DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Acknowledgement
2. Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s submission of the amendment with the request for continued examination on January 26, 2026. Claims 1, 11, 20, and 30 have been amended.
Upon entering the amendment, claims 1, 11, and 20-38 are pending. This communication is considered fully responsive and sets forth below.
Claim Objections
3. Claim 20 is objected to under 37 CFR 1.75(c) because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 20, it recites, “A wireless device comprising:
memory storing instructions; and
a processor operable to execute the instructions to cause the wireless to:
determine that one or more conditions for triggering measurement reporting have occurred; and
trigger the measurement reporting based on the occurrence of the one or more conditions, and
wherein triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell.”
Claim 20 is an apparatus claim, claiming “A wireless device.”
The term “the wireless” as indicated in italics in the limitation of “a processor operable to execute the instructions to cause the wireless to…” seems to refer back to the term “A wireless device.” If this is true, it is suggested to amend the term to “the wireless device.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
5. Claims 25, 26, 28, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Regarding claim 25, it recites “The wireless device of Claim 20, further adapted to:
receive, from the network node, information indicating a measurement configuration and at least one associated condition for when the wireless device should activate the measurement configuration; and
activate the measurement configuration based on determining that the at least one associated condition has been met.”
Claim 25 depends from claim 20 that recites, “A wireless device comprising:
memory storing instructions; and
a processor operable to execute the instructions to cause the wireless to:
determine that one or more conditions for triggering measurement reporting have occurred; and
trigger the measurement reporting based on the occurrence of the one or more conditions, and
wherein triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell.”
Claim 25 is rejected since there is a lack of antecedent basis for the usage of the term “the network node” as indicated in italics in the receiving function.
Same rationale applies to the usage of the term “the network node” in claims 26, 28, and 29.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claims 1, 11, 20-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hajir et al. (US 20220030532 A1) (hereinafter Hajir) in view of Wu et. al. (US 20230276336) (hereinafter Wu).
Regarding Claim 1, Hajir discloses a method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:
determining that one or more conditions for triggering measurement reporting have occurred (Fig. 12 1204. ¶[0107]: At 1204, the WTRU may determine which sets of measurement configurations are active/inactive either autonomously or based on network signaling. ¶[0111]: Any of the following example measurement report triggers and triggering conditions may be used by WTRUs served by NTN. The WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis); and
triggering the measurement reporting based on the occurrence of the one or more conditions (Fig. 12 1210. ¶[0107]: then at 1210 activating/deactivating measurement configurations based on the current geographical position and the current time according to the activation/deactivation criteria),
Hajir teaches the method without specifically teaching triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell.
However, Wu discloses wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell (¶[0031] & [0154]: a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a timing advance value in a source cell;”
In fact, the condition for triggering the measurement report based on a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Wu in the system of Hajir.
The motivation for implementing triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell, is to further enhance the mechanism for handling a conditional handover (CHO) condition in a non-terrestrial network, including receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes CHO configuration information associated with target candidate cells and a set of CHO execution conditions associated with the target candidate cells, and the condition is based on a measurement result.
Regarding Claim 11, Hajir discloses a method performed by a network node the method comprising:
indicating, to a wireless device, a measurement configuration and one or more conditions associated with the measurement configuration (¶[0104]: The WTRU 1130 may receive (be preconfigured with) multiple measurement configurations and associated activation/deactivation criteria for multiple satellites. ¶[0111]: Any of the following example measurement report triggers and triggering conditions may be used by WTRUs served by NTN. The WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis).
Hajir teaches the method without specifically teaching triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell.
However, Wu discloses wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell (¶[0031] & [0154]: a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a timing advance value in a source cell;”
In fact, the condition for triggering the measurement report based on a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Wu in the system of Hajir.
The motivation for implementing triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell, is to further enhance the mechanism for handling a conditional handover (CHO) condition in a non-terrestrial network, including receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes CHO configuration information associated with target candidate cells and a set of CHO execution conditions associated with the target candidate cells, and the condition is based on a measurement result.
Regarding Claim 20, Hajir discloses a wireless device (UE, e.g., 102a in FIG. 1A and 102 in FIG. 1B) comprising:
memory storing instructions (non-removable memory 130 in UE 102 depicted in FIG. 1B); and
a processor (processor 118 in UE 102 depicted in FIG. 1B) operable to execute the instructions to cause the wireless to:
determine whether one or more conditions for triggering measurement reporting have occurred (Fig. 12 1204. ¶[0107]: At 1204, the WTRU may determine which sets of measurement configurations are active/inactive either autonomously or based on network signaling. ¶[0111]: Any of the following example measurement report triggers and triggering conditions may be used by WTRUs served by NTN. The WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis); and
trigger the measurement reporting based on the occurrence of the one or more conditions (Fig. 12 1210. ¶[0107]: then at 1210 activating/deactivating measurement configurations based on the current geographical position and the current time according to the activation/deactivation criteria).
Hajir teaches the wireless device without specifically teaching triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell.
However, Wu discloses wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell (¶[0031] & [0154]: a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a timing advance value in a source cell;”
In fact, the condition for triggering the measurement report based on a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Wu in the system of Hajir.
The motivation for implementing triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell, is to further enhance the mechanism for handling a conditional handover (CHO) condition in a non-terrestrial network, including receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes CHO configuration information associated with target candidate cells and a set of CHO execution conditions associated with the target candidate cells, and the condition is based on a measurement result.
Regarding Claim 21, Hajir discloses wherein triggering the measurement reporting is based at least in part on determining that a channel quality exceeds a threshold (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0112]: Another example condition may be based on measurement results from more than two cells. ¶[0113]: Measurement reports may signal a quality of the planned target cell.¶[0120]: Another example of event-based trigger for location reporting may include when the reference signal measurement quantity of the serving cell is below a threshold and/or when the reference signal measurement quantity of the neighbor cell is above a threshold. ¶[0109]: the WTRU may determine the delimitation of the edge and center zones based on a quality measurement threshold of the serving cell (e.g., signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP)). ¶[0113] shows that quality-related measurements are tied to threshold-based event triggers in ¶[0120]. Additionally, quality measurements in ¶[0109] points to channel quality metrics like SINR and RSRP).
Regarding Claim 22, Hajir discloses wherein triggering the measurement reporting is based at least in part on determining that an estimated pathloss is below a threshold (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0102]: the measurement associated with the best cell or cells (e.g., n best listed cell) or listed beam spots is below a threshold indicating that none of the configured neighboring cells (listed cell list) is still in the coverage of the WTRU. In another example condition, the measurement result associated with the serving cell and/or serving beam spot is below a threshold. ¶[0002]: Beamforming may be used to compensate for increased pathloss at higher frequencies (e.g. over 6 GHz)).
Regarding Claim 23, Hajir discloses wherein triggering the measurement reporting is based at least in part on determining that the wireless device is located within a geographically outlined area (¶[0094]: the WTRU may autonomously activate the measurement configuration of interest associated with the current time instance when it enters the given area. ¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0119]: As part of WTRU measurement reporting, measurement report quantities may include reporting of the footprint ID and/or geographical coordinates.)
Regarding Claim 24, Hajir discloses wherein triggering the measurement reporting is based at least in part on detecting the occurrence of the one or more conditions with respect to at least a minimum number of cells (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0109]: The WTRU may report the measurements of any listed/detected cells satisfying pre-defined conditions. The requirement that a set of listed/detected cells in ¶[0109] that meet certain conditions in ¶[0111] is functionally similar to the approach of the requirement of a minimum number of cells that meet certain conditions).
Regarding Claim 25, Hajir discloses further adapted to: receive, from the network node, information indicating a measurement configuration and at least one associated condition for when the wireless device should activate the measurement configuration (¶[0107]: the WTRU may be preconfigured (based on signaling from a network node) with multiple measurement configurations (objects) associated with multiple satellites and corresponding activation/deactivation criteria for the measurement configurations. ¶[0107]: the WTRU activates/deactivates measurement configurations based on network signaling); and activate the measurement configuration based on determining that the at least one associated condition has been met(¶[0107]: at 1210 activating/deactivating measurement configurations based on the current geographical position and the current time according to the activation/deactivation criteria. ¶[0104]: The activation/deactivation criteria includes the applicable time (e.g., discrete time instances and/or time ranges) and is used by the WTRU 1130 to determine when to activate/deactivate the corresponding measurement configurations).
Regarding Claim 26, Hajir discloses further adapted to: receive, from the network node, information indicating an inactive measurement configuration (¶[0107]: at 1212, the WTRU receives network signaling including measurement configuration activation/deactivation instructions. ¶[0107]: At 1204, the WTRU may determine which sets of measurement configurations are active/inactive either autonomously or based on network signaling); and abstain from triggering the inactive measurement configuration until it is activated by a network (¶[0107]: and at 1214 the WTRU activates/deactivates measurement configurations based on network signaling).
Regarding Claim 27, Hajir discloses further adapted to: receive, from the network node, an indication to activate the inactive measurement configuration (¶[0107]: WTRU may determine which sets of measurement configurations are active/inactive either autonomously or based on network signaling.), and in response to receiving the indication, activate the inactive measurement configuration (¶[0107]: and at 1214 the WTRU activates/deactivates measurement configurations based on network signaling).
Regarding Claim 28, Hajir discloses further adapted to send, to the network node, an indication that the measurement reporting has been triggered (¶[0085]: Another example parameter may include a list of reporting configurations, which may include a reporting criterion that triggers the WTRU to send a measurement report. Fig. 12 Flowchart shows that WTRU is designed to recognize a condition for reporting is met and responds by sending data to network. ¶[0086]: the WTRU may measure and report on serving cells (e.g., a primary cell (SpCell) and/or one or more secondary cells (Scells)), cells listed within the measurement objects, and/or cells not listed within the measurement object(s) that have been detected by the WTRU. In ¶[0085] and ¶[0086], the act of sending that measurement report constitutes the claimed indication that the measurement reporting has been triggered).
Regarding Claim 29, Hajir discloses further adapted to: receive a location reporting configuration from the network node (¶[0093]: The WTRU may be preconfigured with a set of measurement configurations that are conditionally added or removed to or from the measurement configuration, or activated or deactivated, based on the location of the WTRU and/or the time. ¶[0106]:The activation/deactivation criteria includes the applicable time (i.e., the time that the corresponding satellite has a cell that covers the geographical location of the WTRU 1130), and thus is based on the satellite ephemeris and WTRU 1130 geo-location); and report a location of the wireless device to the network node according to the location reporting configuration (¶[0119]: when a measurement report is sent to the network, the WTRU may piggyback additional measurements and/or indications such as the footprint ID, location coordinates or other information).
Regarding Claim 30, Hajir discloses a network node (base station, e.g., 114a in FIG. 1A) comprising:
memory storing instructions (Examiner’s Notes: a memory in the base station is anticipated under 35 U.S.C. 102 based on the teaching of “the base station.” In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255 n.4, 195 USPQ 430, 433 n.4 (CCPA 1977)); and
a processor (Examiner’s Notes: a processor in the base station is anticipated under 35 U.S.C. 102 based on the teaching of “the base station.” In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252, 1255 n.4, 195 USPQ 430, 433 n.4 (CCPA 1977)) operable to execute the instructions to cause the wireless to:
indicate, to a wireless device, a measurement configuration and one or more conditions associated with the measurement configuration (¶[0104]: The WTRU 1130 may receive (be preconfigured with) multiple measurement configurations and associated activation/deactivation criteria for multiple satellites. ¶[0111]: Any of the following example measurement report triggers and triggering conditions may be used by WTRUs served by NTN. The WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis).
Hajir teaches the network node without specifically teaching triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell.
However, Wu discloses wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell (¶[0031] & [0154]: a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a timing advance value in a source cell;”
In fact, the condition for triggering the measurement report based on a TA value regards to the source cell in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the one or more conditions for triggering the measurement reporting is based on a timing advance value in a source cell” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Wu in the system of Hajir.
The motivation for implementing triggering the measurement reporting based on a timing advance value in a source cell, is to further enhance the mechanism for handling a conditional handover (CHO) condition in a non-terrestrial network, including receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message includes CHO configuration information associated with target candidate cells and a set of CHO execution conditions associated with the target candidate cells, and the condition is based on a measurement result.
Regarding Claim 31, Hajir discloses wherein the one or more conditions indicate to trigger the measurement reporting based at least in part on the wireless device determining that a channel quality exceeds a threshold (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0112]: Another example condition may be based on measurement results from more than two cells. ¶[0113]: Measurement reports may signal a quality of the planned target cell.¶[0120]: Another example of event-based trigger for location reporting may include when the reference signal measurement quantity of the serving cell is below a threshold and/or when the reference signal measurement quantity of the neighbor cell is above a threshold. ¶[0109]: the WTRU may determine the delimitation of the edge and center zones based on a quality measurement threshold of the serving cell (e.g., signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP)). ¶[0113] shows that quality-related measurements are tied to threshold-based event triggers in ¶[0120]. Additionally, quality measurements in ¶[0109] points to channel quality metrics like SINR and RSRP).
Regarding Claim 32, Hajir discloses wherein the one or more conditions indicate to trigger the measurement reporting based at least in part on the wireless device determining that an estimated pathloss is below a threshold (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0102]: the measurement associated with the best cell or cells (e.g., n best listed cell) or listed beam spots is below a threshold indicating that none of the configured neighboring cells (listed cell list) is still in the coverage of the WTRU. In another example condition, the measurement result associated with the serving cell and/or serving beam spot is below a threshold. ¶[0002]: Beamforming may be used to compensate for increased pathloss at higher frequencies (e.g. over 6 GHz)).
Regarding Claim 33, Hajir discloses wherein the one or more conditions indicate to trigger the measurement reporting based at least in part on the wireless device determining that the wireless device is located within a geographically outlined area (¶[0094]: the WTRU may autonomously activate the measurement configuration of interest associated with the current time instance when it enters the given area. ¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0119]: As part of WTRU measurement reporting, measurement report quantities may include reporting of the footprint ID and/or geographical coordinates).
Regarding Claim 34, Hajir discloses wherein the one or more conditions indicate to trigger the measurement reporting based at least in part on detecting an occurrence of the one or more conditions with respect to at least a minimum number of cells (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results. ¶[0109]: The WTRU may report the measurements of any listed/detected cells satisfying pre-defined conditions. The requirement that a set of listed/detected cells in ¶[0109] that meet certain conditions in ¶[0111] is functionally similar to the approach of the requirement of a minimum number of cells that meet certain conditions).
Regarding Claim 35, Hajir discloses wherein the one or more conditions indicate to trigger the measurement reporting based at least in part on the wireless device detecting an identifier associated with a specific cell (¶[0111]: the WTRU may be configured to report measurements on a condition or per event basis. The reporting conditions may be based on different or additional conditions to the measurement results ¶[0086]: the WTRU may measure and report on serving cells (e.g., a primary cell (SpCell) and/or one or more secondary cells (Scells)), cells listed within the measurement objects. ¶[0109]: The WTRU may report the measurements of any listed/detected cells satisfying pre-defined conditions).
Regarding Claim 36, Hajir discloses further adapted to: receive, from the wireless device, one or more measurements based on the measurement configuration (Fig. 12 1202 ¶[0107]: At 1202, the WTRU may be preconfigured (based on signaling from a network node) with multiple measurement configurations (objects) associated with multiple satellites and corresponding activation/deactivation criteria for the measurement configurations) and perform an operation of the network node based on the one or more measurements (¶[0107]: at 1212, the WTRU receives network signaling including measurement configuration activation/deactivation instructions, and at 1214 the WTRU activates/deactivates measurement configurations based on network signaling).
Regarding Claim 37, Hajir discloses further adapted to: receive an indication that the measurement reporting has been triggered by the wireless device (¶[0085]: Another example parameter may include a list of reporting configurations, which may include a reporting criterion that triggers the WTRU to send a measurement report. Fig. 12 Flowchart shows that WTRU is designed to recognize a condition for reporting is met and responds by sending data to network. ¶[0086]: the WTRU may measure and report on serving cells (e.g., a primary cell (SpCell) and/or one or more secondary cells (Scells)), cells listed within the measurement objects, and/or cells not listed within the measurement object(s) that have been detected by the WTRU. In ¶[0085] and ¶[0086], the act of sending that measurement report constitutes the claimed indication that the measurement reporting has been triggered), and in response to receiving the indication that the measurement reporting has been triggered, activate measurement gaps (¶[0085]: The measurement configuration may include in one or more of the following example parameters … ¶[0085]: Another example parameter may include the measurement gap, which may include the periods of time during which the WTRU may perform measurements. In ¶[0085], activation of measurement gaps logically follow or depend on the network detecting that a reporting condition has occurred).
Regarding Claim 38, Hajir discloses further adapted to: determine a location reporting configuration to be applied by the wireless device (¶[0106]:The activation/deactivation criteria includes the applicable time (i.e., the time that the corresponding satellite has a cell that covers the geographical location of the WTRU 1130), and thus is based on the satellite ephemeris and WTRU 1130 geo-location); send the location reporting configuration to the wireless device (¶[0093]: The WTRU may be preconfigured with a set of measurement configurations that are conditionally added or removed to or from the measurement configuration, or activated or deactivated, based on the location of the WTRU and/or the time) and receive location reporting information from the wireless device based on the location reporting configuration (¶[0119]: when a measurement report is sent to the network, the WTRU may piggyback additional measurements and/or indications such as the footprint ID, location coordinates or other information).
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to:
US 20230117959-A1, which teaches a method for a user equipment (UE) in a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) to calculate a timing advance (TA) based on its location and assistance information and report this TA to a base station, triggered by a random access (RA) procedure or a change exceeding a threshold;
US 12192938-B2, which discloses a method for a user equipment (UE) in a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) to perform uplink transmission using timing advance (TA) derived from a cell-common and UE-specific TA and includes mechanisms for a configured threshold.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEI ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)270-5672. The examiner can normally be reached from 8:00AM to 5:00PM Monday through Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JAE Y LEE can be reached on (571) 270-3936. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WEI ZHAO/ Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2473