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
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s reply, filed on 11/24/2025, to the Non-Final Office Action mailed on 08/28/2025.
Claims 48, 51 and 54 are amended. Claims 48, 50-51, 53-54, and 56-59 are pending and addressed below.
Applicant’s amendment has overcome rejection under 112(a), previously set forth in the non-final office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 48, 50-51, 53-54, and 56-59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MA; Xiaoying et al US 20220369231 A, hereinafter MA in view of ISLAM; Toufiqul et al US 20220159574, hereinafter ISLAM.
Regarding claims 48, 51, 54 and 57-59, MA teaches, a method for power saving of a user equipment (UE) (see MA “Title: POWER SAVING METHODS FOR A MOBILE STATION”), the method comprising:
receiving, by the UE, downlink control information (DCI) sent by a network device, wherein the DCI comprises physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) skipping sent by a network device and the DCI notifies the UE to adapt a skip period (MA [32], [35]-[36] teaches receiving from the network a DCI indicating PDCCH monitoring skipping. As DCI also carries a “PDCCH skipping period”, it implies that DCI notifies adapting a skip period (see also e.g., MA [101]);
receiving, by the UE, a radio resource control (RRC) signaling sent by the network device, wherein the RRC signaling carries skip periods (see MA [99] “One or more PDCCH skipping periods may be configured according to at least one of the following: a high-layer signaling, … high-layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling.”);
after receiving the DCI sent by the network device, applying, by the UE, a first PDCCH skip period from the skip periods, and skipping monitoring the PDCCH by the UE, within the first PDCCH skip period (see MA [103] “The mobile station 102 may be configured with more than one PDCCH skipping period candidate, one of the PDCCH skip period is indicated to apply according to at least one of a DCI …”);
MA does not expressly teach, however, in the same field of endeavor, ISLAM teaches, wherein the first PDCCH skip period is remaining time of an active time associated with a first discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle (ISLAM [174] “…dynamic layer 1 (L1) signaling such as DCI, e.g., in a PDCCH transmission, can be used to notify a UE of … go-to-sleep, …”, [0176] “In regard to GTS, the UE receives signaling from the network while it is in the active state. The GTS signal, if detected properly, can trigger the UE to transition to the sleep state for a given subsequent duration.”, [0182] “In FIG. 10A, the UE can receive GTS L1 signaling during ON state to put the UE to sleep before the ON duration ends. In this example, T_GTS_B is set such that UE is put to sleep for the remainder of the configured ON duration.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of MA to include the features as taught by ISLAM above for user equipment (UE) power control (ISLAM [0004]).
With respect to claim 51, claim recites the identical features of claim 48 for a method of inter-working network device. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
With respect to claim 54, claim recites the identical features of claim 48 for a corresponding user equipment (UE). Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
With respect to claim 57, claim recites the identical features of claim 48 for a corresponding inter-working network device. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
With respect to claim 58, claim recites the identical features of claim 48 for a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the UE. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
With respect to claim 59, claim recites the identical features of claim 48 for a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of the inter-working network device. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
Regarding claims 50, 53 and 56, MA, in view of ISLAM, teaches the methods/UE, as outlined in the rejection of claims 48, 51 and 54.
MA further teaches, wherein the PDCCH skipping indicates the UE entering the skip period (This is inherent in MA. see MA and explanation above in the rejection of claim 48).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 48 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liu, US 20210176708 A1 - USER EQUIPMENT POWER-SAVING METHOD AND DEVICE, USER EQUIPMENT AND BASE STATION.
IDS Reference Xu, CN 110868749 A - Communication Method And Device And Storage Medium.
Kim, US 20200314748 A1 - Configurable Power Saving Signal With Multiple Functionalities In 5G NR
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 MAHBUBUL BAR CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)272-0232. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 9AM-5PM EST; Friday variable.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khaled Kassim can be reached on 571-270-3770. 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 available through 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.
/MAHBUBUL BAR CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475