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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 9 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 2 and 9 are dependent on claim 0. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1 - 3, 5 - 7, 12, 15 - 17, 19 - 21, 23, 26, 28, 31, 45, 47 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yerramalli et al. (US 20210329414 A1) in view of Park et al. (WO 2017052951 A1) (both of which have been provided in the International Search Report).
Regarding claim 1, Yerramalli discloses a method performed by a first user equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of the UE in a wireless network ([0007] – [0010]), comprising:
receiving a first request for positioning of the first UE (Fig. 10, block 1002 discloses “At block 1002, the entity receives a location request message that includes a measurement period and a first time point within the measurement period for performing positioning measurements for the UE, …”),
Yerramalli does not disclose:
visual positioning;
the visual positioning based at least in part on visual signals captured by a visual sensor of the first UE and on one or more radio positioning signals;
capturing visual data based on the first request;
determining video-based channel state information (vCSI) based on the captured visual data;
and transmitting the report to a network entity associated with the first UE ([0007], last 2 lines discloses “… and transmitting to a location server a location report related to the positioning measurements.”
In the same field of endeavor, however, Park discloses:
Visual positioning;
the visual positioning based at least in part on visual signals captured by a visual sensor of the first UE and on one or more radio positioning signals ([0060] discloses “…. receive (a)(i) first radio signal location data for a first object from a radio sensor; and (a)(ii) first visual signal location data for the first object from a camera sensor;”
capturing visual data ([0060] (a)(ii));
determining video-based channel state information (vCSI) based on the captured visual data ([0063] disclosed fused data; wherein the vCSI is interpreted as the fused data );
and transmitting measurements to a network entity associated with the first UE ([0007] – [0010]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the method, as disclosed by Park, in the system of Yerramalli because this would allow for fused data to be used to determine position, which could improve the accuracy of the system.
Regarding claim 2, Yerramalli does not disclose the visual data is associated with one or
more wireless devices within visual range of the first UE.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Park discloses the visual data is associated with one or more wireless devices within visual range of the first UE ([0060] discloses “…first visual signal location data for the first object from a camera sensor;..”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the visual data method, as disclosed by Park, in the system of Yerramalli because this would allow for fused data to be used to determine position, which could improve the accuracy of the system.
Regarding claim 3, Yerramalli does not disclose the one or more radio positioning signals received by the first UE from one of the one or more wireless devices within visual range of the first UE.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Park discloses the one or more radio positioning signals are received by the first UE from one of the one or more wireless devices within visual range of the first UE ([0060] discloses “…receive (a)(i) first radio signal location data for a first object from a radio sensor; …”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the visual data method, as disclosed by Park, in the system of Yerramalli because this would allow for fused data to be used to determine position, which could improve the accuracy of the system.
Regarding claim 5, Yerramalli discloses relative direction use in beamforming ([0054] – [0056]).
One ordinary skill in art can use the above information to indicate the direction for pointing the visual sensor (Rationales for Obviousness (MPEP 2143, Rationales E & F)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use direction information, because this would allow for directional transmission between devices, thereby increasing SNR and reducing wasted transmitted power.
Regarding claim 6, Yerramalli discloses use of sidelink communication ([0051]) and radio positioning signals for positioning measurements (Fig. 9, steps 7 - 10; [0125] – [0129] discloses using positioning signals, obtaining positioning measurements and transmitting positioning measurements).
One ordinary skill in art can do the above by itself or in conjunction with visual measurements (Rationales for Obviousness (MPEP 2143, Rationales E & F)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to perform the above steps without visual information, because this would allow positioning measurements to be made when visual information is not available.
Claim 7 is similarly analyzed as claims 1 (1st limitation; wherein network entity could be location server 902 in Fig. 9 of Yerramalli) and 6 (last two limitations: using PRS and transmitting the results of the fused PRS/visual to the location server 902).
Regarding claim 12, Yerramalli discloses prior to receiving the first request:
receiving a request for radio-based positioning of the first UE (Fig. 9, step 1; [ 0118]);
receiving the one or more radio positioning signals based on the request for radio-based positioning (Fig. 9, steps 7 & 8; [0125] – [0126]);
determining one or more radio positioning measurements based on the one or more radio positioning signals (Fig. 9, step 9; [0127]);
and transmitting one or more signals to the network entity indicating the one or more radio positioning measurements (Fig. 9 step 12; [0131]),
wherein the first request is based at least in part on the one or more radio positioning measurements (Fig. 9, steps 1, 7, 8).
Claim 15 is similarly analyzed as claim 1, with claim 15 reciting equivalent apparatus limitations. Memory and processor are disclosed by Yerramalli (Fig. 3, elements 382, 358, 364; [0068] – [0069]).
Claim 16 is similarly analyzed as claim 2.
Claim 17 is similarly analyzed as claim 3.
Claim 19 is similarly analyzed as claim 5.
Claim 20 is similarly analyzed as claim 6.
Claim 21 is similarly analyzed as claim 7.
Claim 23 is similarly analyzed as claim 12.
Claim 26 is similarly analyzed as claims 1 and 2. Claim 26 also recites “performed by a location server”. Yerramalli discloses this in Fig. 9 (element 902; [0117]).
Claim 28 is similarly analyzed as in claim 5 (relative direction part of limitation).
Regarding claim 31, Yerramalli discloses the vCSI is associated with the presence of at least one of the one or more wireless devices (as in claim 2; wherein presence would correspond to visual range), wherein the method further comprises:
transmitting a request to the first UE requesting radio positioning of one of the one or more wireless devices, the request for radio positioning based at least in part on the vCSI (as in claim 1);
and receiving a response from the first UE based at least in part on the one or more radio positioning signals (Fig. 9, steps 7 – 12; [0125] – [0131]).
Claim 45 is similarly analyzed as claims 1, 26. Claim 45 further recites “serving base station”. This is disclosed by Yerramalli (Fig. 9, 102s; [0117]).
Claim 47 is similarly analyzed as in claim 5 (relative direction part of limitation).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4, 8 - 11, 13 - 14, 18, 22, 24 – 25 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Other Prior Art Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure.
The following patents/publications are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to positioning determination:
Kulikov (US 20160007184 A1) discloses identifying computer devices in proximity to a given origin.
Rahimi et al. (US 9305458 B2) discloses Proximity-detection Systems and Methods.
Veres et al. (US 12170933 B2) discloses Technique of Determining A Measure Of Proximity Between Two Devices.
Thomas et al. (US 20250203572 A1) discloses Sidelink Positioning Reference Unit Management
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADOLF DSOUZA whose telephone number is (571)272-1043. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh M Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADOLF DSOUZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
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