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 .
Response to Amendment
Amendment filed on 05/13/2026 has been entered. Claim 1, 3 and 5-19 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1, 9-11, 18, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by HE et al. (US 2022/0022057 A1, hereinafter “HE”).
Regarding claim 1:
HE discloses a processor of user equipment (UE) (e.g., Fig. 6, 602, Fig. 12, 1214) configured to perform operations comprising:
generating for transmission to a network (Fig. 6, 604), UE assistance information (UAI) configured to indicate a UL gap activation request, wherein the UAI indicates a preference of the UE for a frequency range (FR2) uplink (UL) gap pattern (e.g., Fig. 6, 614-616, [0100], “the UE 402 may request that the parameter that sets the maximum number of carriers be set to a value indicating one carrier”, [0132], “the UE 602 may request to set the parameter 532 for a coverage level for transmission of UL signals on FR2 to zero.”); and
receiving, from the network in response to the UAI, radio resource control (RRC) configuration information comprising an FR2 UL gap configuration (e.g. Fig. 6, 620, [0101], [0133]).
Regarding claim 9:
HE further discloses wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting, to the network, device UL gap capability information via an RRC signaling, wherein the UL gap capability information comprise one or more of: at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; configuration of the at least one UL gap supported by the UE for power management; or supportability of the mandatory gap for an inter-operability test (IOT) (e.g., [0099], [0100]).
Regarding claim 10:
HE further discloses wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, from the network, a UL gap configuration via an RRC signaling, wherein the UL gap configuration indicates a single UL gap pattern (e.g., [0100], [0101], [0132], [0133]).
Regarding claim 11:
HE further discloses wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, from the network, a UL gap configuration via an RRC signaling, wherein the UL gap configuration indicates one or more UL gap patterns (e.g., [0100], [0101], [0132], [0133]).
Regarding claim 18:
HE discloses a user equipment (UE) (e.g., Fig. 12, 1200), comprising: a transceiver (Fig. 12, 1210) configured to communicate with a network; and a processor (Fig. 12, 1214) communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising: generating for transmission to a network, UE assistance information (UAI) configured to indicate a UL gap activation request, wherein the UAI indicates a preference of the UE for a frequency range (FR2) uplink (UL) gap pattern; and receiving, from the network in response to the UAI, radio resource control (RRC) configuration information comprising an FR2 UL gap configuration. (See rejection for similar features with respect to claim 1.)
Regarding claim 19:
HE discloses a processor of a base station (e.g., Fig. 15, 1514) configured to perform operations comprising: receiving UE assistance information (UAI) from a user equipment (UE) configured to indicate a UL gap activation request, wherein the UAI includes a preference of the UE for a frequency range 2 (FR2)uplink (UL) gap pattern; and generating, for transmission to the UE in response to the UAI, radio resource control (RRC) configuration information comprising an FR2 UL gap configuration. (See rejection for similar features with respect to claim 1.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 3 and 5-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE in view of Yang et al. (US 2022/0014955 A1), hereinafter “Yang”.
Regarding claim 3:
HE does not disclose generating for transmission to the network, further UAI comprising an UL gap deactivation request.
Yang teaches generating an UL gap deactivation request (e.g., [0059], [0072], [0080], Fig. 5, Third message).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention modify the system of HE in view of the teaching by Yang to include the feature that generating for transmission to the network, further UAI comprising an UL gap deactivation request, in order to enable flexible uplink gap configuration by the UE.
Regarding claim 5:
HE further discloses the processor of claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise one or more of: receiving a UL gap activation command from the network via a radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or receiving a UL gap deactivation command from the network via another RRC signaling (e.g., Fig. 6, 620).
Regarding claim 6:
HE does not disclose wherein the operations further comprise one or more of: receiving a UL gap activation command from the network via a MAC CE; or receiving a UL gap deactivation command from the network via another MAC CE.
Yang teaches receiving a UL gap activation command from the network via a MAC CE; or receiving a UL gap deactivation command from the network via another MAC CE (e.g., [0067], [0074], [0079]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention modify the system of HE in view of the teaching by Yang to include the feature wherein the operations further comprise one or more of: receiving a UL gap activation command from the network via a MAC CE; or receiving a UL gap deactivation command from the network via another MAC CE, in order to enable flexible uplink gap configuration by the UE.
Regarding claim 7:
HE further discloses the processor of claim 5, wherein the FR2 UL gap configuration indicates a single UL gap is configured (e.g. [0100], the UE 402 may request that the parameter that sets the maximum number of carriers be set to a value indicating one carrier, [0132], a coverage level for transmission of UL signals on FR2).
Regarding claim 8:
HE further discloses the processor of claim 6, wherein the FR2 UL gap configuration indicates one or more UL gaps are configured (e.g., [0100], [0132]).
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE in view of Luo et al. (US 2024/0007973 A1), hereinafter “Luo”.
Regarding claim 12:
HE does not disclose: performing an event evaluation for UL gap activation based on an event configuration, wherein the event configuration includes at least one trigger condition based on a value of a power management Maximum Power Reduction (P-MPR) field indicating whether power management Maximum Power Reduction (P-MPR) is applied; and transmitting, to the network, device an event triggered UL gap activation request in response to the at least one trigger condition being met.
Luo teaches performing an event evaluation for UL gap activation based on an event configuration, wherein the event configuration includes at least one trigger condition based on a value of a power management Maximum Power Reduction (P-MPR) field indicating whether power management Maximum Power Reduction (P-MPR) is applied; and transmitting, to the network, device an event triggered UL gap activation request in response to the at least one trigger condition being met. (e.g., [0088], “Assuming that the power reduction value P-MPR is 6 dB, which exceeds the threshold (for example, 3 dB) pre-specified by the network, the terminal triggers the MPE report… indicating that the absolute value of the actually used P-MPR is 6 dB…indicating that the beam 1 on panel-ID1 is used as a candidate beam without power reduction for subsequent uplink transmission.”)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention modify the system of HE in view of the teaching by Luo to include the features performing an event evaluation for UL gap activation based on an event configuration, wherein the event configuration includes at least one trigger condition based on a value of a power management Maximum Power Reduction (P-MPR) field indicating whether power management Maximum Power Reduction (P-MPR) is applied; and transmitting, to the network, device an event triggered UL gap activation request in response to the at least one trigger condition being met, in order to prevent uplink transmission failure when transmission power reduction is required.
Regarding claim 13:
HE does not disclose wherein the trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being equal to 1.
Luo teaches a trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being equal to 1 (e.g., [0088], the MPE field is set to 01 (2 bits)).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention modify the system of HE in view of the teaching by Luo to include the feature wherein the trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being equal to 1, in order to prevent uplink transmission failure when transmission power reduction is required.
Regarding claim 14:
HE does not disclose wherein the trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being greater than 0.
Luo teaches a trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being greater than 0 (e.g., [0088], the MPE field is set to 01 (2 bits)).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention modify the system of HE in view of the teaching by Luo to include the feature the trigger condition includes the value of the P-MPR field being greater than 0, in order to prevent uplink transmission failure when transmission power reduction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102 over He
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claim 1 have been considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues He fails to teach the feature of using UE assistance information to request an FR2 uplink gap pattern. See Remarks, page 7. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Applicant states “He discloses a UE that transmits UE assistance information with preferred values for RRC parameters which can be set for coverage levels for transmission of UL signals. The UE assistance information is used to adjust the number of carriers on which the UE is connected. In one example, if UE prefers to deactivate UL transmissions on FR2 when coverage becomes weak, the UE may request to set the parameter for coverage level for transmission of UL signals on FR2 to zero. (See He, [0100]-[0101] and [0132]-[0133])” See Remarks, page 6. Examiner agrees and submits that requesting to set the parameter for coverage level for transmission of UL signals on FR2 to zero when coverage becomes week (in order to deactivate UL transmission on FR2) teaches an FR2 uplink gap pattern. Therefore, He teaches the feature of using UE assistance information to request an FR2 uplink gap pattern.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/BO HUI A ZHU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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