DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 74, 84, 90, and 94 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 74, the claim recites the limitation “…the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration first control information includes a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration that indicates one or more parameters for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process …”, there is a lack of proper antecedent basis for the underlined claimed language, the phrase “the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration” was not previously defined in the claim.
Regarding claims 84, 90, and 94, the claims recite the limitation “…the one or more parameters are set to indicate the UE is not to monitor for a retransmission….”, the limitation is unclear because it is not clear what retransmission the applicant is referring to. The claim is unclear because there is lack of clarity in the claims. Since the claims should be self-consistent and able, alone, to unambiguously define the subject matter of the invention, said limitation should be clearly disclose what monitored retransmission the applicant is referring to. For the purpose of examination, examiner will interpret the limitations as best understood.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 74, 83-84, 87, and 92 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Li et al (WO2021159250).
Regarding claim 74, the cited reference Maleki discloses a method for a network device (Abstract discloses a method includes configuring a first/second set of short/long discontinuous reception, DRX, cycles), comprising: determining a traffic behavior for a user equipment (UE), wherein the traffic behavior includes a plurality of traffic compositions and a traffic pattern for each of the plurality of traffic compositions (¶0149 discloses that the network node 16 monitors the history of WD behavior such as type of traffic and traffic pattern and latency); and generating first control information for transmission to the UE based on the traffic behavior (¶0149 discloses that based on this profile, the network node 16 can determine the WD C-DRX configuration). However, Maleki does not explicitly teach the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration first control information includes a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration that indicates one or more parameters for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, the one or more parameters to include a plurality of timer values to be used to identify at least one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring period for the UE, the plurality of timer values including a first value for a discontinuous reception (DRX) HARQ round trip time timer downlink (HARQ-RTT-TimerDL) and a second value for a DRX retransmission timer downlink (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL).
In an analogous arts the combination of Wang and Yu teaches the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration first control information includes a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration that indicates one or more parameters for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process (Wang discloses in ¶0068 that the information of SPS configuration may include … HARQ process information), the one or more parameters to include a plurality of timer values to be used to identify at least one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring period for the UE, the plurality of timer values including a first value for a discontinuous reception (DRX) HARQ round trip time timer downlink (HARQ-RTT-TimerDL) and a second value for a DRX retransmission timer downlink (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL) (Li discloses in ¶0058 that the network device may configure the DRX function for the terminal device, so that the terminal device continuously monitors the PDCCH. For example, the MAC entity for the terminal device includes the DRX configuration parameter, and the DRX configuration parameter includes a downlink DRXretransmission timer (DRX-RetransmissionTimerDL), a downlink DRX-HARQ round-trip time timer (DRX-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL where ¶0065 discloses that a DRX processing method. A terminal device configures a DRX timer corresponding to a HARQ process).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Wand and Yu to reduce unwanted PDCCH monitoring which can improve mobile UE power consumption and during DRX, a UE may switch off its RF module and/or suspend control channel monitoring between data transmissions to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 83, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Li discloses all limitations of claim 74. Li further discloses generating, for transmission to the UE based on the at least one PDCCH monitoring period, a PDCCH transmission to schedule an SPS retransmission(¶0059 discloses that the DRX cycle includes an active period … and during the active period, the terminal device monitors and receives the PDCCH).
Regarding claim 84, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Li discloses all limitations of claim 83. Li further discloses the plurality of traffic compositions includes first traffic composition associated with adownlink traffic that is latency stringent, the SPS configuration is for the first traffic composition and the one or more parameters are set to indicate the UE is not to monitor for a retransmission, wherein the one or more parameters include: the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL is-set to infinity; the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL is-set equal to the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL; the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL and the drx-RetransmissionTimerDL both set equal to 0(¶0095 discloses that during the running of the DRX-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL timer, the terminal device does not monitor the PDCCH).
Regarding claim 87, the claim is drawn to a method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 74. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 74.
Regarding claim 92, the claim is drawn to apparatus performing substantially the same
features of the method of claim 74. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 74.
Claims 74-75, 77, 83, 87-88, and 92 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577).
Regarding claim 74, the cited reference Maleki discloses a method for a network device (Abstract discloses a method includes configuring a first/second set of short/long discontinuous reception, DRX, cycles), comprising: determining a traffic behavior for a user equipment (UE), wherein the traffic behavior includes a plurality of traffic compositions and a traffic pattern for each of the plurality of traffic compositions (¶0149 discloses that the network node 16 monitors the history of WD behavior such as type of traffic and traffic pattern and latency); and generating first control information for transmission to the UE based on the traffic behavior (¶0149 discloses that based on this profile, the network node 16 can determine the WD C-DRX configuration). However, Maleki does not explicitly teach the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration first control information includes a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration that indicates one or more parameters for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, the one or more parameters to include a plurality of timer values to be used to identify at least one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring period for the UE, the plurality of timer values including a first value for a discontinuous reception (DRX) HARQ round trip time timer downlink (HARQ-RTT-TimerDL) and a second value for a DRX retransmission timer downlink (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL).
In an analogous arts the combination of Wang and Yu teaches the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration first control information includes a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration that indicates one or more parameters for a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process (Wang discloses in ¶0068 that the information of SPS configuration may include … HARQ process information), the one or more parameters to include a plurality of timer values to be used to identify at least one physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring period for the UE, the plurality of timer values including a first value for a discontinuous reception (DRX) HARQ round trip time timer downlink (HARQ-RTT-TimerDL) and a second value for a DRX retransmission timer downlink (drx-RetransmissionTimerDL) (Yu discloses in ¶0073 that the terminal device needs to monitor PDCCH during the DRX activation period. DRX activation period includes the following cases: Case 1: Any one of the five timers: drx-onDurationTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL where ¶0066 discloses that drx-RetransmissionTimerDL for each DL HARQ process and ¶0071 discloses that drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL for each DL-HARQ process).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Wand and Yu to reduce unwanted PDCCH monitoring which can improve mobile UE power consumption and during DRX, a UE may switch off its RF module and/or suspend control channel monitoring between data transmissions to reduce power consumption.
Regarding claim 75, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Yu discloses all limitations of claim 74. Maleki further discloses the first control information comprises a plurality of DRX configurations, wherein each of the plurality of DRX configurations indicates at least one DRX On period (¶0090 discloses that a network node 16 is configured to include a DRX Cycle Configuration unit 32 which is configured to configure a first set of short discontinuous reception, DRX, cycles and a second set of long DRX cycles where ¶0115 discloses configuring, such as via the DRX Cycle Configuration unit 32, a first set of short discontinuous reception, DRX, cycles and a second set of long DRX cycles, each DRX cycle having a duration).
Regarding claim 77, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Yu discloses all limitations of claim 74. Maleki further discloses generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information causes the UE to: modify at least one DRX configuration of the plurality of DRX configurations; (¶0124 discloses that in case a change of configurations becomes necessary, the network node 16 can also indicate through a DCI within the preceding ON duration which setting the WD 22 should use, e.g., within the current DRX cycle. ¶0151 discloses that the network node 16 can consider this information, and perform an eminent change of C-DRX configuration).
Regarding claim 83, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Yu discloses all limitations of claim 74. Yu further discloses generating, for transmission to the UE based on the at least one PDCCH monitoring period, a PDCCH transmission to schedule an SPS retransmission(¶0073 discloses that the terminal device needs to monitor PDCCH during the DRX activation period).
Regarding claim 87, the claim is drawn to a method performing substantially the same
features of the method of claim 74. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 74.
Regarding claim 88, the claim is drawn to a method performing substantially the same
features of the method of claim 75. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 75.
Regarding claim 92, the claim is drawn to apparatus performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 74. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 74.
Claims 76 and 89 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of Xiong et al (US20200120596).
Regarding claim 76, the combination of Maleki, Wang, and Yu discloses all limitations of claim 75. However, Maleki does not explicitly teach generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information causes the UE to: activate at least one DRX configuration of the plurality of DRX configurations; or deactivate at least one DRX configuration of activated DRX configurations.
In an analogous art Xiong teaches generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information causes the UE to: activate at least one DRX
configuration of the plurality of DRX configurations; or deactivate at least one DRX configuration of activated DRX configurations (¶0128 discloses sending a plurality of DRX configurations to the UE; and deliver a control message that includes activating, deactivating, or replacing one or more DRX configurations).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Xiong to enable power saving, lower latency, better QoS, and more efficient network resource use.
Regarding claim 89, the claim is drawn to a method performing substantially the same features of the method of claim 76. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 76.
Claims 78 and 91 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of Seo et al (US20220110054).
Regarding claim 78, the combination of Maleki, Wang, and Yu discloses all limitations of claim 75. However, Maleki does not explicitly teach generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information comprises a plurality of wake-up signal (WUS) configurations corresponding to the plurality of DRX configurations, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of WUS configuration indicates at least one wake-up periodassociated with at least one DRX On period indicated by a corresponding DRX configurations.
In an analogous art Seo teaches generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information comprises a plurality of wake-up signal (WUS) configurations corresponding to the plurality of DRX configurations, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of WUS configuration indicates at least one wake-up period associated with at least one DRX On period indicated by a corresponding DRX configurations (¶0165 discloses a method of configuring/controlling wake up for multiple DRX cycles. ¶0167 discloses configures a WUS monitoring occasion for each DRX cycle and ¶0162 discloses that on-duration (of DRX) associated with WUS may be a 1:1 mapping between WUS and DRX cycle).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Seo where the UE may perform an indicated operation in the DRX cycle based on the detected WUS.
Regarding claim 91, the claim is drawn to a method performing substantially the same
features of the method of claim 78. Therefore, the claim is subject to the same rejection as claim 78.
Claims 79 and 81 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of Shi (US20210176814).
Regarding claim 79, the combination of Maleki, Wang, and Yu discloses all limitations of claim 74. Maleki further discloses wherein the first control information comprises a plurality of DRX configuration sets, wherein each of the plurality of DRX configuration sets comprises at least one DRX configuration, and each of the at least one DRX configuration indicates at least one DRX On period (Abstract discloses configuring a first set of short discontinuous reception, DRX, cycles and a second set of long DRX cycles, each DRX cycle having a duration). However, Maleki does not explicitly teach generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information indicates a target DRX configuration set from the plurality of DRX configuration sets.
In an analogous art Shi teaches generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information indicates a target DRX configuration set from the plurality of DRX configuration sets (¶0021 discloses the terminal device is configured to: determine a target DRX configuration to be used among a plurality of DRX configurations).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Shi where the use of a target DRX configuration provides benefits, particularly in the context of LTE and 5G networks such as extended battery life and minimize network congestion.
Regarding claim 81, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Yu, and Shi discloses all limitations of claim 79. However, the combination does not explicitly teach generating third control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the third control information comprises a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration indicating at least one wake-up period associated with the respective at least one DRX On period indicated by each of the plurality of DRX configurations.
In an analogous art Seo teaches generating third control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the third control information comprises a wake-up signal (WUS) configuration indicating at least one wake-up period associated with the respective at least one DRX On period indicated by each of the plurality of DRX configurations (¶0006 discloses that the UE may monitor the WUS on WUS monitoring occasions within the configured WUS monitoring window.¶0165 discloses a method of configuring/controlling wake up for multiple DRX cycles. ¶0167 discloses configures a WUS monitoring occasion for each DRX cycle and ¶0162 discloses that on-duration (of DRX) associated with WUS may be a 1:1 mapping between WUS and DRX cycle).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Seo where the UE may perform an indicated operation in the DRX cycle based on the detected WUS.
Claims 80 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of Shi (US20210176814), in further view of Zhang et al (US20200245395).
Regarding claim 80, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Yu, and Shi discloses all limitations of claim 79. Shi further discloses the second control information is transmitted via Downlink Control Information (DCI) (¶0088 and ¶0090 disclose the terminal device determines the at least one DRX configuration in the plurality of DRX configurations, including that the terminal device determines the at least one DRX configuration according to indication information received from the network device… the indication information may be carried in DCI). Shi further discloses that the indicationinformation is used to indicate activated and/or deactivated DRX configurations. However, the combination does not explicitly teach wherein a plurality of code states of the DCI corresponds to the plurality of DRX configuration sets, respectively.
In an analogous art Zhang teaches wherein a plurality of code states of the DCI corresponds to the plurality of DRX configuration sets, respectively (¶0353 discloses that the gNB configures the UE with the DRX configuration set(s) to be used as active DRX configuration parameter set through DCI signaling… The DCI includes a bit (for the activation or de-activation of a single DRX configuration parameter set) or a bitmap for the activation or deactivation of more than one DRX configuration parameter set. A bit value of 1 instructs the UE to activate the corresponding DRX configuration parameter set, while a bit value of 0 instructs the UE to deactivate the corresponding DRX configuration parameter set).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Zhang to help the UE to determine when to activate the configuration needed.
Claims 82 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of in view of Shi (US20210176814), in further view of Nam et al (US20200137823).
Regarding claim 82, the combination of Maleki, Wang, Yu, and Shi discloses all limitations of claim 79. However, the combination does not explicitly teach generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information comprises a plurality of wake-up signal (WUS) configurations corresponding to the plurality of traffic compositions, respectively, wherein the plurality of WUS configuration indicates at least one wake-up period associated with the at least one PDCCH monitoring period.
In an analogous art Nam teaches generating second control information for transmission to the UE, wherein the second control information comprises a plurality of wake-up signal (WUS) configurations corresponding to the plurality of traffic compositions, respectively, wherein the plurality of WUS configuration indicates at least one wake-up period associated with the at least one PDCCH monitoring period (¶0068 discloses that the UE 120 may perform a transmission and/or a reception based at least in part on the selected wakeup configuration… the UE 120 may monitor for a PDCCH (e.g., may awaken in a next ON duration) in accordance with the selected wakeup configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Nam to reduce power consumption.
Claims 85 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of 3GPP (3GPP TS 38.331 V15.2.0 (2018-06)).
Regarding claim 85, the combination of Maleki, Wang, and Yu discloses all limitations of claim 83. However, the combination does not explicitly teach wherein the plurality of traffic compositions includes first traffic composition associated with traffic that is latency stringent a corresponding DL traffic is latency stringent and at least one of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL and the drx- RetransmissionTimerDL is set to a predefined state indicating a total length of the at least one DL retransmission scheduling PDCCH monitoring period is equal to 0.
In an analogous art 3GPP teaches wherein the plurality of traffic compositions includes first traffic composition associated with traffic that is latency stringent and at least one of the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL and the drx- RetransmissionTimerDL is set to a predefined state indicating a total length of the at least one DL retransmission scheduling PDCCH monitoring period is equal to 0 (Page 15 discloses
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of 3GPP the use different values of drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL according to the DRX configuration.
Claims 86 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al (US20210400761), in view of Wang et al (US20230319854), in further view of Yu et al (US20230345577), in further view of Hu (US20230048959).
Regarding claim 86, the combination of Maleki, Wang, and Yu discloses all limitations of claim 74. However, the combination does not explicitly teach the first control information comprises a Configured Grant (CG) configuration, wherein the CG configuration specifies one or more parameters for a corresponding HARQ process identifying at least one UL retransmission scheduling PDCCH monitoring period, and wherein the one or more parameters comprise drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL and drx-RetransmissionTimerUL.
In an analogous art Hu teaches the first control information comprises a Configured Grant (CG) configuration, wherein the CG configuration specifies one or more parameters for a corresponding HARQ process identifying at least one UL retransmission scheduling PDCCH monitoring period, and wherein the one or more parameters comprise drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL and drx-RetransmissionTimerUL (¶0133-¶0137 discloses that the terminal device receives configuration information sent by a network device through RRC signaling…the configuration information may include at least one of the following: a DRX configuration parameter, and a CG configuration parameter.
… the CG configuration parameter, which may include: …HARQ processes reserved for CG).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the method of Hu the use configuration for efficient resource allocation for uplink transmission.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP ~ 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDELILLAH ELMEJJARMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1656. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri: 8AM-5PM EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is availablethrough Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
Respectfully submitted,
/ABDELILLAH ELMEJJARMI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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