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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 9, 13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant amended the independent claims and argued that the current references do not disclose the new limitation. Examiner is using Ramachandran et al. (US 20250184689 A1) to address the new limitation.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1, 6, 8 - 9, 11 - 15, 18, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al. (US 20220279310 A1; CN110536234 version provided in the International Search Report) in view of Ramachandran et al. (US 20250184689 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Xiao discloses a wireless communication method ([0005] & [0028] disclose wireless), comprising:
obtaining, by a terminal device, location information of M anchor devices (Fig. 1, S120, [0040] discloses “The first terminal may receive positioning assistance data from at least two second terminals to perform positioning based on the received positioning assistance data”; wherein the M anchor devices are the “at least two second terminals”; [0045] discloses “The positioning assistance data may include at least one of the following: …., terminal location information of the second terminal,… “; wherein the location information of M anchor devices is the location of the at least two terminals), wherein the location information of the M anchor devices is used to determine location information of the terminal device (Fig. 1, S140, [0046] discloses “In S140, …. or location information of the first terminal is calculated according to the positioning assistance parameter.”);
and M is a positive integer ([0040], M >= 2).
Xiao does not disclose the location information is obtained from a network device, wherein the network device is a location management function (LMF) entity of a core network.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Ramachandran discloses the location information is obtained from a network device, wherein the network device is a location management function (LMF) entity of a core network ([0125] discloses “A positioning constellation 60 comprises a set of at least one wireless access device 20 (possibly in conjunction with a positioning service in the core network such as LMF”;
[0283] discloses “….the LMF 34 … may be instructed/configured ….. to monitor the location of a set of anchor UEs ….. The LMF will 1002 configure the set of Anchor UEs and/or AMF (and/or NG-RAN (not shown)) to 1003 regularly provide the LMF with updated location information and/or perform measurements and send ranging/location measurements to the LMF to enable the LMF to determine a fresh location of the anchor UEs. The LMF may 1004 store the up to date location of all these anchor UEs… “;
[0394] discloses “Similarly, in step 1310, the LMF may provide information related to the ranging constellation(s) to the Target UE 10..”; wherein the information is anchor location information from [0284] above;
[0394], last sentence discloses “The Target UE 10 may use the information received in steps 1309 or 1310 for discovery and connection setup with one or more Anchor UEs of a ranging constellation to take part in the ranging of the target UE, and/or perform ranging or sidelink positioning as described in other embodiments (e.g. by calculating a position itself ..” ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the method, as disclosed by Ramachandran, in the system of Xiao because providing this assistance information would allow the terminal to obtain its location.
Regarding claim 6, Xiao discloses determining, by the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device based on the location information of the M anchor devices (Fig. 1, S140, [0046] discloses “In S140, …. or location information of the first terminal is calculated according to the positioning assistance parameter.”; [0045]).
Regarding claim 8, Xiao discloses determining, by the terminal device, the M anchor devices from a plurality of anchor devices based on location availability indication information of the plurality of anchor devices ([0027] discloses “Here, the terminals are divided into two terminals, that is, a first terminal and a second terminal. The first terminal is a terminal that needs to be positioned, such as a terminal outside the coverage areas of various network side devices, and the second terminal is within the coverage of various network side devices and participates in a process of positioning the first terminal.”; wherein “based on location availability” is interpreted as “the second terminal is within the coverage of various network side devices”), wherein the location availability indication information of an anchor device among the plurality of anchor device is used to indicate at least one of following:
whether the anchor device is aware of location information of the anchor device ([0045] discloses “The positioning assistance data may include at least one of the following: …., terminal location information of the second terminal,… “; wherein the anchor device [2nd terminal] will be inherently aware of its own location if it is transmitting it to the 1st terminal); whether the anchor device allows location information of the anchor device to be transferred; credibility of location information of the anchor device; or whether location information of the anchor device meets a positioning integrity requirement.
Claim 9 is similarly analyzed as claim 1, with claim 9 reciting equivalent apparatus limitations. Terminal comprising a processor is disclosed by Xiao ([0013]).
Claim 11 is similarly analyzed as claim 6.
Claim 12 is similarly analyzed as claim 8.
Claim 13 is similarly analyzed as claim 1. The network device could be any terminal that is determining the position of another terminal. Xiao discloses “In the wireless communication technology, when a terminal (including but not limited to a vehicle-mounted wireless communication system terminal, a vehicle, a pedestrian, a portable device, and a mobile phone) needs to obtain location information of another terminal,…” ([0005]). Hence, the network device could be any terminal, as above, that is determining the position of another terminal.
Regarding claim 14, Xiao discloses the processor is configured to receive third information, wherein the third information comprises the location information of the M anchor devices (as in claim 1).
Regarding claim 15, Xiao discloses the location information of the M anchor devices is respectively obtained from the M anchor devices (Fig. 1, S120; [0040] discloses “The first terminal may receive positioning assistance data from at least two second terminals to perform positioning based on the received positioning assistance data”; [0045] discloses “The positioning assistance data may include at least one of the following: …., terminal location information of the second terminal,… “; wherein the first information is the positioning assistance data; claim 1 discloses location information obtained by LMF from anchor devices).
Claim 18 is similarly analyzed as claim 6 or 11.
Claim 20 is similarly analyzed as claim 8.
Claims 7, 16 - 17, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao et al. (US 20220279310 A1; CN110536234 version provided in the International Search Report) in view of in view of Ramachandran et al. (US 20250184689 A1) and further in view of Shin et al. (US 20230042138 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Xiao does not disclose wherein the determining, by the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device based on the location information of the M anchor devices comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device based on the location information of the M anchor devices and sidelink positioning reference signal (S-PRS) measurement results of the M anchor devices.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Shin discloses wherein the determining, by the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device based on the location information of the M anchor devices comprises:
determining, by the terminal device, the location information of the terminal device based on the location information of the M anchor devices and sidelink positioning reference signal (S-PRS) measurement results of the M anchor devices ([0115] discloses “In this scenario, the corresponding information may also include a request signal for an S-PRS. In other words, the target terminal may indicate, to a neighboring terminal through the SL, the request signal for the S-PRS, together with relevant positioning configuration information. In addition, when UE-based positioning is considered, a scheme in which the target terminal directly measures the absolute position of the terminal may be considered. In order for the target terminal to directly measure the absolute position of the terminal, it is necessary for an anchor terminal to indicate its known location to the target terminal through an SL “;
claim 7 discloses “…. further comprising identifying a measurement value based on the received S-PRS or a position of the terminal based on the received S-PRS and known location information,….”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the method, as disclosed by Shin, in the system of Xiao because using SL would be useful when “ …. the terminal is out of the network coverage area are always considered in an SL environment, …”, as disclosed by Shin ([0115], 1st sentence).
Claim 16 is similarly analyzed as in claim 7 ([0115] discloses “In this scenario, the corresponding information may also include a request signal for an S-PRS. In other words, the target terminal may indicate, to a neighboring terminal through the SL, the request signal for the S-PRS, together with relevant positioning configuration information”).
Regarding claim 17, Xiao does not disclose the S-PRS measurement results of the M anchor devices are respectively obtained from the M anchor devices; or the S-PRS measurement results of the M anchor devices are obtained by the terminal device via measurement.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Shin discloses the S-PRS measurement results of the M anchor devices are respectively obtained from the M anchor devices;
or the S-PRS measurement results of the M anchor devices are obtained by the terminal device via measurement ([0082] discloses “….the positioning calculation may be performed by the terminal receiving an S-PRS and performing measurement from the received S-PRS, and the positioning measurement and calculation method may vary depending on which positioning method is applied. Measurement of location information in an SL may be absolute positioning to provide two-dimensional (x,y) and three-dimensional (x,y,z) coordinate position values of a terminal, or relative positioning to provide relative two-dimensional or three-dimensional position information from another terminal….”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the method, as disclosed by Shin, in the system of Xiao because this would eliminate the need for another network entity to do the positioning and then transfer the results to the terminal. Hence, overhead could be reduced.
Claim 19 is similarly analyzed as in claim 7.
Other Prior Art Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure.
The following patents/publications are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to terminal location determination:
Jovicic et al. (US 20120058733 A1) discloses Method for Operating Mobile Wireless Terminal as Access Point …. Temporary Location Anchor Point.
Edge et al. (US 9435874 B2) discloses Method and Apparatus for Supporting Positioning for Terminals in a Wireless Network.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADOLF DSOUZA whose telephone number is (571)272-1043. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh M Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADOLF DSOUZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
