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 Amendment filed 02/23/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 12 and 24 have been amended. Claims 1-13 and 21-28 are pending examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/23/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 1, 12 and 24; the arguments are moot based on new grounds for rejection.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148
USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1, 12-13 and 21-22, 24 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuboi et al (US 20200314946 A1) hereinafter Tsuboi in view of 3GPP TS 138.331 version 15.3.0, Release 15 hereinafter TS 138 331.
Regarding claim 1,
Tsuboi teaches an apparatus, comprising: a processor (Citation: [0252]-“FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of the terminal apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated, the terminal apparatus 2 is configured to include a radio transmission and/or reception unit 20 and a higher layer processing unit 24. The radio transmission and/or reception unit 20 is configured to include an antenna unit 21, a radio frequency (RF) unit 22, and a baseband unit 23. The higher layer processing unit 24 is configured to include a medium access control layer processing unit 25 and a radio resource control layer processing unit 26. The radio transmission and/or reception unit 20 is also referred to as a transmitter, a receiver or a physical layer processing unit. A controller for controlling operations of the units based on various conditions may be separately provided.”; also refer to [0252] and [0286]-[0289]; Fig. 2. Examiner comment: at least one of the layer processing units and the controller equate to “processor” as claimed.) configured to, when executing instructions stored in a memory (Citation: [0286]-“A program operating on an apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention may serve as a program that controls a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and the like to cause a computer to operate in such a manner as to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments according to one aspect of the present invention. Programs or the information handled by the programs are temporarily read into a volatile memory, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) while being processed, or stored in a non-volatile memory, such as a flash memory, or a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), and then read by the CPU to be modified or rewritten, as necessary.”; refer also to [0252]-[0274] and [0286]-[0289]; Fig. 2. Examiner comment: program and volatile memory are equated to memory and instruction as claimed.), perform operations comprising:
receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from a current base station to modify a current radio connection (Citation: [0240]-“…The terminal apparatus 2 receives an RRC reconfiguration message including first downlink bandwidth part (BWP) information of a serving cell and no second downlink BWP information or one or more pieces of second downlink BWP information from a network (the base station apparatus 3) (step S91). …”; refer also to [0008]-[0014], [0168], [0240]-[0274] and [0286]-[0289]; element S91 of Fig. 9.), wherein the RRC message comprises target band configuration information of one or more target bands of at least one target base station (Citation: [0168]-“The terminal apparatus 2 receives measurement configuration information elements from the base station apparatus 3 by using an RRC reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) message that is RRC signaling (a radio resource control signal). The terminal apparatus 2 configures system information included in a measurement configuration information element and performs measurement, event evaluations, and measurement reporting for a serving cell and a neighbor cell (including a listed cell and/or a detected cell) in accordance with the notified system information….” And [0186]-“In addition, in the measurement configuration message, information on BWPs of the PCell and/or the SCell used for the measurement may be included. The information on the BWPs may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position (for example, a frequency offset (for example, in units of subcarriers and/or units of PRBs) from a reference point (for example, a subcarrier) to a BWP in a serving cell), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of a control signal, and (F) Information (for example, an identifier) for identifying each BWP….”; refer also to [0013]-[0014], [0134], [0168], [0186], [0240], and [0271]-[0274].), wherein the current base station has a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration for a current serving band (Citation: [0135]-“The terminal apparatus 2 may perform transmission and/or reception in an active BWP (A-BWP) among one or multiple configured BWPs.…” and [0186]-“In addition, in the measurement configuration message, information on BWPs of the PCell and/or the SCell used for the measurement may be included. The information on the BWPs may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position (for example, a frequency offset (for example, in units of subcarriers and/or units of PRBs) from a reference point (for example, a subcarrier) to a BWP in a serving cell), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of a control signal, and (F) Information (for example, an identifier) for identifying each BWP….” ; also refer to [0134]-[0135] and [0186]);
determining first gap information for one or more respective target bands of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0172]-[0186], [0237]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S92 of Fig. 9), wherein for the one or more respective target bands:
the first gap information indicates whether a first gap is needed for performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at the one or more respective target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….” and “In addition, at least one of reference signals may be used for measurement of radio resource management (RRM)….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0082], [0136], [0186], [0220], [0240], and [0271]-[0274]),
and transmitting the first gap information to the current base station (Citation: [0234]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, similar to LTE, in a case that one or multiple SCells are configured in RRCReconfiguration for carrier aggregation, information (perCC-GapIndicationList) indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2.”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0234]-[0238]; element S93 of Fig 9; Fig. 10).
Tsuboi does not explicitly teach subcarrier spacing (SCS) information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station is not comprised in the RRC message, determining, based at least in part on the SCS information not being comprised in the RRC, that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration; and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration.
TS 138 331 teaches subcarrier spacing (SCS) information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station is not comprised in the RRC message , (Citation: “> if the frequencyInfoDL is included: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency indicated by the frequencyInfoDL with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; 1> else: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency of the source SpCell with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43) and (“If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing”; page 166; page 205);
and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (Citation: “If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing.”; page 166).
and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (Citation: “> if the frequencyInfoDL is included: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency indicated by the frequencyInfoDL with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; 1> else: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency of the source SpCell with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43) and (“If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing”; page 166; refer also to page 205).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of TS 138 331 to the teachings of Tsuboi. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it reduces unnecessary signaling (TS 138 331; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43).
Regarding claim 12,
Tsuboi teaches a method ([0240]-“FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a procedure relating to notification of a gap indication….”; [0240]; Fig. 9), comprising:
transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) message to a user equipment (UE) to modify a current RRC connection of the UE with a base station (Citation: [0240]-“…The terminal apparatus 2 receives an RRC reconfiguration message including first downlink bandwidth part (BWP) information of a serving cell and no second downlink BWP information or one or more pieces of second downlink BWP information from a network (the base station apparatus 3) (step S91). …”; refer also to [0008]-[0014], [0167]-[0168], [0271]-[0274] and [0286]-[0289]; element S91 of Fig. 9), wherein the RRC message comprises target band configuration information of one or more target bands of at least one target base station (Citation: [0168]-“The terminal apparatus 2 receives measurement configuration information elements from the base station apparatus 3 by using an RRC reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) message that is RRC signaling (a radio resource control signal). The terminal apparatus 2 configures system information included in a measurement configuration information element and performs measurement, event evaluations, and measurement reporting for a serving cell and a neighbor cell (including a listed cell and/or a detected cell) in accordance with the notified system information….” And [0186]-“In addition, in the measurement configuration message, information on BWPs of the PCell and/or the SCell used for the measurement may be included. The information on the BWPs may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position (for example, a frequency offset (for example, in units of subcarriers and/or units of PRBs) from a reference point (for example, a subcarrier) to a BWP in a serving cell), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of a control signal, and (F) Information (for example, an identifier) for identifying each BWP….”; refer also to [0013]-[0014], [0134], [0168], [0186], [0240], and [0271]-[0274]), and wherein the base station has a first SCS configuration for a current serving band (Citation: [0135]-“The terminal apparatus 2 may perform transmission and/or reception in an active BWP (A-BWP) among one or multiple configured BWPs.…” and [0186]-“In addition, in the measurement configuration message, information on BWPs of the PCell and/or the SCell used for the measurement may be included. The information on the BWPs may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position (for example, a frequency offset (for example, in units of subcarriers and/or units of PRBs) from a reference point (for example, a subcarrier) to a BWP in a serving cell), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of a control signal, and (F) Information (for example, an identifier) for identifying each BWP….” ; also refer to [0134]-[0135] and [0186]);
determining first gap information for the one or more respective target bands of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0172]-[0186], [0237]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S92 of Fig. 9), wherein for one or more respective target bands:
the first gap information indicates whether a first gap is needed for performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at the one or more respective target bands (Citation: [0136]-“The BWP that is configured to be specific to a cell may be referred to as an initial BWP (I-BWP). The I-BWP may be a BWP configured by the BWP that is configured in accordance with a BWP configuration included in ServingCellConfigCommon. The SS block and/or the CSI-RS of the I-BWP may be defined as an SS block and/or a CSI-RS for cell definition. The SS block and/or the CSI-RS for cell definition may be used as the time reference of the serving cell. In addition, the SS block and/or the CSI-RS for cell definition may be used for the measurement of the serving cell based on the SS block and/or the CSI-RS. The I-BWP and/or a default BWP (D-BWP) described below may be configured (or reconfigured) using RRC signaling (for example, an RRC reconfiguration message or the like). The I-BWP may be configured or changed in accordance with information included in a synchronous reconfiguration information element (synchronousReconfiguration Information Element) of the RRC reconfiguration message. ServingCellConfigCommon may be included in the synchronous reconfiguration information element. The default BWP (D-BWP) may be configured or changed in accordance with information included in an information element other than the synchronous reconfiguration information element of the RRC reconfiguration message. Information included in the information element other than the synchronous reconfiguration information element may include ServingCellConfigDedicated. The I-BWP may be a BWP that is configured in accordance with a default BWP configuration included in ServingCellConfigDedicated. A configuration of one or multiple BWPs may be included in ServingCellConfigDedicated. The terminal apparatus 2 for which multiple BWPs including the D-BWP are configured may perform communication with the multiple BWPs switched. For example, transmission and/or reception is performed by causing the A-BWP to switch from another BWP to the D-BWP through control using a certain timer. In other words, in a case that the timer expires, transmission and/or reception may be performed by causing the A-BWP to switch back to the D-BWP. The timer described above may also be used as a timer of Discontinued RX (DRX). For example, in a case that an inactive timer of the DRX expires (in the case of a transition from an active state to an inactive state), control may be performed so as to cause the A-BWP to switch back to the D-BWP. A timer that is independent from the timer of the DRX may be used. For example, by using a timer that is triggered by switching of the BWP and started, the A-BWP may be configured so as to return (switch) to the D-BWP in a case that the timer expires.”; also refer to [0013]-, also refer to [0014] - the information of the first bandwidth indicates that the measurement gap is unnecessary in measuring a measurement object included in the first bandwidth including at least a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) to be activated in a case that the downlink BWP is used for communication., [0136], [0186], [0220], [0240], and [0271]-[0274]. Examiner comment: measurement gap indication indicating whether a measurement gap is necessary for measuring a reference signal of a cell for BWPs.),
and selectively assigning at least one time slot to the UE for target base station reference signal measurements based on the determined first gap information (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….” and [0082]-“In addition, at least one of reference signals may be used for measurement of radio resource management (RRM)….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0082], [0135] - for the terminal apparatus 2, one maximum uplink BWP and one maximum downlink BWP among one or multiple BWPs configured for one serving cell may be configured to be A-BWPs at a certain time (examiner interprets as a slot)., [0136], [0186], [0220], [0240], and [0271]-[0274]). Also, paragraph [0055] – a slot format may be indicated as DCI. For example, as the DCI, DCI may be defined that includes information for indicating a transmission period of a downlink that includes a PDCCH and/or a PDSCH, a gap, also, Figure 4 and paragraph [0118] - The bandwidth of a cell illustrated in FIG. 4 may be also defined as a part (Band Width Part (BWP)) of the band. Alternatively, the BWP may be defined as a part of the bandwidth of the cell. A slot may be defined as a Transmission Time Interval (TTI). The slot may not be defined as a TTI. The TTI may be a transmission period of a transport block., also, Figure 6 and paragraph [0125] - In FIG. 6, D represents the downlink, and U represents the uplink. As illustrated in FIG. 6, within a certain time section (for example, a minimum time section that should be allocated to one UE in a system), The examiner infers that the slot could be assigned for the UE to perform reference signal measurements as stated above.
Tsuboi does not explicitly teach subcarrier spacing (SCS) information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station is not comprised in the RRC message, determining, based at least in part on the SCS information not being comprised in the RRC, that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration; and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration.
TS 138 331 teaches subcarrier spacing (SCS) information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station is not comprised in the RRC message (Citation: “> if the frequencyInfoDL is included: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency indicated by the frequencyInfoDL with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; 1> else: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency of the source SpCell with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43); refer also to page 205. Examiner comment: from the 3GPP spec portions quoted, it can be seen that the SCS is optionally included in RRCreconfiguration message governing handover. In detail, the RRCreconfiguration message contains an information element, IE, ReconfigurationWithSync for handling handover. The ReconfigurationWithSync may or may not contain frequencyInfoDL IE. If the frequencyInfoDL IE is absent from the ReconfigurationWithSync IE, the UE assumes the target band frequency is the same as that of the source cell (see quote from page 43).) ,
determining, based at least in part on the SCS information not being comprised in the RRC, that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (“If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing”; page 166);
and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (“If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing.”; page 166. Examiner comment: If the SMTC field is absent from the ReconfigurationWithSync IE, the UE uses SCS which corresponds to the target frequency for measurement.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of TS 138 331 to the teachings of Tsuboi. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it reduces unnecessary signaling (TS 138 331; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43).
Regarding claim 13,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 12, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches receiving second gap information in response to transmission of the RRC message to the UE (Citation: [0234]-“The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, similar to LTE, in a case that one or multiple SCells are configured in RRCReconfiguration for carrier aggregation, information (perCC-GapIndicationList) indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2….” ; also refer to [0134]-[0135] and [0234]-[0240]. Examiner comment: receiving RRCReconfigurationComplete message including measurement gap preferences for BWPs in response to the RRCReconfiguration message.), wherein the second gap information indicates whether a gap is needed in performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at each of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0234]-“…indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2….”; also refer to [0134]-[0135] and [0234]-[0240]; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: The first gap information is comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message and the second gap information is comprised in an RRCReconfiguration complete message sent from the terminal apparatus / UE to the base station in response to the RRC reconfiguration message. RRCReconfiguration complete message comprises gap preference indicating whether or not a gap is necessary for the BWPs for each component carrier/serving cell/ target band. ).
Regarding claim 21,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 13, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein the second gap information is determined based at least in part on the SCS information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station (Citation:[0134]-“ A BWP may include a group of continuous physical radio blocks (Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). Parameters of BWP (one or multiple BWPs) of each component carrier may be configured for the terminal apparatus 2 in a connected state. The parameters of the BWP of each component carrier may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position of BWP (for example, a start position of a low frequency side or a central frequency position of the BWP) (here, as the frequency position, for example, an ARFCN may be used, or an offset from a specific subcarrier of a serving cell may be used. In addition, a unit of the offset may be a unit of the subcarrier or a unit of a resource block. Furthermore, both the ARFCN and the offset may be configured), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of control signal, and (F) Central frequency position of SS block (here, as the frequency position, for example, an ARFCN may be used, or an offset from a specific subcarrier of a serving cell may be used. In addition, a unit of the offset may be a unit of the subcarrier or a unit of the resource block. Furthermore, both the ARFCN and the offset may be configured). In addition, the resource configuration information of the control signal may be included in configurations of BWPs of some or all of at least a primary cell and/or a primary secondary cell.” and [0234]-“ …The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, similar to LTE, in a case that one or multiple SCells are configured in RRCReconfiguration for carrier aggregation, information (perCC-GapIndicationList) indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2. …” ; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0186], [0234]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; Fig. 8; element S92 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: The first gap information is comprised in an RRC reconfiguration message and the second gap information is comprised in an RRCReconfiguration complete message sent from the terminal apparatus / UE to the base station in response to the RRC reconfiguration message. RRCReconfiguration complete message comprises gap preference indicating whether or not a gap is necessary for the BWPs for each component carrier/serving cell/ target band. The gap preference being based on BWP information in the BWP configuration for multiple BWPs, the BWP information may include the frequency offset and SCS of BWPs for Scell.).
Regarding claim 22,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 13, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches receiving respective gap information for each of the one or more target bands from the UE (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.” ; also refer to [0013]-[0016], [0234]-[0238]; element S93 of Fig 9; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: receiving an RRC reconfiguration complete including gap indication.), wherein for each respective target band the respective gap information indicates whether a gap is needed in performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at the respective target band (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….” and [0082]-“In addition, at least one of reference signals may be used for measurement of radio resource management (RRM)….” ; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0082], [0136], [0186], [0220], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]. Examiner comment: measurement gap indication indicating whether a measurement gap is necessary for measuring a reference signal of a cell.).
Tsuboi does not explicitly teach wherein for each respective target band the respective gap information is based at least in part on an assumption that the respective target band has a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration.
TS 138 331 teaches wherein for each respective target band the respective gap information is based at least in part on an assumption that the respective target band has a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (Citation: “> if the frequencyInfoDL is included: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency indicated by the frequencyInfoDL with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; 1> else: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency of the source SpCell with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43; and “If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing”; page 166; also refer also to page 205. Examiner comment: from the 3GPP spec portions quoted, it can be seen that the SCS is optionally included in RRCreconfiguration message governing handover. In detail, the RRCreconfiguration message contains an information element, IE, ReconfigurationWithSync for handling handover. The ReconfigurationWithSync may or may not contain frequencyInfoDL IE. If the frequencyInfoDL IE is absent from the ReconfigurationWithSync IE, the UE assumes the target band frequency is the same as that of the source cell (see quote from page 43).).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of TS 138 331 to the teachings of Tsuboi. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it reduces unnecessary signaling (TS 138 331; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43).
Regarding claim 24,
Tsuboi teaches a method, comprising: communicating with a current base station (Citation: ; [0016]-“(4) According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication method applied to a terminal apparatus that communicates with a base station apparatus, the communication method including: receiving an RRC reconfiguration message from the base station apparatus; transmitting an RRC reconfiguration completion message in response to the RRC reconfiguration message to the base station apparatus; and generating the RRC reconfiguration completion message, wherein the RRC reconfiguration completion message is generated that includes information for identifying whether a measurement gap is necessary in measuring a serving cell quality of a serving cell, based on first downlink bandwidth part (BWP) information and no second downlink BWP information or one or more pieces of second downlink BWP information of the serving cell.”; [0016]; Fig. 9. Examiner comment: communication method with a base station.), wherein the current base station has a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration for a current serving band (Citation: [0134]-“ [0134] A BWP may include a group of continuous physical radio blocks (Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). Parameters of BWP (one or multiple BWPs) of each component carrier may be configured for the terminal apparatus 2 in a connected state. The parameters of the BWP of each component carrier may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position of BWP (for example, a start position of a low frequency side or a central frequency position of the BWP) (here, as the frequency position, for example, an ARFCN may be used, or an offset from a specific subcarrier of a serving cell may be used. In addition, a unit of the offset may be a unit of the subcarrier or a unit of a resource block. Furthermore, both the ARFCN and the offset may be configured), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of control signal, and (F) Central frequency position of SS block (here, as the frequency position, for example, an ARFCN may be used, or an offset from a specific subcarrier of a serving cell may be used. In addition, a unit of the offset may be a unit of the subcarrier or a unit of the resource block. Furthermore, both the ARFCN and the offset may be configured). In addition, the resource configuration information of the control signal may be included in configurations of BWPs of some or all of at least a primary cell and/or a primary secondary cell.” ; also refer to [0133]-[0138]. Examiner comment: active BWP of a cell having multiple parameters including SCS.);
receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from the current base station to modify a current radio connection (Citation: [0240]-“…The terminal apparatus 2 receives an RRC reconfiguration message including first downlink bandwidth part (BWP) information of a serving cell and no second downlink BWP information or one or more pieces of second downlink BWP information from a network (the base station apparatus 3) (step S91). …”; refer also to [0008]-[0014], [0168], [0240]-[0274] and [0286]-[0289]; element S91 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: RRC reconfiguration message equates to the RRC message as claimed.), wherein the RRC message comprises target band configuration information of one or more target bands of at least one target base station (Citation: [0168]-“The terminal apparatus 2 receives measurement configuration information elements from the base station apparatus 3 by using an RRC reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) message that is RRC signaling (a radio resource control signal). The terminal apparatus 2 configures system information included in a measurement configuration information element and performs measurement, event evaluations, and measurement reporting for a serving cell and a neighbor cell (including a listed cell and/or a detected cell) in accordance with the notified system information….” And [0186]-“In addition, in the measurement configuration message, information on BWPs of the PCell and/or the SCell used for the measurement may be included. The information on the BWPs may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position (for example, a frequency offset (for example, in units of subcarriers and/or units of PRBs) from a reference point (for example, a subcarrier) to a BWP in a serving cell), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of a control signal, and (F) Information (for example, an identifier) for identifying each BWP….”; refer also to [0013]-[0014], [0168], [0186], [0240], and [0271]-[0274]);
determining first gap information for each of the one or more respective target bands of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0172]-[0186], [0237]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S92 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: A bit map is used to indicate whether a gap is needed for the configured BWPs for a corresponding BWP of a serving cell.), wherein for the one or more respective target bands:
the first gap information indicates whether a gap is needed in performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at the one or more respective target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0172]-[0186], [0237]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S92 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: A bit map is used to indicate whether a gap is needed for the configured BWPs for a corresponding BWP of a serving cell.);
and transmitting the gap information to the current base station (Citation: [0234]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, similar to LTE, in a case that one or multiple SCells are configured in RRCReconfiguration for carrier aggregation, information (perCC-GapIndicationList) indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2.”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0234]-[0238]; element S93 of Fig 9; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: transmitting an RRC reconfiguration complete including gap indication.).
Tsuboi does not explicitly teach subcarrier spacing (SCS) information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station is not comprised in the RRC message, determining, based at least in part on the SCS information not being comprised in the RRC, that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration; and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration.
TS 138 331 teaches subcarrier spacing (SCS) information of the one or more target bands of the at least one target base station is not comprised in the RRC message (Citation: “> if the frequencyInfoDL is included: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency indicated by the frequencyInfoDL with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; 1> else: 2> consider the target SpCell to be one on the SSB frequency of the source SpCell with a physical cell identity indicated by the physCellId; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43); refer also to page 205. Examiner comment: from the 3GPP spec portions quoted, it can be seen that the SCS is optionally included in RRCreconfiguration message governing handover. In detail, the RRCreconfiguration message contains an information element, IE, ReconfigurationWithSync for handling handover. The ReconfigurationWithSync may or may not contain frequencyInfoDL IE. If the frequencyInfoDL IE is absent from the ReconfigurationWithSync IE, the UE assumes the target band frequency is the same as that of the source cell (see quote from page 43).) ,
determining, based at least in part on the SCS information not being comprised in the RRC, that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (“If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing”; page 166);
and determining, based at least in part on the determination that the one or more respective target bands have a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (“If the field is absent, the UE uses the SMTC configured in the measObjectNR having the same SSB frequency and subcarrier spacing.”; page 166. Examiner comment: If the SMTC field is absent from the ReconfigurationWithSync IE, the UE uses SCS which corresponds to the target frequency for measurement.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of TS 138 331 to the teachings of Tsuboi. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it reduces unnecessary signaling (TS 138 331; section 5.3.5.5.2; page 43).
Regarding claim 27,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 24, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein the RRC message comprises target band configuration information of a plurality of target bands of a plurality of target base stations (Citation: [0168]-“The terminal apparatus 2 receives measurement configuration information elements from the base station apparatus 3 by using an RRC reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) message that is RRC signaling (a radio resource control signal). The terminal apparatus 2 configures system information included in a measurement configuration information element and performs measurement, event evaluations, and measurement reporting for a serving cell and a neighbor cell (including a listed cell and/or a detected cell) in accordance with the notified system information….” And [0186]-“In addition, in the measurement configuration message, information on BWPs of the PCell and/or the SCell used for the measurement may be included. The information on the BWPs may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position (for example, a frequency offset (for example, in units of subcarriers and/or units of PRBs) from a reference point (for example, a subcarrier) to a BWP in a serving cell), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of a control signal, and (F) Information (for example, an identifier) for identifying each BWP….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0134] [0168], [0186], [0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S91 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: RRC reconfiguration message including BWP information which may include at least SCS of BWPs of a PCell and/or SCell.), and wherein the method further comprises:
determining respective gap information for each of the plurality of target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0186], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S92 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: generating measurement gap indication based on BWP information for multiple BWPs.), wherein each determined respective gap information is based on a respective SCS configuration (Citation: [0134]-“A BWP may include a group of continuous physical radio blocks (Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs). Parameters of BWP (one or multiple BWPs) of each component carrier may be configured for the terminal apparatus 2 in a connected state. The parameters of the BWP of each component carrier may include some or all of (A) Type of cyclic prefix, (B) Subcarrier spacing, (C) Frequency position of BWP (for example, a start position of a low frequency side or a central frequency position of the BWP) (here, as the frequency position, for example, an ARFCN may be used, or an offset from a specific subcarrier of a serving cell may be used. In addition, a unit of the offset may be a unit of the subcarrier or a unit of a resource block. Furthermore, both the ARFCN and the offset may be configured), (D) Bandwidth of BWP (for example, the number of PRBs), (E) Resource configuration information of control signal, and (F) Central frequency position of SS block (here, as the frequency position, for example, an ARFCN may be used, or an offset from a specific subcarrier of a serving cell may be used. In addition, a unit of the offset may be a unit of the subcarrier or a unit of the resource block. Furthermore, both the ARFCN and the offset may be configured). In addition, the resource configuration information of the control signal may be included in configurations of BWPs of some or all of at least a primary cell and/or a primary secondary cell.” and [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.” ; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0186], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]. Examiner comment: gap indication based on BWP information for multiple BWPs which may include at least the SCS of BWPs.);
and transmitting the respective gap information and the first SCS configuration to the current base station (Citation: [0234]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, similar to LTE, in a case that one or multiple SCells are configured in RRCReconfiguration for carrier aggregation, information (perCC-GapIndicationList) indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2.”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0234]-[0238]; element S93 of Fig 9; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: transmitting an RRC reconfiguration complete including gap indication.).
Claims 2-3, 5-11, 23 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuboi in view of TS 138 331, in further view of Lee et al. (WO2019165224A1) hereinafter Lee.
Regarding claim 2,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 1, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches determining second gap information (Citation: [0235]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, in a case that one or multiple BWPs are configured in RRCReconfiguration, information (bwp-GapIndicationList) for indicating preference of a gap (whether a gap is necessary) by the terminal apparatus 2 to measure a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition of the serving cell (for example, measurement of a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition in a time section configured by the system information of the serving cell or SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message.” ; also refer to [0235]-[0240]. Examiner comment: determining multiple sets of measurement gap preferences for all the cells and BWPs.), wherein the second gap information indicates whether a gap is needed in performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at each of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0235]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, in a case that one or multiple BWPs are configured in RRCReconfiguration, information (bwp-GapIndicationList) for indicating preference of a gap (whether a gap is necessary) by the terminal apparatus 2 to measure a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition of the serving cell (for example, measurement of a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition in a time section configured by the system information of the serving cell or SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message.”; also refer to [0235]-[0240]; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: the preferences indicating whether or not a gap is necessary for the BWPs.);
and transmitting the second gap information to the current base station (Citation: [0234]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, similar to LTE, in a case that one or multiple SCells are configured in RRCReconfiguration for carrier aggregation, information (perCC-GapIndicationList) indicating preference of a measurement gap (whether a gap is necessary) for each component carrier (serving cell) by the terminal apparatus 2. perCC-GapIndicationList may be configured to be transmitted in a case that information (perCC-GapindicationRequest) for requesting perCC-Gapindication is included in the RRCReconfiguration message. The measurement gap in this case is referred to as a Type 1 gap. The Type 1 gap may be used for inter-frequency measurement and/or inter-RAT measurement.”; also refer to [0234]-[0240]; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: sending the gap preference in the RRCReconfiguration complete message.).
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 does not explicitly teach determining second gap information based at least in part on a frequency of the one or more target bands and the SCS information of the one or more target bands, wherein, in determining the second gap information, the operations further comprise determining if the SCS information of the one or more target band matches SCS information of a serving band of the current base station.
LEE teaches determining second gap information based at least in part on a frequency of the one or more target bands and the SCS information of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0121]-“For example, a measurement gap value may be determined based on numerology (e.g., SCS and/or (cyclic prefix) CP length) of the target BWP. In an example, a first measurement gap value may be used if the target BWP has the same numerology as the active BWP and/or a second measurement gap value may be used if the target BWP has a different numerology with the active BWP. The second measurement gap value may be different based on whether the SCS for a target BWP is larger than the SCS of the active BWP or smaller than the SCS of the active BWP. A larger measurement gap may be used when the SCS of a target BWP is smaller than that of active BWP. Table 2 shows an example of measurement gap values based on the numerologies of an active BWP and a target BWP. When more than one target BWP may need to be measured and a single measurement gap is used, the measurement gap value may be determined based on the numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP that has the smallest SCS (or a largest subcarrier spacing).”; [0121]; Table 2. Examiner comment: determining the gap based on the bandwidth and the numerology.),
wherein, in determining the second gap information, the operations further comprise determining if the SCS information of the one or more target band matches SCS information of a serving band of the current base station (Citation: [0118]-“In an example, a WTRU may be indicated or configured to measure CSI for one or more non-active BWPs and the WTRU may expand the bandwidth of current active BWP to include the non-active BWPs for the CSI measurement. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that have the same numerologies (e.g., SCS or CP length) as the active BWP. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that are located within a certain frequency distance. For example, a non-active BWP that is located within X MHz (e.g., 10 MHz) from the current active BWP may be included in the bandwidth expansion. The bandwidth expansion may (or may not) be used without measurement gap. The use of bandwidth expansion for a target BWP measurement or BWP switch with a measurement gap may be determined based on WTRU capability and/or WTRU category.”; [0118]. Examiner comments: measurement indication based on BWPs having the same numerologies.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Regarding claim 3,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 2, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein the operations further comprise determining gap information for each of the plurality of target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0186], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S92 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: generating measurement gap indication based on BWP information for multiple BWPs creating a bit map or a list.);
wherein the gap information indicates whether a gap or no gap is needed for each of the plurality of target bands (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.” ; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0136], [0186], [0220], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]. Examiner comment: measurement gap indication indicating whether a measurement gap is necessary for each of the BWP.).
Regarding claim 5,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 2, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein a first target band has a reference signal of target band frequency that is inside or near an active bandwidth part of a serving band of the current base station (Citation: [0183]-”The measurement object identifier (measObjectld) is an identifier used for identifying configurations of measurement objects. The configuration of a measurement object, as described above, is defined for each Radio Access Technology (RAT) and for each frequency. The specifications of measurement objects are separately provided for NR, EUTRA, UTRA, GERAN, and CDMA2000. The measurement object NR (measObjectNR) that is a measurement object for NR defines information to be applied to a neighbor NR cell (and a BWP within the serving cell). In addition, a measurement object NR (measObjectNR) of a different frequency is handled as a different measurement object, and is assigned a measurement object identifier (measObjectld).” ; also refer to [0014], [0132]-[0136], [0183]-[0186], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]. Examiner comment: measurement object included in the first bandwidth that is activated.);
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach wherein the operations further comprise determining that no gap is needed for the first target band if the SCS of the first target band is the same as the SCS of the serving band of the current base station.
Lee teaches wherein the operations further comprise determining that no gap is needed for the first target band if the SCS of the first target band is the same as the SCS of the serving band of the current base station (Citation: [0118]-“In an example, a WTRU may be indicated or configured to measure CSI for one or more non-active BWPs and the WTRU may expand the bandwidth of current active BWP to include the non-active BWPs for the CSI measurement. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that have the same numerologies (e.g., SCS or CP length) as the active BWP. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that are located within a certain frequency distance. For example, a non-active BWP that is located within X MHz (e.g., 10 MHz) from the current active BWP may be included in the bandwidth expansion. The bandwidth expansion may (or may not) be used without measurement gap. The use of bandwidth expansion for a target BWP measurement or BWP switch with a measurement gap may be determined based on WTRU capability and/or WTRU category.” ;[0118]. Examiner comment: bandwidth expansion without a measurement gap based on BWPs having the same numerologies.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Regarding claim 6,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 5, as outlined above.
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach wherein the operations further comprise determining that a gap is needed for the first target band if the SCS of the target first band is different from the SCS of the serving band of the current base station.
Lee teaches wherein the operations further comprise determining that a gap is needed for the first target band if the SCS of the first target band is different from the SCS of the serving band of the current base station (Citation: [0120]-“The measurement gap may be a time window (i.e., start time and/or time period, time duration, window length) in the unit of samples, OFDM symbols, slots, subframes, or frame, for example. For example, a measurement gap may be defined in terms of number of slots. A WTRU may be allowed to skip or skip monitoring one or more CORESETs configured for the current active BWP. As used herein, the measurement gap may be interchangeably used with inter-BWP measurement gap, retuning time, measurement gap value, frequency switching time, measurement window, CSI measurement window, inter-BWP access time, a measurement gap window length, or measurement time. As disclosed herein, a measurement gap (i.e., measurement gap value or window length) may be determined based on any one or more of the following example parameters: numerology (e.g., SCS and/or CP length) of a target BWP; numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP; periodicity of a measurement signal in a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; BWP index of a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; the number of target BWPs; bandwidth of a target BWP; and/or WTRU bandwidth capability.” ; [0120]; table 2. Examiner comment: measurement gap based on BWPs having different numerologies.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Regarding claim 7,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 2, as outlined above.
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach wherein a serving band of the current base station also has the first SCS; wherein the gap information determined by a user equipment (UE) indicates no gap for the first target band.
Lee teaches wherein a serving band of the current base station also has the first SCS (Citation: [0118]-“In an example, a WTRU may be indicated or configured to measure CSI for one or more non-active BWPs and the WTRU may expand the bandwidth of current active BWP to include the non-active BWPs for the CSI measurement. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that have the same numerologies (e.g., SCS or CP length) as the active BWP. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that are located within a certain frequency distance. For example, a non-active BWP that is located within X MHz (e.g., 10 MHz) from the current active BWP may be included in the bandwidth expansion. The bandwidth expansion may (or may not) be used without measurement gap. The use of bandwidth expansion for a target BWP measurement or BWP switch with a measurement gap may be determined based on WTRU capability and/or WTRU category.”; [0118].);
wherein the gap information determined by a user equipment (UE) indicates no gap for the first target band (Citation: [0118]-“In an example, a WTRU may be indicated or configured to measure CSI for one or more non-active BWPs and the WTRU may expand the bandwidth of current active BWP to include the non-active BWPs for the CSI measurement. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that have the same numerologies (e.g., SCS or CP length) as the active BWP. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that are located within a certain frequency distance. For example, a non-active BWP that is located within X MHz (e.g., 10 MHz) from the current active BWP may be included in the bandwidth expansion. The bandwidth expansion may (or may not) be used without measurement gap. The use of bandwidth expansion for a target BWP measurement or BWP switch with a measurement gap may be determined based on WTRU capability and/or WTRU category.”; [0118]. Examiner comment: bandwidth expansion without a measurement gap based on BWPs having the same numerologies.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Regarding claim 8,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 2, as outlined above.
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach wherein a serving band of the current base station has a second different SCS; wherein the gap information determined by a user equipment (UE) indicates a gap for the first target band.
Lee teaches wherein a serving band of the current base station has a second different SCS (Citation: [0120]-“The measurement gap may be a time window (i.e., start time and/or time period, time duration, window length) in the unit of samples, OFDM symbols, slots, subframes, or frame, for example. For example, a measurement gap may be defined in terms of number of slots. A WTRU may be allowed to skip or skip monitoring one or more CORESETs configured for the current active BWP. As used herein, the measurement gap may be interchangeably used with inter-BWP measurement gap, retuning time, measurement gap value, frequency switching time, measurement window, CSI measurement window, inter-BWP access time, a measurement gap window length, or measurement time. As disclosed herein, a measurement gap (i.e., measurement gap value or window length) may be determined based on any one or more of the following example parameters: numerology (e.g., SCS and/or CP length) of a target BWP; numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP; periodicity of a measurement signal in a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; BWP index of a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; the number of target BWPs; bandwidth of a target BWP; and/or WTRU bandwidth capability.” ; [0120]; table 2. Examiner comment: BWPs having different numerologies.);
wherein the gap information determined by a user equipment (UE) indicates a gap for the first target band (Citation: [0120]-“The measurement gap may be a time window (i.e., start time and/or time period, time duration, window length) in the unit of samples, OFDM symbols, slots, subframes, or frame, for example. For example, a measurement gap may be defined in terms of number of slots. A WTRU may be allowed to skip or skip monitoring one or more CORESETs configured for the current active BWP. As used herein, the measurement gap may be interchangeably used with inter-BWP measurement gap, retuning time, measurement gap value, frequency switching time, measurement window, CSI measurement window, inter-BWP access time, a measurement gap window length, or measurement time. As disclosed herein, a measurement gap (i.e., measurement gap value or window length) may be determined based on any one or more of the following example parameters: numerology (e.g., SCS and/or CP length) of a target BWP; numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP; periodicity of a measurement signal in a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; BWP index of a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; the number of target BWPs; bandwidth of a target BWP; and/or WTRU bandwidth capability.” ; [0120]; table 2. Examiner comment: measurement gap value indicating measurement gap for target BWP.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Regarding claim 9,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 2, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein the second gap information is useable by the current base station in determining whether to allocate a time slot to a user equipment (UE) for performing a measurement of a reference signal at each of the one or more target bands ([0235]-“…SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message. The gap in this case is referred to a Type 2 gap. The Type 2 gap may be used for intra-frequency measurement of the serving cell. The SMTC may include SMTC1 and SMTC2 as configurations. The SMTC1 may be a configuration of a measurement timing applied to intra-frequency measurement and inter-frequency measurement, and the configuration of the SMTC1 may include information relating to a timing (periodicity and offset) and a period (duration) of an SS block to be received for the measurement. The SMTC2 may be a configuration of a measurement timing applied to the measurement of the cell that is explicitly indicated within the frequency, and the configuration of the SMTC2 may include information of a physical cell identity and information of periodicity….”; [0234]-[0235]; Fig. 6. Examiner comments: the base station apparatus uses the RRCReconfiguration complete message configuring measurement timing.).
Regarding claim 10,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 1, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein the RRC message further comprises information regarding a band configuration of the current base station (Citation: [0136]-“The BWP that is configured to be specific to a cell may be referred to as an initial BWP (I-BWP). The I-BWP may be a BWP configured by the BWP that is configured in accordance with a BWP configuration included in ServingCellConfigCommon. The SS block and/or the CSI-RS of the I-BWP may be defined as an SS block and/or a CSI-RS for cell definition. The SS block and/or the CSI-RS for cell definition may be used as the time reference of the serving cell. In addition, the SS block and/or the CSI-RS for cell definition may be used for the measurement of the serving cell based on the SS block and/or the CSI-RS. The I-BWP and/or a default BWP (D-BWP) described below may be configured (or reconfigured) using RRC signaling (for example, an RRC reconfiguration message or the like)….”; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0186], [0229]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; element S91 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: BWP configuration within an RRC reconfiguration message.);
wherein the operations further comprise determining the second gap information based at least in part on the band configuration of the current base station (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.” ; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0132]-[0136], [0186], [0229]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]; Fig. 8; element S92 of Fig. 9. Examiner comment: generating measurement gap indication based on BWP information in the BWP configuration for multiple BWPs, the BWP information may include at least the frequency offset and SCS of BWPs.).
Regarding claim 11,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 1, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches further comprising: a radio operably coupled to the processor (Citation: [0252]-“FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of the terminal apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated, the terminal apparatus 2 is configured to include a radio transmission and/or reception unit 20 and a higher layer processing unit 24. The radio transmission and/or reception unit 20 is configured to include an antenna unit 21, a radio frequency (RF) unit 22, and a baseband unit 23. The higher layer processing unit 24 is configured to include a medium access control layer processing unit 25 and a radio resource control layer processing unit 26. The radio transmission and/or reception unit 20 is also referred to as a transmitter, a receiver or a physical layer processing unit. A controller for controlling operations of the units based on various conditions may be separately provided.”; [0252]; Fig. 2. Examiner comment: RF unit coupled to higher layer processing unit.).
Regarding claim 23,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 22, as outlined above.
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 does not explicitly teach wherein the respective gap information indicates a gap for a first target band based in part on the assumption that the first target band has a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration; wherein the base station is configured to not provide a gap for the first target band based on a determination the assumption is incorrect.
Lee teaches wherein the gap information indicates a gap for a first target band based in part on the assumption that the first target band has a SCS configuration that is the same as the first SCS configuration (Citation: [0118]-“ In an example, a WTRU may be indicated or configured to measure CSI for one or more non-active BWPs and the WTRU may expand the bandwidth of current active BWP to include the non-active BWPs for the CSI measurement. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that have the same numerologies (e.g., SCS or CP length) as the active BWP. The bandwidth expansion may be allowed for (or limited to) the non-active BWPs that are located within a certain frequency distance. For example, a non-active BWP that is located within X MHz (e.g., 10 MHz) from the current active BWP may be included in the bandwidth expansion. The bandwidth expansion may (or may not) be used without measurement gap. The use of bandwidth expansion for a target BWP measurement or BWP switch with a measurement gap may be determined based on WTRU capability and/or WTRU category.”; [0118]. Examiner comment: measurement indication based on BWPs having the same numerologies.);
wherein the base station is configured to not provide a gap for the first target band based on a determination the assumption is incorrect (Citation: [0121]-“For example, a measurement gap value may be determined based on numerology (e.g., SCS and/or (cyclic prefix) CP length) of the target BWP. In an example, a first measurement gap value may be used if the target BWP has the same numerology as the active BWP and/or a second measurement gap value may be used if the target BWP has a different numerology with the active BWP. The second measurement gap value may be different based on whether the SCS for a target BWP is larger than the SCS of the active BWP or smaller than the SCS of the active BWP. A larger measurement gap may be used when the SCS of a target BWP is smaller than that of active BWP. Table 2 shows an example of measurement gap values based on the numerologies of an active BWP and a target BWP. When more than one target BWP may need to be measured and a single measurement gap is used, the measurement gap value may be determined based on the numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP that has the smallest SCS (or a largest subcarrier spacing).” ; also refer to [0118]-[0123]. Examiner comment: when BWPs do not have the same numerologies, the base station may not assign a measurement gap.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Regarding claim 26,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 24, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches wherein the first gap information indicates that no gap is needed for a first target band (Citation: [0238]-“The information for indicating whether a gap is necessary for the measurement of cell quality of a serving cell in each BWP described above may be notified for each of serving cells (for example, they are allocated in order of identifiers of BWPs) as a bit map or may be information of a list type including a combination of identifier information of the BWP and an Enumerated type or Boolean-type information for indicating whether a gap is necessary. For example, a serving cell identity and preference of a gap corresponding thereto are information for indicating whether a gap is necessary, and the preference of the gap may be one bit, a bit map, or an identifier of the BWP. In a case that the preference of the gap is a bit map, bits respectively correspond to multiple BWPs that have been configured. In addition, in a case that the preference of the gap is an identifier of the BWP, the information may be information representing identifiers of one or more BWPs requiring a gap.” ; also refer to [0013]-[0014], [0136], [0186], [0220], [0238]-[0240], and [0271]-[0274]. Examiner comment: measurement gap indication indicating whether a measurement gap is not necessary for each of the BWP.);
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach wherein the method further comprises: receiving a measurement gap allocation when measuring a reference signal at the first target band when the first target band has a SCS configuration different from the first SCS configuration.
Lee teaches wherein the method further comprises: receiving a measurement gap allocation when measuring a reference signal at the first target band when the first target band has a SCS configuration different from the first SCS configuration (Citation: [0120]-“The measurement gap may be a time window (i.e., start time and/or time period, time duration, window length) in the unit of samples, OFDM symbols, slots, subframes, or frame, for example. For example, a measurement gap may be defined in terms of number of slots. A WTRU may be allowed to skip or skip monitoring one or more CORESETs configured for the current active BWP. As used herein, the measurement gap may be interchangeably used with inter-BWP measurement gap, retuning time, measurement gap value, frequency switching time, measurement window, CSI measurement window, inter-BWP access time, a measurement gap window length, or measurement time. As disclosed herein, a measurement gap (i.e., measurement gap value or window length) may be determined based on any one or more of the following example parameters: numerology (e.g., SCS and/or CP length) of a target BWP; numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP; periodicity of a measurement signal in a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; BWP index of a target BWP; CSI reporting type for a target BWP; the number of target BWPs; bandwidth of a target BWP; and/or WTRU bandwidth capability.”; [0120] ; table 2. Examiner comment: measurement gap based on BWPs having different numerologies.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee in further view of Gheorghiu et al. (US 20160337893 A1) hereinafter Gheorghiu.
Regarding claim 4,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee teach all the features of claim 2, as outlined above.
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee do not explicitly teach wherein, for at least one target band, the operations further comprise determining the gap information based at least in part on available radio frequency (RF) resources of a user equipment (UE).
Gheorghiu teaches wherein, for at least one target band, the operations further comprise determining the gap information based at least in part on available radio frequency (RF) resources of a user equipment (UE) (Citation: [0005]-“A user equipment (UE) may signal a band-specific measurement gap indication based on the capability of a set of receivers to measure target frequency bands while monitoring a set of component carriers (CCs) of a carrier aggregation (CA) configuration. The UE may receive a measurement gap configuration for a first CC associated with one or more of the target frequency bands based on the band-specific measurement gap indication. The UE may then perform a measurement of one or more of the target frequency bands according to the measurement gap configuration, but may still receive downlink messages and transmit uplink control messages associated with a second CC during gaps configured for the first CC (e.g., using a different receiver). In some examples, the UE signals its capabilities with respect to a particular CA configuration and target frequency band(s) by providing an indication of which CC or CCs need gaps to facilitate measurement by a corresponding receiver. Similarly, the UE can signal its support for using different measurement gaps patterns with different target frequency bands in a given CA configuration. The base station can utilize information about the UE capabilities in different configurations in order to create an optimized measurement configuration for the UE. For example, the base station can select a CC for measurement gaps according to whether there is a corresponding uplink component carrier, whether the corresponding UL carrier provides a control channel, whether control information is sent on a shared UL channel, etc. The base station could likewise choose a CC for measurement gaps based on criteria for minimizing interruption to DL operations, etc. such that, in keeping with UE capabilities, the UE continues to communicate on the non-gapped CCs of its CA configuration. In some examples, the base station can send a measurement gap configuration message that may include a set of configuration options and the UE may select the measurement gap configuration for the first CC from the set of configuration options. In other examples, the measurement gap configuration message may include an indication not to perform measurements on the first CC during a measurement gap.”; also refer to [0150]; Fig. 16. Examiner comment: signaling band-specific gap indication based on a capability of a set of receivers.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Gheorghiu to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would avoid potential pauses in communication due to reference signal measurements (Gheorghiu [0004]).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuboi and TS 138 331 and Lee in further view of Wu (US 20230156544 A1) hereinafter Wu.
Regarding claim 25,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 24, as outlined above.
Tsuboi further teaches determining second gap information (Citation: [0235]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, in a case that one or multiple BWPs are configured in RRCReconfiguration, information (bwp-GapIndicationList) for indicating preference of a gap (whether a gap is necessary) by the terminal apparatus 2 to measure a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition of the serving cell (for example, measurement of a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition in a time section configured by the system information of the serving cell or SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message….” ; also refer to [0235]-[0240]. Examiner comment: determining multiple sets of measurement gap preferences for all the cells and BWPs.), wherein the second gap information indicates whether a gap is needed in performing measurements on a reference signal transmitted at each of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0235]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, in a case that one or multiple BWPs are configured in RRCReconfiguration, information (bwp-GapIndicationList) for indicating preference of a gap (whether a gap is necessary) by the terminal apparatus 2 to measure a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition of the serving cell (for example, measurement of a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition in a time section configured by the system information of the serving cell or SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message….” ; also refer to [0134] and [0235]-[0240]; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: the preferences indicating whether or not a gap is necessary for the BWPs.);
and transmitting the second gap information to the current base station (Citation: [0235]-“In order to notify that the RRC reconfiguration is successfully completed, the terminal apparatus 2 that has received the RRC reconfiguration message transmits an RRC reconfiguration completion message (RRCReconfigurationComplete message) to the base station apparatus 3. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message may include, in a case that one or multiple BWPs are configured in RRCReconfiguration, information (bwp-GapIndicationList) for indicating preference of a gap (whether a gap is necessary) by the terminal apparatus 2 to measure a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition of the serving cell (for example, measurement of a serving cell by using an SS block for cell definition in a time section configured by the system information of the serving cell or SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message….” ; also refer to [0235]-[0240]; Fig. 10 [0235]-[0240]; Fig. 10. Examiner comment: sending the gap preference in the RRCReconfiguration complete message.), wherein the second gap information is used by the current base station in determining whether to allocate a time slot to a user equipment (UE) for performing a measurement of a reference signal at each of the one or more target bands ([0235]-“…SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration (SMTC) included in the RRC reconfiguration message. The gap in this case is referred to a Type 2 gap. The Type 2 gap may be used for intra-frequency measurement of the serving cell. The SMTC may include SMTC1 and SMTC2 as configurations. The SMTC1 may be a configuration of a measurement timing applied to intra-frequency measurement and inter-frequency measurement, and the configuration of the SMTC1 may include information relating to a timing (periodicity and offset) and a period (duration) of an SS block to be received for the measurement. The SMTC2 may be a configuration of a measurement timing applied to the measurement of the cell that is explicitly indicated within the frequency, and the configuration of the SMTC2 may include information of a physical cell identity and information of periodicity….”; [0234]-[0235]; Fig. 6. Examiner comments: the base station apparatus uses the RRCReconfiguration complete message configuring measurement timing.).
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach determining second gap information based at least in part on a frequency of the one or more target bands and the SCS information of the one or more target bands.
Lee teaches determining second gap information based at least in part on a frequency of the one or more target bands and the SCS information of the one or more target bands (Citation: [0121]-“For example, a measurement gap value may be determined based on numerology (e.g., SCS and/or (cyclic prefix) CP length) of the target BWP. In an example, a first measurement gap value may be used if the target BWP has the same numerology as the active BWP and/or a second measurement gap value may be used if the target BWP has a different numerology with the active BWP. The second measurement gap value may be different based on whether the SCS for a target BWP is larger than the SCS of the active BWP or smaller than the SCS of the active BWP. A larger measurement gap may be used when the SCS of a target BWP is smaller than that of active BWP. Table 2 shows an example of measurement gap values based on the numerologies of an active BWP and a target BWP. When more than one target BWP may need to be measured and a single measurement gap is used, the measurement gap value may be determined based on the numerology of an active BWP and a target BWP that has the smallest SCS (or a largest subcarrier spacing).”; [0121]; Table 2. Examiner comment: determining the gap based on the bandwidth and the numerology.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Lee to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would eliminate interference (Lee [0040]).
Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsuboi and TS 138 331 in further view of Wu (US 20230156544 A1) hereinafter Wu.
Regarding claim 28,
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 teach all the features of claim 27, as outlined above.
Tsuboi and TS 138 331 do not explicitly teach wherein the respective gap information is used by the current base station in determining whether to allocate a time slot to a user equipment (UE) for performing a measurement of a reference signal at each of the plurality of target bands.
Wu teaches wherein the respective gap information is used by the current base station in determining whether to allocate a time slot to a user equipment (UE) for performing a measurement of a reference signal at each of the plurality of target bands (Citation: [0017]-“An example embodiment of the techniques of this disclosure is a method in a first network node of a RAN for managing measurement gap information. The method can be implemented by processing hardware and includes receiving, at the first network node from a second network node of the RAN, an indication of a measurement gap capability of the UE in communication with the RAN. The method also includes determining, by processing hardware and based on the indication of the measurement gap capability, whether to generate a measurement gap configuration for the UE. Further, the method includes providing, to the second network node, an indication of whether the first network node generated the measurement gap configuration for the UE.”; [0017]. Examiner comment: generating measurement gap configuration based on measurement gap indication.).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to add the teachings of Wu to the teachings of Tsuboi and TS 138 331. One would have been motivated to do so, with a reasonable expectation of success, because it would enhance scheduling (Wu [0011]-[0013]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: US 20210167930 A1 pertinent to bandwidth parts, BWPs having the same numerology (or SCS), where BWP switching occurs based on active time.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABDUL AZIZ SANTARISI whose telephone number is (703)756-4586. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5:00 PM ET. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on (571)270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABDUL AZIZ SANTARISI/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465