idea of determining the timing advance variation value and reporting positioning information to a network, as explained in detail below. The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the determining the TA value, which is recited at a high level of generality, provide conventional computer functions that do not add meaningful limits to practicing the abstract idea. All of these concepts relate to an idea “of itself,” such as ideas that can be performed manually or mentally.
Claims 2-10 are dependent to rejected claim 1; therefore, claims 2-10 are rejected with the reasons set forth to claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8, 9, 21-27, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamine (US 2024/0196362).
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 21, Yamine discloses a method for reporting position information, performed by a terminal device, a method for reporting position information, performed by a network device, a communication device, the method for reporting position information, performed by the terminal device comprising:
determining that a timing advance (TA) variation value corresponding to the terminal device is greater than a threshold value (paragraphs [0120]-[0121], [0125], [0130]; e.g., the network node 110, 130 determines that the UE 121 has changed its location when the difference between the stored timing advance value and the current timing advance value exceeds a third threshold),
wherein the TA variation value is caused by a change in a position of the terminal device (paragraphs [0120]-[0121]; e.g., If the value of timing advance increase then that means the UE 121 is moving away from the network node 110, 130. On the contrary, if the timing advance decreases then the UE 121 is moving towards the network node 110, 130); and
reporting position information of the terminal device to a network device (paragraphs [0032], [00321];e.g., report a change of location of the UE 121, determine a change of location of the UE 121 and report the change of location to the network node 110, 130 at the time of detection).
Regarding claim 2, Yamine discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining a first TA value according to first position information corresponding to the terminal device at a current moment and second position information corresponding to a satellite at the current moment (paragraph [0122]);
determining a second TA value according to third position information last reported by the terminal device and the second position information (paragraphs [0122], [0125]); and
determining the TA variation value according to a difference value between the first TA value and the second TA value (paragraph [0125]; e.g., determines that the UE 121 has changed its location when the difference between the stored timing advance value and the current timing advance value).
Regarding claim 3, Yamine discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining a first TA compensation value according to first position information corresponding to the terminal device at a current moment and second position information corresponding to a satellite at the current moment; determining a second TA compensation value according to third position information last reported by the terminal device and the second position information; and determining the TA variation value according to a difference value between the first TA compensation value and the second TA compensation value (paragraphs [0122], [0125], [0134]).
Regarding claim 4, Yamine discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining a third TA value according to first position information corresponding to the terminal device at a current moment and fourth position information corresponding to a satellite when the position information was last reported; determining a fourth TA value according to third position information last reported by the terminal device and the fourth position information; and determining the TA variation value according to a difference value between the third TA value and the fourth TA value (paragraphs [0122], [0125], [0134], [0317]).
Regarding claim 5, Yamine discloses the method according to claim 1,
further comprising: determining a third TA compensation value according to first position information corresponding to the terminal device at a current moment and fourth position information corresponding to a satellite when the position information was last reported; determining a fourth TA compensation value according to third position information last reported by the terminal device and the fourth position information; and determining the TA variation value according to a difference value between the third TA compensation value and the fourth TA compensation value (paragraphs [0122], [0125], [0134], [0317]).
Regarding claims 6 and 9, Yamine discloses the method according to claims 1 and 8, further comprising: receiving indication information sent by the network device, wherein the indication information is configured to indicate configuration information for the terminal device to report the position information (paragraphs [0083], [0103]; e.g., The report may comprise a new parameter indicating that the UE 121 has changed its location).
Claim 22 is drawn to a computer program stored on the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of claim 8; therefore, the same rationale applied to claim 8 applies. In addition, Yamine inherently discloses a computer program, i.e., given that Yamine discloses a process (paragraph [0325]), the process would be implemented by a processor that requires a computer program product, e.g., a RAM, to function.
Claims 23 and 24 are drawn to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, configured to store instructions, comprising code means for generating steps of claims 1 and 8. Therefore, the same rationale applied to claim 1 applies. In addition, Yamine inherently discloses a computer program product, i.e., given that Yamine discloses a process (paragraph [0325]), the process would be implemented by a processor that requires a computer program product, e.g., a RAM, to function.
Claim 25 is rejected with the same reasons set forth to claims 2-4.
Claim 26 is rejected with the same reasons set forth to claim 4.
Claims 27 and 29 are rejected with the same reasons set forth to claim 6.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 7, 10, 28, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamine in view of Ma et al. (US 2024/0267865).
Regarding claims 7, 10, 28, and 30, Yamine discloses the method and the communication device according to claims 6, 8, 27, and 29, fails to specifically disclose the configuration information comprises any one of description information of the TA variation value, a periodic value for reporting the position information, and TA reporting configuration information based on a media access control control element (MAC CE).
However, Ma discloses the configuration information comprises any one of description information of the TA variation value, a periodic value for reporting the position information, and TA reporting configuration information based on a media access control control element (MAC CE) (paragraphs [0096], [0108]).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Yamine in combination of Ma as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention by applicant to configure information comprises any one of description information of the TA variation value, a periodic value for reporting the position information, and TA reporting configuration information based on a media access control control element (MAC CE) in order to adjust the timing of uplink transmissions to compensate for the propagation delay (Ma: paragraph [0096]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bi et al. (US 2021/0289463) discloses a network device determines a timing advance variation a quality change of downlink and uplink transmission.
Beale et al. (US 2022/0124658) discloses determining a timing advance validity threshold based on distance change of a terminal device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY X PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7115. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30-5:00.
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/TIMOTHY X PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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