DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the application 17/671,640 filed on February 15th, 2022.
Claim Status
This office action is based upon claims received on 11/24/2025, which replace all prior or other submitted versions of the claims.
Claims 1 – 20 are pending.
Claims 1 – 5, 8 – 12, and 15 – 18 are rejected.
Claims 6, 7, 13, 14, 19, and 20 are objected to.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination, filed on 12/11/2025, 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/24/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, see Remarks, pages 8 – 10, filed 11/24/2025, with respect to the rejections of independent claims 1, 8, and 15, and dependent claims 2 – 7, 9 – 14, and 16 – 20, under applied prior art references of record in the office action dated 09/24/2025, particularly as regards the newly amended claim limitations, have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Wang et al. [US 20220285404 A1]. Therefore, the rejection has been revised as ser forth below according to the amended claims. See office action below.
Applicant argues that the prior art references do not teach the newly amended claim limitations.
It should be noted that the scope of the previous claim 1 limitations have been changed with the current amendment. Therefore, since this amendment changes the scope of the limitation as recited in amended claim 1, it necessitates a new ground(s) of rejection.
All remaining arguments presented by Applicant not specifically addressed herein and directed to various dependent claims are found unpersuasive for the same reasons as stated herein, with regard to independent claims. The rejection has been revised and set forth below according to the amended claims.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 8, and 15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 11 recites in the newly amended limitation “…in one cell that can be woken up…”. The claim recites the term "… can be woken up…." which is not a positively cited claim language. Language that suggests or makes optional/intended use (for example, “so that”; “thereby”; “capable of”; “adapted to”; “able to”; “enable to”; “can be”; “may be”; “should be”; “….able”; “combinable”; “configurable”) but does not require steps to be performed or does not limit a claim to a particular structure does not limit the scope of a claim or claim limitation(s). Such clauses may render parts of the claims optional (see MPEP 2106 and 2111.04). [Note: the limitation recited after “can be” clause is not given patentable weight because it is optional for the positively processing steps. The term may raise a question as to the limiting effect of the language in a claim. A similar alternative term is “configured to” or a positive action verb to perform the function without any unnecessary ambiguity.
Claims 8 and 15 both recite the same “can be” clause in the newly amended limitation.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 8 line 11 recites the previously amended claim limitation as “and the bitmap corresponds a combination of the b terminal devices…”. The word “to” is omitted from the previously amended limitation.
Appropriate correction was requested in the previous action but the claim limitation is yet to be corrected. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claims 1 – 4, 8 – 11, and 15 – 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. [US 20220086762 A1] hereinafter Xu, and further in view of Wang et al. [US 20220295404 A1] hereinafter Wang.
Regarding claim 1, Xu teaches a downlink control information (DCI) receiving method (Xu: ¶ 4; wherein a terminal device receives indication information in the DCI), wherein the method comprises:
receiving downlink control information (DCI) (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 47; wherein the network devices sends indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives indication information in the DCI), wherein the DCI comprises indication information (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 47; the indication information received in the DCI) and m information blocks (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 74 - ¶ 75; wherein each indicator field of the DCI has a bitmap of multiple bits, and each of those bitmaps are an information block. Fig. 4 illustrates 8 indicator fields (indicator field 0 – 7) with 8 bitmaps i.e., 8 information blocks), the indication information is used to indicate b terminal devices (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein the DCI includes multiple indicator fields, including indicator fields 0 – 7, and one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the indicator information in each field is used to indicate the terminal devices (b terminal devices))), a first terminal device is one of the b terminal devices (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein the User 0 is the first terminal device and it is one of the User 0 – User 7 terminal devices (i.e., the b terminal devices)), a first information block in the m information blocks corresponds to the first terminal device (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the first information field (e.g., Indicator field 0) corresponds to the first terminal device (User 0)), the first information block is used to indicate energy-saving information of the first terminal device (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field (i.e., Indicator field 0) is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., User 0)), lengths of at least two information blocks in the m information blocks are different (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein it can be seen from the figure that any two indicator fields may have different lengths (e.g., Indicator field 0 has a different length than Indicator field 2)), and m ≤ b (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., in Fig. 4, for each information block (indicator field) there is a corresponding terminal device (User). Therefore, m is equal to b), and
obtaining the first information block based on a location of the first terminal device in the bitmap and a state of the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device (i.e., obtaining the transmission location of the first information block, since it corresponds to the first terminal device) in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap, along with the value of the bit bitmap (i.e., the state of the bitmap being a state of value 1 or 0) as set by the network device); and
monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on the first information block (Xu: ¶ 45; wherein the power-saving information is configured to wake up the terminal so that the terminal performs PDCCH detection during the on duration of DRX).
Xu does not explicitly teach that wherein the DCI further comprises a compressed field that indicates a bitmap and the bitmap corresponds to a combination of the b terminal devices that are to be woken up at the same time, wherein b is less than or equal to X, with X being a maximum number of terminal devices in one cell that can be woken up at the same time at a pre-set probability.
Referring to the invention of Wang, Wang teaches wherein the DCI further comprises a compressed field that indicates a bitmap (Wang: Fig. 3, Fig. 4, ¶ 71 – 74, ¶ 126; wherein “the bitmap method can make the DCI information bits more compressed”. Since, when the bitmap method is used, the DCI information bits (i.e., the DCI comprises the power saving information fields as shown in Fig. 4) are more compressed, therefore, the compressed fields of the DCI indicate the bitmap) and the bitmap corresponds to a combination of the b terminal devices that are to be woken up at the same time (Wang: Fig. 5, ¶ 104, ¶ 106, ¶ 110; wherein as shown in FIG. 5, the M2 power saving information fields in the third part correspond, in a one-to-one manner, to M1 to-be-woken UEs indicated by the bitmap in the second part), wherein b is less than or equal to X, with X being a maximum number of terminal devices in one cell that can be woken up at the same time at a pre-set probability (Wang: ¶ 28, ¶ 133, ¶ 165; wherein when a power saving signal type indicated by the power saving signal type indication information is the group common power saving signal, the power saving information configuration indication information is denoted by N bits and the N is greater than or equal to a quantity of UEs within a group, wherein there are M1 woken UEs within the group, and the power saving information set includes M2 power saving information fields; the M1 is less than or equal to the quantity of UEs in the group, and the power saving information fields are power saving information fields corresponding to the woken UEs, and the base station can also configure multiple UEs to correspond to one bit in the bitmap, so that multiple UEs will be woken up or instructed to sleep at the same time (i.e., the base station configures the terminal devices to wake up at a same time at a pre-set probability (based on the preconfigured settings)) and will also correspond to the same power saving information field, which can significantly reduce the DCI overhead).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the DCI with compressed field that indicates a bitmap which corresponds to terminal devices teachings of the Wang invention into the Xu invention in order to reduce overhead of the control channel and to reduce configuration complexity (Wang: ¶ 55).
Regarding claim 2, Xu in view of Wang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the indication information indicates a transmission location of the first information block by using the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap).
Regarding claim 3, Xu in view of Wang teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the indication information indicates the transmission location of the first information block by using a location of the first terminal device in the bitmap and the state of the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device (i.e., the transmission location of the first information block, since it corresponds to the first terminal device) in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap, and wherein the network device can set the value of the bit bitmap (i.e., the state of the bitmap being a state of value 1 or 0). For example, the value of the bit in the bit bitmap corresponding to the bit position occupied by the power-saving information of the terminal device can be set as 1, and the value of the bit in the bit bitmap corresponding to the bit position occupied by the power-saving information of the terminal device can be set as 0).
Regarding claim 4, Xu in view of Wang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a transmission location of each of the m information blocks (Xu: ¶ 47; wherein the indication information is used to indicate the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI, and also the power-saving information of multiple users can be carried, and each user occupies one or more indicator bits in the DCI. The network can configure which indicator bits each user uses (¶ 51). i.e., the position of the power-saving information of each terminal is indicated in the DCI and for each terminal, there is a corresponding information block (indicator field). Therefore, the indication information indicated the transmission location of each of the m information blocks).
Regarding claim 8, Xu teaches a communication apparatus, comprising
a processor (Xu: Fig. 7, ¶ 120; Processor 510); and
a computer-readable medium (Xu: Fig. 7, ¶ 121; Memory 520) including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to carry out a method including:
receiving downlink control information (DCI) (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 47; wherein the network devices sends indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives indication information in the DCI), wherein the DCI comprises indication information (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 47; the indication information received in the DCI) and m information blocks (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 74 - ¶ 75; wherein each indicator field of the DCI has a bitmap of multiple bits, and each of those bitmaps are an information block. Fig. 4 illustrates 8 indicator fields (indicator field 0 – 7) with 8 bitmaps i.e., 8 information blocks), the indication information is used to indicate b terminal devices (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein the DCI includes multiple indicator fields, including indicator fields 0 – 7, and one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the indicator information in each field is used to indicate the terminal devices (b terminal devices))), a first terminal device is one of the b terminal devices (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein the User 0 is the first terminal device and it is one of the User 0 – User 7 terminal devices (i.e., the b terminal devices)), a first information block in the m information blocks corresponds to the first terminal device (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the first information field (e.g., Indicator field 0) corresponds to the first terminal device (User 0)), the first information block is used to indicate energy-saving information of the first terminal device (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field (i.e., Indicator field 0) is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., User 0)), lengths of at least two information blocks in the m information blocks are different (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein it can be seen from the figure that any two indicator fields may have different lengths (e.g., Indicator field 0 has a different length than Indicator field 2)), and m ≤ b (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., in Fig. 4, for each information block (indicator field) there is a corresponding terminal device (User). Therefore, m is equal to b), and
obtaining the first information block based on a location of the terminal device in the bitmap and a state of the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device (i.e., obtaining the transmission location of the first information block, since it corresponds to the first terminal device) in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap, along with the value of the bit bitmap (i.e., the state of the bitmap being a state of value 1 or 0) as set by the network device); and
monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) based on the first information block (Xu: ¶ 45; wherein the power-saving information is configured to wake up the terminal so that the terminal performs PDCCH detection during the on duration of DRX).
Xu does not explicitly teach that wherein the DCI further comprises a compressed field that indicates a bitmap and the bitmap corresponds to a combination of the b terminal devices that are to be woken up at the same time, wherein b is less than or equal to X, with X being a maximum number of terminal devices in one cell that can be woken up at the same time at a pre-set probability.
Referring to the invention of Wang, Wang teaches wherein the DCI further comprises a compressed field that indicates a bitmap (Wang: Fig. 3, Fig. 4, ¶ 71 – 74, ¶ 126; wherein “the bitmap method can make the DCI information bits more compressed”. Since, when the bitmap method is used, the DCI information bits (i.e., the DCI comprises the power saving information fields as shown in Fig. 4) are more compressed, therefore, the compressed fields of the DCI indicate the bitmap) and the bitmap corresponds to a combination of the b terminal devices that are to be woken up at the same time (Wang: Fig. 5, ¶ 104, ¶ 106, ¶ 110; wherein as shown in FIG. 5, the M2 power saving information fields in the third part correspond, in a one-to-one manner, to M1 to-be-woken UEs indicated by the bitmap in the second part), wherein b is less than or equal to X, with X being a maximum number of terminal devices in one cell that can be woken up at the same time at a pre-set probability (Wang: ¶ 28, ¶ 133, ¶ 165; wherein when a power saving signal type indicated by the power saving signal type indication information is the group common power saving signal, the power saving information configuration indication information is denoted by N bits and the N is greater than or equal to a quantity of UEs within a group, wherein there are M1 woken UEs within the group, and the power saving information set includes M2 power saving information fields; the M1 is less than or equal to the quantity of UEs in the group, and the power saving information fields are power saving information fields corresponding to the woken UEs, and the base station can also configure multiple UEs to correspond to one bit in the bitmap, so that multiple UEs will be woken up or instructed to sleep at the same time (i.e., the base station configures the terminal devices to wake up at a same time at a pre-set probability (based on the preconfigured settings)) and will also correspond to the same power saving information field, which can significantly reduce the DCI overhead).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the DCI with compressed field that indicates a bitmap which corresponds to terminal devices teachings of the Wang invention into the Xu invention in order to reduce overhead of the control channel and to reduce configuration complexity (Wang: ¶ 55).
Regarding claim 9, Xu in view of Wang teaches the apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the indication information indicates a transmission location of the first information block by using the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap).
Regarding claim 10, Xu in view of Wang teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the indication information indicates the transmission location of the first information block by using a location of the first terminal device in the bitmap and the state of the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device (i.e., the transmission location of the first information block, since it corresponds to the first terminal device) in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap, and wherein the network device can set the value of the bit bitmap (i.e., the state of the bitmap being a state of value 1 or 0). For example, the value of the bit in the bit bitmap corresponding to the bit position occupied by the power-saving information of the terminal device can be set as 1, and the value of the bit in the bit bitmap corresponding to the bit position occupied by the power-saving information of the terminal device can be set as 0).
Regarding claim 11, Xu in view of Wang teaches the apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a transmission location of each of the m information blocks (Xu: ¶ 47; wherein the indication information is used to indicate the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI, and also the power-saving information of multiple users can be carried, and each user occupies one or more indicator bits in the DCI. The network can configure which indicator bits each user uses (¶ 51). i.e., the position of the power-saving information of each terminal is indicated in the DCI and for each terminal, there is a corresponding information block (indicator field). Therefore, the indication information indicated the transmission location of each of the m information blocks).
Regarding claim 15, Xu teaches a communication apparatus, comprising:
a processor (Xu: Fig. 7, ¶ 120; Processor 510); and
a computer-readable medium (Xu: Fig. 7, ¶ 121; Memory 520) including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to carry out a method including:
determining downlink control information (DCI) (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 45; wherein the network determines that it needs to schedule the terminal during the on duration of DRX and therefore, sends power-saving information (which is included in the DCI) to the terminal), wherein the DCI comprises indication information (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 47; the indication information received in the DCI) and m information blocks (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 74 - ¶ 75; wherein each indicator field of the DCI has a bitmap of multiple bits, and each of those bitmaps are an information block. Fig. 4 illustrates 8 indicator fields (indicator field 0 – 7) with 8 bitmaps i.e., 8 information blocks), the indication information is used to indicate b terminal devices (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein the DCI includes multiple indicator fields, including indicator fields 0 – 7, and one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the indicator information in each field is used to indicate the terminal devices (b terminal devices))), a first information block in the m information blocks corresponds to a first terminal device in the b terminal devices (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the first information field (e.g., Indicator field 0) corresponds to the first terminal device (User 0)), the first information block is used to indicate energy-saving information of the first terminal device (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field (i.e., Indicator field 0) is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., User 0)), a second information block in the m information blocks corresponds to a second terminal device in the b terminal devices(Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., the second information field (e.g., Indicator field 2) corresponds to the second terminal device (User 2)), the second information block is used to indicate energy-saving information of the second terminal device (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field (i.e., Indicator field 2) is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., User 2)), a length of the first information block is different from a length of the second information block(Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein it can be seen from the figure that any two indicator fields may have different lengths (e.g., Indicator field 0 has a different length than Indicator field 2)), and m ≤ b (Xu: Fig. 4, ¶ 51; wherein one indicator field is used to carry the power-saving information of one user (i.e., in Fig. 4, for each information block (indicator field) there is a corresponding terminal device (User). Therefore, m is equal to b), and
obtaining the first information block based on a location of the terminal device in the bitmap and a state of the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device (i.e., obtaining the transmission location of the first information block, since it corresponds to the first terminal device) in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap, along with the value of the bit bitmap (i.e., the state of the bitmap being a state of value 1 or 0) as set by the network device); and
sending the DCI (Xu: Fig. 2, ¶ 47; wherein the network devices sends indication information to the terminal device, and correspondingly, the terminal device receives indication information in the DCI).
Xu does not explicitly teach that wherein the DCI further comprises a compressed field that indicates a bitmap and the bitmap corresponds to a combination of the b terminal devices that are to be woken up at the same time, wherein b is less than or equal to X, with X being a maximum number of terminal devices in one cell that can be woken up at the same time at a pre-set probability.
Referring to the invention of Wang, Wang teaches wherein the DCI further comprises a compressed field that indicates a bitmap (Wang: Fig. 3, Fig. 4, ¶ 71 – 74, ¶ 126; wherein “the bitmap method can make the DCI information bits more compressed”. Since, when the bitmap method is used, the DCI information bits (i.e., the DCI comprises the power saving information fields as shown in Fig. 4) are more compressed, therefore, the compressed fields of the DCI indicate the bitmap) and the bitmap corresponds to a combination of the b terminal devices that are to be woken up at the same time (Wang: Fig. 5, ¶ 104, ¶ 106, ¶ 110; wherein as shown in FIG. 5, the M2 power saving information fields in the third part correspond, in a one-to-one manner, to M1 to-be-woken UEs indicated by the bitmap in the second part), wherein b is less than or equal to X, with X being a maximum number of terminal devices in one cell that can be woken up at the same time at a pre-set probability (Wang: ¶ 28, ¶ 133, ¶ 165; wherein when a power saving signal type indicated by the power saving signal type indication information is the group common power saving signal, the power saving information configuration indication information is denoted by N bits and the N is greater than or equal to a quantity of UEs within a group, wherein there are M1 woken UEs within the group, and the power saving information set includes M2 power saving information fields; the M1 is less than or equal to the quantity of UEs in the group, and the power saving information fields are power saving information fields corresponding to the woken UEs, and the base station can also configure multiple UEs to correspond to one bit in the bitmap, so that multiple UEs will be woken up or instructed to sleep at the same time (i.e., the base station configures the terminal devices to wake up at a same time at a pre-set probability (based on the preconfigured settings)) and will also correspond to the same power saving information field, which can significantly reduce the DCI overhead).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the DCI with compressed field that indicates a bitmap which corresponds to terminal devices teachings of the Wang invention into the Xu invention in order to reduce overhead of the control channel and to reduce configuration complexity (Wang: ¶ 55).
Regarding claim 16, Xu in view of Wang teaches the communication apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the indication information indicates at least one of a transmission location of the first information block (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap) or a transmission location of the second information block by using the bitmap.
Regarding claim 17, Xu in view of Wang teaches the communication apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the indication information indicates at least one of the transmission location of the first information block by using a location of the first terminal device in the bitmap and the state of the bitmap (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device (i.e., the transmission location of the first information block, since it corresponds to the first terminal device) in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap, and wherein the network device can set the value of the bit bitmap (i.e., the state of the bitmap being a state of value 1 or 0). For example, the value of the bit in the bit bitmap corresponding to the bit position occupied by the power-saving information of the terminal device can be set as 1, and the value of the bit in the bit bitmap corresponding to the bit position occupied by the power-saving information of the terminal device can be set as 0) or the transmission location of the second information block by using a location of the second terminal device in the bitmap and a state of the bitmap.
Regarding claim 18, Xu in view of Wang teaches the communication apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the indication information is used to indicate a transmission location of each of the m information blocks (Xu: ¶ 47; wherein the indication information is used to indicate the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI, and also the power-saving information of multiple users can be carried, and each user occupies one or more indicator bits in the DCI. The network can configure which indicator bits each user uses (¶ 51). i.e., the position of the power-saving information of each terminal is indicated in the DCI and for each terminal, there is a corresponding information block (indicator field). Therefore, the indication information indicated the transmission location of each of the m information blocks).
Claims 5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al., and Wang et al., as applied to claims 1, 8, and 15 above, and further in view of Guo et al. [US PG PUB 20220240187] hereinafter Guo.
Regarding claim 5, Xu in view of Wang teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a configuration message, wherein the configuration message carries at least one of length information of the bitmap or location information of the bitmap in the DCI (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap).
Xu discloses that the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not be construed as limitation to the implementation of the embodiment in the disclosure (¶ 79). However, Xu in view of Wang does not specifically disclose wherein before the receiving DCI.
Referring to the invention of Guo, Guo teaches wherein before the receiving DCI (Guo: Fig. 3, ¶ 34 - 35; wherein at step 302, a wireless network device (e.g., a gNB) transmits a signal indicating higher layer parameters related to a specific DCI for one or more UEs, then at step 304, the wireless network device transmits a downlink control signal to one or more UEs).
Thus. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the order of execution of the combined Xu and Wang invention to specifically include the order of execution process of the Guo invention in order to provide a new downlink control signal or modify an existing downlink control signal to trigger UE(s) to perform various power saving operations under certain conditions (Guo: ¶ 22).
Regarding claim 12, Xu in view of Wang teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a configuration message, wherein the configuration message carries at least one of length information of the bitmap or location information of the bitmap in the DCI (Xu: ¶ 74; wherein the position of the power-saving information of the terminal device in the DCI can also be indicated through the bit bitmap).
Xu discloses that the sequence number of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not be construed as limitation to the implementation of the embodiment in the disclosure (¶ 79). However, Xu in view of Wang does not specifically disclose wherein before the receiving DCI.
Referring to the invention of Guo, Guo teaches wherein before the receiving DCI (Guo: Fig. 3, ¶ 34 - 35; wherein at step 302, a wireless network device (e.g., a gNB) transmits a signal indicating higher layer parameters related to a specific DCI for one or more UEs, then at step 304, the wireless network device transmits a downlink control signal to one or more UEs).
Thus. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the order of execution of the combined Xu and Wang invention to specifically include the order of execution process of the Guo invention in order to provide a new downlink control signal or modify an existing downlink control signal to trigger UE(s) to perform various power saving operations under certain conditions (Guo: ¶ 22).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 – 7, 13 – 14, and 19 – 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 6, the prior art of record fail to disclose, alone or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claim “wherein a mapping relationship between a transmission location and a location of a terminal device in the bitmap is as follows:
PNG
media_image1.png
49
308
media_image1.png
Greyscale
P is the transmission location, Li is a bit length of a wake-up signal indicator field (WIFi), Wi is a quantity of indication information in the WIFi, Zi is a bit length of an information block in a monitoring and reception block (MRBi), X is a number of a WIF in which the terminal device is located, Ix is a location of indication information corresponding to the terminal device in the WIFx, ZWIFX is a bit length of an MRBx corresponding to the WIFx, the WIFi is an ith bitmap field, an MRBi is an ith information block field in the DCI, a location of the indication information is the location of the terminal device in the bitmap, and i and N are positive integers.”
Claims 13 and 19 are rejected similarly since they significantly comprise the same limitations
Regarding claim 7, the prior art of record fail to disclose, alone or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claim “wherein a mapping relationship between a transmission location and a location of a terminal device in the bitmap is as follows:
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P is the transmission location, Li is a bit length of a wake-up signal indicator field (WIFi), Wi is a quantity of indication information in the WIFi, Zi is a bit length of an information block in a monitoring and reception block (MRBi), X is a number of a WIF in which the terminal device is located, Ix is a location of indication information corresponding to the terminal device in the WIFx, ZWIFX is a bit length of an MRBx corresponding to the WIFx, the WIFi is an ith bitmap field, an MRBi is an ith information block field in the DCI, a location of the indication information is the location of the terminal device in the bitmap, an offset is a start location that is randomly generated, N is a quantity of WIFs, and i and N are positive integers.”.
The Examiner notes the above limitation(s) are not taken alone but in view of the entirety of the claim language including any preceding claim limitations, any proceeding claim limitations, and any intervening claim limitations.
Claims 14 and 20 are rejected similarly since they significantly comprise the same limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pelletier et al. [US 20180123769 A1]: Downlink Control Signaling.
Zeng et al. [US 20110075684 A1]: Enhanced Control Signaling for Backhaul Link.
Li et al. [US 20150264708 A1]: Subframe Scheduling Method and System, Network Device and Terminal.
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/HD/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414