DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the RCE filed 5 February 2026. Claims 16-21 and 23-52 are pending in this application.
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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 5 February 2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 16, 18-21, 23-24, and 27-40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2022/0217734) in view of He (US 2020/0053824), and Islam et al. (US 2022/0159574), and Aschan et al. (US 2013/0045770).
For Claims 16 and 24, Chen teaches a method and a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising a processor configured to:
receive measurement configuration information, the measurement configuration information indicating one or more criteria for determining a measurement period associated with one or more reference signal (RS) measurements (see paragraph 68: RRC message for configuration; paragraphs 42, 47-49: BFD relaxation; 63, 66, 67: UE receives configuration parameters; paragraph 70: reference signal measurements);
perform one or more RS measurements (see paragraphs 80-82: use of measurement resources indicates measurement performed);
determine a measurement period for one or more subsequent RS measurements based on at least one of the one or more RS measurements and the one or more criteria indicated in the configuration information (see paragraphs 80-82, 69: measurement of RSRP);
receive downlink control information (DCI) (see paragraph 3);
send a channel state information (CSI) report based on the at least one RS measurement for the one or more RS transmissions (see Figure 1: report).
Chen as applied above is not explicit as to, but He teaches receiving configuration information indicating a power saving pattern applied to the measurement configuration for determining measurement opportunities (see abstract, paragraphs 6, 36, 60-61: configuration of DRX which is a type of mask);
determining one or more RS transmissions within an overlap between the measurement opportunities indicated by measurement configuration (see paragraphs 36, 64-66, 68);
performing at least one RS measurement for the one or more RS transmissions within the overlap between the measurement opportunities indicated by measurement configuration and the power saving pattern activated by the DCI; and
sending a channel state information (CSI) report based on the at least one RS measurement for the one or more RS transmissions during at least one active period of the power saving pattern (see paragraphs 64, 64: BFD report based on CSI-RS measurements).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to coordinate measurements with a DRX active period as in He when implementing the system of Chen. The motivation would be to save power while tracking network conditions.
The references as applied above are not explicit as to, but Islam teaches receiving a DCI, the DCI comprising an explicit field that initiates activation of the power savings pattern to be applied to the measurement configuration for determining measurement opportunities (see paragraph 174, 193, 221; paragraphs 77, 165, 226, 249: CSI measurement signaling, triggering, including skipping or not skipping, and/or modifying the configured DRX process).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to use downlink control information for coordinating RS measurements with the DRX state as in Islam when implementing the system of Chen and He. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so using known signaling and avoiding increases to overhead.
While a DRX configuration is itself a type of power saving masking pattern, the references as applied above are not perhaps entirely explicit about a power saving pattern including a mask other than the power saving pattern itself. However, Aschan teaches both as admitted prior art (see paragraphs 46-47) and in the disclosure, the power savings pattern including a mask applied to the measurement configuration (see paragraphs 30, 36, 45, and 56).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application to provide a specific mask as in Aschan when masking the DRX active period to match the transmissions of measurement resources as in Chen and He. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so with the reasonably predictable result of conserving UE power resources without disrupting necessary measurements.
For Claim 18, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein the one or more criteria comprises the one or more of the RS measurements being above a first configured threshold or a change in the one or more RS measurements since an immediately prior RS measurement being less than a second configured threshold (see paragraphs 69, 80-82, 210: parameters include thresholds).
For Claims 19 and 27, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein the determined measurement period associated with the one or more subsequent measurements is longer if the one or more criteria are satisfied based on the one or more RS measurements than if the one or more criteria are not satisfied (see paragraphs 48-49, 69, 80-82).
For Claims 20 and 28, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein the determined measurement period for the one or more subsequent measurements is associated with one or more of beam failure detection (BFD), beam failure recovery (BFR) or radio link monitoring (RLM) (see paragraphs 80-82).
For Claims 21 and 29, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein at least one of the one or more RS measurements indicate that the WTRU is in a low mobility state or if the serving cell radio link quality is greater than an associated criteria of the one or more criteria (see Paragraphs 69-70, 85: quality measurement, current cell; paragraph 197: relaxed period depending on measurement).
For Claims 23 and 30, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein at least one of the one or more RS measurements are reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements (see paragraph 69).
For Claims 31 and 35, Chen as applied above is not explicit as to, but He as modified by Islam above teaches the WTRU, wherein the processor is further configured to determine not to perform the at least one RS measurement for one or more RS transmissions that do not overlap with the at least one active period of the power saving pattern activated by the DCI (see paragraphs 36, 64-66, 68).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to coordinate measurements with a DRX active period as in He when implementing the system of Chen. The motivation would be to save power while tracking network conditions.
For Claims 32 and 36, Chen as applied above is not explicit as to, but He teaches the WTRU, wherein the processor is further configured to determine not to send a CSI report based on the at least one RS measurement for the one or more RS transmissions that is scheduled outside the at least one active period of the power saving pattern (see paragraphs 64-65: BFD report based on CSI-RS measurements, obviously if there is no measurement, there is no measurement report).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to avoid measuring or reporting of RS signals that fall outside of the DRX active time as in He when implementing system of Chen. The motivation would be to conserve power by avoiding unnecessary actions.
For Claims 33 and 37, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein the received DCI is included in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (see paragraph 3: it is known to send DCIs in the PDCCH).
For Claims 34 and 38, Chen teaches the WTRU, wherein the received power saving pattern and is included in the PDCCH (see paragraph 3: DRX information is in DCI which is in PDCCH).
For Claims 39 and 40, Chen and He as applied above are not explicit as to, but Islam teaches the WTRU, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a second DCI, the second DCI comprising an indication to de-activate the received power savings pattern (see paragraph 174: obviously a DCI to indicate deactivation would be second, following a DCI to indicate activation).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to use downlink control information for coordinating the DRX state as in Islam when implementing the system of Chen and He. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so using known signaling and avoiding increases to overhead.
Claim(s) 17 and 25-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2022/0217734), He (US 2020/0053824), Islam et al. (US 2022/0159574), and Aschan et al. (US 2013/0045770), as applied to claims 16 and 24 above, and further in view of Agiwal et al. (US 2024/0251452).
For Claims 17 and 25, the references as applied above are not explicit as to, but Agiwal teaches the WTRU, further configured to transmit a PRACH preamble based on the one or more subsequent measurements performed in accordance with the determined measurement period (see paragraphs 79-80, 82).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to employ the PRACH preamble process as in Agiwal when responding to measurements indicating beam failure as in Chen. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so with the reasonably predictable result of engaging in a known beam failure recovery process in accord with a detected failure.
For Claim 26, Chen further teaches the method, wherein the criteria comprises the one or more of the RS measurements being above a first configured threshold or a change in the one or more RS measurements since an immediately prior RS measurement being less than a configured threshold (see paragraphs 69, 80-82, 210: parameters include thresholds).
Claim(s) 41-52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He (US 2020/0053824) in view of Islam et al. (US 2022/0159574).
For Claims 41 and 47, He teaches a method and a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising a processor (see paragraph 46) configured to:
receive configuration information indicating a power saving pattern to be used as a mask applied to a measurement configuration for determining measurement opportunities (see abstract, paragraphs 6, 36, 60-61; paragraph 68);
receive downlink control information (DCI) (see paragraphs 37, 41);
determine one or more RS transmissions within an overlap between measurement opportunities indicated by measurement configuration and the mask corresponding to the power saving pattern (see paragraphs 36, 64-66, 68);
perform at least one RS measurement of the one or more RS transmissions that overlap within the measurement opportunities indicated by measurement configuration and the mask corresponding to the power saving pattern (see paragraphs 36, 64-66, 68); and
send a channel state information (CSI) report based on the at least one RS measurement for the one or more RS transmissions during at least one active period of the power saving pattern (see paragraphs 64, 64: BFD report based on CSI-RS measurements).
He as applied above is not explicit as to, but Islam teaches receiving downlink control information (DCI), the DCI comprising an explicit field that indicates activation of the mask corresponding to the power savings pattern for determining measurement opportunities (see paragraph 174, 193, 221; paragraphs 77, 165, 226, 249: CSI measurement signaling, triggering, including skipping or not skipping, and/or modifying the configured DRX process).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to use downlink control information for coordinating RS measurements with the DRX state as in Islam when implementing the system of He. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so using known signaling and avoiding increases to overhead.
For Claims 42 and 48, He further teaches the WTRU, wherein the at least one of the one or more RS measurements is a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement (see paragraph 55).
For Claims 43 and 49, He as modified by Islam above further teaches the WTRU, wherein the processor is further configured to determine to not perform at least one RS measurement of one or more RS transmissions that does not overlap with the at least one active period of the power saving pattern activated by the DCI (see paragraphs 36, 64-66, 68).
For Claims 44 and 50, He further teaches the WTRU, wherein the processor is further configured to determine to not send a CSI report based on at least one RS measurement of the one or more RS transmissions that is scheduled outside of the at least one active period of the power saving pattern activated by the DCI (see paragraphs 64-65: BFD report based on CSI-RS measurements, obviously if there is no measurement, there is no measurement report).
For Claims 45 and 51, He further teaches the WTRU, wherein the received DCI is included in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (see paragraph 41).
For Claims 46 and 52, He as applied above is not explicit as to, but Islam teaches the WTRU, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a second DCI comprising an indication to deactivate the power savings pattern (see paragraph 174: obviously a DCI to indicate deactivation would be second, following a DCI to indicate activation).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to use downlink control information for coordinating the DRX state as in Islam when implementing the system of He. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so using known signaling and avoiding increases to overhead.
Response to Arguments
The amendment filed 5 February 2026 has been entered.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to rejections under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. The claims remain rejected under 35 USC 103.
With regards to teachings of Chen and He, Chen and He are not relied on for matter taught in other references.
With regards to teachings of He, the cited portions of He explicitly teach the UE receiving or being configured by the base station with a power saving pattern including a masking pattern in the form of a DRX configuration. As to “separate receipt of a masking pattern to be applied over the preconfigured pattern”, please note that this is not claimed.
Meanwhile, Islam does explicitly teach the receipt of a DCI including explicit indications for modifying and triggering (initiating activation of) the DRX pattern, including an indication of DRX cycles to skip or not skip which corresponds to a mask applied over the power saving pattern. Islam does teach wakeup signaling, but the citations also teach the matter for which Islam is relied upon.
Aschan is relied on for explicit teachings of a “mask”, though the teachings of Islam are essentially teachings of a mask.
As to a motivation to combine, it is clear that all the references are directed towards a similar operation of managing a measurement process in an energy efficient manner. Using known types of signaling to make appropriate adjustments to a measurement process while DRX is in use would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kwon et al. (US 2021/0297139) teaches a system in which the DCI provides information for channel measurement.
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/CASSANDRA L DECKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2466 2/25/2026
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466