DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/20/2026 has been entered.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (US 2023/0109703; Sun) in view of Teyeb et al. (US 2023/0308905; hereinafter Teyeb) in further view of Yu et al. (US 20150078261 ; hereinafter Yu).
Regarding claim 1, Sun teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Paragraph [0131] method performed by a user equipment (UE)),
the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, configuration information associated with a deactivation of a secondary cell group (SCG) (Paragraphs [0089]; [0097];[0133]; [0137] describes the UE receiving configuration information from a network device (base station) that relates to SCG deactivation);
determining to initiate a procedure for the deactivation of the SCG based on the configuration information (Paragraphs [0097]; [0119];[0160] describes the determination process for initiating SCG deactivation based on various conditions and configuration information, including service state and traffic volume);
Sun doesn’t teach and based on initiating the procedure, transmitting, to the base station, a first UE assistance information message to provide a preference of the UE for the deactivation of the SCG, wherein the configuration information includes information on a prohibit timer associated with the procedure for the deactivation of the SCG.
However, in analogous art Teyeb teaches and based on initiating the procedure, transmitting, to the base station, a first UE assistance information message to provide a preference of the UE for the deactivation of the SCG (Paragraphs [0317]; [0336]-[0337] describes the UE determining to initiate the procedure based on monitoring conditions from the configuration information, and the UE determines to initiate the procedure by evaluating whether configured conditions/threshold are met. Paragraphs [0339]; [0437]-[0438]; [0449] describes the specific procedure for the UE to transmit the US assistance information message with the release PreferenceSCG field to indicate its preference for SCG deactivation),
Yu teaches wherein the configuration information includes information on a prohibit timer associated with the procedure for the deactivation of the SCG (Paragraphs [0025]; [0036]; [0044]; [0046]; [0049]; [0055] describes the finite state machine’s memory stores timer values including a prohibit timer. The memory storing timer values is functionally equivalent to configuration information includes information on a prohibit timer. The timer is started upon every deactivation status change and actively blocks any further deactivation while running ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sun’s method of network-initiated SCG deactivation with configuration-based RRM measurement relaxation and Teyeb’s method of UE-initiated SCG suspension/deactivation requests based on monitored conditions with explicit UE preference indication to improve network energy efficiency and UE battery life for UEs to incorporate the teachings of Yu’s method of deactivation of a SCG by setting a prohibit timer to save power (Yu Paragraph [0044]).
Regarding claim 4, sun in view of Teyeb and Yu , Teyeb teaches wherein the first UE assistance information message is transmitted, in case that the prohibit timer is not running (Paragraphs [0442]-[0445] describes the UE transmits the UE assistance information message when timer is not running).
Regarding claim 8, Sun teaches a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and a controller configured to (Paragraphs [0041]-[0042] describes transceiver is configured to receive and send data):
receive, from a base station via the transceiver, configuration information associated with a deactivation of a secondary cell group (SCG) (Paragraphs [0089]; [0097];[0133]; [0137] describes the UE receiving configuration information from a network device (base station) that relates to SCG deactivation),
determine to initiate a procedure for the deactivation of the SCG based on the configuration information (Paragraphs [0097]; [0119];[0160] describes the determination process for initiating SCG deactivation based on various conditions and configuration information, including service state and traffic volume),
Sun doesn’t teach and based on initiating the procedure, transmit, to the base station via the transceiver, a first UE assistance information message to provide a preference of the UE for the deactivation of the SCG, wherein the configuration information includes information on a prohibit timer associated with the procedure for the deactivation of the SCG.
However, in analogous art Teyeb teaches and based on initiating the procedure, transmit, to the base station via the transceiver, a first UE assistance information message to provide a preference of the UE for the deactivation of the SCG (Paragraphs [0317]; [0336]-[0337] describes the UE determining to initiate the procedure based on monitoring conditions from the configuration information, and the UE determines to initiate the procedure by evaluating whether configured conditions/threshold are met. Paragraphs [0339]; [0437]-[0438]; [0449] describes the specific procedure for the UE to transmit the US assistance information message with the release PreferenceSCG field to indicate its preference for SCG deactivation),
Yu teaches wherein the configuration information includes information on a prohibit timer associated with the procedure for the deactivation of the SCG (describes the finite state machine’s memory stores timer values including a prohibit timer. The memory storing timer values is functionally equivalent to configuration information includes information on a prohibit timer. The timer is started upon every deactivation status change and actively blocks any further deactivation while running).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Sun and Teyeb into the combination of Yu for the same reason as claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 16, sun in view of Teyeb and Yu , Sun teaches receiving, from the base station, an indication to deactivate the SCG (Paragraphs [0089]; [0090]; [0133] describes the base station sending information/indication to the UE that instructs or indicates the UE to deactivate the SCG. The “first information” serves as the indication to deactivate);
and deactivating the SCG based on the indication (Paragraphs [0091]-[0092] describes the UE’s action of deactivating the SCG based on the first information, where the first network device is a master station or a secondary station of the terminal device).
Claims 5 and 12 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1 respectively.
Claims 7, 11 and 15 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4 respectively.
Claims 18 and 19 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 16 respectively.
Claim(s) 3, 10, 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun in view of Teyeb in further view of Yu and Cheng et al. (US 2023/0276353; hereinafter Cheng).
Regarding claim 3, Sun, Teyeb and Yu don’t teach further comprising, in case that the SCG is deactivated and the UE has uplink data for the SCG transmitting, to the base station, a second UE assistance information message associated with activating the SCG.
However, in analogous art Cheng teaches further comprising, in case that the SCG is deactivated and the UE has uplink data for the SCG transmitting, to the base station, a second UE assistance information message associated with activating the SCG (Paragraphs [0063]; [0074] describes when there is pending uplink data transmission on the SCG, the UE requests SCG activation. The request is sent via UE assistance information (UAI)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Sun’s method of network-initiated SCG deactivation with configuration-based RRM measurement relaxation with Teyeb’s method of UE-initiated SCG suspension/deactivation requests based on monitored conditions with explicit UE preference indication and Yu’s method of deactivation of a SCG by setting a prohibit timer with Cheng’s method for efficiently managing network slices in 5 G dual connectivity scenarios by enabling fast switching between network slices through secondary cell group (SCG) suspension and activation to improve network efficiency and user experience (Cheng, Paragraph [0003]).
Claims 10, 14 and 17 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3 respectively.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MEHERET WOLDEGEBREAL KIDANE whose telephone number is (571)270-3642. The examiner can normally be reached M-F8:30-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Ngo can be reached at 571-272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Chandrahas B Patel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/M.W.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464