DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the RCE filed on 12/23/2025 in which claims 1-7, 9-20, 22-29, and 31-33 are pending.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/23/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
“receive a communication with a received power that satisfies a threshold”
Stauffer [0027]; “The signal quality analyzer 116 determines a signal quality metric for a received downlink communication using sensing circuitry embedded in the communication module 120. In some implementations, the signal quality analyzer 116 can determine absolute measurements of one or more of a noise level, an interference level, or the received signal strength (RSSI) of the downlink communication.” [0064]; “At operation 704, the user device compares the SINR of the downlink communication with a threshold SINR for an MCS. For example, one of the signal quality analyzer 116 or the transmission power evaluation module 118 compares the SINR of the downlink communication 410 with threshold SINR for an MCS. The threshold may be a low end of one of the portions 402, 404, 406, or 408. Alternatively, the threshold may be a margin 416 or 422 above the low end of one of the portions 402, 404, 406, or 408.”
Fig. 4 of Stauffer shows a signal strength chart where the portions 402,404, 406, and 408 are signal strength levels and is using the SINR as a received signal strength of the downlink communications for comparing to the signal strength levels (thresholds) as described in [0064], and therefore teaches the limitations of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13-16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29, 31, and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Stauffer et al. (US20190297584A1).
As to claims 1 and 27, Stauffer teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to: (Fig. 1 112, 114, 116, 118)
receive a communication with a received power that satisfies a threshold; and ([0019] The user device receives a downlink transmission of application data over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using an MCS. The user device determines a SINR of the downlink transmission and compares the SINR with a threshold SINR that is required to receive future downlink transmissions with using the MCS. Based on the comparison, the user device determines that the SINR is two dB above the threshold SINR.)
transmit a request including an indication of a value to reduce a transmission power used for transmitting the communication based at least in part on the received power satisfying the threshold. ([0019] The user device then transmits, to the base station, a request to reduce a transmission power level by two dB)
As to claims 14 and 29, Stauffer teaches a network node for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to: (Fig. 1 122, 124, 126, 128)
transmit a first communication with a first transmission power; ([0019] In an illustrative implementation, a user device communicates with a base station over a wireless connection. The user device receives a downlink transmission of application data over a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using an MCS.)
receive a request including an indication of a value to reduce the first transmission power based at least in part on a received power, at a user equipment (UE), satisfying a threshold; and ([0019] The user device then transmits, to the base station, a request to reduce a transmission power level by two dB)
transmit a second communication with a second transmission power that is less than the first transmission power. ([0019] The base station can comply with the request or reduce a transmission power by an amount less than two dB)
As to claims 2, and 15, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive an indication of a time domain resource at which an additional communication is to be transmitted with a reduced transmission power. ([0040] The PDCCH 204 can be used by the base station 104 to communicate, to the user device, one or more control messages, such as downlink control information (DCI) messages, medium access control (MAC) control elements (CEs), or RRC messages. In some aspects, the control messages include an identification of resource elements or a confirmation of a receipt of a user device-initiated power control request to be used for communication of data to the user device 102.)
As to claims 3 and 16, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 2, wherein the additional communication is to be received with the reduced transmission power based at least in part on one or more of: an output power of a transmission antenna array, or a beam width used to transmit the additional communication. ([0037] In some cases, the communication module 130 includes, or is coupled with, multiple hardware-based transceivers and antenna arrays that are configured to establish and manage wireless connections with multiple user devices over one or more frequency bandwidths and communication resources. [0071] At operation 808, the base station transmits, to the user device, the future downlink transmission at a third transmission power level that is based on the received request.)
As to claims 6 and 19, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises one or more of: an optical wireless communication-based communication, an extended-reality-based communication, or an Internet-of-Things-based communication. ([0024] The user device 102 is illustrated as a smart phone, however the user device 102 may instead be implemented as any device with wireless communication capabilities, such as a mobile gaming console, a tablet, a laptop, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, a health monitoring device, an unmanned aircraft, a camera, a media-streaming dongle, a wearable smart-device, an internet-of-things (IoT) device,)
As to claims 7 and 20, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the UE comprises one or more of: an extended reality display device or input device, an optical wireless communication device, an Internet of Things device, a device with limited capability for an analog to digital converter (ADC) a device with limited capability for effective number of bits (ENOB), or a device with limited capability for automatic gain control (AGC). ([0024] The user device 102 is illustrated as a smart phone, however the user device 102 may instead be implemented as any device with wireless communication capabilities, such as a mobile gaming console, a tablet, a laptop, an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, a health monitoring device, an unmanned aircraft, a camera, a media-streaming dongle, a wearable smart-device, an internet-of-things (IoT) device,)
As to claims 9 and 22, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 8, wherein the value is based at least in part on one or more of: a configuration received from a network node, or a communication protocol. ([0028] The transmission power evaluation module 118 can use the signal quality to determine an different transmission power level for future downlink transmissions by the base station 104. For example, the transmission power evaluation module 118 may compare the signal quality to a threshold for receiving the future downlink communications using a desired MCS or aggregation level. The desired MCS or aggregation level may be the same MCS or aggregation level as the received downlink communication, or another MCS or aggregation level. The desired MCS may depend on a type of communication, or a channel for communication, of the future downlink communication. [0068] At optional operation 802, the base station transmits, to a user device, a control message to enable transmissions of requests to change a transmission power level. For example, the base station 104 transmits one of an RRC message, a DCI message, or a MAC CE. The control message may further indicate a protocol for a response by the user device 102 to transmit a power control request 304.)
As to claims 10 and 23, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the request is associated with one or more of: a component carrier, a beam used to transmit the communication, a beam width, a channel, or a modulation and coding scheme (MCS). ([0028] The transmission power evaluation module 118 can use the signal quality to determine an different transmission power level for future downlink transmissions by the base station 104. For example, the transmission power evaluation module 118 may compare the signal quality to a threshold for receiving the future downlink communications using a desired MCS or aggregation level. The desired MCS or aggregation level may be the same MCS or aggregation level as the received downlink communication, or another MCS or aggregation level. The desired MCS may depend on a type of communication, or a channel for communication, of the future downlink communication.)
As to claims 13 and 26, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the request, are configured to transmit the request via one or more of: medium access control (MAC) signaling, radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or a channel state information (CSI) report. ([0046] The power control request 304 may be included in a UCI communication, an RRC message, or a MAC CE.)
As to claim 31, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive an additional communication with a reduced received power based on at least in part on the request. ([0071] At operation 808, the base station transmits, to the user device, the future downlink transmission at a third transmission power level that is based on the received request.)
As to claim 32, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: select the value from a quantity of candidate values. ([0028] The transmission power evaluation module 118 can use the signal quality to determine an different transmission power level for future downlink transmissions by the base station 104. For example, the transmission power evaluation module 118 may compare the signal quality to a threshold for receiving the future downlink communications using a desired MCS or aggregation level. The desired MCS or aggregation level may be the same MCS or aggregation level as the received downlink communication, or another MCS or aggregation level. The desired MCS may depend on a type of communication, or a channel for communication, of the future downlink communication. In an example implementation, the measured signal quality is four dB above the threshold for the same MCS as the received downlink communication. The transmission power evaluation module 118 can determine that the transmission power can be reduced by four dB. Alternatively, the transmission power evaluation module 118 may determine that if the transmission power is increased by two dB, the future communication can be transmitted using a different MCS that provides a higher data rate than the MCS currently in use. In these situations, the transmission power evaluation module 118 may determine that the transmission power can be increased by four dB to use the MCS that provides the higher data rate.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18, 24, 25, 28, and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Stauffer in view of Leroux (US20220264482A1).
As to claims 4, 17, and 28, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the threshold is associated with one or more of: or a maximum throughput for communications with the UE. (Stauffer [0028] The transmission power evaluation module 118 can use the signal quality to determine an different transmission power level for future downlink transmissions by the base station 104. For example, the transmission power evaluation module 118 may compare the signal quality to a threshold for receiving the future downlink communications using a desired MCS or aggregation level. [0065])
But does not specifically teach:
wherein the threshold is associated with a saturation of a reception component,
However Leroux teaches wherein the threshold is associated with a saturation of a reception component,
(Leroux [0074] A wireless device 22 is configured to include a power saturation unit 34 which is configured to receive a downlink, DL, channel transmission at a first transmit power value; and transmit a message to a network node 16, the message indicating a power saturation condition as a result of the first transmit power value. [0038] For example, as an LA unit (e.g., software, hardware circuitry and/or a combination thereof that is configured to perform LA) determines that a maximum MCS has been reached, the LA unit may change the mode (e.g., from MCS adaptation mode to PB mode) to start modulating the power level or applying power backoff according to the techniques described in the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the “maximum MCS” may correspond to a predetermined maximum threshold value, such as, a maximum modulation scheme value (e.g., 64 or 256 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) that the WD and/or network node is capable of or has otherwise been determined as a threshold value) and/or a predetermined maximum coding rate (e.g., 5/6) that the WD and/or network node is capable of or has otherwise been determined as a threshold value for a maximum data rate.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power control method of Stauffer with the method from Leroux in order to prevent power saturation at a wireless device.
As to claims 5 and 18, Stauffer in view of Leroux teaches the UE of claim 4, wherein saturation of the reception component is associated with support for a reduced modulation and coding scheme (MCS) relative to an MCS that is supported when the reception component is not saturated, or wherein the maximum throughput for communications with the UE is based at least in part on one or more of the saturation of the reception component, a rank of communications, or the received power. (Leroux [0106] In step S218, since maximum power is being used and the network node 16 is still receiving NACKs from the WD 22, the network node 16 may use LA to adjust MCS downward e.g., until the WD 22 is able to correctly receive and decode a DL channel transmission. Although FIGS. 7 and 8 have a different result (decreasing power versus increasing power), it should be understood that the same power backoff technique for LA may be used in these examples; yet the results may differ based at least in part on whether the network node 16 receives a NACK or an ACK, as well as, on whether max MCS and/or maximum power are reached for the channel transmissions.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power control method of Stauffer with the method from Leroux in order to prevent power saturation at a wireless device.
As to claims 11 and 24, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1,
But does not specifically teach:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit an indication of one or more of: support for transmitting the request to reduce the transmission power, a risk for reduced modulation and coding scheme (MCS) when receiving communications with received powers that satisfy the threshold, or one or more parameters of an automatic gain control (AGC) of the UE.
However Leroux teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit an indication of one or more of: support for transmitting the request to reduce the transmission power, a risk for reduced modulation and coding scheme (MCS) when receiving communications with received powers that satisfy the threshold. ([0106] In step S218, since maximum power is being used and the network node 16 is still receiving NACKs from the WD 22, the network node 16 may use LA to adjust MCS downward e.g., until the WD 22 is able to correctly receive and decode a DL channel transmission. and [0109]-[0110] MCS adjusting)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power control method of Stauffer with the method from Leroux in order to prevent power saturation at a wireless device.
As to claims 12 and 25, Stauffer in view of Leroux teaches the UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive an indication of one or more of: reception of the request to reduce the transmission power, or an AGC configuration for the UE to use for receiving communications. (Stauffer [0071] At operation 808, the base station transmits, to the user device, the future downlink transmission at a third transmission power level that is based on the received request. For example, the base station 104 transmits, to the user device 102, the downlink communication 306 at a transmission power level that is based on the power control request 304.)
As to claim 33, Stauffer teaches the UE of claim 1,
But does not specifically teach:
wherein the value is further to remove a saturation of a reception component of the UE.
However Leroux teaches wherein the value is further to remove a saturation of a reception component of the UE. (Leroux [0010] the method further includes based at least in part on a channel quality indicator, CQI, report, a reference signal receiving power, RSRP, measurement, and an angle of arrival, AOA, estimation, determining an initial power level for a downlink, DL, channel transmission to prevent power saturation at a wireless device [0012] In some embodiments of the second aspect, the method further includes, as a result of transmitting the message indicating the power saturation condition, receiving a second DL channel transmission having a second transmit power value, the second transmit power value being less than the first transmit power value. [0095] In some embodiments, the method further includes based at least in part on a channel quality indicator, CQI, report, a reference signal receiving power, RSRP, measurement, and an angle of arrival, AOA, estimation, determining an initial power level for a downlink, DL, channel transmission to prevent power saturation at a wireless device 22.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the power control method of Stauffer with the method from Leroux in order to prevent power saturation at a wireless device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ELTON S WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)272-9933. The examiner can normally be reached 8-4 Mon-Fri.
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, Gary Mui can be reached at (571) 270-1420. 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.
/Elton Williams/ Examiner, Art Unit 2465