DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the application 18/057,725 filed on November 21st, 2022.
Claim Status
This office action is based upon claims received on 09/02/2026, which replace all prior or other submitted versions of the claims.
Claims 1 and 3 – 11, and 13 – 32 are pending.
Claims 1 and 3 – 11, and 13 – 32 are rejected.
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 .
Response to Arguments/Remarks
Applicant's arguments, see pages 14 – 18 of the Remarks, filed 09/02/2026, with respect to the rejections of independent claims 1, 10, 18, and 25, and dependent claims 3 – 9, 11, 13 – 17, 19 – 24, and 26 – 32, under (specific paragraphs of the) applied prior art references of record in the office action dated 06/04/2026, particularly as regards the amended limitations, have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Nam et al. [US 20200205075 A1]. Therefore, the rejection has been revised as set forth below according to the amended claims.
It should be noted that the scope of the previous claim 1 has been changed with the current amendment. Therefore, this amendment necessitates a new ground(s) of rejection. See office action below.
All remaining arguments presented by Applicant not specifically addressed herein and directed to various dependent claims are found unpersuasive for the same reasons as stated herein, with regard to independent claims. The rejection has been revised and set forth below according to the amended claims.
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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3 – 9, and 25 – 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Priyanto et al. [US 20200163017 A1] hereinafter Priyanto, and further in view of Gamishev et al. [US 20200267141 A1] hereinafter Gamishev, Kuang et al. [US 20180220482 A1] hereinafter Kuang, and Nam et al. [US 20200205075 A1] hereinafter Nam.
Regarding claim 1, Priyanto teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE) (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 165; UE 102), comprising:
a processor (Priyanto: Fig. 5B, ¶ 79; control circuitry 1022, implemented by means of one or more processors);
one or more memories coupled to the processor (Priyanto: Fig. 5B, ¶ 79; memory 1023); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories that are executable by the processor (Priyanto: Fig. 5B, ¶ 79; wherein the program code to be executed by the control circuitry 1022 is stored in memory 1023) to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; eNB 101 (BS 101)) and using the first access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; relaying link 182), a first indication of the access link wake-up signal (Priyanto: Fig. 17, step 3103, ¶ 168; wherein UE 102 receives a scheduling control message 4050 (i.e., the indication of an access link wake-up signal) from the BS 101) associated with a second access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; direct link 181) between the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; UE 103) and the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; thus, BS 101 sends a scheduling control message 4050 (step 3103) to the UE 102 to indicate the wake-up signal for the direct link 181 between the BS 101 and UE 103, wherein the scheduling control message 4050 is indicative of the reoccurring time-frequency resources 202 corresponding to multiple wake-up occasions of UE 103)), the second UE comprising a low power UE (Priyanto: Fig. 6, Fig. 7, ¶ 3, ¶ 49, ¶ 157; wherein Fig. 6 illustrates details with respect to the interface 1031 of the UE 103. In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates aspects with respect to a main receiver 1351 and a low-power receiver 1352 implemented as separate entities while in Fig. 7, they are implemented as a common entity); and
transmit, based at least in part on using a sidelink between the first UE and the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 1, Fig. 17, ¶ 59, ¶ 168, ¶ 176; wherein step 3104 of Fig 17 shows a sidelink communication between UE 102 and UE 103, and in Fig 1, the D2D 196 communication represents the same sidelink communication between UE 102 and UE 103), a second indication of the access link wake-up signal to the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 169; wherein UE 102 sends the wake-up signal 4013 (i.e., a second indication of the access link wake-up signal) at multiple wake-up occasions and on the reoccurring time-frequency resources 202 indicated by the scheduling control message 4050, to UE 103).
Priyanto fails to explicitly disclose receive, from a network node using a first access link and prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE; transmit, using the temporary identifier; and the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity, wherein the first indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE.
Referring to the invention of Gamishev, Gamishev teaches receive, from a network node using a first access link (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 77; in view of the link between the network entity NE and the main terminal UE1 in step E8), a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 75, ¶ 77 – 79; wherein in the dispatching step E8, the network entity NE dispatches in a secure manner to the main terminal UE1 the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2 generated by the network entity NE in the course of step E5); and transmit, using the temporary identifier (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 77 – 79; wherein in the generating step E10, the main terminal UE1 generates the temporary key Ksec of the secondary terminal UE2 on the basis of the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2 and of its own session master key Kasme, and in a dispatching step E11, the main terminal UE1 dispatches to the secondary terminal UE2 the temporary key Ksec that it generated in the course of the previous step, the identifier ID.sub.NE of the network for access to the network represented by the entity NE and the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2 that it received from the network NE in the course of step E9, in a sidelink communication between UE1 and UE2). In other words, Gamishev teaches that UE1 receives the temporary ID IMSIsec generated by the NE for UE2, then the UE1 uses the temporary ID IMSIsec it received to generate the temporary key Ksec of UE2, then transmits the temporary ID IMSIsec it received form the NE along with other information it generated using the temporary ID IMSIsec it received to UE2 in step E11.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the temporary identifier teachings of Gamishev applied in the method for obtaining access to a communication network by a secondary terminal via a main terminal, into the wake-up signal transmission on relaying links of Priyanto in order to achieve enhanced privacy and to reduce signaling overhead, thereby achieving efficient session management and in order for the latter to access the network in a secure manner (Gamishev: ¶ 36-37).
Priyanto in view of Gamishev teaches (Priyanto: Fig. 14, ¶ 92, ¶ 140 - 143; wherein the BS 101 triggers a transmission of a control message indicative of wake-up occasions (i.e., the control message indicates a signal configuration of the wake-up signal), and a preamble is added to the wake-up signal, wherein the sequence of preamble bits enable robust identification of the wake-up signal. Therefore, if the wake-up signal is for UE 103, then the control message and the robust identification of the wake-up signal will include an identifier assigned to UE 103), However, Priyanto in view of Gamishev fail to explicitly disclose receive, and prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE; wherein the first indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE.
Referring to the invention of Nam, Nam teaches receive, and prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181; wherein base station 105-c may transmit configuration signaling to UE 115-d. The configuration signaling may configure UE 115-d with a set of wakeup signal resource configurations. The first wakeup signal resource configuration may correspond to resource parameters indicating… an RNTI value… wherein at least one resource configuration parameter indicates an RNTI, and the decoding component 1130 may decode the first wakeup signal resource based on the RNTI. The base station 105-c may transmit a wakeup signal to UE 115-d at 825. Base station 105-d may transmit the wakeup signal using the wakeup signal resource that UE 115-d is configured to monitor. Therefore, as shown in Figure 8, the base station transmits configuration signaling that includes RNTI to the UE at steps 805, the UE may receive the RNTI for a second UE via this configuration signaling (as described in paragraph 139 and detailed below), and thereafter, the base station transmits the access link wake-up signal at step 825. Thus, the RNTI for the second UE is received prior to the reception of the access link wake-up signal); wherein the first indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181 ; wherein two UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may share the same time and frequency resources for wakeup signal monitoring (e.g., according to a configuration of the wakeup signal resources). In this example, the wakeup signals transmitted by the base station 105 for the different UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may use different DCI-formats, scrambling sequences, RNTI values, or some combination of these to differentiate the wakeup signals, such that each UE 115 or group of UEs 115 may successfully identify whether a detected wakeup signal was intended for that UE 115, another UE 115, or group of UEs 115…. A UE 115 may decode a received wakeup signal using a DCI-format, a scrambling sequence, an RNTI value, or some combination of these configured for that UE 115. If the decoding process is successful, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for it, and the UE 115 may initiate a wakeup procedure. If the decoding process is unsuccessful using the configured decoding parameters, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for a different UE 115 or group of UEs 115 and may return to a sleep mode. And wherein, as shown in Fig. 8 step 810, base station 105-c may transmit a configuration indicator to UE 115-d indicating a first wakeup signal resource configuration of the set of wakeup signal resource configurations (i.e., wherein the resource configurations comprise the RNTI value(s))).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the inclusion of RNTI assigned to a different UE into the wake-up signaling configuration parameters in order to reduce signaling overhead, improve resource efficiency, simplify coordination, and lower power consumption, making it a valuable optimization in multi-UE scenarios.
Priyanto in view of Gamishev and Nam does not explicitly teach and the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity.
Referring to the invention of Kuang, Kuang teaches a network topology wherein a mobile terminal is connected in a sidelink connection with one or more wearable devices wherein the mobile terminal serves as a master device and has a battery capacity that is larger than the battery capacity of the wearable device(s) (Kuang: ¶ 103, ¶118, ¶136, ¶223, ¶240; wherein the second wearable device … is limited by a device size, a battery capacity of the second wearable device is far less than a battery capacity of the mobile terminal used as a master device). Therefore, the mobile terminal is a high power UE having a first power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is larger, relative to the second wearable device which is a low power UE having a second power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is far less than the battery capacity of the mobile terminal.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the network topology with UE power capacity teachings of Kuang into the network topology teachings of Priyanto and Gamishev in order to provide a more flexible network topology and reduce network overheads (Kuang: ¶ 5, and Abstract).
Regarding claim 3, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the one or more memories are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
decode the temporary identifier (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 75, ¶ 77-79; in view of the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2) to obtain a sidelink identifier (Priyanto: Fig. 18, ¶ 168, ¶ 180 – 183; wherein the UE 102 and UE 103 perform sidelink (D2D) discovery using communication link 195 and 196 (Fig. 1), and UE 103 transmits a control message to BS 101, indicating information regarding the result of the D2D discovery, to include information about UE 102. Therefore, when BS 101 sends the scheduling control message 4050 (Fig. 17), UE 102 will decode it and obtain the sidelink identifier for UE 103 from it, in order to successfully relay the access link wake-up signal to the correct UE (i.e., UE 103), based on the sidelink identifier that will be present in the scheduling control message); and
wherein instructions, to transmit the second indication of the access link wake- up signal to the second UE, are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit the second indication of the access link wake-up signal to the second UE based at least in part on using the sidelink identifier (Priyanto: Fig. 18, ¶ 180 – 183; wherein when BS 101 sends the scheduling control message 4050 (Fig. 17), UE 102 will decode it, obtain the sidelink identifier for UE 103 from it, in order to successfully relay the access link wake-up signal to the correct UE (i.e., UE 103), based on the sidelink identifier that will be present in the scheduling control message, and then transmit the access link wake-up signal (the second indication of the access link wake-up signal) to UE 103 in message 4013 (Fig. 17)).
Regarding claim 4, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second indication of the access link wake- up signal comprises a sidelink wake-up signal that includes an explicit indication that the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the second access link between the second UE and the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166 – 168; wherein the BS 101 sends a wake-up signal to UE 103 (via the second access link, the direct link at message 4003) however, UE 103 does not respond to it. To mitigate the possible limited coverage, BS 101 sends the second indication of the access wake-up signal on the relaying link 182 by sending the first access link wake-up signal to UE 102, and UE 102 then sends the second indication access link wake-up signal (message 4013) to UE 103. This message 4013 comprises a sidelink wake-up signal as it is sent from UE 102 to UE 103 and it would only be possible to send it to UE 103 if it contains an explicit indication that the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the second access link between UE 103 and BS 101).
Regarding claim 5, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the network node and using the first access link, an association indication that specifies the first UE and the second UE are associated based at least in part on the sidelink (Priyanto: Fig. 20, step 2050 and 2051, ¶ 198; wherein each candidate UE 102 transmits, to the BS 101, an indication whether D2D communication with the UE 103 is possible).
Regarding claim 6, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the network node and using the first access link, a permission indication that specifies that the first UE agrees to be a relay UE (Priyanto: ¶ 143, ¶ 180 – 182; wherein the BS 101 may retrieve information (e.g., UE type, capability of UE 103) that can be relayed via UE 102. The BS 101 is also retrieving info/sensing that UE 102 can act as a relay UE for UE 103. Likewise, the UE 102 detects the UE 103 using D2D communication and indicates this to the network in a respective control message and the BS 101 may select the relaying link 182 from a plurality of candidate relaying links in accordance with the indication of the UE 102).
Regarding claim 7, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, prior to receiving the first indication of the access link wake-up signal, a relay mode indication that specifies the network node is activating relayed wake-up operations (Priyanto: Fig. 20, ¶ 204 – 205; wherein, at step 2055, when the network does not receive a response from UE 103, at step 2057, the network transmits a control message (e.g., a scheduling control message 4050 in Fig. 17) to one or more of the associated UEs 102 for triggering transmission of a wake-up signal 4013 on the relaying link 182. Therefore, this control message is an indication of the network node activating the relayed wake-up operations).
Regarding claim 8, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the network node and using the first access link, a disassociation indication that specifies the first UE and the second UE are disassociated (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein the scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, the UE 102 will refrain from relaying a second access link wake-up signal to the UE 103 based on receiving the scheduling control message 4051 and will disassociate itself from the relaying process. It is known that when a device disconnects from another, it sends an indication of the disconnect, thus, UE 102 will send a disassociation indication to UE 103 and to the network).
Regarding claim 9, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the network node and using the first access link, a relay mode indication that specifies the network node is deactivating relayed wake-up operations (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein the scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, the UE 102 will refrain from relaying a second access link wake-up signal to the UE 103 based on receiving the scheduling control message 4051).
Regarding claim 25, Priyanto teaches a method of wireless communication performed by an apparatus of a first user equipment (UE) (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 165; UE 102), comprising:
receiving, from the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; eNB 101 (BS 101)) and using the first access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; relaying link 182), a first indication of the access link wake-up signal (Priyanto: Fig. 17, step 3103, ¶ 168; wherein UE 102 receives a scheduling control message 4050 (i.e., the indication of an access link wake-up signal) from the BS 101) associated with a second access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; direct link 181) between the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; UE 103) and the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; thus, BS 101 sends a scheduling control message 4050 (step 3103) to the UE 102 to indicate the wake-up signal for the direct link 181 between the BS 101 and UE 103, wherein the scheduling control message 4050 is indicative of the reoccurring time-frequency resources 202 corresponding to multiple wake-up occasions of UE 103)), the second UE comprising a low power UE (Priyanto: Fig. 6, Fig. 7, ¶ 3, ¶ 49, ¶ 157; wherein Fig. 6 illustrates details with respect to the interface 1031 of the UE 103. In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates aspects with respect to a main receiver 1351 and a low-power receiver 1352 implemented as separate entities while in Fig. 7, they are implemented as a common entity); and
transmitting, based at least in part on using a sidelink between the first UE and the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 1, Fig. 17, ¶ 59, ¶ 168, ¶ 176; wherein step 3104 of Fig 17 shows a sidelink communication between UE 102 and UE 103, and in Fig 1, the D2D 196 communication represents the same sidelink communication between UE 102 and UE 103), a second indication of the access link wake-up signal to the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 169; wherein UE 102 sends the wake-up signal 4013 (i.e., a second indication of the access link wake-up signal) at multiple wake-up occasions and on the reoccurring time-frequency resources 202 indicated by the scheduling control message 4050, to UE 103).
Priyanto fails to explicitly disclose receiving, from a network node using a first access link and prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE; transmitting, using the temporary identifier; and the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity, wherein the first indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE.
Referring to the invention of Gamishev, Gamishev teaches receiving, from a network node using a first access link (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 77; in view of the link between the network entity NE and the main terminal UE1 in step E8), a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 75, ¶ 77 – 79; wherein in the dispatching step E8, the network entity NE dispatches in a secure manner to the main terminal UE1 the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2 generated by the network entity NE in the course of step E5); and transmitting, using the temporary identifier (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 77 – 79; wherein in the generating step E10, the main terminal UE1 generates the temporary key Ksec of the secondary terminal UE2 on the basis of the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2 and of its own session master key Kasme, and in a dispatching step E11, the main terminal UE1 dispatches to the secondary terminal UE2 the temporary key Ksec that it generated in the course of the previous step, the identifier ID.sub.NE of the network for access to the network represented by the entity NE and the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2 that it received from the network NE in the course of step E9, in a sidelink communication between UE1 and UE2). In other words, Gamishev teaches that UE1 receives the temporary ID IMSIsec generated by the NE for UE2, then the UE1 uses the temporary ID IMSIsec it received to generate the temporary key Ksec of UE2, then transmits the temporary ID IMSIsec it received form the NE along with other information it generated using the temporary ID IMSIsec it received to UE2 in step E11.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the temporary identifier teachings of Gamishev applied in the method for obtaining access to a communication network by a secondary terminal via a main terminal, into the wake-up signal transmission on relaying links of Priyanto in order to achieve enhanced privacy and to reduce signaling overhead, thereby achieving efficient session management and in order for the latter to access the network in a secure manner (Gamishev: ¶ 36-37).
Priyanto in view of Gamishev teaches (Priyanto: Fig. 14, ¶ 92, ¶ 140 - 143; wherein the BS 101 triggers a transmission of a control message indicative of wake-up occasions (i.e., the control message indicates a signal configuration of the wake-up signal), and a preamble is added to the wake-up signal, wherein the sequence of preamble bits enable robust identification of the wake-up signal. Therefore, if the wake-up signal is for UE 103, then the control message and the robust identification of the wake-up signal will include an identifier assigned to UE 103), However, Priyanto in view of Gamishev fail to explicitly disclose receiving, and prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE; wherein the first indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE.
Referring to the invention of Nam, Nam teaches receiving, and prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181; wherein base station 105-c may transmit configuration signaling to UE 115-d. The configuration signaling may configure UE 115-d with a set of wakeup signal resource configurations. The first wakeup signal resource configuration may correspond to resource parameters indicating… an RNTI value… wherein at least one resource configuration parameter indicates an RNTI, and the decoding component 1130 may decode the first wakeup signal resource based on the RNTI. The base station 105-c may transmit a wakeup signal to UE 115-d at 825. Base station 105-d may transmit the wakeup signal using the wakeup signal resource that UE 115-d is configured to monitor. Therefore, as shown in Figure 8, the base station transmits configuration signaling that includes RNTI to the UE at steps 805, the UE may receive the RNTI for a second UE via this configuration signaling (as described in paragraph 139 and detailed below), and thereafter, the base station transmits the access link wake-up signal at step 825. Thus, the RNTI for the second UE is received prior to the reception of the access link wake-up signal); wherein the first indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181 ; wherein two UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may share the same time and frequency resources for wakeup signal monitoring (e.g., according to a configuration of the wakeup signal resources). In this example, the wakeup signals transmitted by the base station 105 for the different UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may use different DCI-formats, scrambling sequences, RNTI values, or some combination of these to differentiate the wakeup signals, such that each UE 115 or group of UEs 115 may successfully identify whether a detected wakeup signal was intended for that UE 115, another UE 115, or group of UEs 115…. A UE 115 may decode a received wakeup signal using a DCI-format, a scrambling sequence, an RNTI value, or some combination of these configured for that UE 115. If the decoding process is successful, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for it, and the UE 115 may initiate a wakeup procedure. If the decoding process is unsuccessful using the configured decoding parameters, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for a different UE 115 or group of UEs 115 and may return to a sleep mode. And wherein, as shown in Fig. 8 step 810, base station 105-c may transmit a configuration indicator to UE 115-d indicating a first wakeup signal resource configuration of the set of wakeup signal resource configurations (i.e., wherein the resource configurations comprise the RNTI value(s))).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the inclusion of RNTI assigned to a different UE into the wake-up signaling configuration parameters in order to reduce signaling overhead, improve resource efficiency, simplify coordination, and lower power consumption, making it a valuable optimization in multi-UE scenarios.
Priyanto in view of Gamishev and Nam does not explicitly teach and the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity.
Referring to the invention of Kuang, Kuang teaches a network topology wherein a mobile terminal is connected in a sidelink connection with one or more wearable devices wherein the mobile terminal serves as a master device and has a battery capacity that is larger than the battery capacity of the wearable device(s) (Kuang: ¶ 103, ¶118, ¶136, ¶223, ¶240; wherein the second wearable device … is limited by a device size, a battery capacity of the second wearable device is far less than a battery capacity of the mobile terminal used as a master device). Therefore, the mobile terminal is a high power UE having a first power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is larger, relative to the second wearable device which is a low power UE having a second power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is far less than the battery capacity of the mobile terminal.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the network topology with UE power capacity teachings of Kuang into the network topology teachings of Priyanto and Gamishev in order to provide a more flexible network topology and reduce network overheads (Kuang: ¶ 5, and Abstract).
Regarding claim 26, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 25, wherein the second indication of the access link wake- up signal comprises a sidelink wake-up signal that includes an explicit indication that the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the second access link between the second UE and the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166 – 168; wherein the BS 101 sends a wake-up signal to UE 103 (via the second access link, the direct link at message 4003) however, UE 103 does not respond to it. To mitigate the possible limited coverage, BS 101 sends the second indication of the access wake-up signal on the relaying link 182 by sending the first access link wake-up signal to UE 102, and UE 102 then sends the second indication access link wake-up signal (message 4013) to UE 103. This message 4013 comprises a sidelink wake-up signal as it is sent from UE 102 to UE 103 and it would only be possible to send it to UE 103 if it contains an explicit indication that the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the second access link between UE 103 and BS 101).
Regarding claim 27, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 25, further comprising:
transmitting, to the network node and using the first access link, an association indication that specifies the first UE and the second UE are associated based at least in part on the sidelink (Priyanto: Fig. 20, step 2050 and 2051, ¶ 198; wherein each candidate UE 102 transmits, to the BS 101, an indication whether D2D communication with the UE 103 is possible).
Regarding claim 28, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 25, further comprising:
transmitting, to the network node and using the first access link, a permission indication that specifies that the first UE agrees to be a relay UE (Priyanto: ¶ 143, ¶ 180 – 182; wherein the BS 101 may retrieve information (e.g., UE type, capability of UE 103) that can be relayed via UE 102. The BS 101 is also retrieving info/sensing that UE 102 can act as a relay UE for UE 103. Likewise, the UE 102 detects the UE 103 using D2D communication and indicates this to the network in a respective control message and the BS 101 may select the relaying link 182 from a plurality of candidate relaying links in accordance with the indication of the UE 102).
Regarding claim 29, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 25, further comprising:
receiving, from the network node and using the first access link, a relay mode indication that specifies the network node is deactivating relayed wake-up operations (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein, at step 3112, once the BS 101 has received a response from the UE 103, a further scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, this scheduling control message 4051 instructs the UE 102 to deactivate the relayed wake-up operations).
Regarding claim 30, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 29, further comprising:
refraining from relaying a second access link wake-up signal to the second UE based at least in part on receiving the relay mode indication associated with deactivating the relayed wake-up operations (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein the scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, the UE 102 will refrain from relaying a second access link wake-up signal to the UE 103 based on receiving the scheduling control message 4051).
Regarding claim 31, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 25, further comprising:
decoding the temporary identifier (Gamishev: Fig. 1, ¶ 75, ¶ 77-79; in view of the temporary identifier IMSIsec of the secondary terminal UE2) to obtain a sidelink identifier (Priyanto: Fig. 18, ¶ 168, ¶ 180 – 183; wherein the UE 102 and UE 103 perform sidelink (D2D) discovery using communication link 195 and 196 (Fig. 1), and UE 103 transmits a control message to BS 101, indicating information regarding the result of the D2D discovery, to include information about UE 102. Therefore, when BS 101 sends the scheduling control message 4050 (Fig. 17), UE 102 will decode it and obtain the sidelink identifier for UE 103 from it, in order to successfully relay the access link wake-up signal to the correct UE (i.e., UE 103), based on the sidelink identifier that will be present in the scheduling control message); and
wherein transmitting the second indication of the access link wake-up signal to the second UE comprises:
transmitting the second indication of the access link wake-up signal to the second UE based at least in part on using the sidelink identifier (Priyanto: Fig. 18, ¶ 180 – 183; wherein when BS 101 sends the scheduling control message 4050 (Fig. 17), UE 102 will decode it, obtain the sidelink identifier for UE 103 from it, in order to successfully relay the access link wake-up signal to the correct UE (i.e., UE 103), based on the sidelink identifier that will be present in the scheduling control message, and then transmit the access link wake-up signal (the second indication of the access link wake-up signal) to UE 103 in message 4013 (Fig. 17)).
Regarding claim 32, Priyanto in view of Gamishev, Nam, and Kuang teaches the method of claim 25, further comprising:
transmitting, to the network node and using the first access link, a disassociation indication that specifies the first UE and the second UE are disassociated (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein the scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, the UE 102 will refrain from relaying a second access link wake-up signal to the UE 103 based on receiving the scheduling control message 4051 and will disassociate itself from the relaying process. It is known that when a device disconnects from another, it sends an indication of the disconnect, thus, UE 102 will send a disassociation indication to UE 103 and to the network).
Claims 10 – 11, and 13 – 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Priyanto et al. [US 20200163017 A1] hereinafter Priyanto, and further in view of Nam et al. [US 20200205075 A1] hereinafter Nam, Kuang et al. [US 20180220482 A1] hereinafter Kuang, and Wang et al. [US 20220346075 A1] hereinafter Wang.
Regarding claim 10, Priyanto teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; eNB 101 (BS 101)), comprising:
a processor (Priyanto: Fig. 4A, ¶ 76; control circuitry 1012, implemented by means of one or more processors);
one or more memories coupled to the processor (Priyanto: Fig. 4A, ¶ 76; memory 1013); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories that are executable by the processor (Priyanto: Fig. 4A, ¶ 76; wherein the program code to be executed by the control circuitry 1012 is stored in memory 1013) to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, using a second access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; direct link 181 (i.e., the direct link between the eNB 101 and the UE 103 as shown also in fig 10)) that is associated with a second user equipment (UE) (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; UE 103), an instruction to transition the second access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; direct link 181) to a deep sleep mode (Priyanto: Fig. 10, ¶ 112 – 114; wherein control message 4001 is communicated while the data connection 160 is active, with one or more properties negotiated between the UE 103 and the BS 101. In step 3003, when there is no more data to be communicated between the UE 103 and the BS 101, the data connection 160 is released by appropriate control signaling on the control channel 262 (not illustrated in FIGS. 10), and the main receiver 1351 of the UE 103 is transitioned into the inactive state 3099 from the active state 3098); and the second UE comprising a low power UE (Priyanto: Fig. 6, Fig. 7, ¶ 3, ¶ 49, ¶ 157; wherein Fig. 6 illustrates details with respect to the interface 1031 of the UE 103. In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates aspects with respect to a main receiver 1351 and a low-power receiver 1352 implemented as separate entities while in Fig. 7, they are implemented as a common entity); and
transmit, using a first access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; relaying link 182) and to the first UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 165; UE 102), an indication of the access link wake-up signal (Priyanto: Fig. 17, step 3103, ¶ 168; wherein UE 102 receives a scheduling control message 4050 (i.e., the indication of an access link wake-up signal) from the BS 101) associated with the second access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; direct link 181). Therefore, BS 101 sends a scheduling control message 4050 (step 3103) to the UE 102 to indicate the wake-up signal for the direct link 181 between the BS 101 and UE 103, wherein the scheduling control message 4050 is indicative of the reoccurring time-frequency resources 202 corresponding to multiple wake-up occasions of UE 103).
Priyanto fails to explicitly disclose transmit, to a first user equipment using a first access link and prior to transmission of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE; and to transition a sidelink between a first UE and the second UE to a light sleep mode; and the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity; and wherein the indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE.
Referring to the invention of Nam, Nam teaches transmit, to a first user equipment using a first access link (Nam: Fig. 2, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139; in view of the access links 205-a or 205-b between base station 105-1 and UEs 115-a or 115-b respectively), and prior to transmission of an access link wake-up signal (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181; wherein base station 105-c may transmit configuration signaling to UE 115-d. The configuration signaling may configure UE 115-d with a set of wakeup signal resource configurations. The first wakeup signal resource configuration may correspond to resource parameters indicating… an RNTI value… wherein at least one resource configuration parameter indicates an RNTI, and the decoding component 1130 may decode the first wakeup signal resource based on the RNTI. The base station 105-c may transmit a wakeup signal to UE 115-d at 825. Base station 105-d may transmit the wakeup signal using the wakeup signal resource that UE 115-d is configured to monitor. Therefore, as shown in Figure 8, the base station transmits configuration signaling that includes RNTI to the UE at steps 805, the UE may receive the RNTI for a second UE via this configuration signaling (as described in paragraph 139 and detailed below), and thereafter, the base station transmits the access link wake-up signal at step 825. Thus, the RNTI for the second UE is received prior to the reception of the access link wake-up signal), a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE (Nam: Fig. 2, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139; wherein the wakeup signals transmitted by the base station 105 for the different UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may use different DCI-formats, scrambling sequences, RNTI values (i.e., wherein RNTI values are temporary identifiers that are used to scramble/obscure a network identity of a wireless device) or some combination of these to differentiate the wakeup signals, such that each UE 115 or group of UEs 115 may successfully identify whether a detected wakeup signal was intended for that UE 115, another UE 115, or group of UEs 115); wherein the indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181 ; wherein two UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may share the same time and frequency resources for wakeup signal monitoring (e.g., according to a configuration of the wakeup signal resources). In this example, the wakeup signals transmitted by the base station 105 for the different UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may use different DCI-formats, scrambling sequences, RNTI values, or some combination of these to differentiate the wakeup signals, such that each UE 115 or group of UEs 115 may successfully identify whether a detected wakeup signal was intended for that UE 115, another UE 115, or group of UEs 115…. A UE 115 may decode a received wakeup signal using a DCI-format, a scrambling sequence, an RNTI value, or some combination of these configured for that UE 115. If the decoding process is successful, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for it, and the UE 115 may initiate a wakeup procedure. If the decoding process is unsuccessful using the configured decoding parameters, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for a different UE 115 or group of UEs 115 and may return to a sleep mode. And wherein, as shown in Fig. 8 step 810, base station 105-c may transmit a configuration indicator to UE 115-d indicating a first wakeup signal resource configuration of the set of wakeup signal resource configurations (i.e., wherein the resource configurations comprise the RNTI value(s))).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the inclusion of RNTI assigned to a different UE into the wake-up signaling configuration parameters in order to reduce signaling overhead, improve resource efficiency, simplify coordination, and lower power consumption, making it a valuable optimization in multi-UE scenarios.
Priyanto in view of Nam does not explicitly disclose and the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity.
Referring to the invention of Kuang, Kuang teaches a network topology wherein a mobile terminal is connected in a sidelink connection with one or more wearable devices wherein the mobile terminal serves as a master device and has a battery capacity that is larger than the battery capacity of the wearable device(s) (Kuang: ¶ 103, ¶118, ¶136, ¶223, ¶240; wherein the second wearable device … is limited by a device size, a battery capacity of the second wearable device is far less than a battery capacity of the mobile terminal used as a master device). Therefore, the mobile terminal is a high power UE having a first power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is larger, relative to the second wearable device which is a low power UE having a second power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is far less than the battery capacity of the mobile terminal.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the network topology with UE power capacity teachings of Kuang into the network topology teachings of Priyanto and Nam in order to provide a more flexible network topology and reduce network overheads (Kuang: ¶ 5, and Abstract).
Priyanto in view of Nam and Kuang fails to explicitly disclose and to transition a sidelink between a first UE and the second UE to a light sleep mode.
Referring to the invention of Wang, Wang teaches transition a sidelink between a first UE and the second UE to a light sleep mode (Wang: Fig. 2, ¶ 108 – 110; wherein UEs 215 (e.g., sidelink UEs such as UE 215-d) may enable sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) to save power. In such examples, UEs 215 may enter active states to transmit or receive sidelink communication (e.g., during a time period that may be referred to as an on duration, an active duration, an active mode duration, or the like) and may enter an inactive state, inactive mode, sleep mode, light sleep mode, during other time periods during a DRX cycle).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the light sleep mode in a sidelink communication between two UEs teachings of Wang into the inactive mode teachings of Priyanto, Nam, and Kuang in order to achieve optimal power savings, low latency, fast recovery and fast responsiveness, thereby leading to improved efficiency.
Regarding claim 11, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive an association indication that specifies the first UE and the second UE are associated based at least in part on the sidelink (Priyanto: Fig. 20, step 2050 and 2051, ¶ 198; wherein each candidate UE 102 transmits, to the BS 101, an indication whether D2D communication with the UE 103 is possible).
Regarding claim 13, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, using the first access link, a permission indication that specifies that the first UE agrees to be a relay UE (Priyanto: ¶ 143, ¶ 180 – 182; wherein the BS 101 may retrieve information (e.g., UE type, capability of UE 103) that can be relayed via UE 102. The BS 101 is also retrieving info/sensing that UE 102 can act as a relay UE for UE 103. Likewise, the UE 102 detects the UE 103 using D2D communication and indicates this to the network in a respective control message and the BS 101 may select the relaying link 182 from a plurality of candidate relaying links in accordance with the indication of the UE 102).
Regarding claim 14, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, prior to transmitting the indication of the access link wake-up signal and to at least one of the first UE or the second UE, a relay mode indication that specifies activation of relayed wake-up operations (Priyanto: Fig. 20, ¶ 204 – 205; wherein, at step 2055, when the network does not receive a response from UE 103, at step 2057, the network transmits a control message (e.g., a scheduling control message 4050 in Fig. 17) to one or more of the associated UEs 102 for triggering transmission of a wake-up signal 4013 on the relaying link 182. Therefore, this control message is an indication of the network node activating the relayed wake-up operations).
Regarding claim 15, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the instruction to transition the second access link to the deep sleep mode is associated with an access link discontinuous reception (DRX) periodicity (Priyanto: Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, ¶ 125 – 128; wherein in order to reduce the power consumption, transition is made from the connected mode 301 to a connected mode 302 which employs a DRX cycle of the main receiver 1351. The DRX cycle includes on durations and off durations. During the off durations, the main receiver 1351 is unfit to receive data (i.e., it is in inactive state 3099 (Fig. 10), deep sleep mode). The timing of the DRX cycle is synchronized between the UE 103 and the BS 101 (i.e., the access link between UE 103 and BS 101) such that the BS 101 can align any DL transmission with the on durations of the connected mode DRX cycle) that is independent from a sidelink DRX periodicity associated with the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 164, ¶ 173; wherein, after the UE 103 has transitioned into the inactive state 3099, it implements DRX cycle with multiple wake-up occasions at defined time-frequency resources 202, and the wake-up signal 4003 (i.e., the wake-up signal from BS 101 directly via access link with UE 103) is transmitted with a certain periodicity 251, and likewise, the wake-up signal 4013 (i.e., the wake-up signal from UE 102 via sidelink with UE 103) is transmitted with a certain different periodicity 252).
Regarding claim 16, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive a disassociation indication that specifies the first UE and the second UE are disassociated (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein the scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, the UE 102 will refrain from relaying a second access link wake-up signal to the UE 103 based on receiving the scheduling control message 4051 and will disassociate itself from the relaying process. It is known that when a device disconnects from another, it sends an indication of the disconnect, thus, UE 103 will receive a disassociation indication from UE 102 or from the network).
Regarding claim 17, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 16, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive the disassociation indication from the second UE using the second access link and based at least in part on at least one of:
a random access channel transmission (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 175; wherein once the BS 101 has received a response from the UE 103 (i.e., the second UE), as part of a random access procedure executed and 3111, a data setup connection is established, a further scheduling control message 4051 is transmitted to the UE 102 which triggers the UE 102 to abort transmission of the wake-up signals 4013 at the reoccurring time-frequency resources that have been indicated by the scheduling control message 4050. Therefore, the UE 102 will disassociate itself from the relaying process. It is known that when a device disconnects from another, it sends an indication of the disconnect. Thus, all three of the devices will send/receive the disassociation indication from the other devices), or
a grant-less transmission.
Regarding claim 18, Priyanto teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a second user equipment (UE) (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 168; UE 103), comprising:
a processor (Priyanto: Fig. 5A, ¶ 78; control circuitry 1032, implemented by means of one or more processors);
one or more memories coupled to the processor (Priyanto: Fig. 5A, ¶ 78; memory 1033); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories that are executable by the processor (Priyanto: Fig. 5B, ¶ 79; wherein the program code to be executed by the control circuitry 1032 is stored in memory 1033) to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from a network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; eNB 101 (BS 101)) and using an access link between the second UE and the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166; direct link 181 (i.e., the direct link between the eNB 101 and the UE 103 as shown also in fig 10)), an instruction to transition the access link to a deep sleep mode (Priyanto: Fig. 10, ¶ 112 – 114; wherein control message 4001 is communicated while the data connection 160 is active, with one or more properties negotiated between the UE 103 and the BS 101. In step 3003, when there is no more data to be communicated between the UE 103 and the BS 101, the data connection 160 is released by appropriate control signaling on the control channel 262 (not illustrated in FIGS. 10), and the main receiver 1351 of the UE 103 is transitioned into the inactive state 3099 from the active state 3098); and the second UE comprising a low power UE (Priyanto: Fig. 6, Fig. 7, ¶ 3, ¶ 49, ¶ 157; wherein Fig. 6 illustrates details with respect to the interface 1031 of the UE 103. In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates aspects with respect to a main receiver 1351 and a low-power receiver 1352 implemented as separate entities while in Fig. 7, they are implemented as a common entity);
receive, from the first UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 165; UE 102) and using a sidelink between the first UE and the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 1, Fig. 17, ¶ 59, ¶ 168, ¶ 176; wherein step 3104 of Fig 17 shows a sidelink communication between UE 102 and UE 103, and in Fig 1, the D2D 196 communication represents the same sidelink communication between UE 102 and UE 103), an indication of the access link wake-up signal associated with the access link (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 169; wherein UE 102 sends the wake-up signal 4013 (i.e., an indication of an access link wake-up signal for the direct link 181 between the BS 101 and UE 103) at multiple wake-up occasions and on the reoccurring time-frequency resources 202 indicated by the scheduling control message 4050, to UE 103).
Priyanto fails to explicitly disclose receive, prior to reception of an access link wake-up signal, a temporary identifier assigned to the second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE; and to transition a sidelink between a first UE and the second UE to a light sleep mode; the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity; and wherein the indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE.
Referring to the invention of Nam, Nam teaches receive, prior to transmission of an access link wake-up signal (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181; wherein base station 105-c may transmit configuration signaling to UE 115-d. The configuration signaling may configure UE 115-d with a set of wakeup signal resource configurations. The first wakeup signal resource configuration may correspond to resource parameters indicating… an RNTI value… wherein at least one resource configuration parameter indicates an RNTI, and the decoding component 1130 may decode the first wakeup signal resource based on the RNTI. The base station 105-c may transmit a wakeup signal to UE 115-d at 825. Base station 105-d may transmit the wakeup signal using the wakeup signal resource that UE 115-d is configured to monitor. Therefore, as shown in Figure 8, the base station transmits configuration signaling that includes RNTI to the UE at steps 805, the UE may receive the RNTI via this configuration signaling (as described in paragraph 139 and detailed below), and thereafter, the base station transmits the access link wake-up signal at step 825. Thus, the RNTI for the second UE is received prior to the reception of the access link wake-up signal), a temporary identifier assigned to a second UE, wherein the temporary identifier obscures a network identity of the second UE (Nam: Fig. 2, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139; wherein the wakeup signals transmitted by the base station 105 for the different UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may use different DCI-formats, scrambling sequences, RNTI values (i.e., wherein RNTI values are temporary identifiers that are used to scramble/obscure a network identity of a wireless device) or some combination of these to differentiate the wakeup signals, such that each UE 115 or group of UEs 115 may successfully identify whether a detected wakeup signal was intended for that UE 115, another UE 115, or group of UEs 115); wherein the indication of the access link wake-up signal includes the temporary identifier assigned to the second UE (Nam: Fig. 6, ¶ 36, ¶ 72, ¶ 111-112, ¶ 139, Fig. 8, ¶ 148 – 151, ¶ 175, ¶ 181 ; wherein two UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may share the same time and frequency resources for wakeup signal monitoring (e.g., according to a configuration of the wakeup signal resources). In this example, the wakeup signals transmitted by the base station 105 for the different UEs 115 or groups of UEs 115 may use different DCI-formats, scrambling sequences, RNTI values, or some combination of these to differentiate the wakeup signals, such that each UE 115 or group of UEs 115 may successfully identify whether a detected wakeup signal was intended for that UE 115, another UE 115, or group of UEs 115…. A UE 115 may decode a received wakeup signal using a DCI-format, a scrambling sequence, an RNTI value, or some combination of these configured for that UE 115. If the decoding process is successful, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for it, and the UE 115 may initiate a wakeup procedure. If the decoding process is unsuccessful using the configured decoding parameters, the UE 115 may determine that the received wakeup signal was intended for a different UE 115 or group of UEs 115 and may return to a sleep mode. And wherein, as shown in Fig. 8 step 810, base station 105-c may transmit a configuration indicator to UE 115-d indicating a first wakeup signal resource configuration of the set of wakeup signal resource configurations (i.e., wherein the resource configurations comprise the RNTI value(s))).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the inclusion of RNTI assigned to a different UE into the wake-up signaling configuration parameters in order to reduce signaling overhead, improve resource efficiency, simplify coordination, and lower power consumption, making it a valuable optimization in multi-UE scenarios.
Priyanto in view of Nam fails to explicitly disclose the first UE comprising a high power UE having a first power storage capacity and the second UE comprising a low power UE having a second power storage capacity lower than the first power storage capacity.
Referring to the invention of Kuang, Kuang teaches a network topology wherein a mobile terminal is connected in a sidelink connection with one or more wearable devices wherein the mobile terminal serves as a master device and has a battery capacity that is larger than the battery capacity of the wearable device(s) (Kuang: ¶ 103, ¶118, ¶136, ¶223, ¶240; wherein the second wearable device … is limited by a device size, a battery capacity of the second wearable device is far less than a battery capacity of the mobile terminal used as a master device). Therefore, the mobile terminal is a high power UE having a first power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is larger, relative to the second wearable device which is a low power UE having a second power storage capacity (i.e., battery capacity) that is far less than the battery capacity of the mobile terminal.
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the network topology with UE power capacity teachings of Kuang into the network topology teachings of Priyanto and Nam in order to provide a more flexible network topology and reduce network overheads (Kuang: ¶ 5, and Abstract).
Priyanto in view of Nam and Kuang fails to explicitly disclose and to transition a sidelink between a first UE and the second UE to a light sleep mode.
Referring to the invention of Wang, Wang teaches transition a sidelink between a first UE and the second UE to a light sleep mode (Wang: Fig. 2, ¶ 108 – 110; wherein UEs 215 (e.g., sidelink UEs such as UE 215-d) may enable sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) to save power. In such examples, UEs 215 may enter active states to transmit or receive sidelink communication (e.g., during a time period that may be referred to as an on duration, an active duration, an active mode duration, or the like) and may enter an inactive state, inactive mode, sleep mode, light sleep mode, during other time periods during a DRX cycle).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the light sleep mode in a sidelink communication between two UEs teachings of Wang into the inactive mode teachings of Priyanto, Nam, and Kuang in order to achieve optimal power savings, low latency, fast recovery and fast responsiveness, thereby leading to improved efficiency.
Regarding claim 19, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the network node using the access link and prior to receiving the instruction, an association indication that specifies the second UE and the first UE are associated based at least in part on the sidelink (Priyanto: Fig. 20, step 2050 and 2051, ¶ 191 – 199; wherein the UE 103 registers to the network and detects available remote UEs 102 within proximity that can provide for relaying of wake-up signals, associates itself with one or more of them and then the UE 103 transmits a control message indicating one or more UE 102 in the vicinity which are candidates for relaying the wake-up signals).
Regarding claim 20, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, prior to receiving the instruction, a wake-up identifier assigned to the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 14, ¶ 92, ¶ 140 - 143; wherein the BS 101 triggers a transmission of a control message indicative of wake-up occasions (i.e., the control message indicates a signal configuration of the wake-up signal) and a preamble is added to the wake-up signal, wherein the sequence of preamble bits enable robust identification of the wake-up signal. Therefore, if the wake-up signal is for UE 103, then the control message and the robust identification of the wake-up signal will include an identifier assigned to UE 103).
Regarding claim 21, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the one or more memories store instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, prior to receiving the instruction and from the network node using the access link, a relay mode indication that specifies activation of relayed wake-up operations (Priyanto: Fig. 20, ¶ 204 – 206; wherein, at step 2055, when the network does not receive a response from UE 103, at step 2057, the network transmits a control message (e.g., a scheduling control message 4050 in Fig. 17) to one or more of the associated UEs 102 for triggering transmission of a wake-up signal 4013 on the relaying link 182, and the relay UE 102 forwards the message to UE 103. Therefore, the control message is an indication of the network node activating the relayed wake-up operations).
Regarding claim 22, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the instruction to transition the access link is associated with an access link discontinuous reception (DRX) periodicity (Priyanto: Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, ¶ 125 – 128; wherein in order to reduce the power consumption, transition is made from the connected mode 301 to a connected mode 302 which employs a DRX cycle of the main receiver 1351. The DRX cycle includes on durations and off durations. During the off durations, the main receiver 1351 is unfit to receive data (i.e., it is in inactive state 3099 (Fig. 10), deep sleep mode). The timing of the DRX cycle is synchronized between the UE 103 and the BS 101 (i.e., the access link between UE 103 and BS 101) such that the BS 101 can align any DL transmission with the on durations of the connected mode DRX cycle) that is independent from a sidelink DRX periodicity associated with the second UE (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 164, ¶ 173; wherein, after the UE 103 has transitioned into the inactive state 3099, it implements DRX cycle with multiple wake-up occasions at defined time-frequency resources 202, and the wake-up signal 4003 (i.e., the wake-up signal from BS 101 directly via access link with UE 103) is transmitted with a certain periodicity 251, and likewise, the wake-up signal 4013 (i.e., the wake-up signal from UE 102 via sidelink with UE 103) is transmitted with a certain different periodicity 252).
Regarding claim 23, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the indication of the access link wake-up signal comprises a sidelink wake-up signal that includes an explicit indication that the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the access link between the second UE and the network node (Priyanto: Fig. 17, ¶ 166 – 168; wherein the BS 101 sends a wake-up signal to UE 103 (via the second access link, the direct link at message 4003) however, UE 103 does not respond to it. To mitigate the possible limited coverage, BS 101 sends the second indication of the access wake-up signal on the relaying link 182 by sending the first access link wake-up signal to UE 102, and UE 102 then sends the second indication access link wake-up signal (message 4013) to UE 103. This message 4013 comprises a sidelink wake-up signal as it is sent from UE 102 to UE 103 and it would only be possible to send it to UE 103 if it contains an explicit indication that the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the second access link between UE 103 and BS 101).
Regarding claim 24, Priyanto in view of Nam, Kuang, and Wang teaches the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the explicit indication comprises a bit in a bitfield being set to a value that indicates the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the access link between the second UE and the network node (Priyanto: ¶ 92, 165; wherein a preamble is added to the wake-up signal. The preamble may include a sequence of preamble bits. For example, the sequence of preamble bits may have a specific length. The sequence of preamble bits may enable robust identification of the wake-up signal, e.g., even in presence of burst errors, etc. Presence of the preamble, length of the preamble, and/or type of the preamble sequence, etc. can be properties that can be set according to a preamble parameter in sequence design of the wake-up signal. Therefore, the preamble comprises a bit (wherein bits are in bitfields) with specific parameters or values that indicate the sidelink wake-up signal is associated with the particular access link between the second UE (UE 103) and the network node (BS 101)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nam et al. [US 20200112919 A1]: Discontinuous Reception WakeUp Operation with Multiple Component Carriers; Nam teaches that the UE may identify a configuration indicator indicating a carrier aggregation wakeup configuration. In some cases, the UE may index at table, based on the configuration indicator, for identifying at least one parameter of the carrier aggregation wakeup configuration before receiving the wakeup signal.
Tang et al. [US 20200092938 A1]: Communication Method, Terminal Device and Network Device; Tang teaches that ff the terminal device is configured with a long DRX cycle, the terminal device needs to re-obtain downlink synchronization when receiving and detecting the DRX indication signal before the DRX wake-up.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action, and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/HD/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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