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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 09/20/2024, 06/10/2025, 12/16/2025, 05/14/2026, and 08/26/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. Claims 1-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shrestha et al. (US 20260095884) (hereinafter Shrestha).
Regarding claims 1 and 8:
As shown in figures 1-18, Shrestha discloses an apparatus (see UE in figures 2-4, 13 and 14), for wireless communication (see figures 1-5) comprising one or more processors (see 1402-1408 in figure 14), configured to cause the one or more processors (see 1402-1408 in figure 14) to:
receive (1010 in figure 10) configuration for a downlink reference signal for bandwidth aggregation from a first node (see positioning node in block 1010 in figure 10) of a network (see figures 8-9, par 0187);
receive the downlink reference signal according to the configuration (figure 10 shows the operation and receiving PRS in block 1020 is according to configuration of PRS in block 1010) from a second node (see RAN node in block 1020 in figure 10) of the network (see figures 8-9, par 0200); and
determine positioning measurement result for the downlink reference signal for the bandwidth aggregation (see block 1030 in figure 10, abstract, par 0015, 0188-0189).
Regarding claim 2:
Shrestha further discloses wherein the configuration comprises higher layer signaling (higher layer protocol. See par 0005) indicating that a plurality of Positioning Frequency Layers (PFLs) are linked (abstract), wherein each of the plurality of PFLs comprises at least one set of resource for the downlink reference signal (abstract, par 0010-0018).
Regarding claim 3:
Shrestha further discloses wherein the configuration comprises an indication that a plurality of Positioning Frequency Layers (PFLs) are associated for the bandwidth aggregation (see figures 5-9, abstract, par 0010-0018), wherein each of the plurality of PFLs comprises at least set of one resource for the downlink reference signal (see figures 5-9, abstract, par 0010-0018).
Regarding claim 4:
Shrestha further discloses wherein the configuration comprises an indicator indicating a resource set for a Transmission-Reception Point (TRP) for the downlink reference signal is used for bandwidth aggregation (par 0010, 0013-0015).
Regarding claim 5:
Shrestha further discloses wherein the network comprises Location Management Function (LMF) and a base station (par 0048, 0076-0078); and the LMF sends a request the configuration to the base station, the request comprises a bandwidth aggregation indicator, the indicator (aggregation identifier (ID) interpreted to be an indicator. See par 0131) comprises one bit indicating whether bandwidth aggregation for the downlink reference signal is needed (par 0084, 0131-0135, 00163-0164, table 1, par 0168).
Regarding claim 6:
Shrestha further discloses
receiving a measurement request indicating that the wireless communication device is requested to report the positioning measurement result for the bandwidth aggregation from the first node of the network (1010-1030 in figure 10, par 0084, 0131-0135, 00163-0164); and
reporting (1040 in figure 10) the positioning measurement result to the first node of the network (abstract, par 0188-0195), the positioning measurement result comprises at least one of:
a measurement indicator indicating that the positioning measurement result is determined by aggregating resources of a same Transmission-Reception Point (TRP) for the downlink reference signal (par 0020, 0023-0024, 0119, 0126, 0132); or
a list of resource set identifiers for measuring the downlink reference signal for each TRP for a measurement element.
Regarding claim 7:
Shrestha further discloses sending a request for assistance data to the first node of the network (par 0071, 0081, 0084-0085), wherein the request comprises at least one of:
a requested PRS configuration for transmission by the wireless communication device (par 0125,0135);
an indicator for a requested Positioning Frequency Layer (PFL) indicating whether the requested PFL is used for bandwidth aggregation; or
an indicator requesting a PFL group of a plurality of PFLs.
Regarding claim 9:
As shown in figures 1-18, Shrestha discloses a wireless communication method performed by a first node (positioning node, block 1210 in figure 12) and a second node (RAN node, block 1210 in figure 12) of a network, comprising:
sending configuration for a downlink reference signal for bandwidth aggregation to a wireless communication device (see block 1210 in figure 12, par 0215);
sending the downlink reference signal according to the configuration to the wireless communication device (see block 1220 in figure 12, par 0212); and
receive positioning measurement result for the downlink reference signal for the bandwidth aggregation from the wireless communication device (par 0130, 0150-0152).
Regarding claim 10:
Shrestha further discloses receiving a response comprising a configuration of a Transmission-Reception Point (TRP) from the second node of the network, wherein the response comprises the configuration of the TRP (par 0010, 0013-0015), the configuration comprises a parameter corresponding to a list of resource sets for the TRP used for bandwidth aggregation (see figures 5-7, 0160, 0169-0170).
Regarding claim 11:
Shrestha further discloses a wireless communication apparatus of a network comprising the first network node and the second node (see plurality of network nodes in figures 2 and 4) of claim 9, wherein each of the first network node and the second node comprises at least one processor (1502 in figure 15), wherein the at least one processor (1502 in figure 15) causes the apparatus to perform the method of claim 9 (par 0246-0249).
6. 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.
7. Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ZARIFI et al. (US 20220069959) (hereinafter ZARIFI).
Regarding claim 12:
As shown in figures 1-8, ZARIFI discloses a method, comprising:
receiving (304 in figure 7), by a wireless communication device (UE in figure 7) from a network, Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) configuration for bandwidth aggregation (par 0009, 0141, 0188-0195), wherein the SRS configuration comprises a list of additional serving cells other than an initial component Carrier (CC) for the bandwidth aggregation (abstract, par 0013-0016, 0028-0032, 0154, 0166, 0170-0175), each of the additional serving cell is associated with a Bandwidth Part (BWP) configuration and positioning SRS configuration (abstract, par 0009, 0013-0016, 0028-0032, 0078, 0084, 0154, 0166, 0170-0175); and
sending (306 in figure 7), by the wireless communication device to the network according to the SRS configuration, an SRS (par 0020-0021, 0023-0027, 0082-0085).
Regarding claim 13:
ZARIFI further discloses an apparatus (110 in figure 3A) for wireless communication comprising one or more processors (200 in figure 3A), wherein the one or more processors (200 in figure 3A) cause the apparatus to perform the method of claim 12 (par 0068).
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bala et al. (US 9402247) disclose a method for transmitting uplink control information (UCI) for Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) using carrier aggregation including UCI transmission in the uplink control channel, uplink shared channel or uplink data channel are disclosed. The methods include transmitting channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement/non-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK), channel status reports (CQI/PMI/RI), source routing (SR) and sounding reference signals (SRS). In addition, methods for providing flexible configuration in signaling UCI, efficient resource utilization, and support for high volume UCI overhead in LTE-A are disclosed.
10. 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.
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.
/KABIR A TIMORY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
Prosecution Insights