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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/12/2026 has been entered.
DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . In virtue of the Amendment filed on 12/10/2025, in which claims 1-9, 11-12, 14-20 are presented for examination, claims 1, 11, 12, are amended, wherein claims 1, 11, 12 are recited in independent form. The present Application is a 371 of PCT/SE2020/050861 with a filing date of 09/16/2020.
Claim Interpretation
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, without importing limitations from the specification. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is only limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked and is otherwise given the broadest reasonable interpretation. The Examiner has not identified any language which invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, therefore the limitations will be given the broadest reasonable interpretation, without importing limitations for the specification.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues that the d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 fails to teach the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment by selectively activating and/or deactivating the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” as amended by the Applicant in the response of 12/10/2025. The Examiner addresses the limitations by changing the grounds of rejection. Applicant’s arguments regarding the limitations are not directed to the changed grounds of rejection. As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment by selectively activating and/or deactivating the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 discloses turning off/on components at RU remote devices based on control at a control unit (see d1 para. 0030-0038; Figs. 3; para. 0043-0050; Fig. 10 para. 0061-0062) wherein the RU is associated with the UE with connect therewith. Therefore, d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 fairly discloses controlling a power apparatus that controls power provision to antenna(s) by selectively activating/deactivating the antenna(s). To address the differences between an RU and the recited UE the Examiner turns to US-20180262259 (hereinafter d4) which discloses a BS (i.e. radio network node) which controls the provisioning of antennas associated of one or more UE(s) associated with the BS (see d4 Figs. 2). D4 is employed in wireless communication systems (see d4 para. 0002) and implementations compatible and directly related to the present invention as well as that of d1 in view of d2 in view of d3. D4 suggests determining the activation state (i.e. activating/deactivating) of a number of antennas based on a reporting signal (i.e. communication of UE capabilities/state) by the BS which is communicated to the UE wherein the UE antenna elements are controlled (see d4 Fig. 2A paras. 0027-0038). Wherein the procedure is performed multiple times (see d4 para. 0040). The disclosure of d4 is applied to d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 wherein the control applied to the RU is replaced with the control applied to the UE in d4. Therefore, it is evident from the preceding disclosure that the prior art included each element claimed although not necessarily in a single reference. The Examiner notes that the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each element merely performed the same function as it does separately. D4 also provides express teaching, suggestion, and motivation, such that one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filling would look to modify d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 as to combine reference teachings including to provide for additional power saving at the UE (see d4 para. 0034, 0021). As the techniques are involved in a similar pursuit (power saving) in congruent systems, such a combination of techniques yields a reasonable expectation of success. Such evidence of compatibility and similarity in desired result also suggests that one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination would be predictable. The Examiner maintains that the new grounds of rejection (necessitated by the amendment) and presented in connection with the RCE are meet all the limitations of the claims as set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 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 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, 3-9, 11-12, 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20180192366 to Bontu et al (hereinafter d1) in view of US 20190110256 to Immonen (hereinafter d2) in view of US 20210247839 to Pathak et al (hereinafter d3) in view of US-20180262259 to Sano et al (hereinafter d4).
Regarding claim 1, as to the limitations “A method performed by a radio network node for controlling power provision of one or more antenna elements associated with a user equipment, the method comprising:” d1 discloses a system including at least a base stations and UEs (i.e. radio network nodes) (see d1 Figs. 4-5) for dynamic power management system where energy consumption is adapted to an actual performance requirement (see d1 para. 0007) wherein the system includes methods performed by the network nodes (see d1 Figs. 9-10, para. 0060-0064), devices which include at least processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry (see d1 Figs. 6-8, para. 0051-0059) wherein the instructions executable by said processing circuitry includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions (see d1 para. 0063);
as to the limitation “obtaining an indication of a capability relating to an output power of the user equipment; obtaining a state indication of the user equipment indicating an activity level of the user equipment; and controlling a power apparatus controlling power provision to the one or more antenna elements, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” the disclosure of d1 includes a control unit configured to control power consumption of a radio unit; wherein the control unit decides to turn on/off transmitters (i.e. controlling power provision of antenna elements), which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059);
d1 does not appear to explicitly disclose based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability, although the disclosure of d1 is particularly relevant to the limitation and may meet the requirements under a broadest reasonable interpretation, in order to provide the most complete and effective examination, attention is directed to d2 which, in a similar field of endeavor of wireless communication, teaches D2 that the user equipment is configured to transmit capability information including power information indicating maximum output power of the user equipment (see d2 paras. 0023, 0041).
D2, in similar field of endeavor (wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve network performance (see d2 para. 0006-0009) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1 and/or d2, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d2 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power coordination) for similar purposes (enhanced performance) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 suggest controlling the power of a UE reflective of the power allocated to antenna elements of the UE (see d1 para. 0030, 0040-0042, 0061) wherein the power control of the antenna is based on which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059); user equipment is configured to transmit capability information including power information indicating maximum output power of the user equipment (see d2 paras. 0023, 0041).
d1 in view of d2 may not explicitly disclose all the limitations, although the disclosure of d1 and d2 is particularly relevant to the limitation and may meet the requirements under a broadest reasonable interpretation, in order to provide the most complete and effective examination, attention is directed to d3 which, in a similar field of endeavor of wireless communication, teaches distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment by selectively activating and/or deactivating the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 discloses turning off/on components at RU remote devices based on control at a control unit (see d1 para. 0030-0038; Figs. 3; para. 0043-0050; Fig. 10 para. 0061-0062) wherein the RU is associated with the UE with connect therewith. d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 fairly discloses controlling a power apparatus that controls power provision to antenna(s) by selectively activating/deactivating the antenna(s). To address the differences between an RU and the recited UE the Examiner turns to d4 which discloses a BS (i.e. radio network node) which controls the provisioning of antennas associated of one or more UE(s) associated with the BS (see d4 Figs. 2). D4 is employed in wireless communication systems (see d4 para. 0002) and implementations compatible and directly related to the present invention as well as that of d1 in view of d2 in view of d3. D4 suggests determining the activation state (i.e. activating/deactivating) of a number of antennas based on a reporting signal (i.e. communication of UE capabilities/state) by the BS which is communicated to the UE wherein the UE antenna elements are controlled (see d4 Fig. 2A paras. 0027-0038). Wherein the procedure is performed multiple times (see d4 para. 0040).
The disclosure of d4 is applied to d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 wherein the control applied to the RU is replaced with the control applied to the UE in d4. Therefore, it is evident from the preceding disclosure that the prior art included each element claimed although not necessarily in a single reference. The Examiner notes that the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each element merely performed the same function as it does separately. D4 also provides express teaching, suggestion, and motivation, such that one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filling would look to modify d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 as to combine reference teachings including to provide for additional power saving at the UE (see d4 para. 0034, 0021). As the techniques are involved in a similar pursuit (power saving) in congruent systems, such a combination of techniques yields a reasonable expectation of success. Such evidence of compatibility and similarity in desired result also suggests that one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination would be predictable.
Regarding claim 3, as to the limitation “The method according to claim1, wherein controlling the power apparatus comprises transmitting a command to one or more voltage regulators to switch on or off power of respective voltage regulator” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 4, as to the limitation “) The method according to claim1, wherein controlling the power apparatus uses an output of a machine learning, ML, model” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 5, as to the limitation “The method according to claim 4, wherein one or more input parameters of the ML model comprises one or more of the following: current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning which encompasses at least one of current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 6, as to the limitation “The method according to claim1, wherein the capability relating to an output power of the user equipment comprises power mode, power class, level of output power, and/or pattern of output power, of the user equipment” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses that the power class of a device could be typically sent from the device to the network node within the capability information (see d2 para. 0023, 0041-0043).
D2, in similar field of endeavor (wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve network performance (see d2 para. 0006-0009) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1 and/or d2, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d2 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power coordination) for similar purposes (enhanced performance) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 7, as to the limitation “The method according to claim1, wherein the power apparatus comprises a voltage regulator” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning which encompasses at least one of current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 8, as to the limitation “The method according to claim 7, wherein the voltage regulator comprises a point of load converter, and/or an amplifier” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning which encompasses at least one of current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 9, as to the limitation “The method according to claim1, wherein the radio network node comprises the power apparatus or is connected to the power apparatus” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses system includes methods performed by the network nodes (see d1 Figs. 9-10, para. 0060-0064), devices which include at least processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry which are interpreted as a power apparatus (see d1 Figs. 6-8, para. 0051-0059) wherein the instructions executable by said processing circuitry includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions (see d1 para. 0063); the disclosure of d1 includes a control unit configured to control power consumption of a radio unit; wherein the control unit decides to turn on/off transmitters (i.e. controlling power provision of antenna elements), which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059).
Regarding claim 11, as to the limitations “A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:” d1 discloses a system including at least a base stations and UEs (i.e. radio network nodes) (see d1 Figs. 4-5) for dynamic power management system where energy consumption is adapted to an actual performance requirement (see d1 para. 0007) wherein the system includes methods performed by the network nodes (see d1 Figs. 9-10, para. 0060-0064), devices which include at least processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry (see d1 Figs. 6-8, para. 0051-0059) wherein the instructions executable by said processing circuitry includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions (see d1 para. 0063);
as to the limitation “obtain an indication of a capability relating to an output power of the user equipment; obtain a state indication of the user equipment indicating an activity level of the user equipment; and control a power apparatus controlling power provision to the one or more antenna elements, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” the disclosure of d1 includes a control unit configured to control power consumption of a radio unit; wherein the control unit decides to turn on/off transmitters (i.e. controlling power provision of antenna elements), which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059);
d1 does not appear to explicitly disclose based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability, although the disclosure of d1 is particularly relevant to the limitation and may meet the requirements under a broadest reasonable interpretation, in order to provide the most complete and effective examination, attention is directed to d2 which, in a similar field of endeavor of wireless communication, teaches D2 that the user equipment is configured to transmit capability information including power information indicating maximum output power of the user equipment (see d2 paras. 0023, 0041).
D2, in similar field of endeavor (wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve network performance (see d2 para. 0006-0009) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1 and/or d2, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d2 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power coordination) for similar purposes (enhanced performance) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 suggest controlling the power of a UE reflective of the power allocated to antenna elements of the UE (see d1 para. 0030, 0040-0042, 0061) wherein the power control of the antenna is based on which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059); user equipment is configured to transmit capability information including power information indicating maximum output power of the user equipment (see d2 paras. 0023, 0041).
d1 in view of d2 may not explicitly disclose all the limitations, although the disclosure of d1 and d2 is particularly relevant to the limitation and may meet the requirements under a broadest reasonable interpretation, in order to provide the most complete and effective examination, attention is directed to d3 which, in a similar field of endeavor of wireless communication, teaches distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment by selectively activating and/or deactivating the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 discloses turning off/on components at RU remote devices based on control at a control unit (see d1 para. 0030-0038; Figs. 3; para. 0043-0050; Fig. 10 para. 0061-0062) wherein the RU is associated with the UE with connect therewith. d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 fairly discloses controlling a power apparatus that controls power provision to antenna(s) by selectively activating/deactivating the antenna(s). To address the differences between an RU and the recited UE the Examiner turns to d4 which discloses a BS (i.e. radio network node) which controls the provisioning of antennas associated of one or more UE(s) associated with the BS (see d4 Figs. 2). D4 is employed in wireless communication systems (see d4 para. 0002) and implementations compatible and directly related to the present invention as well as that of d1 in view of d2 in view of d3. D4 suggests determining the activation state (i.e. activating/deactivating) of a number of antennas based on a reporting signal (i.e. communication of UE capabilities/state) by the BS which is communicated to the UE wherein the UE antenna elements are controlled (see d4 Fig. 2A paras. 0027-0038). Wherein the procedure is performed multiple times (see d4 para. 0040).
The disclosure of d4 is applied to d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 wherein the control applied to the RU is replaced with the control applied to the UE in d4. Therefore, it is evident from the preceding disclosure that the prior art included each element claimed although not necessarily in a single reference. The Examiner notes that the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each element merely performed the same function as it does separately. D4 also provides express teaching, suggestion, and motivation, such that one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filling would look to modify d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 as to combine reference teachings including to provide for additional power saving at the UE (see d4 para. 0034, 0021). As the techniques are involved in a similar pursuit (power saving) in congruent systems, such a combination of techniques yields a reasonable expectation of success. Such evidence of compatibility and similarity in desired result also suggests that one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination would be predictable.
Regarding claim 12, as to the limitations “A radio network node for controlling power provision of one or more antenna elements associated with a user equipment, wherein the radio network node comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said radio network node is configured to:” d1 discloses a system including at least a base stations and UEs (i.e. radio network nodes) (see d1 Figs. 4-5) for dynamic power management system where energy consumption is adapted to an actual performance requirement (see d1 para. 0007) wherein the system includes methods performed by the network nodes (see d1 Figs. 9-10, para. 0060-0064), devices which include at least processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry (see d1 Figs. 6-8, para. 0051-0059) wherein the instructions executable by said processing circuitry includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions (see d1 para. 0063);
as to the limitation “obtain an indication of a capability relating to an output power of the user equipment; obtain a state indication of the user equipment indicating an activity level of the user equipment; and control a power apparatus controlling power provision to the one or more antenna elements, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” the disclosure of d1 includes a control unit configured to control power consumption of a radio unit; wherein the control unit decides to turn on/off transmitters (i.e. controlling power provision of antenna elements), which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059);
d1 does not appear to explicitly disclose based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability, although the disclosure of d1 is particularly relevant to the limitation and may meet the requirements under a broadest reasonable interpretation, in order to provide the most complete and effective examination, attention is directed to d2 which, in a similar field of endeavor of wireless communication, teaches D2 that the user equipment is configured to transmit capability information including power information indicating maximum output power of the user equipment (see d2 paras. 0023, 0041).
D2, in similar field of endeavor (wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve network performance (see d2 para. 0006-0009) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1 and/or d2, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d2 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power coordination) for similar purposes (enhanced performance) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 suggest controlling the power of a UE reflective of the power allocated to antenna elements of the UE (see d1 para. 0030, 0040-0042, 0061) wherein the power control of the antenna is based on which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059); user equipment is configured to transmit capability information including power information indicating maximum output power of the user equipment (see d2 paras. 0023, 0041).
d1 in view of d2 may not explicitly disclose all the limitations, although the disclosure of d1 and d2 is particularly relevant to the limitation and may meet the requirements under a broadest reasonable interpretation, in order to provide the most complete and effective examination, attention is directed to d3 which, in a similar field of endeavor of wireless communication, teaches distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
As to the limitation “controlling a power apparatus of the user equipment that controls power provision to the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment by selectively activating and/or deactivating the one or more antenna elements of the user equipment, based on the state indication and/or the indication of capability” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 discloses turning off/on components at RU remote devices based on control at a control unit (see d1 para. 0030-0038; Figs. 3; para. 0043-0050; Fig. 10 para. 0061-0062) wherein the RU is associated with the UE with connect therewith. d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 fairly discloses controlling a power apparatus that controls power provision to antenna(s) by selectively activating/deactivating the antenna(s). To address the differences between an RU and the recited UE the Examiner turns to d4 which discloses a BS (i.e. radio network node) which controls the provisioning of antennas associated of one or more UE(s) associated with the BS (see d4 Figs. 2). D4 is employed in wireless communication systems (see d4 para. 0002) and implementations compatible and directly related to the present invention as well as that of d1 in view of d2 in view of d3. D4 suggests determining the activation state (i.e. activating/deactivating) of a number of antennas based on a reporting signal (i.e. communication of UE capabilities/state) by the BS which is communicated to the UE wherein the UE antenna elements are controlled (see d4 Fig. 2A paras. 0027-0038). Wherein the procedure is performed multiple times (see d4 para. 0040).
The disclosure of d4 is applied to d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 wherein the control applied to the RU is replaced with the control applied to the UE in d4. Therefore, it is evident from the preceding disclosure that the prior art included each element claimed although not necessarily in a single reference. The Examiner notes that the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference.
Furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each element merely performed the same function as it does separately. D4 also provides express teaching, suggestion, and motivation, such that one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of filling would look to modify d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 as to combine reference teachings including to provide for additional power saving at the UE (see d4 para. 0034, 0021). As the techniques are involved in a similar pursuit (power saving) in congruent systems, such a combination of techniques yields a reasonable expectation of success. Such evidence of compatibility and similarity in desired result also suggests that one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination would be predictable.
Regarding claim 14, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to claim12, wherein the radio network node is configured to control the power apparatus by transmitting a command to one or more voltage regulators to switch on or off power of respective voltage regulator” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 15, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to any of the claim12, wherein the radio network node is configured to use an output of a machine learning, ML, model to control the power apparatus” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 16, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to claim 15, wherein one or more input parameters of the ML model comprises one or more of the following: current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning which encompasses at least one of current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 17, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to claim12, wherein the capability relating to an output power of the user equipment comprises power mode, power class, level of output power, and/or pattern of output power, of the user equipment” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses that the power class of a device could be typically sent from the device to the network node within the capability information (see d2 para. 0023, 0041-0043).
D2, in similar field of endeavor (wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve network performance (see d2 para. 0006-0009) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1 and/or d2, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d2 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power coordination) for similar purposes (enhanced performance) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 18, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to claim12, wherein the power apparatus comprises a voltage regulator” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning which encompasses at least one of current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 19, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to claim 18, wherein the voltage regulator comprises a point of load converter, and/or an amplifier” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses distributed power management scheme for mobile application (see d3 para. 0005) which includes at least machine learning which encompasses at least one of current state indication; current indication of capability; previous state indication; current indication of capability; location of user equipments; time of day; and radio parameters (see d3 para. 0004, 0058, 0063), voltage regulators (see d3 para. 0037-0038, 0045, 0049, 0053, 0056, 0073-0074) and Point of Load converters (see d3 para. 0047-0048).
D3, in similar field of endeavor ( power management for hardware for wireless communication), also contains ample teaching, suggestion, or motivation in the prior art that would have led one of ordinary skill to modify the prior art reference or to combine prior art reference teachings to arrive at the claimed invention including to improve power consumption (see d3 para. 0004) Such teaching, suggestion, and/or motivation, is found in references d1, d2 and/or d3, as well as being found squarely within the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. One of ordinary skill in the art would look to modify d1 with the teaching of d3 in order to achieve the stated advantages of improved efficiency. Furthermore, the techniques are employed in the same field of endeavor (wireless communication) in a similar manner (power management) for similar purposes (enhanced efficiency) which would yield a reasonable expectation of success.
Regarding claim 20, as to the limitation “The radio network node according to claim12, wherein the radio network node comprises the power apparatus or is connected to the power apparatus” d1 in view of d2 in view of d3 in view of d4 discloses system includes methods performed by the network nodes (see d1 Figs. 9-10, para. 0060-0064), devices which include at least processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry which are interpreted as a power apparatus (see d1 Figs. 6-8, para. 0051-0059) wherein the instructions executable by said processing circuitry includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions (see d1 para. 0063); the disclosure of d1 includes a control unit configured to control power consumption of a radio unit; wherein the control unit decides to turn on/off transmitters (i.e. controlling power provision of antenna elements), which is dependent on UL receive power from wireless device ( i.e. indication of output power of user equipment); wherein the control unit controls the transmitters based on the state of the wireless device (i.e. state indication of the user equipment) (see d1 para. para. 0050). It is noted that the activity level of the user equipment is generally known based on whether the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) IDLE state or a RRC connected state as well monitoring UE signals (see d1 para. 0049, 0051, 0059).
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/NATHAN S TAYLOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643