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 .
Claims 1, 9, 14, 22, 25, 30 have been amended.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 1-11, 13- 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al.(US20220279442) in view of Liang et al.( US20250386226).
Regarding claim 1, 25, Luo teaches An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors ([0342] “The communication apparatus may be a terminal. As shown in figure, the communication apparatus may include: a processor 701, a memory 702, a transceiver 703 and a bus interface 704”);
and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus ([0343] “The processor 701 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and usual processing, and the memory 702 may store data used by the processor 701 during operation execution”) to:
receive an activated network energy state pattern of a plurality of network energy saving state patterns of a network entity (Fig. 3 “S301” [0172-173] “S301: the terminal receives the search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal sent by the base station… The search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal includes first configuration information and/or second configuration information, the first configuration information is search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal used when the terminal is in a short DRX cycle, and the second configuration information is search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal used when the terminal is in a long DRX cycle”, (Examiner’s Note: DRX cycle==network energy state pattern);
wherein the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on one or more capabilities of the UE ([0257] “A time offset offset_short from the power-saving signal to the short DRX cycle and a time offset offset_long from the power-saving signal to the long DRX cycle may be parameters related to user capability, and are implicitly indicated here by configuring the monitoring occasion offset without additionally configuring offset_short and offset_long, and only the monitoring occasion offset and a start position of the DRX cycle meets the above relation”).
Luo does not explicitly teach receive radio resource control signaling, a bit field including a bit value that indicates an activated network energy state pattern and communicate one or more messages with the network entity in accordance with a first network energy saving state of the plurality of network energy saving states that is identified based at least in part on the activated network energy state pattern,
the one or more messages being communicated based at least in part on a time period associated with the first network energy saving state, based at least in part on the radio resource control signaling indicating that the first network energy saving state is active, or both.
Liang teaches receive radio resource control signaling ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”), a bit field including a bit value that indicates an activated network energy state pattern ([0192] “which is a simplified illustration of how time domain network energy saving may be implemented in the procedure of FIG. 5 , for each time domain pattern, the respective bitmap may, for example, use a bit set to ‘1’ to represent a time period (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during which NES is active and a bit set to ‘0’ to represent a time period (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during which NES is inactive (or vice versa), (Examiner’s Note: when the bit is 1 for a NES configuration ==a bit value that indicates activated network energy state pattern),
and communicate one or more messages with the network entity in accordance with a first network energy saving state of the plurality of network energy saving states that is identified based at least in part on the activated network energy state pattern [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”),
the one or more messages being communicated based at least in part on a time period associated with the first network energy saving state, based at least in part on the receive radio resource control signaling indicating that the first network energy saving state is active ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”, [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”, [0069] “least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one power domain configuration, the at least one power domain configuration may indicate at least one of a power scaling factor, or a sleep mode type, to be applied at the access network node for network energy saving”, and [0139] “Beneficially, the NES configuration provided to the UE 3 comprises power domain configuration information that includes information defining a power scaling factor that will be applied during NES and/or information indicating a sleep mode in which the base station 5 may operate when NES is activated. The information indicating a sleep mode may identify a sleep mode ‘type’ based on power level only (such as micro sleep, light sleep or deep sleep). The power domain configuration information may also identify one or more specific cells for which the sleep mode is to be applied, and/or the timing of a wake up cycle from sleep mode”, (Examiner’s Note: the sleep mode defined in the power domain configuration on the NES configuration is similar to the DRX cycle in Luo), or both.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claims 14, 30, Luo teaches An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to ([0336-0337] “As shown in figure, the communication apparatus may include: a processor 601, a memory 602, a transceiver 603 and a bus interface 604 …The processor 601 is responsible for managing a bus architecture and usual processing, and the memory 602 may store data used by the processor 601 during operation execution):
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), (Fig. 2 “S202”, [0109]-[0110] “The search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal includes at least one of first configuration information and second configuration information. The first configuration information is search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal used when a terminal is in a short DRX cycle, and the second configuration information is configuration information for a search space set for the power-saving signal used when the terminal is in a long DRX cycle .. S202: the base station sends the search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal to the terminal”);
wherein the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on one or more capabilities of the UE ([0257] “A time offset offset_short from the power-saving signal to the short DRX cycle and a time offset offset_long from the power-saving signal to the long DRX cycle may be parameters related to user capability, and are implicitly indicated here by configuring the monitoring occasion offset without additionally configuring offset_short and offset_long, and only the monitoring occasion offset and a start position of the DRX cycle meets the above relation”).
Luo does not explicitly teach transmit, to a user equipment (UE), radio resource control signaling, a bit field including a bit value that indicates an activated network energy state pattern, operate in a first network energy saving state of the plurality of network energy saving states that is identified based at least in part on the activated network energy state pattern, operation in the first network energy saving state being based at least in part on a time period being associated with the first network energy saving state, or based at least in part on a radio resource control message indicating that the first network energy saving state is active;
and communicate, with the UE, one or more messages in accordance with the first network energy saving state.
Liang teaches transmit, to a user equipment (UE), radio resource control signaling ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”),
a bit field including a bit value that indicates an activated network energy state pattern ([0192] “which is a simplified illustration of how time domain network energy saving may be implemented in the procedure of FIG. 5 , for each time domain pattern, the respective bitmap may, for example, use a bit set to ‘1’ to represent a time period (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during which NES is active and a bit set to ‘0’ to represent a time period (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during which NES is inactive (or vice versa). (Examiner’s Note: when the bit is 1 for a NES configuration ==a bit value that indicates activated network energy state pattern)”),
operate in a first network energy saving state of the plurality of network energy saving states that is identified based at least in part on the activated network energy state pattern, operation in the first network energy saving state being based at least in part on a time period being associated with the first network energy saving state, or based at least in part on a radio resource control message indicating that the first network energy saving state is active ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”, [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5, [0069] “least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one power domain configuration, the at least one power domain configuration may indicate at least one of a power scaling factor, or a sleep mode type, to be applied at the access network node for network energy saving”, [0139] “Beneficially, the NES configuration provided to the UE 3 comprises power domain configuration information that includes information defining a power scaling factor that will be applied during NES and/or information indicating a sleep mode in which the base station 5 may operate when NES is activated. The information indicating a sleep mode may identify a sleep mode ‘type’ based on power level only (such as micro sleep, light sleep or deep sleep). The power domain configuration information may also identify one or more specific cells for which the sleep mode is to be applied, and/or the timing of a wake up cycle from sleep mode”, (Examiner’s Note: the sleep mode defined in the power domain configuration on the NES configuration is similar to the DRX cycle in Luo) )
and communicate, with the UE, one or more messages in accordance with the first network energy saving state ([0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claims 2, 26 Luo does not explicitly teach wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages with the network entity that is operating in the first network energy saving state based at least in part on a time pattern associated with the plurality of network energy saving states indicating that the network entity is operating in the first network energy saving state.
Liang teaches wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages with the network entity that is operating in the first network energy saving state based at least in part on a time pattern associated with the plurality of network energy saving states indicating that the network entity is operating in the first network energy saving state ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”, [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 3, 27, Luo teaches wherein the ([0015] “In one embodiment, the first configuration information includes a first power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the first power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the short DRX cycle; and the second configuration information includes a second power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the second power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the long DRX cycle”).
Luo does not teach radio resource control signaling.
Liang teaches radio resource control signaling ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”,.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 4, 28, Luo does teaches wherein: each time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern comprises one or more symbols, one or more slots, one or more frames, one or more seconds, one or more milliseconds, one or more time periods, or any combination thereof.
Liang teaches wherein: each time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern comprises one or more symbols, one or more slots, one or more frames, one or more seconds, one or more milliseconds, one or more time periods, or any combination thereof ([0140] “The NES configuration may, for example, include information for joint adaptation of the frequency domain, spatial domain, power domain and/or time domain when NES is active, [0161] “Time Domain NES configuration information: Information identifying a periodicity and timing offset (e.g., a PeriodicityAndOffset IE) defining the start of a timing window during which NES will be activated (for at least some slots/symbols…and information identifying a timing offset (e.g., a respective Offset IE for each time domain pattern), for identifying specific slots (or symbols) of the timing ).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 5, 29, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein: a duration of a respective time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern is based at least in part on a subcarrier spacing of the time pattern.
Liang teaches wherein: a duration of a respective time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern is based at least in part on a subcarrier spacing of the time pattern ([0123] “UE 3 comprises time domain configuration information that includes a configurable periodicity and offset defining a regularly (periodically) occurring window during which an energy saving NES mode is active. The time domain configuration in the exemplary communication system 1 also defines one or more time domain patterns that define specific timings (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during the NES window during which NES is active or inactive. The periodicity, offset and time domain pattern may be defined at any suitable level of timing granularity (which may change between releases and generations of communication technology). “)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 6, Luo teaches wherein the plurality of network energy saving states comprises at least one of a baseline operating state, a reduced energy consumption state ([0015] “and the second configuration information includes a second power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the second power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the long DRX cycle”), a network support operation state, or a flexible operation state.
Regarding claim 7, Luo teaches wherein the [0015] “the first configuration information includes a first power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the first power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the short DRX cycle; and the second configuration information includes a second power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the second power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the long DRX cycle”),
Luo does not explicitly teach radio resource control signaling and wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages based at least in part on the one or more communication parameters that are associated with the first network energy saving state.
Liang teaches radio resource control signaling ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”) and wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages based at least in part on the one or more communication parameters that are associated with the first network energy saving state ([0220] “The information defining at least one NES BWP may define an effective NES BWP by specifying a start offset (e.g., an NESBWPoffset IE) which can be relative to the start position of the configured NES bandwidth) with the remaining parameters (e.g., configuring the length of the BWP, the CORESET, the CSI-RS etc.)”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 9, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein: the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on at least one of a network load or one or more network energy saving parameters, or both.
Liang teaches wherein: the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on at least one of a network load, or one or more network energy saving parameters ([0059] “the at least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one time domain configuration, the at least one time domain configuration may defines at least one time period during which the at least one network energy saving configuration will be active.”), or both.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 10, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein the radio resource control signaling which indicates that the first network energy saving state is active by indicating a change in one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) reporting configuration parameters, a change in an indicated transmission power of the network entity, or a change in one or more dynamic grant configurations for the one or more messages, or any combination thereof.
Liang teaches wherein the radio resource control signaling which indicates that the first network energy saving state is active by indicating a change in one or more channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) reporting configuration parameters parameters ([0201] “For the purpose of CSI-Reporting, when CSI reporting is configured at the UE 3 by the base station 5 (at S812), the UE 3 determines (at S814), based on the time domain NES configuration, and the reporting configuration, instances of expected NZP-CSI-RS that occur during an NES timing duration (e.g., times during which NES operations are active). .”), a change in an indicated transmission power of the network entity, or a change in one or more dynamic grant configurations for the one or more messages ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”), or any combination thereof.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 11, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein the radio resource control signaling that indicates that the network entity is operating in the first network energy saving state, wherein the first network energy saving state is a flexible network energy saving state or a default network energy saving state.
Liang teaches wherein the radio resource control signaling ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”) that indicates that the network entity is operating in the first network energy saving state, wherein the first network energy saving state is a flexible network energy saving state or a default network energy saving state ([0122] “ providing flexible time domain energy saving in which both the UE 3 and base station 5 are able to identify the timings at which energy saving is active within the network”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 13, Luo does not teach wherein: the radio resource control signaling indicates one or more communication parameters associated with the first network energy saving state, and wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: modify one or more communication techniques performed by the UE to communicate the one or more messages with the network entity based at least in part on the first network energy saving state, the one or more communication techniques comprising at least one of one or more uplink skipping techniques, one or more scheduling request procedures, one or more beam failure detection and recovery techniques, or one or more random access channel procedures, or any combination thereof.
Liang teaches wherein: the radio resource control signaling indicates one or more communication parameters associated with the first network energy saving state, and wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: modify one or more communication techniques performed by the UE to communicate the one or more messages with the network entity based at least in part on the first network energy saving state ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”), the one or more communication techniques comprising at least one of one or more uplink skipping techniques, one or more scheduling request procedures ([0226] “ or a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH, and for Type-1 or Type-2 configured grant (CG) PUSCH, it will be appreciated that both the active BWP in non-NES mode and the active NES BWP in NES mode may be pre-configured, and BWP switching to the default NES-BWP can be carried out (by auto-switching)”) one or more beam failure detection and recovery techniques, or one or more random access channel procedures, or any combination thereof.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 15, Luo does not teach wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages with the UE while operating in the first network energy saving state based at least in part on a time pattern associated with the plurality of network energy saving states indicating that the network entity is operating in the first network energy saving state.
Liang teaches wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages with the UE while operating in the first network energy saving state based at least in part on a time pattern associated with the plurality of network energy saving states indicating that the network entity is operating in the first network energy saving state ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”, [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 16, Luo teaches wherein the ([0015] “In one embodiment, the first configuration information includes a first power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the first power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the short DRX cycle; and the second configuration information includes a second power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the second power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the long DRX cycle”).
Luo does not teach radio resource control signaling.
Liang teaches radio resource control signaling ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 17, Luo teaches wherein: each time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern comprises one or more symbols, one or more slots, one or more frames, one or more seconds, one or more milliseconds, one or more time periods, or any combination thereof ([0126] “Taking an example that the slot serves as the unit, the start position of the monitoring occasion for the power-saving signal during the short DRX cycle may be determined according to the first monitoring occasion offset offset_1, and the start position of the monitoring occasion for the power-saving signal during the long DRX cycle may be determined according to the second monitoring occasion offset offset_2”).
Regarding claim 18, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein: a duration of a respective time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern is based at least in part on a subcarrier spacing of the time pattern.
Liang teaches wherein: a duration of a respective time interval of a quantity of time intervals of the time pattern is based at least in part on a subcarrier spacing of the time pattern ([0060] “he at least one time domain configuration may include an indication of at least one of: at least one periodicity of the at least one time period; at least one offset representing a start time of the at least one time period; at least one granularity for the at least one time period; at least one duration of the at least one time period; at least one timer value for timing the at least one time period; or at least one time of day corresponding to the at least one time period. The at least one time domain configuration may include timing information indicating at least one part of the of the at least one time period during which network energy saving will be active or inactive. “)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 19, Luo teaches wherein: the plurality of network energy saving states comprise at least one of a baseline operating state, a reduced energy consumption state ([0015] “and the second configuration information includes a second power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the second power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the long DRX cycle”), a network support operation state, or a flexible operation state.
Regarding claim 20, Luo teaches wherein: the [0015] “the first configuration information includes a first power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the first power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the short DRX cycle; and the second configuration information includes a second power-saving signal monitoring pattern, and the second power-saving signal monitoring pattern is a power-saving signal monitoring pattern used when the terminal is in the long DRX cycle”).
Luo does not explicitly teach radio resource control signaling and wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages in accordance with the first network energy saving state.
Liang teaches radio resource control signaling and wherein the instructions to communicate the one or more messages are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate the one or more messages in accordance with the first network energy saving state ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”, [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”)
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 22, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein: the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on at least one of a network load, or one or more network energy saving parameters , or both.
Liang teaches wherein: the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on at least one of a network load, or one or more network energy saving parameters ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”), or both.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 23, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein the radio resource control signaling that indicates that the network entity that is operating in the first network energy saving state that is a flexible network energy saving state or a default network energy saving state.
Liang teaches wherein the radio resource control signaling that indicates that the network entity that is operating in the first network energy saving state that is a flexible network energy saving state or a default network energy saving state he base station 5 and UE 3 are mutually configured to support implementation of an NES mode in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain. As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled.
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 24, Luo does not explicitly teach wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: switching, by the network entity, between two or more of the plurality of network energy saving states over time.
Liang teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processor to cause the apparatus to: switching, by the network entity, between two or more of the plurality of network energy saving states over time ([0123] “ The time domain configuration in the exemplary communication system 1 also defines one or more time domain patterns that define specific timings (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during the NES window during which NES is active or inactive. The periodicity, offset and time domain pattern may be defined at any suitable level of timing granularity (which may change between releases and generations of communication technology))
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo to incorporate the teachings of Liang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce power consumption.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo in view of Liang further in view of Lee et al. (US20240049130).
Regarding claim 12, Luo, Liang does not explicitly teach wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: modify one or more transmission and reception parameters based at least in part on the first network energy saving state, the one or more transmission and reception parameters comprising at least one of one or more uplink power control parameters, one or more antenna rank parameters, or one or more modulation and coding scheme parameters, or any combination thereof, and wherein the one or more messages are communicated based at least in part on the one or more transmission and reception parameters.
Lee teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: modify one or more transmission and reception parameters based at least in part on the first network energy saving state, the one or more transmission and reception parameters comprising at least one of one or more uplink power control parameters, one or more antenna rank parameters ([0330] “The BS energy saving methods may be reclassified into three methods, i.e., 1. a BS energy saving method in a frequency domain which adjusts a size of a BWP according to traffic of a BS, 2. a BS energy saving method in a spatial domain which adaptively decreases the number of antenna ports, and 3. a BS energy saving method in a time domain which adjusts periodicity of CSI-RS, SSB, and DRX”), or one or more modulation and coding scheme parameters, or any combination thereof,
and wherein the one or more messages are communicated based at least in part on the one or more transmission and reception parameters ([0332] “In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, each operation of a method, performed by a BS, of indicating a BS energy saving mode to a UE for BS energy saving will be described”).
It would have been obvious for one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Luo, Liang to incorporate the teachings of Lee. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to increase the efficiency of the system.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Argument
Luo, Liang, and Lee-alone or in any combination-do not teach or suggest all of the features of amended independent claims 1, 14, 25, and 30.
Liang therefore describes a network energy saving configuration that indicates time periods in which the network energy saving is active. Liang's network energy savingPage
configuration, however, does not indicate an activated network energy state pattern that "is based at least in part on one or more capabilities of the UE," as recited in amended independent claim
1. Specifically, Liang describes how a UE operates based on the network energy saving configuration (e.g., Liang's method includes "configuring operation of the UE, based on the at least one network energy saving configuration," Id. [0059]), but does not teach or suggest a network energy state pattern that is based on one or more capabilities of the UE. For at least these reasons, amended independent claim 1 is allowable over Liang.
Examiner’s Response 1’
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The combination of Luo in view of Liang teaches wherein the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on one or more capabilities of the UE.
More specifically, Luo is relied upon to show an activated network energy state pattern of a plurality of network energy saving state patterns of a network entity (Fig. 3 “S301” [0172-173] “S301: the terminal receives the search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal sent by the base station… The search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal includes first configuration information and/or second configuration information, the first configuration information is search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal used when the terminal is in a short DRX cycle, and the second configuration information is search space set configuration information for the power-saving signal used when the terminal is in a long DRX cycle”, (Examiner’s Note: DRX cycle==network energy state pattern) the activated network energy state pattern is based at least in part on one or more capabilities of the UE ([0259] “A time offset offset_short from the power-saving signal to the short DRX cycle and a time offset offset_long from the power-saving signal to the long DRX cycle may be parameters related to user capability, and are implicitly indicated here by configuring the monitoring occasion offset without additionally configuring offset_short and offset_long, and only the monitoring occasion offset and a start position of the DRX cycle meets the above relation”.
More specifically, the activated network energy state pattern == DRX in Luo because a DRX is used by the system to save power for the system, and the sleep and wake part of the DRX cycles are then pattern which is described in 0259 being based on the user capability.
Liang is relied upon to show receive radio resource control signaling indicating a plurality of network energy saving states ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”) and a bit field including a bit value that indicates an activated network energy state pattern ([0192] “which is a simplified illustration of how time domain network energy saving may be implemented in the procedure of FIG. 5 , for each time domain pattern, the respective bitmap may, for example, use a bit set to ‘1’ to represent a time period (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during which NES is active and a bit set to ‘0’ to represent a time period (e.g., a slot, group of slots, or other time period) during which NES is inactive (or vice versa), (Examiner’s Note: when the bit is 1 for a NES ==a bit value that indicates activated network energy state pattern).
Luo and Liang relate because in ( ([0116] “As described in more detail later, the base station 5 configures the NES mode (or updates the NES configuration) and notifies the UE 3 of the of the (updated) NES configuration by using appropriate signalling (e.g., RRC signalling) to signal information elements (IEs) to the UE 3 that define the various aspects of the NES configuration in the time, frequency, spatial, and/or power domain and thus preconfigure the NES mode at the UE 3. An appropriate NES configuration is activated at the base station 5 appropriately when NES is enabled”, [0241-243] “Similarly, the UE 3 receives communications from the base station 5 using the selected beam configuration at S1316 b … The NES operations continue until the NES configuration is deactivated (or updated) as indicated at S1318 a and S1318 b (e.g., as described with reference to FIG. 5 ) …It will be appreciated that, in the uplink, a similar technique can be implemented for measurement, at the base station 5”, [0069] “least one network energy saving configuration includes at least one power domain configuration, the at least one power domain configuration may indicate at least one of a power scaling factor, or a sleep mode type, to be applied at the access network node for network energy saving”, [0139] “Beneficially, the NES configuration provided to the UE 3 comprises power domain configuration information that includes information defining a power scaling factor that will be applied during NES and/or information indicating a sleep mode in which the base station 5 may operate when NES is activated. The information indicating a sleep mode may identify a sleep mode ‘type’ based on power level only (such as micro sleep, light sleep or deep sleep). The power domain configuration information may also identify one or more specific cells for which the sleep mode is to be applied, and/or the timing of a wake up cycle from sleep mode”).
The paragraph further defined shows that the NES configuration contains power domain configuration that includes sleep mode and the type of sleep mode such as micro light sleep, and deep sleep which is similar to the DRX cycle defined in Luo which describes a short DRX cycle and a long DRX cycle. Luo describes that these DRX cycles are based on the users capability.
Conclusion
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/K.T.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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