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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
This action is in response to application filed on 3/2/2026.
Claims 32, 34 & 37-40 have been examined and are pending with this action.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 11/17/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
ARGUMENTS
Applicant:
Applicant argues that limitation, “wherein, if the terminal device does not detect the control information that indicates the one or more identities for paging, the terminal device in an RRC_IDLE or an RRC INACTIVE state is not requires to monitor a paging occasion” is not disclosed by the Prior arts.
Examiner:
Examiner cites that the primary art NPL does not explicitly discloses the ceasing of paging.
However Vajapeyam however discloses wherein, if the control information does not indicate the one or more identities for paging, the terminal device in an RRC_IDLE or an RRC INACTIVE state does not need to perform monitoring a paging occasion ( Vajapeyam : [0053 & 0065] “a UE 115 may be either in an idle mode (RRC_Idle) or a connected mode (RRC_Connected). In the idle mode, the UE 115 performs cell selection and reselection and registers itself within the network, but does not actively communicate user data. One proposed solution allows UEs to enter a Power Saving Mode (PSM) when an active timer expires after transitioning from connected mode to idle mode. In the PSM, the UE is unreachable for paging and stops access stratum activities. ”).
Vajapeyam discloses a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle during which the UE periodically turns some radio components off to conserve power and then reactivates the components if it has data to transmit or to monitor for an indication that data may be available for reception. The DRX mode of operation can greatly reduce the amount of power consumed by the UEs. In [0053] it discloses a UE 115 may be either in an idle mode (RRC_Idle) and In the idle mode, the UE 115 performs cell selection and reselection and registers itself within the network, but does not actively communicate user data.
The claim limitation claims that , “the terminal device in an RRC_IDLE or an RRC INACTIVE state”. So Examiner strongly believes that NPL with combination of Vajapeyam discloses the argued limitation and hence makes the argument non persuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained through invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if differences between subject matter sought to be patented and prior art are such that subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at time invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negative by manner in which invention was made.
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(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining scope and contents of prior art.
2. Ascertaining differences between prior art and claims at issue.
3. Resolving level of ordinary skill in pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in application indicating obviousness or no obviousness.
Claims 32, 34 & 37-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over NPL (NPL LG Electronics R1 1717272 2017-10-08) in view of Vajapeyam et al. (US Pub # 2016/0044605).
As per claim 32,. NPL LG Electronic discloses a communication method performed by a terminal device (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [0070]: “"UE or UE group ID"), the communication method comprising:
receiving, from a network device, configuration information indicating one or more identities for paging (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [0070]: “"UE or UE group ID", lines 1-6: "For the paging message [..]. If single wake up signal is configured without UE differentiation, all the UEs which shares same wake up signal occasion will wake up by the wake up signal. To prevent unnecessary power consumption due to the other UE paging, it is desired to convey UE ID or UE group ID information on the wake up signal. For example, different sequence can be used to indicate different UE (group) ID. In this case, UE detects the wake up signal based on the sequence which is generated by its UE ID. As shown in our evaluation results in our companion’s paper, UE ID information can enhance the power consumption efficiency ", wherein the "wake up signal is configured" is the configuration information and wherein "to convey UE group ID information on the wake up signal" is the configuration information indicating one or more activated identity indices for paging. See also last paragraph on page 4: "As we described above, power consumption efficiency can be enhanced by conveying cell ID and/or UE (group) ID information by the wake up signal. In addition, other information can be considered to be conveyed for power consumption efficiency, such as paging occasion configuration", wherein the "paging occasion configuration" is the configuration information .. for paging”).
receiving control information from the network device (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [see page 4 & 5, section 2.4:]: “DCI based power saving operation", second paragraph: "introducing new physical channel for the power consumption efficiency can be considered together on top of the wake up signal method". See also page 6, third paragraph: "the power saving DCI can be used together with the wake up signal when the wake up signal operation is enabled by the network. In this case, UE can monitor power saving DCI in a paging search space after detecting the wake up signal without additional complexity", wherein the "power saving DCI" is the control information & conveyed information to the synchronization performance and the UE receiver complexity can be significant”); and
determining whether the control information indicates the one or more identities for paging (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [see page 4 & 5, section 2.4:]: “Using the information conveyed by the power saving DCI, multiple paging occasions can be controlled by the power saving DCI". See also page 6, paragraph below Fig. 1: "Also, the power saving DCI can control multiple UE group individually by grouping UE IDs. [..] In case of the power saving DCI is used to control paging occasions to be monitored, 15 bits are available and it can be divided in multiple regions to indicate multiple groups of UE separately. For example, three UE groups can be configured and 5 bits allocated to each UE group", wherein the "power saving DCI is used to control paging occasions to be monitored, 15 bits are available and it can be divided in multiple regions to indicate multiple groups of UE separately ”).
NPL does not explicitly discloses the ceasing of paging.
Vajapeyam however discloses wherein, if the terminal device does not detect the control information that indicates the one or more identities for paging, the terminal device in an RRC_IDLE or an RRC INACTIVE state is not requires to monitor a paging occasion ( Vajapeyam : [0065] “One proposed solution allows UEs to enter a Power Saving Mode (PSM) when an active timer expires after transitioning from connected mode to idle mode. In the PSM, the UE is unreachable for paging and stops access stratum activities. ”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art at time invention was made to modify system of NPL in view of Vajapeyam to figure out the ceasing of paging . One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in for UE to enter power saving mode (Vajapeyam [0065]).
As per claim 34, NPL LG Electronic discloses a terminal device (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [0070]: “"UE or UE group ID"), comprising:
receiver configured to receive, from a network device, configuration information indicating one or more identities for paging (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [0070]: “"UE or UE group ID", lines 1-6: "For the paging message [..]. If single wake up signal is configured without UE differentiation, all the UEs which shares same wake up signal occasion will wake up by the wake up signal. To prevent unnecessary power consumption due to the other UE paging, it is desired to convey UE ID or UE group ID information on the wake up signal. For example, different sequence can be used to indicate different UE (group) ID. In this case, UE detects the wake up signal based on the sequence which is generated by its UE ID. As shown in our evaluation results in our companion’s paper, UE ID information can enhance the power consumption efficiency ", wherein the "wake up signal is configured" is the configuration information and wherein "to convey UE group ID information on the wake up signal" is the configuration information indicating one or more activated identity indices for paging. See also last paragraph on page 4: "As we described above, power consumption efficiency can be enhanced by conveying cell ID and/or UE (group) ID information by the wake up signal. In addition, other information can be considered to be conveyed for power consumption efficiency, such as paging occasion configuration", wherein the "paging occasion configuration" is the configuration information .. for paging”).
to receive control information from the network device (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [see page 4 & 5, section 2.4:]: “DCI based power saving operation", second paragraph: "introducing new physical channel for the power consumption efficiency can be considered together on top of the wake up signal method". See also page 6, third paragraph: "the power saving DCI can be used together with the wake up signal when the wake up signal operation is enabled by the network. In this case, UE can monitor power saving DCI in a paging search space after detecting the wake up signal without additional complexity", wherein the "power saving DCI" is the control information & conveyed information to the synchronization performance and the UE receiver complexity can be significant”); and
a processor configured to determining whether the control information indicates the one or more identities for paging (NPL LG ELECTRONICS: [see page 4 & 5, section 2.4:]: “Using the information conveyed by the power saving DCI, multiple paging occasions can be controlled by the power saving DCI". See also page 6, paragraph below Fig. 1: "Also, the power saving DCI can control multiple UE group individually by grouping UE IDs. [..] In case of the power saving DCI is used to control paging occasions to be monitored, 15 bits are available and it can be divided in multiple regions to indicate multiple groups of UE separately. For example, three UE groups can be configured and 5 bits allocated to each UE group", wherein the "power saving DCI is used to control paging occasions to be monitored, 15 bits are available and it can be divided in multiple regions to indicate multiple groups of UE separately ”).
NPL does not explicitly discloses the ceasing of paging.
Vajapeyam however discloses wherein, if the control information does not indicate the one or more identities for paging, the terminal device in an RRC_IDLE or an RRC INACTIVE state does not need to perform monitoring a paging occasion ( Vajapeyam : [0053 & 0065] “a UE 115 may be either in an idle mode (RRC_Idle) or a connected mode (RRC_Connected). In the idle mode, the UE 115 performs cell selection and reselection and registers itself within the network, but does not actively communicate user data. One proposed solution allows UEs to enter a Power Saving Mode (PSM) when an active timer expires after transitioning from connected mode to idle mode. In the PSM, the UE is unreachable for paging and stops access stratum activities. ”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art at time invention was made to modify system of NPL in view of Vajapeyam to figure out the ceasing of paging . One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in for UE to enter power saving mode (Vajapeyam [0065]).
As per claim 37, NPL/ Vajapeyam discloses the communication method according to claim 32, wherein the one or more identities for paging comprise assigned identity indices ( Vajapeyam : [0054] “When a paging message is received, the UE 115 performs a random access procedure to transition to the connected mode for transfer of data between the eNB 105 and UE 115. In connected mode, the UE 115 continuously monitors the PDCCH according to a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) assigned by the eNB 105 in the connection procedure. ”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art at time invention was made to modify system of NPL in view of Vajapeyam to figure out the paging . One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in improving communication system (Vajapeyam [0009]).
As per claim 38, NPL/ Vajapeyam discloses the communication method according to claim 32, wherein any one of the identities for paging comprise RNTI index ( Vajapeyam : [0039] “paging may be differentiated for eI-DRX mode UEs using separate paging occasions or a new paging radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art at time invention was made to modify system of NPL in view of Vajapeyam to figure out the ceasing of paging . One would be motivated to do so because this technique advantageously aids in improving communication system (Vajapeyam [0009]).
Claims 39 & 40 are rejected based on rationale provided for claims 37 and 38.
Conclusion
This action is final. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes:
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/SIBTE H BUKHARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2449
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