DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/09/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 4-13, and 16-20 are pending.
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.
Claims 1 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong (US 2022/0007455), hereinafter "Hong", in view of Murray et al. (US 2022/0191793), hereinafter “Murray”, and further in view of Sengupta et al. (US 12,200,646), hereinafter “Sengupta”.
Regarding claims 1, 13, Hong teaches:
A wireless communication method or a terminal device, comprising:
a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform operations (see Hong, Fig. 18, item 1810, par. [0374], lines 2-6: the method according to the present embodiments may be implemented in the form of an apparatus, a procedure, or a function for performing the functions or operations described above. Software code may be stored in a memory unit, and may be driven by the processor)
transmitting a Scheduling Request (SR) on an uplink carrier (see Hong, par. [0205], lines 5-6: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH); and
entering, when the SR is in a pending state after a target time offset following transmission of the SR, a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) active time (see Hong, par. [0201], lines 1-4: when one DRX cycle is configured, the active time for a UE capable of the non-terrestrial network communication includes one or more of the following, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-3: Active time when one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH and then the NTN RTD offset has elapsed, it is pending),
wherein the target time offset is determined based on a transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 5-15: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a signal transmission time between the UE and the network node. As another example, the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively. As still another example, the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a response signal for a signal transmitted from the UE is received by the UE, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH; in this case, the reference round trip delay offset information (corresponding to the target time offset) is determined based on signal transmission time between the UE and the network node or a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE is received by the network node (corresponding to a transmission delay of an uplink signal on an uplink carrier). There is also support for the UE sending a scheduling request message as an uplink signal) and a signal transmission delay on at least one downlink carrier (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 5-15: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a signal transmission time between the UE and the network node. As another example, the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively. As still another example, the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a response signal for a signal transmitted from the UE is received by the UE, and see Hong, par. [0044], lines 1-4: The uplink and downlink transmit and receive control information over a control channel, such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH); in this case, the reference round trip delay offset information (corresponding to the target time offset) is determined based on signal transmission time between the UE and the network node or a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the network node is received by the UE (corresponding to a transmission delay of an downlink signal on an downlink carrier). There is also support for PDCCH (i.e. a downlink carrier) being used for control signaling), the at least one downlink carrier being a downlink carrier activated between a terminal device and a base station (see Hong, par. [0043], lines 1-5: a downlink (DL) refers to a scheme of transmitting data from a base station to a UE. The downlink may mean communication or communication paths from multiple transmission/reception points to a UE, and see Hong, par. [0044], lines 1-4: The uplink and downlink transmit and receive control information over a control channel, such as a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and see Hong, par. [0041], lines 11-13: the base station may be a point, a transmission/reception point, a transmission point, a reception point, and the like; in this case, downlink control information may be transmitted over a PDCCH (corresponding to a downlink carrier) between a base station and UE. As the PDCCH is used for transmission, it must be active while being used).
In this case, Hong, teaches support for the round trip delay offset information (corresponding to the target time offset) being based on a transmission time (i.e. delay) of an uplink signal. Hong also teaches the round trip delay offset information being based on a transmission time of a downlink signal. These are not mutually exclusive examples and the reference round trip delay offset information may be based on transmission times in both directions.
wherein when one DRX group is configured for a Media Access Control (MAC) entity (see Hong, Fig. 11, par. [0118], lines 1-2: FIG. 11 illustrates a DRX configuration information element according to an embodiment, and see Hong, par. [0123], lines 1-3: The base station may configure the above described DRX parameter used to control PDCCH monitoring in the MAC entity of the UE in the UE through RRC signaling), the target time offset is determined based on the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and a first signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH; in this case, the reference round trip delay offset information (corresponding to the target time offset) is determined based on signal transmission time between the UE and the network node or a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE is received by the network node (corresponding to a transmission delay of an uplink signal on an uplink carrier) and signal transmission time between the UE and the network node or a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the network node is received by the UE (corresponding to a transmission delay of an downlink signal on an downlink carrier)
However, Hong does not teach:
the method is applied in an application scenario comprising any one of:
Carrier Aggregation (CA) between a Terrestrial Network (TN) and a Non- Terrestrial Network (NTN);
NTN CA with transparent forwarding by different satellites;
a combination of Dual-Connectivity (DC) and CA between a TN and an NTN; or
a combination of DC and CA between different NTNs;
wherein when DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device uniformly for the MAC entity, the target time offset is determined based delays,
wherein the first signal transmission delay is a minimum one of signal transmission delays on all activated downlink carriers in a cell group where the uplink carrier is located, said all activated downlink carriers being downlink carriers between the terminal device and the base station.
Murray, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the method is applied in an application scenario comprising any one of:
Carrier Aggregation (CA) between a Terrestrial Network (TN) and a Non- Terrestrial Network (NTN) (see Murray, par. [0034]: the base stations 114a, 114b may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Node-B, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a Next Generation Node-B (gNode B), a satellite, a site controller, an access point (AP), a wireless router, and the like, and see par. [0144]: In this disclosure, at least the following solutions are discussed regarding how to adapt the PDCCH monitoring activity of a UE to the changing traffic patterns and reduce the UE's power consumption:, and see pars. [0149-0150]: Methods to perform DRX for a UE configured for Carrier Aggregation, where the UE maintains independent Active Time for each Serving Cell. Methods to dynamically reconfigure the cross-carrier scheduling configuration to reduce the PDCCH monitoring occasions on the SCells for a UE configured for Carrier Aggregation; in this case, carrier aggregation is performed in DRX applications and base stations may be terrestrial or non-terrestrial nodes);
NTN CA with transparent forwarding by different satellites (optional limitation);
a combination of Dual-Connectivity (DC) and CA between a TN and an NTN (optional limitation); or
a combination of DC and CA between different NTNs (optional limitation);
wherein when DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device uniformly for the MAC entity, the target time offset is determined based delays (see Murray, par. [0159]: DRX adaptation may include one of more of the following schemes: a) adaptation of the active time through variation of PDCCH monitoring duty cycle while keeping unchanged the DRX configurations parameters, i.e. the parameters configured into the MAC by RRC for the control of DRX operation, and see pars. [0211-0212]: Each logical channel could be configured with a delay tolerance. If data becomes available for transmission while within DRX and the next DRX cycle start is within the logical channels delay tolerance the SR may not be triggered or delayed. With this method when UL transmission is initiated additional data may be consolidated and one larger transmission may be initiated rather than several smaller independent transmissions which would further improve power consumption efficiency. Upon SR triggering, an SR delay timer could be set to the delay tolerance of the logical channel that triggered the SR. Upon expiration of the SR delay timer the SR may be triggered. The SR delay timer may be cleared upon reception of an UL grant for other reasons, and the SR trigger is cleared upon servicing of the UL transmission or transmission of a BSR),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the method or device of Hong with the particular scenario and uniform DRX active times of Murray with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving power consumption efficiency (see Murray, par. [0211]).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray does not teach:
wherein the first signal transmission delay is a minimum one of signal transmission delays on all activated downlink carriers in a cell group where the uplink carrier is located, said all activated downlink carriers being downlink carriers between the terminal device and the base station.
Sengupta, in the same field of endeavor teaches:
wherein the first signal transmission delay is a minimum one of signal transmission delays on all activated downlink carriers in a cell group where the uplink carrier is located, said all activated downlink carriers being downlink carriers between the terminal device and the base station (see Sengupta, col. 10, lines 27-41: The 5G-new radio system compensates for this round-trip time delay with additional time offsets to ensure valid scheduling of transmissions with uplink-downlink (UL-DL) interactions. These additional offsets (referred to as Koffset in clause 6.2.1.2 of 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) technical report 38.821) may be applied to the timing relationships that involve uplink-downlink interaction. The UE may derive Koffset from broadcast system information when acquiring a satellite cell or Koffset may be configured by higher layers, such as with radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The Koffset value may be per satellite beam or per cell. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the Koffset value may be signaled and determined across different numerologies in potentially different bandwidth parts (BWPs), component carriers, etc, and see col. 12, lines 44-56: The first time offset(s) may be a single time offset that applies across all numerologies. In other aspects, the first time offset(s) is a single time offset, and the UE scales the single time offset based on a current numerology configured for communications, in order to derive a scaled time offset. The UE may derive the scaled time offset by applying a ceiling operation and/or a floor operation. The first time offset(s) may include a first offset specific to a first numerology and/or BWP, and a second offset specific to a second numerology and/or BWP. The first time offset(s) may include at least one time offset associated with each component carrier from which the UE is receiving downlink data; in this case, receiving time offsets for each component carrier and performing a floor operation to determine scheduling offsets corresponds to a first signal transmission delay being a minimum delay of all carriers).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the signal transmission delay of the combination of Hong in view of Murray with the delay being a minimum of delays on all carriers of Sengupta with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of ensuring valid scheduling for communication (see Sengupta, col. 4, lines 1-9).
Claims 4 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Uchino et al. (US 2017/0013673), hereinafter “Uchino”.
Regarding claims 4, 16, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, teaches the method or device.
Hong further teaches:
wherein the target time offset is the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the first signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 7-15: Alternatively, when the UE capable of the non-terrestrial network communication receives the NTN RTD offset information (or information for indicating the NTN RTD offset), the UE may ignore the value configured in the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) and control the running of the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) so that the NTN RTD offset becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH), or the target time offset is greater than the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the first signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 1-7: when a UE capable of non-terrestrial network communication receives NTN RTD offset information (or information for calculating NTN RTD offset), the UE controls the running of drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer so that a value adding the NTN RTD offset to the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value indicated through the DRX configuration information becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, does not teach:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the first signal transmission delay or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the first signal transmission delay
Uchino, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the first signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10) or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the first signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the target time offset of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, with the offset being a sum of uplink and downlink delays of Uchino with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of preventing unnecessary battery consumption (see Uchino, par. [0017], lines 1-5).
Claims 5, 7, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US 2020/0092814), hereinafter "Zhou".
Regarding claims 5, 17, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, teaches the method or device. Hong further teaches:
wherein
when one DRX group is configured for a Media Access Control (MAC) entity (see Hong, Fig. 11, par. [0118], lines 1-2: FIG. 11 illustrates a DRX configuration information element according to an embodiment, and see Hong, par. [0123], lines 1-3: The base station may configure the above described DRX parameter used to control PDCCH monitoring in the MAC entity of the UE in the UE through RRC signaling), the target time offset is determined, for any one of the individual serving cells, based on the transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively) of the SR on the uplink carrier (see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH) and a signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively) on a downlink carrier corresponding to the individual serving cell (see Hong, Fig. 4, par. [0069], lines 5-13: in FIG. 4, bandwidth parts (BWPs) may be specified within the carrier bandwidth in NR so that the UE may use the same. In addition, the bandwidth part may be associated with one numerology, may include a subset of consecutive common resource blocks, and may be activated dynamically over time. The UE has up to four bandwidth parts in each of the uplink and the downlink. The UE transmits and receives data using an activated bandwidth part during a given time, and see Hong, par. [0040], lines 11-14: the cell may be used as a meaning including a bandwidth part (BWP) in the frequency domain. For example, the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE), wherein
the downlink carrier corresponding to the individual serving cell is a downlink carrier between the terminal device and the base station (see Hong, Fig. 4, par. [0069], lines 5-13: in FIG. 4, bandwidth parts (BWPs) may be specified within the carrier bandwidth in NR so that the UE may use the same. In addition, the bandwidth part may be associated with one numerology, may include a subset of consecutive common resource blocks, and may be activated dynamically over time. The UE has up to four bandwidth parts in each of the uplink and the downlink. The UE transmits and receives data using an activated bandwidth part during a given time, and see Hong, par. [0040], lines 11-14: the cell may be used as a meaning including a bandwidth part (BWP) in the frequency domain. For example, the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE, and see Hong, par. [0042], lines 1-4: the cell may refer to coverage of a signal transmitted from a transmission/reception point, a component carrier having coverage of a signal transmitted from a transmission/reception point, and see Hong, par. [0041], lines 11-13: the base station may be a point, a transmission/reception point, a transmission point, a reception point, and the like).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, does not teach:
DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device separately for individual serving cells corresponding to the MAC entity,
Zhou, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device separately for individual serving cells corresponding to the MAC entity (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2), and see Zhou, par. [0480], lines 36-39: The wireless device may determine, based on DRX parameters associated with a second cell, a MAC entity of the wireless device is in a first DRX active time on the second cell (e.g., Cell 1), and see Zhou, par. [0480], lines 53-56: The wireless device may determine, based on DRX parameters associated with a third cell, the MAC entity is in a first DRX active time on the third cell (e.g., Cell 2)),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, with the separately maintained DRX active times of Zhou with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving transmission efficiency for the network (see Zhou, par. [0332], lines 7-17).
Regarding claims 7, 19, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, teaches the method or device. Hong further teaches:
wherein
when a DRX group is configured for a Media Access Control (MAC) entity (see Hong, Fig. 11, par. [0118], lines 1-2: FIG. 11 illustrates a DRX configuration information element according to an embodiment, and see Hong, par. [0123], lines 1-3: The base station may configure the above described DRX parameter used to control PDCCH monitoring in the MAC entity of the UE in the UE through RRC signaling) the target time offset is determined based on the transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively) of the SR on the uplink carrier (see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH) and a second signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively),
The combination of Hong in view of Murray does not teach, but Sengupta teaches:
wherein the second signal transmission delay is a minimum one of signal transmission delays on all activated downlink carriers corresponding to the any one of the plurality of DRX groups, said all activated downlink carriers being downlink carriers between the terminal device and the base station (see Sengupta, col. 10, lines 27-41: The 5G-new radio system compensates for this round-trip time delay with additional time offsets to ensure valid scheduling of transmissions with uplink-downlink (UL-DL) interactions. These additional offsets (referred to as Koffset in clause 6.2.1.2 of 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) technical report 38.821) may be applied to the timing relationships that involve uplink-downlink interaction. The UE may derive Koffset from broadcast system information when acquiring a satellite cell or Koffset may be configured by higher layers, such as with radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The Koffset value may be per satellite beam or per cell. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the Koffset value may be signaled and determined across different numerologies in potentially different bandwidth parts (BWPs), component carriers, etc, and see col. 12, lines 44-56: The first time offset(s) may be a single time offset that applies across all numerologies. In other aspects, the first time offset(s) is a single time offset, and the UE scales the single time offset based on a current numerology configured for communications, in order to derive a scaled time offset. The UE may derive the scaled time offset by applying a ceiling operation and/or a floor operation. The first time offset(s) may include a first offset specific to a first numerology and/or BWP, and a second offset specific to a second numerology and/or BWP. The first time offset(s) may include at least one time offset associated with each component carrier from which the UE is receiving downlink data; in this case, receiving time offsets for each component carrier and performing a floor operation to determine scheduling offsets corresponds to a first signal transmission delay being a minimum delay of all carriers).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the signal transmission delay of the combination of Hong in view of Murray with the delay being a minimum of delays of all carriers of Sengupta with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of ensuring valid scheduling for communication (see Sengupta, col. 4, lines 1-9).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, does not teach:
a plurality of DRX groups and DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device separately for the plurality of DRX groups, for any one of the plurality of DRX groups,
Zhou, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
a plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2)) and DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device separately for the plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2), and see Zhou, par. [0480], lines 36-39: The wireless device may determine, based on DRX parameters associated with a second cell, a MAC entity of the wireless device is in a first DRX active time on the second cell (e.g., Cell 1), and see Zhou, par. [0480], lines 53-56: The wireless device may determine, based on DRX parameters associated with a third cell, the MAC entity is in a first DRX active time on the third cell (e.g., Cell 2)), for any one of the plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2)),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, with the separately maintained DRX active times for a plurality of DRX operations of Zhou with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving transmission efficiency for the network (see Zhou, par. [0332], lines 7-17).
Claims 6, 8, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, as applied to claims 5, 7, 17, and 19 above, and further in view of Uchino.
Regarding claims 6, 18, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, teaches the method or device. Hong further teaches:
wherein the target time offset is the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 7-15: Alternatively, when the UE capable of the non-terrestrial network communication receives the NTN RTD offset information (or information for indicating the NTN RTD offset), the UE may ignore the value configured in the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) and control the running of the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) so that the NTN RTD offset becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH) on the downlink carrier corresponding to the individual serving cell (see Hong, Fig. 4, par. [0069], lines 5-13: in FIG. 4, bandwidth parts (BWPs) may be specified within the carrier bandwidth in NR so that the UE may use the same. In addition, the bandwidth part may be associated with one numerology, may include a subset of consecutive common resource blocks, and may be activated dynamically over time. The UE has up to four bandwidth parts in each of the uplink and the downlink. The UE transmits and receives data using an activated bandwidth part during a given time, and see Hong, par. [0040], lines 11-14: the cell may be used as a meaning including a bandwidth part (BWP) in the frequency domain. For example, the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE), or the target time offset is greater than the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 1-7: when a UE capable of non-terrestrial network communication receives NTN RTD offset information (or information for calculating NTN RTD offset), the UE controls the running of drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer so that a value adding the NTN RTD offset to the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value indicated through the DRX configuration information becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH) on the downlink carrier corresponding to the individual serving cell (see Hong, Fig. 4, par. [0069], lines 5-13: in FIG. 4, bandwidth parts (BWPs) may be specified within the carrier bandwidth in NR so that the UE may use the same. In addition, the bandwidth part may be associated with one numerology, may include a subset of consecutive common resource blocks, and may be activated dynamically over time. The UE has up to four bandwidth parts in each of the uplink and the downlink. The UE transmits and receives data using an activated bandwidth part during a given time, and see Hong, par. [0040], lines 11-14: the cell may be used as a meaning including a bandwidth part (BWP) in the frequency domain. For example, the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, does not teach:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the signal transmission delay, or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the signal transmission delay
Uchino, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10), or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the target time offset of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, with the offset being a sum of uplink and downlink delays of Uchino with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of preventing unnecessary battery consumption (see Uchino, par. [0017], lines 1-5).
Regarding claims 8, 20, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, teaches the method or device.
Hong further teaches:
wherein the target time offset is the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the second signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 7-15: Alternatively, when the UE capable of the non-terrestrial network communication receives the NTN RTD offset information (or information for indicating the NTN RTD offset), the UE may ignore the value configured in the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) and control the running of the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) so that the NTN RTD offset becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH), or the target time offset is greater than the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the second signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 1-7: when a UE capable of non-terrestrial network communication receives NTN RTD offset information (or information for calculating NTN RTD offset), the UE controls the running of drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer so that a value adding the NTN RTD offset to the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value indicated through the DRX configuration information becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, does not teach:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the second signal transmission delay or the target time offset is a sum the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the second signal transmission delay
Uchino, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the second signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10) or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the second signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the target time offset of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, with the offset being a sum of uplink and downlink delays of Uchino with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of preventing unnecessary battery consumption (see Uchino, par. [0017], lines 1-5).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr et al. (US 2018/0014322), hereinafter “Loehr”.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, teaches the method. Hong further teaches:
wherein
when a DRX group is configured for a Media Access Control (MAC) entity (see Hong, Fig. 11, par. [0118], lines 1-2: FIG. 11 illustrates a DRX configuration information element according to an embodiment, and see Hong, par. [0123], lines 1-3: The base station may configure the above described DRX parameter used to control PDCCH monitoring in the MAC entity of the UE in the UE through RRC signaling), the target time offset is determined, based on the transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively) of the SR on the uplink carrier (see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH) and a third signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively),
The combination of Hong in view of Murray does not teach, but Sengupta teaches:
the third signal transmission delay is a minimum one of signal transmission delays on all activated downlink carriers corresponding to the first DRX group, said all activated downlink carriers being downlink carriers between the terminal device and the base station (see Sengupta, col. 10, lines 27-41: The 5G-new radio system compensates for this round-trip time delay with additional time offsets to ensure valid scheduling of transmissions with uplink-downlink (UL-DL) interactions. These additional offsets (referred to as Koffset in clause 6.2.1.2 of 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) technical report 38.821) may be applied to the timing relationships that involve uplink-downlink interaction. The UE may derive Koffset from broadcast system information when acquiring a satellite cell or Koffset may be configured by higher layers, such as with radio resource control (RRC) signaling. The Koffset value may be per satellite beam or per cell. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the Koffset value may be signaled and determined across different numerologies in potentially different bandwidth parts (BWPs), component carriers, etc, and see col. 12, lines 44-56: The first time offset(s) may be a single time offset that applies across all numerologies. In other aspects, the first time offset(s) is a single time offset, and the UE scales the single time offset based on a current numerology configured for communications, in order to derive a scaled time offset. The UE may derive the scaled time offset by applying a ceiling operation and/or a floor operation. The first time offset(s) may include a first offset specific to a first numerology and/or BWP, and a second offset specific to a second numerology and/or BWP. The first time offset(s) may include at least one time offset associated with each component carrier from which the UE is receiving downlink data; in this case, receiving time offsets for each component carrier and performing a floor operation to determine scheduling offsets corresponds to a first signal transmission delay being a minimum delay of all carriers).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the signal transmission delay of the combination of Hong in view of Murray with the delay being a minimum of delays on all carriers of Sengupta with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of ensuring valid scheduling for communication (see Sengupta, col. 4, lines 1-9).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, does not teach:
a plurality of DRX groups, DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device separately for the plurality of DRX groups, and cross-carrier scheduling on carriers corresponding to different DRX groups is not supported by the terminal device, for a first DRX group in the plurality of DRX groups, wherein
the first DRX group is a DRX group meeting a predetermined condition among the plurality of DRX groups,
Zhou, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
a plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2)) DRX active times are maintained by the terminal device separately for the plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2), and see Zhou, par. [0480], lines 36-39: The wireless device may determine, based on DRX parameters associated with a second cell, a MAC entity of the wireless device is in a first DRX active time on the second cell (e.g., Cell 1), and see Zhou, par. [0480], lines 53-56: The wireless device may determine, based on DRX parameters associated with a third cell, the MAC entity is in a first DRX active time on the third cell (e.g., Cell 2)), corresponding to different DRX groups (see Zhou, par. [0418], lines 5-14: the base station may configure DRX operation with a set of DRX parameters, e.g., using RRC configuration. The set of DRX parameters may be selected based on the application type such that the wireless device may reduce power and resource consumption. In an example, in response to DRX being configured/activated, a UE may receive data packets with an extended delay, since the UE may be in DRX Sleep/Off state at the time of data arrival at the UE and the base station may wait until the UE transitions to the DRX ON state) for a first DRX group in the plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2)),
among the plurality of DRX groups (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2)), corresponding to the first DRX group (see Zhou, par. [0418], lines 5-14: the base station may configure DRX operation with a set of DRX parameters, e.g., using RRC configuration. The set of DRX parameters may be selected based on the application type such that the wireless device may reduce power and resource consumption. In an example, in response to DRX being configured/activated, a UE may receive data packets with an extended delay, since the UE may be in DRX Sleep/Off state at the time of data arrival at the UE and the base station may wait until the UE transitions to the DRX ON state),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, with the separately maintained DRX active times for a plurality of DRX operations of Zhou with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving transmission efficiency for the network (see Zhou, par. [0332], lines 7-17).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou does not teach:
and cross-carrier scheduling on carriers is not supported by the terminal device, wherein
the first DRX group is a DRX group meeting a predetermined condition
Loehr, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
and cross-carrier scheduling on carriers is not supported by the terminal device (see Loehr, par. [0037], lines 1-4: A linking, established by RRC signaling, between uplink and downlink component carriers allows identifying the uplink component carrier for which the grant applies when there is no-cross-carrier scheduling), wherein
the first DRX group is a DRX group meeting a predetermined condition (see Loehr, par. [0143], lines 4-13: A DRX, Discontinued Reception, function is running at the user equipment. The transmission of a scheduling request is triggered by the UE for requesting uplink resources to a radio base station upon triggering of a buffer status report in the user equipment. The transmission of the triggered scheduling request is delayed by the UE until the user equipment is in Active Time of the DRX function. The triggered scheduling request is transmitted by the UE to the radio base station after the delay and when the user equipment is in Active Time of the DRX function)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou with the DRX meeting a condition and lack of cross-carrier scheduling of Loehr with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the flexibility of the scheduling request procedure (see Loehr, par. [0126], lines 1-8).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Uchino.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, teaches the method. Hong further teaches:
wherein the target time offset is the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the third signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 7-15: Alternatively, when the UE capable of the non-terrestrial network communication receives the NTN RTD offset information (or information for indicating the NTN RTD offset), the UE may ignore the value configured in the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) and control the running of the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer (or the drx-Retransmission Timer) so that the NTN RTD offset becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH), or the target time offset is greater than the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the third signal transmission delay (see Hong, par. [0178], lines 1-7: when a UE capable of non-terrestrial network communication receives NTN RTD offset information (or information for calculating NTN RTD offset), the UE controls the running of drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer so that a value adding the NTN RTD offset to the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value indicated through the DRX configuration information becomes the drx-HARQ-RTT-Timer value, and see Hong, par. [0130], lines 7-11: the reference round trip delay offset information may be determined based on a time difference at which a signal transmitted by the UE or the network node is received by the network node or the UE, respectively, and see Hong, par. [0205], lines 1-2: one scheduling request is transmitted on the PUCCH).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, does not teach:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the third signal transmission delay, or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the third signal transmission delay
Uchino, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the third signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10), or the target time offset is a sum of the transmission delay of the SR on the uplink carrier and the third signal transmission delay (see Uchino, par. [0031], lines 5-8: the minimum transmission time is a fixed value defined by a summation of a downlink transmission time, an uplink transmission time (1 subframe each), a processing delay time at the UE 30, and a processing delay time at the macro eNB 10)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the target time offset of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, with the offset being a sum of uplink and downlink delays of Uchino with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of preventing unnecessary battery consumption (see Uchino, par. [0017], lines 1-5).
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Babaei (US 2021/0307108), hereinafter “Babaei”.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, teaches the method.
The combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, does not teach, but Zhou teaches the method wherein:
on at least one serving cell corresponding to the first DRX group (see Zhou, Fig. 36, par. [0480], lines 10-14: A wireless device may perform separate DRX operation for different cells. As shown in FIG. 36, a wireless device may perform a first DRX operation on a first cell (e.g., Cell 1) and a second DRX operation on a second cell (e.g., Cell 2), and see Zhou, par. [0419], lines 16-18: During the DRX Active state, the UE may monitor PDCCHs for detecting one or more DCIs on a serving cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, with the DRX operation corresponding to a cell of Zhou with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving transmission efficiency for the network (see Zhou, par. [0332], lines 7-17).
The combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, does not teach, but Loehr teaches the method wherein:
the predetermined condition comprises that the SR is triggered by a regular Buffer Status Report (BSR) (see Loehr, par. [0143], lines 4-13: A DRX, Discontinued Reception, function is running at the user equipment. The transmission of a scheduling request is triggered by the UE for requesting uplink resources to a radio base station upon triggering of a buffer status report in the user equipment. The transmission of the triggered scheduling request is delayed by the UE until the user equipment is in Active Time of the DRX function. The triggered scheduling request is transmitted by the UE to the radio base station after the delay and when the user equipment is in Active Time of the DRX function) triggered for an uplink logical channel (see Loehr, par. [0147], lines 2-10: a plurality of logical channels are configured for the user equipment, and a buffer status report is triggered upon arrival of new data in a transmission buffer associated with any of the plurality of logical channels, wherein the delaying of the transmission of the scheduling request is only performed when the buffer status report, triggering the scheduling request, is triggered by arrival of new data associated with at least one specific logical channel out of the plurality of logical channels, and see Loehr, par. [0179], lines 1-4: when a user equipment is in the sleep mode, i.e., in DRX state, and a BSR/SR is triggered, the UE transmits the scheduling request to the eNodeB in the uplink), and
the uplink logical channel is determined, to be allowed to be transmitted (see Loehr, par. [0143], lines 4-13: A DRX, Discontinued Reception, function is running at the user equipment. The transmission of a scheduling request is triggered by the UE for requesting uplink resources to a radio base station upon triggering of a buffer status report in the user equipment. The transmission of the triggered scheduling request is delayed by the UE until the user equipment is in Active Time of the DRX function. The triggered scheduling request is transmitted by the UE to the radio base station after the delay and when the user equipment is in Active Time of the DRX function, and see Loehr, par. [0179], lines 1-4: when a user equipment is in the sleep mode, i.e., in DRX state, and a BSR/SR is triggered, the UE transmits the scheduling request to the eNodeB in the uplink)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, with the SR being triggered by a BSR of Loehr with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of improving the flexibility of the scheduling request procedure (see Loehr, par. [0126], lines 1-8).
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, does not teach:
based on a Link Control Protocol (LCP) restriction of the uplink logical channel,
Babaei, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
based on a Link Control Protocol (LCP) restriction of the uplink logical channel (see Babaei, par. [0109], lines 16-21: The control signaling may configure logical channels with mapping restrictions. The mapping restrictions in logical channel prioritization may control the numerology(ies), cell(s), and/or transmission timing(s)/duration(s) that a logical channel may use, and see Babaei, par. [0247], lines 9-12: if the UL-SCH resources available for a new transmission do not meet the LCP mapping restrictions configured for the logical channel that triggered the BSR: the MAC entity may trigger a Scheduling Request),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission on an uplink logical channel of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, with the LCP restriction of the logical channel of Babaei with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of power saving (see Babaei, par. [0082], lines 1-8).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, teaches the method.
However, the combination of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, does not teach:
wherein the predetermined condition comprises that the SR is triggered by an event other than a regular BSR triggered for an uplink logical channel.
Babaei, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the predetermined condition comprises that the SR is triggered by an event other than a regular BSR triggered for an uplink logical channel (see Babaei, par. [0279], lines 5-13: a SCell BFRQ MAC CE may trigger a SCell BFRQ SR if there is no valid uplink grant which can accommodate the SCell BFRQ MAC CE. In an example, the transmission of the SCell BFRQ MAC CE may cancel a pending BFRQ SR of the failed SCell(s). In an example, when based on the number of the BFRQ SR transmission reaching the sr-TransMax, the wireless device may trigger a RACH procedure).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the predetermined condition of Hong in view of Murray, and further in view of Sengupta, and further in view of Zhou, and further in view of Loehr, with the condition not being triggering by BSR of Babaei with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of power saving (see Babaei, par. [0082], lines 1-8).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 13 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Charbit et al. (US 11,552,700) teaches examples and schemes pertaining to uplink (UL) transmission timing for non-terrestrial networking (NTN).
Islam et al. (US 2021/0259044) teaches a device may be configured for discontinuous reception (DRX) mode and further receive signaling indicating whether or not to wake and/or may receiving signaling indicating whether or not to go-to-sleep.
Pelletier et al. (US 2020/0245257) teaches methods and devices for offloading and/or aggregation of resources to coordinate uplink transmissions when interacting with different schedulers.
Ahn et al. (WO 2014/021595) teaches an apparatus and method for transmitting control information in a wireless communication system including a DRX operation.
Lu et al. (WO 2021/159541) teaches a method and apparatus for determining an active time of discontinuous reception.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB J BALLOWE whose telephone number is (571)270-0410. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 7:30-5.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nishant B. Divecha can be reached at (571) 270-3125. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419