DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 2/6/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 10 is objected to because the claim is presented as “Currently Amended” but no amendments are shown. Based on the amendments to claims 1 and 18 and Applicant’s remarks, the Examiner has assumed Applicant intended to amend claim 10 with the same language used in amended claims 1 and 18. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 9-12, 14-15, and 17-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu et al (US 20190230606 A1, hereinafter Ryu) in view of Rune et al (WO 2015160296 A1, hereinafter Rune).
Consider claims 1, 10, and 18, Ryu discloses a wireless device (base station 105, Fig. 3), comprising:
a plurality of antenna elements each configured to radiate a downlink communications signal and receive an uplink communications signal in a coverage cell (wireless communication devices, such as Node Bs…may use large antenna arrays, paragraph 21; base stations 105 or UEs 115 may include multiple antennas or antenna elements, paragraph 36); and a control circuit (antenna selecting component 344, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) 305, paragraph 60) configured to:
cause the wireless device to operate in an active mode (when using all antennas in antenna array 373, 400, paragraph 62);
determine if a power-saving condition is present in the coverage cell (antenna selecting component 344 can detect the one or more parameters or conditions, such as a network load or signal strength, paragraph 60); and
in response to the power-saving condition being present, cause the wireless device to operate in a power-saving mode (antenna selecting component 344 can detect the one or more parameters or conditions, such as a network load or signal strength, achieving a threshold… which may indicate low UE density, a time of day, day of week, …. Antenna selecting component 344 can use this information in determining to use the subset of the antennas (e.g., as opposed to all antennas) to provide more desirable network conditions/usage, paragraph 60; Using the number of antennas (e.g., as opposed to all antennas in the antenna array 373, 400) may allow for decreasing power consumption, paragraph 62).
However, Ryu does not expressly disclose wherein determining if the power-saving condition is present comprises determining whether a user equipment (UE) is currently located inside the coverage cell or approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell.
In the same field of endeavor, Rune discloses wherein determining if the power-saving condition is present comprises determining whether a user equipment (UE) is currently located inside the coverage cell or approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell (Thus, during periods when no UE is using or no UE is approaching the radio cell controlled by the first base station, the first base station can enter the sleep period and thus save energy, p.26, ll. 6-9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Rune with the teachings of Ryu to switch between power-saving mode and regular mode more quickly.
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Consider claims 2, 11 and 19, and as applied to claims 1, 10, and 18 respectively above, Ryu discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to cause the wireless device to operate in the active mode in response to the power-saving condition not being present (antenna selecting component 344 can detect the one or more parameters or conditions, such as a network load or signal strength, achieving a threshold… which may indicate low UE density, a time of day, day of week, …. Antenna selecting component 344 can use this information in determining to use the subset of the antennas (e.g., as opposed to all antennas), paragraph 62 [thus, if the threshold is not achieved all antennas are used]).
Consider claims 3, 12, and 20, and as applied to claims 2, 11, and 19 respectively above, Rune discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to: determine that the power-saving condition is present when all of the following conditions are satisfied: no user equipment (UE) is currently located in the coverage cell; and no UE is approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell; and determine that the power-saving condition is not present when one or more of the following conditions are satisfied: the UE is currently located in the coverage cell; and the UE is approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell (when there is at least one UE allowed to access the first base station in the vicinity of the first base station, the first base station can switch to (or stay in) regular operation. Thus, during periods when no UE is using or when no UE is approaching the radio cell controlled by the first base station (i.e. the CSG cell), the first base station can enter the sleep period and thus save energy. Consequently, energy is not consumed unnecessarily much. It is an advantage that neighboring second base station(s) assist(s) the first base station in detecting UEs allowed to access the first base station in the vicinity of the first home base station. This way, not only those UEs detectable by the first base station itself are considered but also those UEs that are detectable by the neighboring second base stations in the radio cells controlled by the second base stations. In other words, also UEs that are potentially approaching the radio cell controlled by the first base station are counted for. This in turn may have the positive effect that the switching between sleep mode and regular mode (or, regular operation) can be made more quickly, p.26, ll. 4-18).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Rune with the teachings of Ryu to switch between power-saving mode and regular mode more quickly.
Consider claims 5 and 14, and as applied to claims 3 and 12 respectively above, Rune discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine whether there is a UE approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell based on an indication signal received from a centralized services node (This way, not only those UEs detectable by the first base station itself are considered but also those UEs that are detectable by the neighboring second base stations in the radio cells controlled by the second base stations, p. 26, ll. 12-15; The home base station 102 may be connected to the macro base stations via an optional gateway 106 and/or via an optional Mobility Management Entity (MME), see fig. 2 and p. ll. 5-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Rune with the teachings of Ryu to improve of power efficiency.
Consider claim 6, Ryu discloses the wireless device of claim 2, further comprising:
a transceiver circuit configured to generate the downlink communications signal (transceiver 370, Fig. 3);
a beamforming circuit configured to convert the downlink communications signal into a plurality of weighted downlink communications signals (effective rate determining component 352, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) 305, memory 302, transceiver 370, communicating component 350, antenna array 373, 400, etc., can determine the effective data rate as a function of at least the computed beamforming or array gain with the number of antennas and the utility function of the RF power consumed by the number of antennas, paragraph 52); and
a power amplifier circuit comprising a plurality of power amplifiers (one or more amplifiers (e.g., PAs 394), Fig. 3 and paragraph 45 )each configured to:
amplify a respective one of the plurality of weighted downlink communications signals (RF front end 390 may be connected to one or more antennas 373 and can include one or more switches 392, one or more amplifiers (e.g., PAs 394 and/or LNAs 391), and one or more filters 393 for transmitting and receiving RF signals on uplink channels and downlink channels, paragraph 45); and
provide the respective one of the plurality of weighted downlink communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of antenna elements (determining the number of antennas at Block 502 can optionally include, at Block 504, determining the effective data rate as a function of at least a computed beamforming or array gain with the number of antennas and a utility function of the RF power consumed by the number of antennas (or RF power consumed by individual RF components in RF circuitry activated by the number of antennas in the antenna array). In an aspect, effective rate determining component 352, e.g., in conjunction with processor(s) 305, memory 302, transceiver 370, communicating component 350, antenna array 373, 400, etc., can determine the effective data rate as a function of at least the computed beamforming or array gain with the number of antennas and the utility function of the RF power consumed by the number of antennas, paragraph 52; indicating the number of antennas may include indicating an integer number of antennas, identifying the antennas being used (e.g., based on an antenna identifier, which may include an identifier of a corresponding module), identifying beamforming parameters of the antennas being used, and/or the like, paragraph 61; At Block 514, one or more devices in a wireless network can be communicated with by using the number of antennas, paragraph 62).
Consider claims 7 and 15, and as applied to claims 6 and 11 respectively above, Ryu discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to selectively deactivate at least a subset of the plurality of antenna elements in the power-saving mode (in using the one or more antennas (e.g., at Block 514), communicating component 340 can terminate power to at least certain parts of RF circuitry for the antennas of the antenna array that are not included in the selected subset of antennas. This can result in actual power consumption savings. For example, this can be distinguished from merely setting beam weights to zero in an antenna code book for the antenna array, which may result in these antennas not being used, but they may still be powered (e.g., the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), variable gain amplifiers (VGAs), etc., may still be powered in these scenarios). Thus, for example, the examples described herein rather than using codebook adaptations, may terminate or result in turning off power to parts of the RF circuitry associated with the antennas, paragraph 63).
Consider claims 9 and 17, and as applied to claims 7 and 15 respectively above, Ryu discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to deactivate at least a subset of the plurality of power amplifiers corresponding to the subset of the plurality of antenna elements (in using the one or more antennas (e.g., at Block 514), communicating component 340 can terminate power to at least certain parts of RF circuitry for the antennas of the antenna array that are not included in the selected subset of antennas. This can result in actual power consumption savings. For example, this can be distinguished from merely setting beam weights to zero in an antenna code book for the antenna array, which may result in these antennas not being used, but they may still be powered (e.g., the voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), variable gain amplifiers (VGAs), etc., may still be powered in these scenarios). Thus, for example, the examples described herein rather than using codebook adaptations, may terminate or result in turning off power to parts of the RF circuitry associated with the antennas, paragraph 63).
Consider claim 21, and as applied to claim 20 above, Rune discloses
further comprising: a plurality of legacy base stations configured to collectively determine whether the UE is approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell; and a centralized services node configured to generate an indication signal in response to the plurality of legacy base stations determining that the UE is approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell; wherein the control circuit is further configured to determine that the UE is approaching the coverage cell from outside the coverage cell in response to receiving the indication signal received from the centralized services node (This way, not only those UEs detectable by the first base station itself are considered but also those UEs that are detectable by the neighboring second base stations in the radio cells controlled by the second base stations, p. 26, ll. 12-15; The home base station 102 may be connected to the macro base stations via an optional gateway 106 and/or via an optional Mobility Management Entity (MME), see fig. 2 and p. ll. 5-7).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Rune with the teachings of Ryu to switch between power-saving mode and regular mode more quickly.
Claims 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu in view of Rune, and further in view of Ryoo et al (US 20200037345 A1, hereinafter Ryoo).
Consider claims 4 and 13, and as applied to claims 3 and 12 respectively above, the combination of Ryu and Rune does not expressly disclose wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
determine that no UE is currently located in the coverage cell if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
no random-access channel (RACH) message is received withing a defined interval; and
no UE is currently attached to the wireless device; and
determine that at least one UE is currently located in the coverage cell if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
a RACH message is received withing the defined interval; and
at least one UE is currently attached to the wireless device.
In the same field of endeavor, Ryoo discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
determine that no UE is currently located in the coverage cell if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
no random-access channel (RACH) message is received withing a defined interval; and
no UE is currently attached to the wireless device; and
determine that at least one UE is currently located in the coverage cell if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
a RACH message is received withing the defined interval; and
at least one UE is currently attached to the wireless device (Whether the UE is located in a cell center area from the eNB or in a boundary area is determined on the basis of a distance threshold between the UE and the ENB or a received signal value (for example, RSRP/RSRQ) [0689] According to an embodiment, since the corresponding information can be detected in the RA preamble transmission and RAR reception process in the RACH operation, the RRC state-related operation mode for transmitting data is determined on the basis thereof, paragraphs 688-689)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Ryoo with the teachings of Ryu and Rune to improve power efficiency.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu in view of Rune, and further in view of Zhang et al (US 20140093012 A1, hereinafter Zhang).
Consider claim 8, and as applied to claim 7 above, the combination of Ryu and Rune does not expressly disclose wherein the control circuit is further configured to deactivate the subset of the plurality of antenna elements during a subset of a plurality of timeslots configured for transmitting the downlink communications signal.
In the same field of endeavor, Zhang discloses wherein the control circuit is further configured to deactivate the subset of the plurality of antenna elements during a subset of a plurality of timeslots configured for transmitting the downlink communications signal (turning off the determined number of antennas during the turning-off time includes: evenly selecting, from the data transmission period, the timing units in which the antennas are to be turned off, so that the timing units are evenly distributed in the data transmission period, where the sum of time of all the timing units in which the antennas are to be turned off is the determined turning-off time, a timing unit is taken as the minimum time unit of the data transmission period, and the timing unit includes a symbol, a timeslot, a subframe, or a frame, paragraph 50).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of Ryu and Rune to decrease power consumption in a multiple-antenna system.
Claims 22-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu in view of Rune, and further in view of Larsen (US 20100296816 A1).
Consider claim 22, and as applied to claim 18 above, the combination of Ryu and Rune does not expressly disclose a distributed communications system (DCS), the DCS comprising: a digital routing unit (DRU) coupled to a centralized services node via a baseband unit (BBU); and a plurality of remote units each coupled to the DRU via a plurality of optical fiber-based communications mediums, respectively; wherein: the DRU is configured to: receive the downlink communications signal from the centralized services node; convert the downlink communications signal into a plurality of downlink communications signals; distribute the plurality of downlink communications signals to the plurality of remote units, respectively; receive a plurality of uplink communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively; convert the plurality of uplink communications signals into the uplink communications signal; and provide the uplink communications signal to the centralized services node.
In the same field of endeavor, Larsen discloses a distributed communications system (DCS), the DCS comprising:
a digital routing unit (DRU) coupled to a centralized services node via a baseband unit (BBU) (BBU 422, Fig. 4); and
a plurality of remote units each coupled to the DRU via a plurality of optical fiber-based communications mediums, respectively (The BBU 422 takes baseband signal input directly from the BSC 404 via a baseband digital link 405, then splits and routes the input baseband signal to one or more remote radio heads 424-2, 424-2, 424-3, . . . , 424-N via low-power digital-optical links 423-2, 423-2, 423-3, . . . , 423-N, Fig. 4 and paragraph 45); wherein:
the DRU is configured to: receive the downlink communications signal from the centralized services node; convert the downlink communications signal into a plurality of downlink communications signals; distribute the plurality of downlink communications signals to the plurality of remote units, respectively; receive a plurality of uplink communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively; convert the plurality of uplink communications signals into the uplink communications signal; and provide the uplink communications signal to the centralized services node (In the RRH architecture, a baseband unit (BBU) 422 is used instead of a DAS head end to distribute and receive signals from an array of remote antennas. The BBU 422 takes baseband signal input directly from the BSC 404 via a baseband digital link 405, then splits and routes the input baseband signal to one or more remote radio heads 424-2, 424-2, 424-3, . . . , 424-N via low-power digital-optical links 423-2, 423-2, 423-3, . . . , 423-N., Fig. 4 and paragraph 45).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Larsen with the teachings of Ryu and Rune to integrate different types of wireless access infrastructures within their core transport and services networks and to share common infrastructure offering cost and operational benefits to network owners and operators.
Consider claim 23, and as applied to claim 22 above, Larsen discloses wherein: the DRU comprises: an electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter configured to convert the plurality of downlink communications signals into a plurality of downlink optical communications signals, respectively; and an optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter configured to convert a plurality of uplink optical communications signals into the plurality of uplink communications signals, respectively; and the plurality of remote units each comprises:
a respective O/E converter configured to convert a respective one of the plurality of downlink optical communications signals into a respective one of the plurality of downlink communications signals (Each illustrated electro-optical converter 318 converts its respective input signal 317 to low-power digital-optical signal for transmission to one of the remote nodes 320 via one of the fiber optic links 319. The digital-optical signal carried on each fiber optic link comprises an optical representation of the RF carrier signal to be transmitted by the receiving remote antenna node. The digital-optical signal received by each remote antenna node drives a low-power radio transmitter in the node, which then generates the RF signal for transmission by the antenna, Fig. 3 and paragraphs 37-38); and a
respective E/O converter configured to convert a respective one of the plurality of uplink communications signals into a respective one of the plurality of uplink optical communications signals (In the reverse direction, RF air interface signals received at the remote nodes from wireless access devices are relayed as digital-optical RF signals back to the electro-optical converters on the fiber optic links 319, where they are converted into digital-electric signals and combined by the RF conditioning module 316 for transport back to the BTS 308, paragraph 41).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Larsen with the teachings of Ryu and Rune to integrate different types of wireless access infrastructures within their core transport and services networks and to share common infrastructure offering cost and operational benefits to network owners and operators.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 2/6/2026 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GERMAN VIANA DI PRISCO whose telephone number is (571)270-1781. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:30-5:00 EST.
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/GERMAN VIANA DI PRISCO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642