DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. KR 10-2022-0098147, filed on 08/05/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 01/13/2025 and 09/14/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
4. 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.
Please note: Examiner has cited particular columns, line numbers, and figures in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teaching of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well.
Applicants are reminded that MPEP 2141.02 states:
A prior art reference must be considered in its entirety, i.e., as a whole, including portions that would lead away from the claimed invention. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 220 USPQ 303 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ko et al. (W02021086093) (hereinafter Ko) (Ko is disclosed in the IDS filed on 01/13/2025).
Note: For convenience, herewith, the examiner provided the machine English translation of Ko.
Regarding claims 1, 14 and 15:
As shown in figures 1-28, Ko discloses first device (100 in figure 24), adapted to perform wireless communication, the first device (100 in figure 24) comprising:
at least one transceiver (106 in figure 24);
at least one processor (102 in figure 24); and
at least one memory (104 in figure 24) connected to the at least one processor (102 in figure 24) and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor (104 in figure 24), cause the first device to perform operations (see machine English translation, par 323) comprising:
obtaining a plurality of sidelink (SL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations (in par 167 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “For example, parameters related to transmission of an S-PRS that can be selected by the UE based on a rule definedin advance or (pre) configured or signaled by at least one of higher layer signaling, a base station, and/or a location server may include the following: The S-PRS set may refer to an S-PRS group consisting of one or more S-PRS. 1)Center frequency, 2) Bandwidth, 3) SCS (subcarrier spacing), 4) Number of symbols per S-PRS in time domain, 5) Comb Interval in Frequency Domain, 6) Transmission Period of S-PRS or S-PRS Set, 7) Number of Transmissions of S-PRS or S-PRS Set, 8) Distribution of S-PRS or S-PRS Set, 9) Muting, 10) Transmission power);
obtaining information related to a resource pool for SL PRS transmission (in par 120 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “the CBR may refer to the number of subchannels having a value greater than or equal to a preset threshold as a result of measuring a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) in units of subchannels for a specific period (e.g. 100 ms) by the UE. Alternatively, the CBR may refer to a ratio of a subchannel having a value greater than or equal to a preset threshold value among subchannels during a specific period. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, when it is assumed that the hatched sub-channel is a sub-channel having a value greater than or equal to a preset threshold value, the CBR may refer to a ratio of a hatched sub-channel for a period of 100ms”);
measuring SL received signal strength indicator (RSSI) for the resource pool over a channel busy ratio (CBR) measurement window (see par 120 of the machine English translation. Specific period interpreted to be measurement window);
obtaining a SL CBR based on the measurement (in par 118 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “For example, the terminal may determine whether the energy measured in the unit time/frequency resource is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, and adjust the amount and frequency of its own transmission resource according to the ratio of the unit time/frequency resource in which the energy of the predetermined level or more is observed. In this specification, a ratio of time/frequency resources observed at a certain level or higher may be defined as a channel busy ratio (CBR). The terminal may measure the CBR for the channel/frequency. Additionally, the terminal may transmit the measured CBR to the network/base station”); and
performing the SL PRS transmission based on a SL PRS configuration among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (in par 190 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “In operationS1830, the transmitting UE may transmit the S-PRS to the receiving UE based on the determined S-PRS parameter”. In par 290 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “Referring to FIG. 21, in operation S2110, the first device may determine a transmission parameter related to asidelink positioning reference signal (S-PRS) based on information obtained by the first device. In operation S2120, the first device may transmit the S-PRS based on the transmission parameter”),
wherein the SL PRS configuration is selected or configured based on the SL CBR among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (in par 178 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “For example, the terminal may determine a parameter related to transmission of the S-PRS, based on the following measurement values…. See par 181 3) Channel congestion”. In par 197 of the machine English translation, Ko teaches “when the channel congestion is greater than or equal to a specific threshold value and/or is greater than or equal to a specific threshold value, a relatively high center frequency capable of positioning in a short time domain May be selected”).
Regarding claims 2 and 21:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration including a SL PRS resource set related to the SL CBR is selected or configured among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claims 3 and 22:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration including a SL PRS resource period related to the SL CBR is selected or configured among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claims 4 and 23:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration including a SL PRS repetition number related to the SL CBR is selected or configured among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claims 5 and 24:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration including a SL PRS comb size related to the SL CBR is selected or configured among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claims 6 and 25:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration including a number of SL PRS symbols related to the SL CBR is selected or configured among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claim 7:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration is selected or configured based on a priority value related to a SL positioning service or the SL PRS transmission among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claim 8:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration is selected or configured based on a latency requirement related to a SL positioning service or the SL PRS transmission among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claim 9:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration is selected or configured based on a communication range requirement related to a SL positioning service or the SL PRS transmission among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 117-121 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claim 10:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration is selected by a first device among the plurality of SL PRS configurations (see par 114, 167-185 of the machine English translation of Ko).
Regarding claim 11:
Ko further discloses wherein the SL PRS configuration is configured by a base station (see par 114 of the machine English translation of Ko) or a location management function (LMF) among the plurality of SL PRS configurations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
9. Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ko in view of Vogedes et al. (US 20240422725) (hereinafter Vogedes).
Regarding claim 12:
Ko discloses all of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching wherein a SL PRS configuration is configured per antenna in distributed antenna system (DAS)-based SL positioning.
However, Vogedes in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein a SL PRS configuration is configured per antenna in distributed antenna system (DAS)-based SL positioning (par 0006, 0090, 0107-0108, 0320). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use antenna in distributed antenna system (DAS)-based SL positioning as taught by Vogedes to modify the system and method of Ko in order to improve positioning sensitivity and geometrical/angular calculation enhancements (par 0090) (See KSR Rationale: Combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results).
Regarding claim 13:
Ko discloses all of the subject matter as described above except for specifically teaching wherein control information related to the SL PRS transmission includes an index of the SL PRS configuration configured or selected for an antenna in a distributed antenna system (DAS).
However, Vogedes in the same field of endeavor teaches wherein control information related to the SL PRS transmission includes an index of the SL PRS configuration configured or selected for an antenna in a distributed antenna system (DAS) (par 0006, 0090, 0107-0108, 0320). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use antenna in distributed antenna system (DAS)-based SL positioning as taught by Vogedes to modify the system and method of Ko in order to improve positioning sensitivity and geometrical/angular calculation enhancements (par 0090) (See KSR Rationale: Combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results).
Conclusion
10. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ganesan et al. (US 12689478) disclose a method for wireless communications and more particularly relates to sidelink ranging for positioning reference signal types including at least one memory and at least one processor that is configured to receive a positioning reference signal (“PRS”) configuration for at least one PRS type for transmitting a PRS to at least one second network equipment, receive a resource pool configuration for transmitting the PRS associated with relative positioning measurements, receive a multiplexing configuration for multiplexing a physical sidelink control channel (“PSCCH”) with the PRS, multiplex the PSCCH with the PRS according to the multiplexing configuration, and transmit the multiplexed PSCCH and PRS to the at least one second network equipment according to the PRS configuration and the resource pool configuration.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KABIR A TIMORY whose telephone number is (571)270-1674. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:00 AM-3:00 PM.
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 supervisor, Hannah S Wang can be reached at 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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/KABIR A TIMORY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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