METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SUPPORTING UNIFIED LOCATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE IN A 5G NETWORK

§103 §DOUBLEPATENT

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 . Double Patenting The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969). A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b). The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13. The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer. Claims 2-3, 5-8 and 10-31 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-23 of U.S. Patent No. 12,256,319 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both claims are directed to providing location services at a GMLC between a UE and a NEF. Below is a table showing the correspondence between instant Claims 2-3, 5-8 and 10-31 and Claims 1-23 of the conflicting Patent, with differences underlined. Claim No. instant application (18/917,604) Conflicting Patent (US 12,256,319 B2) Claim No. 2 A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE)performed by a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC), the method comprising: A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) performed by a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC), the method comprising: 1 receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these, wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, and wherein the NEF determines either the GMLC or a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for the UE to obtain a UE location, wherein the NEF selected the GMLC based on: wherein the NEF selects the GMLC based on: (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, or the required location response time, or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; wherein the NEF determines either the GMLC or a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for the UE to obtain a UE location, sending the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF; sending the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF via the serving AMF for the UE; receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF; and receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF, wherein the LMF obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements or a location estimate from at least one of the UE using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) or a serving RAN for the UE using a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa); and sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. 3 claim 2, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. claim 1, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 2 5 claim 2, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE. claim 3, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and … . 5 6 claim 5, further comprising: claim 3, wherein … 5 receiving a plurality of location reports from the LMF, each location report of the plurality of location reports comprising an indication of a respective trigger event, a respective location for the UE, or both; and receive via the external interface a plurality of additional location reports from the location server, each location report in the plurality of location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and sending to the NEF, for each location report of the plurality of location reports, the respective trigger event, the respective location for the UE, or both. send via the external interface, for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the NEF. 7 A Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) comprising: A Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) comprising: 3 at least one external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the at least one external interface, the at least one the memory, the one or more processors configured to: an external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the external interface, the at least one the memory, the one or more processors configured to: receive via the at least one external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, receive via the external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these, wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, and wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, wherein the NEF selected the GMLC based on: wherein the NEF selects the GMLC based on: (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, or the required location response time, or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, send via the at least one external interface the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF for the UE; send via the external interface the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the serving AMF for the UE; receive via the at least one external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF; and receive via the external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF, wherein the LMF obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements or a location estimate from at least one of the UE using a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) or a serving RAN for the UE using a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa); and send via the at least one external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. send via the external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. 8 claim 7, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. claim 3, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 4 10 claim 7, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE. claim 3, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and … . 5 11 claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: claim 3, … 5 receive via the at least one external interface a plurality of location reports from the LMF, each location report in the plurality of location reports comprising an indication of a respective trigger event, a respective location for the UE, or both; and receive via the external interface a plurality of additional location reports from the location server, each location report in the plurality of location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and send via the at least one external interface to the NEF, for each location report of the plurality of location reports, the respective trigger event, the respective location for the UE, or both. send via the external interface, for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the NEF. 12 A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) performed by an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the method comprising: A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) performed by a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for the UE, the method comprising: 6 receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity and wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity and wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these, wherein the NEF determined either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the AMF to obtain a UE location, wherein the NEF determines either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the serving AMF for the UE to obtain a UE location, wherein the AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE, and wherein the serving AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE, wherein the NEF selects the AMF based on: wherein the NEF selects the serving AMF based on: (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, the required location response time, or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; wherein the NEF determines either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the serving AMF for the UE to obtain a UE location, sending the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; sending the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN; and receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN; and sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF, wherein the serving AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. 13 claim 12, wherein the AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) … wherein the serving AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. 6 14 claim 12, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. The method of claim 6, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 7 15 claim 12, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. The method of claim 6, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. 8 16 claim 12, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN, The method of claim 6, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN, 9 wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN; or some combination thereof. location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN; or some combination thereof. 17 claim 16, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). claim 9, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). 10 18 claim 16, wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK). claim 9, wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK). 11 19 claim 12, wherein receiving the location request from the NEF comprises receiving an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF to request information on the location of the UE. claim 6, wherein receiving the location request from the NEF comprises receiving an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the serving AMF to request information on the location of the UE. 12 20 claim 19, wherein either an address of the AMF is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF is received via the UDM for the UE. claim 12, wherein either the serving AMF address is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the serving AMF is received via the UDM for the UE. 13 21 claim 12, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered location of the UE and further comprising: claim 6, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered location of the UE and further comprising: 14 receiving a plurality of additional location reports from the serving RAN, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE, or both; and receiving a plurality of additional location reports from the serving RAN, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and sending, for each location report, the trigger event, the location, or both to the NEF. sending, for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the NEF. 22 A serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for a user equipment (UE) for supporting location services for the UE, the AMF comprising: A serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) for a user equipment (UE) for supporting location services for the UE, the serving AMF comprising: 15 an external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, the one or more processors configured to: an external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, the one or more processors configured to: receive via the external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for a UE, receive via the external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for a UE, wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity and wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity and wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these, wherein the NEF determines either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the AMF for the UE to obtain a UE location, wherein the NEF determines either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the serving AMF for the UE to obtain a UE location, wherein the AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE, wherein the serving AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE, wherein the NEF selects the AMF based on: wherein the NEF selects the serving AMF based on: (i) the type of location request, the required location accuracy, the required location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, the required location response time, or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; wherein the NEF determines either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the serving AMF for the UE to obtain a UE location, send via the external interface the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; send via the external interface the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; receive via the external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN; and receive via the external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN; and send via the external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. send via the external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF, wherein the serving AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. 23 claim 22, wherein the AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. A serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) … wherein the serving AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. 15 24 claim 22, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. claim 15, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 16 25 claim 22, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. claim 15, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. 17 26 claim 22, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN, claim 15, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN, 18 wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN; or some combination thereof. location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN; or some combination thereof. 27 claim 26, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). claim 18, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). 19 28 claim 26, wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK). claim 18, wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK). 20 29 claim 22, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the location request from the NEF by being configured to receive an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF to request information on the location of the UE. claim 15, wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the location request from the NEF by being configured to receive an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the serving AMF to request information on the location of the UE. 21 30 claim 29, wherein either an address of the AMF is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF is received via the UDM for the UE. claim 21, wherein either the serving AMF address is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the serving AMF is received via the UDM for the UE. 22 31 claim 22, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and the one or more processors is further configured to: claim 15, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and the one or more processors is further configured to: 23 receive via the external interface a plurality of additional location reports from the serving RAN, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE, or both; and receive via the external interface a plurality of additional location reports from the serving RAN, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and send via the external interface, for each location report, the trigger event, the location, or both to the NEF. send via the external interface, for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the NEF. As indicated above, the subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the conflicting Patent and is covered by the conflicting Patent. The instant application and the conflicting Patent are claiming common subject matter, and the difference in limitation(s) are merely differences in wording. Therefore, Claims 2-3, 5-8 and 10-31 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness type double patenting in light of the conflicting Patent Claims 1-23. Claims 2-3, 5-8, 10-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-2, 6-15 and 26 of U.S. Patent No. 11,388,657 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both claims are directed to providing location services at a GMLC between a UE and a NEF. Below is a table showing the correspondence between instant Claims 2-3, 5-8 and 10-21 and Claims 1-2, 6-15 and 26 of the conflicting Patent, with differences underlined. Claim No. instant application (18/917,604) Conflicting Patent (US 11,388,657 B2) Claim No. 2 A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE)performed by a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC), the method comprising: A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) performed by a Network Exposure Function (NEF), the method comprising: 1 receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, receiving by the NEF a location request for the UE from a second entity, wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these; wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, and selecting, by the NEF, between a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) and a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, wherein the NEF selected the GMLC based on: wherein the selection of the GMLC or the serving AMF is based on: (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, or the required location response time or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; selecting, by the NEF, between a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) and a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, sending the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF; sending, by the NEF, the location request to the selected GMLC or the selected serving AMF; receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF; and receiving, by the NEF, the UE location or a confirmation of acceptance of the location request from the selected GMLC or the selected serving AMF; and sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. sending, by the NEF, the UE location or the confirmation of the acceptance of the location request to the second entity. 3 claim 2, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. claim 1, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 2 5 claim 2, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE. claim 1, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and further comprising: … 13 6 claim 5, further comprising: claim 1, … 13 receiving a plurality of location reports from the LMF, each location report of the plurality of location reports comprising an indication of a respective trigger event, a respective location for the UE, or both; and receiving a plurality of additional location reports from the selected GMLC or selected serving AMF, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and sending to the NEF, for each location report of the plurality of location reports, the respective trigger event, the respective location for the UE, or both. sending, for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the second entity. 7 A Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) comprising: A Network Exposure Function (NEF) for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) comprising: 14 at least one external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the at least one external interface, the at least one the memory, the one or more processors configured to: an external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory and one or more processors coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, the one or more processors configured to: receive via the at least one external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, receive via the external interface a location request for the UE from a second entity, wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these; wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, and select between a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) and a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, wherein the NEF selected the GMLC based on: wherein the selection of the GMLC or the serving AMF is based on: (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, or the required location response time or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; select between a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) and a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, send via the at least one external interface the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF for the UE; send via the external interface the location request to the selected GMLC or the selected serving AMF; receive via the at least one external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF; and receive via the external interface the UE location or a confirmation of acceptance of the location request from the selected GMLC or the selected serving AMF; and send via the at least one external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. send via the external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the acceptance of the location request to the second entity. 8 claim 7, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. claim 14, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 15 10 claim 7, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE. claim 14, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: … 26 11 claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: claim 14, … 26 receive via the at least one external interface a plurality of location reports from the LMF, each location report in the plurality of location reports comprising an indication of a respective trigger event, a respective location for the UE, or both; and receive via the external interface a plurality of additional location reports from the selected GMLC or selected serving AMF, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and send via the at least one external interface to the NEF, for each location report of the plurality of location reports, the respective trigger event, the respective location for the UE, or both. send via the external interface for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the second entity. 12 A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) performed by an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), the method comprising: A method for supporting location services for a user equipment (UE) performed by a Network Exposure Function (NEF), the method comprising: 1 receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE, wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity and receiving by the NEF a location request for the UE from a second entity, wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE, the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these; wherein the NEF determined either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the AMF to obtain a UE location, selecting, by the NEF, between a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) and a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, wherein the AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE, and claim 1, wherein the serving AMF obtains the UE location from a serving Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. 6 wherein the NEF selects the AMF based on: wherein the selection of the GMLC or the serving AMF is based on: (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and the type of location request, the required location accuracy, or the required location response time or a combination thereof; (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services; selecting, by the NEF, between a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) and a serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location, sending the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; sending, by the NEF, the location request to the selected GMLC or the selected serving AMF; receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN; and claim 1, wherein the serving AMF obtains the UE location from a serving Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. 6 sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF. receiving, by the NEF, the UE location or a confirmation of acceptance of the location request from the selected GMLC or the selected serving AMF; and sending, by the NEF, the UE location or the confirmation of the acceptance of the location request to the second entity. 13 claim 12, wherein the AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from the serving RAN. claim 1, wherein the serving AMF uses a Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) to obtain the UE location from a serving Radio Access Network (RAN). 10 14 claim 12, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. claim 1, wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN. 2 15 claim 12, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. claim 1, wherein the serving AMF obtains the UE location from a serving Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE. 6 16 claim 12, wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN, claim 1, wherein the serving AMF obtains the UE location from a serving Radio Access Network (RAN), 7 wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN; or some combination thereof. wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN, wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN; or some combination thereof. 17 claim 16, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). claim 7, wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB). 8 18 claim 16, wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK). claim 7, wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) and Real Time Kinematic (RTK). 9 19 claim 12, wherein receiving the location request from the NEF comprises receiving an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF to request information on the location of the UE. claim 1, wherein sending the location request to the serving AMF comprises invoking an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation towards the serving AMF to request information on the location of the UE. 11 20 claim 19, wherein either an address of the AMF is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF is received via the UDM for the UE. claim 11, wherein the serving AMF is selected, and further comprising either querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE for a serving AMF address or sending the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation towards the serving AMF via the UDM for the UE. 12 21 claim 12, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered location of the UE and further comprising: claim 1, wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE and further comprising: 13 receiving a plurality of additional location reports from the serving RAN, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE, or both; and receiving a plurality of additional location reports from the selected GMLC or selected serving AMF, each location report in the plurality of additional location reports comprising an indication of a trigger event, a location for the UE or both; and sending, for each location report, the trigger event, the location, or both to the NEF. sending, for each location report, the trigger event, the location or both to the second entity. As indicated above, the subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the conflicting Patent and is covered by the conflicting Patent. The instant application and the conflicting Patent are claiming common subject matter, and the difference in limitation(s) are merely differences in wording. Therefore, Claims 2-3, 5-8 and 10-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness type double patenting in light of the conflicting Patent Claims 1-2, 6-15 and 26. Claims 4 and 9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 3 of U.S. Patent No. 12,256,319 B2 in view of Kodaypak (US 9,781,259 B1). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both claims are directed to providing location services by a GMLC. Below is a table showing the correspondence between instant Claims 4 and 9 and Claims 1 and 3 of the conflicting Patent in combination with Kodaypak. Claim No. instant application (18/917,604) Conflicting Patent (US 12,256,319 B2) Claim No. 4 claim 2, See above 1 wherein the type of location request comprises an immediate location request or a deferred location request. In the same field of providing location services at a GMLC, Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request, wherein examiner is interpreting the trigger request as an aperiodic location request, i.e. "immediate location request" 9 claim 7, See above 3 wherein the type of location request comprises an immediate location request or a deferred location request. In the same field of providing location services at a GMLC, Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request, wherein examiner is interpreting the trigger request as an aperiodic location request, i.e. "immediate location request" It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of the Conflicting Patent to include performing an aperiodic location response (i.e. ‘immediate’) as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable immediate location requests to reduce latency between requesting a location and receiving the location from the GMLC. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the Conflicting Patent and Kodaypak to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. As indicated above, the subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the conflicting Patent and is covered by the conflicting Patent. The instant application and the conflicting Patent are claiming common subject matter, and the difference in limitation(s) are merely differences in wording. Therefore, Claims 4 and 9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness type double patenting in light of the conflicting Patent Claims 12,256,319 B2 in view of Kodaypak. Claims 4 and 9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 14 of U.S. Patent No. 11,388,657 B2 in view of Kodaypak (US 9,781,259 B1). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both claims are directed to providing location services by a GMLC. Below is a table showing the correspondence between instant Claims 4 and 9 and Claims 1 and 3 of the conflicting Patent in combination with Kodaypak. Claim No. instant application (18/917,604) Conflicting Patent (US 11,388,657 B2) Claim No. 4 claim 2, See above 1 wherein the type of location request comprises an immediate location request or a deferred location request. In the same field of providing location services at a GMLC, Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request, wherein examiner is interpreting the trigger request as an aperiodic location request, i.e. "immediate location request" 9 claim 7, See above 14 wherein the type of location request comprises an immediate location request or a deferred location request. In the same field of providing location services at a GMLC, Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request, wherein examiner is interpreting the trigger request as an aperiodic location request, i.e. "immediate location request" It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of the Conflicting Patent to include performing an aperiodic location response (i.e. ‘immediate’) as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable immediate location requests to reduce latency between requesting a location and receiving the location from the GMLC. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine the Conflicting Patent and Kodaypak to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. As indicated above, the subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the conflicting Patent and is covered by the conflicting Patent. The instant application and the conflicting Patent are claiming common subject matter, and the difference in limitation(s) are merely differences in wording. Therefore, Claims 4 and 9 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness type double patenting in light of the conflicting Patent Claims 11,388,657 B2 in view of Kodaypak. 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claim(s) 2-5, 7-10, 12, 14-20, 22 and 24-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kodaypak (US 9,781,259 B1) in view of Hou (US 2021/0227454 A1). Regarding Claim 2, Kodaypak discloses the below limitation(s): receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE (Kodaypak Fig 2 step 2 SCEF (i.e. NEF) initiates location estimate trigger towards GMLC and Fig 4 step 416 SCEF (i.e. NEF) sends location estimation trigger to GMLC), wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity (Fig 2 step 1 AS (i.e. second entity) requests current location estimate of IoT device (i.e. UE) from SCEF (i.e. NEF) and Fig 404 receive location request for NB-IoT device from AS (i.e. second entity)) and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE (Col 6 lines 47-56 network 100 may be a home PLMN (HPLMN)), wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)), and wherein the NEF selected the GMLC based on: (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)); receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF (Fig 2 step 8 MME responds to GMLC with the IoT device position obtained from ESMLC); and sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF (Fig 2 step 9 GMLC provides location estimate to SCEF). Kodaypak does not disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and sending the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF; In the same field of endeavor of providing location service at a GMLC, Hou does disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof (Hou [0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2), (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof ([0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2); and sending the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF ([0017] sending the access type to a Location Management Function (LMF) and/or [0018] LMF receives a request sent by a GMLC); It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of Kodaypak to include indicating a type with a location request for use with a LMF as taught by Hou. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to indicate a type of location request to ensure that the location response is formatted for the requesting network element. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 3, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 2. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN (Kodaypak Fig 1 application server (AS) transmits location request to SCEF). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include receiving a location request from an application server as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable external services to access UE location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 4, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 2. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the type of location request comprises an immediate location request or a deferred location request (Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request, wherein examiner is interpreting the trigger request as an aperiodic location request, i.e. "immediate location request"). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include aperiodic, i.e. ‘immediate’, location requests as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency between location request and response. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 5, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 2. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE (Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include triggered location request as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency by enabling aperiodic, triggered location requests to occur outside of a scheduled/periodic UE location transmission. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 7, Kodaypak discloses the below limitation(s): at least one external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the at least one external interface, the at least one the memory (Kodaypak Fig 7 processor 702, memory 704 and network interface device 720), the one or more processors configured to: receive via the at least one external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE (Fig 2 step 2 SCEF (i.e. NEF) initiates location estimate trigger towards GMLC and Fig 4 step 416 SCEF (i.e. NEF) sends location estimation trigger to GMLC), wherein the NEF received the location request from a second entity (Fig 2 step 1 AS (i.e. second entity) requests current location estimate of IoT device (i.e. UE) from SCEF (i.e. NEF) and Fig 404 receive location request for NB-IoT device from AS (i.e. second entity)) and the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE (Col 6 lines 47-56 network 100 may be a home PLMN (HPLMN)), wherein the NEF determined either the GMLC or an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) to obtain a UE location (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)), and wherein the NEF selected the GMLC based on: (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)); receive via the at least one external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the LMF (Fig 2 step 8 MME responds to GMLC with the IoT device position obtained from ESMLC); and send via the at least one external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF (Fig 2 step 9 GMLC provides location estimate to SCEF). Kodaypak does not disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and send via the at least one external interface the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF for the UE; In the same field of endeavor of providing location service at a GMLC, Hou does disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof (Hou [0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2), (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof ([0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2); and send via the at least one external interface the location request to a Location Management Function (LMF) via the AMF for the UE ([0017] sending the access type to a Location Management Function (LMF) and/or [0018] LMF receives a request sent by a GMLC); It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of Kodaypak to include indicating a type with a location request for use with a LMF as taught by Hou. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to indicate a type of location request to ensure that the location response is formatted for the requesting network element. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 8, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 7. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN (Kodaypak Fig 1 application server (AS) transmits location request to SCEF). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include receiving a location request from an application server as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable external services to access UE location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 9, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 7. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the type of location request comprises an immediate location request or a deferred location request (Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request, wherein examiner is interpreting the trigger request as an aperiodic location request, i.e. "immediate location request"). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include aperiodic, i.e. ‘immediate’, location requests as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency between location request and response. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 10, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 7. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the type of location request comprises a request for periodic or triggered locations of the UE (Kodaypak Abstract teaches transmitting, by the SCEF, a location estimation trigger request). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include triggered location request as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency by enabling aperiodic, triggered location requests to occur outside of a scheduled/periodic UE location transmission. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 12, Kodaypak discloses the below limitation(s): receiving from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for the UE (Kodaypak Fig 2 step 2 SCEF (i.e. NEF) initiates location estimate trigger towards GMLC and Fig 4 step 416 SCEF (i.e. NEF) sends location estimation trigger to GMLC), wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity (Fig 2 step 1 AS (i.e. second entity) requests current location estimate of IoT device (i.e. UE) from SCEF (i.e. NEF) and Fig 404 receive location request for NB-IoT device from AS (i.e. second entity)) and wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE (Col 6 lines 47-56 network 100 may be a home PLMN (HPLMN)), wherein the NEF determined either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the AMF to obtain a UE location (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)), wherein the AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE (Fig 2 UTRAN (i.e. a RAN) performs step 6 ESMLC initiates position estimation methods and triggers request to UE; Col 7 lines 56-67 GMLC provides location services (i.e. a location server) to compute the position of an NB-IoT device), and wherein the NEF selects the AMF based on: (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)); receiving the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN (Fig 2 step 8 MME responds to GMLC with the IoT device position obtained from ESMLC); and sending the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF (Fig 2 step 9 GMLC provides location estimate to SCEF). Kodaypak does not disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof, (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof; and sending the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; In the same field of endeavor of providing location service at a GMLC, Hou does disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a location accuracy, a location response time, or a combination thereof (Hou [0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2), (i) the type of location request, the location accuracy, or the location response time, or a combination thereof ([0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2); and sending the location request to the serving RAN for the UE ([0017] sending the access type to a Location Management Function (LMF) and/or [0018] LMF receives a request sent by a GMLC); It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of Kodaypak to include indicating a type with a location request for use with a LMF as taught by Hou. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to indicate a type of location request to ensure that the location response is formatted for the requesting network element. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 14, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 12. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN (Kodaypak Fig 1 application server (AS) transmits location request to SCEF). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include receiving a location request from an application server as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable external services to access UE location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 15, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 12. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE (Kodaypak Col 10 lines 10-15 SCEF server may obtain the device's (i.e. UE's) last known location in the tracking area from the MME). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include obtaining UE location based on a tracking area as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to use a tracking area to determine UE location from a subset of possible locations in the TA. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 16, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 12. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN (Kodaypak Fig 2 step 6 transmit position estimation request to UE via serving eNodeB), wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN (Col 16 line 63 - Col 17 line 1 communication device can measure received signal strength, time of arrival, or time of flight as part of positioning determination); or some combination thereof. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include obtaining location measurements from base stations in the RAN as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to obtain measurement signals from a base station to support a UE location request. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 17, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 16. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB) (Kodaypak Fig 2 step 6 transmit position estimation request to UE via serving eNodeB). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include communicating with a eNodeB as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable the UE location procedure to occur in a 5G network by enabling communication with an eNodeB. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 18, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 16. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK) (Kodaypak Col 16 line 63 - Col 17 line 1 communication device can measure received signal strength, time of arrival, or time of flight as part of positioning determination). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include using metrics such as time of arrival to determine UE location as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable UE location determination according to signal characteristics. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 19, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 12. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein receiving the location request from the NEF comprises receiving an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF to request information on the location of the UE (Kodaypak [0112] AMF may subscribe to receive UE location changes, and subsequently AMF may notify GMLC of the related events). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include enabling an AMF to subscribe to UE location updates as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable the AMF to keep a continual tally of UE location in order to provide historical UE location information which could be used for UE location estimation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 20, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 19. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein either an address of the AMF is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF is received via the UDM for the UE (Kodaypak [0112] wherein AMF receives UE location changes via UDM). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include indicating UE location change via UDM as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to utilize UDM to continually update UE location in a network with high mobility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 22, Kodaypak discloses the below limitation(s): an external interface for receiving and sending messages to entities in a network; at least one memory; and one or more processors coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory (Kodaypak Fig 7 processor 702, memory 704 and network interface device 720), the one or more processors configured to: receive via the external interface from a Network Exposure Function (NEF) a location request for a UE (Fig 2 step 2 SCEF (i.e. NEF) initiates location estimate trigger towards GMLC and Fig 4 step 416 SCEF (i.e. NEF) sends location estimation trigger to GMLC), wherein the NEF receives the location request from a second entity (Fig 2 step 1 AS (i.e. second entity) requests current location estimate of IoT device (i.e. UE) from SCEF (i.e. NEF) and Fig 404 receive location request for NB-IoT device from AS (i.e. second entity)) and wherein the NEF is in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) that is a Home PLMN (HPLMN) for the UE or a Visited PLMN (VPLMN) for the UE (Col 6 lines 47-56 network 100 may be a home PLMN (HPLMN)), wherein the NEF determines either a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) or the AMF for the UE to obtain a UE location (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)), wherein the AMF obtains the UE location based on a serving Radio Access Network (RAN) for the UE (Fig 2 UTRAN (i.e. a RAN) performs step 6 ESMLC initiates position estimation methods and triggers request to UE; Col 7 lines 56-67 GMLC provides location services (i.e. a location server) to compute the position of an NB-IoT device), wherein the NEF selects the AMF based on: (ii) an availability of GMLC and AMF location services (Fig 4 step 424 wherein SCEF requests UE identity from GMLC and Col 1 lines 65-77 SCEF selects a position determination method (e.g. GMLC or AMF)); receive via the external interface the UE location or a confirmation of the location request from the serving RAN (Fig 2 step 8 MME responds to GMLC with the IoT device position obtained from ESMLC); and send via the external interface the UE location or the confirmation of the location request to the NEF (Fig 2 step 9 GMLC provides location estimate to SCEF). Kodaypak does not disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these, (i) the type of location request, the required location accuracy, the required location response time, or a combination thereof; and send via the external interface the location request to the serving RAN for the UE; In the same field of endeavor of providing location service at a GMLC, Hou does disclose the below limitation(s): the location request including a type of location request, a required location accuracy, a required location response time or some combination of these ([0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2), (i) the type of location request, the required location accuracy, the required location response time, or a combination thereof ([0012] GMLC receives a request sent by a Location Service (LCS) client and the GMLC determines an access type (i.e. type of location request) for transmitting positioning information; see also Fig 2); and send via the external interface the location request to the serving RAN for the UE ([0017] sending the access type to a Location Management Function (LMF) and/or [0018] LMF receives a request sent by a GMLC); It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of Kodaypak to include indicating a type with a location request for use with a LMF as taught by Hou. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to indicate a type of location request to ensure that the location response is formatted for the requesting network element. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 24, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 22. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the second entity is an external client, an Application Function (AF) outside the PLMN or a Network Function (NF) inside the PLMN (Kodaypak Fig 1 application server (AS) transmits location request to SCEF). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include receiving a location request from an application server as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable external services to access UE location. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 25, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 22. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a current or previous serving cell or a tracking area (TA) for the UE (Kodaypak Col 10 lines 10-15 SCEF server may obtain the device's (i.e. UE's) last known location in the tracking area from the MME). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include obtaining UE location based on a tracking area as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to use a tracking area to determine UE location from a subset of possible locations in the TA. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 26, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 22. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving RAN obtains the UE location based on a serving base station for the UE in the serving RAN (Kodaypak Fig 2 step 6 transmit position estimation request to UE via serving eNodeB), wherein the serving base station obtains the UE location by obtaining location measurements comprising: location measurements of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by other base stations in the serving RAN of signals transmitted by the UE; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by the serving base station; location measurements obtained by the UE of signals transmitted by other base stations in the serving RAN (Col 16 line 63 - Col 17 line 1 communication device can measure received signal strength, time of arrival, or time of flight as part of positioning determination); or some combination thereof. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include obtaining location measurements from base stations in the RAN as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to obtain measurement signals from a base station to support a UE location request. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 27, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 26. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving base station is a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) or a Next Generation (NG) evolved NodeB (ng-eNB) (Kodaypak Fig 2 step 6 transmit position estimation request to UE via serving eNodeB). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include communicating with a eNodeB as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable the UE location procedure to occur in a 5G network by enabling communication with an eNodeB. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 28, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 26. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the serving base station determines the UE location from the obtained location measurements using at least one of Observed Time Difference Of Arrival (OTDOA), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of departure (AOD), angle of arrival (AOA), enhanced cell ID (ECID), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) or Real Time Kinematic (RTK) (Kodaypak Col 16 line 63 - Col 17 line 1 communication device can measure received signal strength, time of arrival, or time of flight as part of positioning determination). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include using metrics such as time of arrival to determine UE location as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable UE location determination according to signal characteristics. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 29, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 22. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein the one or more processors is configured to receive the location request from the NEF by being configured to receive an AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF to request information on the location of the UE (Kodaypak [0112] AMF may subscribe to receive UE location changes, and subsequently AMF may notify GMLC of the related events). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include enabling an AMF to subscribe to UE location updates as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable the AMF to keep a continual tally of UE location in order to provide historical UE location information which could be used for UE location estimation. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Regarding Claim 30, Kodaypak and Hou disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 29. Kodaypak further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein either an address of the AMF is obtained by the NEF querying a Unified Data Management (UDM) in the HPLMN for the UE or the AMF Event Exposure Subscribe service operation invoked by the NEF towards the AMF is received via the UDM for the UE (Kodaypak [0112] wherein AMF receives UE location changes via UDM). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method/GMLC/AMF for supporting location services to include indicating UE location change via UDM as taught by Kodaypak. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to utilize UDM to continually update UE location in a network with high mobility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Kodaypak and Hou to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAWN D MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8599. The examiner can normally be reached M-TR 8-5. 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, Charles C Jiang can be reached at (571) 270-7191. 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. /SHAWN D MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412