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 .
This Action is in response to Applicant’s Appeal Brief filed on 11/24/2025. Claims 1-2,4-8,11,13,15-16,18,21-24,26-28 and 30 are still pending in the present application. This Action is made NON-FINAL.
In view of the appeal brief filed on 11/24/2025, PROSECUTION IS HEREBY REOPENED. New grounds of rejection are set forth below.
To avoid abandonment of the application, appellant must exercise one of the following two options:
(1) file a reply under 37 CFR 1.111 (if this Office action is non-final) or a reply under 37 CFR 1.113 (if this Office action is final); or,
(2) initiate a new appeal by filing a notice of appeal under 37 CFR 41.31 followed by an appeal brief under 37 CFR 41.37. The previously paid notice of appeal fee and appeal brief fee can be applied to the new appeal. If, however, the appeal fees set forth in 37 CFR 41.20 have been increased since they were previously paid, then appellant must pay the difference between the increased fees and the amount previously paid.
A Supervisory Patent Examiner (SPE) has approved of reopening prosecution by signing at the end of this Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI.
Regarding claim 1, Shellhammer discloses user equipment device (UE), comprising:
at least one primary communication radio ((FIG. 1: Primary Radio 116), [0040]),
at least one wakeup radio (FIG. 1: Wakeup Radio 117), [0040]), and
one or more processors ((not shown but inherent in all UEs such as the one disclosed in Fig. 1: 115), [par. 0006]) coupled to the at least one primary communication radio and the at least one wakeup radio,
wherein in the first RRC state, the at least one primary communication radio of the UE is powered on and the at least one wakeup radio of the UE is powered off, and wherein in the low power state, the at least one primary communication radio is powered off and the at least one wakeup radio is powered on, ([0080], [0079] “At block 605, the wireless device 115-c may initiate a low-power mode. A wireless device 115-c may initiate the low-power mode due to a lack of user activity. In an effort to conserve power in a battery-powered device, the wireless device 115-c may enter the low-power state such as a sleep state or a connected standby state. As part of the low-power mode, the wireless device 115-c may turn-off a primary radio (e.g., primary radio 116, 816) to
conserve power”);
and report, to a base station, supported sensitivity of the at least one wakeup radio in response to a transition from the first RRC state to the low power state, ([0080] “The wireless device 115-c may transmit an indication 610 to the AP 105-c that the wireless device 115-c is entering a low-power state. During a low-power state, the wireless device 115-c may wake up at regular intervals to determine whether pending communications are waiting to be transmitted to the wireless device 115-c by the AP 105-c. The indication 610 may be configured to synchronize the regular wakeup intervals between the wireless device 115-c and the AP 105-c. […] [0081] At block 615, the AP 105-c may identify a proximity of the wireless device 115-c. In some examples, the identifying may be based at least in part on receiving the indication 610. In some examples, the identifying may be performed at regular intervals independent of the indication 610. As used herein, the term proximity may refer to a sensitivity of a low-power radio (e.g., wakeup radio 117) of the wireless device 115-c to messages transmitted by the AP 105-c. […]”).
However, Shellhammer does not specifically disclose, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE to: support a transition between a first radio resource control (RRC) state and a low power state.
In the same field of endeavor, YAGI discloses, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE to: support a transition between a first radio resource control (RRC) state and a low power state, ([0069] “The communication equipment 100 transitions from the RRC connection state (Connect state) to the RRC idle state (Idle state). When the transitioning to the RRC idle state, the state shifts to the sleep state where the monitoring of paging messages is stopped”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) to include the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]). One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to assess the proximity (sensitivity) between the AP 105-c and the wireless device 115-c, Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]).
Regarding claim 23, Shellhammer discloses a method for wakeup signal monitoring, comprising:
a user equipment device (UE) ((FIG. 1: 115), [0040] “the wireless device may periodically wakeup its low-power receiver and listen for a wakeup message from an access point (AP)”),
wherein in the first RRC state, a primary communication radio of the UE is powered on and a wakeup radio of the UE is powered off, and wherein in the low power state, the primary communication radio is powered off and the wakeup radio is powered on, ([0080] [0079] “At block 605, the wireless device 115-c may initiate a low-power mode. A wireless device 115-c may initiate the low-power mode due to a lack of user activity. In an effort to conserve power in a battery-powered device, the wireless device 115-c may enter the low-power state such as a sleep state or a connected standby state. As part of the low-power mode, the wireless device 115-c may turn-off a primary radio (e.g., primary radio 116, 816) to conserve power”);
and reporting, to a base station, supported sensitivity of the wakeup radio in response to a transition from the first RRC state to the low power state, ([0080] “The wireless device 115-c may transmit an indication 610 to the AP 105-c that the wireless device 115-c is entering a low-power state. During a low-power state, the wireless device 115-c may wake up at regular intervals to determine whether pending communications are waiting to be transmitted to the wireless device 115-c by the AP 105-c. The indication 610 may be configured to synchronize the regular wakeup intervals between the wireless device 115-c and the AP 105-c. […] [0081] At block 615, the AP 105-c may identify a proximity of the wireless device 115-c. In some examples, the identifying may be based at least in part on receiving the indication 610. In some examples, the identifying may be performed at regular intervals independent of the indication 610. As used herein, the term proximity may refer to a sensitivity of a low-power radio (e.g., wakeup radio 117) of the wireless device 115-c to messages transmitted by the AP 105-c. […]”).
However, Shellhammer does not specifically disclose supporting a transition between a first radio resource control (RRC) state and a low power state.
In the same field of endeavor, YAGI discloses supporting a transition between a first radio resource control (RRC) state and a low power state, ([0069] “The communication equipment 100 transitions from the RRC connection state (Connect state) to the RRC idle state (Idle state). When the transitioning to the RRC idle state, the state shifts to the sleep state where the monitoring of paging messages is stopped”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) to include the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]). One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to assess the proximity (sensitivity) between the AP 105-c and the wireless device 115-c, Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]).
Claims 2 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of TOMEBA et al. (US 20200120605 A1), hereinafter TOMEBA, and further in view of LEE et al. (EP 3282739 B1), hereinafter LEE.
Regarding claim 2, as applied to claim 1 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI, does not disclose wherein the supported sensitivity of the at least one wakeup
radio is based, at least in part, on assistance information received from the base station.
In the same field of endeavor, TOMEBA discloses wherein the supported sensitivity of the at least one wakeup radio is based, at least in part, on assistance information received from the base station, ([0058] “the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus enter into an operation of demodulating at least the signal of the PHY layer. Accordingly, the carrier sense level can also be considered as minimum reception power (minimum reception sensitivity) at which the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus can correctly demodulate the received frame”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to incorporate the minimum reception sensitivity disclosed by TOMEBA. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the base station and terminal apparatuses to accurately modulate the received frame, TOMEBA ([0058]).
However, YAGI as modified by Shellhammer and TOMEBA, does not disclose, and wherein the assistance information includes adjacent channel deployment.
In the same field of endeavor, LEE discloses, and wherein the assistance information includes adjacent channel deployment,([0004] “a LTE TX can interfere a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth RX also due to side lobe signal of adjacent channels […] If in-device co-existence interference is detected due to concurrent use of the first and second radio technologies, the mobile device provides assistance information to the base stations, based on which the base stations alleviate or reduce the effects of the detected interference. The assistance information may comprise in-device coexistence configuration data”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and TOMEBA to incorporate the in-device co-existence interference detection capability disclosed by LEE. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the interfering signals resulting from the use of concurrent channels are detected, provided to the base stations, and relied upon to reduce the effects, LEE ([0004]).
Regarding claim 24, as applied to claim 23 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI does not disclose wherein the supported sensitivity of the wakeup radio is based, at least in part, on assistance information received from the base station.
In the same field of endeavor, TOMEBA discloses wherein the supported sensitivity of the wakeup radio is based, at least in part, on assistance information received from the base station, ([0058] “the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus enter into an operation of demodulating at least the signal of the PHY layer. Accordingly, the carrier sense level can also be considered as minimum reception power (minimum reception sensitivity) at which the base station apparatus and the terminal apparatus can correctly demodulate the received frame”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to incorporate the minimum reception sensitivity disclosed by TOMEBA. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the base station and terminal apparatuses to accurately modulate the received frame, TOMEBA ([0058]).
However, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI and TOMEBA, does not disclose, wherein the assistance information includes adjacent channel deployment.
In the same field of endeavor, LEE discloses, wherein the assistance information includes adjacent channel deployment,([0004] “a LTE TX can interfere a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth RX also due to side lobe signal of adjacent channels […] If in-device co-existence interference is detected due to concurrent use of the first and second radio technologies, the mobile device provides assistance information to the base stations, based on which the base stations alleviate or reduce the effects of the detected interference. The assistance information may comprise in-device coexistence configuration data”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and TOMEBA to incorporate the in-device co-existence interference detection capability disclosed by LEE. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so that the interfering signals resulting from the use of concurrent channels are detected, provided to the base stations, and relied upon to reduce the effects, LEE ([0004]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of WILHELMSSON et al. (US 20200235769 A1), hereinafter WILHELMSSON.
Regarding claim 4, as applied to claim 1 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI does not disclose wherein the supported sensitivity indicates that the UE is not capable of receiving a wakeup signal.
In the same field of endeavor, WILHELMSSON discloses wherein the supported sensitivity indicates that the UE is not capable of receiving a wakeup signal, ([0017], [0025], [0071]- [0072]), “the WUR typically detects the presence of a WUS by correlation in the digital domain, the detection of strong adjacent interference would typically be performed by just estimating the received power in the analog domain. This is feasible as the power level of an interfering signal that potentially can cause harm will be, say, 30-40 dB stronger than the power of a WUS to be detected”; essentially the information from base station can be used to determine interfering signals that are strong enough to be stronger than the power of the WUS signal to be detected (~i.e., an indication of not receiving or not being capable of receiving the wakeup signal).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to incorporate the received power in the analog domain, disclosed by WILHELMSSON. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the WUR to determine interfering signals that are strong enough to be stronger than the power of the WUS signal to be detected, WILHELMSSON ([0017], [0025], [0071]- [0072]).
Claims 5 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG.
Regarding claim 5, as applied to claim 1 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI does not disclose wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: monitor, via the wakeup radio, one or more resources configured by the base station for a wakeup signal, wherein a configuration for the wakeup signal includes one or more of a periodicity, offset, frequency location, time occupancy, or frequency occupancy of the wakeup signal.
In the same field of endeavor, LJUNG discloses wherein the one
or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: monitor, via the wakeup radio, one or more resources configured by the base station for a wakeup signal, wherein a configuration for the wakeup signal includes one or more of a periodicity, offset, frequency location, time occupancy, or frequency occupancy of the wakeup signal ([0098] “the control message 4001 may be indicative of certain properties associated with the wake-up technology implemented by the UE 130 and the wake-up signal configuration by the eNB 112. Further, the control message 4001 could contain configuration information of the preamble, such as its length and transmission periodicity”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to include the control message 4001 disclosed by LJUNG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to indicate configuration information of the preamble, such as transmission periodicity”, LJUNG [0098]).
Regarding claim 30, as applied to claim 23 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI does not disclose the UE, receiving, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station, wherein a preamble of the wakeup signal is constructed with at least one of: a one-dimensional optical orthogonal code (OOC); a two-dimensional OOC; a Hadamard code; or an m-sequence or a segment of Gold sequence; and wherein selection of the preamble is based, at least in part, on one or more of: a cell identifier (cell-ID); a UE identifier (UE-ID); a UE group identifier (UE-group ID); time parameters; or a wakeup signal configuration index.
In the same field of endeavor, LJUNG discloses, the UE, receiving, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station, wherein a preamble of the wakeup signal is constructed with at least one of: a one-dimensional optical orthogonal code (OOC); a two-dimensional OOC; a Hadamard code; or an m-sequence or a segment of Gold sequence; and wherein selection of the preamble is based, at least in part, on one or more of: a cell identifier (cell-ID); a UE identifier (UE-ID); a UE group identifier (UE-group ID); time parameters; or a wakeup signal configuration index; ([0044] “The wake-up signal may be received by a dedicated low-power receiver of the UE. [0079] it may be possible to add a preamble to the wake-up signal. [0073] FIG. 7 illustrates aspects with respect to constructing the wake-up signal. [0074] First, a certain base sequence is selected, 2001. For example, the base sequence may be a randomly generated set of bits. For example, the base sequence may be unique for a UE or a group of UEs, and hence may correspond to a UE identity number. For example, the base sequence may be selected from the group including: a Zadoff-Chu sequence; a sequence selected from a set of orthogonal or quasi-orthogonal sequences; a Walsh-Hadamard sequence; a PN sequence; and a M sequence. For example, selecting the particular base sequence or type of base sequence can be subject to sequence design of the wake-up signal”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to include identity-based receiving capability disclosed by LJUNG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the UE to receive wake-up signals with an added preamble, whose base sequence corresponds to the UE identity
number, LJUNG, ([0044], [0079], [0073], [0074]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, and further in in view of Nimbalker et al. (US 20220116875 A1), hereinafter Nimbalker.
Regarding claim 6, as applied to claim 5 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI and LJUNG does not disclose wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: upon detection of the wakeup signal, perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the wakeup signal or wakeup signals from other cells.
In the same field of endeavor, Nimbalker discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: upon detection of the wakeup signal, perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the wakeup signal or wakeup signals from other cells ([0112] “upon detection of a WUS during a WMO, the UE can be configured to perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements using a first configuration (e.g., a first set of SSBs, CSI-RSs, and/or serving cells)”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and LJUNG to incorporate the WUS detection capability disclosed by Nimbalker. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the UE to perform RRM measurements upon detecting WUS, Nimbalker ([0112]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, and further in in view of MIAO et al. (US 20210234657), hereinafter MIAO.
Regarding claim 7, as applied to claim 5 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI and LJUNG does not disclose wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to:
determine that the wakeup signal received from the base station is not strong enough for radio resource management (RRM) measurements on a wakeup radio layer of the UE; and
activate, based on the determination, the at least one primary communication radio to perform the RRM measurements.
In the same field of endeavor, MIAO discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: determine that the wakeup signal received from the base station is not strong enough for radio resource management (RRM) measurements on a wakeup radio layer of the UE; and activate, based on the determination, the at least one primary communication radio to perform the RRM measurements, ([0069] “the processor is further configured to: if a received power of the reference signal is less than a first threshold or a reception quality of the reference signal is less than a second threshold after the RRM measurement, start RRM measurement to a neighboring cell”); and
activate, based on the determination, the primary communication radio to perform the RRM measurements ([0069] “the processor is further configured to: if a received power of the reference signal is less than a first threshold or a reception quality of the reference signal is less than a second threshold after the RRM measurement, start RRM measurement to a neighboring cell”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and LJUNG to integrate the processor whose configurations determine quality of the reference signal, disclosed by MIAO. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so the processor may start RRM measurement if a reception quality of the reference signal is less than a second threshold, MIAO ([0069]).
Claims 8 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, and further in view of Takeda et al. (US
20220201608 A1), hereinafter Takeda.
Regarding claim 8 as applied to claim 1 above, YAGI as modified by Shellhammer does not disclose wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: receive, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station.
In the same field of endeavor, LJUNG discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: receive, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station, ([0014] “the method further includes communicating, between the base station and the receiver of the terminal in a low-power state, the wake-up signal in accordance with the sequence design”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to include the wake-up signal disclosed by LJUNG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so the terminal in a low-power state may receive the wake-up signal in accordance with the sequence design, LJUNG ([0014]).
However, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI and LJUNG does not disclose process the wakeup signal to generate a sequence; and correlate the sequence to one or more sequences stored on the UE, wherein the one or more sequences are selected for correlation via at least one of RRC signaling between the base station and the UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) received from the base station, or
dynamic signaling between the base station and the UE.
In the same field of endeavor, Takeda discloses process the wakeup signal to generate a sequence; and correlate the sequence to one or more sequences stored on the UE, wherein the one or more sequences are selected for correlation via at least one of RRC signaling between the base station and the UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) received from the base station, or dynamic signaling between the base station and the UE,([0057] “a plurality of WUS sequences are generated by multiplying a base WUS sequence by orthogonal signs, that is, signs with zero or low cross-correlation, and one of the generated WUS sequences is selected and transmitted. [0071] The configuration information may be transmitted by RRC signaling, MAC CE, DCI, or otherwise. [0088] configuration information indicating that the legacy WUS and the Rel. 16_WUS are configured on the same WUS resource is transmitted from the base station apparatus 20 to the user equipment 10”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and LJUNG to include the generated WUS sequences disclosed by Takeda. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable a selection and transmission of a WUS that is in accordance with the sequence design, Takeda ([0057], [0071], [0088]).
Regarding claim 28 as applied to claim 23 above, Shellhammer as modified by
YAGI does not disclose the UE, receiving, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station.
In the same field of endeavor, LJUNG discloses the UE, receiving, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station, ([0014] “the method further includes communicating, between the base station and the receiver of the terminal in a low-power state, the wake-up signal in accordance with the sequence design”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to include the wake-up signal disclosed by LJUNG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so the terminal in a low-power state may receive the wake-up signal in accordance with the sequence design, LJUNG ([0014]).
However, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI and LJUNG does not disclose processing the wakeup signal to generate a sequence; and correlating the sequence to one or more sequences stored on the UE.
In the same field of endeavor, Takeda discloses, processing the wakeup signal to generate a sequence; and correlating the sequence to one or more sequences stored on the UE, ([0057] “a plurality of WUS sequences are generated by multiplying a base WUS sequence by orthogonal signs, that is, signs with zero or low cross-correlation, and one of the generated WUS sequences is selected and transmitted”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and LJUNG to include the generated WUS sequences disclosed by Takeda. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable a selection and transmission of a WUS that is in accordance with the sequence design, Takeda ([0057], [0071], [0088]).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, further in view of Takeda et al. (US 20220201608 A1), hereinafter Takeda, further in view of SJÖLAND et al (US 20220256460 A1), hereinafter SJÖLAND, and further in view of Sengupta et al. (US 20190229973 A1), hereinafter Sengupta.
Regarding claim 11, as applied to claim 8 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI, LJUNG, and Takeda does not disclose wherein, to process the wakeup signal to generate the sequence, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: perform analog to digital conversion of the wakeup signal to generate a digital representation of the wakeup signal.
In the same field of endeavor, SJÖLAND discloses wherein, to process the wakeup signal to generate the sequence, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: perform analog to digital conversion of the wakeup signal to generate a digital representation of the wakeup signal; ([0122] “The controller 700 may be further configured to cause (e.g., configured to perform) conversion of the filtered WUS from analog domain to digital domain using a sampling rate that corresponds to the information symbol rate (compare with step 330 of FIG. 3). [0123] To this end, the controller 700 may comprise, or be otherwise associated with, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC; e.g., analog-to-digital conversion circuitry or an analog-to-digital conversion module) 703. The analog-to-digital converter may be configured to convert the filtered WUS from analog domain to digital domain using a sampling rate that corresponds to the information symbol rate”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI, LJUNG, and Takeda to include the ADC disclosed by SJÖLAND. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the controller to perform conversion of the WUS from analog domain to digital domain, SJÖLAND ([0122]).
However, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI, LJUNG, Takeda, and SJÖLAND does not disclose, and perform a threshold setting function to generate a sequence of ones and zeroes.
In the same field of endeavor, Sengupta discloses, and perform a threshold setting function to generate a sequence of ones and zeroes; ([0164] “...the binary sequence may be generated by minimizing a maximum sidelobe amplitude in a Hamming autocorrelation function. As an example, as described in Table 1, the binary sequence {1, 0, 1, 1} for transmitting the RSS 540 having a duration of 4 ms, may correspond to a binary sequence that has a minimum sidelobe amplitude in the autocorrelation function [0165] the multiple repetitions of the first sequence S1 and the second sequence S2 may be arranged according to the 0s and 1s in the binary sequence. In one example, the binary sequence may include the first sequence S1 in places where the binary sequence includes 0, and may include the second sequence S2 in places where the binary sequence includes 1 […] a gold sequence or an m-sequence may be used as a binary sequence if the length of the RSS 540 is greater than a threshold. Alternatively, a computer-generated sequence with minimum sidelobe amplitude in a autocorrelation function may be used as a binary sequence if the length of the RSS 540 is less than a threshold”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI, LJUNG, Takeda, and SJÖLAND to include the autocorrelation function disclosed by Sengupta. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to allow a computer-generated sequence to be used as a binary sequence in case the length of the RSS 540 is less than a threshold, Sengupta ([0164], [0165]).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, in view of Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, further in view of ZHOU et al. (US 20220141771 A1), hereinafter ZHOU.
Regarding claim 13, YAGI discloses a non-transitory computer readable memory medium ((FIG. 2: Storage 140), [0041] “The storage 140 includes volatile memory and non-volatile memory, and stores a program to be executed by the controller 130”) storing program instructions executable by processing circuitry to cause a user equipment device (UE) to:
support transition between a first radio resource control (RRC) state and a low power state, ([0069] “The communication equipment 100 transitions from the RRC connection state (Connect state) to the RRC idle state (Idle state). When the transitioning to the RRC idle state, the state shifts to the sleep state where the monitoring of paging messages is stopped”).
However, YAGI does not disclose, wherein in the first RRC state, a primary communication radio of the UE is powered on and a wakeup radio of the UE is powered off, and wherein in the low power state, the primary communication radio is powered off and the wakeup radio is powered on.
In the same field of endeavor, Shellhammer discloses, wherein in the first RRC state, a primary communication radio of the UE is powered on and a wakeup radio of the UE is powered off, and wherein in the low power state, the primary communication radio is powered off and the wakeup radio is powered on, ([0080], [0079] “At block 605, the wireless device 115-c may initiate a low-power mode. A wireless device 115-c may initiate the low-power mode due to a lack of user activity. In an effort to conserve power in a battery-powered device, the wireless device 115-c may enter the low-power state such as a sleep state or a connected standby state. As part of the low-power mode, the wireless device 115-c may turn-off a primary radio (e.g., primary radio 116, 816) to conserve power”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) to include the wireless device 115-c, disclosed by Shellhammer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so the wireless device 115-c may initiate a low-power mode, thus conserve power during the inactivity time, Shellhammer ([0080], [0079]).
However, YAGI as modified by Shellhammer does not disclose, and report, to a base station, a required resource in terms of one or more of time occupancy or frequency occupancy for a wake-up signal.
In the same field of endeavor, ZHOU discloses, and report, to a base station, a required resource in terms of one or more of time occupancy or frequency occupancy for a wake-up signal, [0067], [0082], [0083], [0087] […] the WUS further indicates a PUCCH resource for sending HARQ feedback information by the terminal device. Information used to indicate the PUCCH resource for sending the HARQ feedback information by the terminal device may include the following content: K1 and a HARQ resource indicator (ARI), where K1 is used to indicate a time interval between a slot in which the network side device sends the WUS and a slot in which the terminal device sends the HARQ feedback information. The ARI is specifically used to indicate a specific PUCCH resource used for feedback of the WUS, and may include […] an occupied frequency domain position […].
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) as modified by Shellhammer to include the HARQ feedback information, disclosed by ZHOU. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to indicate the type of resource used, upon receipt of the WUS, in the PUCCH feedback, ZHOU ([0067], [0082], [0083], [0087]).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, in view of Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, further in view of ZHOU et al. (US 20220141771 A1), hereinafter ZHOU, and further in view of TIIROLA et al. (US 20190349815 A1), hereinafter TIIROLA.
Regarding claim 15, as applied to claim 13 above, YAGI as modified by
Shellhammer and ZHOU does not disclose wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processing circuitry to cause the UE to: receive, from the base station, a configuration for a preamble bandwidth of a wakeup signal.
In the same field of endeavor, TIIROLA discloses, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processing circuitry to cause the UE to: receive, from the base station, a configuration for a preamble bandwidth of a wakeup signal; ([0049] “the UE may receive an indication from the network entity, which may be either implicit or explicit. [0056] The UE may determine downlink transmission burst bandwidth based on a specific preamble on the sub-band. The specific preamble may be CSI-RS, PDCCH DMRS, or a wake-up signal”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) as modified by Shellhammer and ZHOU to include the downlink transmission burst bandwidth capability disclosed by TIIROLA. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the UE to receive the specific preamble, which may be a wake-up signal, TIIROLA ([0049], [0056]).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, in view of Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, further in view of ZHOU et al. (US 20220141771 A1), hereinafter ZHOU, and further in view of LJUNG et al. (US
20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG.
Regarding claim 16, as applied to claim 13 above, YAGI as modified by Shellhammer and ZHOU does not disclose wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processing circuitry to cause the UE to: receive, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station, wherein a preamble of the wakeup signal is constructed with at least one of: a one-dimensional optical orthogonal code (OOC); a two-dimensional OOC; a Hadamard code; or an m-sequence or a segment of Gold sequence, and wherein selection of the preamble is based, at least in part, on one or more of: a cell identifier (cell-ID);a UE identifier (UE-ID);a UE group identifier (UE-group ID); time parameters; or a wakeup signal configuration index.
In the same field of endeavor, LJUNG discloses, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processing circuitry to cause the UE to: receive, while in the low power state, a wakeup signal from the base station, wherein a preamble of the wakeup signal is constructed with at least one of: a one-dimensional optical orthogonal code (OOC); a two-dimensional OOC; a Hadamard code; or an m-sequence or a segment of Gold sequence, and wherein selection of the preamble is based, at least in part, on one or more of: a cell identifier (cell-ID);a UE identifier (UE-ID);a UE group identifier (UE-group ID); time parameters; or a wakeup signal configuration index; ([0044] “The wake-up signal may be received by a dedicated low-power receiver of the UE. [0079] it may be possible to add a preamble to the wake-up signal. [0073] FIG. 7 illustrates aspects with respect to constructing the wake-up signal. [0074] First, a certain base sequence is selected, 2001. For example, the base sequence may be a randomly generated set of bits. For example, the base sequence may be unique for a UE or a group of UEs, and hence may correspond to a UE identity number. For example, the base sequence may be selected from the group including: a Zadoff-Chu sequence; a sequence selected from a set of orthogonal or quasi-orthogonal sequences; a Walsh-Hadamard sequence; a PN sequence; and a M sequence. For example, selecting the particular base sequence or type of base sequence can be subject to sequence design of the wake-up signal”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) as modified by Shellhammer and ZHOU to include the dedicated low-power receiver disclosed by LJUNG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the UE to receive the wake-up signal, with an added a preamble, LJUNG ([0079], [0073]).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, in view of Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, further in view of ZHOU et al. (US 20220141771 A1), hereinafter ZHOU, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, and further in view of PARK et al. (US 20180288705 A1), hereinafter PARK.
Regarding claim 18, as applied to claim 16 above, YAGI as modified by Shellhammer, ZHOU and LJUNG does not disclose wherein the preamble includes a cyclic extension, wherein the cyclic extension is a prefix extension, a postfix extension, or a prefix extension and a postfix extension.
In the same field of endeavor, PARK discloses wherein the preamble includes a cyclic extension, wherein the cyclic extension is a prefix extension, a postfix extension, or a prefix extension and a postfix extension; ([0019] “a concept for LP-WUR has been contemplated which is based on the 802.11a/g/n/ac specification which uses a 4 μsec (3.2 μsec+Cyclic Prefix (CP)) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) duration. In a time-domain, the above would provide a symbol duration of 3.2 μsec (taking the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) as 64/20 MHze6). Taking into consideration the legacy preambles using a fixed 0.8 μsec guard band or cyclic prefix extension, the total symbol duration becomes 4 μsec”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) as modified by Shellhammer, ZHOU, and LJUNG to incorporate specifications of the 802.11a/g/n/ac disclosed by PARK. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to allow a consideration of the legacy preambles using a cyclic prefix extension, PARK ([0019]).
Claims 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, in view of Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, further in view of ZHOU et al. (US 20220141771 A1), hereinafter ZHOU, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, and further in view of Van Nee (US 20110211594 A1), hereinafter Nee.
Regarding claim 21, as applied to claim 16 above, YAGI as modified by Shellhammer, ZHOU, and LJUNG does not disclose wherein the preamble is generated using a first sequence to spread a second sequence.
In the same field of endeavor, Nee discloses wherein the preamble is generated using a first sequence to spread a second sequence; ([0045] “the preambles are generated by multiplying at least a portion of the training sequence (such as the STF or the LTF) in each of the data packets with a different spreading sequence. The spreading sequences may be an orthogonal sequence. ACD or CCD may be applied to one or more of the different spreading sequences. Furthermore, each of the training sequences may have nonzero subcarriers, and each of the different spreading sequences may have k values”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) as modified by Shellhammer, ZHOU, and LJUNG to integrate the preambles generating capability disclosed by Nee. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable a multiplication of the training sequence in the data packets with a different spreading
sequence to generate preambles, Nee ([0045]).
Regarding claim 22, as applied to claim 21 above, Nee as included in the combination of references, also discloses wherein at least one of the first sequence or second sequence is an orthogonal code sequence, ([0045] “the preambles are generated by multiplying at least a portion of the training sequence (such as the STF or the LTF) in each of the data packets with a different spreading sequence. The spreading sequences may be an orthogonal sequence. A CD or CCD may be applied to one or more of the different spreading sequences. Furthermore, each of the training sequences may have nonzero subcarriers, and each of the different spreading sequences may have k values”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication equipment 100, disclosed by YAGI ([0069]) as modified by Shellhammer, ZHOU, and LJUNG to integrate the preambles generating capability disclosed by Nee. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable a multiplication of the training sequence in the data packets with a different spreading sequence to generate preambles, Nee ([0045]).
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, and further in view of Nimbalker et al. (US 20220116875 A1), hereinafter Nimbalker.
Regarding claim 26, as applied to claim 23 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI does not disclose the UE, monitoring, via the wakeup radio, one or more resources configured by the base station for a wakeup signal, wherein a configuration for the wakeup signal includes one or more of a periodicity, offset, frequency location, time occupancy, or frequency occupancy of the wakeup signal.
In the same field of endeavor, LJUNG discloses the UE, monitoring, via the wakeup radio, one or more resources configured by the base station for a wakeup signal, wherein a configuration for the wakeup signal includes one or more of a periodicity, offset, frequency location, time occupancy, or frequency occupancy of the wakeup signal ([0098] “the control message 4001 may be indicative of certain properties associated with the wake-up technology implemented by the UE 130 and the wake-up signal configuration by the eNB 112. Further, the control message 4001 could contain configuration information of the preamble, such as its length and transmission periodicity”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI to incorporate the control message 4001, disclosed by LJUNG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to uphold the configuration information of the preamble, such as its transmission periodicity, LJUNG ([0098]).
However, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI and LJUNG does not disclose, and upon detection of the wakeup signal, performing radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the wakeup signal or wakeup signals from other cells.
In the same field of endeavor, Nimbalker discloses, and upon detection of the wakeup signal, performing radio resource management (RRM) measurements on the wakeup signal or wakeup signals from other cells ([0112] “upon detection of a WUS during a WMO, the UE can be configured to perform radio resource management (RRM) measurements using a first configuration (e.g., a first set of SSBs, CSI-RSs, and/or serving cells)”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI and LJUNG to incorporate the WUS detection capability disclosed by Nimbalker. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to enable the UE to perform RRM measurements upon detecting WUS, Nimbalker ([0112]).
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shellhammer et al. (US 20180115952 A1), hereinafter Shellhammer, in view of YAGI et al. (US 20210235539 A1) hereinafter YAGI, further in view of LJUNG et al. (US 20200022081 A1), hereinafter LJUNG, further in view of Nimbalker et al. (US 20220116875 A1), hereinafter Nimbalker, and further in view of MIAO et al. (US 20210234657), hereinafter MIAO.
Regarding claim 27, as applied to claim 26 above, Shellhammer as modified by YAGI, LJUNG, and Nimbalker does not disclose the UE, determining that the wakeup signal received from the base station is not strong enough for radio resource management (RRM) measurements; and activating, based on the determination, the primary communication radio to perform the RRM measurements.
In the same field of endeavor, MIAO discloses the UE, determining that the wakeup signal received from the base station is not strong enough for radio resource management (RRM) measurements; ([0069] “the processor is further configured to: if a received power of the reference signal is less than a first threshold or a reception quality of the reference signal is less than a second threshold after the RRM measurement, start RRM measurement to a neighboring cell”) and
activating, based on the determination, the primary communication radio to perform the RRM measurements ([0069] “the processor is further configured to: if a received power of the reference signal is less than a first threshold or a reception quality of the reference signal is less than a second threshold after the RRM measurement, start RRM measurement to a neighboring cell”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indication 610, disclosed by Shellhammer ([0080], [0081]) as modified by YAGI, LJUNG, and Nimbalker to integrate the processor whose configurations determine quality of the reference signal, disclosed by MIAO. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification so the processor may start RRM measurement if a reception quality of the reference signal is less than a second threshold, MIAO ([0069]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GILBERT GRANT whose telephone number is (703)756-1136. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 7:00 pm, Monday - Thursday.
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/GILBERT M. GRANT/
Examiner, Art Unit 2642
/Rafael Pérez-Gutiérrez/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2642