CTNF 18/848,793 CTNF 74454 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priority Acknowledgment is made of a 371 of PCT/IB2023/052164, filed 03/21/2022. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/21/2024 and 09/23/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claims status Claims 1-5, 7-10, 12-17 and 19-23 are pending Claims 6, 11 and 18 were cancelled Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 20-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao (US 2022/0065979 in view Dai (WO 2023/044599) . Regarding claims 1, 20 and 21, Bao teaches an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (Bao – 0004) and configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a configuration entity, a measurement configuration to perform sidelink positioning reference measurements (Boa 0028 and 0043 disclose network providing assistance and controlling positioning but does not specifically state an anchor UE receives a measurement configuration for sidelink measurement); collect one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements (Bao discloses sidelink positioning (Bao 0005 and 0031 disclose sidelink positioning measurement but silent to the anchor UE itself collecting sidelink measurements); and transmit, to the configuration entity, the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements and a known location of the apparatus (Bao abstract shows known location and assistance data). As shown above, Bao does not expressly disclose that an anchor receives a measurement configuration from a configuration entity specifically to perform sidelink positioning measurements, although suggest network driven control assistance for sidelink positioning describing a position. In the same field of endeavor, Dai 0004 teaches network driven configuration of measurement operations. Specifically describing a position estimation entity (LMF) that participates in location procedures with base stations and UEs over NG/Xn/NR-Uu interfaces and that obtains RSTD and anchor to anchor measurements. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Dai’s configuration pattern to Bao’s sidelink anchor UE in order to improve sidelink positioning accuracy by allowing the positioning device to correct for synchronization and delay errors as suggested by Dai. Regarding claims 2 and 22, Bao as modified by Dai above disclose a sidelink positioning reference measurements include at least one of a timing-based reference measurement or an angular-based reference measurement (Bao- 0030, the estimated location of the UE 105 can be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multiangulation and/or multilateration), based on the distance and/or angle measurements, along with known position of the one or more components). Regarding claims 3 and 23, Bao as modified by Dai above disclose one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements include at least one of a sidelink reference signal time difference (SL-RSTD) reference measurement, a sidelink (SL) user equipment (UE) receive transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference reference measurement, a SL time-of-flight (ToF) reference measurement, a time-of-arrival (ToA) reference measurement, a SL-angle-of- arrival measurement, a SL time difference of arrival (TDoA) reference measurement, a SL round trip time (RTT) reference measurement, or a SL angle of arrival (AoA) reference measurement (Bao 0049 – RSTD, ToA etc.) Regarding claim 4, Bao as modified by Dai above disclose the known location of the apparatus includes one or more of 2D or 3D latitude and longitude information, height or altitude information, a velocity estimate, an antenna and panel related location information and reference points, or an uncertainty value or a confidence interval associated with the known location (Bao 0032 – coordinates XYZ, reference points etc ). Regarding claim 5, Bao as modified by Dai above disclose the configuration entity comprises a user equipment (UE) or a network entity, and wherein the at least one processor and is further configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, from the UE or the network entity, a request for the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements and the known location of the apparatus; and transmit, to the UE or the network entity in response to the request, the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements and a known location of the apparatus (Bao 0075- assistance data for an anchor UE including for example a drift rate which provides a location server or base station (entity) directly from the anchor UE to another UE). Regarding claim 7, Bao as modified by Dai above disclose the apparatus further configured to cause the apparatus to operate in at least one of a UE-based UE-configured positioning mode, a UE-based network-configured positioning mode, a UE-assisted UE-configured positioning mode, or UE- assisted Network configuration positioning mode (Bao 0028- positioning operation at UE network configured assistance from location server). Regarding claim 8 Bao as modified by Dai above disclose collecting one or more new radio (NR) Uu interface positioning reference measurements; and transmit, to a base station, the one or more NR Uu positioning reference measurements and the known location of the apparatus (Dai- 0004, RSTD/RxTx measurement). Regarding claim 10, Bao as modified by Dai above disclose receive, from a user equipment (UE) or a network entity, a request for capability information regarding the apparatus acting as a sidelink positioning reference unit; and transmit, to the UE or the network entity in response to the request, capability information regarding the apparatus acting as a sidelink positioning reference unit (Bao – 0046, LMF obtaining positioning based related parameters from the gNBs via NRPPa). Regarding claim 12, Bao teaches multiple coordinate reports for a moving anchor UE, velocity and movement information and orientation, but does not specifically disclose representing updates as deltas relative to previously reported locations. However, official notice is taken that at the time the invention was made, representing updated position information as changes relative to previously reported position information (delta location updates) was well known in the art. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Bao’s updating of known location information to represent the updated information using delta locations relative to previously reported locations in order to reduce communication overhead and improve efficiency of Bao’s sidelink positioning system . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao (US 2022/0065979 in view Dai (WO 2023/044599) and further in view of Lee et al (US 2016/0219620) . Regarding claim 9, Bao as modified by Dai above PCID and VCID (Bao 0027) however fail to disclose UE identifiers, specifically the apparatus includes an apparatus identifier (ID) that is at least one of a layer one ID (L1-ID) derived from a layer two ID (L2-ID), a self-generated ID, or an application ID generated by a sidelink positioning application of the apparatus, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the configuration entity, the apparatus ID with the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements and the known location of the apparatus. However, Lee teaches a layer one ID derived from a layer two ID (Duan 0088- the MAC layer will convert the higher layer ProSe ID (i.e. ProSe Layer-2 Group ID and ProSe UE ID) identifying the target (Group, UE) into two bit strings of which one can be forwarded to the physical layer and used as SA L1 ID whereas the other is used as Destination Layer-2 ID). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Lee’s use of an L1 id from higher layer-2 identifiers for sidelink configuration with Bao’s sidelink anchor UE in order to allow mapping to occur at different protocol layers for sidelink communications . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 13 and 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao (US 2022/0065979) in view of Ashraf et al (US 12,593,293) . Regarding claim 13, Ashraf an apparatus, comprising: a transceiver; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a positioning reference unit (PRU), one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements and a known location of the PRU (Boa abstract, 0028 and 0043 disclose network providing assistance and controlling positioning but does not specifically state an anchor UE receives a measurement configuration for sidelink measurement); However, Bao fails to specifically disclose generating measurement error correction information based at least in part on the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements; and transmit, to a positioning calculation entity, the measurement error correction information. Ashraf teaches generating measurement error correction information based at least in part on the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements (Ashraf abstract, col. 9, lines 5-17, col. 11, line 65- col. 12, line 7, and claim 1 of Ashraf, specifically estimated Rx-Tx/PD compensation is correction information. Also figure 8, predicting a transmit time… estimating Rx-Tx measurement based on a different between time of receipt and the predicted transmit time). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bao’s sidelink positioning framework with Ashraf’s correction teachings to improve positioning accuracy. Regarding claim 15, Boa as modified by Ashraf disclose the measurement error correction information includes at least one of pseudo-range errors, synchronization timing errors, reference signal time difference (RSTD) reference measurements, angle of arrival (AOA) calibration errors, or time validity duration of the measurement error correction information (Ashraf abstract and col. 4, lines 4-19) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 14 and 16, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao (US 2022/0065979) in view of Ashraf et al (US 12,593,293) and further in view of Sahin et al (US 2024/0291607) . Regarding claim 14, Bao as modified by Ashraf above disclose the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: generate the measurement error correction information by determining a calibration of timing-based measurement errors based at least in part on the on the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements; and transmit, to the PRU as the measurement error correction information, the timing based measurement error correction information (. However, Bao and Ashraf fail to specifically disclose angular based measurements. Sahin teaches that sidelink PRS measurements include both timing and angle components (Sahin 0034- the T-UE may measure a time of arrival, a time difference of arrival, an angle of arrival, an angle of departure, and/or received power of the SL PRS). Given that Bao and Ashraf disclose calibrating timing, angle and phase and power based measurements for time of arrival etc. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Sahin’s angular sidelink measurements with the already existing measurements in order to improve positioning accuracy and robustness in multipath environments. Regarding claim 16, Bao as modified by Ashraf fail to specifically disclose the processor further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the PRU, a measurement configuration for the PRU to perform sidelink positioning reference measurements using the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements; and receive, in response to the measurement configuration, the one or more sidelink positioning reference measurements and the known location of the PRU. Specifically, Bao discloses positioning configuration for DL/Uu and Ashraf provides timing measurement/correction mechanism but both fail to address the specific PRU on sidelink. However, Sahin discloses receiving sidelink PRS measurements specifically the SL PRS measurements being sent back in response to configuration (Sahin 0034). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Sahin’s sidelink measurements with the already existing measurements in order to improve positioning accuracy and robustness in multipath environments. Regarding claim 17, Bao as modified by Ashraf fail to disclose the specific request/response interaction with a PRU. Specifically, transmitting to the PRU a request for the sidelink PR measurements and the known location of the PRU and receiving from the PRU in response to the request the sidelink PR measurements and a known location of the PRU. Although as seen above, Bao discloses anchor UEs (PRU like) providing assistance data including coordinates and Ashraf teaches receiving a reference/PRS/sidelink signal and estimating and transmitting measurement and corrections between UE and gNB. However, Sahin teaches request/response signaling pattern in a sidelink positioning context between anchor UEs, target UEs and the network (Sahin 0047). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Sahin’s sidelink measurements with the already existing measurements in order to improve positioning accuracy and robustness in multipath environments. Regarding claim 19, Bao and Ashraf fail to specifically disclose capability information request/response with a PRU. However, Sahin teaches that the anchor UE sends an on-demand SL PRS reconfiguration request message to the network including “information on the status of the UE or SL conditions used to help the network to determine the new SL PRS configuration (Sahin – 0036, 0046 and 0047, capability/status information for acting an anchor/PRU). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Sahin’s sidelink measurements with the already existing measurements in order to improve positioning accuracy and robustness in multipath environments. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDAN ORGAD whose telephone number is (571)272-7884. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s director, Deborah Reynolds can be reached at 571-272-0734. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 2 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 3 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 4 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 5 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 6 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 7 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 8 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 9 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 10 Art Unit: 2414 Application/Control Number: 18/848,793 Page 11 Art Unit: 2414
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