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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the applicants' communication filed on February 10, 2025. In virtue of this communication, claims 19-32 are currently presented in the instant application.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on February 10, 2025 have been reviewed and accepted by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-20260025837-A1 (herein “Li”).
Claims 19 and 26
Consider claim 19, Li teaches A first wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising a processor: the processor configured to:
send, to a second WTRU, a request that includes a request for a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) sequence identifier (ID) of the second WTRU and a position of the second WTRU (see Li Fig. 5, [0065], [0138]-[0160] note SL-PRS-IUC request including parameters including UE ID information and/or distance/location information and SL-PRS sequence ID); and
receive, from the second WTRU, a response indicating the SL-PRS sequence ID of the second WTRU, a periodicity of SL-PRS transmission, ID information of the second WTRU, the position of the second WTRU, and an uncertainty of the position of the second WTRU (see Li Fig. 5, [0065], [0206]-[0236], [0350], [0374] note SL-PRS-IUC report including the UE ID information and/or distance/location information, PRS sequence ID, SL-PRS configuration information including periodicity, and latitude/longitude/altitude together with uncertainty shape and quality of each measurement).
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 19.
Claims 20 and 27
Consider claim 20, Li teaches wherein a second WTRU uncertainty metric is based on the uncertainty of the position of the second WTRU (see Li [0350] note (1) latitude/longitude/altitude together with uncertainty shape or (2) quality of each measurement).
Claim(s) 27 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 20.
Claims 23 and 30
Consider claim 23, Li teaches wherein the processor is further configured to determine the second WTRU uncertainty metric based on an uncertainty range associated with the position of the second WTRU (see Li [0350] note (1) latitude/longitude/altitude together with uncertainty shape).
Claim(s) 30 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 23.
Claims 24 and 31
Consider claim 24, wherein the processor is further configured to receive, from the second WTRU, assistance information associated with the second WTRU, the assistance information comprising one or more of an absolute position of the second WTRU or an uncertainty metric associated with an absolute position of the second WTRU (see Li [0350] note (1) latitude/longitude/altitude together with uncertainty shape).
Claim(s) 31 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 24.
Claims 25 and 32
Consider claim 25, Li teaches wherein the first WTRU comprises a target WTRU, and wherein the second WTRU comprises an anchor WTRU (see Li Fig. 5, [0065], note UE-B is the requester, target, and UE-A is the responding UE, anchor).
Claim(s) 32 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 25.
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.
Claim(s) 21, 22, 28, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li, and further in view of Pub No.: US-20240323910-A1 (herein “Pan”).
Claims 21 and 28
Consider claim 21, Li fails to teach wherein the processor is further configured to transmit, to a network node, an indication of the position of the second WTRU and the second WTRU uncertainty metric. Pan teaches providing the measurement report and/or location estimate communication to the network with location with positioning accuracy (see Pan [0042], [0065], [0067], [0156]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to include the recited teaching of Pan. Such a modification would improve Li by improving communications for D2D (see Pan [0002]).
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 21.
Claims 22 and 29
Consider claim 22, Li as modified by Pan teach wherein the processor is further configured to determine the second WTRU uncertainty metric based on the periodicity of SL-PRS transmission (see Pan [0134] note SL assistance data i.e. PRS periodicity).
Claim(s) 29 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 22.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
