DETAILED ACTION
Applicant’s amendment and arguments filed April 3, 2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 17, 21, 34, and 35 have been amended.
Claims 5, 6, 18, 23, and 24 are cancelled as previously indicated.
Claims 1-4, 7-17, 19-22, and 25-35 are currently pending.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 3, 2026 has been entered.
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 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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
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 nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 13, 16, 17, 19-22, 25, 26, 31, 34, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Freda et al. (hereinafter Freda) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0199881 A1) in view of CATT (Non-Patent Literature – “Dormant SCG state” – 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #107bis), and further in view of Zhou et al. (hereinafter Zhou) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2025/0106773 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 34, Freda teaches and discloses a method of operating a user equipment (UE) (WTRU, figures 1A and 1B) and the user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory (memory, figure 1B); at least one transceiver (transceiver, figure 1B); and at least one processor (processor, figure 1B) communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:
receive, while a secondary cell group (SCG) (SCG, figures 2 and 4-5) is associated with a dormant state with downlink and uplink user plane (U-Plane) communications over SCG disabled, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications over one or more cells of a master cell group (MCG) (MCG, figures 2 and 4-5) ([0084]; [0092]; [0094]; [0114]; [0115]; teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as PDCCH/RRC message, from a SN via a MCG); and
transmit, while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, uplink C-Plane communications through a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of the SCG to the SN ([0084]; [0092]; [0094]; [0112]; [0196]; teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN).
However, Freda may not explicitly disclose receive, while a secondary cell group (SCG) is associated with a dormant state with downlink and uplink user plane (U-Plane) communications over SCG disabled, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications that originate from a secondary node (SN) associated with the SCG over one or more cells of a master cell group (MCG).
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, CATT teaches and suggests receive, while a secondary cell group (SCG) is associated with a dormant state with downlink and uplink user plane (U-Plane) communications over SCG disabled (page 1, section 2; “…When the UE is in SCG dormant state, the UE will not monitor the PDCCH of any serving cell of SCG. A new command is required to indicate the UE to change state from SCG dormant state to SCG active state. This SCG active command should be sent from the MN…”; Figure 1; teaches the SCG is dormant state with downlink/uplink over SCG disabled), downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications that originate from a secondary node (SN) (SN, figure 1; page 2) associated with the SCG over one or more cells of a master cell group (MCG) (MN, figure 1; page 2) (pages 2-3, section 2; “…The SN should inform the MN the data transmission from SN is completed for the SCG RLC DRB from SN. When there is no SCG RLC DRB from MCG or the SCG RLC DRB from MCG transmission is finished, the MCG can send the UE to SCG dormant state. The SN should inform the MN the data arrival for the SCG RLC DRB from SN. The MN can make the decision to activate the SCG…”; page 4, section 2, “option 2”; teaches the UE receives downlink communication via the MN/MCG that originated at the SN; as depicted in Figure 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the UE receives downlink communication via the MN/MCG that originated at the SN as taught by CATT with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN when the SCG is in a dormant state as disclosed by Freda for the purpose of minimizing signaling overhead and latency for initial cell setup related to dormant SCG state, as suggested by CATT.
However, Freda, as modified by CATT, may not explicitly disclose wherein the downlink C-Plane communications comprise a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a spatial relation indication (SRI) or a combination thereof; modifying, without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state, any one or more of a TCI state of the SCG based on the TCI or spatial relation information of the SCG based on the SRI.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Zhou teaches and suggests wherein the downlink C-Plane communications comprise a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a spatial relation indication (SRI) or a combination thereof; modifying, without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state, any one or more of a TCI state of the SCG based on the TCI or spatial relation information of the SCG based on the SRI ([0187]; “…the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and/or a DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states…the UE may determine a spatial domain filter of a transmit (Tx) beam based on a spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam…”; [0321]; [0326]; “…performing SCell dormancy management…a wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages comprising configuration parameters indicating that: a first cell is cross-carrier scheduled by a second cell, the first cell belongs to a first cell group for dormancy indication, and/or the second cell belongs to a second cell group for dormancy indication. The wireless device may receive a DCI comprising a dormancy indication bitmap…”; [0330]; [0367]; “…The wireless device may apply a spatial domain filter to transmit from one of the multiple panels to one of the multiple TRPs of the base station, the spatial domain filter determined based on at least one of: an UL TCI indication of a DCI, a SRI indication of a DCI, and the like…”; teaches control communication comprising TCI indication and spatial indication and updating the TCI or spatial indication without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate control communication comprising TCI indication and spatial indication and updating the TCI or spatial indication without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state as taught by Zhou with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN when the SCG is in a dormant state as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT, for the purpose of communicating configuration parameters in order to manage dormancy, as suggested by Zhou.
Regarding claim 2, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses performing, while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, one or more measurement-related operations associated with one or more reference signals from one or more cells of the SCG ([0077]; [0088]; [0112]; [0178]; teaches the UE performing a measurement related operations with one or more reference signals, such as CQI, RRM or RLM).
Regarding claim 3, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses wherein the one or more measurement-related operations comprise: one or more radio resource monitoring (RRM) measurements, one or more radio link monitoring (RLM) measurements, one or more beam failure detection (BFD) measurements, a combination thereof ([0112]; [0178]; [0189]; teaches the UE performing a measurement related operations with one or more reference signals, such as CQI, RRM or RLM).
Regarding claim 4, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses wherein the PSCell of the SCG is associated with a first bandwidth (BW) and one or more secondary cells (SCells) of the SCG are associated with at least a second BW that is different than the first BW, and wherein the one or more measurement-related operations comprise BFD measurements on both the PSCell and the one or more SCells ([0075]; [0141]; [0143]; teaches a first and second BWP and a BFD measurement on the PSCell and SCell).
Regarding claim 13, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses wherein the downlink C-Plane communications received over the MCG comprise control information related to one or more of a beam update, a timing adjustment and/or a power control command associated with one or more cells of the SCG ([0080]; [0132]; teaches control information related to timing alignment/adjustment).
Regarding claim 16, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses performing, while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, L3 measurements on one or more cells of the SCG; and transmitting an L3 measurement report based on the L3 measurements to the MCG ([0071]; [0126]; teaches performing RRC based measurements while the SCG is in a dormant state).
Regarding claims 17 and 35, Freda teaches and discloses a method of operating a wireless network device (MN, figures 2 and 4-5; [0069]) and the wireless network device configured as a master node (MN) (MN, figures 2 and 4-5) of a master cell group (MCG) (MCG, figures 2 and 4-5) for a user equipment (UE) (WTRU, figure 1A), comprising: a memory (inherent component of the MN, figure 2); at least one transceiver (inherent component of the MN, figure 2); and at least one processor (inherent component of the MN, figure 2) communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:
receive downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE ([0084]; [0092]; [0094]; [0114]; [0115]; teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the MN receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message); and transmit the downlink C-Plane communications to the UE ([0084]; [0092]; [0094]; [0114]; [0115]; teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the MN transmitting a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, to the UE).
However, Freda may not explicitly disclose receive, from a secondary node (SN) of a secondary cell group (SCG) of the UE, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, CATT teaches and suggests receive, from a secondary node (SN) of a secondary cell group (SCG) of the UE, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, CATT teaches and suggests receive, from a secondary node (SN) (SN, figure 1; page 2) of a secondary cell group (SCG) of the UE (UE, figure 1; page 2), downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE (MN, figure 1; page 2) (pages 2-3, section 2; “…The SN should inform the MN the data transmission from SN is completed for the SCG RLC DRB from SN. When there is no SCG RLC DRB from MCG or the SCG RLC DRB from MCG transmission is finished, the MCG can send the UE to SCG dormant state. The SN should inform the MN the data arrival for the SCG RLC DRB from SN. The MN can make the decision to activate the SCG…”; page 4, section 2, “option 2”; teaches the MN receives downlink communication from the SN and originated at the SN; as depicted in Figure 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the MN receives downlink communication from the SN and originated at the SN as taught by CATT with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN when the SCG is in a dormant state as disclosed by Freda for the purpose of minimizing signaling overhead and latency for initial cell setup related to dormant SCG state, as suggested by CATT.
However, Freda, as modified by CATT, may not explicitly disclose wherein the downlink C-Plane communications comprise a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a spatial relation indication (SRI) or a combination thereof, associated with monitoring of the SCG by the UE while the SCG remains in the dormant state, and wherein the downlink C-Plane communications are configured to command the UE to modify, without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state, any one or more of a TCI state of the SCG based on the TCI or spatial relation information of the SCG based on the SRI.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Zhou teaches and suggests wherein the downlink C-Plane communications comprise a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a spatial relation indication (SRI) or a combination thereof, associated with monitoring of the SCG by the UE while the SCG remains in the dormant state, and wherein the downlink C-Plane communications are configured to command the UE to modify, without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state, any one or more of a TCI state of the SCG based on the TCI or spatial relation information of the SCG based on the SRI ([0187]; “…the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and/or a DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states…the UE may determine a spatial domain filter of a transmit (Tx) beam based on a spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam…”; [0321]; [0326]; “…performing SCell dormancy management…a wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages comprising configuration parameters indicating that: a first cell is cross-carrier scheduled by a second cell, the first cell belongs to a first cell group for dormancy indication, and/or the second cell belongs to a second cell group for dormancy indication. The wireless device may receive a DCI comprising a dormancy indication bitmap…”; [0330]; [0367]; “…The wireless device may apply a spatial domain filter to transmit from one of the multiple panels to one of the multiple TRPs of the base station, the spatial domain filter determined based on at least one of: an UL TCI indication of a DCI, a SRI indication of a DCI, and the like…”; teaches control communication comprising TCI indication and spatial indication and updating the TCI or spatial indication without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate control communication comprising TCI indication and spatial indication and updating the TCI or spatial indication without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state as taught by Zhou with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN when the SCG is in a dormant state as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT, for the purpose of communicating configuration parameters in order to manage dormancy, as suggested by Zhou.
Regarding claim 19, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses wherein the downlink C-Plane communications transmitted over the MCG comprise control information related to one or more of a beam update, a timing adjustment and/or a power control command associated with one or more cells of the SCG ([0080]; [0132]; teaches control information related to timing alignment/adjustment).
Regarding claim 20, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses receiving, from the UE, an L3 measurement report based on L3 measurements on one or more cells of the SCG ([0072]; [0126]; teaches performing RRC based measurements while the SCG is in a dormant state).
Regarding claim 21, Freda teaches and discloses a method of operating a wireless network device (SN, figures 2 and 4-5; [0069]) configured as a secondary node (SN) (SN, figures 2 and 4-5) of a secondary cell group (SCG) (SCG, figures 2 and 4-5) for a user equipment (UE) (WTRU, figures 1A and 1B), comprising:
transmitting, while the SCG is associated with a dormant state with downlink and uplink user plane (U-Plane) communications over SCG disabled, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE ([0084]; [0092]; [0094]; [0114]; [0115]; teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the SN transmitting downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, to the UE); and
receiving, over a primary secondary cell (PSCell) of the SCG while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, uplink C-Plane communications from the UE ([0084]; [0092]; [0094]; [0112]; [0196]; teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the SN receiving an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN).
However, Freda may not explicitly disclose transmitting, to a master node (MN) of a master cell group (MCG) of the UE, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, CATT teaches and suggests transmitting, to a master node (MN) (MN, figure 1; page 2) of a master cell group (MCG) of the UE, downlink control plane (C-Plane) communications associated with the SCG for transmission to the UE (UE, figure 1; page 2) (pages 2-3, section 2; “…The SN should inform the MN the data transmission from SN is completed for the SCG RLC DRB from SN. When there is no SCG RLC DRB from MCG or the SCG RLC DRB from MCG transmission is finished, the MCG can send the UE to SCG dormant state. The SN should inform the MN the data arrival for the SCG RLC DRB from SN. The MN can make the decision to activate the SCG…”; page 4, section 2, “option 2”; teaches the SN transmits downlink communication that originated at the SN to the MN/MCG; as depicted in Figure 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SN transmits downlink communication that originated at the SN to the MN/MCG as taught by CATT with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN when the SCG is in a dormant state as disclosed by Freda for the purpose of minimizing signaling overhead and latency for initial cell setup related to dormant SCG state, as suggested by CATT.
However, Freda, as modified by CATT, may not explicitly disclose wherein the downlink C-Plane communications comprise a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a spatial relation indication (SRI) or a combination thereof, associated with monitoring of the SCG by the UE while the SCG remains in the dormant state, and wherein the downlink C-Plane communications are configured to command the UE to modify, without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state, any one or more of a TCI state of the SCG based on the TCI or spatial relation information of the SCG based on the SRI.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Zhou teaches and suggests wherein the downlink C-Plane communications comprise a transmission configuration indicator (TCI), a spatial relation indication (SRI) or a combination thereof, associated with monitoring of the SCG by the UE while the SCG remains in the dormant state, and wherein the downlink C-Plane communications are configured to command the UE to modify, without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state, any one or more of a TCI state of the SCG based on the TCI or spatial relation information of the SCG based on the SRI ([0187]; “…the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and/or a DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states…the UE may determine a spatial domain filter of a transmit (Tx) beam based on a spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam…”; [0321]; [0326]; “…performing SCell dormancy management…a wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages comprising configuration parameters indicating that: a first cell is cross-carrier scheduled by a second cell, the first cell belongs to a first cell group for dormancy indication, and/or the second cell belongs to a second cell group for dormancy indication. The wireless device may receive a DCI comprising a dormancy indication bitmap…”; [0330]; [0367]; “…The wireless device may apply a spatial domain filter to transmit from one of the multiple panels to one of the multiple TRPs of the base station, the spatial domain filter determined based on at least one of: an UL TCI indication of a DCI, a SRI indication of a DCI, and the like…”; teaches control communication comprising TCI indication and spatial indication and updating the TCI or spatial indication without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate control communication comprising TCI indication and spatial indication and updating the TCI or spatial indication without transitioning the SCG to the non-dormant state as taught by Zhou with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN when the SCG is in a dormant state as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT, for the purpose of communicating configuration parameters in order to manage dormancy, as suggested by Zhou.
Regarding claim 22, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses transmitting, while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, one or more reference signals from one or more cells of the SCG ([0077]; [0088]; [0112]; [0178]; teaches the base station transmitting one or more reference signals).
Regarding claim 25, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses wherein the one or more reference signals comprise one or more downlink L1 reference signals ([0077]; [0088]; [0112]; [0178]; teaches the base station transmitting one or more reference signals).
Regarding claim 31, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, further teaches and discloses wherein the downlink C-Plane communications transmitted to the MCG comprise control information related to one or more of a beam update, a timing adjustment and/or a power control command associated with one or more cells of the SCG ([0080]; [0132]; teaches control information related to timing alignment/adjustment).
Claims 7-12, 14, 15, 27-30, 32, and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Freda et al. (hereinafter Freda) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0199881 A1) in view of CATT (Non-Patent Literature – “Dormant SCG state” – 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #107bis) and Zhou et al. (hereinafter Zhou) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2025/0106773 A1), and further in view of Kim et al. (hereinafter Kim) (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2024/0205802 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more measurement-related operations include one or more downlink L1 measurements of one or more L1 reference signals and/or transmission of one or more L1 sounding reference signals (SRSs).
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more measurement-related operations include one or more downlink L1 measurements of one or more L1 reference signals and/or transmission of one or more L1 sounding reference signals (SRSs) ([0182]; [0184]; [0196]; teaches L1 measurements and transmission of SRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate L1 measurements and transmission of SRS as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 8, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more L1 reference signals comprise: one or more periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), one or more beam failure detection reference signals (BFD-RS), one or more aperiodic tracking reference signals (TRSs), or a combination thereof.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more L1 reference signals comprise: one or more periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), one or more beam failure detection reference signals (BFD-RS), one or more aperiodic tracking reference signals (TRSs), or a combination thereof ([0133]; [0183]; teaches the L1 reference signals, such as CSI-RS or SRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the L1 reference signals, such as CSI-RS or SRS as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 9, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more L1 SRSs comprise periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic SRSs.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more L1 SRSs comprise periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic SRSs ([0182]; [0184]; [0196]; teaches the L1 reference signals, such as periodic SRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the L1 reference signals, such as periodic SRS as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 10, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more L1 SRSs are multiplexed with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more L1 SRSs are multiplexed with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication ([0184]; [0196]; teaches the L1 SRSs are multiplex with PUCCH).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the L1 SRSs are multiplex with PUCCH as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 11, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose transmitting a measurement report based on the one or more downlink L1 measurements to the SN.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests transmitting a measurement report based on the one or more downlink L1 measurements to the SN ([0182]; [0183]; [0184]; [0196]; teaches a measurement report based on L1 measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a measurement report based on L1 measurements as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 12, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more L1 downlink reference signals are received from the SN.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more L1 downlink reference signals are received from the SN ([0182]; [0183]; [0184]; [0196]; teaches L1 downlink reference signals are from the SN).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate L1 downlink reference signals are from the SN as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 14, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the PSCell of the SCG is associated with a first bandwidth (BW) and one or more secondary cells (SCells) of the SCG are associated with at least a second BW that is different than the first BW.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the PSCell of the SCG is associated with a first bandwidth (BW) and one or more secondary cells (SCells) of the SCG are associated with at least a second BW that is different than the first BW ([0176]; [0178]; [0179]; teaches a first and second BWP of the SCG).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a first and second BWP of the SCG as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 15, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with the first BW, or wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with a third BW that is different than the first or second BWs.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with the first BW, or wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with a third BW that is different than the first or second BWs ([0176]; [0177]; [0179]; teaches a first and second BWP of the MCG).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a first and second BWP of the MCG as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 27, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more L1 reference signals comprise: one or more periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), one or more beam failure detection reference signals (BFD-RS), one or more aperiodic tracking reference signals (TRSs), or a combination thereof.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more L1 reference signals comprise: one or more periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), one or more beam failure detection reference signals (BFD-RS), one or more aperiodic tracking reference signals (TRSs), or a combination thereof ([0133]; [0183]; teaches the L1 reference signals, such as CSI-RS or SRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the L1 reference signals, such as CSI-RS or SRS as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 28, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose receiving, from the UE while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, one or more L1 sounding reference signals (SRSs).
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests receiving, from the UE while the SCG is associated with the dormant state, one or more L1 sounding reference signals (SRSs) ([0182]; [0184]; [0196]; teaches L1 measurements and transmission of SRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate L1 measurements and transmission of SRS as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 29, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more L1 SRSs comprise periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic SRSs.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more L1 SRSs comprise periodic, semi-periodic or aperiodic SRSs ([0182]; [0184]; [0196]; teaches the L1 reference signals, such as periodic SRS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the L1 reference signals, such as periodic SRS as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 30, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the SRS is multiplexed with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the SRS is multiplexed with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communication ([0184]; [0196]; teaches the L1 SRSs are multiplex with PUCCH).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the L1 SRSs are multiplex with PUCCH as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 32, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the PSCell of the SCG is associated with a first bandwidth part (BW) and one or more secondary cells (SCells) of the SCG are associated with at least a second BW that is different than the first BW.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the PSCell of the SCG is associated with a first bandwidth part (BW) and one or more secondary cells (SCells) of the SCG are associated with at least a second BW that is different than the first BW ([0176]; [0178]; [0179]; teaches a first and second BWP of the SCG).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a first and second BWP of the SCG as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Regarding claim 33, Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, teaches an SCG in a dormant state and the UE receiving a downlink control plane communication, such as RRC message, from a SN via a MCG and transmitting an uplink C-plane communication, such as measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN, but may not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with the first BW, or wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with a third BW that is different than the first or second BWs.
Nonetheless, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches and suggests wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with the first BW, or wherein the one or more cells of the MCG are associated with a third BW that is different than the first or second BWs ([0176]; [0177]; [0179]; teaches a first and second BWP of the MCG).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a first and second BWP of the MCG as taught by Kim with the method for receiving a downlink control plane communication and transmitting measurement report/PUCCH, through PSCell of the SCG to the SN as disclosed by Freda, as modified by CATT and Zhou, for the purpose of improving and reducing battery consumption of the UE when the SCG is dormant, as suggested by Kim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 7-17, 19-22, and 25-35 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection as necessitated by Applicant’s amendment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
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/Suk Jin Kang/
Examiner, Art Unit 2477
July 1, 2026
Prosecution Insights