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 .
This action is in response to the preliminary amendment filed on 8/7/2024. Claims 21-40 are pending and have been considered below.
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 21-40 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.
Claims 21, and 31 recite in line 11 and in line 14 “one or more SL-PRSs” it is unclear whether these recitations in lines 11,14 refers to the same, one or more SL-PRSs, as recited in line 4, or this is different/other one or more SL-PRSs [for examination purpose this is considered as ‘the one or more SL-PRSs’].
In claims 21 and 31, lines 14-15 “an indication of ID associated with the one or more PRSs” is unclear whether this is same as in lines 5-6; this should be amended accordingly.
Claims 21 and 31, lines 18-19 recites “an indication of the IDs of the one or more SL-PRSs, and a priority associated with the one or more SL-PRSs” this is repetition of same language as in lines 14-16, and needs to be addressed for clarity of claims scope.
Dependent claims 22-30, 32-40 are rejected for their direct/indirect dependencies on claims 21 and 31.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 21, 23-28, 31,33-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2024/0349228) in view of Baek et al. (US 2024/0031975).
Regarding claims 21, and 31:
Wang discloses a system and method for a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) (abstract; figures), comprising:
a processor and memory (figure 17 [1709,1710], fig 19) configured to:
receive configuration information indicating a first resource pool, a second resource pool, and information associated with one or more sidelink positioning reference signals (SL-PRSs) (para 73; para 281-285; para 284, partially reproduced herein with emphasis {..resource pool information associated with the sidelink positioning reference signal, for example, resource pool indication information …}; para 325 {where I is the number of resource pools} [number of pools essentially include first, second]; figures 2-3), wherein the information associated with the one or more SL-PRSs comprises an indication of the identifications (IDs) associated with the one or more SL-PRSs (para 72 [SL-RNTI]; para 576,901,1159), wherein the one or more SL- PRSs are associated with the first resource pool or the second resource pool (para 189; para 260 [sidelink resource pool information]; para 286 [ resource pool indication information, resource pool identification]; figures 4-8);
receive sidelink control information (SCI), wherein the SCI comprises an indication to receive one or more SL-PRSs via resources associated with the first resource pool or via resources associated with the second resource pool (para 338, 389); and
wherein, the SCI comprises an indication that the transmission via the resources associated with the first resource pool comprises one or more SL-PRSs, an indication of ID associated with the one or more SL-PRSs, and a priority associated with the one or more SL-PRSs (para 72; para 613; para 339 {priority information for a sidelink positioning reference signal}; para 461,779); and
wherein, the SCI comprises a cast type associated with the one or more SL-PRSs (para 365 {cast type indicator}; para 484,954);
receive the one or more SL-PRSs indicated by the SCI via resources associated with the first resource pool or via resources associated with the second resource pool (para 145; para 187-189 [receiving second sidelink positioning reference signal]; and see throughout the disclosure).
Wang discloses all of the subject matter as described above, except for specifically teaching that wherein the first resource pool allows for multiplexing of SL-PRSs with sidelink data, and wherein the second resource pool does not allow for multiplexing SL-PRSs with sidelink data.
However, Baek in the same field of endeavor discloses a system and method for network based positioning wherein the first resource pool allows for multiplexing of SL-PRSs with sidelink data, and wherein the second resource pool does not allow for multiplexing SL-PRSs with sidelink data (para 125-128 {Resource pools may be subdivided into several types. For example, according to the content in the SL signal transmitted in each resource pool, the resource pools may be divided as follows. [0126] (1) Scheduling assignment (SA) may be a signal including … The SA may be multiplexed with SL data and transmitted through the same resource unit. In this case, an SA resource pool may represent a resource pool in which SA is multiplexed with SL data and transmitted. The SA may be referred to as an SL control channel. [0127] (2) SL data channel (physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)) may be a resource pool through which the transmitting UE transmits user data. When the SA and SL data are multiplexed and transmitted together in the same resource unit, only the SL data channel except for the SA information may be transmitted in the resource pool for the SL data channel.}; figures; and throughout disclosure).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use teachings of Baek in Wang in order to provide adaptive sidelink positioning based on positioning service type, capabilities, surrounding environment for optimized positioning [16-19] (KSR: Combining Prior Art Elements According to Known Methods to Yield Predictable Results).
Regarding claims 23,33:
Wang et al discloses all of the subject matter as described above wherein the information associated with the one or more SL-PRSs comprises time and frequency resources associated with transmissions of the one or more SL-PRSs (para 189; and throughout).
Regarding claim 24,34:
Wang et al discloses all of the subject matter as described above wherein the information associated with the one or more SL-PRSs comprises a SL-PRS resource element offset, a SL-PRS symbol offset, or a number of SL-PRS symbols ([note: optional language]; para 426,750 [RE offset]; and throughout).
Regarding claim 25,35:
Wang et al discloses all of the subject matter as described above wherein the cast type is one or unicast, groupcast, or broadcast (para 3; para 283 [unicast]; and throughout).
Regarding claim 26,36:
Wang et al discloses all of the subject matter as described above wherein the SCI further comprises a bitfield to indicate the availability of the one or more SL-PRSs (para 338-339; para 346; and throughout).
Regarding claim 27,37:
Wang et al discloses all of the subject matter as described above wherein the processor and memory are configured to: send measurements associated with the one or more SL-PRSs (para 135; para 468; and throughout).
Regarding claim 28,38:
Wang et al discloses all of the subject matter as described above and decode transmissions associated with the first resource pool or the second resource pool in accordance with the SCI (para 356; and throughout).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Mohammad et al. (US 2025/0063575) discloses a system and method for high precision sidelink positioning.
Dai et al. (US 2024/0155546) discloses a system and method for sidelingk positioning reference signal resource configurations.
Satyam Dwivedi (Positioning in 5G networks; IEEE explore; February 2021).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIRDEPAL SINGH whose telephone number is (571)270-1688. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-5:00 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah S Wang can be reached on (571) 272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HIRDEPAL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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