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 § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Duan (12720463).
Regarding claim 1, Duan discloses an apparatus (UE 404) comprising at least one processor (Figure 9, 906, processor) and at least one memory (906’) storing instructions that when executed with the at least one processor cause the first device to determine a position of the first device (abstract, Col; 15;20-Col;16-4, DL positioning) and determine a plurality of transmitter devices configured to transmit radio frequency signals in a region associated with the position of the UE (DL-Aod and TDOA use signals from received transmitter devices to determine UE position in relation to the neighboring TRPs which are transmission/reception points; Col 15;54-16;4).
Regarding claim 11, Duan discloses a mobile device (UE 404) comprising at least one apparatus according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 12, Duan discloses a method comprising: determining with a first device, a position of the first device(abstract, Col; 15;20-Col;16-4, DL positioning), and determining with the first device, a plurality of transmitter devices configured to transmit radio frequency signals in a region associated with the position of the UE (DL-Aod and TDOA use signals from received transiter devices to determine UE position in relation to the neighboring TRPs which are transmission/reception points; Col 15;54-16;4).
Regarding claim 13, Duan discloses a system comprising at least one of an apparatus according to claim 1 (as discussed in the rejection of claim 1 above) or at least one transmitter device configured to transmit radio frequency signals in the region associated with the position of the first device (Figure 1).
Regarding claim 14, Duan discloses the system of claim 13 wherein the system is a wireless communications system (Figure 1), the apparatus is associated with or configured as a terminal device (UE 404 is a terminal device of the wireless system) and wherein the at least one transmitter device is a network device (TRP 402 are transmission/reception points, Col. 5;5-10).
Regarding claim 2-4, Duan discloses wherein determining the plurality of transmitter devices comprises determining a respective position of the plurality of transmitter devices (using DL-AoD processing uses signals received at the UE to determine the position of the UE relative to the neighboring TRPs, i.e. – by determining the position of the UE relative to the TRPs, the system also determines the location of the location of the TRPs – see also Col 17;45-18;5 and 19;35-20;45). Duan also discloses the first device to determine a selected subset of the transmitter devices based on at least one of a sub-region associated with a respective transmitter device (picking a particular beam; Col 19;35-60 ) or a frequency associated with a respective transmitter device (Col 25;10-25, signal qualities that meet conditions are frequency related information associated with a transmitter). Duan also discloses the determining the at least one distance associated with the transmitter is based on channel information (DL-PRS-RSRP, Col 15;55-60) characterizing the radio channel associated with the transmitter device.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan in view of Chesnutt (2016/0302032).
Regarding claims 5-6, Duan discloses that the first device can receive a plurality of signals related to a sub-region in determining position (Figure 5, one TRP can have multiple beams). Duan fails to disclose the UE portioning the region associated with the position of the device into a plurality of subregions. However, Chestnutt teaches in an analogous art, the use of a user equipment that scans a region (available frequencies, step 500, Figure 5) and divides the region into subregions (selecting a subset to scan for further measurements, step 502,504). Chestnutt also teaches determining for at least one sub-region, frequency differences (different RSSI measurements) and sorting the differences with ascending frequency difference (ranking the measurements) and selecting a predetermined number N (Figure 6, steps 602-610). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a ranked list of frequency measurements in order to select the best transmitters to provide accurate positioning measurements.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan and Chestnutt as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Manolakos (2020/0007288).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Duan and Chestnutt discloses all the particulars of the claim except for determining whether the bandwidth associated with the N selected transmitter devices are smaller than a predetermined threshold. However, Manolakos teaches that in a positioning system, the use of a bandwidth parameter threshold, and if the measurement is less, performing an instruction related to a transmitter device (para 13-22, measuring power and bandwidth parameters and if less than the threshold, adjusting the power value associated with the particular transmitter). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include a bandwidth threshold in order to properly compensate for bandwidth parameters based on radio conditions.
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan in view of Chen (2016/0018508).
Regarding claims 8-9, Duan discloses that the system allows for determination of a transmitter’s respective position as discussed in the rejection of claim 4 above. Duan fails to disclose the use of scatterers and a calibrated distance, although finding the relative distance is a form of “calibration” as it is determined based on the measurements. However, Chen teaches in an analogous art, the use of “known locations” in reviewing the channel measurements in determining a calibrated distance/position (para 21, 72-74). Chen also teaches the use of scatters to help to scatter some of the radio signals based on a calibrated distance (para 7, 11, 13-15, 63-64). Therefore, it would have been obvious t o one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to provide calibration and scatterers to improve the accuracy of the positioning system as taught by Chen.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Moshfeghi (2013/0260798) discloses positioning using distributed transceivers and a positioning database.
Kumar (2019/0082288) discloses signal transmissions for use in position estimation via different frequency bands.
Gummadi (2022/0417706) discloses using channel state information (frequency characteristics) for positioning in a LAN for locating a user equipment.
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WILLIAM GEORGE TROST IV
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2641
/WILLIAM G TROST IV/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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