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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 6-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hoang et al. (US 2021/0314796, IDS Reference).
Regarding claim 1, Hoang et al. disclose an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Figure 1B, WTRU 102), comprising:
one or more memories comprising processor-executable instructions (Figure 1B, memories 130, 132; Paragraph 257, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor); and
one or more processors configured to execute the processor-executable instructions (Figure 1B, processor 118; Paragraph 257, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor) and cause the apparatus to:
select a zone configuration for a zone that is specific to where signal measurements satisfy a signal threshold (Figure 9, WTRU receives zone configurations at step 910, receives CBR threshold at step 920 for each zone configuration, receives mapping of zone IDs to resource pools in step 930 for each zone configuration, measures CBR of each resource pool at step 940, and compares CBRs of the zone configurations to CBR threshold in step 950. If the threshold is satisfied at step 950 ‘Yes’ branch, the WTRU selects and configures with zone configuration in step 960 that satisfies the CBR threshold in step 950) or where a signal timing satisfies a timing threshold; and
communicate using the zone configuration based at least in part on a determination that the UE is located in the zone (Figure 9, WTRU configured with resource pool based on mapping and configured zone ID in step 980; Claims 1 and 11, transmitting a wireless signal based on the configured resource pool; Figure 1B and paragraph 41, processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment).
Regarding claim 2, Hoang et al. disclose wherein the signal threshold includes a short-range wireless protocol signal threshold (Paragraph 240, CBR measurement for sidelink communication).
Regarding claim 3, Hoang et al. disclose wherein the signal threshold includes a Wi-Fi signal threshold (Paragraph 29, 31, 67, WiFi communication).
Regarding claim 6, Hoang et al. disclose wherein the zone configuration is associated with a beam search, a cell search, a beam measurement, a cell measurement, a beam selection (Paragraph 243, WTRU resource selection…a WTRU may determine a beam sweeping pattern based on CBR, CR, or both CBR and CR. A WTRU may be configured to select a maximum number of beam transmissions per packet. A WTRU may select an actual number of beam transmissions based on its CR. A WTRU may select a number of beam transmissions to satisfy CR requirements; Paragraph 244, Based on the current CR, the WTRU may select a particular beam sweeping configuration. Each beam sweeping configuration may indicate X beams for sweeping, each beam may be retransmitted Y times, and Y may be different for each beam; Paragraphs 246-247, WTRU selects resources and further selects beams for transmissions), or a cell selection.
Regarding claim 7, Hoang et al. disclose wherein the zone configuration is associated with a random access channel configuration, a paging configuration, a time adjustment, a power adjustment (Paragraph 215, zone ID and corresponding maximum transmit power; Paragraph 216, a WTRU may change its maximum power along with (e.g., at the same time as) zone configuration based on changes in the congestion metric), a cell identifier hash, or a slot configuration).
Regarding claim 8, Hoang et al. disclose an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Figure 1B, WTRU 102), comprising:
one or more memories comprising processor-executable instructions (Figure 1B, memories 130, 132; Paragraph 257, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor); and
one or more processors configured to execute the processor-executable instructions (Figure 1B, processor 118; Paragraph 257, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor) and cause the apparatus to:
select a zone configuration for a zone that is specific to where:
UE sensing measurements satisfy a sensing threshold (Figure 9, WTRU receives zone configurations at step 910, receives CBR threshold at step 920 for each zone configuration, receives mapping of zone IDs to resource pools in step 930 for each zone configuration, measures CBR of each resource pool at step 940, and compares CBRs of the zone configurations to CBR threshold in step 950. If the threshold is satisfied at step 950 ‘Yes’ branch, the WTRU selects and configures with zone configuration in step 960 that satisfies the CBR threshold in step 950),
A UE mobility speed satisfies a speed threshold,
a UE mobility direction satisfies a direction characteristic, or
a signal angle of arrival satisfies an angle characteristic; and
communicate using the zone configuration based at least in part on a determination that the UE is in the zone (Figure 9, WTRU configured with resource pool based on mapping and configured zone ID in step 980; Claims 1 and 11, transmitting a wireless signal based on the configured resource pool; Figure 1B and paragraph 41, processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment).
Regarding claim 9, Hoang et al. disclose wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE to select the zone configuration for the zone further based at least in part on a UE feature satisfying a feature characteristic (Paragraph 231, WTRU resource/zone configuration selection based on QoS of the WTRU’s transmission meeting a configuration/preconfiguration condition; Paragraph 243, The WTRU may determine a set of available resources for its transmission, which satisfies the QoS requirements of the data), a UE class matching a UE class characteristic, a UE subscription matching a subscription characteristic, or a UE capability satisfying a UE capability characteristic
Regarding claim 10, Hoang et al. disclose an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Figure 1B, WTRU 102), comprising:
one or more memories comprising processor-executable instructions (Figure 1B, memories 130, 132; Paragraph 257, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor); and
one or more processors configured to execute the processor-executable instructions (Figure 1B, processor 118; Paragraph 257, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor) and cause the apparatus to:
receiving zone determination information that is associated with identification of a zone for which a zone configuration applies (Figure 9, WTRU receives zone configurations at step 910, receives CBR threshold at step 920 for each zone configuration, receives mapping of zone IDs to resource pools in step 930 for each zone configuration); and
communicate a message using the zone configuration, based at least in part on a determination, using the zone determination information, that the UE is located in the zone (Figure 9, WTRU configured with resource pool based on mapping and configured zone ID in step 980; Claims 1 and 11, transmitting a wireless signal based on the configured resource pool; Figure 1B and paragraph 41, processor 118 may also be coupled to the GPS chipset 136, which may be configured to provide location information (e.g., longitude and latitude) regarding the current location of the WTRU 102. In addition to, or in lieu of, the information from the GPS chipset 136, the WTRU 102 may receive location information over the air interface 116 from a base station (e.g., base stations 114a, 114b) and/or determine its location based on the timing of the signals being received from two or more nearby base stations. It will be appreciated that the WTRU 102 may acquire location information by way of any suitable location-determination method while remaining consistent with an embodiment).
Regarding claim 11, Hoang et al. disclose wherein the zone determination information includes a function for identification of the zone (Figure 9 and paragraph 254, In step 930, the WTRU receives a mapping of zone IDs to resource pools for each zone configuration received in step 910. Each zone of each zone configuration corresponds to a zone ID and a resource pool), one or more parameters for the function, a script for identification of the zone, or one or more parameters for the script.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang et al. as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shah et al. (US 2025/0300900).
Regarding claim 4, Hoang et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: wherein the timing characteristic is associated with a downlink receive timing (Shah et al., Paragraph 214, “DL positioning method” may refer to any position determination method that uses downlink reference signals such as PRS. The WTRU receives multiple reference signals from TP(s) and measures DL RSTD and/or RSRP. Examples of DL positioning methods are DL-AoD or DL-TDOA positioning) or an uplink receive timing (Shah et al., Paragraph 215, “UL positioning method” may refer to any position determination method that uses uplink reference signals such as SRS for positioning. The WTRU transmits SRS to multiple RPs and the RPs measure the UL RTOA and/or RSRP. Examples of UL positioning methods are UL-TDOA or UL-AoA positioning).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 5, Hoang et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: wherein the timing characteristic is associated with an estimated round trip time (Shah et al., Paragraph 213, 216, 331, 356, 357, 380, RTT positioning).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Claim(s) 12 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang et al. as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Kwak et al. (WO 2024/173223, IDS Reference).
Regarding claim 12, Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Kwak et al.: wherein the zone determination information includes an ML model that is trained to identify a zone for which a zone configuration applies (Kwak et al., Paragraph 290, the gNB to do a first round of selection amidst the available models and only send to the UE models that may be suitable to the UE (e.g., match the UE antenna configuration, trained for the SINR range measured at the UE). In a first step, the UE may only receive metadata about the AI/ML models available at the gNB…the UE may receive the selected AI/ML model in the DL; Paragraph 292, a UE may select one or more AI/ML models and determine to activate the selected AI/ML models. The activated AI/ML models may be chosen, determined, and/or selected from a set of associated AI/ML models. The activated AI/ML models may be selected from a list of candidate AI/ML models and/or AI/ML model types that the UE has identified), an ML function for the ML model, or one or more parameters for the ML model (Kwak et al., Paragraph 290, the gNB to do a first round of selection amidst the available models and only send to the UE models that may be suitable to the UE (e.g., match the UE antenna configuration, trained for the SINR range measured at the UE). In a first step, the UE may only receive metadata about the AI/ML models available at the gNB…the UE may receive the selected AI/ML model in the DL; Paragraph 292, a UE may select one or more AI/ML models and determine to activate the selected AI/ML models. The activated AI/ML models may be chosen, determined, and/or selected from a set of associated AI/ML models. The activated AI/ML models may be selected from a list of candidate AI/ML models and/or AI/ML model types that the UE has identified).
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 Hoang et al. with the cited disclosure from Kwak et al. in order to use AI/ML systems to predict changes and adjust parameters for communication devices (Kwak et al., Paragraphs 3-4).
Regarding claim 13, Kwak et al. disclose wherein to communicate the message, the one or more processors are configured to execute the processor-executable instructions and cause the apparatus to communicate the message based at least in part on a determination, using the ML model and the zone determination information, that the UE is located in the zone (Paragraphs 4 and 198, dynamically identifying or selecting AI/ML models or model types to provide optimized predictions based on…device movement [UE location determination using the ML model]).
Claim(s) 14-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Shah et al.
Regarding claim 14, Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the ML model is trained using a UE measurement (Kwak et al., Paragraph 275, UE identification of AI/ML model for (re)selection is based on measurements…Measurements made by the UE for selecting an AI/ML model may include one or more of…), a UE location (Kwak et al., Paragraphs 4 and 198, dynamically identifying or selecting AI/ML models or model types to provide optimized predictions based on…device movement [UE location]; Paragraph 275, UE identification of AI/ML model for (re)selection is based on measurements…Measurements made by the UE for selecting an AI/ML model may include one or more of:…UE Speed, position, direction of motion, velocity), a UE speed (Kwak et al., Paragraph 275, UE identification of AI/ML model for (re)selection is based on measurements…Measurements made by the UE for selecting an AI/ML model may include one or more of:…UE Speed, position, direction of motion, velocity), or a UE direction as an input (Kwak et al., Paragraph 275, UE identification of AI/ML model for (re)selection is based on measurements…Measurements made by the UE for selecting an AI/ML model may include one or more of:…UE Speed, position, direction of motion, velocity; Paragraph 285, the UE identification of an AI/ML model for (re)selection may be based on other parameters. A UE may identify an AI/ML model for (re)selection based one or more of the following parameters…UE Zone ID, UE Cell ID, TRP/gNB ID: for example, a UE may request for a model that has been trained (possibly by a neighboring UE) in the same zone/cell/TRP/gNB).
Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: a zone identifier as output (Shah et al., Paragraphs 323, 325, 331, ML model converting RSRP fingerprint measurements to Zone ID of a zone where a WTRU is located; Paragraph 325, RSRP fingerprint measurements are an input to the model, and the Zone ID is an output of the model; Paragraph 345, ML assisted positioning).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 15, Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the ML model is trained using UE sensing measurements as an input (Kwak et al., Paragraph 275, UE identification of AI/ML model for (re)selection is based on measurements…Measurements made by the UE for selecting an AI/ML model may include one or more of:… L1 or L3 measurement such as RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, SINR, Rl, CQI, PMI, LI…Doppler, Doppler spread, delay spread, number of multipaths…UE Speed, position, direction of motion, velocity…Doppler, Doppler spread, delay spread, number of multipaths; Paragraph 290, AI/ML model trained for SINR range measured at the UE).
Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: a zone identifier as output (Shah et al., Paragraphs 323, 325, 331, ML model converting RSRP fingerprint measurements to Zone ID of a zone where a WTRU is located; Paragraph 325, RSRP fingerprint measurements are an input to the model, and the Zone ID is an output of the model; Paragraph 345, ML assisted positioning; Paragraph 249, model trained on RSRP input).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 16, Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the ML model is trained using UE mobility information as an input (Kwak et al., Paragraph 275, UE identification of AI/ML model for (re)selection is based on measurements…Measurements made by the UE for selecting an AI/ML model may include one or more of:… L1 or L3 measurement such as RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, SINR, Rl, CQI, PMI, LI…Doppler, Doppler spread, delay spread, number of multipaths…UE Speed, position, direction of motion, velocity…Doppler, Doppler spread, delay spread, number of multipaths; Paragraph 290, AI/ML model trained for SINR range measured at the UE).
Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: a zone identifier as output (Shah et al., Paragraphs 323, 325, 331, ML model converting RSRP fingerprint measurements to Zone ID of a zone where a WTRU is located; Paragraph 325, RSRP fingerprint measurements are an input to the model, and the Zone ID is an output of the model; Paragraph 345, ML assisted positioning; Paragraph 249, model trained on RSRP input).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Regarding claims 17 and 18, Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above as well as wherein the ML model is trained using a UE feature (Kwak et al., Paragraph 285, model that has been trained (possibly by a neighboring UE) in the same zone/cell/TRP/gNB…if the model was trained using the same antenna configuration, if the ML model was trained on a full-duplex or half-duplex configuration and so on), a UE capability (Kwak et al., Paragraph 285, trained on a similar type of traffic; Paragraph 290, trained for the SINR range measured at the UE), or a UE class as an input.
Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: a zone identifier as output (Shah et al., Paragraphs 323, 325, 331, ML model converting RSRP fingerprint measurements to Zone ID of a zone where a WTRU is located; Paragraph 325, RSRP fingerprint measurements are an input to the model, and the Zone ID is an output of the model; Paragraph 345, ML assisted positioning; Paragraphs 249, 256, model trained on peak and mean RSRP [UE capability] input).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 20, Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Shah et al.: wherein the zone determination information is associated with one or more actions to be performed based at least in part on an output of the ML model (Kwak et al., Paragraph 325, RSRP fingerprint measurements are an input to the model, and the Zone ID is an output of the model; Figure 20 and paragraph 367, At 2050, the device may use the selected model or algorithm to determine its position. At 2055, the device may report [action performed based on Zone ID output] its position to the network; Paragraph 336, WTRU may take an action based on the zone ID associated with the WTRU’s position).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Shah et al. in order to further determine location and positioning of a WTRU (Shah et al., Abstract).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. as applied to claim 12 above, and further in view of Rasanen et al. (US 2019/0335414).
Regarding claim 19, Hoang et al. in view of Kwak et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Rasanen et al.: wherein the zone determination information is specific to a UE type (Rasanen et al., Paragraph 59, a zone identified by a zone ID maps to a certain UE or a category of class of UEs).
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 system of Hoang et al. and Kwak et al. with the cited disclosure from Rasanen et al. in order to identify class/category of UEs within a given zone (Rasanen et al., Paragraphs 59-60).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OTIS L THOMPSON, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-1953. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 6:30am - 7:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag G. Shah can be reached at (571)272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
August 21, 2026
