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 .
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 – 16, 19 – 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US 20220053294 A1; which has been provided in the International Search Report as CN111866733B) in view of Lefevre et al. (US 20230308453 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Guo discloses a method for acquiring a location of a terminal, performed by a core network element (Title; Abstract; Fig. 3A, core network element interpreted as AMF), comprising:
initiating a positioning procedure to acquire the location of the terminal (Fig. 3B, step 309; [0106] discloses “The AMF sends a positioning request message to the LMF, where the positioning request message includes the indication information of the positioning method”),
wherein initiating the positioning procedure to acquire the location of the terminal comprises:
sending first request information to a location management function (LMF) ([0106] discloses “The AMF sends a positioning request message to the LMF, where the positioning request message includes the indication information of the positioning method”);
wherein the first request information is configured to request first location information of the terminal (Fig. 3A, 3B, location information request inherent in positioning request), the first request information indicates a location request, and the location request comprises at least one of:
the first location information being location information verified by a network;
or the first location information being location information obtained based on a reliable positioning method (Fig. 3B, step 310; [0108] – [0109] discloses “The LMF selects a corresponding positioning method based on the indication information of the positioning method. When the indication information of the positioning method may be, for example, indication information that can reflect a positioning requirement of the client, for example, when the indication information may be the same as the first indication information, and is used to indicate that the client needs highly reliable positioning data, the LMF may select, according to a policy, a positioning method that satisfies the requirement.“; [0060] discloses “In this application, the AF network element may obtain a positioning service in a gateway mobility location in a same trusted domain….”; [0110] discloses “A policy of the LMF may be preferentially using the network-assisted positioning method in a high-reliability scenario ….QoS requirement…”).
Guo does not disclose wherein the terminal performs satellite access via a base station.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Lefevre discloses the terminal performs satellite access via a base station (Fig. 1, UE 124 accesses satellite 160 via base station 122).
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 Lefevre, in the system of Guo because this would allow the UE to communicate with other devices that are beyond the range of the base station and UE.
Regarding claim 2, Guo discloses receiving the first location information sent by the LMF (Fig. 3C, step 313; [0120] discloses “The LMF sends positioning response information to the client or the AF by using a core network element, where the positioning response information includes the location information of the target UE.”).
Regarding claim 3, Guo discloses wherein prior to initiating the positioning procedure the method further comprises:
acquiring second location information of the terminal sent by the terminal ([0008] discloses “the determining location information of the terminal device based on the location information reported by the terminal device”; wherein the 2nd location is the location is the location reported by the terminal);
and determining whether the second location information is reliable ([0008] discloses determining reliable or unreliable based on error range; Fig. 3C, step 312; );
wherein initiating the positioning procedure comprises: initiating, in response to determining that the second location information is unreliable, the positioning procedure ([0123] discloses “If the positioning result reported by the UE is unreliable, the LMF triggers an alarm to the client. When the redundant positioning method based on UE and a network is used, it can be ensured that the client obtains reliable positioning data. When the UE performs false reporting, the client is alarmed and the historical behavior of the UE is stored. According to the method in this embodiment of this application, a more reliable and accurate positioning service can be provided for the client“; wherein the more reliable an accurate positioning service is described as in claim 1, [0108] - [0109] for 1st location information).
Regarding claim 4, Guo discloses wherein determining whether the second location information is reliable comprises determining whether the second location information is reliable based on a determination result of whether the terminal is reliable ([0008] discloses “When the difference is within the error range, the location information reported by the terminal device is proved to be unreliable”);
determining whether the second location information is reliable based on a determination result of whether a channel for acquiring the second location information from the terminal is protected by a security mechanism;
or, determining whether the second location information is reliable based on a determination result of whether a positioning method for obtaining the second location information is reliable.
Regarding claim 5, Guo discloses wherein determining whether the second location information is reliable based on a determination result of whether a positioning method for obtaining the second location information is reliable comprises:
determining, in response to the second location information being location information obtained based on an unreliable positioning method, the second location information to be unreliable;
or, determining, in response to the second location information being location information obtained based on a reliable positioning method, the second location information to be reliable (Fig. 3B, step 310; [0108] – [0109] discloses “The LMF selects a corresponding positioning method based on the indication information of the positioning method. When the indication information of the positioning method may be, for example, indication information that can reflect a positioning requirement of the client, for example, when the indication information may be the same as the first indication information, and is used to indicate that the client needs highly reliable positioning data, the LMF may select, according to a policy, a positioning method that satisfies the requirement.“).
Regarding claim 6, Guo discloses wherein acquiring the second location information of the terminal comprises:
sending, in response to a requirement of acquiring the second location information of the terminal from the LMF, second request information to the LMF ([0123] discloses “If the positioning result reported by the UE is unreliable, the LMF triggers an alarm to the client. When the redundant positioning method based on UE and a network is used, it can be ensured that the client obtains reliable positioning data. When the UE performs false reporting, the client is alarmed and the historical behavior of the UE is stored. According to the method in this embodiment of this application, a more reliable and accurate positioning service can be provided for the client“; wherein the more reliable an accurate positioning service is described as in claim 1, [0108] - [0109]. Hence a second request is inherent in the request for a more reliable and accurate positioning service).
Regarding claim 7, Guo discloses the second request information comprises information for subscribing to a positioning method for acquiring the second location information of the terminal ([0088] discloses “….when the type of the client is a commercial service and the client is a subscriber, it is determined that the redundant positioning method that is based on UE reporting and network-assisted positioning is preferentially used…..”; [0089] – [0090] disclose similar).
Regarding claim 8, Guo discloses receiving information about the a positioning method for acquiring the second location information of the terminal sent by the LMF (Fig. 3B, step 309).
Claim 9 is similarly analyzed as claim 1. Core network element in claim 9 is the AMF in claim 1.
Regarding claim 10, Guo discloses determining the reliable positioning method based on the first request information; and performing positioning for the terminal based on the reliable positioning method to obtain the first location information (same as in claim 1: Fig. 3B, step 310; [0108] – [0109] discloses “The LMF selects a corresponding positioning method based on the indication information of the positioning method. When the indication information of the positioning method may be, for example, indication information that can reflect a positioning requirement of the client, for example, when the indication information may be the same as the first indication information, and is used to indicate that the client needs highly reliable positioning data, the LMF may select, according to a policy, a positioning method that satisfies the requirement. “; [0060] discloses “In this application, the AF network element may obtain a positioning service in a gateway mobility location in a same trusted domain….”; [0110] discloses “A policy of the LMF may be preferentially using the network-assisted positioning method in a high-reliability scenario ….QoS requirement…”).
Regarding claim 11, Guo discloses sending the first location information to the core network element (Fig. 3C, step 313; [0120] discloses “The LMF sends positioning response information to the client or the AF by using a core network element, where the positioning response information includes the location information of the target UE.”).
Claim 12 is similarly analyzed as claims 6, 7.
Claim 13 is similarly analyzed as claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, Guo discloses sending the second location information to the core network element (as in claim 11: Fig. 3C, step 313; [0120] discloses “The LMF sends positioning response information to the client or the AF by using a core network element, where the positioning response information includes the location information of the target UE.”; wherein the 2nd location can be sent the same way as the 1st, under Rationales for Obviousness (MPEP 2143, Rationales E & F)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to send the 2nd information the same way as the 1st, since one of ordinary skill in the art already know how to send the 1st, hence no new additional methods are needed.
Claim 15 is similarly analyzed as claim 7.
Claim 16 is similarly analyzed as claim 8.
Claim 19 is similarly analyzed as claim 1, with claim 19 reciting equivalent apparatus limitations. Memory, processor are disclosed by Guo (Fig. 6, elements 62, 61; [0131]).
Regarding claim 20, Guo discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when being performed by a processor of a core network element, implement the method of claim 1 (Fig. 6, memory 62; [0131]).
Claim 21 is similarly analyzed as claim 20, with the same components being part of the LMF.
Claim 22 is similarly analyzed as claim 21.
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 terminal position determination:
Kumar et al. (US 12498444 B2) discloses Systems and Methods for Selection of Positioning Based on User Equipment Considerations.
Wu et al. (US 20240388874 A1) discloses determining the first location information; and sending the first location information to the core network device, where the first location information is configured to be used by the core network device ….
Qiu et al. (US 20160128017 A1) discloses location trust score.
Harper (US 20160165401 A1) discloses system and method for location assurance of a mobile device.
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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/ADOLF DSOUZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
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