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. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s submission of information disclosure statement (IDS), dated on October 27, 2025 and December 23, 2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Examiner's Notes
3. Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
Application Status
4. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s submission of the present application on October 3, 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending. This communication is considered fully responsive and sets forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
6. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Regarding claim 1, it recites, “A method for wireless communications, the method comprising:
receiving a request for a sensing operation, the request being indicative of a location of the sensing operation and a Quality of Service (QoS) requirement for the sensing operation;
determining sensing entities for use in the sensing operation, wherein the determination is based on the indicated location of the sensing operation and the QoS requirement for the sensing operation;
assigning the sensing entities to a plurality of sensing operation groups, wherein each of the sensing operation groups has a respective sensing configuration and comprises at least one of the sensing entities;
activating a first sensing operation group of the plurality of sensing operation groups for the sensing operation based on the QoS requirement for the sensing operation;
receiving sensing measurements from the first sensing operation group;
determining a sensing result based on the sensing measurements received from the first sensing operation group; and
activating a second sensing operation group of the plurality of sensing operation groups based on the determined sensing result not meeting the QoS requirement.”
Claim 1 is a method-step claim, including multiple steps, e.g., receiving, determining, assigning, etc. The limitations include some devices/entities, e.g., “sensing entities” indicated in italics in the first determining step and “a plurality of sensing operation groups” indicated in italics in the assigning step.
First of all, assume the method steps are performed by a device in the wireless communications.
For the first receiving step, i.e., “receiving a request for a sensing operation, …” where “a request” comes from is not defined in the claim. In other words, what is the sending device? Or does it come from a sensing entity, a sensing operation group, or another device?
Consequently, claim 1 is rejected for ambiguity under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Same rationale applies to claim 11.
Regarding claim 6, it recites, “The method of claim 5 wherein the sensing operation timing control information comprises sensing operation periodicity information.”
Claim 6 depends from claim 5. Claim 5 recites, “The method according to claim 1 wherein the sensing configuration comprises one or more of sensing mechanism information, sensing operation timing control information, or sensing service area information.”
Claim 5 includes an optional element, e.g., “sensing operation timing control information.”
Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the optional element does not narrow the claim because it can always be omitted. In re Johnston, 435 f.3d 1381, 1384 (Fed. Cir. 2006).
Consequently, claim 6 is rejected since there is a lack of antecedent basis for the usage of the term “the sensing operation timing control information,” as indicated in italics above.
Same rationale applies to the usage of the term “the sensing operation timing control information” in claims 7, 16, and 17.
Claims 2-5 and 8-10 are rejected by virtue of dependency on claim 1.
Claims 12-15 and 18-20 are rejected by virtue of dependency on claim 11.
7. Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), set forth in this Office action.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), but would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s).
The following is the reason for examiner’s statement of allowance:
The closest prior art on record, Qiao et al. (US 12,185,189) and Lee (US 2025/0301286) are generally directed to various aspects of the positioning measurement for determining the wireless device location, wherein the wireless device location information, based on the positioning measurement(s), may be communicated to a network device, via a user plane transmission, to indicate the location of the wireless device with improved accuracy; the sensing method using integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), including receiving, via a sensing entity capable of communicating, a sensing request to obtain sensing information of a target, generating a sensing trigger based on the sensing request, and communicating with the sensing entity so that sensing of the target is performed using preconfigured sensing device configuration information, based on the sensing trigger, wherein the preconfigured sensing device configuration information includes information on a sensing device capable of sensing the target and the sensing entity associated with the sensing device.
However, after considering the claim limitations, the IDS filed October 27, 2025 and December 23, 2025, and further search, no prior art reference or a combination of prior art references disclose or suggest the combination of limitations specified in the independent claims including:
"receiving sensing measurements from the first sensing operation group; determining a sensing result based on the sensing measurements received from the first sensing operation group;” and “activating a second sensing operation group of the plurality of sensing operation groups based on the determined sensing result not meeting the QoS requirement,” in addition to other intervening claim limitations as specified in claim 1.
Claim 11 includes similar limitations.
Dependent claims 2-10 and 12-20 are also allowable for incorporating the features recited in the independent claims.
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Qiao et al. (US 12,185,189) is cited to show the positioning measurement for determining the wireless device location, wherein the wireless device location information, based on the positioning measurement(s), may be communicated to a network device, via a user plane transmission, to indicate the location of the wireless device with improved accuracy;
Lee (US 2025/0301286) is cited to show the sensing method using integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), including receiving, via a sensing entity capable of communicating, a sensing request to obtain sensing information of a target, generating a sensing trigger based on the sensing request, and communicating with the sensing entity so that sensing of the target is performed using preconfigured sensing device configuration information, based on the sensing trigger, wherein the preconfigured sensing device configuration information includes information on a sensing device capable of sensing the target and the sensing entity associated with the sensing device;
Etemad et al. (US 9,572,063) is cited to show the radio resource control (RRC) signaling for configuring the user equipment to obtain and report channel state information for the downlink channels so that a target user equipment experiences enhanced signal reception and reduced interference;
Lo (US 2018/0020441) is cited to show the collaborative transmission in a wireless communication system, wherein the control information indicates time-frequency resources allocated or assigned for data transmission by the transmitter.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEI ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)270-5672. The examiner can normally be reached from 8:00AM to 5:00PM Monday through Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor JAE Y. LEE can be reached on 571-270-3936. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WEI ZHAO/ Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
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