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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 7, 9, 11-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2022/0116837; hereinafter Lee) in view of Yang et al. (US 20150148039; hereinafter Yang).
Regarding claim 1, Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches a method, comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a configuration of time information for measurements to be performed by the wireless communication device (Fig. 10 and Paragraphs [0127]; [0161] discloses the UE receiving various time related configuration parameters from a network node);
performing, by the wireless communication device, at least one of the measurements according to the configuration (Paragraph [0125] discloses the UE performing measurements according to the received configuration);
Lee doesn’t teach determining, by the wireless communication device after performing a first measurement of the at least one of the measurements, whether one or more conditions corresponding to the at least one of the measurements is satisfied; and responsive to the one or more conditions being satisfied, suspending, by the wireless communication device, subsequent measurements from being performed by the wireless communication device; or responsive to the one or more conditions not being satisfied, continue performing, by the wireless communication device, one or more subsequent measurements of the at least one of the measurements according to the configuration.
However, in analogous art Yang teaches determining, by the wireless communication device after performing a first measurement of the at least one of the measurements, whether one or more conditions corresponding to the at least one of the measurements is satisfied; and responsive to the one or more conditions being satisfied, suspending, by the wireless communication device, subsequent measurements from being performed by the wireless communication device; (Paragraph [0063] describes after performing a first measurement determines whether one or more conditions (finding R number of frequencies that exceed predefined thresholds) is satisfied stops measuring the remaining four frequencies on the list if the condition is met ) or responsive to the one or more conditions not being satisfied, continue performing, by the wireless communication device, one or more subsequent measurements of the at least one of the measurements according to the configuration.
Lee and Yang are in the same field of wireless communication systems, specifically relating to measurement and sensing configuration for wireless communication devices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee to incorporate the teachings of Yang to determine when a device should start/suspend neighbor cell measurements to improve power consumption and efficiency in wireless communication devices.
Regarding claim 2, Lee in view of Yang, Yang teaches wherein the measurements comprise at least one of: intra-frequency measurement, inter-frequency measurement, measurement of neighboring cells, or measurement of radio access technology (RAT) (Paragraph [0063] describes measurements of neighboring cells).
Regarding claim 3, Lee in view of Yang, Yang teaches wherein the configuration indicates to use a fixed time interval between the measurements to be performed by the wireless communication device (Paragraphs [0043]-[0044] describes measurement window).
Regarding claim 4, Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches wherein the configuration indicates to use a time interval that increases or decreases between successive measurements to be performed by the wireless communication device (Paragraphs [0177]-[0179] states that if RSRP increases (UE moving toward cell center) the measurement rule maybe adjusted to have longer measurement period. This means the interval between successive measurements increases. If RSRP decreases (UE moving toward cell edge) the measurement rule may be adjusted to have shorter measurement period. This means the interval between successive measurements decreases).
Regarding claim 6, Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches wherein a start of a next time interval is at a time instance at which a measurement of a current time interval is complete (Paragraphs [0153]; [0170]-[0174] states that the time interval for the next measurement begins once the previous is complete, or at least measured. The system ensures that the next measurement time depends on the completion point of the first).
Regarding claim 7, Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches comprising: starting or restarting, by the wireless communication device, a timer for the next time interval, at the time instance at which the measurement of the current time interval is complete (Paragraphs [0157]; [0173]-[0175] these paragraphs describe a timing mechanism where measurements times are determined relatively to the completion of previous measurements and the system start counting a time duration starting from the time point at which the first RSRP was measured. This time duration (e.g. 3 seconds) effectively represents a timer that is started at the completion of the first measurement and the second measurement occurs after this timer expires).
Regarding claim 9, Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches comprising: initiating, by the wireless communication device, one of the measurements according to the configuration, and during a downlink gap (Paragraph [0127] describes the measurement configuration includes “measurement gap” parameters. This gap is specifically provided for the UE to measure a neighbor cell/inter-frequency. Since the gap involves no transmissions and reception, inherently includes a downlink gap (no reception by the UE) and measurements are explicitly performed during this gap period).
Regarding claim 11, Lee in view of Yang, Yang teaches comprising: determining, by the wireless communication device, to stop or start at least one of the measurements if one or more conditions are satisfied (Paragraph [0063] describes to stop measurements based on satisfied conditions),
wherein the one or more conditions that are satisfied comprise at least one of: the wireless communication device obtains measurement results for all neighbor cells, the wireless communication device obtains measurement results for some of the neighbor cells identified by the wireless communication device, the wireless communication device obtains measurement results for neighbor cells identified or configured by the wireless communication device, the wireless communication device obtains measurement results for neighbor cells with strongest signal strengths, or the wireless communication device obtains measurement results for neighbor cells which indicate that a cell quality associated with the neighbor cells is higher than a quality of a serving cell of the wireless communication device (Paragraph [0063] describes measurement results for neighbor cells with strongest signal strengths).
Regarding claim 12 , Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches wherein the time information for the measurements includes at least one of: time interval between at least two of the measurements (Paragraph [0127] this paragraph defines measurement period as a time spacing between two consecutive moments at which a measurement is performed),
time interval or duration in which there is no measurement (Paragraph [0127] this paragraph defines although the gap is defined for measurement purposes, no transmission/reception occurs, representing a period during which other measurements may not be made, satisfying the “no measurement” condition),
or time duration for at least one of the measurements (Paragraphs [0173]-[0175] Shows that a specific duration (e.g., 3 seconds) is allocated before the next measurement can begin).
Regarding claim 13 , Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches wherein the time interval is configured to increase or decrease between successive measurements, according to a result of at least one prior measurement of the measurements (Paragraphs [0177]-[0179] defines the RSRP variation between prior art measurements determines the RSRP value range. This range is mapped to a corresponding measurement configuration, including measurement period (time interval). Therefore, the next measurement interval is increased or decreased based on the pervious measurement results).
Claim 14 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1 respectively.
Claim 15 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2 respectively.
Claim 16 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3 respectively.
Claim 17 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4 respectively.
Regarding claim 19, Lee in view of Yang, Lee teaches a wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor configured to: receive, via a receiver from a wireless communication node, a configuration of time information for measurements to be performed by the wireless communication device (Fig. 10 and Paragraphs [0127]; [0161] discloses the UE receiving various time related configuration parameters from a network node);
perform at least one of the measurements according to the configuration (Paragraph [0125] discloses the UE performing measurements according to the received configuration);
Lee doesn’t teach determine, after performance of a first measurement of the at least one of the measurements, whether one or more conditions corresponding to the at least one of the measurements is satisfied; and responsive to the one or more conditions being satisfied, suspend subsequent measurements from being performed by the wireless communication device; or responsive to the one or more conditions not being satisfied, continue to perform one or more subsequent measurements of the at least one of the measurements according to the configuration.
However, in analogous art Yang teaches determine, after performance of a first measurement of the at least one of the measurements, whether one or more conditions corresponding to the at least one of the measurements is satisfied; and responsive to the one or more conditions being satisfied, suspend subsequent measurements from being performed by the wireless communication device (Paragraph [0063] describes after performing a first measurement determines whether one or more conditions (finding R number of frequencies that exceed predefined thresholds) is satisfied stops measuring the remaining four frequencies on the list if the condition is met); or responsive to the one or more conditions not being satisfied, continue to perform one or more subsequent measurements of the at least one of the measurements according to the configuration.
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 19 respectively.
Claim(s) 5, 10 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Yang in further view of Roy et al. (US 2023/0086144; hereinafter Roy).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Lee, Yang and Roy, Specifically Roy teaches comprising: initiating, by the wireless communication device, a measurement for each time interval in which a quality of a serving cell fails to satisfy a threshold value (Paragraphs [0145]-[0146] discloses the UE performs cell measurements when SpCell RSRP is lower than the configured threshold, and the UE doesn’t perform cell measurements when SpCell quality is higher than the configured threshold).
Lee, Yang and Roy are in the same field of wireless communication systems, specifically relating to measurement and sensing configuration for wireless communication devices. Both references address timing configurations for wireless devices performing measurements in cellular networks.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee and Yang to incorporate the teachings of Roy to provide a fixed time interval configuration for measurements. Doing so would ensure consistent measurement timing and predictable measurements intervals, thereby improving measurement accuracy and reliability (Roy, Paragraph [0194]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Lee, Yang and Roy, Lee teaches comprising: receiving, by the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node, at least one threshold value; and performing, by the wireless communication device according to the configuration, the measurements when at least one parameter exceeds the at least one threshold value (Paragraphs [0119]-[0122]; [0128]; [0145] discloses receiving threshold values from a network node and performing measurements when parameters exceed or fall below these thresholds),
However, Lee doesn’t teach wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of: a repetition number, a modulation order, a transport block size, or a number of transmitted negative-acknowledgement (NACK) messages.
In analogous art Roy teaches wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of: a repetition number, a modulation order, a transport block size, or a number of transmitted negative-acknowledgement (NACK) messages (Paragraph [0194] teaches a number of repetitions for transmissions and measurements).
Claim 18 is rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5 respectively.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Yang in further view Jung et al. (US 2020/0145177; hereinafter Jung).
Regarding claim 8, Lee and Yang doesn’t teach comprising: initiating, by the wireless communication device, one of the measurements according to the configuration, during an opportunity for discontinuous reception (DRX) in a DRX cycle.
However, in analogous art Jung teaches comprising: initiating, by the wireless communication device, one of the measurements according to the configuration, during an opportunity for discontinuous reception (DRX) in a DRX cycle (Paragraphs [0330]; [0372] describes UEs waking up during DRX periods specifically to perform measurements).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lee and Yang to incorporate the teachings of Jung to perform measurements specifically during DRX periods within DRC cycles to optimize power consumption during measurements while ensuring reliable network operations (Jung, Paragraph [0332]).
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.
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/M.W.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464