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 .
Status of Claims
The following is a non-final, first office action in response to the communication filed 02/17/2025. Claims 1-19 and 25 are currently pending and have been examined.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Benefit is given to the priority document PCT/CN2022/111473 and the effective filing date of 08/10/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 02/17/2025 and 06/12/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: paragraph 62, lines 2-3 appear to contain a typographical error: “the UE re-may acquire…”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 objected to because of the following informalities: clarity would be enhanced by adding the word “either” to the phrase “a time difference between detection of either a first event or the second event and a next periodic GNSS measurement gap…”. Appropriate clarification is requested.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nordic Semiconductor ASA; "Improved GNSS operation for IOT NTN"; 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #109; R1-2203933; May 20, 2022 (cited in the IDS dated 02/17/2025; hereinafter Nordic) in view of Liberg et al. (US-20220417889-A1; also cited in the IDS dated 02/17/2025; hereinafter Liberg).
Regarding claim 1, Nordic discloses [Note: what Nordic fails to disclose is strike-through]
A User Equipment (UE) (see at least page 1, section 2, line 1; “From UE point of view…”), comprising:
detect an event to trigger a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “On the other hand, UE itself may notice the sudden change in its mobility and find it necessary to ask a new GNSS gap before the next gap according to the configuration would come.”);
transmit, to a network device, a request to perform an event-triggered GNSS measurement, in response to detection of the event (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “Thus, it should be considered to specify a signaling mechanism for UE to request a GNSS measurement gap whenever the need for it emerge. E.g, in NB-IoT, ordered NPRACH could be used for requesting GNSS measurement gap similar to scheduling request (SR) without HARQ feedback. Another alternative could be to employ UL MAC-CE reporting. The length of the gap and periodicity could be reported.”);
receive, from the network device, a configuration for an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap during which the UE performs the event-triggered GNSS measurement in a connected state (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraph 8; “The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.” See also page 2, Proposal 4; “RAN1 should consider supporting semi-static change of GNSS measurement gap periodicity and length triggered by UE.”); and
perform the event-triggered GNSS measurement in the connected state during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraphs 7-8; “From power saving point of view, it would be beneficial if UE could stay in RRC Connected mode as long as the active data transmission takes place as is the case in TN. Therefore, it would be good if UE could acquire a new GNSS fix while in Connected mode when GNSS validity expires, in order to be able to assess UE specific TA…The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.”).
However, Nordic does not explicitly recite the hardware that the UE comprises.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of IoT NTN, and Liberg is directed to methods for performing GNSS measurements during GNSS measurement gaps. Liberg teaches:
A User Equipment (UE) (see at least Fig. 3, wireless device 22), comprising:
at least one antenna (see at least [0021]; “Therefore, in some of these 3GPP discussions a wireless device may share parts of its radio frequency (RF) architecture between the cellular modem and the GNSS chip. An example for making use of these 3GPP discussions is to make use of the same antenna for receiving the GNSS reference signal and for receiving and transmitting an LTE or NR signal. A switch may be used to switch the antenna to the cellular RF frontend or the GNSS RF frontend.”);
at least one radio, configured to perform wireless communication using at least one radio access technology (see at least Fig. 3, radio interface 82 of the wireless device in communication with radio interface 62 of the network node); and
one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio (see at least Fig. 3, processor 86), wherein the at least one radio and the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE to (see at least [0084]; “The processor 86 corresponds to one or more processors 86 for performing WD 22 functions described herein.”):
detect an event to trigger a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement (see at least [0108] – [0109]; “According to one or more embodiments, the GNSS measurement gap configuration configures the wireless device 22 that is in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state with at least one transmission gap during which a GNSS measurement is configured to be performed…According to one or more embodiments, the at least one GNSS measurement gap is associated with at least one of a trigger, gap length, periodicity and offset. [0109] According to one or more embodiments, the trigger is based on a predefined event and corresponds to one of a predefined instruction transmitted by the network node 16 and predefined condition being satisfied.”);
receive, from the network device, a configuration for an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap during which the UE performs the event-triggered GNSS measurement in a connected state (see at least [0125]; “In one or more embodiments, measurements such as via one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82, measurement unit 34, etc., may be configured to be triggered by an instruction from the network node 16, e.g., a handover command where the instruction or trigger to perform measurements may be explicit and/or implicit in the instruction.”); and
perform the event-triggered GNSS measurement in the connected state during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least [0125]; “One or more embodiments described in the Measurement Gaps section and/or the Transmission Gaps section may be configured to provide periodic GNSS measurements, as defined by a GNSS measurement gap configuration, performed by the wireless device 22 such as via one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82, measurement unit 34, etc. In one or more embodiments, measurements such as via one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82, measurement unit 34, etc., may be configured to be triggered by an instruction from the network node 16, e.g., a handover command where the instruction or trigger to perform measurements may be explicit and/or implicit in the instruction.”).
Both Nordic and Liberg teach configuring a UE to perform event-triggered GNSS measurements in the connected state during GNSS measurement gaps. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the internal UE hardware described by Liberg to implement the methods of Nordic.
Regarding claim 2, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a first event, wherein the first event includes: a movement of the UE is larger than a first threshold (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “On the other hand, UE itself may notice the sudden change in its mobility and find it necessary to ask a new GNSS gap before the next gap according to the configuration would come.”).
Regarding claim 6, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the request is transmitted via: a dedicated Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) designed for the request (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “Thus, it should be considered to specify a signaling mechanism for UE to request a GNSS measurement gap whenever the need for it emerge. E.g, in NB-IoT, ordered NPRACH could be used for requesting GNSS measurement gap similar to scheduling request (SR) without HARQ feedback. Another alternative could be to employ UL MAC-CE reporting.”).
Regarding claim 8, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the configuration for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap is received via any of:
a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraph 8; “The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.”);
a dedicated Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) designed for the configuration; or
a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.
Regarding claim 10, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the at least one radio and the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to stop performing a data transmission with the network device during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraphs 4-5; “Before accessing the network, the UE acquires GNSS position fix and does not need to re-acquire a GNSS position fix for the transmission of the packets. How long UE can stay in Connected mode depends on validity timer of UL synchronization and on validity of GNSS position fix of the UE.”).
It would have been obvious for the UE to comprise processors for the reasons given regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, Nordic discloses [Note: what Nordic fails to disclose is strike-through]
A network
detect an event to trigger a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement for a User Equipment (UE) (see at least page 2, paragraph 2; “Sometimes UE’s assessment of its mobility pattern is not quite accurate, or UE’s mobility pattern may change after UE’s determination of its GNSS validity duration, and the network may notice that UE’s uplink synchronization is slipping away.”);
schedule a configuration for an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap for the UE to perform an event-triggered GNSS measurement in a connected state during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap, in response to detection of the event; and
transmit the configuration for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap to the UE (see at least page 2, paragraph 2; “In such cases, it would be useful if the network has some signalling mechanism to request UE to take a new GNSS fix before continuing further transmissions. E.g., some unused code points in existing DCI formats, if such exist in eMTC or NB-IoT DCI formats, could be used to dynamically allocate GNSS measurement gap for the UE.”).
However, Nordic does not explicitly recite specific devices within the network or the hardware that such a device would comprise.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of IoT NTN, and Liberg is directed to methods for performing GNSS measurements during GNSS measurement gaps. Liberg teaches:
A network device (see at least Fig. 3, network node 16), comprising:
at least one antenna (see at least [0078]; “The communication system 10 further includes a network node 16 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 58 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 24 and with the WD 22.”);
at least one radio, configured to perform wireless communication using at least one radio access technology (see at least Fig. 3, radio interface 62); and
one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio (see at least Fig. 3, processor 70), wherein the at least one radio and the one or more processors are configured to cause the network device to (see at least [0080]; “In some embodiments, the software 74 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 70 and/or processing circuitry 68, causes the processor 70 and/or processing circuitry 68 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16.”):
schedule a configuration for a GNSS measurement gap for the UE to perform a GNSS measurement in a connected state during the GNSS measurement gap; and
transmit the configuration for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap to the UE (see at least Abs; “The network node includes processing circuitry configured to receive measurement capability information of a wireless device where the measurement capability information indicates an ability to perform a global navigation satellite system, GNSS, measurement. The processing circuitry is further configured to determine a GNSS measurement gap configuration during which the wireless device is to perform at least one GNSS measurement during at least one GNSS measurement gap where the GNSS measurement gap configuration is based at least in part on the received measurement capability information, and indicate the GNSS measurement gap configuration to the wireless device.”).
Both Nordic and Liberg teach configuring a UE to perform GNSS measurements in the connected state during GNSS measurement gaps. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the internal network device hardware described by Liberg to implement the methods of Nordic.
Regarding claim 13, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the network device of claim 11. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a second event, wherein the second event includes:
a time difference between detection of a first event and a next periodic GNSS measurement gap is larger than a seventh threshold (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraphs 7-8; “From power saving point of view, it would be beneficial if UE could stay in RRC Connected mode as long as the active data transmission takes place as is the case in TN. Therefore, it would be good if UE could acquire a new GNSS fix while in Connected mode when GNSS validity expires, in order to be able to assess UE specific TA… The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.”);
wherein the seventh threshold is configured by the network device or pre-defined (see at least page 2, paragraph 1; “Proposal 1: In RRC connected mode, the eNB could configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.”).
In the above mapping, the first event is mapped to reception of the UE-reported GNSS validity duration, and the threshold is the duration of the GNSS validity. The network configures the measurement gap timing to be within the validity time, which is reported by the UE for each GNSS fix.
Regarding claim 14, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the network device of claim 11. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the configuration for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap transmitted by the network device includes:
an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap duration, and a starting time of the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least page 2, paragraph 2; “Sometimes UE’s assessment of its mobility pattern is not quite accurate, or UE’s mobility pattern may change after UE’s determination of its GNSS validity duration, and the network may notice that UE’s uplink synchronization is slipping away. In such cases, it would be useful if the network has some signalling mechanism to request UE to take a new GNSS fix before continuing further transmissions. E.g., some unused code points in existing DCI formats, if such exist in eMTC or NB-IoT DCI formats, could be used to dynamically allocate GNSS measurement gap for the UE.”),
wherein the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap duration and the starting time of the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap depend on a GNSS measurement gap duration and/or a GNSS validity duration reported by the UE (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraphs 7-8; “Typically, an updated GNSS fix (“hot” fix) takes considerably less time than the first GNSS fix (“cold” fix) done before entering the Connected mode. However, even the acquisition of “hot” fix requires tens of radio frames and generally UE cannot resort to the “legacy” gaps in N/MPDCCH monitoring settings. The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.”).
Regarding claim 15, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the network device of claim 11. Liberg further teaches:
wherein the at least one radio and the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network device to stop performing a data transmission with the UE during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least [0038]; “According to one or more embodiments of this aspect, the network node does not schedule the wireless device to at least one of receive and transmit via a cellular radio interface during the at least one GNSS measurement gap.”).
Both Nordic and Liberg teach scheduling GNSS measurement gaps for wireless devices. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to not have the network of Nordic transmit to the wireless device during measurement gaps, as taught by Liberg. Doing so would give the wireless device time to update its GNSS position fix, the purpose of the measurement gap as taught by Nordic and Liberg.
Regarding claim 16, Nordic discloses [Note: what Nordic fails to disclose is strike-through]
detect an event to trigger a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “On the other hand, UE itself may notice the sudden change in its mobility and find it necessary to ask a new GNSS gap before the next gap according to the configuration would come.”);
transmit, to a network device, a request to perform an event-triggered GNSS measurement, in response to detection of the event (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “Thus, it should be considered to specify a signaling mechanism for UE to request a GNSS measurement gap whenever the need for it emerge. E.g, in NB-IoT, ordered NPRACH could be used for requesting GNSS measurement gap similar to scheduling request (SR) without HARQ feedback. Another alternative could be to employ UL MAC-CE reporting. The length of the gap and periodicity could be reported.”);
receive, from the network device, a configuration for an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap during which the UE performs the event-triggered GNSS measurement in a connected state (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraph 8; “The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.” See also page 2, Proposal 4; “RAN1 should consider supporting semi-static change of GNSS measurement gap periodicity and length triggered by UE.”); and
perform the event-triggered GNSS measurement in the connected state during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraphs 7-8; “From power saving point of view, it would be beneficial if UE could stay in RRC Connected mode as long as the active data transmission takes place as is the case in TN. Therefore, it would be good if UE could acquire a new GNSS fix while in Connected mode when GNSS validity expires, in order to be able to assess UE specific TA…The simplest way to extend the duration of UE stay in Connected mode is to configure UE with the periodic GNSS measurement gaps via UE-specific RRC signalling, based on the GNSS validity duration X reported by the UE.”).
However, Nordic does not explicitly recite a non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable by one or more processors.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of IoT NTN, and Liberg is directed to methods for performing GNSS measurements during GNSS measurement gaps. Liberg teaches:
A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing program instructions (see at least [0160]; “As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and/or computer storage media storing an executable computer program… Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.”) executable by one or more processors to cause a User Equipment (UE) to (see at least [0084]; “The processor 86 corresponds to one or more processors 86 for performing WD 22 functions described herein.”):
detect an event to trigger a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurement (see at least [0108] – [0109]; “According to one or more embodiments, the GNSS measurement gap configuration configures the wireless device 22 that is in a radio resource control, RRC, connected state with at least one transmission gap during which a GNSS measurement is configured to be performed…According to one or more embodiments, the at least one GNSS measurement gap is associated with at least one of a trigger, gap length, periodicity and offset. [0109] According to one or more embodiments, the trigger is based on a predefined event and corresponds to one of a predefined instruction transmitted by the network node 16 and predefined condition being satisfied.”);
receive, from the network device, a configuration for an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap during which the UE performs the event-triggered GNSS measurement in a connected state (see at least [0125]; “In one or more embodiments, measurements such as via one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82, measurement unit 34, etc., may be configured to be triggered by an instruction from the network node 16, e.g., a handover command where the instruction or trigger to perform measurements may be explicit and/or implicit in the instruction.”); and
perform the event-triggered GNSS measurement in the connected state during the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least [0125]; “One or more embodiments described in the Measurement Gaps section and/or the Transmission Gaps section may be configured to provide periodic GNSS measurements, as defined by a GNSS measurement gap configuration, performed by the wireless device 22 such as via one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82, measurement unit 34, etc. In one or more embodiments, measurements such as via one or more of processing circuitry 84, processor 86, radio interface 82, measurement unit 34, etc., may be configured to be triggered by an instruction from the network node 16, e.g., a handover command where the instruction or trigger to perform measurements may be explicit and/or implicit in the instruction.”).
Both Nordic and Liberg teach configuring a UE to perform event-triggered GNSS measurements in the connected state during GNSS measurement gaps. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a stored computer program as described by Liberg to implement the methods of Nordic.
Claims 3 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nordic in view of Liberg, further in view of Kovacs et al. (US-20220225181-A1; hereinafter Kovacs).
Regarding claim 3, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. However, Nordic does not explicitly teach:
wherein the first threshold depends on any of: an elevation angle of the UE, or
a UE specific timing offset Koffset configured by the network device,
wherein the first threshold is configured by the network device to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or a System Information Block (SIB).
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of an IoT NTN, and Kovacs is directed to methods for proactive triggering of handovers in wireless communication networks, particularly in NTNS. Kovacs teaches:
wherein the first threshold depends on any of: an elevation angle of the UE (see at least [0026]; “The large propagation delays/latencies, extreme path loss values, and/or relative velocities can increase probability of handover and/or radio link failure due to rapidly deteriorating signaling conditions, especially when the serving satellite cell (e.g., serving cell located at a LEO satellite) moves below a certain minimum elevation angle (e.g., vertical angle at ground station antenna from ground station to satellite). Furthermore, the actual impact on radio performance depends on location of the UE relative to the satellite cell (e.g., or orbit of the satellite cell) as the locations of the UE and/or the satellite cell can be time varying because both the UE and the satellite cell (e.g., the satellite cell moves relative to the UE in the case of LEO/MEO satellites) can move.” See also [0031]; “However, due to large propagation latencies (e.g., as described above), the UE may experience large delays prior to the handover execution to a target cell (e.g., NCell.sub.1) is complete. During this time period, the channel conditions at the UE can change rapidly, especially for a satellite (e.g., LEO satellite) based target cells where the satellite may be moving at very high orbital velocities and the angle of elevation is below the minimum acceptable elevation angle. Moreover, as the shape of curves 210 and/or 220 depend on antenna patterns and relative movement of the satellite cells (e.g., serving and neighbor cells which may be satellite based) and the UEs, different UEs could perceive the cells with different RSRP measurements as the rate of change of the RSRP measurements depends on UEs' location on Earth with respect to the coverage areas of the satellites. In other words, same/similar configuration values for radio measurements and mobility events for two UEs at different locations may lead to very different outcomes, e.g., successful handover vs an unsuccessful handover.”), or
a UE specific timing offset Koffset configured by the network device,
wherein the first threshold is configured by the network device to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling (see at least [0048]; “In some implementations, the serving cell may update or switch the mapping information and/or the set of rules at the UE. For example, serving cell 302 may update the mapping information and/or set of rules at UE 306 via radio resource control (RRC) or media access control (MAC) signaling.”) or a System Information Block (SIB).
Nordic teaches a UE requesting a new GNSS measurement gap due to sudden changes in mobility which affect the synchronization. Kovacs teaches that the elevation angle of the UE relative to the satellite has a minimum acceptable value, and that the movement of the UE and the satellite can bring the elevation angle below this minimum, with resultant degraded signals. Kovacs sets proactive handover triggers informed by low elevation angles (through the mechanism of rate of change values, see [0032]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to trigger a GNSS measurement gap (such as taught by Nordic) in the same low elevation angle conditions, and for the same reason: to facilitate a successful handover. Kovacs teaches the necessity of GNSS-based UE location/movement information in the absence of proactive triggering (see at least [0047]; “The benefits/advantages of the above described mechanism include, for example… reliance on knowledge on the network side of the satellite constellation ephemeris data to configure the pre-trigger event (and thereby avoiding the need to rely on the use of precise UE location/movement information (GNSS-based or 3GPP localization))…”).
Regarding claim 17, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the network device of claim 11. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a first event, wherein the first event includes: a movement of the UE is larger than a first threshold (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “On the other hand, UE itself may notice the sudden change in its mobility and find it necessary to ask a new GNSS gap before the next gap according to the configuration would come.”),
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of an IoT NTN, and Kovacs is directed to methods for proactive triggering of handovers in wireless communication networks, particularly in NTNS. Kovacs teaches:
wherein the first threshold depends on any of: an elevation angle of the UE (see at least [0026]; “The large propagation delays/latencies, extreme path loss values, and/or relative velocities can increase probability of handover and/or radio link failure due to rapidly deteriorating signaling conditions, especially when the serving satellite cell (e.g., serving cell located at a LEO satellite) moves below a certain minimum elevation angle (e.g., vertical angle at ground station antenna from ground station to satellite). Furthermore, the actual impact on radio performance depends on location of the UE relative to the satellite cell (e.g., or orbit of the satellite cell) as the locations of the UE and/or the satellite cell can be time varying because both the UE and the satellite cell (e.g., the satellite cell moves relative to the UE in the case of LEO/MEO satellites) can move.” See also [0031]; “However, due to large propagation latencies (e.g., as described above), the UE may experience large delays prior to the handover execution to a target cell (e.g., NCell.sub.1) is complete. During this time period, the channel conditions at the UE can change rapidly, especially for a satellite (e.g., LEO satellite) based target cells where the satellite may be moving at very high orbital velocities and the angle of elevation is below the minimum acceptable elevation angle. Moreover, as the shape of curves 210 and/or 220 depend on antenna patterns and relative movement of the satellite cells (e.g., serving and neighbor cells which may be satellite based) and the UEs, different UEs could perceive the cells with different RSRP measurements as the rate of change of the RSRP measurements depends on UEs' location on Earth with respect to the coverage areas of the satellites. In other words, same/similar configuration values for radio measurements and mobility events for two UEs at different locations may lead to very different outcomes, e.g., successful handover vs an unsuccessful handover.”), or
a UE specific timing offset Koffset configured by the network device,
wherein the first threshold is configured by the network device to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling (see at least [0048]; “In some implementations, the serving cell may update or switch the mapping information and/or the set of rules at the UE. For example, serving cell 302 may update the mapping information and/or set of rules at UE 306 via radio resource control (RRC) or media access control (MAC) signaling.”) or a System Information Block (SIB).
Nordic teaches a UE requesting a new GNSS measurement gap due to sudden changes in mobility which affect the synchronization. Kovacs teaches that the elevation angle of the UE relative to the satellite has a minimum acceptable value, and that the movement of the UE and the satellite can bring the elevation angle below this minimum, with resultant degraded signals. Kovacs sets proactive handover triggers informed by low elevation angles (through the mechanism of rate of change values, see [0032]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to trigger a GNSS measurement gap (such as taught by Nordic) in the same low elevation angle conditions, and for the same reason: to facilitate a successful handover. Kovacs teaches the necessity of GNSS-based UE location/movement information in the absence of proactive triggering (see at least [0047]; “The benefits/advantages of the above described mechanism include, for example… reliance on knowledge on the network side of the satellite constellation ephemeris data to configure the pre-trigger event (and thereby avoiding the need to rely on the use of precise UE location/movement information (GNSS-based or 3GPP localization))…”).
Claims 4-5, 12 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nordic in view of Liberg, further in view of Dinan (US-20220279453-A1; hereinafter Dinan).
Regarding claim 4, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. However, Nordic does not explicitly teach:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a second event, wherein the second event includes any of:
a number of timing advance (TA) commands received by the UE within a time window is larger than a second threshold, or an accumulated value of timing advance values indicated in all the TA commands received by the UE within the time window is larger than a third threshold, wherein the time window is configured by the network device to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or a System Information Block (SIB).
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of an IoT NTN, and Dinan is directed to timing in a wireless network. Dinan teaches:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a second event, wherein the second event includes any of:
a number of timing advance (TA) commands received by the UE within a time window is larger than a second threshold, or an accumulated value of timing advance values indicated in all the TA commands received by the UE within the time window is larger than a third threshold (see at least [0068]; “According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an eNB may keep track of timing differences between different TAGs. This could be performed using one or a combination of the methods in an eNB, for example: by monitoring uplink reception timings; monitoring reception of uplink preambles transmitted by a UE; by keeping track of and/or accumulating transmitted TA values in TA commands; by measuring and/or estimating propagation delay or round-trip delay for TAGs; and/or the like. An eNB may know the uplink transmission timing difference and/or relative propagation delay difference between different TAGs. An eNB may calculate the uplink transmission timing by accumulating the transmitted TA commands (including RAR) and detect excess timing differences between different TAGs. When a timing difference exceeds a threshold, for example 30 μsec or 31.3 μsec, an eNB may perform an action to reduce the occurrence of unwanted effects of excessive timing differences.”), wherein the time window is configured by the network device to the UE via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or a System Information Block (SIB) (see at least [0068]; “One or more carriers with excessive delay may be re-configured (or de-configured) at a MAC and/or RRC level to reduce excessive time delay between carriers in a UE.”).
The portions of Dinan cited above relate to the network accumulating values of timing advance values. It would have been obvious to keep track of that value at the UE as well in light of paragraph [0070]: “According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, when the timing difference exceeds a threshold or would exceed a threshold due to a received TA command or due to UE's detection of changes in timing reference, a UE may perform an action to reduce the occurrence of unwanted effects of excessive timing differences.”
Nordic teaches triggering a new GNSS measurement gap in response to detecting a loss of synchronization. Dinan teaches identifying a loss of synchronization when the cumulative TA values surpass a threshold and taking mitigating action. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the measure of synchronization taught by Dinan, namely the cumulative TA command, as a way to detect loss of synchronization in the method of Nordic. Doing so would represent employing a known method of detecting synchronization loss in wireless networks.
Regarding claim 5, Nordic in view of Liberg and Dinan discloses the UE of claim 4. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a third event, wherein the third event includes:
a time difference between detection of a first event or the second event and a next periodic GNSS measurement gap is larger than a fourth threshold (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “On the other hand, UE itself may notice the sudden change in its mobility and find it necessary to ask a new GNSS gap before the next gap according to the configuration would come.”);
wherein the fourth threshold is configured by the network device or pre-defined (see at least page 1, section 2, paragraph 4; “The NTN UE autonomously determines its GNSS validity duration X…” The validity duration is mapped to the fourth threshold.).
Regarding claim 12, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the network device of claim 11. However, Nordic does not explicitly teach:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a first event, wherein the first event includes:
a number of timing advance (TA) commands transmitted by the network device within a time window is larger than a fifth threshold, or
an accumulated value of timing advance values indicated in all the TA commands transmitted by the network device within the time window is larger than a sixth threshold, wherein the time window is configured by the network device.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of an IoT NTN, and Dinan is directed to timing in a wireless network. Dinan teaches:
wherein the event to trigger the GNSS measurement is a first event, wherein the first event includes:
a number of timing advance (TA) commands transmitted by the network device within a time window is larger than a fifth threshold, or
an accumulated value of timing advance values indicated in all the TA commands transmitted by the network device within the time window is larger than a sixth threshold (see at least [0068]; “According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, an eNB may keep track of timing differences between different TAGs. This could be performed using one or a combination of the methods in an eNB, for example: by monitoring uplink reception timings; monitoring reception of uplink preambles transmitted by a UE; by keeping track of and/or accumulating transmitted TA values in TA commands; by measuring and/or estimating propagation delay or round-trip delay for TAGs; and/or the like. An eNB may know the uplink transmission timing difference and/or relative propagation delay difference between different TAGs. An eNB may calculate the uplink transmission timing by accumulating the transmitted TA commands (including RAR) and detect excess timing differences between different TAGs. When a timing difference exceeds a threshold, for example 30 μsec or 31.3 μsec, an eNB may perform an action to reduce the occurrence of unwanted effects of excessive timing differences.”), wherein the time window is configured by the network device (see at least [0068]; “One or more carriers with excessive delay may be re-configured (or de-configured) at a MAC and/or RRC level to reduce excessive time delay between carriers in a UE.”).
Nordic teaches triggering a new GNSS measurement gap in response to detecting a loss of synchronization. Dinan teaches identifying a loss of synchronization when the cumulative TA values surpass a threshold and taking mitigating action. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the measure of synchronization taught by Dinan, namely the cumulative TA command, as a way to detect loss of synchronization in the method of Nordic. Doing so would represent employing a known method of detecting synchronization loss in wireless networks.
Regarding claim 18, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 17. The remaining limitations of claim 18 are analogous to those of claim 4 and are rejected for similar reasons.
Regarding claim 19, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses non-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 18. The remaining limitations of claim 19 are analogous to those of claim 5 and are rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nordic in view of Liberg, further in view of Moderator (MediaTek); "Feature lead summary #2 of AI 9.12.3 on improved GNSS operations"; 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #109-e R1-2205553; May 9, 2022 (cited in the IDS dated 06/12/2025; hereinafter Moderator).
Regarding claim 7, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the request includes: an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap duration (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “Thus, it should be considered to specify a signaling mechanism for UE to request a GNSS measurement gap whenever the need for it emerge. E.g, in NB-IoT, ordered NPRACH could be used for requesting GNSS measurement gap similar to scheduling request (SR) without HARQ feedback. Another alternative could be to employ UL MAC-CE reporting. The length of the gap and periodicity could be reported.”),
However, Nordic does not explicitly teach representing the gap duration in units of seconds.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of an IoT NTN, and Moderator is directed to specifying enhancements for IoT NTNs. Moderator teaches a GNSS measurement gap duration represented in units of seconds (see at least page 10, paragraph 4; “The new scheduling gap length is determined by the GNSS Time To First Fix (TTFF), the GNSS TTFF parameter is typically 1~2 seconds with hot start or around 5~9 seconds with warm or cold start, which can be configured by eNB based on the UE reported capability.”).
Both Nordic and Moderator are directed to improvements in IoT NTNs. Nordic teaches a UE reporting a gap length for a needed GNSS measurement gap but does not specify the unit of time. Moderator teaches a measurement gap specified in units of seconds. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to also use units of seconds in the method of Nordic when the gap length is reported.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nordic in view of Liberg, further in view of Moderator and Tsuboi et al. (US-20200077312-A1; hereinafter Tsuboi).
Regarding claim 9, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the configuration for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap includes:
an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap duration (see at least page 2, paragraph 6; “Proposal 4: RAN1 should consider supporting semi-static change of GNSS measurement gap periodicity and length triggered by UE.”), GNSS measurement gap duration table which lists a plurality of GNSS measurement gap durations in units of seconds, milli-seconds, frames or subframes; and
a starting time of the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap (see at least page 2, paragraph 2; “Sometimes UE’s assessment of its mobility pattern is not quite accurate, or UE’s mobility pattern may change after UE’s determination of its GNSS validity duration, and the network may notice that UE’s uplink synchronization is slipping away. In such cases, it would be useful if the network has some signalling mechanism to request UE to take a new GNSS fix before continuing further transmissions. E.g., some unused code points in existing DCI formats, if such exist in eMTC or NB-IoT DCI formats, could be used to dynamically allocate GNSS measurement gap for the UE.”),
Nordic teaches dynamically allocating the GNSS measurement gap in the embodiment where the network detects the need for a new measurement. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include this same feature in the embodiment where the UE asks for a new GNSS gap.
However, Nordic does not explicitly teach the gap duration being represented in units of seconds, milli-seconds, frames or subframes, nor does Nordic explicitly teach the starting time of the measurement gap being represented by a system frame number (SFN) and/or a subframe index that indicates a nearest future SFN and/or a subframe index for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of IoT NTN, and Moderator is directed to specifying enhancements for IoT NTNs. Moderator teaches a GNSS measurement gap duration represented in units of seconds (see at least page 10, paragraph 4; “The new scheduling gap length is determined by the GNSS Time To First Fix (TTFF), the GNSS TTFF parameter is typically 1~2 seconds with hot start or around 5~9 seconds with warm or cold start, which can be configured by eNB based on the UE reported capability.”).
Both Nordic and Moderator are directed to improvements in IoT NTNs. Nordic teaches a UE reporting a gap length for a needed GNSS measurement gap but does not specify the unit of time. Moderator teaches a measurement gap specified in units of seconds. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to also use units of seconds in the method of Nordic when the gap length is reported.
However, neither Nordic nor Moderator explicitly teach the starting time of the measurement gap being represented by a system frame number (SFN) and/or a subframe index that indicates a nearest future SFN and/or a subframe index for the event-triggered GNSS measurement gap.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of IoT NTN, and Tsuboi is directed to terminal apparatuses for use in radio access methods. Tsuboi teaches:
a starting time of the measurement gap, which is represented by a system frame number (SFN) and/or a subframe index that indicates a nearest future SFN and/or a subframe index for the measurement gap (see at least [0122]; “The measurement gap configuration (measGapConfig) is utilized to configure a measurement gap pattern or control activation/deactivation of a measurement gap. In the measurement gap configuration (measGapConfig), the gap pattern, a start system frame number (startSFN), and a start subframe number (startSubframeNumber) are notified as information for activating the measurement gap. The gap pattern specifies which pattern to use as a measurement gap. The start system frame number (startSFN) specifies a System Frame Number (SFN) for starting the measurement gap. The start subframe number (startSubframeNumber) specifies a subframe number for starting the measurement gap.”).
Both Nordic and Tsuboi teach mobile telecommunications employing measurement gaps. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the measurement gap configuration of Nordic with a specification of starting time expressed in a system frame number, as taught by Tsuboi, because the methods of Nordic also use frames (see Nordic page 1, section 2, paragraph 7).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nordic in view of Liberg, further in view of Huang et al. (US-20250392939-A1; hereinafter Huang).
Regarding claim 25, Nordic in view of Liberg discloses the UE of claim 1. Nordic further teaches:
wherein the request is transmitted via a dedicated Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “Another alternative could be to employ UL MAC-CE reporting.”) and includes an event-triggered GNSS measurement gap duration (see at least page 2, paragraph 4; “The length of the gap and periodicity could be reported.”)
However, Nordic does not explicitly teach measurement gap duration represented by an entry index of a GNSS measurement gap duration table which lists a plurality of GNSS measurement gap durations in units of seconds.
Nordic discloses proposals for improved GNSS operation of IoT NTN, and Huang is directed to measurement gap UE behavior. Huang teaches measurement gap duration represented by an entry index of a GNSS measurement gap duration table which lists a plurality of GNSS measurement gap durations in units of seconds (see at least page 10, “MeasGapConfig field descriptions” table lines 31-34; “mgl: Value mgl is the measurement gap length in ms of the measurement gap. The measurement gap length is according to Table 9.1.2-1 in TS 38.122 [14]. Value msldot5 corresponds to 1.5 ms, ms3 corresponds to 3 ms and so on.” See also [0053]; “A measurement gap configuration may be sent to the UE by the gNB via control signalling, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC) signalling. For example, the RRC Reconfiguration message may contain a MeasConfig information element (IE) that includes a MeasGapConfig IE.”).
Nordic teaches the UE communicated a gap length request to the network. Huang teaches configuration format for communicating gap length parameters that employs values corresponding to a table to communicate the gap length in milliseconds. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ this table known in the art for communicating gap length in the gap length communications taught by Nordic.
Conclusion
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/ASHLEY BROWN RAYNAL/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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