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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/01/2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 9-19 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 9-14, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam et al. (US 2021/0314959), hereinafter "Islam", in view of Huang et al. (US 2021/0274465), hereinafter "Huang", and further in view of Määttänen et al. (US 2023/0319661), hereinafter "Maattanen" and further in view of Fu (US 2023/0007523), hereinafter “Fu”, and further in view of Suh et al. (US 2024/0146406), hereinafter “Suh”.
Regarding claims 1, 9, Islam teaches:
A method or a user equipment (UE) comprising:
at least one transceiver (see Islam, Fig. 9, par. [0108], lines 5-7: the scheduled entity 900 may include an optional user interface 910 and a transceiver 914 substantially similar to those described above in FIG. 8);
at least one processor (see Islam, Fig. 9, par. [0107], lines 2-4: The scheduled entity 900 is shown employing a processing system 902); and
at least one memory operably connectable to the at least one processor (see Islam, Fig. 9, par. [0108], lines 1-4: The processing system 902 may be substantially the same as the processing system 814 illustrated in FIG. 8, including a bus interface 912, a bus 902, memory 906, a processor 904, and a computer-readable medium 908) and storing instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform operations (see Islam, Fig. 9, par. [0109], lines 4-16: operational data for the channel condition and selection circuitry 916 and relaxation mechanism circuitry 918 may be received via an interface, such as transceiver 914, from a scheduling entity (such as the scheduling entity 800), and loaded into computer-readable medium 908 or memory 906 as operational modules 920-922 and 924-926, respectively. In some examples, the operational data for the channel condition and selection circuitry 916 and relaxation mechanism circuitry 918 may be pre-loaded into computer-readable medium 908 or memory 906. During operation, channel condition and selection circuitry 916 processes signals from the transceiver to determine channel conditions or parameters) comprising:
identifying inter-frequency cells (see Islam, par. [0088]: For measurement of inter-frequency cells, the scheduled entity is able to identify new inter-frequency cells) and
performing synchronization signal (SS)-reference signal received power (RSRP) or SS-reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurements of the identified inter-frequency cells based on carrier frequency information being provided by a serving cell (see Islam, par. [0088], lines 6-10: For measurement of inter-frequency cells, the scheduled entity is able to identify new inter-frequency cells and perform SS-RSRP or SS-RSRQ measurements of identified inter-frequency cells if carrier frequency information is provided by the serving cell),
based on a cell selection reception level value being higher than a cell selection reception level threshold and a cell selection quality value being higher than a cell selection quality threshold:
i) searching for inter-frequency layers of higher priority at least every period of a value T (see Islam, par. [0088], lines 12-20: For a cell selection RX level value (dB) Srxlev and cell selection quality value (dB) Squal, if Srxlev >SnonIntraSearchP and Squal >SnonIntraSearchQ then the scheduled entity may search for inter-frequency layers of higher priority at least every Thigher_priority_search, where SnonIntraSearchP represents a threshold of current cell Srxlev to perform inter-frequency or interRAT measurement, and SnonIntraSearchQ represents threshold of current cell Squal to perform inter-frequency or interRAT measurement); and
ii) performing, by the UE, a cell re-selection to a cell on a higher priority frequency (see Islam, par. [0097]: If this cell remains satisfied with the reselection criteria within this duration, then the scheduled entity may reselect that cell);
based on the cell selection reception level being less than or equal to the cell selection reception level threshold or the cell selection quality level being less than or equal to the cell selection quality level threshold:
i) searching, by the UE, for and measuring inter-frequency layers of higher, equal or lower priority (see Islam, par. [0088]: If Srxlev < SnonIntraSearchP or Squal ≤ SnonIntraSearchQ then the scheduled entity shall search for and measure inter-frequency layers of higher, equal or lower priority in preparation for possible reselection); and
ii) performing, by the UE, a cell reselection to a cell on an equal priority frequency based on a ranking of the serving cell and the cell on the equal priority frequency (see Islam, par. [0091]: For an inter-frequency cell that has been already detected, but that has not been reselected to, the filtering may be such that the scheduled entity may be capable of evaluating that the inter-frequency cell has met reselection criterion within Kcarrier*Tevaluate,NR_Inter when Treselection=0. The reselection criteria may be met by a condition when performing equal priority reselection, and when rangeToBestCell is not configured, where the cell is better ranked by a certain amount (such as at least 5 dB) in FR1 or better ranked in FR2 (such as 6.5 dB). Alternately, when rangeToBestCell is configured, reselection may be based on the cell having the highest number of beams above the threshold absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation among all detected cells whose cell-ranking criterion R value is within rangeToBestCell of the cell-ranking criterion R value of the highest ranked cell. In some examples, if there are multiple such cells, the cell having the highest rank among them would include a cell being a configured amount (such as at least 5 dB) better ranked in FR1 or in FR2 (such as 6.5 dB) if the current serving cell is among them, and see par. [0097]: If this cell remains satisfied with the reselection criteria within this duration, then the scheduled entity may reselect that cell),
wherein the cell on the equal priority frequency is at least 3dB with a negative offset better ranked than the serving cell in a frequency range-1 (FR1) or at 4.5 dB with the negative offset better ranked than the serving cell in a frequency range-2 (FR2) (see Islam, par. [0091]: For an inter-frequency cell that has been already detected, but that has not been reselected to, the filtering may be such that the scheduled entity may be capable of evaluating that the inter-frequency cell has met reselection criterion within Kcarrier*Tevaluate,NR_Inter when Treselection=0. The reselection criteria may be met by a condition when performing equal priority reselection, and when rangeToBestCell is not configured, where the cell is better ranked by a certain amount (such as at least 5 dB) in FR1 or better ranked in FR2 (such as 6.5 dB). Alternately, when rangeToBestCell is configured, reselection may be based on the cell having the highest number of beams above the threshold absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation among all detected cells whose cell-ranking criterion R value is within rangeToBestCell of the cell-ranking criterion R value of the highest ranked cell. In some examples, if there are multiple such cells, the cell having the highest rank among them would include a cell being a configured amount (such as at least 5 dB) better ranked in FR1 or in FR2 (such as 6.5 dB) if the current serving cell is among them. or a configured amount (such as 6 dB) in FR1 or in FR2 (such as 7.5 dB) for SS-RSRP reselections based on absolute priorities, or a configured amount (such as 4 dB) in FR1 or in FR2 (such as 4 dB) for SS-RSRQ reselections based on absolute priorities; in this case, offsets are applied to the configured amount for ranking cells for reselection),
However, Islam does not teach:
wherein the serving cell is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and
wherein the inter-frequency cells correspond to a terrestrial cell (TN) cell, and
wherein a measurement period related to measurements of the TN cell decreases as a distance between the UE and a reference location of the NTN cell increases;
wherein the searching comprises:
determining, by the UE, a value K, which is an integer, based on i) a distance between the UE and the TN cell, ii) a remaining service time of the NTN cell, and iii) a signal power received from the TN cell,
wherein the value T is defined by an equation:
T = (K* N) seconds,
where N is a total number of higher priority frequencies broadcasted in system information;
wherein the negative offset is applied to facilitate the cell reselection to the TN cell.
Huang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the value T is defined by an equation:
T = (K* N) seconds (see Huang, par. [0048], lines 6-8: The UE 101 searches every layer of higher priority at least every Thigher_priority_search =([60] *Nlayers) seconds),
where N is a total number of higher priority carrier frequencies broadcasted in system information (see Huang, par. [0048], lines 8-10: where Nlayers is the total number of higher priority NR and E-UTRA carrier frequencies broadcasted in SI);
wherein K is an integer (see Huang, par. [0048], lines 6-8: The UE 101 searches every layer of higher priority at least every Thigher_priority_search =([60] *Nlayers) seconds; in this case, the value “60” in the equation corresponds to K which is a default value and an integer)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the search period of Islam with the search period being defined by an equation of Huang with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of balancing power consumption and mobility performance (see Huang par. [0047]).
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang does not teach:
wherein the serving cell is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell, and
wherein the inter-frequency cells correspond to a terrestrial cell (TN) cell, and
wherein a measurement period related to measurements of the TN cell decreases as a distance between the UE and a reference location of the NTN cell increases;
wherein the searching comprises:
determining, by the UE, a value K, based on i) a distance between the UE and the TN cell, ii) a remaining service time of the NTN cell, and iii) a signal power received from the TN cell,
wherein the negative offset is applied to facilitate the cell reselection to the TN cell.
Maattanen, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the serving cell is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) cell (see Maattanen, Fig. 11, par. [0185]: The method begins at step 602 when the wireless device 110 identifies an NTN providing coverage for the wireless device 110. The wireless device 110 receives, from a network node, a parameter comprising an indication to search for a TN though the NTN provides coverage for the wireless device. Based on the parameter, the wireless device 110 searches for the TN and prioritizes the TN over the NTN when selecting the TN for cell reselection),
wherein the inter-frequency cells correspond to a terrestrial cell (TN) cell (see Maattanen, Fig. 11, par. [0185]: The method begins at step 602 when the wireless device 110 identifies an NTN providing coverage for the wireless device 110. The wireless device 110 receives, from a network node, a parameter comprising an indication to search for a TN though the NTN provides coverage for the wireless device. Based on the parameter, the wireless device 110 searches for the TN and prioritizes the TN over the NTN when selecting the TN for cell reselection), and
wherein the negative offset is applied to facilitate the cell reselection to the TN cell (see Maattanen, par. [0188]: when prioritizing the TN over the NTN when selecting the TN for cell reselection, the wireless device applies an offset to measurements performed on one or more signals associated with the one or more TN cells. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device applies an offset to measurements performed on one or more signals associated with the one or more NTN cells. Based on the applied offset, the wireless device 110 determines that a signal quality of the one or more TN cells is greater than a signal quality of the one or more NTN cells; in this case, applying an offset to measurements performed on signals associated with TN cells or NTN cells when prioritizing the TN over the NTN for cell reselection corresponds to the offset being applied to facilitate the cell reselection to the TN cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang with the terrestrial and non-terrestrial cells and negative offset for facilitating reselection to TN cells of Maattanen with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of decreasing overhead and lowering intermittent connection requests (see Maattanen, par. [0061]).
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach:
wherein a measurement period related to measurements of the TN cell decreases as a distance between the UE and a reference location of the NTN cell increases;
wherein the searching comprises:
determining, by the UE, a value K, based on i) a distance between the UE and the TN cell, ii) a remaining service time of the NTN cell, and iii) a signal power received from the TN cell,
Fu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein a measurement period related to measurements of the TN cell decreases as a distance between the UE and a reference location of the NTN cell increases (see Fu, par. [0177]: a corresponding relationship between the measurement period and the distance or a corresponding relationship between the measurement gap (time between two measurements) and the distance may be set in advance. The measurement period or the measurement gap may be negatively correlated with the distance. That is, the smaller the distance, the larger the measurement period or the larger the measurement gap; and the larger the distance, the smaller the measurement period or the smaller the measurement gap, and see par. [0178]: When the distance between the terminal device and the NTN is less than or equal to the first distance threshold, a greater one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter. When the distance between the terminal device and the NTN is greater than the first distance threshold, a smaller one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter, and see Fig. 3, par. [0149]: In an operation S304, the terminal device may measure the TN cell based on the first measurement parameter, and see par. [0169]: In a case 3, the first measurement parameter may include the measurement gap parameter);
wherein the searching comprises:
determining, by the UE, a value K, based on i) a distance between the UE and the TN cell (see Fu, par. [0182]: a corresponding relationship between the measurement period and the distance or a corresponding relationship between the measurement gap (time between two measurements) and the distance may be set in advance. The measurement period or the measurement gap may be positively correlated with the distance. That is, the smaller the distance, the smaller the measurement period or the smaller the measurement gap; and the larger the distance, the larger the measurement period or the larger the measurement gap. Accordingly, the terminal device may determine the measurement gap parameter from the at least two measurement gap parameters based on the distance between the terminal device and the TN and the corresponding relationship; in this case, changing the measurement period or the measurement gap based on distance between the terminal device and the TN corresponds to determining K based on a distance between the UE and the TN cell when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang), and iii) a signal power received from the TN cell (see Fu, par. [0202]: a corresponding relationship between the measurement period and the measured value of the reference signal, such as RSRP, or a corresponding relationship between the measurement gap (time between two measurements) and the measured value of the reference signal, such as RSRP, may be set in advance. The measurement period or the measurement gap may be negatively correlated with the measured value of the reference signal, such as RSRP. That is, the greater the link loss, the smaller the measurement period or the smaller the measurement gap; and the smaller the link loss, the greater the measurement period or the greater the measurement gap; in this case, changing the measurement period or the measurement gap based on RSRP between the terminal device and the TN corresponds to determining K based on a signal power received from the TN cell when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the changing period based on distances and signal power of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, does not teach:
wherein the searching comprises:
determining, by the UE, a value K, based on ii) a remaining service time of the NTN cell,
Suh, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the searching comprises:
determining, by the UE, a value K, based on ii) a remaining service time of the NTN cell (see Suh, par. [0138]: If the value of the cell service timer is greater than or equal to the first threshold or if the value of the SAT service timer is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the UE may perform the intermittent measurement procedures, and see pars. [0140-0141]: The minimum value of the measurement periodicity may be 20 milliseconds (ms). The measurement periodicity may be set based on Equation 1 below. The measurement reporting periodicity (i.e. reporting periodicity of measurement results) may be set to be the same as the measurement periodicity.
measurement periodicity=20 msec×2n [Equation 1]
In Equation 1, n may be determined based on Equation 2 below.
n=[N×f(
c
T
i
m
e
r
C
T
i
m
e
r
_
m
a
x
∙
1
s
T
i
m
e
r
)
]
[
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q
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a
t
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n
2
]
;
in this case, Suh teaches that the measurement may be intermittent based on a service time being greater than a threshold, corresponding to the measurement period, which is a factor of K, changing based on service time which teaches the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the K value of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, with the K value being changed based on remaining service time of Suh with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the efficiency of cell selection procedure and measurement procedure (see Suh, par. [0028]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
The combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach, but Fu teaches:
wherein the value K is greater than 60 based on the distance between the UE and the TN cell being greater than a first distance threshold (see Fu, par. [0183]: when the plurality of measurement parameters include two measurement gap parameters, a fourth distance threshold may be obtained from the activation condition. When the distance between the terminal device and the TN is greater than or equal to the fourth distance threshold, a greater one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter. When the distance between the terminal device and the TN is less than the fourth distance threshold, a smaller one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter; in this case, the measurement period, which is proportional to K and therefore corresponds to K, is determined to be greater when the distance between the terminal device and the TN is greater than a threshold, teaching the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the changing period based on a distance threshold of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
The combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach, but Fu teaches:
wherein the value K is less than 60 based on the distance between the UE and the TN cell being less than a first distance threshold (see Fu, par. [0183]: when the plurality of measurement parameters include two measurement gap parameters, a fourth distance threshold may be obtained from the activation condition. When the distance between the terminal device and the TN is greater than or equal to the fourth distance threshold, a greater one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter. When the distance between the terminal device and the TN is less than the fourth distance threshold, a smaller one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter; in this case, the measurement period, which is proportional to K and therefore corresponds to K, is determined to be smaller when the distance between the terminal device and the TN is less than a threshold, teaching the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the changing period based on a distance threshold of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
The combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, does not teach, but Suh teaches:
wherein the value K is greater than 60 based on the remaining service time of the NTN cell being greater than a second time threshold (see Suh, par. [0138]: If the value of the cell service timer is greater than or equal to the first threshold or if the value of the SAT service timer is greater than or equal to the second threshold, the UE may perform the intermittent measurement procedures, and see pars. [0140-0141]: The minimum value of the measurement periodicity may be 20 milliseconds (ms). The measurement periodicity may be set based on Equation 1 below. The measurement reporting periodicity (i.e. reporting periodicity of measurement results) may be set to be the same as the measurement periodicity.
measurement periodicity=20 msec×2n [Equation 1]
In Equation 1, n may be determined based on Equation 2 below.
n=[N×f(
c
T
i
m
e
r
C
T
i
m
e
r
_
m
a
x
∙
1
s
T
i
m
e
r
)
]
[
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q
u
a
t
i
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n
2
]
;
in this case, Suh teaches that the measurement may be intermittent based on a service time being greater than a threshold, corresponding to the measurement period, which is a factor of K, changing based on service time being greater than a threshold which teaches the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the K value of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, with the K value being changed based on remaining service time versus a threshold of Suh with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the efficiency of cell selection procedure and measurement procedure (see Suh, par. [0028]).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
The combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, does not teach, but Suh teaches:
wherein the value K is less than 60 based on the remaining service time of the NTN cell being less than a second time threshold (see Suh, par. [0138]: If the value of the cell service timer is less than or equal to the first threshold or if the value of the SAT service timer is less than or equal to the second threshold, the UE may perform the frequent measurement procedures, and see pars. [0140-0141]: The minimum value of the measurement periodicity may be 20 milliseconds (ms). The measurement periodicity may be set based on Equation 1 below. The measurement reporting periodicity (i.e. reporting periodicity of measurement results) may be set to be the same as the measurement periodicity.
measurement periodicity=20 msec×2n [Equation 1]
In Equation 1, n may be determined based on Equation 2 below.
n=[N×f(
c
T
i
m
e
r
C
T
i
m
e
r
_
m
a
x
∙
1
s
T
i
m
e
r
)
]
[
E
q
u
a
t
i
o
n
2
]
;
in this case, Suh teaches that the measurement may be frequent based on a service time being less than a threshold, corresponding to the measurement period, which is a factor of K, changing based on service time being less than a threshold which teaches the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the K value of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, with the K value being changed based on remaining service time versus a threshold of Suh with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the efficiency of cell selection procedure and measurement procedure (see Suh, par. [0028]).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
The combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach, but Fu teaches:
wherein the measurement period related to measurements of the TN cell comprises:
a first measurement period based on the distance between the UE and the reference location of the NTN cell being greater than or equal to a first distance threshold and less than a second distance threshold (see Fu, par. [0179]: When the distance between the terminal device and the NTN is greater than the second distance threshold and less than or equal to the third distance threshold, the measurement gap parameter 2 may be determined as the measurement gap parameter); and
a second measurement period based on the distance between the UE and the reference location of the NTN cell being greater than or equal to the second distance threshold (see Fu, par. [0179]: When the distance between the terminal device and the NTN is greater than the third distance threshold, the measurement gap parameter 1 may be determined as the measurement gap parameter),
wherein the second measurement period is shorter than the first measurement period (see Fu, par. [0179]: A period or a gap of the measurement gap parameter 3 may be greater than a period or a gap of the measurement gap parameter 2. The period or the gap of the measurement gap parameter 2 is greater than a period or a gap of the measurement gap parameter 1. The second distance threshold may be less than the third distance threshold).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the changing period based on distances of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach, but Fu teaches:
wherein the value K is greater than 60 based on the signal power received from the TN cell being less than a signal power threshold (see Fu, par. [0203]: When the RSRP between the terminal device and the TN is less than or equal to the RSRP threshold, a greater one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter. When the RSRP between the terminal device and the TN is greater than the RSRP threshold, a smaller one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter; in this case, the measurement period, which is proportional to K and therefore corresponds to K, is determined to be greater when the RSRP is less than a threshold, teaching the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the changing period based on signal power of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach, but Fu teaches:
wherein the value K is less than 60 based on the signal power received from the TN cell being greater than or equal to a signal power threshold (see Fu, par. [0203]: When the RSRP between the terminal device and the TN is less than or equal to the RSRP threshold, a greater one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter. When the RSRP between the terminal device and the TN is greater than the RSRP threshold, a smaller one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter; in this case, the measurement period, which is proportional to K and therefore corresponds to K, is determined to be smaller when the RSRP is greater than a threshold, teaching the limitation when taken in combination with the equation taught by Huang).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or UE of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the changing period based on signal power of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method. Islam further teaches:
wherein the searching for inter-frequency layers of higher priority is performed (see Islam, par. [0088], lines 12-20: For a cell selection RX level value (dB) Srxlev and cell selection quality value (dB) Squal, if Srxlev >SnonIntraSearchP and Squal >SnonIntraSearchQ then the scheduled entity may search for inter-frequency layers of higher priority at least every Thigher_priority_search, where SnonIntraSearchP represents a threshold of current cell Srxlev to perform inter-frequency or interRAT measurement, and SnonIntraSearchQ represents threshold of current cell Squal to perform inter-frequency or interRAT measurement)
The combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, does not teach, but Fu teaches:
wherein the searching is performed based on at least one of: i) the distance between the UE and the TN cell being less than a distance threshold (see Fu, par. [0183]: when the plurality of measurement parameters include two measurement gap parameters, a fourth distance threshold may be obtained from the activation condition. When the distance between the terminal device and the TN is greater than or equal to the fourth distance threshold, a greater one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter. When the distance between the terminal device and the TN is less than the fourth distance threshold, a smaller one of the two measurement gap parameters (the measurement period and the measurement gap) may be determined as the measurement gap parameter; in this case, the measurement period (corresponding to period for searching) is determined to be smaller when the distance between the terminal device and the TN is less than a threshold, corresponding to performing searching based on distance between the UE and the TN cell being less than a distance threshold); ii) the NTN cell designating the TN cell to be searched (optional limitation); or iii) the remaining service time of the NTN cell being less than a time threshold (optional limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the searching of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, with the searching based on a distance threshold of Fu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving communication performance (see Fu, par. [0172]).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, as applied to claims 1, 9-14, and 16-18 above, and further in view of Sedin et al. (US 2022/0104082), hereinafter “Sedin”.
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, does not teach:
wherein the UE does not perform measurements on the TN cell based on the distance between the UE and the reference location of the NTN cell being less than a first distance threshold.
Sedin, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the UE does not perform measurements on the TN cell based on the distance between the UE and the reference location of the NTN cell being less than a first distance threshold (see Sedin, Fig. 4, pars. [0077-0078]: In this embodiment, the GSM/WCDMA/LTE/NR network can configure a GNSS-based zone wherein the UE is not required to measure RSRP and/or RSRQ of serving and/or neighboring cells or frequencies for cell selection and cell reselection purposes. Once outside of the configured non-measurement zone, the UE will start measuring on serving and neighboring cells or frequencies. Example: The network configures a zone at the midpoint of the satellite beam with a radius of X distance. When leaving the zone, the UE once again performs the cell selection and reselection measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, with the conditionally not performing measurements of Sedin with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing UE power consumption (see Sedin, par. [0074]).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, as applied to claims 1, 9-14, and 16-18 above, and further in view of Li et al. (WO 2023/128857), hereinafter “Li”.
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, does not teach:
further comprising: performing, by the UE, a cell reselection from the TN cell to a neighboring NTN cell based on a signal strength of the neighboring NTN cell being higher than a signal strength of the TN cell by a margin, wherein the margin is higher than 3 dB in FR1 and higher than 4.5 dB in FR2.
Li, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
further comprising: performing, by the UE, a cell reselection from the TN cell to a neighboring NTN cell based on a signal strength of the neighboring NTN cell being higher than a signal strength of the TN cell by a margin, wherein the margin is higher than 3 dB in FR1 and higher than 4.5 dB in FR2 (see Li, pages 8-9: The UE is able to evaluate whether a newly detectable inter-frequency cell meets the reselection criteria defined in TS38.304 within Kcarrier * Tdetect, NR inter if at least carrier frequency information is provided for inter-frequency neighbor cells by the serving cells when Treselection = 0 provided that the reselection criteria is met by a margin of at least 5 dB in FR1 or 6.5 dB in FR2 for reselections based on ranking or 6 dB in FR1 or 7.5 dB in FR2 for SS-RSRP reselections based on absolute priorities, and see page 31: Some embodiments include methods in a UE for performing measurements for cell reselection in both TN and NTN; in this case, margins are used for reselections in TN and NTN).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method of the combination of Islam in view of Huang, and further in view of Maattanen, and further in view of Fu, and further in view of Suh, with the conditional cell reselection of Li with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing power consumption of the UE (see Li, page 17).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/01/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues “the cited references fail to disclose or teach that ‘the negative offset is applied to facilitate the cell reselection to the TN cell,’ as recited in the present claims”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees and points to Maattanen in par. [0188] which teaches “when prioritizing the TN over the NTN when selecting the TN for cell reselection, the wireless device applies an offset to measurements performed on one or more signals associated with the one or more TN cells. Additionally or alternatively, the wireless device applies an offset to measurements performed on one or more signals associated with the one or more NTN cells. Based on the applied offset, the wireless device 110 determines that a signal quality of the one or more TN cells is greater than a signal quality of the one or more NTN cells”.
These sections teach applying an offset to measurements performed on signals associated with TN cells or NTN cells when prioritizing the TN over the NTN for cell reselection, corresponding to the offset being applied to facilitate the cell reselection to the TN cell.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Lee et al. (US 2025/0184952) teaches a method of updating, by a user equipment (UE), a reference location based on non-terrestrial networks (NTN) in a wireless communication system.
Roy et al. (US 2023/0102334) teaches methods for a New Radio (NR)-based, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) are proposed to improve cell selection and reselection by using satellite assistance information.
Shrestha et al. (US 2023/0403586) teaches techniques for a UE performing non-terrestrial cell measurements.
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/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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