DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/15/2026 has been entered. In response to amendment filed on 5/26/2026, claims 4, 15, 19, 28, 31- 39 were cancelled, claims 1- 2, 7- 8, 12, 13, 18, 23- 26, 41, 45- 46 and 48 are amended. Claims 1- 3, 5-14, 16- 18, 20- 27, 29- 30 and 40- 42, 45- 48 are pending for examinations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) filed in the remarks on 5/26/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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) 1- 3, 6- 10, 11- 14, 17- 18, 20- 27, 30- 32, 40, 46- 48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ponukumati et al. (US Pub. No. 2016/0242181 A1), hereafter Ponu in view of Ling et al (TW 201707408).
Regarding claim 1, Ponu teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (see Abstract; multi-subscription communication device as a UE here), the method comprising:
receiving one or more configuration messages indicating configuration of the UE with a first component carrier (CC) and at least a second CC for a first subscription corresponding to a first subscriber identity module (SIM) of the UE (see [0022]….. the multi-subscription communication device is configured to use carrier aggregation in the first and second carrier signals in order to improve data transfer rates. Some RATs, such as LTE-Advanced, enable the use of carrier aggregation (also referred to as channel aggregation) in which more than one portion of a frequency band, or portions of different frequency bands (each portion being referred to as a “component carrier”) may be used to send and receive communications in an aggregated channel in order to increase overall communication bandwidth. Carrier aggregation may be performed intra-band (using contiguous or non-contiguous component carriers) or inter-band. The number of component carriers used for carrier aggregation may vary according to the RAT. For example, LTE-Advanced may enable up to five 20 MHz carriers to be aggregated. One component carrier may be designated the primary component carrier, and may have an associated uplink primary component carrier. The remaining component carriers may be designated secondary component carriers…; now refer to [0025] Each of the communication networks 108, 122 may support communications using one or more RATs, and each of the wireless communication links 110, 112, and 120 may include cellular connections that may be made through two-way wireless communication links using one or more RATs; see Fig. 1.);
receiving scheduling information associated with a first operation that is associated with the first subscription (see [0040]… the processor of the multi-subscription communication device may dynamically account for variations in carrier signal loading, data scheduling by the transmitter (e.g., base station 104 or 106)….);
performing a second operation associated with a second subscription corresponding to a second SIM of the UE during a time interval, wherein the time interval associated with a tune-away operation and, during the time interval, communication by the first subscription using the second CC is avoided based on a first throughput associated with the first CC exceeding a second throughput associated with the second CC and further based on the scheduling information (see [0018] a multi-subscription communication device may communicate with two or more cells of a wireless network. Some multi-subscription communication devices may allow two or more network interfaces or SIMs to share a single RF resource. However, the RF resource in such devices can only tune to a single network at a time. The multi-subscription communication device may employ a tune-away procedure to monitor multiple interfaces in a standby mode by tuning to one network (i.e., tuning to one carrier signal associated of the network), quickly tuning away to the secondary network for a short time (i.e., tuning to another carrier signal of the secondary network), and then tuning back to the first network to continue a voice or data call; further see [0021]… multi-subscription communication device may select one of a first carrier signal and a second carrier signal in which to perform the tune-away procedure based on the calculated throughputs of a signal from each carrier signal so as to improve overall data throughput for the multi-subscription communication device during the period of the tune-away procedure.… the multi-subscription communication device may determine a throughput of a carrier signal in each of the two carrier signals. Based on the determined throughputs of the first carrier signal and the second carrier signal, the multi-subscription communication device may select the carrier signal with the lower throughput, and perform the tune-away procedure with the selected carrier signal. During the tune-away procedure, the multi-subscription communication device may tune away a wireless transceiver of the multi-subscription communication device that corresponds to the selected carrier signal. In various embodiments, while the first and second carrier signals may use a first RAT, the multi-subscription communication device may use a second RAT for the tune-away procedure…; further see [0023] and Fig. 4 #406 specifically).
But fails to state about transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and also fails to teach limitations regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation.
However Ling states in page 20 regarding …Referring to FIGS. 1A-3 and 5A-6, the quantifiable or determinable value in table 600 may indicate a historical or predicted amount of data delivery for a downlink component carrier during the scheduled tune away. Table 600 may include a measurable or determinable value of a subscribed first SCC downlink carrier 602 and a second SCC downlink carrier 604 in a mobile communication device (e.g., mobile communication device 200) having carrier aggregation. The mobile communication device may have additional downlink or uplink carriers not shown in table 600. The data shown in table 600 can be stored in a memory (e.g., memory 214) on the mobile communication device. The material shown in table 600 can take any form and be stored at various locations in the memory and is not limited to the form of a table.
An example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality metric results for the downlink carriers 602, 604 is a channel quality indicator (CQI) value 606. The CQI value 606 can be expressed as CQI .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier (eg, for the first downlink carrier 602, i = 1, and for the second downlink carrier 604, i = 2), and k denotes the sub-frame that occurred during the transfer. The CQI value 606 may be a number indicating the quality of the component carrier ranging from zero to fifteen (0 to 15), where a value of zero indicates the lowest level of quality and a value of 15 indicates the highest level of quality. The CQI value 606 can be calculated by the mobile communication device periodically or in response to a particular event and can be reported to the network. The CQI value 606 may indicate the historical data delivery amount of the component carrier before the subframe k. Another example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality measurements of the downlink carriers 602, 604 is the downlink transport block (TB) size value 608. The TB size value 608 can be expressed as TB .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier and k represents the subframe in which the tune away occurs; further see page 18 regarding scheduled tune away period; further see page 26 about tune away period.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ling with the teachings of Ponu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 2, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, further comprising determining one or both of the first throughput or the second throughput based on one or more of particular scheduling information received from the network node, a channel quality indicator (CQI) reported to the base station, or a block error rate (BLER) measurement (Ponu; see [0040]).
Regarding claim 3, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, but Ponu fails to state about storing, to a throughput database stored at a memory of the UE, a first indication of the first CC; storing, to the throughput database, a second indication of the second CC; sorting the first indication and the second indication within the throughput database according to the first throughput and the second throughput; and accessing the throughput database to identify that the first throughput exceeds the second throughput; however Ling states in page 8 about device processor may determine a quality measure for each of the component carriers in the subset of component carriers before or during the scheduled tune-away. The quality measure may be a historical data throughput of each component carrier before the scheduled tune-away， or a predicted data throughput of each component carrier during the scheduled tune-away. If the quality measure is historical data throughput of a downlink component carrier the device processor may compare the transport block size of each downlink component carrier， in which a larger transport block size indicates a higher data throughput. If the transport block size of each downlink component carrier is equal, the device processor may compare the channel quality indicator (CQI) for each downlink component carrier, in which a larger CQI indicates a higher data throughput.
Regarding claim 6, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, wherein the second CC is associated with uplink resources, and further comprising tuning a transmitter of the UE to avoid use of the uplink resources during the time interval; Ponu see [0037- 0038].
Regarding claim 7, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, wherein the second operation include at least one control operation performed during an idle mode of the second subscription during the time interval and while the first subscription is associated with a connected mode; Ponu see [0018].
Regarding claim 8, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, wherein the second operation includes one or more of receiving a system information block (SIB) message from the network node, performing a network measurement or receiving a paging message from the network node; Ponu see [0018].
Regarding claim 9, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 8, wherein a duration of the time interval is based on one or more of a duration of a paging occasion associated with the paging message, a duration of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) window associated with the SIB message, or a duration associated with performing the network measurement; Ponu see [0038].
Regarding claim 10, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, but Ponu fails to state about wherein the first subscription is associated with a first radio access technology (RAT) of a concurrent RAT (CRAT) environment supported by the UE, wherein the second subscription is associated with a second RAT of the CRAT environment, wherein the second RAT is different than the first RAT, wherein the first RAT corresponds to a victim RAT of the CRAT environment, and wherein the second RAT corresponds to an aggressor RAT of the CRAT environment; however Ling teaches in page 9 about .. references made to a first subscription and a second subscription， and corresponding first carriers and second carriers. The references to the first and second subscriptions， or first and second carriers， are arbitrary and used merely for the purposes of describing the embodiments. The mobile communication device processor may assign any indicator， name or other designation to differentiate the subscriptions associated with one or more SIMs， and to differentiate the carriers used by a subscription. Further， embodiment methods apply the same regardless of which carrier channel， or receive chain，is being used to tune away from the high-speed (e.g.， LTE) network. Further， while the high-speed network is referenced as an LTE network， various embodiments may be implemented for receiving data in any of a variety of high-speed networks (e.g.， HSPA+， DC-HSPA， EV-DO， etc. )...
Regarding claim 11, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, further comprising, based on expiration of the time interval, reallocating the second CC to the first subscription; Ponu see [0018].
Regarding claim 12, Ponu teaches an apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: a transmitter; and a receiver configured to (see Abstract; multi-subscription communication device as a UE here), the method comprising:
receive one or more configuration messages indicating configuration of the UE with a first component carrier (CC) and at least a second CC for a first subscription corresponding to a first subscriber identity module (SIM) of the UE (see [0022]….. the multi-subscription communication device is configured to use carrier aggregation in the first and second carrier signals in order to improve data transfer rates. Some RATs, such as LTE-Advanced, enable the use of carrier aggregation (also referred to as channel aggregation) in which more than one portion of a frequency band, or portions of different frequency bands (each portion being referred to as a “component carrier”) may be used to send and receive communications in an aggregated channel in order to increase overall communication bandwidth. Carrier aggregation may be performed intra-band (using contiguous or non-contiguous component carriers) or inter-band. The number of component carriers used for carrier aggregation may vary according to the RAT. For example, LTE-Advanced may enable up to five 20 MHz carriers to be aggregated. One component carrier may be designated the primary component carrier, and may have an associated uplink primary component carrier. The remaining component carriers may be designated secondary component carriers…; now refer to [0025] Each of the communication networks 108, 122 may support communications using one or more RATs, and each of the wireless communication links 110, 112, and 120 may include cellular connections that may be made through two-way wireless communication links using one or more RATs; see Fig. 1.);
receive scheduling information associated with a first operation that is associated with the first subscription (see [0040]… the processor of the multi-subscription communication device may dynamically account for variations in carrier signal loading, data scheduling by the transmitter (e.g., base station 104 or 106)….);
perform a second operation associated with a second subscription corresponding to a second SIM of the UE during a time interval, during the time interval, communication by the first subscription using the second CC is avoided based on a first throughput associated with the first CC exceeding a second throughput associated with the second CC and further based on the scheduling information, communication associated with the first subscription using the second CC (see [0018] a multi-subscription communication device may communicate with two or more cells of a wireless network. Some multi-subscription communication devices may allow two or more network interfaces or SIMs to share a single RF resource. However, the RF resource in such devices can only tune to a single network at a time. The multi-subscription communication device may employ a tune-away procedure to monitor multiple interfaces in a standby mode by tuning to one network (i.e., tuning to one carrier signal associated of the network), quickly tuning away to the secondary network for a short time (i.e., tuning to another carrier signal of the secondary network), and then tuning back to the first network to continue a voice or data call; further see [0021]… multi-subscription communication device may select one of a first carrier signal and a second carrier signal in which to perform the tune-away procedure based on the calculated throughputs of a signal from each carrier signal so as to improve overall data throughput for the multi-subscription communication device during the period of the tune-away procedure.… the multi-subscription communication device may determine a throughput of a carrier signal in each of the two carrier signals. Based on the determined throughputs of the first carrier signal and the second carrier signal, the multi-subscription communication device may select the carrier signal with the lower throughput, and perform the tune-away procedure with the selected carrier signal. During the tune-away procedure, the multi-subscription communication device may tune away a wireless transceiver of the multi-subscription communication device that corresponds to the selected carrier signal. In various embodiments, while the first and second carrier signals may use a first RAT, the multi-subscription communication device may use a second RAT for the tune-away procedure…).
But fails to state about transmit to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and also fails to teach limitations regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation.
However Ling states in page 20 regarding …Referring to FIGS. 1A-3 and 5A-6, the quantifiable or determinable value in table 600 may indicate a historical or predicted amount of data delivery for a downlink component carrier during the scheduled tune away. Table 600 may include a measurable or determinable value of a subscribed first SCC downlink carrier 602 and a second SCC downlink carrier 604 in a mobile communication device (e.g., mobile communication device 200) having carrier aggregation. The mobile communication device may have additional downlink or uplink carriers not shown in table 600. The data shown in table 600 can be stored in a memory (e.g., memory 214) on the mobile communication device. The material shown in table 600 can take any form and be stored at various locations in the memory and is not limited to the form of a table.
An example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality metric results for the downlink carriers 602, 604 is a channel quality indicator (CQI) value 606. The CQI value 606 can be expressed as CQI .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier (eg, for the first downlink carrier 602, i = 1, and for the second downlink carrier 604, i = 2), and k denotes the sub-frame that occurred during the transfer. The CQI value 606 may be a number indicating the quality of the component carrier ranging from zero to fifteen (0 to 15), where a value of zero indicates the lowest level of quality and a value of 15 indicates the highest level of quality. The CQI value 606 can be calculated by the mobile communication device periodically or in response to a particular event and can be reported to the network. The CQI value 606 may indicate the historical data delivery amount of the component carrier before the subframe k. Another example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality measurements of the downlink carriers 602, 604 is the downlink transport block (TB) size value 608. The TB size value 608 can be expressed as TB .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier and k represents the subframe in which the tune away occurs; further see page 18 regarding scheduled tune away period; further see page 26 about tune away period.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ling with the teachings of Ponu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 13, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, wherein one or both of the first throughput or the second throughput are based on one or more of particular scheduling information received from a network node, a channel quality indicator (CQI) reported to the network node, or a block error rate (BLER) measurement (Ponu; see [0040]).
Regarding claim 14, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, but Ponu fails to state about a memory configured to store a throughput database; and a processor coupled to the memory and configured to: store, to the throughput database, a first indication of the first CC; store, to the throughput database, a second indication of the second CC; sort the first indication and the second indication within the throughput database according to the first throughput and the second throughput; and access the throughput database to identify that the first throughput exceeds the second throughput; however Ling states in page 8 about device processor may determine a quality measure for each of the component carriers in the subset of component carriers before or during the scheduled tune-away. The quality measure may be a historical data throughput of each component carrier before the scheduled tune-away， or a predicted data throughput of each component carrier during the scheduled tune-away. If the quality measure is historical data throughput of a downlink component carrier the device processor may compare the transport block size of each downlink component carrier， in which a larger transport block size indicates a higher data throughput. If the transport block size of each downlink component carrier is equal, the device processor may compare the channel quality indicator (CQI) for each downlink component carrier, in which a larger CQI indicates a higher data throughput.
Regarding claim 17, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, wherein the second CC is associated with uplink resources, and wherein the transmitter is configured to avoid use of the uplink resources during the time interval; Ponu see [0037- 0038].
Regarding claim 18, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, wherein the receiver is further configured to perform the second operation during an idle mode of the second subscription during the time interval and while the first subscription is associated with a connected mode; Ponu see [0018].
Regarding claim 20, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, but Ponu fails to state about wherein the first subscription is associated with a first radio access technology (RAT) of a concurrent RAT (CRAT) environment, wherein the second subscription is associated with a second RAT of the CRAT environment, and wherein the second RAT is different than the first RAT; however Ling teaches in page 9 about .. references made to a first subscription and a second subscription， and corresponding first carriers and second carriers. The references to the first and second subscriptions， or first and second carriers， are arbitrary and used merely for the purposes of describing the embodiments. The mobile communication device processor may assign any indicator， name or other designation to differentiate the subscriptions associated with one or more SIMs， and to differentiate the carriers used by a subscription. Further， embodiment methods apply the same regardless of which carrier channel， or receive chain，is being used to tune away from the high-speed (e.g.， LTE) network. Further， while the high-speed network is referenced as an LTE network， various embodiments may be implemented for receiving data in any of a variety of high-speed networks (e.g.， HSPA+， DC-HSPA， EV-DO， etc. )...
Regarding claim 21, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 20, but fails to state about wherein the first RAT corresponds to a victim RAT of the CRAT environment, and wherein the second RAT corresponds to an aggressor RAT of the CRAT environment; however Ling teaches in page 9 about .. references made to a first subscription and a second subscription， and corresponding first carriers and second carriers. The references to the first and second subscriptions， or first and second carriers， are arbitrary and used merely for the purposes of describing the embodiments. The mobile communication device processor may assign any indicator， name or other designation to differentiate the subscriptions associated with one or more SIMs， and to differentiate the carriers used by a subscription. Further， embodiment methods apply the same regardless of which carrier channel， or receive chain， is being used to tune away from the high-speed (e.g.， LTE) network. Further， while the high-speed network is referenced as an LTE network， various embodiments may be implemented for receiving data in any of a variety of high-speed networks (e.g.， HSPA+， DC-HSPA， EV-DO， etc. )…
Regarding claim 22, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, wherein the second CC is reallocated to the first subscription based on expiration of the time interval; Ponu see [0018].
Regarding claim 23, Ponu teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor of a user equipment (UE) to initiate, perform, or control operations, the operations comprising (see Abstract; multi-subscription communication device as a UE here), the method comprising:
receiving one or more configuration messages indicating configuration of the UE with a first component carrier (CC) and at least a second CC for a first subscription corresponding to a first subscriber identity module (SIM) of the UE (see [0022]….. the multi-subscription communication device is configured to use carrier aggregation in the first and second carrier signals in order to improve data transfer rates. Some RATs, such as LTE-Advanced, enable the use of carrier aggregation (also referred to as channel aggregation) in which more than one portion of a frequency band, or portions of different frequency bands (each portion being referred to as a “component carrier”) may be used to send and receive communications in an aggregated channel in order to increase overall communication bandwidth. Carrier aggregation may be performed intra-band (using contiguous or non-contiguous component carriers) or inter-band. The number of component carriers used for carrier aggregation may vary according to the RAT. For example, LTE-Advanced may enable up to five 20 MHz carriers to be aggregated. One component carrier may be designated the primary component carrier, and may have an associated uplink primary component carrier. The remaining component carriers may be designated secondary component carriers…; now refer to [0025] Each of the communication networks 108, 122 may support communications using one or more RATs, and each of the wireless communication links 110, 112, and 120 may include cellular connections that may be made through two-way wireless communication links using one or more RATs; see Fig. 1.);
receiving scheduling information associated with a first operation that is associated with the first subscription (see [0040]… the processor of the multi-subscription communication device may dynamically account for variations in carrier signal loading, data scheduling by the transmitter (e.g., base station 104 or 106)….);
performing a second operation associated with a second subscription corresponding to a second SIM of the UE during a time interval, wherein, during the time interval, communication by the first subscription using the second CC is avoided based on a first throughput associated with the first CC exceeding a second throughput associated with the second CC and further based on the scheduling information (see [0018] a multi-subscription communication device may communicate with two or more cells of a wireless network. Some multi-subscription communication devices may allow two or more network interfaces or SIMs to share a single RF resource. However, the RF resource in such devices can only tune to a single network at a time. The multi-subscription communication device may employ a tune-away procedure to monitor multiple interfaces in a standby mode by tuning to one network (i.e., tuning to one carrier signal associated of the network), quickly tuning away to the secondary network for a short time (i.e., tuning to another carrier signal of the secondary network), and then tuning back to the first network to continue a voice or data call; further see [0021]… multi-subscription communication device may select one of a first carrier signal and a second carrier signal in which to perform the tune-away procedure based on the calculated throughputs of a signal from each carrier signal so as to improve overall data throughput for the multi-subscription communication device during the period of the tune-away procedure.… the multi-subscription communication device may determine a throughput of a carrier signal in each of the two carrier signals. Based on the determined throughputs of the first carrier signal and the second carrier signal, the multi-subscription communication device may select the carrier signal with the lower throughput, and perform the tune-away procedure with the selected carrier signal. During the tune-away procedure, the multi-subscription communication device may tune away a wireless transceiver of the multi-subscription communication device that corresponds to the selected carrier signal. In various embodiments, while the first and second carrier signals may use a first RAT, the multi-subscription communication device may use a second RAT for the tune-away procedure…).
But fails to state about transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and also fails to teach limitations regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation.
However Ling states in page 20 regarding …Referring to FIGS. 1A-3 and 5A-6, the quantifiable or determinable value in table 600 may indicate a historical or predicted amount of data delivery for a downlink component carrier during the scheduled tune away. Table 600 may include a measurable or determinable value of a subscribed first SCC downlink carrier 602 and a second SCC downlink carrier 604 in a mobile communication device (e.g., mobile communication device 200) having carrier aggregation. The mobile communication device may have additional downlink or uplink carriers not shown in table 600. The data shown in table 600 can be stored in a memory (e.g., memory 214) on the mobile communication device. The material shown in table 600 can take any form and be stored at various locations in the memory and is not limited to the form of a table.
An example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality metric results for the downlink carriers 602, 604 is a channel quality indicator (CQI) value 606. The CQI value 606 can be expressed as CQI .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier (eg, for the first downlink carrier 602, i = 1, and for the second downlink carrier 604, i = 2), and k denotes the sub-frame that occurred during the transfer. The CQI value 606 may be a number indicating the quality of the component carrier ranging from zero to fifteen (0 to 15), where a value of zero indicates the lowest level of quality and a value of 15 indicates the highest level of quality. The CQI value 606 can be calculated by the mobile communication device periodically or in response to a particular event and can be reported to the network. The CQI value 606 may indicate the historical data delivery amount of the component carrier before the subframe k. Another example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality measurements of the downlink carriers 602, 604 is the downlink transport block (TB) size value 608. The TB size value 608 can be expressed as TB .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier and k represents the subframe in which the tune away occurs; further see page 18 regarding scheduled tune away period; further see page 26 about tune away period.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ling with the teachings of Ponu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 24, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 23, wherein the operations further comprise determining one or both of the first throughput or the second throughput based on one or more of particular scheduling information received from a network node, a channel quality indicator (CQI) reported to the network node, or a block error rate (BLER) measurement (Ponu; see [0040]).
Regarding claim 25, Ponu teaches an apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising (see Abstract; multi-subscription communication device as a UE here):
Means for transmitting signals and means for receiving one or more configuration messages indicating configuration of a first component carrier (CC) and at least a second CC for a first subscription corresponding to a first subscriber identity module (SIM) of the UE (see [0022]….. the multi-subscription communication device is configured to use carrier aggregation in the first and second carrier signals in order to improve data transfer rates. Some RATs, such as LTE-Advanced, enable the use of carrier aggregation (also referred to as channel aggregation) in which more than one portion of a frequency band, or portions of different frequency bands (each portion being referred to as a “component carrier”) may be used to send and receive communications in an aggregated channel in order to increase overall communication bandwidth. Carrier aggregation may be performed intra-band (using contiguous or non-contiguous component carriers) or inter-band. The number of component carriers used for carrier aggregation may vary according to the RAT. For example, LTE-Advanced may enable up to five 20 MHz carriers to be aggregated. One component carrier may be designated the primary component carrier, and may have an associated uplink primary component carrier. The remaining component carriers may be designated secondary component carriers…; now refer to [0025] Each of the communication networks 108, 122 may support communications using one or more RATs, and each of the wireless communication links 110, 112, and 120 may include cellular connections that may be made through two-way wireless communication links using one or more RATs; see Fig. 1.);
Wherein the means for receiving scheduling information associated with a first operation that is associated with the first subscription (see [0040]… the processor of the multi-subscription communication device may dynamically account for variations in carrier signal loading, data scheduling by the transmitter (e.g., base station 104 or 106)….);
Wherein the means for receiving is configured to perform a second operation associated with a second subscription corresponding to a second SIM of the UE during a time interval, wherein, during the time interval, communication by the first subscription using the second CC is avoided based on a first throughput associated with the first CC exceeding a second throughput associated with the second CC (see [0018] a multi-subscription communication device may communicate with two or more cells of a wireless network. Some multi-subscription communication devices may allow two or more network interfaces or SIMs to share a single RF resource. However, the RF resource in such devices can only tune to a single network at a time. The multi-subscription communication device may employ a tune-away procedure to monitor multiple interfaces in a standby mode by tuning to one network (i.e., tuning to one carrier signal associated of the network), quickly tuning away to the secondary network for a short time (i.e., tuning to another carrier signal of the secondary network), and then tuning back to the first network to continue a voice or data call; further see [0021]… multi-subscription communication device may select one of a first carrier signal and a second carrier signal in which to perform the tune-away procedure based on the calculated throughputs of a signal from each carrier signal so as to improve overall data throughput for the multi-subscription communication device during the period of the tune-away procedure.… the multi-subscription communication device may determine a throughput of a carrier signal in each of the two carrier signals. Based on the determined throughputs of the first carrier signal and the second carrier signal, the multi-subscription communication device may select the carrier signal with the lower throughput, and perform the tune-away procedure with the selected carrier signal. During the tune-away procedure, the multi-subscription communication device may tune away a wireless transceiver of the multi-subscription communication device that corresponds to the selected carrier signal. In various embodiments, while the first and second carrier signals may use a first RAT, the multi-subscription communication device may use a second RAT for the tune-away procedure…).
But fails to state about transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and also fails to teach limitations regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation.
However Ling states in page 20 regarding …Referring to FIGS. 1A-3 and 5A-6, the quantifiable or determinable value in table 600 may indicate a historical or predicted amount of data delivery for a downlink component carrier during the scheduled tune away. Table 600 may include a measurable or determinable value of a subscribed first SCC downlink carrier 602 and a second SCC downlink carrier 604 in a mobile communication device (e.g., mobile communication device 200) having carrier aggregation. The mobile communication device may have additional downlink or uplink carriers not shown in table 600. The data shown in table 600 can be stored in a memory (e.g., memory 214) on the mobile communication device. The material shown in table 600 can take any form and be stored at various locations in the memory and is not limited to the form of a table.
An example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality metric results for the downlink carriers 602, 604 is a channel quality indicator (CQI) value 606. The CQI value 606 can be expressed as CQI .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier (eg, for the first downlink carrier 602, i = 1, and for the second downlink carrier 604, i = 2), and k denotes the sub-frame that occurred during the transfer. The CQI value 606 may be a number indicating the quality of the component carrier ranging from zero to fifteen (0 to 15), where a value of zero indicates the lowest level of quality and a value of 15 indicates the highest level of quality. The CQI value 606 can be calculated by the mobile communication device periodically or in response to a particular event and can be reported to the network. The CQI value 606 may indicate the historical data delivery amount of the component carrier before the subframe k. Another example of a measurable or determinable value that can be used to calculate the quality measurements of the downlink carriers 602, 604 is the downlink transport block (TB) size value 608. The TB size value 608 can be expressed as TB .sub.i (k), where i represents the ith component carrier and k represents the subframe in which the tune away occurs; further see page 18 regarding scheduled tune away period; further see page 26 about tune away period.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Ling with the teachings of Ponu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein transmitting to a network node, a message indicating one or more channel metrics associated with wireless channel conditions of a downlink wireless communication channel, the one or more channel metrics associated with at least the second CC and regarding time interval associated with a tune-away operation; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Regarding claim 26, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 25, wherein one or both of the first throughput or the second throughput are based on one or more of particular scheduling information received from a network node, a channel quality indicator (CQI) reported to the network node, or a block error rate (BLER) measurement (Ponu, see [0040]).
Regarding claim 27, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 25, but Ponu fails to state about further comprising: means for storing a throughput database; and means for storing, to the throughput database, a first indication of the first CC and a second indication of the second CC, for storing the first indication and the second indication within the throughput database according to the first throughput and the second throughput, and for accessing the throughput database to identify that the first throughput exceeds the second throughput; however Ling states in page 8 about device processor may determine a quality measure for each of the component carriers in the subset of component carriers before or during the scheduled tune-away. The quality measure may be a historical data throughput of each component carrier before the scheduled tune-away， or a predicted data throughput of each component carrier during the scheduled tune-away. If the quality measure is historical data throughput of a downlink component carrier the device processor may compare the transport block size of each downlink component carrier， in which a larger transport block size indicates a higher data throughput. If the transport block size of each downlink component carrier is equal, the device processor may compare the channel quality indicator (CQI) for each downlink component carrier, in which a larger CQI indicates a higher data throughput.
Regarding claim 30, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 25, wherein the second CC is associated with uplink resources, and wherein the means for transmitting is configured to avoid use of the uplink resources during the time interval; Ponu see [0037- 0038].
Regarding claim 40, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 39, wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value selected to cause the network node to avoid use of the second CC during the time interval or a particular rank indicator (RI) value selected to cause the network node to avoid use of the second CC during the time interval; however Ling teaches in page 16 about RI value.
Regarding claim 46, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, wherein the second operation includes at least one control operation performed during an idle mode of the second subscription during the time interval; and while the first subscription is associated with a connected mode, the at least one control operation including receiving an indication that the UE is to transition the second subscription from the idle mode to the connected mode; Ponu see [0018].
Regarding claim 47, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 46, wherein the at least one control operation performed during the idle mode of the second subscription during the time interval includes receiving a paging message that indicates the UE is to transition the second subscription from the idle mode to the connected mode; Ponu see [0018].
Claim(s) 5, 16 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ponukumati et al. (US Pub. No. 2016/0242181 A1), hereafter Ponu in view of Ling et al (TW 201707408) and further in view of Larsson et al. (US Pub. NO. 2020/0059901 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, but Ponu fails to state about wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value or a rank indicator (RI) value; however Larsson states in [0046] about … the CQI reporting 506 may also include additional sidelink CQI information determined based on a communication over the sidelink between the relaying device 104 and the communication device 301. The base station 101 may use this information in its future resource allocation decisions, for example to avoid channel allocation that results in low CQI reports for the sidelink. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Larsson with the teachings of Ponu in view of Ling to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value or a rank indicator (RI) value; greater way reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 16, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 12, but Ponu fails to state about wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value or a rank indicator (RI) value; however Larsson states in [0046] about … the CQI reporting 506 may also include additional sidelink CQI information determined based on a communication over the sidelink between the relaying device 104 and the communication device 301. The base station 101 may use this information in its future resource allocation decisions, for example to avoid channel allocation that results in low CQI reports for the sidelink. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Larsson with the teachings of Ponu in view of Ling to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value or a rank indicator (RI) value; greater way reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 29, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 25, but Ponu fails to state about wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value or a rank indicator (RI) value; however Larsson states in [0046] about … the CQI reporting 506 may also include additional sidelink CQI information determined based on a communication over the sidelink between the relaying device 104 and the communication device 301. The base station 101 may use this information in its future resource allocation decisions, for example to avoid channel allocation that results in low CQI reports for the sidelink. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Larsson with the teachings of Ponu in view of Ling to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the one or more channel metrics include one or more of a particular channel quality indicator (CQI) value or a rank indicator (RI) value; greater way reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Claim(s) 42 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ponukumati et al. (US Pub. No. 2016/0242181 A1), hereafter Ponu in view of Ling et al (TW 201707408) and in view of Li et al. (US Pub. NO. 2021/0127256 A1).
Regarding claim 42, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, but Ponu is silent about wherein the communication by the first subscription using the second CC is avoided further based on a resource conflict between the first subscription and the second subscription; however Li states in [0128] about the resource scheduling module further determines whether a radio frequency resource of the first SIM card conflicts with a radio frequency resource (i.e. second CC) of the second SIM card. If the radio frequency resource of the first SIM card does not conflict with the radio frequency resource of the second SIM card, 307 is performed; or if the radio frequency resource of the first SIM card conflicts with the radio frequency resource of the second SIM card, 308 is performed; now refer to [0130].. The resource scheduling module selects, based on the priorities of the services of both the cards according to the predefined criterion, a service of one card to perform resource allocation, and then performs step 309. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Li with the teachings of Ponu in view of Ling to make system more standardized.
Claim(s) 48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ponukumati et al. (US Pub. No. 2016/0242181 A1), hereafter Ponu in view of Ling et al (TW 201707408) in further view of Bhardwaj (US Pub. No 2018/0184309 A1), hereafter Anish.
Regarding claim 48, Ponu in view of Ling teaches as per claim 1, but Ponu is silent about wherein the second operation includes receiving a system information block (SIB) and performing a network measurement; Anish teaches in [0028] about Multi-SIM Multi-Standby (MSMS) device in which one or more shared RF resources are used for an active communication (e.g., a data session) on a first SIM, a second SIM may be in an idle mode and not actively contending for access to the RF resource. The MSMS device may maintain a connection with a serving network associated with the second SIM by performing limited communication activities (i.e., “idle mode tasks”). Depending on the communication protocol, examples of idle mode tasks may include receiving system information (i.e. SIB), decoding a paging channel, measuring signal strength of neighbor cells, etc. Performing idle mode tasks for the second SIM during an active communication on the first SIM may involve implementing discontinuous reception (DRX) on the second SIM. In an “awake” period (i.e. time interval) of the DRX cycle, the shared RF resource may tune away from the communication on the first SIM and tune to the network supporting the subscription enabled by the second SIM to perform idle mode activities, followed by tuning back to the communication on the first SIM; further refer to [0083- 0085]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Anish with the teachings of Ponu in view of Ling to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the second operation includes receiving a system information block (SIB) and performing a network measurement; greater way more reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 41, 45 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Reference Chauhan et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0006963 A1) teaches in abstract about…. his disclosure provides improved throughput for network subscriptions in multi-SIM, multi-RATs wireless devices by preventing downlink scheduling in Tune Away periods and minimize radio resource wastage occurring due to DSDS UEs as well as improving HSI performance in such UEs by preventing lower layer retransmissions and conserve radio resources that are wasted in carrying those retransmissions earlier. The disclosure increases throughput performance for the data session in a DSDS device ecosystem and prevent substantial decline in average throughput experienced at DSDS UE.; further see in [0084] about further comprises a transmitter unit [310] configured to transmit at least one request for a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) report to the multi-SIM user device (DSDS UE), wherein the at least one request for the CQI report is transmitted based on suspending via the scheduler unit [306] the at least one PDSCH resource allocation of the second SIM. Further, in an instance, if the second SIM is an LTE SIM, the scheduler unit in such instance suspends the at least one PDSCH resource allocation of the second SIM until it Tune-in back on LTE, in order to serve both radio resource preservation at the eNodeB and at the same time to enhance HSI performance of the DSDS UE.
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
/PARTH PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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