DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
2. Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 17 November 2025 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
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.
4. Claims 3 and 4 each recite the limitation “the first time and the second time” in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in each of claims 3-4. Claims 3-4 are interpreted as each depending on claim 2, rather than on claim 1.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
7. Claims 1-4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Da Silva et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0025432 (hereinafter Da Silva).
Regarding claim 1, Da Silva discloses an operation method of a terminal (disclosed is a method according to which a UE operates, according to [0423], Fig. 5), comprising:
receiving, from a serving base station, measurement configuration information and measurement prediction configuration information (the UE receives, from a source network node, measurement configuration information and measurement prediction configuration information, according to [0405]-[0406], [0424]-[0425], Fig. 5 [step 501]);
measuring signal strengths of the serving base station and a neighboring base station according to the measurement configuration information (the UE measures the RSRP (Reference Signals Received Power) of signals from the source network node and a neighbor network node, according to [0405], [0426]-[0427], Fig. 5 [step 502]);
predicting signal strengths of the serving base station and the neighboring base station based on a result of measuring the signal strengths of the serving base station and the neighboring base station, according to the measurement prediction configuration information (the UE uses a prediction model to perform forecasts in relation to signal quality for the network nodes, according to [0406], [0432]-[0435], Fig. 5 [step 505], whereby predictions are performed for both the source network node and the neighbor network node, according to [0191], [0582]); and
transmitting, to the serving base station, a report message including the predicted signal strengths of the serving base station and the neighboring base station according to the measurement prediction configuration information (the UE transmits, to the source network node, a report of the predictions of measurements for the source network node and the neighbor network node, according to [0407]-[0408], [0436]-[0438], Fig. 5 [step 506]).
Regarding claim 2, Da Silva discloses the operation method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement prediction configuration information includes information on a second time, a first condition, and a second condition (the UE uses a prediction model to periodically [“second time”] perform forecasts, according to [0432]-[0433], Fig. 5 [step 505], whereby any one of a plurality of events [“a first condition, and a second condition”] triggers a report of predictions, according to [0436]-[0437], Fig. 5 [step 506]), and the terminal is configured to perform:
measuring the signal strengths of the serving base station and the neighboring base station at a first time according to the measurement configuration information (the UE periodically measures the RSRP of signals transmitted by the serving network node and the neighbor network node according to the measurement configuration information, according to [0405], [0426]-[0427], Fig. 5 [step 502]);
in response to that a first signal strength of the serving base station and a second signal strength of the neighboring base station measured at the first time satisfy the first condition, predicting a first predicted signal strength of the serving base station and a second predicted signal strength of the neighboring base station by using a first measurement prediction model according to the measurement prediction configuration information, the first predicted signal strength being a signal strength predicted for the serving base station to have at the second time, and the second predicted signal strength being a signal strength predicted for the neighboring base station to have at the second time (the event-triggered report of predictions may be triggered by the A3 event, according to [0437], whereby the A3 event entails a specified condition for the respective signal strengths of the serving network node and the neighbor network node, according to [0115]-[0118], whereby the UE uses a prediction model to periodically perform forecasts, according to [0432]-[0433], Fig. 5 [step 505], whereby the predicted signal values (which are for both the source network node and the neighbor network node, according to [0191], [0582]) are for the time when the next set of signal measurements are to be taken so that comparisons may be made, according to [0199]); and
in response to that the first predicted signal strength and the second predicted signal strength satisfy the second condition, transmitting the report message to the serving base station, the report message including information on the first predicted signal strength and the second predicted signal strength (if the A3 event, which entails a specified condition for the respective signal strengths of the source network node and the neighbor network node, occurs, then the report of predictions is transmitted from the UE to the source network node, according to [0436]-[0437], Fig. 5 [step 506]).
Regarding claim 3, Da Silva discloses the operation method according to claim 2, wherein a first time difference between the first time and the second time is a predetermined trigger time, which is a time to trigger (TTT) (each of the events A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, and A6 is associated with a TimeToTrigger value, according to [0237]-[0238], whereby the triggering is specified in relation to X seconds between the time a prediction is made and a measurement is taken, according to [0199], [0244]).
Regarding claim 4, Da Silva discloses the operation method according to claim 2, wherein the report message is transmitted to the serving base station at a time between the first time and the second time (the measurements that are compared with the predicted values are performed at a time t+X [“second time”], whereas the values predicted by the UE are made at a time t and then provided to the source network node, according to [0199]).
Regarding claim 7, Da Silva discloses the operation method according to claim 2, further comprising:
predicting a fifth predicted signal strength of the serving base station and a sixth predicted signal strength of the neighboring base station by using the first measurement prediction model, the fifth predicted signal strength being a signal strength predicted for the serving base station to have at a fourth time between the first time and the second time, and the sixth predicted signal strength being a signal strength predicted for the neighboring base station to have at the fourth time (the UE periodically performs forecasts for the network node signal values, according to [0432]-[0435], Fig. 5 [step 505] (therefore, there are predicted values that occur between an initial time and the time associated with later predicted values)),
wherein when the fifth predicted signal strength and the sixth predicted signal strength do not satisfy the second condition, the terminal does not transmit the report message to the serving base station (the criteria for sending the report of predictions may be the A3 event (whereby the A3 event entails a specified condition for the respective signal strengths of the serving network node and the neighbor network node, according to [0115]-[0118]), according to [0436]-[0437] (therefore, when the signal strengths for the source network node and the neighbor network node fail to satisfy their respective conditions, the report of predictions isn’t sent)).
Regarding claim 8, Da Silva discloses the operation method according to claim 2, further comprising:
receiving, from the serving base station, information on a fifth time and a fourth condition and model feedback configuration information requesting transmission of a model feedback signal for the first measurement prediction model (the source network node periodically updates the prediction model based on UE measurement reports, according to [0424]-[0431], Fig. 5 [steps 501, 502, 503, and 504]);
obtaining a measured signal strength by measuring a signal strength of the serving base station at the fifth time (the UE periodically measures the strength of signals transmitted from the source network node, according to [0426]-[0427], Fig. 5 [step 502]);
predicting a predicted signal strength predicted for the serving base station to have at the fifth time by using the first measurement prediction model (the UE uses the prediction model to predict the future signal strength of the source base station, according to [0432]-[0435], Fig. 5 [step 505]); and
transmitting the model feedback signal to the serving base station when the measured signal strength and the predicted signal strength satisfy the fourth condition (the UE transmits the report of predictions that were made based on the prediction model when event-triggering conditions are satisfied, according to [0436]-[0438], Fig. 5 [step 506]).
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 5-6 and 9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW W GENACK whose telephone number is (571)272-7541. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
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/MATTHEW W GENACK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645