DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Claims 1-20 are amended.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on December 9, 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment to the Specification submitted on September 9, 2025, has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed September 9, 2025, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The reasons set forth below.
In response to applicant argument regarding claim 1, applicant argues that neither Cui nor Sang disclose that a UE transmits "a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) report on a condition that the first condition and the second condition are both met" as recited in amended claim 1. (Remarks, page 13). Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Cui discloses [0111] The UE measures, for example NR SS and CSI RS, based on the measurement configuration to obtain a first measurement result and a second measurement result, and generates a measurement report containing the first measurement result, the second measurement result and the like, to report the measurement report to the S-gNB…in response to the triggering. As an example, “a triggering event A3 is considered to be satisfied in a case of satisfying…inequality (10)”, as described in paragraph [0054].
Mnss+Ofn+Ocn−Hys>Mpss+Ofp+Ocp+Off&&Mncsirs+Ofn+Ocn−Hys>Mpcsirs+Ofp+Ocp+Off (10)
For inequality (10) to be satisfied two conditions must be met; a first measurement result of a target cell must be greater than a first measurement result of a serving cell AND a second measurement result of a target cell must be greater than a second measurement result of a serving cell. [0056] the evaluating unit 104 can evaluate that the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the condition in the inequality (10).
Therefore, given that Cui discloses sending a measurement report in response to a triggering event and the triggering event is satisfied when two conditions are met, then Cui discloses that a UE transmits "a report on a condition that the first condition and the second condition are both met".
Sang discloses [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises MAC CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status. Thus, Sang discloses a measurement report sent as MAC CE signaling.
Given that Cui discloses a UE sending a measurement report in response to two conditions being met and Sang discloses a measurement report sent as MAC CE, then Cui and Sang in combination disclose that a UE transmits "a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) report on a condition that the first condition and the second condition are both met" as recited in amended claim 1. Therefore, claim 1 is rejected under Cui in view of Sang.
In response to the applicant argument regarding the rejection of claims 19 and 20 (Remarks, page 14), the examiner respectfully disagrees. Claims 19 and 20 recite similar limitations as set forth in claim 1, thus the response to claim 1 is also applicable to claims 19 and 20. Therefore, for at least the reasons presented above for claim 1, claims 19 and 20 are rejected.
In response to the applicant argument regarding the dependent claims 2-18 (Remarks, page 14), the examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant has not made specific arguments pertaining to why the cited references do not teach the recited claims other than their dependency to independent claim 1. Therefore for at least the reasons presented above for claim 1, the dependent claims 2-18 are rejected.
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.
Claims 1, 4, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui (US 20200162956 A1); hereinafter Cui in view of Sang (US 20180279182 A1); hereinafter Sang.
Regarding claim 1, Cui teaches a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 7, the UE), comprising:
a receiver (Fig. 12, The RF circuit 914 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 916), configured to receive control information that indicates a measurement configuration, a first reference signal set associated with a first cell, a second reference signal set associated with a second cell, a first condition and a second condition, (Fig. 7, Measurement control. [0110] measurement control signaling…including information on the measurement configuration. [0006] The processing circuitry is configured to: measure, based on acquired measurement configuration, new radio synchronized signals (NR-SSs) from a serving cell and one or more target cells, to acquire a first measurement result; measure, based on the measurement configuration, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) from the serving cell and the one or more target cells, to acquire a second measurement result. Thus, the control information indicates a first reference signal set (NR-SSs and CSI-RSs) associated with a first cell and a second reference signal set (NR-SSs and CSI-RSs) associated with a second cell. [0035] The measurement configuration may further include specifications for: a measurement period, whether to report periodically or report only in a case of satisfying a predetermined condition (this could include the first and second conditions));
a transmitter (Fig. 12, The RF circuit 914 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 916) configured to transmit a report on a condition that the first condition and the second condition are both met ([0063] In an example, the generating unit 103 may be configured to generate a measurement report in a case that a triggering condition (first condition and second condition) for a certain triggering event is satisfied. [0054] The triggering event A3 is used to describe a state in which the communication quality of a particular target cell becomes higher than the communication quality of the serving cell by a predetermined degree. In a case that the communication quality is represented separately by the first measurement result and the second measurement result [0056] the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the conditions. (first condition is first measurement result of target cell is greater than first measurement result of serving cell AND second condition is second measurement result of target cell is greater than second measurement result of serving cell, [0054] shown by inequality (10))), wherein the report indicates a measurement report and a target reference signal set that is a subset of the second reference signal set ([0066] The measurement report generated by the generating unit 103 further includes information on the target beams of the handover target cell. As stated in paragraph [0066] the target beams are one or more beams with the best measurement result from the reference signal set of the target cell),
wherein the UE is configured to receive a signaling that indicates information for accessing the second cell ([0113] Next, the S-gNB allocates downlink transmission resource for the UE and transmits RRC connection reconfiguration signaling which may include mobile control information to the UE. In addition, the RRC connection reconfiguration signaling may further include information of the available beam range of the UE which is transmitted to the S-gNB from the T-gNB.) and perform a measurement on the first reference signal set for determining whether the first condition is met and a measurement on the second reference signal set for determining whether the second condition is met (Fig. 8, [0119] measuring, according to acquired measurement configuration, NR-SSs from a serving cell and one or more target cells to obtain a first measurement result; and measuring, based on the measurement configuration, CSI-RSs from the serving cell and the one or more target cells to obtain a second measurement result. [0054]-[0056] the evaluating unit 104 can evaluate that the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the conditions in the inequality (10)).
Cui does not teach the report is a MAC-CE report nor that the information for accessing the second cell is received as MAC-CE signaling.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches the report is a MAC-CE report (Fig. 3, [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status) and the information for accessing the second cell is received as MAC-CE signaling ([0088] At step 365, the target DU 315 transmits to the UE 305 an L2 handover command using L1 signaling or L2 signaling of MAC CEs, DCI, or UCI rather than using L3 RRC signaling. Alternatively, the source DU 310 transmits to the UE 305 the L2 handover command)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Regarding claim 4 Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1, wherein:
the transmitter is configured to, on a condition that, the MAC CE is received, transmit a second radio signal on the second cell (In Cui this is denoted by the Synchronizing signal of Fig.7), and
the second radio signal is used for initiating a random access procedure, the second radio signal comprising a preamble sequence ([0116] In an example, in the step that the UE requests to synchronize to the T-gNB, the UE can select a transmitting beam to be used based on information of the available beam range and whether there is the allocated dedicated CFRA channel resource, and transmits a random access request to the T-gNB on the RACH resource corresponding to the beam and the RACH resources corresponding to one or more other beams allocated with dedicated CFRA channel resources. (A preamble sequence is sent as part of the Synchronizing with the second cell)).
Regarding claim 13, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1, wherein the first reference signal set includes a plurality of first-type reference signals, ([0030] The first measuring unit 101 is configured to measure, based on acquired measurement configuration, new radio synchronized signals (NR-SSs) (first-type) from a serving cell and one or more target cells to acquire a first measurement result. [0034] The measurement configuration may include configuration of, for example: which kind of physical quantity is to be measured, how to perform the measurement, and how to report the measurement result.) and the second reference signal set includes a plurality of second- type reference signals ([0030] The second measuring unit 102 is configured to measure, based on the measurement configuration, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (second-type) from the serving cell and the one or more target cells to acquire a second measurement result. [0034] The measurement configuration may include configuration of, for example: which kind of physical quantity is to be measured, how to perform the measurement, and how to report the measurement result).
Regarding claim 14, Cui teaches claim 1 but does not teach wherein the MAC CE report is different from the MAC CE.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches wherein the MAC CE report is different from the MAC CE. (Fig. 3, [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report (MAC CE report) to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status. [0088] At step 365, the target DU 315 transmits to the UE 305 an L2 handover command (MAC CE) using L1 signaling or L2 signaling of MAC CEs, DCI, or UCI. Alternatively, the source DU 310 transmits to the UE 305 the L2 handover command).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Regarding claim 15, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1, wherein the report includes a first field that indicates a cell identifier of a neighbor cell ([0064] the measurement report further includes an identifier of the handover target cell to be handed over to).
Cui does not teach the report is transmitted as a MAC CE message.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches the measurement report is transmitted as a MAC CE message (Fig. 3, [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report (MAC CE report) to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status. [0083] Such L2 signaling partially or fully replaces the L3 RRC signaling between a CU and a UE and comprises MAC CEs, DCI for a PDCCH, UCI for a PUCCH or a PUSCH, other MAC layer messages mapped from RRC messages of light weight or simplified content, and other signaling that offers similar RRC functionality at a MAC, PDCP, RLC, or other layer below an RRC layer. The function of the L2 signaling may be similar to L3 measurement reports, mobility configuration, handover commands, another L3 signaling, but may be more concise, simpler, or faster for control turn-around. This shows the fields in the L3 RRC signaling fields should map to the L2 MAC CE fields).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Regarding claim 16, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1, wherein the report includes a second field that indicates a beam identifier of beams in a neighbor cell ([0098] In addition, the measurement report may further include information on one or more target beams with the best measurement result among the measurement results obtained by the user by measuring with respect to respective beams of the handover target cell).
Cui does not teach the report is transmitted as a MAC CE message.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches the report is transmitted as a MAC CE message (Fig. 3, [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report (MAC CE report) to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status. [0083] Such L2 signaling partially or fully replaces the L3 RRC signaling between a CU and a UE and comprises MAC CEs, DCI for a PDCCH, UCI for a PUCCH or a PUSCH, other MAC layer messages mapped from RRC messages of light weight or simplified content, and other signaling that offers similar RRC functionality at a MAC, PDCP, RLC, or other layer below an RRC layer. The function of the L2 signaling may be similar to L3 measurement reports, mobility configuration, handover commands, another L3 signaling, but may be more concise, simpler, or faster for control turn-around. This shows the fields in the L3 RRC signaling fields should map to the L2 MAC CE fields).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Regarding claim 17, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1 but does not explicitly teach wherein the MAC CE includes a third field having a sub-field that indicates a cell identifier of the second cell.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches wherein the other MAC CE in the third signaling comprises a third field, with a sub-field in the third field indicating a cell identifier of the second cell ([0093] At step 440, the target DU 407 transmits to the UE 403 an L2 handover command using L1 signaling or L2 signaling instead of L3 RRC signaling. The L2 handover command comprises an RLC renewal, a target cell identifier, an L2 context, a pre-assigned preamble, or other information. Alternatively, the source DU 405 transmits to the UE 403 the L2 handover command).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Regarding claim 19, Cui teaches a base station (Fig. 7, the S-gNB) comprising:
a transmitter (Fig. 10, [0149] the RF circuit 827 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 810), configured to transmit: control information that indicates a measurement configuration, a first reference signal set associated with a first cell, a second reference signal set associated with a second cell, a first condition and a second condition (Fig. 7, Measurement control. [0110] measurement control signaling…including information on the measurement configuration. ([0035] For example, in the embodiment, the electronic apparatus 100 measures two reference signals, NR-SS and CSI-RS, according to the measurement configuration. The measurement configuration may further include specifications for: a measurement period, whether to report periodically or report only in a case of satisfying a predetermined condition (this can be the first and second conditions)), and
transmit a MAC CE that indicates information for accessing the second cell (Fig. 7 [0113] Next, the S-gNB allocates downlink transmission resource for the UE and transmits RRC connection reconfiguration signaling which may include mobile control information to the UE. In addition, the RRC connection reconfiguration signaling may further include information of the available beam range of the UE which is transmitted to the S-gNB from the T-gNB), wherein a measurement is performed on the first reference signal set for determining whether the first condition is met and a measurement is performed on the second reference signal set for determining whether the second condition is met (Fig. 8, [0119] measuring, according to acquired measurement configuration, NR-SSs from a serving cell and one or more target cells to obtain a first measurement result; and measuring, based on the measurement configuration, CSI-RSs from the serving cell and the one or more target cells to obtain a second measurement result (S10). [0054]-[0056] the evaluating unit 104 can evaluate that the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the conditions in the inequality (10)); and
a receiver (Fig. 10, [0149] the RF circuit 827 may include, for example, a mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 810) configured to receive a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) report on a condition that the first condition and the second condition are both met ( Fig. 7 The S-gNB allocates uplink transmission resource for the UE on layer 1 (physical layer) for subsequent report of the measurement report. [0063] In an example, the generating unit 103 may be configured to generate a measurement report in a case that a triggering condition (first condition and second condition) for a certain triggering event is satisfied. [0054] The triggering event A3 is used to describe a state in which the communication quality of a particular target cell becomes higher than the communication quality of the serving cell by a predetermined degree. In a case that the communication quality is represented separately by the first measurement result and the second measurement result [0056] the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the conditions. (first condition is first measurement result of target cell is greater than first measurement result of serving cell AND second condition is second measurement result of target cell is greater than second measurement result of serving cell, [0054] shown by inequality (10))), wherein the MAC CE report indicates a measurement report and a target reference signal set that is a subset of the second reference signal set ([0066] The measurement report generated by the generating unit 103 further includes information on the target beams of the handover target cell. As stated in paragraph [0066] the target beams are one or more beams with the best measurement result from the reference signal set of the target cell).
Cui does not teach the report is a MAC-CE report nor that the information for accessing the second cell is received as MAC-CE signaling.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches the report is a MAC-CE report (Fig. 3, [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status) and the information for accessing the second cell is received as MAC-CE signaling ([0088] At step 365, the target DU 315 transmits to the UE 305 an L2 handover command using L1 signaling or L2 signaling of MAC CEs, DCI, or UCI rather than using L3 RRC signaling. Alternatively, the source DU 310 transmits to the UE 305 the L2 handover command)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Regarding claim 20, Cui teaches a method comprising:
receivinq control information that indicates a measurement configuration, a first reference signal set associated with a first cell, a second reference signal set associated with a second cell, a first condition and a second condition (Fig. 7, Measurement control. [0110] measurement control signaling…including information on the measurement configuration. [0006] The processing circuitry is configured to: measure, based on acquired measurement configuration, new radio synchronized signals (NR-SSs) from a serving cell and one or more target cells, to acquire a first measurement result; measure, based on the measurement configuration, channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) from the serving cell and the one or more target cells, to acquire a second measurement result. Thus, the control information indicates a first reference signal set (NR-SSs and CSI-RSs) associated with a first cell and a second reference signal set (NR-SSs and CSI-RSs) associated with a second cell. [0035] The measurement configuration may further include specifications for: a measurement period, whether to report periodically or report only in a case of satisfying a predetermined condition (this could include the first and second conditions));
receivinq a MAC CE that indicates information for accessing the second cell ([0113] Next, the S-gNB allocates downlink transmission resource for the UE and transmits RRC connection reconfiguration signaling which may include mobile control information to the UE. In addition, the RRC connection reconfiguration signaling may further include information of the available beam range of the UE which is transmitted to the S-gNB from the T-gNB.) and performing a measurement on the first reference signal set for determining whether the first condition is met and a measurement on the second reference signal set for determining whether the second condition is met (Fig. 8, [0119] measuring, according to acquired measurement configuration, NR-SSs from a serving cell and one or more target cells to obtain a first measurement result; and measuring, based on the measurement configuration, CSI-RSs from the serving cell and the one or more target cells to obtain a second measurement result. [0054]-[0056] the evaluating unit 104 can evaluate that the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the conditions in the inequality (10)); and
transmitting a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC CE) report on a condition that the first condition and the second condition are both met ([0063] In an example, the generating unit 103 may be configured to generate a measurement report in a case that a triggering condition (first condition and second condition) for a certain triggering event is satisfied. [0054] The triggering event A3 is used to describe a state in which the communication quality of a particular target cell becomes higher than the communication quality of the serving cell by a predetermined degree. In a case that the communication quality is represented separately by the first measurement result and the second measurement result [0056] the condition for the triggering event A3 is satisfied in a case that both the first measurement results and the second measurement results of the serving cell and the target cell satisfy the conditions. (first condition is first measurement result of target cell is greater than first measurement result of serving cell AND second condition is second measurement result of target cell is greater than second measurement result of serving cell, [0054] shown by inequality (10))), wherein the MAC CE report indicates a measurement report and a target reference signal set that is a subset of the second reference signal set ([0066] The measurement report generated by the generating unit 103 further includes information on the target beams of the handover target cell. As stated in paragraph [0066] the target beams are one or more beams with the best measurement result from the reference signal set of the target cell).
Cui does not teach the report is a MAC-CE report nor that the information for accessing the second cell is received as MAC-CE signaling.
Sang, in the same field of endeavor of mobility management in wireless networks, teaches the report is a MAC-CE report (Fig. 3, [0086] At step 340, the UE 305 transmits an L2 measurement report to the source DU 310. The L2 measurement report comprises CEs, UCI, or an RLC status. [0004] wherein the L2 measurement report comprises at least one of second MAC CEs, UCI, and a RLC status) and the information for accessing the second cell is received as MAC-CE signaling ([0088] At step 365, the target DU 315 transmits to the UE 305 an L2 handover command using L1 signaling or L2 signaling of MAC CEs, DCI, or UCI rather than using L3 RRC signaling. Alternatively, the source DU 310 transmits to the UE 305 the L2 handover command)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the mobility management methods of Sang with the channel measurement and cell handover method of Cui to include L2 signaling. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce latency, UE power consumption, and signaling overhead involved in L3 signaling (Sang; [0082]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui (US 20200162956 A1) and Sang (US 20180279182 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cirik (EP 3648368 A1); hereinafter Cirik and Xie (WO 2021031923 A1); hereinafter Xie. (Citations for Xie are from the machine translation attached to this office action).
Regarding claim 2, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1.
Ciu does not teach wherein the receiver is configured to receive fourth signaling that indicates at least one of a first counting threshold or a second counting threshold of a first counter, a relative magnitude of a result of the measurement on the first reference signal set and a first measurement threshold is used for generating a first indication, and the first indication being used to determine an update of the first counter,
the UE is configured to, in response to the first counter reaching the second counting threshold, determine that a beam failure occurs in the first cell and transmit a first radio signal, and
wherein the first condition is related to the first counter satisfying the first counting threshold, the first radio signal is used for initiating a random access procedure, and the first counting threshold is not greater than the second counting threshold.
Cirik in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches wherein the receiver is configured to receive fourth signaling that indicates at least one of a first counting threshold or a second counting threshold of a first counter ([0184] An RRC message may configure a wireless device with one or more parameters (e.g., in BeamFailureRecoveryConfig) for a beam failure detection and recovery procedure. The one or more parameters may comprise one or more of: beamFailureInstanceMaxCount (second counting threshold) for a beam failure detection, beamFailureDetectionTimer for the beam failure detection, beamFailureRecoveryTimer for a beam failure recovery procedure, rsrp-ThresholdSSB, an RSRP threshold for a beam failure recovery, PowerRampingStep for the beam failure recovery, preambleReceivedTargetPower for the beam failure recovery, preambleTxMax for the beam failure recovery, and/or ra-ResponseWindow. The ra-ResponseWindow may be a time window to monitor one or more responses for the beam failure recovery using a contention-free RA preamble), a relative magnitude of a result of the measurement on the first reference signal set and a first measurement threshold is used for generating a first indication ([0191] A wireless device may assess the first radio link quality of a first set (e.g., of resources). A physical layer in the wireless device may provide an indication to higher layers (e.g., MAC), for example, if the first radio link quality for all corresponding resource configurations in the first set is less than the first threshold), and the first indication being used to determine an update of the first counter ([0185] The wireless device may…increment the BFI counter, for example, based on a MAC entity of a wireless device receiving a beam failure instance indication from a lower layer (e.g., PHY) of the wireless device),
the UE is configured to, in response to the first counter reaching the second counting threshold, determine that a beam failure occurs in the first cell (Fig. 24; Beam failure detected when BFI counter = 3. [0185] The wireless device may initiate a random access procedure such as for a beam failure recovery (e.g., on an SpCell) based on the BFI counter being greater than or equal to a value such as beamFailureInstanceMaxCount (second counting threshold)), and transmit a first radio signal (Fig. 23, [0181] At step 2302, the wireless device may detect at least one beam failure according to at least one BFR parameter. At step 2306, the wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) at least a first BFR signal to a base station, for example, based on selecting the beam (e.g., selected beam)),
the first radio signal is used for initiating a random access procedure ([0181] The at least first BFR signal may be a preamble sent (e.g., transmitted) via a PRACH resource).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Cirik, does not teach wherein the first condition is related to the first counter satisfying the first counting threshold, and the first counting threshold is not greater than the second counting threshold.
Xie in the same field of endeavor of beam failure reporting teaches wherein the first condition is related to the first counter satisfying the first counting threshold (Pg. 4, lines 27-32, The network device adjusts configuration parameters related to beam failure detection BFD and/or beam failure recovery BFR according to the beam related information reported by the terminal, and the configuration parameters include at least one of the following parameters: The preset number threshold of the number of beam failure instance indications beamFailureInstanceMaxCount), and the first counting threshold is not greater than the second counting threshold (Pg. 11, paragraph 5, lines 1-3 and lines 6-8, The terminal (such as UE) determines whether to generate BFD according to two parameters configured by the base station: beamFailureInstanceMaxCount and beamFailureDetectionTimer. …if the count setting is too small or setting the timer too short may cause the UE to frequently perform unnecessary BFR procedures, increase unnecessary signaling overhead between the UE and the base station, and increase the power consumption of the UE. Since the point is to avoid unnecessary overhead and decrease power consumption, it can be concluded that the first counting threshold can be less than the second counting threshold, after the network makes the necessary adjustments).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the beam information recording and reporting method of Xie. The motivation to do so would have been to optimize the configuration of corresponding counters, timers and other parameters and quality thresholds, and configure the terminal appropriately to avoid unnecessary signaling overhead and waste of resources (Xie, (pg. 12 lines 7-9)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui (US 20200162956 A1) and Sang (US 20180279182 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cirik (EP 3648368 A1); hereinafter Cirik.
Regarding claim 3, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1.
Cui does not teach wherein:
the receiver is configured to receive signaling that indicates a third counting threshold of a second counter, a relative magnitude of a result of the measurement on the second reference signal set and a second measurement threshold is used for generating a second indication, and the second indication is used to determine an update of the second counter, and
the second condition is related to the second counter satisfying the third counting threshold.
Cirik in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches the receiver is configured to receive signaling ([0184] An RRC message may configure a wireless device with one or more parameters (e.g., in BeamFailureRecoveryConfig) for a beam failure detection and recovery procedure) that indicates a third counting threshold of a second counter ([0235] Second DL-BWP-specific BFR configuration parameters for the second downlink BWP (e.g., DL-BWP-3) of the second cell (e.g., the Cell2 2604A) may comprise one or more of: second RSs (e.g., RadioLinkMonitoringRS) of the second downlink BWP, and/or a second BFI counter (e.g., beamFailureInstanceMaxCount) (third counting threshold); a relative magnitude of a result of the measurement on the second reference signal set and a second measurement threshold is used for generating a second indication ([0246] The one or more configuration parameters of the second cell may indicate a third threshold (e.g., rlmInSyncOutOfSyncThreshold) (second measurement threshold), for example, if the second cell is a secondary cell. The wireless device (e.g., the physical layer of the wireless device) may provide a BFI indication (second indication) to a higher layer (e.g., a MAC layer, a MAC entity, etc.) of the wireless device, for example, if the radio link quality does not satisfy, or is worse than, the third threshold (second measurement threshold), and the second indication is used to determine an update of the second counter ([0247] The wireless device (e.g., the higher layer of the wireless device, such as a MAC layer, a MAC entity, etc.) may increment the BFI_COUNTER (second counter) by one, for example, after or in response to the physical layer providing the BFI indication (second indication) (e.g., at time T, 2T, 5T in FIG. 24)), and the second condition is related to the second counter satisfying the third counting threshold ([0251] The wireless device may detect a beam failure of the second downlink BWP of the second cell, for example, if the BFI_COUNTER is equal to or greater than the second BFI counter).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Regarding claim 6 Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1.
Cui does not teach wherein the receiver is configured to receive sixth signaling, the UE is configured to:
on a condition that the MAC CE is received, start a first timer,
on a condition that the first timer reaches a first expiration value, determine that a random access procedure performed on the second cell has failed, or
after completing the random access procedure on the second cell and on a condition that the first timer is less than the first expiration value, stop the first timer, and
the sixth signaling indicates the first expiration value of the first timer.
Cirik in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches wherein the receiver is configured to receive sixth signaling ([0181] At step 2300, a wireless device may receive one or more RRC messages comprising BFR parameters), the UE is configured to:
on a condition that the MAC CE is received, start a first timer (Fig. 23, [0181] At step 2308, the wireless device may start a response window, for example, based on sending (e.g., transmitting) the at least first BFR signal. The response window may be associated with a timer with a value configured by the base station), on a condition that the first timer reaches a first expiration value, determine that a random access procedure performed on the second cell has failed ([0182] If the response window expires, and the wireless device does not receive the DCI (e.g., at step 2310), the wireless device may, at step 2314, increment a transmission number. At step 2316, if the transmission number indicates a number equal or greater than the configured maximum transmission number, the wireless device may declare the BFR procedure is unsuccessfully completed), or
after completing the random access procedure on the second cell and on a condition that the first timer is less than the first expiration value, stop the first timer, ([0182] The wireless device may stop the first timer, if configured, based on the BFR procedure successfully being completed), and
the sixth signaling indicates the first expiration value of the first timer ([0184] An RRC message may configure a wireless device with one or more parameters (e.g., in BeamFailureRecoveryConfig) for a beam failure detection and recovery procedure…such as…ra-ResponseWindow. The ra-ResponseWindow (first timer) may be a time window to monitor one or more responses for the beam failure recovery using a contention-free RA preamble).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Regarding claim 7, Cui teaches claim 1 but does not teach the UE according to claim 6, wherein the first timer is a timer of a MAC layer or the first timer is a T304 timer.
Cirik in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches wherein the first timer is a timer of a MAC layer or the first timer is a T304 timer ([0188] A MAC entity may start ra-ResponseWindow (first timer) at a first PDCCH occasion from the end of the transmitting the contention-free random access preamble, for example, if a MAC entity of a wireless device sends (e.g., transmits) a contention-free random access preamble for a BFR procedure. The ra-ResponseWindow may be configured in BeamFailureRecoveryConfig. Since the MAC entity starts the timer, this is a MAC layer timer.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Regarding claim 8 Cui teaches claim 1, but does not teach the UE according to claim 6, wherein:
the UE is configured to:
on a condition that Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) failure occurs in the first cell, refrain from determining that a first connection failure occurs if the first timer is running,
on a condition that the first timer expires, return to the first cell if the BFR failure does not occur in the first cell, or
on a condition that the first timer expires, determine that a second connection failure occurs if the BFR failure occurs in the first cell.
Cirik in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches the UE is configured to:
on a condition that Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) failure occurs in the first cell, refrain from determining that a first connection failure occurs if the first timer is running ([0182] If the response window expires, and the wireless device does not receive the DCI (e.g., at step 2310), the wireless device may, at step 2314, increment a transmission number. At step 2316, if the transmission number indicates a number equal or greater than the configured maximum transmission number, the wireless device may declare the BFR procedure is unsuccessfully completed. Since the BFR failed, the wireless node will stop determining that a first connection failure occurs, meaning it will stop monitoring the PDCCH for a response to the BFR request.),
on a condition that the first timer expires, return to the first cell if the BFR failure does not occur in the first cell, or
on a condition that the first timer expires, determine that a second connection failure occurs if the BFR failure occurs in the first cell.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Regarding claim 9, Cirik teaches the UE according to claim 8, wherein refraining from determining that the first connection failure occurs includes refraining from transmitting a third indication to an upper layer (Fig. 23, The examiner is interpreting the third indication to be an update to the counter for the number of times the BFR request is sent (the RACH preamble)), wherein the third indication indicates that a random access problem occurred ([0182]If the BFR response is not received during the ra-ResponseWindow, the counter is incremented. Once the counter reaches a maximum value the BFR procedure is declared unsuccessful. When the BFR failure occurs, the wireless node will stop transmitting the BFR request and stop updating the transmission counter.).
Regarding claim 12, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1 but does not teach wherein the first cell includes a Special Cell (SpCell), a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell).
Cirik in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches wherein the first cell includes a Special Cell (SpCell), ([0220] A wireless device may perform a BFR procedure on/for an SpCell (e.g., PCell or PSCell), for example, in at least some beam failure recovery (BFR) procedures), t a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell) ([0220] The one or more cells may comprise at least one PCell/PSCell and one or more SCells).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Regarding claim 18, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 1 but does not teach wherein the MAC CE a third field having a sub-field that indicates a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) State identifier.
Cirik, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches wherein the MAC CE a third field having a sub-field that indicates a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) State identifier ([0150] A TCI state indication for UE-specific PDCCH MAC CE may be indicated (e.g., identified) by a MAC PDU subheader with LCID. The TCI state indication for wireless device-specific PDCCH MAC CE may have a fixed size of 16 bits (or any other quantity of bits) comprising one or more fields. The one or more fields may comprise a serving cell ID, a coreset ID, a TCI state ID, and a reserved bit).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the enhanced beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to reduce the duration of the BFR procedure, and/or battery power consumption (Cirik; [0223]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui (US 20200162956 A1) and Sang (US 20180279182 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kung (US 20220085862 A1); hereinafter Kung.
Regarding claim 5, Cui teaches the UE according to claim 4.
Cui does not teach wherein performing the random access procedure on the second cell has no impact on a Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) procedure on the first cell.
Kung, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication and beam failure recovery teaches wherein performing the random access procedure on the second cell has no impact on a Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) procedure on the first cell ([0336] In NR, beam operation is introduced and/or utilized for communication between a UE and a network. In Release 15 of NR, Random Access Channel (RACH)-based Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) is defined and/or utilized for Primary Cell (PCell). Secondary Cell (SCell) BFR is introduced and/or utilized in Rel-16 with BFR Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE). In some examples, PCell BFR procedures and SCell BFR procedures are per-cell operations (e.g., a PCell BFR procedure is a per-cell operation and a SCell BFR procedure is a per-cell operation). [0339] Alternatively and/or additionally, the UE may maintain one or more counters for one or more beam failure detection reference signals (BFD-RSs) associated with a cell (e.g., associated with a bandwidth part of the cell). [0351] Alternatively and/or additionally, the UE may maintain one or more thresholds for one or more BFD-RSs associated with a cell (e.g., associated with a bandwidth part of the cell). [0372] Alternatively and/or additionally, the UE may maintain one or more timers for one or more BFD-RSs of a cell. Thus, the BFR procedures for different reference signals are independent of each other and a random access in procedure in on the second cell has no impact on a Beam Failure Recovery procedure on the first cell.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the method and apparatus for beam failure detection regarding multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) of Kung with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to facilitate more efficient (lower latency and overhead) DL/UL beam management to support higher intra- and L1/L2-centric inter-cell mobility Kung; [0045]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui (US 20200162956 A1), Sang (US 20180279182 A1) and Cirik (EP 3648368 A1) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of Park (US 20190253949 A1); hereinafter Park.
Regarding claim 10, Cirik teaches the UE according to claim 8 but does not teach wherein:
The UE is configured to, on a condition that the second connection failure occurs, transmit a fourth indication to an RRC layer via a MAC layer, wherein the fourth indication includes inter-layer messages of the UE and the second connection failure includes a Radio Link Failure (RLF) or a handover failure (HOF).
Park, in the same field of endeavor of beam failure information in wireless communications teaches the UE is configured to, on a condition that the second connection failure occurs, transmit a fourth indication to an RRC layer via a MAC layer, wherein the fourth indication includes inter-layer messages of the UE and the second connection failure includes a Radio Link Failure (RLF) or a handover failure (HOF) ([0363] In response to determining the beam failure recovery request failure, a lower layer (e.g. MAC layer, and/or physical layer) of the wireless device may indicate the beam failure recovery request failure to a higher layer (e.g. RRC layer) of the wireless device. The higher layer of the wireless device may determine a connection failure (e.g. radio link failure (RLF) and/or handover failure (HOF)) in the first cell (e.g. a failed cell) based on the beam failure recovery request failure).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the beam failure recovery procedures of Park with the beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik, along with the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui, to enhance a radio link failure report by providing information of a beam failure recovery failure. The motivation to do so would have been so that a base station is able to identify a cause (for example, improper configurations for a beam failure recovery procedure) of wireless device's connection failure and employ the information of a beam failure recovery failure to update radio configuration parameters, thereby improving uplink/downlink connections (Park, [0305]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cui (US 20200162956 A1) and Sang (US 20180279182 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, Cirik (EP 3648368 A1) and Xie (WO 2021031923 A1) as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Chae (US 20210144570 A1); hereinafter Chae.
Regarding claim 11, Cirik and Xie teach the UE according to claim 8 but do not explicitly teach wherein the fourth signaling indicates a first offset and the second counting threshold, the first offset and the second counting threshold being used to determine the first counting threshold.
Xie teaches the counting threshold can be adjusted by the network, but does not explicitly mention an offset used to determine the first counting threshold.
Chae, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communications, teaches wherein the fourth signaling indicates a first offset and the second counting threshold, the first offset and the second counting threshold being used to determine the first counting threshold ([0252] The second PSSCH-RSRP threshold may be greater than the first PSSCH-RSRP threshold or determined by adding an offset to the first PSSCH-RSRP threshold. A base station may indicate a sensing threshold offset or a sensing threshold according to the number of APs to a UE via DCI or RRC or SIB. This concept can be extended to a base station indicating a BFI counter max threshold (beamFailureInstanceMaxCount) via an offset. For example, the first offset and the second counting threshold being used to determine the first counting threshold).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the concept of specifying an offset for a threshold configuration parameter of Chae with the beam information recording and reporting method of Xie, along with the beam failure recovery procedures of Cirik, the mobility management methods of Sang and the cell handover method of Cui. The motivation to do so would have been to add flexibility in configuring the max threshold of the counter, depending on changes in the network.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shih-Fan Chou, Hsi-Lu Chao and Chia-Lung Liu, "An efficient measurement report mechanism for Long Term Evolution networks," discloses event triggered measurement reports and discusses how satisfying an “entry condition” triggers the UE to start sending the measurement report and satisfying a “leaving condition” triggers the UE to stop sending the measurement report.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NANCY SIXTO whose telephone number is (571)272-3295. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Friday 9AM-5PM EST.
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/NANCY SIXTO/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/JACKIE ZUNIGA ABAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469