DETAILED ACTION
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 .
This action is in response to the filing of 9/23/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending and have been considered below.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 5 recites, “5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one ranging technology ranging technology…” the repeated term ‘ranging technology’ should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
In claim 20, a "computer-readable medium" is being recited; the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable medium typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media. Therefore, a transitory computer readable medium would reasonably be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art as signal, per se. Thus, this subject matter "computer-readable medium" is not limited to that which falls within a statutory category of invention because it is limited to a process, machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. Signal per se is a function descriptive material and a function descriptive material is non-statutory subject matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ramachandran et al. (US 2025/0168808).
Regarding claim 1:
Ramachandran discloses an apparatus and method for wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE) (figures; abstract), comprising:
at least one memory (fig 1-2 [UE 10,12 as O-UE and T-UE]; para 40, partially reproduced herein with emphasis {apparatuses may be implemented based on … signal processing devices or chips controlled by software routines or programs stored in memories …}); and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination (para 215 {device comprises a communication unit, processor unit and a memory coupled to the processor including instructions}), is configured to:
exchange, with a second UE, capability information related to ranging technologies supported for positioning or ranging (para 63 {ranging capabilities of the device (which can be exchanged as part of the discovery process)…}; figs 3-4; para 75 {positioning techniques based on radio frequency technologies such as Bluetooth, UltraWideBand (UWB), or Wi-Fi …});
obtain a first set of parameters related to a set of ranging technologies of the first UE (para 286 {specific ranging parameters…}), a set of measurements from the set of ranging technologies of the first UE (para 165 {configuration of the requirements and parameters may be done in the form of a set of policy rules (e.g. provided through RRC, or through a PCF policy container), which may define a set of conditions based on which a device can determine which configuration/method/parameters/values to apply, e.g., a condition defining a minimum measured signal strength above which a ranging measurement in a certain frequency may take place}), and a second set of parameters from at least one application (para 30; para 121 {Ranging or sidelink-based positioning might be done between the device UE 10 and one or more anchor UEs 14 depending on the application and accuracy needs. For instance, a simple application such as rough ranging may be used by a single anchor UE 14 to provide an indication of a rough range/area. Other applications may require three or more anchor UEs 14 tightly clock-synchronized with the device UE 10}; para 298 {set of ranging parameters (e.g., the timing and identities…}; figs 6-7; para 459); and
select at least one ranging technology from the set of ranging technologies for positioning or ranging based on the exchanged capability information, the first set of parameters, the set of measurements, and the second set of parameters (para 130-133 {configuring the requirements and parameters of the ranging procedures/service and/or location procedures/service including but not limited to: [0131] which ranging/positioning method to use (e.g. RTT based, TDOA based, AoA/AoD based), [0132] which Radio Access Technologies to use …}; figures 9-10; para 268 {based on these measurement results (in particular, if measurements in FR1 were successful whereas in FR2 the measurements were not successful), ..Based on whether device UE 10 and anchor UE 14 are within line of sight, the UEs may decide to use only FR1 (or lower) frequencies for ranging or communication, may select a particular subset of FR1 frequencies for ranging or communication, may change the ranging method used, may decide to stop/start ranging, or may decide whether or not to set up a connection and/or ranging session}; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claim 2:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above wherein obtain the first set of parameters related to the set of ranging technologies of the first UE and the set of measurements from the set of ranging technologies of the first UE via a unified radio agnostic application programming interface (API) or an API dedicated to receive location measurements from the set of ranging technologies ([note: optional language], para 24 {ranging services, location services and/or ranging-based positioning services … be a third-party application which calculates the position based on these measurements..}; figures; para 169; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claim 3:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein perform positioning or ranging with the second UE based on the selected at least one ranging technology (para 268; figs; and throughout disclosure).
Regarding claim 4:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein the first set of parameters related to the set of ranging technologies of the first UE includes one or more of: channel center frequencies associated with the set of ranging technologies, channel conditions associated with the set of ranging technologies, packet bandwidths associated with the set of ranging technologies, estimated location parameters associated with the set of ranging technologies, error estimates associated with the set of ranging technologies, or ranging technology ranging technology availability for the set of ranging technologies ([note: optional language] para 155-164; and throughout).
Regarding claim 5:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein the at least one ranging technology is a plurality of ranging technologies, wherein the set of measurements include multiple measurements from one or more positions or orientations of the plurality of ranging technologies, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: combine the multiple measurements into one measurement or a reduced number of measurements ([note: optional language], para 108; para 110 [any of the above ranging and/or positioning methods or combinations …]; and see throughout).
Regarding claim 6:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein selection of the at least one ranging technology ranging technology from the set of ranging technologies is further based on the one measurement or the reduced number of measurements (para 128; and throughout).
Regarding claim 7:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein estimate at least one of a position, a distance, or a direction of the second UE based on the one measurement or the reduced number of measurements, or output an indication of the one measurement or the reduced number of measurements ([note: optional language], para 108,110,128; and throughout).
Regarding claim 8:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein determine, based on the first set of parameters, the set of measurements, and the second set of parameters, at least one of: a rough estimated distance between the first UE and the second UE, an orientation of one or more antennas of the first UE or the second UE associated with the at least one ranging technology, a power consumption specified by the first UE or the second UE, or an accuracy specified by the first UE or the second UE; and select the at least one ranging technology for positioning or ranging with the second UE based on at least one of the rough estimated distance, the orientation, the power consumption, or the accuracy ([note: optional language], para 275 [orientation]; para 321; and throughout).
Regarding claim 9:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein the second set of parameters includes one or more of: a power consumption received from the at least one application, or an accuracy received from the at least one application ([note: optional language], para 2,108,127 [power consumption]; and throughout).
Regarding claim 10:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein obtain at least one of: sensor data from at least one sensor, a third set of parameters related to the first UE, or non-peer-to-peer (non-P2P) or additional information from a server, wherein the selection of the at least one ranging technology ranging technology from the set of ranging technologies is further based on at least one of the sensor data, the third set of parameters, or the non-P2P or additional information ([note: optional language] [sensor data option is considered for this claim], para 63,255,263 [sensor]; and throughout).
Regarding claim 11:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein the non-P2P or additional information includes a recommendation of one or more ranging technologies in the set of ranging technologies to be used for positioning or ranging, wherein the recommendation is based on at least one of: a coarse distance between the first UE and the second UE, a line-of-sight (LoS) or non-line-of-sight (NLoS) channel condition between the first UE and the second UE, common ranging technologies and channels supported by the first UE and the second UE, or a power level of the first UE and the second UE ([note: optional language] [sensor data option is considered for claim 10, this claim is not related to the option considered in claim 10 on which it depends, thus not required to be taught by prior art, although prior art might be disclosing the claim elements], para 74,267-271; and throughout).
Regarding claim 12:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein the third set of parameters includes at least a battery level of the first UE or a set of status of the first UE ([note: optional language] [sensor data option is considered for claim 10, this claim is not related to the option considered in claim 10 on which it depends, thus other options are not required to be taught by prior art, although prior art might be disclosing the claim elements], see throughout).
Regarding claim 13:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein the non-P2P or additional information includes at least one of: a set of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements related to a set of UEs, a set of latitude and longitude points of the set of UEs, a set of ranging technology ranging technology capabilities related to the set of UEs, a set of operating frequency channels supported by the set of the set of UEs, a set of features supported by the set of the set of UEs, a set of sensor or camera measurements performed by set of the set of UEs ([note: optional language] [sensor data option is considered for claim 10, this claim is not related to the option considered in claim 10 on which it depends, thus other options are not required to be taught by prior art, although prior art might be disclosing the claim elements], see throughout).
Regarding claim 14:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein receive, from multiple applications or multiple UEs, a plurality of requests associated with positioning or ranging; and prioritize the plurality of requests via a location resource manager (LRM) based on the first set of parameters, the set of measurements, and the second set of parameters (para 170-171 [priority]; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claim 15:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein transmit, to at least one third UE, a request to perform positioning or ranging against the second UE; and receive, from the at least one third UE based on the request, a set of positioning or ranging measurements related to the second UE (see fig 6; para 280-281; and throughout).
Regarding claim 16:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein transmit, to the second UE, first information including a first set of ranging technologies supported by the first UE for positioning or ranging; and receive, from the second UE, second information including a second set of ranging technologies supported by the second UE for positioning or ranging (para 267; and throughout).
Regarding claim 17:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein determine, based on the first set of parameters related to the set of ranging technologies of the first UE, at least one of a duration for which a current set of location parameters is valid or a frequency for performing positioning or ranging (para 267; para 268; and see throughout disclosure).
Regarding claim 18:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above and wherein comprising at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to: output an indication of the selected at least one ranging technology, wherein to output the indication of the selected at least one ranging technology, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to store the indication of the selected at least one ranging technology, or transmit, via at least one of the transceiver or the antenna, the indication of the selected at least one ranging technology (para 164; and see throughout the disclosure).
Regarding claims 19,20:
Ramachandran discloses all of the subject matter as described above in claim 1, and further discloses a method and computer-readable medium storing computer executable code (abstract; para 40; figures; para 518, claim 27) when executed by at least one processor to perform functions as described in claim 1 above, thus claims 19,20 are rejected with similar rationale under teachings of prior art as in claim 1 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Barbu et al. (US 2024/0323897) discloses a system and method for performing positioning.
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/HIRDEPAL SINGH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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