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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 6, 8, 13-16,18, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Go et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0367727) in view of Keating et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0356581).
Consider claim 1; Go discloses a resource configuration method, comprising:
configuring [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)], by the network device [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4)], a second SRS resource for a to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)], wherein at least one overlapping time domain unit exists between the second SRS resource and a first SRS resource [“…a base station recognizes that an additional SRS collides with another…another SRS…in the same UL slot (par. 212, lines 1-4)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)].
Go discloses the claimed invention except: receiving, by a network device, first reference sounding reference signal (SRS) resource information from a location management device.
In an analogous art Keating discloses receiving [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], by a network device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], first reference sounding reference signal (SRS) resource information from a location management device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)].
It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Go by including a LMF, as taught by Keating, for the purpose of effectively managing resources provided in a wireless system.
Consider claim 2, as applied in claim 1; Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information comprises one or more of a start symbol location, a quantity of occupied symbols [“dynamically indicating an available (or unavailable) symbol resource in a slot when triggering an additional SRS.” (par. 212, lines 6-8)], a sending periodicity and offset, a transmission comb and offset, a cyclic shift, a frequency domain position and offset, or a frequency hopping configuration.
Consider claim 3, as applied in claim 1; Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to an SRS resource of at least one reference terminal device [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)].
Consider claim 4, as applied in claim 3; Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to SRS resources of at least two reference terminal devices [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “…there may be a possibility that an SRS of specific UE collides with an SRS (or other UL channel) of other UE.” (par. 190, lines 12-14)], and the first reference SRS resource information is information about the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “…there may be a possibility that an SRS of specific UE collides with an SRS (or other UL channel) of other UE.” (par. 190, lines 12-14)], or the first reference SRS resource information is information obtained based on the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices.
Consider claim 6, as applied in claim 1; Keating discloses receiving [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], by the network device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], first indication information from the location management device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], wherein the first indication information indicates to configure, for the to-be-positioned terminal device, the second SRS resource that completely overlaps the first SRS resource in a time domain [“…SRS 1 and SRS 2 overlap.” (par. 152, line 3)], or indicates to configure, for the to-be-positioned terminal device, the second SRS resource that partially overlaps the first SRS resource in the time domain, wherein the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3) “…SRS 1 and SRS 2 overlap.” (par. 152, line 3)], wherein the configuring, by the network device, the second SRS resource for the to-be- positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information comprises: configuring [“…when a base station recognizes that an additional SRS collides with another UL channel or another SRS…in the same slot…there is an advantage of facilitating flexible resource allocation by dynamically indicating a symbol level offset value for a starting position (startPosition) of SRS resources in an (aperiodic) SRS resource set when triggering an additional SRS.” (par. 208, lines 2-9)], by the network device [“…when a base station recognizes that an additional SRS collides with another UL channel or another SRS…in the same slot…there is an advantage of facilitating flexible resource allocation by dynamically indicating a symbol level offset value for a starting position (startPosition) of SRS resources in an (aperiodic) SRS resource set when triggering an additional SRS.” (par. 208, lines 2-9)], the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information and the first indication information [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3) “…when a base station recognizes that an additional SRS collides with another UL channel or another SRS…in the same slot…there is an advantage of facilitating flexible resource allocation by dynamically indicating a symbol level offset value for a starting position (startPosition) of SRS resources in an (aperiodic) SRS resource set when triggering an additional SRS.” (par. 208, lines 2-9)].
Consider claim 8, as applied in claim 1; Keating discloses receiving [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…to ensure SRS reception…” (par. 147, lines 1-3)], by the network device [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…to ensure SRS reception…” (par. 147, lines 1-3)], third indication information from the location management device [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…to ensure SRS reception…” (par. 147, lines 1-3)], wherein the third indication information indicates that the first SRS resource is a reference resource [“Over time the LMF 190-1 can track the number of SRS resources needed…to configure the correct number of SRS resources…” (par. 149, lines 1-3)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“Over time the LMF 190-1 can track the number of SRS resources needed…to configure the correct number of SRS resources…” (par. 149, lines 1-3)].
Consider claim 13; Go discloses a communication apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor [“…an operation of FIG. 11 may be processed by one or more processors 102, 202 in FIG. 13. In addition, an operation of FIG. 11 may be stored in a memory (e.g., one or more memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 13) in a form of a command/a program (e.g., an instruction, an executable code) for operating at least one processor of FIG 13…” (par. 336, lines 1-7)]; and
a memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the at least one processor [“…an operation of FIG. 11 may be processed by one or more processors 102, 202 in FIG. 13. In addition, an operation of FIG. 11 may be stored in a memory (e.g., one or more memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 13) in a form of a command/a program (e.g., an instruction, an executable code) for operating at least one processor of FIG 13…” (par. 336, lines 1-7)], cause the communication apparatus to:
configuring [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)], by the network device [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4)], a second SRS resource for a to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)], wherein at least one overlapping time domain unit exists between the second SRS resource and a first SRS resource [“…a base station recognizes that an additional SRS collides with another…another SRS…in the same UL slot (par. 212, lines 1-4)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)].
Go discloses the claimed invention except: receiving, by a network device, first reference sounding reference signal (SRS) resource information from a location management device.
In an analogous art Keating discloses receiving [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], by a network device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], first reference sounding reference signal (SRS) resource information from a location management device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)].
It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Go by including a LMF, as taught by Keating, for the purpose of effectively managing resources provided in a wireless system.
Consider claim 14, as applied in claim 13; Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information comprises one or more of a start symbol location, a quantity of occupied symbols [“dynamically indicating an available (or unavailable) symbol resource in a slot when triggering an additional SRS.” (par. 212, lines 6-8)], a sending periodicity and offset, a transmission comb and offset, a cyclic shift, a frequency domain position and offset, or a frequency hopping configuration.
Consider claim 15, as applied in claim 13; Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to an SRS resource of at least one reference terminal device [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “a legacy SRS configuration may be referred to as a first SRS configuration and an enhanced SRS (additional SRS) configuration may be referred to as a second SRS configuration.” (par. 185, lines 21-24)].
Consider claim 16, as applied in claim 15; Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to SRS resources of at least two reference terminal devices [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “…there may be a possibility that an SRS of specific UE collides with an SRS (or other UL channel) of other UE.” (par. 190, lines 12-14)], and the first reference SRS resource information is information about the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “…there may be a possibility that an SRS of specific UE collides with an SRS (or other UL channel) of other UE.” (par. 190, lines 12-14)], or the first reference SRS resource information is information obtained based on the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices.
Consider claim 18, as applied in claim 13; Keating discloses receiving [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], by the network device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], first indication information from the location management device [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3)], wherein the first indication information indicates to configure, for the to-be-positioned terminal device, the second SRS resource that completely overlaps the first SRS resource in a time domain [“…SRS 1 and SRS 2 overlap.” (par. 152, line 3)], or indicates to configure, for the to-be-positioned terminal device, the second SRS resource that partially overlaps the first SRS resource in the time domain, wherein the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3) “…SRS 1 and SRS 2 overlap.” (par. 152, line 3)], the communication apparatus is caused to configure the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information by: configuring the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information and the first indication information [“…the LMF 190-1 provides the SRS configuration to the neighbor gNB 170-1…” (par. 142, lines 2-3) “…when a base station recognizes that an additional SRS collides with another UL channel or another SRS…in the same slot…there is an advantage of facilitating flexible resource allocation by dynamically indicating a symbol level offset value for a starting position (startPosition) of SRS resources in an (aperiodic) SRS resource set when triggering an additional SRS.” (par. 208, lines 2-9)].
Consider claim 20, as applied in claim 13; Keating discloses receive third indication information from the location management device [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…to ensure SRS reception…” (par. 147, lines 1-3)], wherein the third indication information indicates that the first SRS resource is a reference resource [“Over time the LMF 190-1 can track the number of SRS resources needed…to configure the correct number of SRS resources…” (par. 149, lines 1-3)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“Over time the LMF 190-1 can track the number of SRS resources needed…to configure the correct number of SRS resources…” (par. 149, lines 1-3)].
Claims 5 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Go et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0367727) in view of Keating et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0356581) in view of Edge et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2022/0120842).
Consider claim 5, as applied in claim 1; Go and Keating disclose the claimed invention except: sending, by the network device, information about the second SRS resource to the location management device, wherein the receiving, by the network device, first reference SRS resource information from the location management device comprises: receiving, by the network device, a plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information and priority information of each of the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information from the location management device, wherein the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information comprise the first reference SRS resource information.
In an analogous art Edge discloses sending [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3) “The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF 152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)], by the network device [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3) “The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)], information about the second SRS resource to the location management device [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3) “The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)], wherein the receiving, by the network device, first reference SRS resource information from the location management device comprises: receiving, by the network device, a plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information and priority information of each of the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information from the location management device [“…the LMF…may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to as “Option B”, to the serving gNB…” (par. 105, lines 3-8)], wherein the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information comprise the first reference SRS resource information [“…the LMF…may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to as “Option B”, to the serving gNB…” (par. 105, lines 3-8)].
It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. It is an object of Edge’s invention to provide SRS configurations. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Go and Keating by including priority, as taught by Edge, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a telecommunications network.
Consider claim 17, as applied in claim 13; Go and Keating disclose the claimed invention except: sending, by the network device, information about the second SRS resource to the location management device, wherein the receiving, by the network device, first reference SRS resource information from the location management device comprises: receiving, by the network device, a plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information and priority information of each of the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information from the location management device, wherein the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information comprise the first reference SRS resource information.
In an analogous art Edge discloses sending [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3) “The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF 152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)], by the network device [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3) “The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)], information about the second SRS resource to the location management device [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3) “The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)], wherein the receiving, by the network device, first reference SRS resource information from the location management device comprises: receiving, by the network device, a plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information and priority information of each of the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information from the location management device [“…the LMF…may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to as “Option B”, to the serving gNB…” (par. 105, lines 3-8)], wherein the plurality of pieces of reference SRS resource information comprise the first reference SRS resource information [“…the LMF…may provide a set of alternative UL SRS configurations, e.g., in a priority order, in a variant referred to as “Option B”, to the serving gNB…” (par. 105, lines 3-8)].
It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. It is an object of Edge’s invention to provide SRS configurations. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Go and Keating by including priority, as taught by Edge, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a telecommunications network.
Claims 7 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Go et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0367727) in view of Keating et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0356581) in view of Manolakos et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0105040).
Consider claim 7, as applied in claim 1; Go and Keating disclose the claimed invention except: receiving, by the network device, second indication information from the location management device, wherein the second indication information indicates an offset between the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource, and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource, wherein the configuring, by the network device, the second SRS resource for the to-be- positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information comprises: configuring, by the network device, the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information and the second indication information.
In an analogous art Manolakos discloses receiving [“…a network entity (e.g.,… a location server or a location management function, etc.)…” (par. 155, lines 2-3) “…the SRS configuration may be relayed to the BS by a separate network entity…” (par. 157, lines 7-8)], by the network device [“…a network entity (e.g.,… a location server or a location management function, etc.)…” (par. 155, lines 2-3) “…the SRS configuration may be relayed to the BS by a separate network entity…” (par. 157, lines 7-8)], second indication information from the location management device [“…a network entity (e.g.,… a location server or a location management function, etc.)…” (par. 155, lines 2-3) “…the SRS configuration may be relayed to the BS by a separate network entity…” (par. 157, lines 7-8)], wherein the second indication information indicates an offset between the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource [“…the BS…receives, from the UE in each of the plurality of frequency hops, a plurality of consecutive OFDM symbols with at least one SRS in accordance with the sequence of resource element offsets indicated by the SRS configuration for the respective frequency hop.” (par. 157, lines 11-16)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“…the BS…receives, from the UE in each of the plurality of frequency hops, a plurality of consecutive OFDM symbols with at least one SRS in accordance with the sequence of resource element offsets indicated by the SRS configuration for the respective frequency hop.” (par. 157, lines 11-16)], wherein the configuring, by the network device, the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information comprises: configuring, by the network device, the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information and the second indication information [“…a network entity (e.g.,… a location server or a location management function, etc.)…” (par. 155, lines 2-3) “…the SRS configuration may be relayed to the BS by a separate network entity…” (par. 157, lines 7-8) “…the BS…receives, from the UE in each of the plurality of frequency hops, a plurality of consecutive OFDM symbols with at least one SRS in accordance with the sequence of resource element offsets indicated by the SRS configuration for the respective frequency hop.” (par. 157, lines 11-16)].
It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. It is an object of Manolakos’ invention to provide SRS configuration and SRS use. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Go and Keating by including an offset, as taught by Manolakos, for the purpose of providing positioning services in a network.
Consider claim 19, as applied in claim 13; Go and Keating disclose the claimed invention except: receive second indication information from the location management device, wherein the second indication information indicates an offset between the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource, and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource, and the communication apparatus is caused to configure the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information by: configuring the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information and the second indication information.
In an analogous art Manolakos discloses receive second indication information from the location management device [“…a network entity (e.g.,… a location server or a location management function, etc.)…” (par. 155, lines 2-3) “…the SRS configuration may be relayed to the BS by a separate network entity…” (par. 157, lines 7-8)], wherein the second indication information indicates an offset between the first SRS resource and the second SRS resource [“…the BS…receives, from the UE in each of the plurality of frequency hops, a plurality of consecutive OFDM symbols with at least one SRS in accordance with the sequence of resource element offsets indicated by the SRS configuration for the respective frequency hop.” (par. 157, lines 11-16)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“…the BS…receives, from the UE in each of the plurality of frequency hops, a plurality of consecutive OFDM symbols with at least one SRS in accordance with the sequence of resource element offsets indicated by the SRS configuration for the respective frequency hop.” (par. 157, lines 11-16)], and the communication apparatus is caused to configure the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information by: configuring the second SRS resource for the to-be-positioned terminal device based on the first reference SRS resource information and the second indication information [“…a network entity (e.g.,… a location server or a location management function, etc.)…” (par. 155, lines 2-3) “…the SRS configuration may be relayed to the BS by a separate network entity…” (par. 157, lines 7-8) “…the BS…receives, from the UE in each of the plurality of frequency hops, a plurality of consecutive OFDM symbols with at least one SRS in accordance with the sequence of resource element offsets indicated by the SRS configuration for the respective frequency hop.” (par. 157, lines 11-16)].
It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. It is an object of Manolakos’ invention to provide SRS configuration and SRS use. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Go and Keating by including an offset, as taught by Manolakos, for the purpose of providing positioning services in a network.
Claims 9-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keating et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0356581) in view of Edge et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2022/0120842).
Consider claim 9; Keating discloses a resource configuration method, comprising:
sending [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2)], by a location management device [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2)], first reference sounding reference signal (SRS) resource information to a network device [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2)]; and
wherein at least one overlapping time domain unit exists between the second SRS resource and a first SRS resource [“…SRS 1and SRS 2 overlap.” (par. 152, line 3)], and the first reference SRS resource information is related to the first SRS resource [“The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2) “…SRS 1and SRS 2 overlap.” (par. 152, line 3)].
Keating discloses the claimed invention except:
wherein the first reference SRS resource information is used by the network device to configure a second SRS resource for a to-be-positioned terminal device;
receiving, by the location management device, information about the second SRS resource from the network device.
In an analogous art Edge discloses wherein the first reference SRS resource information is used by the network device to configure a second SRS resource for a to-be-positioned terminal device [“…the serving gNB 110-S determines a second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102 based on the first UL SRS configuration(s).” (par. 118, lines 1-3)];
receiving, by the location management device, information about the second SRS resource from the network device [“The serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPs Positioning information Update message, including the second UL SRS configuration to be used by the UE 102, to the LMF 152…” (par. 118, lines 11-13)].
It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. It is an object of Edge’s invention to provide SRS configurations. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Keating by including priority, as taught by Edge, for the purpose of efficiently providing services in a telecommunications network.
Consider claim 10, as applied in claim 9; Keating discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to an SRS resource of at least one reference terminal device [“…the UE 110-1 provides such updated SRS configuration at step 8 to the serving gNB 170-3 and to the LMF 190-1. The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2)].
Consider claim 11, as applied in claim 10; Keating discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to an SRS resource of a first reference terminal device [“…the UE 110-1 provides such updated SRS configuration at step 8 to the serving gNB 170-3 and to the LMF 190-1. The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2)], and the first reference SRS resource information is information about the SRS resource of the first reference terminal device [“…the UE 110-1 provides such updated SRS configuration at step 8 to the serving gNB 170-3 and to the LMF 190-1. The LMF 190-1 signals the updated SRS configuration to the gNBs…” (par. 147, lines 1-2)], or the first reference SRS resource information is information obtained based on the SRS resource of the first reference terminal device.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keating et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0356581) in view of Edge et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2022/0120842) in view of Go et al. (U.S. Patent Application Number: 2021/0367727).
Consider claim 12, as applied in claim 10; Keating and Edge disclose the claimed invention except: the first reference SRS resource information is related to SRS resources of at least two reference terminal devices, and the first reference SRS resource information is information about the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices, or the first reference SRS resource information is information obtained based on the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices.
In an analogous art Go discloses the first reference SRS resource information is related to SRS resources of at least two reference terminal devices [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “…there may be a possibility that an SRS of specific UE collides with an SRS (or other UL channel) of other UE.” (par. 190, lines 12-14)], and the first reference SRS resource information is information about the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices [“…a method for base station to configure an additional (or enhanced) SRS that supports more symbols as well as a NR Legacy SRS to a terminal…” (par. 183, lines 2-4) “…there may be a possibility that an SRS of specific UE collides with an SRS (or other UL channel) of other UE.” (par. 190, lines 12-14)], or the first reference SRS resource information is information obtained based on the SRS resources of the at least two reference terminal devices.
It is an object of Keating’s invention to provide a method for SRS for positioning resource. It is an object of Edge’s invention to provide SRS configurations. It is an object of Go’s invention to provide a method for triggering a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of Keating and Edge by including multiple terminal devices, as taught by Go, for the purpose improving services in a network management system.
Manolakos is another reference that discloses the inventive concept.
Conclusion
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