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 .
Priority
The instant application claims priority to the PCT PCT/CN2021/101659
06/22/2021 Foreign application 07/03/2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted, IDS - 12/24/2023, 08/14/2024, 12/09/2024, 04/03/2025 and 02/02/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Continued Examination (RCE)
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has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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
02/05/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 02/05/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-2, 6-9, 15-16, 21-26 and 30-35 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 6-8, 15, 24-26 and 30-35 were amended. Claims were 3-5, 10-14, 17-20 and 27-29 were cancelled.
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
he 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:
• Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
• Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
• Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
• 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 1-2, 6-9, 13-16, and 20-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NISHIO et al. (US-20220407546-A1), hereinafter “NISHIO” in view of TR-38.821- Solutions for NR to support Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN); 3rd Generation Partnership Project, Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network, Solutions for NR to support non-terrestrial networks (NTN) (Year: 2019) hereinafter “3GPP”.
Regarding Claim 1,
NISHIO discloses, ‘A communication method, comprising: receiving, by a terminal, a non-terrestrial network communication system, a measurement control message, wherein the measurement control message comprises an identifier corresponding to a polarization direction, wherein the polarization direction is left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or an identifier corresponding to right hand circular polarization (RHCP)’;
The method includes the terminal receives from the BS the polarization information by RRC-signaling [0177-0178]; and the polarization information includes identifier LHCP or RHCP disclosure claim 12 and index/identifier in Fig. 17 for the LHCP/RHCP.
NISHIO discloses, ’performing, by the terminal, cell measurement in the polarization direction corresponding to the identifier included in’
And, didn’t disclose, ‘reporting, by the terminal a measurement result when a measurement reporting condition is met’
3GPP in the relevant art discloses, Figure 7.3.2.1.1-1; conditional triggering of measurement reporting section 7.3.2.2.1-2 triggering condition page-100 to 101.
And, the measurement configuration in Figure 7.3.2.1.1-1 page-96. And measurement enhancement for non-terrestrial network page -100-102.
Therefore, a person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention would have recognized that the disclosure of NISHIO and to modify with that of 3GPP to come up with the claim invention;
Disclosure NISHIO include: configuration for the polarization includes RRC-configuration message. And, motive to utilize the capabilities to perform/determine polarization [0167, 0178]; to complement the polarization beam, SSB and measurement to adjacent cells, NISHIO [0158, 0166-0167]. 3GPP also discloses to. Further to increase throughput data rate, latency and coverage NISHIO, [0037] and 3GPP page-140 to 141. Throughput between the terrestrial and the non-terrestrial connectivity, page-31 to 32.
NISHIO discloses, ‘receiving, by a terminal, a cell handover command, wherein the cell handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction of a target cell to be accessed by the terminal,
and wherein the cell handover command is issued based on measurement result
( disclosure, the polarization and HO [0167]. The terminal set polarization i.e. LHCP/RHCP [0253-0254]. And perform measurement [0166-0167].)
NISHIO discloses ‘and performing, by the terminal, cell handover based on the cell handover command.’ (disclosed above and [0166-0167, 0226].)
Regarding Claim 2,
‘The method according to claim 1’ (disclosed above),
NISHIO discloses, ‘the indication information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) control, RRC message.’ ([0185, 0226].)
Regarding Claim 6,
‘The method according to claim 1’ (disclosed above),
NISHIO discloses, ‘wherein the measurement control message is user equipment (UE)-specific message.’ (terminal specific dedicated message [0185].)
Regarding Claim 7,
‘The method according to claim 1’ (disclosed above),
NISHIO discloses, ‘wherein the measurement control message is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) message.’ ([0185])
Regarding Claim 21,
‘The method according to claim 1’ (disclosed above),
NISHIO discloses, ‘wherein the measurement control message is a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.’ ([0226].)
Regarding Claim 24,
‘The method according to claim 1’ (disclosed above),
NISHIO discloses, ‘wherein the cell handover command further includes an identifier of the target cell.’ (Fig. 17 includes identifier/index [0216-0217, 0220, 0226, 0253-0254].)
Regarding Claim 8,
Identical to Claim 1 disclosed above, ‘A communication method comprising:’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 1 disclosed above, ‘sending, by a network device in non-terrestrial network communication system, a measurement control message, wherein the measurement control message comprises an identifier corresponding to a polarization direction is left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or
Identical to Claim 1 disclosed above, ‘Receiving, by the network device, a measurement result from a terminal when a measurement reporting condition is met, wherein the measurement result is a result of measurement performed in the polarization direction corresponding to the identifier include
generating a cell handover command, wherein the cell handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction a target cell to be accessed by a terminal, and wherein cell handover command is issued based on the measurement result; and
sending, to the terminal, the cell handover command.’
Regarding Claim 9,
Identical to Claim 2 disclosed above, ‘The method according to claim 8, wherein the indication information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.’
Regarding Claim 22,
Identical to Claim 21 disclosed above, ‘The method according to claim 8, wherein the measurement control message is a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.’
Regarding Claim 25,
Identical to Claim 24 disclosed above, ‘The method according to claim 8, wherein the cell handover command further includes an identifier of the target cell.’
Regarding Claim 15,
Identical to Claim 1 disclosed above and apparatus, ‘A communication apparatus, comprising; a processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by the processor, the computer program including instructions to:
receive a measurement control message, wherein the measurement control message comprises an identifier corresponding to a polarization direction, wherein the polarization direction is left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or an identifier corresponding to right hand circular polarization (RHCP), and the communication apparatus is a non-terrestrial network communication system;
perform cell measurement in the polarization direction corresponding to the identifier included in
report a measurement result when a measurement reporting condition is met: receive a cell handover command, wherein the cell handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction a target cell to be accessed by the communications apparatus; and perform cell handover based on the cell handover command.’ (Fig. 4 apparatus terminal device).
Regarding Claim 16,
Identical to Claim 2 disclosed above, ‘The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the indication information is carried in a radio resource control (RRC) message.’
Regarding Claim 23,
Identical to Claim 21 disclosed above, ‘The method according to claim 15, wherein the measurement control message is a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message.’
Regarding Claim 26,
Identical to Claim 24 disclosed above, ‘The method according to claim 15, wherein the cell handover command further includes an identifier of the target cell.’
9. Claims 30-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NISHIO et al. in view of 3GPP and further in view of Bevin et at. (US-20150123873-A1), hereinafter “Ben”.
Regarding Claim 30,
‘The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifier corresponding to the polarization direction
Bevin the relevant art discloses, the polarization direction with higher priority, disclosure claim 10 and claim 17.
Therefore, a person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention would have recognized that the disclosure of NISHIO and 3GPP to modify with that of Bevin to come up with the claim invention.
NISHIO motive to determines the polarization indicated in the bit-field i.e. indication by the antenna port [0232-0234] and Fig. 17. Also previously determined polarization to improve the performance of termina [0246] and switches/changes to polarization priority, Bevin disclosure Claim 17.
Regarding Claim 31,
‘The method according to claim 8, wherein the identifier corresponding to the polarization direction’
Identical to Claim 30 disclosed above, ‘
Regarding Claim 32,
‘The method according to claim 15’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 30 disclosed above, ‘wherein the identifier corresponding to the polarization direction
Regarding Claim 33,
‘The method according to claim [[1]] 30’ (disclosed above),
NISHIO discloses, ‘wherein the performing cell measurement based on the
And didn’t disclose polarization ‘with the higher priority.’ (disclosed by Bevin and identical motive to Claim 30.)
Regarding Claim 34,
‘‘The method according to claim [[8]] 31’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 33 disclosed above, ‘wherein the performing cell measurement based on the
Regarding Claim 35,
‘The method according to claim [[15]] 32’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 33 disclosed above, ‘wherein the performing cell measurement based on the
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are
not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments do not comply with 37 CFR 1.111(c) because they do not clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. Further, they do not show how the amendments avoid such references or objections.
Applicant Arguments:
Prior Art Rejections Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao et al. (US- 20220393754-A1), hereinafter "Cao" in view of Shin et al. (US-11627521-B2) hereinafter "Shin". Office Action at 3. Applicant respectfully traverses.
Independent claim 1 is amended to recite as follows:
1. A communication method, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, a measurement control message, wherein the measurement control message comprises an identifier corresponding to left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or an identifier corresponding to right hand circular polarization (RHCP);
performing, by the terminal, cell measurement based on the measurement control message;
reporting, by the terminal, a measurement result when a measurement reporting condition is met;
receiving, by the terminal, a handover command, wherein the handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction of a target cell to be accessed by the terminal; and performing, by the terminal, cell handover based on the handover command.
These features are not disclosed in Shin or Cao.
Cao discloses a method that includes receiving, by a wireless communication device from a base station, polarization information. Cao at [ooo5]. The polarization information comprises at least one of linear polarization, cross linear polarization, Left Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP), or Right Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP). Cao at claim 10. Signaling that includes the polarization information includes signaling that includes at least one of a first association between Reference Signals (RSs) and a plurality of frequency resources, a second association between the RSs and the polarization information, or a third association between channels and the polarization information. Cao at [0007]. Each SSB may correspond to a polarization capability. Cao at [0128]. The signaling that includes the polarization information includes system information, RRC configuration, or handover configuration signaling. Cao at [0006].
The polarization information of neighboring beams is used in beam switching. Cao at [0098, 0100].
Cao, however, discloses only sending polarization information to UEs, that may be included in a handover configuration that is used for beam switching. Cao at [0098, o1oo]. Cao doesn't teach or suggest that a wireless communication device receives polarization information from a base station during measurement and also during cell handover. Further, Cao teaches signaling for beam switching may include polarization information, but doesn't teach any signaling for cell handover that includes polarization information.
As such, Cao doesn't disclose the features of "receiving, by a terminal, a measurement control message, wherein the measurement control message comprises an identifier corresponding to left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or an identifier corresponding to right hand circular polarization (RHCP); performing, by the terminal, cell measurement based on the measurement control message; reporting, by the terminal, a measurement result when a measurement reporting condition is met," or "receiving, by the terminal, a handover command, wherein the handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction of a target cell to be accessed by the terminal; and performing, by the terminal, cell handover from a source cell to the target cell based on the handover command." The features of claim 1 are also not disclosed in Shin. Shin discloses a method in which a network providing device on a UE acquires a measurement result, determines that the measurement result satisfies a handover condition, and transmits an RRC connection request to a target base station. Shin at 26:1-15. Shin, however, also says nothing about any measurement control message comprising polarization information or reporting a measurement result when a HW
reporting condition is met. Shin also says nothing about that a UE receiving polarization information from a base station during measurement (in particular, in measurement control message) and also during cell handover (in particular in handover command).
As such, Shin also doesn't disclose the features of claim 1 of "receiving, by a terminal, a measurement control message, wherein the measurement control message comprises an identifier corresponding to left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or an identifier corresponding to right hand circular polarization (RHCP); performing, by the terminal, cell measurement based on the measurement control message; reporting, by the terminal, a measurement result when a measurement reporting condition is met," or "receiving, by the terminal, a handover command, wherein the handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction of a target cell to be accessed by the terminal; and performing, by the terminal, cell handover from a source cell to the target cell based on the handover command."
Withdrawal of the rejection is respectfully requested.
Independent claims 8 and 15 are amended to recite features that are the same as, or similar to, the features discussed above. As such, the features of claims 8 and 15 are also not disclosed in the cited references for at least the reasons discussed above. Withdrawal of the rejections is respectfully requested.
The remaining claims depend from and add further features to one of the independent claims. It is respectfully submitted that these dependent claims are allowable by reason of depending from an allowable claim, as well as for adding new features, and that it is not necessary to separately address these dependent claims. This should not be construed as an acquiescence to Examiner's interpretation of those claims, or reading of those claim elements on the prior art, and Applicant expressly reserves the right to establish the patentability of those additional claim limitations, should the need arise.
Examiners response:
With respect to applicant’s arguments/remarks, examiner responses are:
Examiner reviewed the applicant’s arguments/remarks and further amended claims and
provided most relevant prior art in the office actions and the disclosures from the closest prior art that covers the subject matters. Addressed all the claims and applicant’s
argument/remarks disclosed from the presented prior arts “NISHIO”, “3GPP” and “Bevin”.
Regarding the amended claims presented to this OA are summarized here:
NISHIO discloses the non-terrestrial network includes control message, the RRC configuration [0177-0178] comprises an identifier corresponding to left hand circular polarization (LHCP) or an identifier corresponding to right hand circular polarization (RHCP); includes determine the polarization and handover/cell switch procedure, [0166-0167], Fig. 17.
And disclose, performed, by the terminal, cell measurement based on the measurement control message [0166-0167].
Regarding, reporting, by the terminal, a measurement result when a measurement reporting condition is met, disclosed by 3GPP, Figure 7.3.2.1.1-1; conditional triggering of measurement reporting section 7.3.2.2.1-2 triggering condition page-100 to 101. And, the measurement configuration in Figure 7.3.2.1.1-1 page-96. And measurement enhancement for non-terrestrial network page -100-102.
Regarding the polarization priority, NISHIO disclosed indication-bit for the polarization direction and Bevin disclosed priority, disclosure Claim 17.
Regarding ,’ receiving, by [[a]] the terminal, a handover command, wherein the handover command includes indication information indicating a polarization direction of a target cell to be accessed by the terminal;’ Cao discloses [0027, 0106, 0142-0146].
Examiner provided motivation to the OA above.
Examiner thanks to applicant and attorney for their time and effort.
Conclusion
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/S.A./Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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